1. أُعيذُكَ أَن تَسمو إِلَيكَ الحَوادِثُ

    وَأَن تَتَغشّاكَ الخُطوبُ الكَوارِثُ

    I seek protection for you lest calamities rise against you,

    and lest crushing afflictions engulf you.

  2. سَليلَ العُلى لا زِلتَ في ظِلِّ نِعمَةٍ

    لَكَ المَجدُ ثانٍ وَالسَلامَةُ ثالِثُ

    Scion of eminence, may you ever dwell beneath a blessing's shade,

    with glory your second companion and safety your third.

  3. وَجُزتَ المَدى في خَفضِ عَيشٍ وَعِزَّةٍ

    يَدينُ لَها سامٍ وَحامٍ وَيافِثُ

    And may you surpass the farthest bounds in ease of life and might

    to which Shem, Ham, and Japheth submit.

  4. وَلا زالَتِ الأَقدارُ تَجري مُطيعَةً

    لِأَمرِكَ حَتّى يَبعَثَ الخَلقَ باعِثُ

    And may destinies ever run obediently

    to your command, until the Resurrector raises creation.

  5. وَسالَمَتِ الأَيّامُ نادِيَكَ الَّذي

    بِهِ كُلَّ مَجدٍ مُجمَعِ الأَمرِ لابِثُ

    May the days remain at peace with your assembly,

    where all glory, firm in purpose, abides.

  6. لَعَمري لَقَد أَشبَهتَ فَضلاً وَسُؤدَداً

    أَباكَ عَلِيّاً حينَ تَبدو النَكائِثُ

    By my life, you have resembled, in excellence and lordship,

    your father Ali, when mettle is revealed.

  7. وَأُقسِمُ ما ماتَت سَجاياهُ في العُلى

    وَأَنتَ لَها يا اِبنَ المَيامينِ وارِثُ

    And I swear his noble qualities have not died,

    and you, O son of the blessed, are their heir.

  8. لَكَ الكَرَمُ الغَمرُ الَّذي يُحدِثُ الغِنى

    وَغَيرُكَ يلوي في النَّدى وَيُماغِثُ

    Yours is the overflowing generosity that brings wealth,

    while others stall over giving and wrangle.

  9. عَفَفتَ وَجانَبتَ الأَذى غَيرَ عاجِزٍ

    وَقَد مَلَأَت كُلَّ البِلادِ الهَثاهِثُ

    You practiced restraint and shunned harm, not through helplessness,

    though the rabble had filled every land.

  10. فَتىً نَبَوِيُّ الطَبعِ لا تَستَخِفُّهُ ال

    مَثاني إِذا ما حُرِّكَت وَالمَثالِثُ

    A young man of prophetic nature, unmoved by the

    second and third strings when they are plucked.

  11. إِذا الخَمرُ أَفنى عَيثُها مالَ باخِلٍ

    فَإِنَّ نَداهُ الغَمرَ في المالِ عائِثُ

    If wine's ravages consume a miser's wealth,

    then his overflowing bounty ravages wealth.

  12. وَإِن عَبَثَت أَيدي اللَيالي بِسَيِّدٍ

    فَإِنَّ يَدَيهِ بِاللَيالي عَوابِثُ

    And if the nights' hands toy with a lord,

    his hands, in turn, toy with the nights.

  13. جَرى وَجَرَت أَهلُ العُلى فَأَتى المَدى

    جُموحاً وَأَقعى كَلبهُم وَهو لاهِثُ

    He raced, and the people of eminence raced; he reached the finish

    unchecked, while their dog sat on its haunches, panting.

  14. فَقُل لِمُبارِيهِ رُوَيدَكَ فَاِتّئد

    مَتى صَحِبَت شُهبَ البُزاةِ الأَباغِثُ

    So tell his rival: Take your time; proceed slowly.

    When have weak birds ever accompanied gray falcons?

  15. مَتى يَجرِ خَلفَ الأَعوَجِيِّ اِبنُ كَودَنٍ

    فَيا قُربَ ما تَحثو عَلَيهِ الكَثاكِثُ

    Whenever a hack's foal runs behind an A‘waji steed,

    how soon you will heap dust upon him!

  16. فَلو أَنَّ قُسّاً في الفَصاحَةِ رامَهُ

    لَأَكدى وَلاِنهارَت عَلَيهِ المَباحِثُ

    Were Quss to seek to match him in eloquence,

    he would fail, and the lines of argument would collapse upon him.

  17. يُقِرُّ لَهُ في الجودِ كَعبٌ وَحاتِمٌ

    وَفي الحِلمِ وَالإِقدامِ قَيسٌ وَحارِثُ

    Ka‘b and Hatim concede his superiority in generosity,

    and Qays and Harith in forbearance and daring.

