1. شَجَتْني وقد تُشجي الطلولُ الهوامدُ

    معالمُ أَقْوَتْ بالفضا ومعاهدُ

    They grieved me, and lifeless ruins can indeed bring grief—

    Landmarks and dwelling sites left deserted in the open waste.

  2. وأَيْسَرُ وَجْدي أنَّني في عراصها

    أُذيبُ عليها القلبَ والقلبُ جامد

    The least of my anguish is that, in their courtyards,

    I melt my heart over them, though the heart is solid.

  3. وقفتُ بها أستمطرُ العين ماءها

    وأَسأَلُ عن سكَّانها وأُناشد

    I stood among them, begging my eye to rain its water,

    And asking about their inhabitants, imploring an answer.

  4. وما انهلَّ وبل الدَّمع حتَّى تأَجَّجت

    من الوجد نيران الفؤاد الخوامد

    No torrent of tears poured down until there flared

    From longing, the heart's dormant fires.

  5. فلا ماء هاتيك المدامع ناضب

    ولا حرّ هاتيك الأَضالع خامد

    The water of those tearful eyes never runs dry,

    Nor is the heat of those ribs extinguished.

  6. خليليَّ ما لي كلَّما لاحَ بارقٌ

    تنبَّه وَجْدي والعيون هواجد

    My two friends, why is it that whenever lightning gleams,

    My longing wakes while eyes lie sleeping,

  7. وأُوقِدَ هذا الشوقُ تحت أضالعي

    فهل يوقد الشوق المبرّح واقد

    And this yearning is kindled beneath my ribs?

    Is there a kindler who kindles this agonizing longing?

  8. فليتَ خيالَ المالكيَّةِ زائري

    فأشكو إليه في الهوى ما أُكابد

    Would that al-Malikiyya's phantom visited me,

    So I might complain to it of what I endure in love.

  9. وعهدي بربع المالكيَّةِ مَصْرَعٌ

    إذا خَطَرَتْ فيه الحسان الخرائد

    I remember al-Malikiyya's dwelling as a place of undoing,

    Whenever lovely, modest maidens swayed through it.

  10. أَحبَّتنا أمَّا الغرام وحَرُّه

    فباقٍ وأَمَّا الاصطبار فنافد

    Our beloveds, as for passion and its heat,

    They remain; but patience is spent.

  11. وإنِّي لفي عصرٍ أضَرَّ بأهلِه

    وأَغْرَبُ شيء فيه خِلٌّ مساعد

    I live indeed in an age that has harmed its people,

    And its rarest thing is a friend who gives support.

  12. وما ضرَّني فقدي به ثروة الغنى

    فلا الفضل منحطٌّ ولا النقص صاعد

    My lack of riches in it has not harmed me;

    For merit does not sink, nor does deficiency rise.

  13. ترفَّعْتُ عن أشياءَ تُزري بأهْلِها

    وما أنا ممَّن دنَّسَتْهُ المفاسد

    I have risen above things that disgrace those who practice them,

    And I am not one whom corrupt practices have defiled.

  14. وإنِّي لِمَنْ يبغي ودادي لطامعٌ

    وبالمُعرضِ المُزْوَرِّ عنَّي لزاهد

    I am indeed eager for whoever seeks my affection,

    And indifferent to whoever turns away and shuns me.

  15. جَريْتُ بميدان التجارب برهةً

    وقد عرَّفتني بالرجال الشدائد

    I raced in the arena of experience for a time,

    And hardships have acquainted me with men.

  16. وما النَّاس إلاَّ ما عَرَفْتُ بكشفها

    صديقٌ مداجٍ أو عدوٌّ معاند

    People are just as I learned when hardships laid them bare:

    A dissembling friend or an obstinate enemy.

  17. إذا خانكَ الأدنى الَّذي أنت واثقٌ

    به فحريٌّ أنْ تَخونَ الأباعد

    If the closest one betrays you—the one you trust—

    Then those more distant are all the likelier to betray you.

  18. أعد نظراً في النَّاس إن كنت ناقداً

    فقد يتلافى صحة النقد ناقد

    Look at people anew, if you are a discerning critic;

    For a critic may yet restore sound judgment.

  19. مضى النَّاس والدنيا وقد آل أمرها

    إلى غير ما تهوى الكرام الأماجد

    The people are gone, and the world's course has turned

    To something other than what the noble and illustrious desire.

