1. يَميناً بربِّ النجم والنجم إذ يسري

    ومَن أنزل الآيات في مُحكَمِ الذكرِ

    I swear by the Lord of the star, and by the star as it travels by night,

    and by Him who sent down the verses in the definitive Scripture:

  2. لقد أشرقت بغدادُ منذ أتَيتها

    كما تُشْرِقُ الظَّلماءُ من طلعة البدر

    Baghdad has indeed shone since you came to her,

    as darkness shines at the rising of the full moon.

  3. فراحَتْ كما راحَتْ خميلةُ روضةٍ

    سَقَتْها الغوادي المستهلّ من القطر

    She flourished like a garden's luxuriant grove,

    watered by morning clouds with pouring rain.

  4. وما سرَّها شيءٌ كمقدمِكَ الَّذي

    يبدل منها صورة اليسْرِ بالعُسْر

    Nothing delighted her like your arrival, which

    brings her the aspect of ease in place of hardship.

  5. وكم فرح من بعد حزن وراحة

    من النصب الجاني على العدل بالجور

    And how much joy after sorrow, and relief

    from the hardship that wronged justice with oppression!

  6. فلا ذنبَ للأيَّام من بعدِ هذه

    فَقَدْ جاءَت الأيام للناس بالعذر

    The days bear no blame after this,

    for the days have brought people their excuse.

  7. تناءَيْتَ عنها لا ملالاً ولا قلًى

    ولكن رأيتَ الوصل من ثمر الهجر

    You drew far away from her, neither from weariness nor hatred,

    but because you saw reunion among separation's fruits.

  8. وما غِبتَ عنها حين غِبتَ حقيقة

    وكيفَ ولم تخرج هنيهة من فكر

    When you were absent, you were not truly absent from her:

    how could you, when not for an instant were you out of mind?

  9. رأيت مقاماً لا يرى الفرق عنده

    من العالم النحرير والجاهل الغمر

    You saw a place where no distinction was made

    between the accomplished scholar and the ignorant novice.

  10. ولا بدَّ للأَشياء من نقدِ عارفٍ

    يُمَيِّزُ بينَ الصِّفر والذَهَب التّبر

    Things must be appraised by one who knows,

    who distinguishes brass from unworked gold.

  11. غَضِبْتَ ولا يُرضيكَ إلاَّ نهوضُه

    إذا رَبَضَ اللَّيثُ الهَصورُ على الضُّرِّ

    You grew angry, and only its rising could satisfy you,

    when the mighty lion crouches amid affliction.

  12. فجرَّدتها كالمشرفيِّ عزيمةً

    تَتَبَّعُ آثار الخطوب وتستقري

    So you unsheathed a resolve like a Mashrafi blade,

    following calamities' tracks and searching them out.

  13. وأقْلَعْت عن دارٍ جدير بأنَّها

    تشينُ أباة الضَّيْم فيها وإنْ تزري

    And you departed from a dwelling all too apt

    to shame those there who reject oppression, even to demean them.

  14. وما زلتَ تطوي كلَّ بيداء نفنف

    وتركبُ منها ظهر شاهقة وعر

    You kept traversing every vast desert,

    and riding over its towering, rugged ridges.

  15. وسرتَ إلى مجدٍ أثيلٍ وسؤدد

    فمن منزلٍ عزٍّ إلى منزلٍ فخر

    You journeyed toward deep-rooted glory and eminence,

    from a station of honor to a station of pride,

  16. إلى الغاية القصوى الَّتي ما وراءها

    إذا عُدَّتِ الغايات مأوًى لذي حجر

    to the utmost goal, beyond which there is no

    abode for the discerning, when goals are counted.

  17. نشرتَ بأرض الرُّوم عِلماً طويته

    بجنْبَيك حتَّى ارتاع في ذلك النشر

    In the land of Rum you unfolded knowledge you had kept folded

    within your breast, until its unfolding stirred awe.

  18. وسُرَّ أميرُ المؤمنين بما رأى

    ولاحَ وأيم الله منشرح الصدر

    The Commander of the Faithful rejoiced at what he saw,

    and appeared—by God!—with his heart uplifted.

  19. أشارَ إليك الدِّينُ أنَّك ركنُه

    وقال له الإِسلامُ أُشْدُدْ به أزري

    Religion pointed to you, declaring you its pillar,

    and Islam said to him, 'Strengthen my back through him.'

  20. وما ظنَّت الرُّوم العراق بأنَّه

    يجرُّ عليك فيك أردية الفخر

    Rum never imagined that Iraq

    would, because of you, trail robes of pride over you.

  21. وما شاد قسطنطين ما شدتَ من عُلًى

    مُؤبَّدة تبقى على أبدِ الدهر

    Constantine did not build the heights you have built,

    everlasting, enduring for all time.

