1. من ذكر حيّ مضى في سالف الزمن

    سقمت يا قلب حتى صرت كالزمن

    From remembering a clan that departed in bygone times,

    you grew ill, O heart, until you became like a chronic invalid.

  2. بليت حتى بليت من تذكّره

    وازددت حزنا على ما كان من حزن

    You were afflicted until you wasted away from remembering it,

    and added sorrow to the sorrow already there.

  3. والناس جاهلة ما فيك من شغف

    والعين باكية وأنت في شجن

    And people know nothing of the ardent love within you,

    and the eye weeps while you are in sorrow.

  4. أبكى عليه ودمع العين منسكب

    حتى قلقت من الأحزان والمحن

    I weep for it, the eye's tears pouring down,

    until sorrows and trials have made me restless.

  5. أبكي عليه بكاء من تذكره

    بكاء ولهته في حالك الدّجن

    I weep for it as one who remembers it weeps,

    the weeping of its distraught mourner in pitch-dark gloom.

  6. تبكي عليه بكاء زادني شغفا

    وقلقت منه أحشائي وقرّقني

    She weeps for it with a weeping that deepened my longing,

    and my innermost parts grew restless at it, and it shook me.

  7. دع الوقوف على ديّاره وعلى

    أطلاله وعلى دوارس الدمن

    Leave off lingering at its dwellings and at

    its ruins and the effaced traces of encampments.

  8. وخل عنك الطوال والبكاء بها

    فليس ينفع مسكون بلا سكن

    Put aside the tall remnants and weeping over them,

    for a dwelling is of no use without inhabitants.

  9. واقصد مدائح قطب حاذق لبق

    ينسيك للأهل والأحباب والوطن

    Turn to praises of a skilled, eloquent spiritual pole,

    who makes you forget family, loved ones, and homeland:

  10. سمح لبيب تقيّ عالمٌ بطل

    حبرٌ تقيّ بحبل الشرع مقترن

    generous, discerning, devout, a scholar and a champion;

    a devout learned sage, bound to the cord of sacred law;

  11. بحرٌ اشمّ شميمٌ طاهر علمٌ

    قطب سخيّ وفيّ زاهد فطن

    an ocean, lofty, fragrant, pure—a guiding beacon;

    a spiritual pole, generous, loyal, ascetic, perceptive.

  12. فخاض بحر العلى منذ الصبا وعلا

    على الذي قد علا في البدو والمدن

    So he plunged into the sea of eminence from childhood, and rose

    above whoever had risen among nomads and in cities.

  13. وخاض بحر الهدى وللطّغاة هدى

    كلا وخاض بحار الحق بالسفن

    And he plunged into the sea of guidance and guided the tyrants—

    all of them—and traversed the seas of truth in ships.

  14. فمثلكم لم يكن هنا وليس يرى

    فيما مضى أبدا في سالف الزمن

    For no one like you has existed here, nor has one been seen

    ever in the past, in times long gone.

  15. وإن يكن فيه يا ماء العيون فلم

    تبصره عيني ولم تسمع به أذني

    And if one existed then, O Water of the Eyes, still

    my eye did not see him, nor did my ear hear of him.

  16. فمن أيا ماء عيني للأناس متى

    ما حلّ ضيمٌ ومن للداء في البدن

    Who then, O Water of my Eye, is there for people whenever

    oppression befalls, and who will tend sickness in the body?

  17. ومن لهم عندما حلّت بهم إزمٌ

    ومن لهم عند دفع الظالم الدخن

    And who is there for them when hardships befall them?

    And who is there for them to repel the malicious oppressor?

  18. ومن لهم من لهم فيما يحلّ بهم

    سواك يا ملجئي في السر والعلن

    And who is there for them—who is there for them—in what befalls them,

    but you, O my refuge in secret and in public?

  19. فأنت إذ ذاك تنجيهم وتنقدهم

    من المضرّة والظلام والفتن

    For then you save them and rescue them

    from harm, darkness, and turmoil.

  20. طليق وجه لدى انسكاب راحته

    كأنه البرق في انسكاب ما المزن

    He is cheerful of face as his palm pours forth,

    like lightning as the clouds' water pours down.

  21. بدر منير كأنّ الضوء منتشر

    والبدر مقتبس من وجهه الحسن

    A radiant full moon, as though light spread abroad,

    while the full moon borrows light from his beautiful face.

  22. له يدان يد مبسوطة أبدا

    على الورى ويد تزيل للمحن

    He has two hands: one forever outstretched

    over humankind, and one that removes afflictions.

  23. للّه للّه ما للناس من نعم

    أسدى جميعا وما يزيل من درن

    By God, by God, what blessings for humankind

    he has bestowed in full, and what stains he removes

  24. عن القلوب وما عن الرسول حوى

    من العلوم وما أحيا من السنن

    from hearts, and what he has gathered from the Messenger

    of knowledge, and what traditions he has revived!

  25. الطاهر الحسن ابن الطاهر الحسن

    ابن الطاهر الحسن ابن الطاهر الحسن

    The pure, the good, son of the pure, the good,

    son of the pure, the good, son of the pure, the good;

  26. والواهب المنن ابن الواهب المنن

    ابن الواهب المنن ابن الواهب المنن

    and the bestower of favors, son of the bestower of favors,

    son of the bestower of favors, son of the bestower of favors.

  27. فمثلكم في الورى يا خير كل فتى

    ما كان قط وحتّى الآن لم يكن

    For none like you among humankind, O best of all young men,

    has ever existed, nor is there one even now.

  28. مدحتكم ولقد يكلّ مدحكم

    حمل القراطيس والأقلام واللسن

    I have praised you, yet praise of you would surely exhaust

    a load of pages, pens, and tongues.

  29. لكن أتيت بقول قلّ يا أملي

    ورب قول قليل جاد بالحسن

    But I have come with a brief utterance, O my hope,

    and many a brief utterance has abounded in beauty.

  30. أتيت ملتجئا لباب فضلكم

    من الذنوب فقد قادتني بالرسن

    I have come seeking refuge at the gate of your bounty

    from sins, for they have led me by the halter.

  31. اريد أن يغمرني الفضل من ملك

    رب رحيم عن الأعمال هو غنّي

    I wish that grace may engulf me from a King—

    a merciful Lord who has no need of deeds.

  32. صلى الاله على المختار ما سجعت

    حمامةٌ أو بكى طير على فنن

    May God bless the Chosen One for as long as

    a dove coos or a bird weeps upon a bough.