1. كلّ يوم سعادة مستهله

    جملة للوزير في إثر جملة

    Each day, a fresh happiness dawns,

    A full bounty for the minister, following another.

  2. كلما شدَّت الوزارة إزراً

    حمل الجيش في المعاند حمله

    Whenever the vizierate braces its back,

    The army charges against the defiant foe.

  3. ودعا الخاص ثلث مرقاه والثل

    ث كثيرٌ على الذي كانَ قبله

    And the privy office called for a third of his ascent—and a third

    Is much compared with the one who came before him.

  4. وأضيفت لذا وذا جمل الأنع

    ام يتلو جزيلها الحرّ جزله

    And to this and that were added heaps of favors;

    The noble man's bounty follows their lavish gifts.

  5. من تفاصيلها القماش رياضٌ

    مزهراتٌ على الغيوث أدله

    Among their particulars, the cloth is gardens,

    Flowering, bearing witness to the rains.

  6. فصلَّت قبلها له خلعٌ من

    زخرف الطَّرز كلّ يوم مظَله

    So, before them, robes of honor prayed for him,

    Of ornate embroidery, sheltering him each day.

  7. عوّذتها كما ترى سُوَرُ القر

    آن فضلاً يلائم الشكل شكله

    Suras of the Qur'an have protected them, as you see,

    A grace in which form accords with its like.

  8. هكذا هكذا تكون تفاصي

    ل عطايا يعوذها الملك بالله

    Thus, thus should be the particulars

    Of gifts the king protects by invoking God.

  9. سايرتها خيل العطا مسرجات

    في حلاها ومسرجات الأهله

    Beside them went the horses of bounty, saddled,

    In their adornments, setting crescents alight.

  10. كنسيم الصبا جنائب خطوٍ

    كلّ طرفٍ يقبِّل البرق نعله

    Led steeds, their step like the east wind's breeze;

    Lightning kisses the shoe of every swift steed.

  11. وبغال مثل البروج تحمل

    ن سعوداً بعينها مستقله

    And mules, like the constellations, bearing

    Auspicious stars themselves, lifting them aloft.

  12. لا كبغل مصر إذ قلت قدماً

    فيه أو في بغال صحبي الأذله

    Not like Egypt's mule, as I said long ago

    Of it, or of my wretched companions' mules:

  13. ليَ بغل لا يعرف الأكل عندِي

    غير أنَّ المياه للشربِ سهله

    I have a mule that never knows food in my keeping;

    Yet water for drinking is easy to come by.

  14. ليسَ في بطنه سوى الماء صرفاً

    إنَّ بغلي على الحقيقة قله

    Its belly contains nothing but pure water;

    My mule, in truth, is a water jar.

  15. خلّ هذا واذْكر منازلَ قصرٍ

    قاسميّ قد قسم السعد نزله

    Leave this aside, and speak of the chambers of a palace,

    Qasimi, whose hospitality good fortune has apportioned,

  16. بوزيرٍ فخرُ اسمه وعلاه

    مثلما كانَ أهلها كنَّ أهله

    With a minister, Fakhr in name and eminence;

    As their inhabitants were his family, so were they.

  17. خير دار حلَّت بها خير دارٍ

    يا سعيد الدارين يا ركن مله

    The finest home, where the finest household has settled—

    O blessed in both worlds, O pillar of the faith!

  18. واهتمام قد شاعَ ذكراً وشكراً

    ما روت مثله التواريخ قبله

    And such care, widely spoken of and thanked,

    The chronicles have never recounted its like before.

  19. كلّ مربع سماطه كربيع

    صاح يا مربع الخصيب ووبْله

    Each square of his banquet spread is like spring:

    O friend! O meadow of al-Khasib and his downpour!

  20. ليت عيني كشاجمٍ عاينته

    فتولى فرض الصفات ونفله

    Would that Kushajim's eyes had beheld it,

    And undertaken description's obligations and extra devotions.

  21. وأغان ومادحون سوى العب

    د فلا نسبةٌ ولا بعض أكله

    And songs and panegyrists other than this servant—

    No comparison, nor even a share of his food.

  22. يا وزيراً أقلامنا ركَّعٌ في

    مدح تجتلي محياه قبله

    O minister, our pens bow in

    Praise, beholding his face as their direction of prayer.

  23. يا مشيراً أشارَ خير السلاط

    ين إلى فضله فضاع فضله

    O counselor, the best of sultans pointed

    To his excellence, and his excellence spread its fragrance.

  24. حبَّذا الملك والوزير دعاه

    فخره فاقْتقى تقاه وعدله

    How admirable the king and the minister he called

    His pride, who emulated his piety and justice!

  25. يا ابن شكر وزير مصر كشكر

    لجوادٍ حفَّت له الناس بغله

    O Ibn Shukr, Egypt's minister—like thanks

    To a generous man whose mule the people thronged.

  26. لا ولا الفائزي فإن بعليا

    ك ولو فسح التمكّن سبله

    No, nor al-Fa'izi—for he could not match your lofty

    Station, even if opportunity opened its paths.

  27. لا ولا خصبة ابن حنا كأفرا

    حك بل نصله له بعد نصله

    No, nor Ibn Hanna's plenty is like your rejoicings—

    Rather, for him, blade after blade.

  28. فابقَ وافي الهناء متّصل السع

    د عليّ الحمى سنيّ الأكلَّه

    So remain in perfect happiness, with unbroken good fortune,

    Lofty in sanctuary, radiant in diadems.

  29. وتهنى إقبال سيدة الوق

    ت وأزكى حمى وأيمن حله

    And enjoy the coming of the lady of the age,

    And the purest sanctuary, the most auspicious abode.

  30. بالرفا والبنين في خدر بدر

    عن قريب يجلو عليك الأهله

    Harmony and sons to you, in a full moon's bridal chamber,

    Soon to unveil crescents before you.

  31. وأحبُّ لي الآن مدحة بنت يوم

    من طروس في حلةٍ بعد حله

    And dearest to me now is a panegyric, a day-old daughter,

    Born of manuscript leaves, in robe after robe.

  32. قيل لي ما اسمها الذي يلسع الض

    دّ وتجني حلاوة قلت نحله

    I was asked, 'What is her name—she who stings the foe

    And gathers sweetness?' I said, 'A bee.'