1. تنفَّسَ عن وَجْدٍ تَوقَّدَ جمرُهُ

    فأجرى مَسيلَ الدَّمع يَنهلُّ قَطرُهُ

    He sighed with anguish whose embers blazed,

    and set a stream of tears flowing, its drops pouring down.

  2. وبات يعاني الهَمَّ ليس ببارحٍ

    على قلبه إقدامه ومكرُّه

    He spent the night suffering worry, never relenting

    in its advance and renewed assaults upon his heart.

  3. تمنّى وما يغني التمنّي مطالباً

    حَرِيٌّ به لولا الدَّنيَّةُ دهره

    He wished for goals—though wishing brings no gain—

    his age would be worthy of him, were it not for baseness.

  4. ودون أمانيه عوائق جمّة

    يضيق لها في المنزل الرحب صدره

    Before his wishes stand countless obstacles,

    which constrict his breast even in a spacious home.

  5. تحمَّل أعباءُ المتاعب والتقى

    على غرّة صرف الزمان وغدره

    He bore the burdens of hardship and encountered,

    unawares, time's reversals and treachery.

  6. وأشقى بني هذا الزمان أريبه

    وأتعبُ من فيه من النَّاس حرُّه

    The unhappiest of this age's sons is its wisest,

    and the weariest of its people is its noble, free man.

  7. وربَّ خميص البطن مما يشينه

    ينوءُ بأثقال الأُبوَّة ظهره

    Many a man whose belly is empty of anything shameful

    has a back bowed beneath the burdens of fatherhood.

  8. له كلّ يوم وقفة بعد وقفة

    يهيجُ جوى أحشائه وتقرّه

    Each day brings him one halt after another,

    stirring anguish in his innards and making it linger.

  9. يطول مع الأيام فيها عتابه

    ويسهر ليلاً ما تبلّجَ فجره

    His reproach grows longer there as days pass,

    and he stays awake through a night whose dawn has not broken.

  10. يشيم سنا برق المطامع وامضاً

    تألَّقَ إلاَّ إنّه لا يغرّه

    He watches the flashing gleam of ambition's lightning;

    it sparkles, yet it does not deceive him.

  11. فأمسى يغضّ الطرف عنه ودونه

    وقوف الفتى يفضي إلى الضّيم أمره

    So he came to lower his gaze from it; short of it,

    a young man's waiting brings his affairs to humiliation.

  12. وحالَف مختاراً إلى العزّ نفسه

    إباءً ولم يُؤْخَذْ على الذُّلِّ إصره

    He freely bound his soul to honor,

    in proud refusal; no pledge bound him to abasement.

  13. بنفسي امرؤ يقسو على الدهر ما قسا

    ولم يتصدَّع في الحوادث صخره

    I would ransom with my life a man harsh toward time, however harsh it becomes,

    whose rock does not crack amid calamities.

  14. إذا ما رأى المرعى الدنيّ تنوشُه

    يَدُ الرذل يُستحلى مع الهون مرُّه

    When he sees a base pasture reached for

    by a vile man's hand, its bitterness is relished despite abasement.

  15. فلا زال موصولاً من الله لطفه

    إليَّ ومسبولاً من الله ستره

    May God's kindness remain ever bestowed

    upon me, and may God's sheltering veil remain spread,

  16. بأبلج وضاح الجبين أغرّه

    فلله وضّاح الجبين أغرّه

    through a radiant man whose brow is bright and shining.

    God be praised for him, bright and radiant of brow!

  17. كما لم يزل منِّي عليه ولم يَزلْ

    ثنائي على طول الزمان وبرّه

    As it has ever come from me to him, and has ever endured—

    my praise through all time, along with his kindness.

  18. كفاني مهمّات الأمور جميعها

    فما سرَّني أن ساءني الدهر غيره

    He relieved me of all life's weighty concerns;

    when time grieved me, none but he brought me joy.

  19. وما بات إلاَّ وهو في الخطب كالئي

    بطرف يريع الدهر إذ ذاك شزره

    He never passed a night without guarding me in calamity,

    with an eye whose fierce sidelong glance then frightens time.

  20. وما لامرئٍ عندي جميلاً أعدُّه

    وكيف وقد غطّى على البحر نهره

    I count no kindness from any other man;

    how could I, when his river has eclipsed the sea?

  21. وإنَّ الجميل المحضَ معنىً وصورةً

    خلائقه بين الأنام وذكره

    Indeed, pure goodness, in essence and in form,

    is his character among humankind, and his renown.

  22. حياة جميل الصنع فيها حياته

    وعمر المعالي والأبوّة عمره

    In the life of noble deeds lies his own life,

    and the lifetime of high honors and fatherhood is his lifetime.

