1. كلام بلا نحو طعام بِلا ملح

    وَنحو بلا شعر ظلام بلا صبح

    Speech without grammar is food without salt.

    And grammar without poetry is darkness without dawn.

  2. وَمن يتخذ علما وَيلغهما يعد

    بِلا رأس مال في الكَلام وَلا ربح

    And whoever pursues a science and disregards them both is deemed

    to have no capital in speech and no profit.

  3. اذا شرحوا فضل العلوم فانني

    غني بفضل النحو عن ذلك الشرح

    When they explain the merit of the sciences, I

    need no such explanation, thanks to grammar's excellence.

  4. يَليق الخطاب اليعربي بأهله

    فيهدى الوفا للنقص والحسن للقبح

    Yaʿrubi speech befits its people,

    so wholeness is bestowed on deficiency, and beauty on ugliness.

  5. ومن شرف الاعراب ان محمدا

    اتى عَربي الاصل من عرب فصح

    And among the honors of Arabic expression is that Muhammad

    came of Arab origin, from eloquent Arabs.

  6. وان المَثاني انزلت بلسانه

    بما خصصته في الخطاب من المدح

    And that the oft-repeated verses were revealed in his tongue,

    with the praise that singled him out in the address.

  7. يَكون محال الشعر وصفا لغيره

    وَيَكفيه ما في سورة الشرح وَالفَتح

    Poetry's impossible fancies serve as descriptions of others;

    what is in the surahs al-Sharh and al-Fath suffices him.

  8. نَبي دَعاه المُذنِبون وهم عَلى

    شفا جرف هار فَمَديد الصفح

    A prophet whom sinners called upon while they were on

    the brink of a crumbling bank, so he extended the hand of pardon.

  9. واحيا منار الدين في كل وجهة

    وَذب عَن الاسلام بالسَيف وَالرمح

    And he revived religion's beacon in every direction,

    and defended Islam with sword and spear.

  10. وايام غارات تظل بها القنا

    محطمة وَالخيل مشتدة الصبح

    And on days of raids, the lances are left

    shattered, and the horses charge fiercely at dawn.

  11. وَكَم في عيون الغي بالرشد من قذى

    وَكَم في فؤاد الشرك منكبد نزح

    And how much grit guidance put into the eyes of error,

    and how much anguish of exile was in idolatry's heart!

  12. محا نوره المَشهور نار عنادهم

    وَهد بطود الهدى منهدم الصرح

    His renowned light extinguished the fire of their defiance,

    and, with guidance's mountain, demolished the crumbling edifice.

  13. وَفل جهادة اشوكة الشرك اذ دَعا

    كباشجهاد المشركين الى الذبح

    And his striving blunted idolatry's thorn when he summoned

    the war-rams of the idolaters to slaughter.

  14. وَهدم رسم الكفر بالسَيف عنوة

    واودع ذا البين داعية الصلح

    And he destroyed unbelief's traces by force with the sword,

    and instilled in the estranged an urge toward reconciliation.

  15. وَما زالَ يَدعونا بِتَوفيق ربنا

    الى الملة الغراء وَالمذهب السمح

    And he has never ceased calling us, through our Lord's enabling grace,

    to the radiant faith and the gracious way.

  16. اذا خابَت الآمال فانزل بطيبة

    وَزر قبرها تظهر هنالك بالنجح

    When hopes fail, alight in Taybah,

    and visit its tomb; there you will emerge with success.

  17. نضحت لظى ذَنبي بلذة ذكره

    فاطفأت نار الذنب بالذكر وَالنضح

    I sprinkled the blaze of my sin with the sweetness of remembering him,

    and so quenched the fire of sin through remembrance and sprinkling.

  18. مَكين اذا اِستَنصَرته أَو دَعوته

    لخطب أَتاك الغوث أسرع من لمح

    Exalted in standing: if you seek his help or call upon him

    in a crisis, succor reaches you swifter than a glance.

  19. وَلي لمنوالى شديد عَلى العدا

    عطوف عَلى العافين ذو خلق سمح

    A protector of whoever is loyal, stern toward foes,

    compassionate to petitioners, possessed of a gracious nature.

  20. حَوى الشرف الاعلى بمجد مؤثل

    منيف واحساب مهذبة وضح

    He possessed the highest honor, with deeply rooted glory,

    lofty, and noble lineages refined and radiant,

  21. وَرفعة قدر زانها طيب عنصر

    وَطول يد أَندى من العارض السح

    and exalted rank adorned by the purity of his stock,

    and a long-reaching hand more generous than the pouring raincloud,

  22. وَعز جناب مخضر السوح دائما

    اذا اِغبرت الآفاق منحصر السوح

    and a mighty precinct whose courtyards are ever green,

    when the horizons grow dusty, the courtyards hemmed in.

