قاضي القضاة بيمنى حكمه القلم

يا ساريَ القصد هذا الباب والعلم

The chief of judges: the pen rests in his judgment's right hand.

O night-traveler on your quest, here are the gate and the landmark.

هذا اليراع الذي تجني الفخار به

يدُ الإمام التي معروفها أمَمُ

This is the reed pen with which you reap renown:

the imam's hand, whose beneficence lies near at hand.

إن آلم الحكم فقد الذاهبين فقد

وافى الهناء فزال اللبس والألمُ

If the loss of those departed has pained the judiciary, then

joy has arrived, dispelling confusion and pain.

ولىّ عليّ ووافى بعد مشبهه

كالسّيل أقبل لما ولّت الدّيم

Ali departed, and afterward came his likeness;

like a torrent, he came when the steady rains had passed.

لا يبعد الله أيام العلاء فما

يقضي حقوق ثناها في الأنام فمُ

May God not banish the days of al-Ala', for no

mouth among humankind can pay them their due in praise.

ويمنع الله بالراقي لرتبته

فقد تشابهت الأخلاق والشّيمُ

And may God grant protection through the one risen to his rank,

for their manners and natures are alike.

معْيي المماثل في علمٍ وفيض ندًى

فالسحب باكية والبحر ملتطمُ

He confounds any would-be equal in learning and overflowing bounty:

so the clouds weep, and the sea churns.

وكاتم الصدقات الغرّ تكرمةً

للمرء لو كانَ عرف المسك يكتتم

And he conceals his radiant alms out of respect

for their recipient—if musk's fragrance could be concealed.

وافى الشآم وما خلنا الغمام إذاً

بالشام ينشأ من مصرٍ وينسجم

He came to al-Sham; we had not thought a cloud could thus

rise from Egypt and pour down in al-Sham.

آهاً لمصرٍ وقد شابت لفرقته

فليس ينكر أن يعزى لها هرم

Alas for Egypt, grown gray at his departure!

No wonder she is credited with old age—and a pyramid.

تقاسمت بعد رؤياه الأسى ودرت

أن البلاد لها مثل الورَى قِسم

After beholding him, she shared in sorrow and learned

that lands, like humankind, have their allotted shares.

وأوحش الثغر من مرأى محاسنه

فما يكاد بوجه الدهر يبتسم

The port grew desolate, bereft of the sight of his graces;

it scarcely smiles upon the face of time.

ينشي وينشد فيه الثغر من أسفٍ

بيتاً تكاد له الأحشاء تضطرم

In sorrow the port composes and recites about him

a verse that almost sets the heart's depths aflame:

يا من يعزّ علينا أن نفارقهم

وجْداننا كل شيء بعدكم عدم

O you from whom it pains us to part,

everything we possess after you is nothing.

يزهو الشآم بمن فارقت طلعته

وا حرّ قلباه ممن قلبه شبم

Al-Sham exults in him from whose bright face I parted:

Ah, my burning heart, for one whose heart is cold!

نعم الهدى ونجوم الليل حائرة

والمجتدى وزمان المحل محتدم

What an excellent guide, when the stars of night are bewildered,

and source of bounty, when the season of drought rages!

أقسمت بالمرسلات السمر في يده

لقد تهيّب منها الأبيض الخدِم

I swore by the brown messengers in his hand:

the white sword, a servant, has indeed stood in awe of them.

وقائل أسرت مسراه قلت له

نعم المنام الذي أبصرتَ والحلم

And to one who said, 'I have mastered his course,' I replied:

What a fine vision you saw, and what a dream!

لو لم تنم لم تحاول في العلى طرقاً

زلّت بنجم الثريَّا دونها القَدَم

Had you not slept, you would not have attempted paths to glory

beneath which even the star of the Pleiades lost its footing.

كل الفصول ربيعٌ في منازله

وكل أشهرنا في بابه حرُمُ

All the seasons are spring in his dwellings,

and all our months at his gate are sacred.

يا واثق الظن في علياه عش أبداً

وأنت معتضدٌ بالسعد معتصم

O you whose trust rests in his greatness, live forever,

upheld by good fortune and secure in its protection.

ورُمْهُ إن طاشت الأيام أو بخلت

فالحلم والجود في ناديه مقتسم

And seek him if the days turn reckless or miserly,

for forbearance and generosity are shared out in his assembly.

هنالك الطود إلا أنه رجل

في كفِّه البحر إلا أنه كرم

There is a mountain—except that he is a man;

in his palm is the sea—except that it is generosity.

حبر طباق المعالي فيه متضحٌ

فالمال مفترق والمجد ملتئم

A scholar, in whom the antithesis of lofty deeds is plain:

for his wealth is scattered, while his glory is gathered.

وللجناس نصيب من مناقبِه

فالفضل والفصل والأحكام والحكم

And wordplay has its share in his virtues:

excellence and decisive judgment, rulings and wisdom.

ما يرفع الظن طرفاً في مكارمه

إلا وعزم الرجا بالنجح منجزم

Expectation never raises its gaze toward his noble deeds

without hope's resolve becoming certain of success.

لبشره وارتياح المكرمات به

مقدّمات عليها تنتج النعم

His smiling welcome and noble deeds' delight in him have

premises from which blessings follow.

قالت مناقبه العليا وما أفكت

هذا التقّي النقّي الطاهر العَلم

His lofty virtues said, without lying:

'This is the pious, pure, undefiled, eminent one.'

أهلاً بمحتكم الآراء فاصلها

والقاصدون على جدواه تحتكم

Welcome to the arbiter of opinions, who settles them,

and seekers appeal to his bounty for judgment.

كانَ الزمان لنا حرباً نخادعه

فاليوم أُلقيَ فيما بيننا السلم

Time was at war with us, and we strove to outwit it;

today peace has been laid between us.

وكان مغنى العلى عطلاً فقام به

ركنٌ تطوف به العليا وتستلم

Glory's dwelling stood unadorned, until there rose within it

a pillar around which loftiness circles, touching it in homage.

يا حاكماً ما رصدنا نجم مقدمه

إلا انجلت عن ليالي قصدنا الظلم

O judge, never did we watch the star of your arrival

without darkness clearing from the nights of our quest.

حدوتَ لي أملاً من بعد ما عرفت

نفسي عن الناس إن ضنوا وإن كرموا

You sang hope onward for me, after my soul had learned

about people, whether they were miserly or generous.

وكان منطقيَ العربيّ ممتنعاً

عن الأنام فلا عرب ولا عجم

And my Arabic speech had been withheld

from humankind—neither Arabs nor non-Arabs received it.

مالي وللشعر في حيٍّ وفي زمنٍ

سيَّان فيه حسام الهند والجلم

What have I to do with poetry among a people and in an age

where the sword of India and shears are all the same?

حتَّى إذا أشرقت علياك عاطية

رأيت عقد القوافي كيف ينتظم

At last, when your gift-giving greatness shone forth,

I saw how the necklace of rhymes fell into order.

هدمتَ بيت الغنى مما تجود به

فاهنأ بأبيات مدحٍ ليس تنهدم

You demolished wealth's house through what you give away;

so rejoice in verses of praise that never crumble.

ما بعد علياك يحيي واصفٌ كَلِماً

وليت لو وسعت أوصافك الكلم

Beyond your greatness, no describer can bring words to life,

and would that words could encompass your qualities!

لا عطّلت منك دنيانا ولا فقدت

نسيم أنفاسك الأرواح والنسم

May our world never be bereft of you, nor may

souls and living beings lose the breeze of your breaths.