  18. إِذا لاثَ يَوماً حَبوَةً فَكَأَنَّهُ

    عَلى الطودِ مِن أَعلى أَبانينَ لائِثِ

    When one day he winds a sitting-wrap about himself, it is as though

    he were winding it round the highest peak of Abanayn.

  19. لَهُ العَطَنُ الرَّحبُ الَّذي لَم تَزَل بِهِ

    رِكابُ الأماني وَالرِياض الأَثائِثُ

    His is the spacious watering-place where always abide

    the riding camels of hopes and the luxuriant meadows.

  20. يُنادي إِلَيهِ الراغِبينَ سَماحُهُ

    وَأَخلاقُهُ الغُرُّ الحِسانُ الدَمائِثُ

    His generosity calls those seeking favor to him,

    as do his bright, fair, gentle qualities.

  21. إِذا ما دَعاهُ الرّاغِبونَ لِحاجَةٍ

    فَلا الصَوتُ مَحجوبٌ وَلا الجودُ رائِثُ

    When seekers call upon him for a need,

    no voice is shut out, and his bounty is never slow.

  22. هُوَ الغَيثُ لَكن طَلُّهُ وَرَذاذهُ

    يَغصُّ بِهِ قُريانُهُ وَالمدالِثُ

    He is the rain—yet even his dew and drizzle

    fill his watercourses and lowlands to overflowing.

  23. كَريمُ الثَنا لا العِرضُ مِنهُ رَدِيَّةٌ

    تُصابُ وَلا زِندُ النَدى مِنهُ غالِثُ

    Nobly praised, his honor is no target

    to be struck, nor does his fire-stick of bounty fail to kindle.

  24. هُمامٌ مَتى تَقصِدهُ تَقصِد مُيَمّماً

    جَواداً عَلى عِلّاتِهِ لا يُمالِثُ

    A resolute lord: whenever you seek him, you seek one people turn to,

    generous despite his difficulties, making no empty promises.

  25. جَزى اللَّهُ تاجَ الدّينِ خَيراً فَإِنَّهُ

    بِهِ تُدفَعُ الجُلّى وَتُكفى الهَنابِثُ

    May God reward Taj al-Din with good, for indeed

    through him great calamity is repelled and turmoil averted.

  26. فِدىً لأَبي زَيدٍ رِجالٌ قُلوبُهُم

    عَنِ الخَيرِ غُلفٌ وَالحبالُ رَثائِثُ

    May men be Abu Zayd's ransom—men whose hearts

    are closed to goodness, and whose ropes are frayed.

  27. لَهُم أَلسُنٌ سُمجٌ وَأَيدٍ لَئِيمَةٌ

    وَأَندِيَةٌ زُعرٌ وَمالٌ جُثاجِثُ

    They have foul tongues and mean hands,

    bare gathering-places and paltry scraps of wealth.

  28. وَإِنَّ العُروقَ الطَّيّباتِ فُروعُها

    نَوامٍ وَلا تَنمو العُروقُ الخَبائِثُ

    Indeed, the branches of good roots

    flourish, whereas vile roots do not grow.

  29. فَتىً لا يُباري جارَهُ جارُ غَيرِهِ

    وَهَل يَستوي عَيمانُ قَومٍ وَآبِثُ

    A young man whose neighbor no other man's neighbor can rival:

    can a man thirsting for milk among a people equal one who is sated?

  30. فَتىً لَم تَزَل أَخلاقُهُ وخِلالُهُ

    عَلى حَمدِهِ في كُلِّ يَومٍ بَواعِثُ

    A young man whose character and qualities have always

    been reasons to praise him every day.

  31. فَقُل لِلَّذي آلى يَميناً لَقَد رَأى

    لَهُ ثانياً كَفِّر فَإِنَّكَ حانِثُ

    So tell the man who swore an oath that he had indeed seen

    his equal: Make atonement, for you are forsworn.

  32. لِيَهنِكَ عِيدٌ أَنتَ أَحلى شَمائِلاً

    وَأَحسَنُ مِنهُ إِن تَنَكَّرَ حادِثُ

    May the feast delight you—you are sweeter in disposition

    and fairer than it, should misfortune show a grim face.

  33. وَعِشتُ حَميداً أَلفَ عيدٍ مُجَدَّدٍ

    تَلوثُ بِعَلياكَ الرِّجالُ الملاوِثُ

    And may I live, well praised, through a thousand renewed feasts,

    while men sought as refuges cling to your eminence.

  34. فَدُونَكَها يا اِبنَ النَّبيِّ غَريبَةً

    تُخَبِّرُ أَنَّ العائِبيها هَلابِثُ

    So take this rare poem, O son of the Prophet,

    which declares that its detractors are base fellows.

  35. جَمَعتُ بِها سِحرَ الكَلامِ الَّذي اِختَفى

    قَديماً فَلَم يَنفُث بِهِ قَبلُ نافِثُ

    I gathered in it the magic of speech that lay hidden

    of old, never breathed before by any spell-blower.