  23. تَلوح عليه شيمة هاشمية

    جَلال أَبيه البرّ أَو عمه اللح

    A Hashimite trait shines forth upon him:

    the majesty of his righteous father or his full-blooded paternal uncle.

  24. خلاصة سر السر من عز غالب

    أَولى الفضل لا شهم وَلا جمح الجمح

    The essence of the secret's secret, from Ghalib's might,

    most worthy of excellence—not Shahm nor Jumah al-Jumah [wording unclear].

  25. تسلسل في الاصلاب من عهد آدم

    فَسارَ مسير الشمس في طالع النطح

    He passed in succession through loins from the time of Adam,

    and traveled the sun's course in al-Nath's ascendant.

  26. وأشرق في شرق البلاد وَغربها

    سناه وَما أَبقى الى الشرك من جنح

    And in the lands' east and west shone

    his radiance, leaving idolatry no darkness.

  27. اليك رَسول اللَه جاءَت بسرعة

    قلوب من الاشواق داعية الفرح

    To you, Messenger of God, came swiftly

    hearts, out of longing, calling for joy.

  28. فأنتَ الَّذي لَولاكَ ما كانَ كائِن

    وَلا كر من ليل بهيم وَلا صبح

    For you are the one without whom no being would have existed,

    nor would pitch-black night or dawn have come round.

  29. كَفاكَ علا ان الجمادات سلمت

    عليك ابتداء كالسجود من السرح

    It is glory enough for you that inanimate things offered greetings

    to you unprompted, like the prostration of the tall trees.

  30. وانك في لفح الظَهيرة ظللت

    عليك الغمام الهاطلات من اللفح

    And in the scorching heat of noon you were shaded,

    the pouring rainclouds above you shielding you from the blast.

  31. وَكَم لمست يمناك ذا المس فاِنثَنى

    صَحيحا وَداوت معضل الداء بالمسح

    And how often your right hand touched one possessed, who returned

    healthy; it healed intractable disease by stroking.

  32. وَسليت محزونا وأرشدت غاويا

    وأشفيت من سقم وأبرأت من جرح

    You consoled the sorrowful and guided the wayward,

    and cured sickness and healed wounds.

  33. عَساكَ رَسول الَه تقبل عذر من

    يظل وَيمسى في الذنوب كَما يضحى

    May you, Messenger of God, accept the excuse of one

    who remains in sins by day and evening, as at morning.

  34. يُناديك من نيابَتي برع فَقَد

    كبازنده في الصالِحات عَن القدح

    Buraʿ calls to you on my behalf, for

    his fire-stick has failed to strike sparks in righteous deeds.

  35. فشد عرا عَبد الرَحيم وَسربه

    بمرحمة واغلل يد الضيق بالفسح

    So strengthen the bonds of ʿAbd al-Rahim and his household

    with mercy, and fetter distress's hand with spacious relief.

  36. وان خضت في بحر الذنوب جهالة

    فعطفك يا فرد الجَلالة بالصفح

    And if I plunged into the sea of sins in ignorance,

    then grant your compassion through pardon, O peerless one in majesty.

  37. فَبي فاقة للجود منك وَللندى

    كفائه ظمآن صدىّ الى الرشح

    For I need your generosity and bounty,

    like a lost wanderer, thirsty and parched, craving a trickle [reading uncertain].

  38. واني اذا ضاقَت وجوه طالبي

    أَسير بآمالي الى بابك الفسح

    And when the avenues of my seeking grow narrow,

    I travel with my hopes to your spacious gate.

  39. فصني لمدحي فيك واقبل وَسيلَتي

    اليك وقم بي في مَعادي وَفي منحى

    So protect me for my praise of you, and accept my plea

    to you; stand by me at my final return and along my course.

  40. وصل حبل راويها وارحامه غدا

    اذا طرحوا في النار مستوجب الطرح

    And join the cord of its reciter and his kin tomorrow,

    when they cast into the Fire whoever deserves to be cast there.

  41. وَصَلي عَليك اللَه ما هبت الصبا

    وَما اِعتقبت دار الضحى عذب السفح

    May God bless you as long as the east wind blows,

    and as long as the abode of forenoon follows sweet-flowing rain [wording unclear],

  42. صَلاة تبارى الريح مسكا وَعَنبرا

    وَتزرى بنور النور في طلع ذي الطلح

    with a blessing that vies with the wind in musk and ambergris,

    and outshines the radiance of blossoms in the blooms of Dhu al-Talh.