1. له كلّ يومٍ فيك واشٍ وعاذلُ

    وفي قلبِه شغل من الحبِّ شاغل

    Every day he faces, over you, a slanderer and a reproacher,

    and in his heart is an engrossing care born of love.

  2. أخو صبوةٍ أثرى من السهدِ طرفه

    ولكن له دمعٌ على الخدِّ سائل

    A man of passion, his eye grown rich in sleeplessness,

    yet tears of his stream down his cheek.

  3. مقيمٌ ولو جدَّ الرحيل على الوَلا

    ودانٍ وإن شطَّت عليه المنازل

    Steadfast in devotion, even when departure becomes urgent,

    and close, though the dwellings lie far from him.

  4. إذا غرَّدت ورق الحمائم في الضحى

    على فننٍ هاجت عليه البلابل

    When gray doves warble in the forenoon

    upon a bough, pangs of grief are stirred within him.

  5. وأغيد في عليا دمشق محلّه

    وفي لحظِه من صنعة السحر بابل

    And a supple youth whose dwelling is in upper Damascus,

    and in his glance is Babylon’s craft of sorcery.

  6. ولحظ إذا حفته أصداغ شعرِه

    فما هو إلا سيفه والحمائل

    And a glance, when his temple-locks surround it—

    it is nothing but his sword and its baldrics.

  7. تطاولت الأغصان تحكي قوامه

    وعند التناهي يقصر المتطاول

    The boughs stretched tall to imitate his stature,

    yet at the utmost reach, the aspiring one falls short.

  8. وفضلت الجوزا على البدرِ وجهه

    وقالَ السهى للشمسِ لونك حائل

    And al-Jawzāʾ preferred his face to the full moon,

    and al-Suhā told the sun, “Your hue has faded.”

  9. وأعيا فصيح الوصف بنت عذاره

    وعير قسّا بالفهاهة باقل

    The daughter of his cheek-down baffled the eloquent describer,

    and Bāqil taunted Quss for his inarticulacy.

  10. ولما مشى فوقَ البسيطة زانها

    وفاخرت الشهبَ الحصا والجنادل

    When he walked upon the earth, he adorned it,

    and pebbles and boulders rivaled the stars in pride.

  11. وما خفتُ من جهلِ العذول وإنما

    بغيضٌ إليَّ الجاهل المتعاقل

    It was not the reproacher’s ignorance that I feared; rather,

    I loathe the ignorant man who feigns wisdom.

  12. وإنِّي وإن كنت الأخير غرامه

    لآتٍ بما لم تستطعه الأوائل

    And I, though I am the last to love him,

    shall surely bring what those before me could not.

  13. تعشّقته كالبدر في الطرق مشرقاً

    فيا أسفي والبدر زاهٍ وآفل

    I loved him passionately, shining like the full moon along the roads,

    alas for me—the full moon shines and sets.

  14. وأسكنته كالضيف وسط جوانحي

    فيا حزني والضيفِ بالبيتِ داخل

    And I lodged him like a guest amid my ribs,

    alas, my grief—the guest has entered the house.

  15. لقد أعقبت قلبي صنوفاً كثيرةً

    من الشجوِ أيامُ اللقاءِ القلائل

    Indeed, my heart was left with many kinds

    of grief by those few days of meeting.

  16. سقى الله أيامَ اللقا سحبَ راحةٍ

    وزيريةٍ فهي الهوامي الهوامل

    May God water the days of meeting with clouds from a palm—

    a minister’s, for they stream and pour without restraint.

  17. وزير له في طالب الفضل راحةٌ

    ولكنها قد أتعبتها الفواضل

    A minister with a palm for the seeker of bounty,

    yet his bountiful deeds have wearied it.

  18. لقد قام عبد الله يدعو إلى الندى

    فأهوت شعوبٌ للرجا وقبائل

    Indeed, ʿAbd Allāh arose, calling to generosity,

    so peoples and tribes rushed forward in hope.

  19. له الله ما أوفى وأوفر سؤدداً

    إذا نوّهت بالسائدين المحافل

    God bless him—how full and abundant is his nobility,

    when assemblies extol the eminent!

  20. تردَّدَ في أفقِ الوزارة شخصه

    كما ردُّدت شهب السماء المنازل

    His figure moved to and fro in the ministry’s firmament,

    as the celestial stations bring back the stars of heaven.

  21. وعطَّل مغناها اتّباعاً لزهده

    وإن محلاَّ بان عنه لعاطل

    And he left its abode unadorned, following his renunciation,

    and a place he has left is truly unadorned.

  22. ألم ترَ شبَّاك الوزارة كله

    عيونٌ تراعي عوْدَه وتحاول

    Have you not seen the ministry’s whole lattice—

    eyes watching for his return and seeking it?

  23. سلوا عنهُ مصراً والشآم ففيهما

    شواهد من آثارِه ودلائل

    Ask Egypt and al-Shām about him, for in them both

    are testimonies of his deeds and proofs.

  24. ألم يُرْض أرض الواديين بحفّل

    من السحبِ إلا أنهنَّ أنامل

    Did he not satisfy the land of the two valleys with rain-laden

    clouds—except that they are fingertips?

  25. كلا وادييهما عاشق لنزوله

    على أنه في بلدةِ الأفق نازل

    Both their valleys yearn for his alighting,

    though he dwells in the town of the horizon.

  26. تغامز من هذي أصابع نيلها

    وهذي برقراق العيون تغازل

    From this one, the fingers of its Nile exchange winks,

    and this one flirts with the shimmer of its springs.

  27. وكلن عريقاً في المناصب بيته

    مكيناً إذا ما قيل كافٍ وكافل

    And his house was deeply rooted in high offices,

    firmly established whenever provider and guardian are named.

  28. فلا واصلاً حبلاً لمن هو قاطعٌ

    ولا قاطعاً حبلاً لمن هو واصل

    So he joins no cord to one who severs it,

    nor severs a cord with one who joins it.

  29. له قلمٌ كالغصن بالماءِ مثمرٌ

    ولكنه غصنٌ إلى الجودِ مائل

    He has a pen like a bough made fruitful by water,

    yet it is a bough inclined toward generosity.

  30. يسمّن بيت المال وهو هزيله

    ويفعل أفعال الظّبا وهو هازل

    It fattens the treasury while remaining lean itself,

    and performs the deeds of sword-blades while jesting.

  31. إذا هزَّ في الخطابِ فعالمٌ

    وإن هزَّ في يومِ الخطوب فعامل

    When wielded in discourse, it is a scholar,

    and if wielded on a day of crises, it is a man of action.

  32. إذا قلت يا للصاحبِ ابْتدرت إلى

    نداك معالٍ كالنجوم موائل

    When you cry, “O Minister, help!” there hasten toward

    your call lofty virtues, inclining like stars.

  33. فقل فيه ما شئتَ المقال مهنئاً

    فإنك في ظلِّ السيادة قايل

    So say of him whatever words you wish, in congratulation,

    for beneath the shade of lordship you rest at noon.

  34. هنيئاً لمولانا الوزير إيابه

    ومقفله في الذكر والأجر حاصل

    Joy to our lord the minister on his return!

    And his homecoming brings remembrance and reward.

  35. ولا برحت أوقاتنا ببقائهِ

    مواصلة أبكارها والأصائل

    And may our days, through his continued presence, never cease

    to join their mornings to their late afternoons.

  36. يكفُّ الأذى عن حالنا جود كفَّه

    ويروي لنا عنه عطاءٌ وواصل

    His palm’s bounty wards harm from our lives,

    and ʿAṭāʾ and Wāṣil tell us of him.