  20. وأصبَحْتُ في جيل الفساد ولم يكن

    لِيَصْلُحَ هذا الجيل والدهر فاسد

    I have come to live in a generation of corruption; it could not

    Be righteous while the age itself is corrupt.

  21. فإنْ عُدَّت الآحاد في الجود والتقى

    لقومٍ فعبد الواحد اليوم واحد

    If rare exemplars are counted for generosity and piety

    Among a people, Abd al-Wahid today stands alone.

  22. يُعدُّ لإيصال الصِّلات محلُّه

    وتعمر فيه للصّلاة مساجد

    His abode is prepared for the bestowal of gifts,

    And mosques are maintained there for prayer.

  23. ملابس تقوى الله في البأس دونها

    صدور العوالي والسيوف البوارد

    Garments of reverence for God, before which in battle

    The points of lofty lances and keen swords fall short.

  24. جناب مريع يستمد بمدّه

    وتلقى إلى ذاك الجناب القلائد

    A fertile court, from whose bounty help is drawn,

    And necklaces are cast toward that court.

  25. يلوح إذا ما لاح بارق جوده

    كما لاح برق في الغمائم راعد

    He shines whenever the lightning of his bounty flashes,

    As thunderous lightning flashes through the clouds.

  26. لقد زرع المعروف في كل موطنٍ

    وزارعه للحمد والشكر حاصد

    He has sown kindness in every place,

    And its sower reaps praise and gratitude.

  27. يكاد يقول الشعر لولا جميله

    لما طال لي باعٌ ولا اشتدّ ساعد

    Poetry almost says: Were it not for his kindness,

    My arm span would not have lengthened, nor my forearm grown strong.

  28. إذا اقترنا شعري وكوكب سعده

    وشوهد منا المشتري وعطارد

    When my poetry and the star of his fortune conjoin,

    And Jupiter and Mercury are beheld in us,

  29. تَفَتَّحُ أزهارُ الكلام وأشرقَتْ

    بآفاق أقطار الفخار فراقد

    The flowers of speech unfold, and there shine

    Farqad stars on the horizons of glory's realms.

  30. أُشاهِدُ في النادي أساير وجهه

    فأنظر أبهى ما أرى وأشاهد

    In the gathering I watch, following his face,

    And behold the most radiant of all I see and witness.

  31. إذا ما انتمى يوماً لأكرم والدٍ

    فبورك مولودٌ وبورك والد

    When one day he traces his descent to the noblest father,

    Blessed be the child, and blessed be the father.

  32. بنفسي رفيع القدر عالٍ محله

    تنال الثُّرّيا كفُّه وهو قاعد

    My life for one of lofty worth and exalted station,

    Whose hand reaches the Pleiades while he sits.

  33. له حيث حلّ الأكرمون من العلى

    مقامٌ كريمٌ في العُلى ومقاعد

    He has, where the noblest dwell in the heights,

    A noble station in those heights, and seats of honor.

  34. كريم يُنيلُ المستنيلين نَيْلَه

    ومن كرم الأخلاق ما هو رافد

    Generous, he grants his bounty to those who seek it,

    And the aid he gives springs from nobility of character.

  35. فما خاب في تلك المكارم آملٌ

    ولا سُرَّ في نعمائه قطُّ حاسد

    No hopeful soul has been disappointed in those noble deeds,

    Nor has any envier ever rejoiced at his blessings.

  36. مناهلُه للظامئين مواردٌ

    فلا نَضِبَتْ في الجود تلك الموارد

    His watering places are resorts for the thirsty;

    May those springs of generosity never run dry.

  37. تُشادُ بيوتُ المجد في مكرماته

    وتَرْفَعُ منها ما علاه قواعد

    Houses of glory are raised through his noble deeds,

    And their foundations lift what towers above them.

  38. حَثَثْنا إلى ذاك الجناب قلائصاً

    لها سائق منها إليه وقائد

    We urged young she-camels toward that court,

    With a driver and guide of their own leading them to him.

  39. وقد صَدَقتْنا بالذي هو أهْلُه

    ظُنونٌ بما نرجو به وعقائد

    And they have proved true to us about what befits him—

    Our expectations of what we hope for through him, and our convictions.

