1. Stop awhile at the abodes when dusk envelops,
And say: An outcast wandered to the fire of separation.

2. You will see swords flashing, illuminated by them.
And if darkness appears, dawn has already emerged.

3. O land of Mayyah, modesty has revived you, though
We have not sipped a refreshing drop from you.

4. If people prevent my leading, they did not prevent
My gazing upon the living or inhaling the breeze.

5. You have in me a passion from which the sane does not abstain,
So I said: he is blind, so no blame on him.

6. I honored my eyes out of arrogance after seeing her,
From seeing others, even the full moon in darkness.

7. A warmth whose gentle breath when it heaves
Makes leaves rustle joyously on their branches.

8. Her juicy mouth smiles revealing pearls within,
My pouring tears compete with that smile.

9. I complained of the narrowness of that dark eye,
It said: when tightness intensifies, wait for relief.

10. If you want salvation of opinion from foolishness,
Go and cry loudly: O son of deliverance!

11. That one whom fervor does not perturb his mind,
Nor looks at anything tempting, bent sideways.

12. That lover of the whiteness of pages, not sheep,
And blackness of ink, not blackened pots.

13. That leader, wise, perfect, learned, unique,
Whom you see no crookedness in his manners.

14. Gatherer of merit in knowledge and deed,
Integrated in him like two seas mixed together.

15. Days belittled themselves to him humbly,
For he knew what was in their folds hidden.

16. So you see him not happy at luxury,
Nor disgruntled at poverty.

17. Gentleness in dignity made his side lofty,
Like water gently in cups blended.

18. A resolve that took the seven heavens to its ascent,
Step by step to its destination climbed.

19. His pen adorns the pages like embroidery,
As if they are fair cheeks wearing kohl.

20. Al-Azhar blossomed radiantly with his appearance,
Like the full moon emerging from horizon's dawn.

21. Meeting him is irritation in the eyes of fault-finders,
And his words are roughness in chests of enviers.

22. A towering figure whom you see his stance in Egypt's suburbs,
And his shade woven in the meadows of Lebanon.

23. My covenant with it, the Nile waters its countryside lushly,
So it became the last to water our barren land.

24. O Kaaba of knowledge, my feet did not make pilgrimage to you,
But my heart fulfilled pilgrimage in your sanctuary.

25. If good has come from you singularly,
Then good has come from you doubly.