1. تيّم قلبي أغيدُ

    وخانَ فيه الجلَدُ

    A supple youth enslaved my heart;

    and fortitude failed me over him.

  2. وليس لي من يُسْعِدُ

    عليه مُذ فارقني

    I have no one to share my grief

    over him since he left me.

  3. الله في قتل فتى

    ذي كبدٍ قد فتّتا

    Fear God in slaying a youth

    whose liver has been torn to pieces.

  4. فكم وحتّى ومتى

    بعدَ الرِّضا تسخطني

    How often, how long, until when

    will you anger me after pleasing me?

  5. يا قمراً قد قمَرا

    قَلبي لما غَدرا

    O moon who outplayed

    my heart when you proved false.

  6. ألِفْتُ منك السّهرا

    والقلبُ خِدْنُ الحزَنِ

    Through you, I grew used to sleeplessness,

    and my heart is sorrow's companion.

  7. لقد جفا جَفْني الكَرى

    منذُ سرى مع السُّرى

    Sleep has indeed forsaken my eyelid

    since he departed on his night journey.

  8. فها أنا بينَ الورى

    متيّمٌ ذو شجَنِ

    So here I am among mankind,

    enslaved by love, laden with sorrow.

  9. أكثر فيه العُذّلُ

    جاروا ولمّا يَعدِلوا

    The reproachers have spoken much of him;

    they acted unjustly and have not yet been fair.

  10. والعدلُ ليس يُجهَل

    في حُبِّ من تيّمني

    Yet justice is not unknown

    in loving the one who enslaved me.

  11. ويلاهُ من مهفهَفِ

    أحورَ أحوى صلِفِ

    Alas for me, because of a slender one,

    dark-eyed, dusky-lipped, and haughty.

  12. أفي له ولا يفي

    بالعهدِ طولَ الزمنِ

    I am faithful to him, but he is unfaithful

    to the pledge, through all the years.

  13. يا ويح صبٍّ عشِقا

    مثلي ظبياً مؤنِقا

    Alas for a lovesick man who loved,

    as I did, a delightful gazelle!

  14. لم يُبْقِ مني رمَقا

    مذْ للجفا أسلمني

    He left not a breath of life in me

    since he abandoned me to estrangement.

  15. أورثَ جسمي سقَما

    وجار لما حكَما

    He bequeathed sickness to my body,

    and was unjust when he ruled.

  16. فالشوق مني كلما

    ذكرْتُه يقلقني

    So longing within me, whenever

    I remember him, disquiets me.

  17. أودَع لما ودّعا

    نارَ الغرامِ الأضلُعا

    When he bade farewell, he lodged

    the fire of love within my ribs;

  18. فالقلبُ أضحى موجَعا

    عليه مذْ ودّعني

    so my heart is now aching

    for him since he bade me farewell.

  19. أقولُ لما ظعَنا

    وزادَ قلبي حزَنا

    I say, when he departed

    and increased my heart's sorrow:

  20. هيّجْتَ ناراً سكَنا

    بين الحشايا سكَني

    You stirred a fire; there dwelt

    within my inward parts my beloved.

  21. يا قلبُ دعْ ذِكرَ الهوى

    ومن نَوى لك النّوى

    O heart, leave off remembering love

    and him who intended separation for you;

  22. وعدِّ عن ذكر اللِّوى

    وكلّ ظبيٍ مُفتِنِ

    turn away from recalling al-Liwa

    and every enchanting gazelle.

  23. وانْحُ الإمامَ أحمدا

    أنْدى الورِ طُرّاً يَدا

    Turn toward the imam Ahmad,

    the most generous-handed of all mankind.

  24. ومن يَعُدُّ الفرْقَدا

    هجرَ النّدى والمِنَنِ

    And whoever counts the Farqad star

    has forsaken generosity and favors.

  25. هو الإمامُ الحافظُ

    فأينَ منه الجاحظُ

    He is the imam, the hadith master;

    where is al-Jahiz beside him?

  26. والألمعيُّ الواعظُ

    في كلِّ فنٍّ حسَنِ

    And the keen-witted preacher

    in every worthy discipline.

  27. لقد حوى المفاخِرا

    وجمّل المحابِرا

    He has indeed gathered glories,

    and adorned the inkwells,

  28. وحاز فضلاً باهِرا

    وفاقَ أهلَ الزمنِ

    and attained dazzling excellence,

    and surpassed the people of his age.

  29. أكرِمْ به من عالِمِ

    فاقَ جميعَ العالَم

    What a noble scholar he is!

    He surpassed the whole world

  30. بالجودِ والمكارِم

    فمثلُه لم يكُنِ

    in generosity and noble deeds;

    never has his like existed.

  31. من مثلُه في نخوتِهْ

    وفي علوّ همّتِهْ

    Who matches his noble spirit

    and the loftiness of his aspiration?