  22. فدتك الأَعادي من رفيع محلق

    كأَن يبتغي وصلاً من الأَنجم الزّهر

    May your enemies ransom you—how lofty and soaring you are,

    as though seeking union with the shining stars!

  23. كفى الرُّوم فخراً لو دَرَتْ مثلما تدري

    وهيهات أن تدري وهيهات ن تدري

    Rum would have pride enough, if it knew as you know,

    but far from knowing it is—far indeed from knowing—

  24. بما قد حباك الله منه بفضله

    من الهيبة العظمى ومن شرف النجر

    what God has bestowed on you from Himself, by His grace:

    supreme majesty and nobility of lineage.

  25. وآيتك الآيات جئتَ بما انطَوَتْ

    عليها من الأَسرار في السر والجهر

    Your sign is the verses: you brought forth what they enfold

    of secrets, both hidden and revealed.

  26. كشفت معمَّاها وخضت غمارها

    وأَنْفَقْتَ في تفسيرها أنفس العمر

    You unveiled their obscurities and plunged into their depths,

    and spent the most precious part of your life explaining them.

  27. وأوضَحْتَ أسرار الكتاب بفطنةٍ

    تزيلُ ظلامَ اللَّيل من غُرَّة الفجر

    You clarified the Book's secrets with an acumen

    that clears night's darkness from the bright brow of dawn.

  28. وقفتَ على إيضاح كلّ عويصةٍ

    مواقف لم تُعْرَف لزيد ولا عمرو

    You took your stand to elucidate every difficult question,

    taking stands never known of Zayd or Amr.

  29. وأغنيت بالأَسفار وهي كوامل

    ثمانيةً عن ما حوت مائتا سفر

    You made your complete volumes sufficient:

    eight in place of what two hundred volumes contained.

  30. ومَن حازَ ما قد حُزْتَ عِلماً فإنَّه

    غَنيٌّ عن الدُّنيا مليٌّ من الوفر

    Whoever attains the knowledge you have attained

    needs nothing of the world, being rich in abundance.

  31. إذا احتاجك السُّلطان تعلم أنَّه

    بذلك يمتاز المقلُّ من المثري

    When the sultan needs you, you know that

    the needy is thereby distinguished from the wealthy.

  32. أرى دولةً أصْبَحْتَ من علمائها

    مؤيَّدة الأَحزاب بالفتح والنصر

    I see a state, now that you are among its scholars,

    whose ranks are upheld by conquest and victory.

  33. أرعْتَ أُولي الأَلباب منها بحكمةٍ

    بروح أرسطاليس منها على ذعر

    You awed its people of understanding with a wisdom

    that leaves the spirit of Aristotle in dread.

  34. قضَتْ عجباً منها العقول بما رأت

    وما بَصُرَتْ يوماً بمثلك في عصر

    Minds were overwhelmed with wonder at what they saw of it,

    having never seen your like in any age.

  35. برزتَ مع البرهان في كلِّ موطنٍ

    من البحث لا يبقي اللباب مع القشر

    You came forward with proof in every arena

    of inquiry, leaving no kernel mingled with husk.

  36. فأَفْسَدْتَ للإِلحادِ أمراً دَحَضْتَهُ

    فليسَ له فيها وليٌّ من الأَمر

    Thus you destroyed the cause of unbelief, refuting it,

    and it has no champion there with any authority.

  37. عذوبةُ لفظ في فصاحة منطقٍ

    وعينيك لولا حرمة الخمر كالخمر

    Sweetness of wording in eloquent speech—

    by your eyes, were wine not forbidden, it would be like wine!

  38. ورُبَّ بيانٍ في كلامٍ تصوغُه

    إذا لم يكن سِحراً فضربٌ من السِّحر

    And many an eloquent expression in words you fashion,

    if not magic, is a kind of magic.

  39. وما زلتَ بالحسَّاد حتَّى تركتها

    وقد طُوِيَتْ منها الضلوعُ على الجمر

    You persisted against the envious until you left them

    with their ribs folded around burning coals.

  40. فتكتَ بها فتك الكميّ بسيفه

    كما يفتك الإِيمانُ في مِلَّة الكفر

    You struck them down as an armored warrior strikes with his sword,

    as faith strikes at the creed of unbelief.

  41. وكنتُ أُمَنِّي النفسَ فيك بأنْ أرى

    صَديقَك في خيرٍ وخصمكَ في شرّ

    I used to comfort my soul, concerning you, with hopes of seeing

    your friend in good fortune and your opponent in misfortune.

  42. وما زالَ قولي قبل هذا وهذه

    لعلِّي أرى الأيامَ باسمةَ الثغر

    Before this and that, I kept saying,

    'Perhaps I shall see the days with smiling lips.'

