قاضي القضاة المرتجى دمت ذا

نعماه للصادر والواردِ

Judge of Judges, our hope, may you ever be one

Whose bounty serves the departing and the arriving.

بعض الورى يطلبني شاهداً

مع أنه ذو ورع زائد

Someone asks me to serve as a witness,

Despite his exceptional scrupulous piety.

فاعجب له من ورعِ ناسكٍ

من مثلي بالشاهد

So marvel at him, at an ascetic's scruples—

[Seeking testimony] from someone like me as a witness!

أهلاً بها بيضاء عاطرةٌ إذا

وصلت ينم بها شذاها والشذى

Welcome to her, fair and fragrant: when

She arrives, her scent and fragrance betray her.

سحارة الجفن الكحيل إذا رنت

عقدت لسان معوذٍ إن عوذا

Her kohl-dark eyelid bewitches: when she gazes,

She ties a charm-reciter's tongue if he tries his charms.

تلك التي حكمت سهام لحاظها

حكماً تأمله الجمال فنفذا

She is the one whose glances' arrows decreed

A judgment Beauty pondered, and which took effect.

تجري الدماء وسيفها في جفنه

نظراً وليس السحر إلاَّ هكذا

She makes blood flow, her sword still in its sheath,

With a glance—and magic is nothing but this.

آهاً لرشقِ سهامها في هدبها

والسهمُ أبعدُ ما يكون معذذا

Ah, for the arrows volleyed within her lashes!

And an arrow flies farthest when feathered [uncertain reading].

ولحاجبينِ إذا تعرّض ناظر

متأملٌ قالت لقوسيها خُذا

And for two eyebrows: when a watcher comes before them,

Gazing intently, she tells her two bows, 'Seize him!'

ولذلك الخدّ الخليليّ اللظى

لو ينتحي الصنم الأصمّ لجذّذا

And for that cheek, Abraham-like in its blaze:

If it turned upon the unhearing idol, it would shatter it.

قالت إذا غمضت جفونك فارتقب

طيفي فقلت لها نعمْ لكنْ إذا

She said, 'When your eyelids close, await

My phantom.' I said to her, 'Yes—but if...'

وسمعت عن سيفٍ ورمحٍ قبلها

حتى انثنت ورنت فقلت هما اللذا

And I had heard of a sword and a spear before her,

Until she swayed and gazed; I said, 'Those are the two!'

عشقي كمدح جمال دين الله لا

ينفكّ مشتغل الضمير بذا وذا

My love is like my praise of Jamal Din Allah: never

Does my mind cease to be engrossed in both.

المرتقي درجات مجدٍ جلّ أن

يجذو سواه وجلّ عن أن يحتذى

He scales the steps of a glory too sublime for

Another to stand upon, too exalted to be matched.

مترفع الأوصاف عن مدح الورى

فكأنما قول المديح له بذا

His qualities rise above all mortal praise,

So that praising him seems almost coarse speech.

جزل الندى والبأس لو لمس الصفا

لجرى ولو لمس الحديد لفلذَّا

Lavish in bounty and might: if he touched solid rock,

It would flow; if he touched iron, he would splinter it.

عرف الحيا كفيه لما أخجلا

بالبرق وجنته وقال هما اللذا

The rain recognized his palms when they made

Its cheek blush with lightning, and said, 'Those are the two!'

عالٍ على شرف النجوم كأنما

قدَمُ الثريا في القياس له حذا

High above the stars' summits, as though

The Pleiades' foot, by comparison, were his shoe.

وجد الأنام على قريحته هدًى

فرأوا ليوسفَ نار موسى تحتذى

People found guidance in his native genius,

And saw in Yusuf Moses' fire, a beacon to follow.

كم مقترٍ عانٍ يلذّذ أمره

وافى إلى أبوابه فتلذذا

How many a needy sufferer whose lot he sweetens

Has come to his gates and found delight!

ومعاودٍ منه اقتباس فوائد

لو شامها الأعشى الكبير تتلمذا

And many a seeker returning to glean insights from him—

Had the great al-A'sha glimpsed them, he would have become a pupil.

يمم حماه تجد سحاباً مشبماً

يهنى الندى وتلطفاً متبغذذا

Seek his sanctuary: you will find a cooling cloud

Bestowing bounty, and graciousness in Baghdad's manner.

وأناملاً خلقت لضمّ يراعةٍ

تجري ببسط الرزق أو كف الأذى

And fingers created to clasp a reed pen

That runs to spread sustenance or ward off harm.

وفضائلاً فخرت على كأس الطلا

في الذوق فهي خليقة أن تنبذا

And virtues that boast over the cup of wine

In savor—so the cup deserves to be cast aside.

كم من معاني مشرق في لفظه

راحت فلا كدر يشين ولا قذى

How many radiant meanings in his words

Have gone forth, unmarred by murk or mote!

كالنجم في صافي الغدير تظنه

أدنى منالاً وهو أبعد مأخذا

Like a star in a limpid pool, you imagine it

Nearer to hand, though farther beyond your grasp.

يا آل حماد الكرام بذكركم

نعش الزمان كأن ذكركمو غذا

O noble house of Hammad, through your remembrance

Time revives, as though remembering you were nourishment.

أما الزمان بكم فأصبح إذ رجا

نطقاً وأما بالأنامِ فقد هذا

Time, through you, became—when it found hope—

Eloquent; through other men, it has only raved.

خلّفتمُ للمكرمات ممدّحاً

أعدى على رتب الزمان وانفذا

You have bequeathed to noble deeds a much-praised man,

More formidable against Time's obstacles, more penetrating.

لله أنت لقد أجرت حشايَ من

همٍّ تحكمَ أمرُه واستحوذا

God bless you! You have sheltered my heart from

A grief whose sway had grown despotic and taken hold,

جانٍ عليَّ إذا اجْتهدت كواقع

في الفخِّ زاد عناه حين تجبَّذا

Wronging me: whenever I strove, I was like one

In a snare, whose suffering grew as he tugged against it.

حتَّى لجأت إلى جنابك شاكياً

فأجرتَ من ألقى الرَّجا وتعوذا

Until I sought refuge at your side, complaining,

And you sheltered one who placed his hope in you and sought protection.

كرماً كما نبع الزلال ومرحباً

وهدًى كما لمع الصباح فحبذا

With generosity like pure water welling forth, and welcome,

And guidance like dawn's gleam—how excellent!

الغيث أنتَ وأنتَ أكرم ديمةً

والسهم أنت وأنت أسرع منفذا

You are the rain, and you are most generous in steady showers;

You are the arrow, and you are swiftest to pierce through.