  32. يجلو ضياءَ طلعَتِهْ

    عنّا دياجي الفِتَنِ

    The radiance of his countenance dispels

    from us the dark nights of strife.

  33. علاّمةٌ حبْرٌ علَمْ

    العُرْبُ فاقَ والعجمْ

    A great scholar, a learned master, a luminary,

    he surpassed Arabs and non-Arabs.

  34. ما مثلُهُ بين الأمَمْ

    وحقِّ آلِ الحسَنِ

    No one like him is among the nations,

    by the honor of al-Hasan's family.

  35. طلعتُه كالقمرِ

    وجودُه في البشرِ

    His countenance is like the moon,

    and his generosity among mankind

  36. يفيضُ فيضَ المطرِ

    في السّرِ ثم العلنِ

    pours forth as rain pours,

    in secret, then in public.

  37. في الحِلْمِ فاقَ أحنفا

    وفي الجمالِ يوسُفا

    In forbearance he surpassed Ahnaf,

    and in beauty, Yusuf.

  38. فكم كتابٍ ألّفا

    ناهيكَه من فطِنِ

    How many a book he has composed!

    What a keen-witted man he is!

  39. أسعدَنا بسعْدِه

    وخصّنا برفدِه

    He gladdened us with his good fortune,

    and singled us out for his gifts.

  40. كأنّه في زُهدِه

    مثلُ أوَيسَ القُرَني

    As though, in his asceticism,

    he were like Uways al-Qarani.

  41. يجود وهو مبتسِمْ

    من قاصديه محتشِمْ

    He gives while smiling,

    shy before those who seek him.

  42. وجوده مثل الدِّيَمْ

    وكالغمامِ الهَتِنِ

    His generosity is like lasting rains,

    and like a rain-pouring cloud.

  43. لم ترَ عيني قبلَه

    في كل فن مثلَهُ

    Before him my eye had never seen

    his equal in every discipline.

  44. حوى الفخارَ كلَّهُ

    وحازه في قرَنِ

    He gathered all glory,

    and bound it with one tether.

  45. همّتهُ فوق السُّها

    بذا قضى أهلُ النُهى

    His aspiration is above al-Suha;

    so the people of reason have judged.

  46. وطبعُه بذلُ اللُهى

    بذلَ الجوادِ المحسِنِ

    His nature is to bestow lavish gifts,

    as a generous benefactor bestows.

  47. زُرْهُ تزُرْ مهذّبا

    أزكى الأنامِ منصبا

    Visit him, and you visit a refined man,

    the purest of mankind in station,

  48. في النطق فاق العَرَبا

    وفي العلوّ المُزَني

    who surpassed the Arabs in eloquence,

    and al-Muzani in eminence.

  49. له الحِجى والسّؤدُدُ

    والفضلُ والتودّدُ

    His are reason and lordly eminence,

    and excellence and friendliness.

  50. فمَنْ سواهُ يُقصَدُ

    عند حلولِ المحَنِ

    Who besides him is sought

    when afflictions descend?

  51. أكرِمْ به من بارع

    مثل الهلال الطّالعِ

    What a noble master he is,

    like the rising crescent,

  52. كمالكٍ والشافعي

    ومَعمرٍ باليَمنِ

    like Malik and al-Shafi'i,

    and Ma'mar in Yemen.

  53. إذا سألناه النِّعَمْ

    جوابه لنا نعَمْ

    When we ask him for blessings,

    his answer to us is 'Yes.'

  54. وبذْلُه حُمرُ النِّعَمْ

    ما بُخلُه بمُمكِنِ

    And his gifts are red camels;

    miserliness is impossible for him.

  55. يا سيّداً حاز العلا

    على السِّماكين عَلا

    O lord who attained loftiness

    and rose above the two Simak stars,

  56. أربَيْتَ في الفقه على

    ابنِ ثابتٍ والحسَنِ

    you have surpassed in jurisprudence

    Ibn Thabit and al-Hasan.

  57. يا ذا العلا والحسبِ

    والفضل والتأدّبِ

    O possessor of loftiness and noble lineage,

    of excellence and refined manners,

  58. يا عُدّتي في النّوبِ

    ومنقِذي من زمني

    O my support in calamities,

    and my deliverer from my age,

  59. تهنّ يا سيّدنا

    فالعيدُ وافي ودَنا

    rejoice, our lord,

    for the festival has come and drawn near.

  60. وأنت أنتَ عيدُنا

    فابْقَ ممرَّ الزمن

    And you—you are our festival;

    so remain through the passage of time.

  61. وعِشْ سعيداً مُسْعَدا

    ألفا على رغم العدى

    And live happy and blessed,

    a thousand years, despite your enemies,

  62. ودُم لنا مدى المدى

    في أطيب العيش الهَني

    and endure for us for ever and ever,

    in the sweetest, most blissful life.