للشرع سيف شديد الوقع بتار

فكم به مزّقت هام وأوتار

The sacred Law has a sword, fierce in its stroke, keen to sever.

How many heads and sinews have been torn apart by it!

للشّين في الرّسم أسنان محدّدة

كأنها في مجال القطع منشار

The letter shīn, in its written form, has pointed teeth,

as though, in the realm of cutting, they were a saw.

فمن رأى الشرع بالتحقير كان له

في العيش ضيق وفى الأخرى له النار

So whoever regards the sacred Law with contempt will have

hardship in life, and in the next the Fire awaits him.

وإن علا فوق هام النجم مقعده

لا بد يوما به العلياء تنهار

And even if his seat rises above the heads of the stars,

the heights must one day come crashing down with him.

فمبغضو الشرع في ضيق وفي ضعة

وإن هم بجناح المال قد طاروا

Those who hate the sacred Law are in hardship and abasement,

even if they have flown on the wing of wealth.

ومن تواضع للشرع الشريف سعت

له المعالى وزالت عنه أكدار

And if one humbles himself before the noble Law, there hasten

to him high honors, and his troubles vanish.

وأقبلت نحوه الدنيا بزخرها

وفي النعيم لحور الخلد يختار

The world comes toward him with its abundance,

and amid bliss he is chosen for the houris of eternity.

لذاك أهل الهدى والفضل قد خدموا

شرع النبي وفي إعلائه ساروا

For this reason, the people of guidance and virtue have served

the Prophet's Law, and advanced along the path of exalting it.

فالكل من محكم القرآن قد أخذوا

ومع حديث رسول الله قد داروا

So all have drawn from the Qur'an's clear, decisive verses,

and have moved in accord with the sayings of God's Messenger.

هم الأئمة لا تخبو أشعتهم

لأنهم في سماء الفضل أقمار

They are the imams; their rays never grow dim,

for in the sky of virtue they are moons.

هم الهداة لمن حلوا ومن رحلوا

هم الملوك بهم يستأمن الجار

They are guides to those who stay and those who depart;

they are kings through whom the neighbor seeks protection.

ففى الحياة لهم فضل وتكرمة

وفي الممات لهم شأن وتذكار

In life theirs are excellence and honor,

and in death theirs are eminence and remembrance.

هذا ابن إدريس حبر العلم واسعه

الشافعي له في الشرع آثار

This is Ibn Idrīs, a scholar whose knowledge is vast,

al-Shāfiʿī, who has left his mark upon the sacred Law.

به الشريعة قد قامت دعائمها العل

يا وقام لها كالبيت أسوار

Through him the sacred Law's lofty pillars stood firm,

and walls rose for it, as for a house.

وطالما جد في نشر العلوم ولم

يمنعه عن ذاك إعسار وإقتار

And long he strove to spread the sciences, with neither

poverty nor penury holding him back from that,

حتى تجلى كنور الصبح مذهبه

وفيه للشرع أنوار وأسرار

until his school of thought shone forth like the light of dawn,

and within it are lights and mysteries of the sacred Law.

وكم تجافى تجنب عن مضاجعه

ولم تعقه عن التحصيل أسفار

And how often he withdrew, keeping clear of his beds,

and journeys did not hinder his pursuit of learning.

وقام بالعلم والتعليم من صغر

فلم يكن شب إلا وهو مغوار

From childhood he undertook learning and teaching,

so he was already a valiant warrior when he reached youth.

منه رأى مالك في العلم نابغة

فكان منه له بالفضل إقرار

Mālik saw in him a prodigy of learning,

and so he acknowledged his excellence.

والصاحبان له بالفضل قد شهدا

وهم عدول وأحبار وأخيار

And the two companions bore witness to his excellence,

and they are upright men, learned scholars, and good men.

بحر تلاطم بالأمواج ساحله

عذب فرات به للفضل تيّار

A sea whose shore is buffeted by waves,

sweet and fresh, with a current of excellence within it.

سفينه العلم تجرى فوق لجّته

شراعها الشرع لا تلويه إعصار

Its ship is knowledge, sailing over its depths;

its sail is the sacred Law; no whirlwind bends it.

هذا الإمام به الأمثال قد ضربت

في الفضل حتى بها الركبان قد ساروا

Proverbs have been coined about this imam

for his excellence, so that riders have carried them afar.

سمت مناقبه الجوزاء في شرف

وقد حوى بعضها كتب وأسفار

His virtues surpassed al-Jawzāʾ in nobility,

and books and volumes have recorded some of them.

فعن مكارمه حدث ولا حرج

فغيثه الجم بالإحسان مدرار

So speak of his noble deeds without restraint,

for his abundant rain pours down beneficence.

جاه عريض وأمداد بساحته

لأنها لاغتنام العز مضمار

Vast prestige and succor are found in his precinct,

for it is a racecourse for winning glory.

فكم بكعبته طافت جهابذة

وكم أتاها من ألأقطار زوّار

How many master scholars have circumambulated his Kaʿba,

and how many visitors have come to it from various lands!

مصرٌ به وبآل البيت قد شرفت

لأنهم سادة غر وأطهار

Egypt has been honored by him and by the Family of the House,

for they are lords, radiant and pure.

لا ينزل الخائف العاني بساحتهم

إلا وفاز بما يرجو ويختار

No frightened, afflicted man alights in their precinct

without gaining what he hopes for and chooses.

من بينهم ظهر الإسلام وانتشرت

في الكون منه وحق الحق أنوار

From among them Islam arose, and there spread

through the universe lights from it—by the truth of the True One!

دانت ملوك الورى طوعا لعزتهم

لأنهم مركز والكل أقطار

The kings of humankind willingly submitted to their might,

for they are the center, and all others are diameters.

يا قاضيَ الشرع قد عودتنا كرما

وهذه يدنا للفضل تمتار

O judge of the sacred Law, you have accustomed us to generosity,

and this hand of ours seeks a provision of bounty.

فاملأ يدينا بما أوتيت من كرم

ففي يديك من الرحمن أسرار

So fill our hands with the generosity you have been given,

for in your hands are mysteries from the All-Merciful.

وأنت للكرم الفياض ذو مدد

ومنك للضيف إكرام وإكبار

And you have resources for overflowing generosity,

and from you come hospitality and esteem for the guest.

في كل عام لنا من بحر أنعمكم

فيض وفضل وهذا الجمع تذكار

Each year, from the sea of your favors, we receive

an outpouring and bounty; this gathering is a commemoration.

لله في فئة قاموا بخدمته

فهم شموش وهم للحفل أقمار

How wondrous before God is a company who have risen to serve him!

So they are suns, and moons for the gathering.

يا رب بلغ جميع القوم طلبتهم

فأنت في الكل فعال ومختار

O Lord, let all the people attain their desire,

for You act in all things and choose at will.

وتب على جمعنا واغفر مزلّته

فأنت وحدك تواب وغفّار

And turn in mercy to our gathering, and forgive its lapse,

for You alone are ever accepting of repentance and ever forgiving.