  40. من القوم موصول الجميل بمثله

    لنا صِلَةٌ من راحتيه وعائد

    He is of those whose kindness is joined to more of the same;

    We have a gift from his two palms, and recurring bounty.

  41. وما البرّ والإحسان إلاَّ خلائق

    وما الخير في الإنسان إلاَّ عوائد

    Righteousness and beneficence are nothing but traits of character,

    And goodness in a person is nothing but habit.

  42. تدلّ عليه بالثناء أدِلَّةٌ

    عليها من الفِعل الجميل شواهد

    Proofs point to him in praise,

    Backed by testimony from noble deeds.

  43. وأبقى له في الصالحات بواقياً

    وإنْ فَنيَ المعروف فالذكر خالد

    And they have left him enduring legacies among righteous deeds;

    Even if kindness perishes, its remembrance is eternal.

  44. تروح إليه الآملون وتغتدي

    فذا صادر عنه وذياك وارد

    Hopeful souls go to him in the evening and at dawn,

    One departs from him, and another arrives.

  45. ألا بأبي ذاك الهمام الَّذي له

    من الله عونٌ في الأمور وحاشد

    Ah, my father be ransom for that noble champion, who has

    From God, help in his affairs and a rallying ally.

  46. تُناخ مطايا المعتفين ببابه

    ويَنْفُقَ سوقُ الفضل والفضل كاسد

    The mounts of bounty-seekers kneel at his gate,

    And merit's market flourishes, though merit languishes.

  47. إذا أنا أنْشَدْتُ القريض بمدحه

    وَعَتْ أُذُنُ العلياء ما أنا أُناشد

    When I recite poetry in his praise,

    The ear of glory heeds what I recite.

  48. وكم جابتِ الأرضَ البسيطة باسمِهِ

    قوافٍ سوارٍ في الثناء شوارد

    How many have crossed the wide earth bearing his name—

    Night-traveling rhymes, far-ranging in praise.

  49. تُقَلِّدُ جيدَ الدهر منها قلائداً

    ويا ربَّ جيدٍ زيَّنَتْه القلائد

    They hang necklaces of themselves about Time's neck;

    And how many a neck have necklaces adorned!

  50. وكم نظمت في عقود مدائح

    مزاياه في تلك العقود فرائد

    And how many praises have I strung into necklaces,

    His virtues the unique gems in those necklaces.

  51. رعَيْتَ رعاك الله حقَّ رعايتي

    فأفعالُك الغرُّ الجياد محامد

    You have given me my due care—may God care for you;

    Your shining, excellent deeds are worthy of praise.

  52. فَدَعْ غير ما تهوى فإنَّك مفلحٌ

    وخُذْ بالذي تهوى فإنَّك راشد

    Leave aside what you do not desire, for you will prosper;

    And take up what you desire, for you are rightly guided.

  53. وإنك معروف بكلِّ فضيلةٍ

    وهلْ يجْحَد الشمس المضيئة جاحد

    You are known for every virtue;

    Can any denier deny the shining sun?

  54. فيا لك في الأماجد من متفضلٍ

    له طارف في الأمجدين وتالد

    What a benefactor you are among the illustrious!

    He has newly won and inherited glory among the most illustrious.

  55. بَلَغْنا بك الآمال وهي بعيدة

    وتمّت لنا فيما نروم المقاصد

    Through you we attained hopes that lay far away,

    And our aims in what we sought were fulfilled.

  56. فكلُّك يا فخر الكرام مكارمٌ

    وكلُّك يا مال العفاة فوائد

    You are nothing but noble virtues, O pride of the generous;

    And nothing but blessings, O wealth of those who seek bounty.

  57. شكرتك شكر الروض باكره الحيا

    يد المزن تمريها البروق الرواعد

    I thanked you as a meadow, visited early by rain, thanks

    The rainclouds' hand, which thunderous lightning milks.

  58. وها أنا حتَّى ينقضي العمر شاكر

    لنعماك ما بين البرية حامد

    Here I am, grateful until my life comes to an end,

    Praising your blessings among humankind.

  59. فلا زلت مقصوداً لكلِّ مُؤَمِّل

    ولا بَرِحَتْ تُتلى عليك القصائد

    May you ever remain sought by all who hope,

    And may poems never cease to be recited to you.