  23. حياض العطاء المستفاض أكفُّه

    ومن فيضها جزل العطاء وغمره

    His palms are pools of abundantly flowing bounty,

    and from their overflow come lavish gifts and a flood of giving.

  24. يمينٌ كصوب المزن يهرق جودها

    ووجه كروض الحزن قد راق بشره

    A right hand whose bounty pours like rain from clouds,

    and a face like a highland meadow, its cheerfulness a delight.

  25. دعاه إلى المعروف من نفسه لها

    وتلك سجاياه وذلك طوره

    From his own soul came the call to kindness, for its sake;

    such are his innate traits, and such is his way.

  26. أدَرَّتْ له أخلاف كُلِّ حَلوبَةٍ

    من المجد حتَّى قيل لله دَرُّه

    The teats of every milch beast flowed abundantly for him

    with glory, until people said, 'God be praised for his bounty!'

  27. تنصّل هذا الدهر من ذنبه به

    فلا تعتبنّ اللَّيل والصبح عذره

    Through him, this age cleared itself of its guilt;

    so do not reproach the night: dawn is its excuse.

  28. فما ذنبه من بعد ذلك ذنبه

    ولا وزره من بعد ذلك وزره

    After that, its fault is no longer its fault,

    nor, after that, is its burden of sin its burden.

  29. ولي منه ما أهدي لديه وأبتغي

    ومنِّي له المدح الَّذي طاب نشره

    From him I have what I offer before him and what I seek,

    and from me he has praise whose fragrance is sweet.

  30. فيا قمراً في أُفق كلّ أبيّةٍ

    سريع إلى المعروف والبرّ سيره

    So, O moon on the horizon of every proud soul,

    whose course toward kindness and benevolence is swift,

  31. فداؤك نفسي والمناجيب كلّها

    ومن سرَّه في النَّاس أنَّك فخره

    may my soul and all noble ones be your ransom,

    and all among mankind who rejoice that you are their pride.

  32. أفي النَّاس إلاَّ أنتَ من عَمَّ خيرُه

    بيوم على الدنيا تطايَرَ شرّه

    Is there anyone among mankind but you whose goodness reached all

    on a day whose evil scattered over the world?

  33. وما غيرك المدعوُّ إن شبَّ جمرها

    وأنشبَ نابُ الخطب فينا وظفره

    None but you is summoned when its embers blaze,

    and calamity's fang and claw sink into us.

  34. قواضٍ على صرف الحوادث بيضه

    مواضٍ لعمري في الكريهة سمره

    His bright swords vanquish the reversals of calamity;

    by my life, his brown spears prove keen in battle.

  35. إذا ما غزا معروفه النكر مَرَّةً

    فلله مغزاه وبالله نصره

    If ever his kindness wages war on evil,

    his campaign is for God, and through God comes his victory.

  36. تدفَّق في حوض المكارم جوده

    وحَلَّق في جَوٍّ من الفخر صقره

    His generosity poured into the pool of noble virtues,

    and his falcon soared through a sky of glory.

  37. فهل يَعْلَمَنَّ المجدُ أنَّك فخره

    وهل يعْلَمنَّ الجود أنَّك بحره

    Does glory truly know that you are its pride?

    And does generosity truly know that you are its sea?

  38. ومستعصم بالعزِّ منك وثوقه

    إليك إذا هاب الدنايا مفره

    One who seeks refuge in honor draws his confidence from you;

    to you he flees when he fears base deeds.

  39. وما خَفَيت حال عليك ظهورها

    وكيف وسرُّ العَبد عندك جهره

    No condition's outward signs are hidden from you;

    how could they be, when the servant's secret is open speech to you?

  40. فلا تحسبنِّي من ثراك مملّقاً

    ورُبَّ غنيٍّ ليس يبرح فقره

    So do not think me a flatterer for your riches;

    many a rich man is never free of poverty.

  41. وليس فقيراً من رآك له غنىً

    ولا آيساً مَن أنتَ ما عاش ذخره

    He is not poor who sees in you his wealth,

    nor hopeless who has you as his treasure for as long as he lives.

  42. فشكراً لأيديك الَّتي قد تتابعت

    إليَّ بما يستوجب الحمد شكره

    So thanks to your hands, whose favors have followed one another

    toward me, with gifts whose due thanks call for praise.

  43. ولو نظم الجوزاء فيك لما وفى

    بها نظمه المُثني عليك ونثره

    Even if he strung al-Jawza's stars in your honor, he could not do you justice

    with them, in the verse or prose he offers in your praise.

  44. وما يملأ الأقطار إلاَّ ثناؤه

    ويعذُب إلاَّ في مديحك شعره

    Nothing but his praise fills the lands,

    and his poetry is sweet only in your praise.