  43. فلله عندي نعمةٌ لا يَفي بها

    بما قد بلغتَ اليوم حمدي ولا شكري

    For God has granted me a blessing that neither

    my praise nor thanks can repay: what you have attained today.

  44. وما نلتَ مقدار الَّذي أنتَ أهلُهُ

    على عظم ما نَوَّلْتَ من رفعة القدر

    Yet you have not attained the measure of what you deserve,

    despite the greatness of the exalted rank you have been granted.

  45. كأنِّي بقومٍ فارقوك فأصْبحوا

    ولَوْعتُهم تذكو وعبرَتُهم تجري

    I seem to behold people who parted from you, now

    their anguish flaring and their tears flowing.

  46. تحنُّ إلى مرآك في كلِّ ساعةٍ

    فتأسَفُ إنْ سافرتَ عنهم في السفر

    They yearn to behold you at every hour,

    and grieve if, in your travels, you depart from them.

  47. وإنْ سَمَحَتْ منهم بمثلك أنفسٌ

    فما هي إلاَّ أسْمَحُ النَّاس بالبرّ

    If souls among them willingly yield one like you,

    they are surely the most generous of people in goodness.

  48. وما صَبَرَتْ عنك النفوس وإنَّما

    يصبِّرها تعليلُ عاقبة الصبر

    Their souls have not borne your absence patiently; rather,

    hope in patience's outcome makes them patient.

  49. تَغَرَّبْتَ عاماً طالَ كالشهر يومه

    ويا ربَّ يوم كانَ أطول من شهر

    You spent a year abroad, each day as long as a month,

    and oh, how many a day was longer than a month!

  50. تكلَّفْتَ أمراً للحلاوة بعده

    ولا تخطب الحسناء إلاَّ على مهر

    You undertook a hardship for the sweetness to come after it;

    a beautiful woman is not wooed without a dower.

  51. وإنِّي بتذكاريك آناً فمثله

    صريع مدام لا يفيق من السكر

    And at a moment's remembrance of you, I am like

    one felled by wine, never awakening from intoxication.

  52. مَلَلْت الثوى حتَّى طربت إلى النَّوى

    وحتَّى رأيت الأرض أضيق من شبر

    I grew weary of staying until I longed for departure,

    until I saw the earth as narrower than a handspan.

  53. ولو أنَّني أسطيع عنه تزحزحاً

    قذفتُ إليك العيسَ في المهمه القفر

    If only I could move away from it,

    I would drive the pale camels toward you through the trackless, barren waste.

  54. وليس لنفسي عنك في أحَدٍ غنًى

    وكيف يُرى الظَّامي غنيًّا عن البحر

    My soul can find in no one a substitute for you:

    how could the thirsty be thought to have no need of the sea?

  55. بعثت إلينا بالحياة لأنفسٍ

    على رَمَقٍ يدعو إلى البعث والنشر

    You sent us life for souls

    on their last breath, calling for resurrection and rising again.

  56. فَضَمَّ إلينا من يعيد حياتنا

    كما ضُمَّ شطرُ الشيء يوماً إلى شطر

    Thus the one who restores our life was joined to us,

    as one half of a thing was once joined to another.

  57. فيا كُثْرَ ما قد نَوَّلَتْنا يد المنى

    وعادَتُها الإمساك بالنائل النزر

    Oh, how much the hand of wishes has bestowed on us,

    though its habit is to withhold even a scant gift!

  58. لتصفو لنا الدنيا فقد طاب عيشنا

    وضاء محياها بأيامك الغر

    May the world be serene for us, for our life has grown sweet,

    and its face has shone with your radiant days.

  59. أعادَتْ علينا العرف من بعد فقده

    فلا قابَلَتْنا بعد ذلك بالنكر

    It has restored kindness to us after its loss;

    may it never afterward meet us with unkindness.

  60. نشيرُ إلى هذا الجناب كأنَّنا

    نشيرُ إلى رؤيا الهلال من الفطر

    We point toward this noble presence as though

    pointing to the crescent's appearance at the breaking of the fast.

  61. وما كانَ يوم العيد بمثله

    إذا كانَ في فطر وإنْ كانَ في نحر

    No feast day was ever its equal,

    whether the feast of breaking the fast or of sacrifice.

  62. وذلك يومٌ يعلَمُ الله أنَّه

    ليذهَبَ تعبيسُ الحوادث بالبشْرِ

    That is a day which God knows

    dispels calamities' frown with gladness.

  63. لك الفضل والحسنى قريباً ونائياً

    وأيْدٍ لأيْد من أناملها العَشْرِ

    Yours are generosity and kindness, near and far,

    and gifts for other hands from your ten fingers.

  64. ولو حُصِدَتْ أيديك فينا حصرْتها

    ولكنها ممَّا يجلُّ عن الحَصْرِ

    If your favors to us could be harvested, I would count them,

    but they are too great to be counted.