ان الحبيب الذي باللطف افنانا

لقد سقانا كؤس الهجر الوانا

Indeed, the beloved who with tenderness has annihilated us

has made us drink cups of estrangement in many hues.

ذبنا فمتنا غراما في محبته

يا ليت لو بحنان القرب احيانا

We melted, then died of passion in loving him.

O, if only he would revive us with the tenderness of nearness!

يجوذ حينا بطيب الوصل عن كرم

ويقطع الحبل للتعذيب احيانا

At times, from generosity, he grants the sweetness of union,

and sometimes severs the cord to torment us.

غزيل فاتر الاجفان ذو حور

الله كم اقطرت عيناه اجفانا

A little gazelle, languid-lidded, with eyes of vivid black and white—

By God, how many eyelids his eyes have set streaming!

ان نحن ننساه لا طابت مناهلنا

وكل خل لنا في الكون ينسانا

If we forget him, may our watering places never be sweet,

and may every friend of ours in creation forget us.

لولاه ما اج فينا الجمر متقدا

ولابه ضج حادي الركب لولانا

Were it not for him, no embers would flare and glow within us;

nor, but for us, would the caravan's chanter cry out for him.

اواه كم قد نظمنا في الظلام له

بالشعر والدمع ياقوتا ومرجانا

Alas, how often in the darkness we have strung for him,

with verse and tears, rubies and coral.

وكم رأينا اسآات الغرام به

ولطف معناه معروفا واحسانا

And how often through him we have seen love's cruelties,

and his inward grace as kindness and beneficence.

لم يسكن القلب من آلام لوعته

الا مديح ابي العباس مولانا

Nothing relieved the heart of its burning pains of longing

except praise of Abu al-Abbas, our master.

هو الرفاعي ذو القدر الرفيع فتى

آل البتول اجل القوم عرفانا

He is al-Rifa‘i, of lofty rank, a noble youth

of al-Batul's house, greatest of the people in spiritual knowledge.

سلطان اهل الوحا قطب الرحاوسنا

شمس الضحى عينها علما وتبيانا

Sovereign of revelation's people, the mill's pivot and the radiance

of the morning sun—its very essence in knowledge and elucidation.

اتى من الحسنين الا حسنين وقد

اقام للمرتضى في الكون ديوانا

He came from Hasan and Husayn, the two finest, and has

established a court for al-Murtada in creation.

فحل عظيم خطير الطور ما نظرت

عين الورى مثله في القوم انسانا

A mighty champion, august in bearing—never has

the eye of humankind seen a man like him among the people.

لو شمته ورجال الله ترصده

لشمت للاولياء الزهر سلطانا

If you beheld him while the men of God watched him,

you would behold a sovereign over the radiant saints.

بدا بارث رسول الله مكتنفا

من المعارف والاحوال فرقانا

He appeared with the legacy of God's Messenger, enfolded

in spiritual knowledge and states—a criterion of truth.

ابدت بسيرته العظمى سريرته

لطالبي الحق ابقانا وإيمانا

His inner nature revealed, through his sublime conduct,

certainty and faith to seekers of truth.

الحمد لله قد طاب الزمان لنا

بظله ومناجي السعد ناجانا

Praise be to God! Time has grown sweet for us

in his shade, and good fortune's confidant has whispered to us.

بنفحة المصطفى المختار سيدنا

متى دعوناه في الاخطار لبانا

Through a breath from al-Mustafa, the Chosen One, our master,

whenever we call upon him amid dangers, he answers us.

قل للجهود اتئد انكرت عن حسد

وقد نرى جحدا لشمس عميانا

Say to the denier: Be measured! You denied out of envy.

And indeed we see blind men denying the sun.

هذا هو الشرف المنشق من مضر

كم صف في الصف افرادا واعيانا

This is the nobility sprung from Mudar;

how many peerless men and notables it has arrayed in the ranks!

آل النبي وابناء الوصي اولو ال

قدر العلي اعز الخلق عنوانا

The Prophet's house and the Legatee's sons, possessors of

lofty rank, the most honored of creation in title.

واحمد القوم في يافوخ نبعتهم

لا شك ارجح اهل الله ميزانا

And Ahmad of the clan, at the crown of their ancestral tree,

is, without doubt, the weightiest of God's people in the balance.