طرف التصور في غرامك جامح

والى جمالك كل طرف طامح

The steed of imagination runs wild in love for you;

and every eye looks yearningly toward your beauty.

يا من جفاني بعد ان سلب النهى

مني فليت الوجد بعدك بارح

O you who shunned me after stealing reason

from me—would that passion would depart after you!

غادر على قريحة اهدى بها

مدحا إلى من يرتجيه المادح

Leave me a poetic gift with which I may offer

praise to one in whom the panegyrist places his hopes.

من في المعالي والمكارم راغب

ولكل سؤدد رتبة هو صالح

One eager for lofty honors and noble deeds,

and fit for every rank of eminence.

وبكل عزم صادق متثبت

ولكل وجه فضيلة هو جانح

Firmly committed to every sincere resolve,

and inclined toward every aspect of virtue.

في بيت مال المسلمين مناقش

وبمال راحته الحلال مسامح

Exacting with the Muslims' public treasury,

yet generous with the lawful wealth in his own palm.

شهم يطوع لحزمه وثباته

من شارد الآراء ما هو جامح

A noble man whose resolve and steadfastness subdue

whatever runs wild among wayward opinions.

كل اطلاب ان يمر بباله

ويرم نداه سانح لا بارح

Every petitioner, should he come to his mind

and seek his bounty, is a good omen, not an ill one.

ما راز منه الفكر مثقل مشكل

الا وخف وما رآه الراجح

His mind has never weighed a burdensome, baffling problem

without its growing light; his judgment is the weightier one.

حسن الخلائق والسريرة دابه

بر الخلائق والفعال الواضح

Fair in character and inward heart, his habit is

kindness to creatures and manifestly good deeds.

لم يغض عن حق لرب الناس او

للناس مهما تعترضه مصالح

He has never overlooked a right owed to the Lord of mankind, or

to mankind, whatever interests may intervene.

ومتى يشاوره العزيز بنص ما

هو منزل فهو المشير الناصح

Whenever the Aziz consults him, as enjoined in what

has been revealed, he is the sincere adviser.

هذا الوزير المستعز بمجده

غاد يجيد له المديح ورائح

This is the minister whose glory gives him strength;

morning and evening travelers excel in praising him.

اياه يشكر في العشية سارب

وعليه يثنى في الضحية سارح

One abroad at evening gives him thanks,

and one abroad in the forenoon extols him.

لا يستر ادلهما ليل بره

والمسك مهما تكتتمه فائح

No pitch-dark night can hide his goodness;

and musk, however you conceal it, gives off fragrance.

ان يحو حضرته الندى ففكره

في وجه كل صنيعة هو سائح

If the gathering contains his presence, his thought

travels toward every act of kindness.

اوان يكن بالقرب يسمع صوته

فالصيت منه حيث تنزح نازح

Or if his voice is heard nearby,

his fame travels far, wherever you roam.

هذا الذي نشرت حلاه صحائف

وبه لغات الاعجمين فصائح

This is the man whose virtues pages have proclaimed;

through him, the tongues of non-Arabs grow eloquent.

ذو همة تقتد كل ملمة

ولها تقاد مطامع ومطامح

A man of resolve that cleaves through every calamity,

and to which ambitions and aspirations are led.

لا فخر الا لامرء نفع الورى

ولن على حفظ الحقوق يكافح

No glory belongs except to one who benefits humankind,

and will not fight to safeguard rights [as written].

اما السعيد فكم راينا من له

سعد ويا للشؤم سعد الذابح

As for the fortunate, how many have we seen possessing

good fortune—yet, alas for ill omen: Saʿd al-Dhābiḥ!

روحي الفداء لمن يزيل ظلامة

واذا استميح يقال نعم المائح

My soul be the ransom for one who removes an injustice,

and, when asked for bounty, is hailed, 'What an excellent giver!'

هذا الذي في مدحه انا شاعر

ويذكر ما قد ضل عنه نائح

This is the man in whose praise I am a poet,

while a mourner recalls what has been lost to him.

وابيك ان العز ليس يناله

الا همام في المعالي شائح

By your father, none attains glory

except a resolute man striving for lofty honors.

واذا امرء خطب الرئاسة فليكن

منه لجلوتها مجد كادح

If a man woos leadership, let there be

on his part earnest toil for her unveiling.

ان الوزارة ليس يصلح شانها

الا بمن هو للخطوب مصافح

The ministry's affairs cannot be set right

except through one who shakes hands with calamities,

ويبيت يعمل فكره في الملك لا

في ان يسامره خليع مازح

and spends the night applying his mind to the realm, not

to having a jesting libertine keep him company.

ان الكريم هو الذي حمل الاذى

عن قومه لا من تقل ضوابح

The noble man is he who bears hardship

for his people, not one carried by panting steeds,

او من اذا امسى شكا الم الهوى

فاتت تمرضه رداح بادح

or one who, at evening, complains of love's pain,

whereupon a buxom, broad-hipped woman comes to nurse him.

المرء مذكور بحسن صنيعهذ

وله بذا التعريف قول شارح

A man is remembered for the goodness of his deeds,

and this description gives a clear account of him.

فمتى يغب فكأنما هو حاضر

واذا نأى فكأنما هو لائح

Whenever he is absent, it is as though he were present;

and when he is far away, it is as though he were in sight.

من يكتسب دعوات مظلوم على

خسران لذته فذاك الرابح

Whoever earns the prayers of someone wronged, at

the cost of his pleasure—that is the true winner.

اني رأيت الناس اوفرهم حجا

للخيرلا مستبق وذاك الناجح

I have seen that the wisest among people

is not outstripped in goodness: that is the successful man.

لو لم يكن لله سر غامض

في الخلق مما لم تبنه قرائح

Had God no hidden secret

in creation, among things that intellects have not explained,

لم يرعهم الا حكيم عادل

ومن الاماني غير ما هو تائح

none but a wise and just man would shepherd them;

yet some wishes differ from what comes to pass.

جهل الظلوم مراد خالقنا بذا

فطغا ولم يكبح هواه كابح

The oppressor failed to understand our Creator's purpose in this,

so he transgressed, and none reined in his desire.

في ارض مصر عزيزها ووزيره

بران قد فسحا وبحر سافح

In the land of Egypt, its Aziz and his minister

are two lands spread wide, and a sea pouring forth.

كل على نفع الرعية قد جرى

طبعا وكل بالمكارم طافح

Each has run toward the welfare of the subjects

by nature, and each overflows with noble deeds.

ابقاهما المولى بعز دائم

ما صاح فوق الايك طير صادح

May the Lord preserve them both in lasting might,

as long as singing birds call above the groves.