لقياكَ من غِيَرِ الزمانِ أمَانُ

لقياكَ من غِيَرِ الزمانِ أمَانُ

من أينَ يعرفُ جارَك الحدثانُ

من أينَ يعرفُ جارَك الحدثانُ

Meeting you is protection against the reversals of time;

Meeting you is safety from time’s vicissitudes.

how could fate’s vicissitudes ever reach one under your protection?

How could misfortune know your neighbor?

إنّ الأُلَى طلبُوا مداكَ تأخَّرُوا

إنّ الأُلَى طلبُوا مداكَ تأخَّرُوا

عن غايةٍ فيها السباقُ رِهَانُ

عن غايةٍ فيها السباقُ رِهَانُ

Those who sought to attain your utmost reach fell behind,

Indeed, those who sought to match your reach fell behind,

far short of a goal upon which the race itself is staked.

short of a goal where the race is run for stakes.

أقدمتَ إقدامَ المُدِلِّ ببأسِهِ

أقدمتَ إقدامَ المُدِلِّ ببأسِهِ

وتناكصُوا إنَّ اللئيمَ جَبَانُ

وتناكصُوا إنَّ اللئيمَ جَبَانُ

You pressed forward with the boldness of one confident in his might;

You advanced with the boldness of one confident in his might,

they recoiled—for the ignoble man is a coward.

and they retreated; indeed, the base man is a coward.

وفطِنتَ للعلياءِ حين تحيَّرتْ

وفطِنتَ للعلياءِ حين تحيَّرتْ

فيها العقولُ وضلَّتِ الأذهانُ

فيها العقولُ وضلَّتِ الأذهانُ

You discerned the path to glory when, within it,

And you discerned lofty honor when bewilderment seized

reason stood bewildered and minds had strayed.

minds before it, and intellects went astray.

تاجَرْتَهُم فربِحتَ أثمانَ العُلَى

تاجَرْتَهُم فربِحتَ أثمانَ العُلَى

إنّ المحامدَ للعُلَى أثمانُ

إنّ المحامدَ للعُلَى أثمانُ

You traded with them, profited, and won the prices of high glory;

You traded with them and gained the price of high honor;

indeed, noble deeds are the prices paid for high glory.

for praiseworthy deeds are the price of high honor.

وجعلتَ عُنْوانَ السماحِ طلاقةً

وجعلتَ عُنْوانَ السماحِ طلاقةً

وكذا لكلِّ صحيفةٍ عُنوانُ

وكذا لكلِّ صحيفةٍ عُنوانُ

You made a cheerful countenance the emblem of generosity,

And you made a cheerful countenance the heading of generosity,

just as every page has a heading.

and likewise every page has a heading.

قالوا وقد لمحوكَ فوقَ عيونِهمْ

قالوا وقد لمحوكَ فوقَ عيونِهمْ

ما هكذا تتفاوتُ الفِتيانُ

ما هكذا تتفاوتُ الفِتيانُ

They said, when they glimpsed you high above their gaze:

They said, having glimpsed you high above their eyes:

“Young men cannot differ by so vast a measure!”

Young men do not differ so greatly!

من معشرِ راضُوا الخطُوبَ ومارسوا ال

من معشرِ راضُوا الخطُوبَ ومارسوا ال

دنيا ودِينوا في الزمانِ ودانُوا

دنيا ودِينوا في الزمانِ ودانُوا

You spring from a people who tamed calamities and grappled with the—

Of a people who tamed calamities and grappled with the

world; they yielded to Time, then made it yield.

world, who were ruled in their time and ruled in turn.

وتقيَّلتْ أبناؤُهم أسلافَهمْ

وتقيَّلتْ أبناؤُهم أسلافَهمْ

فتشابَه الأعراقُ والأغصانُ

فتشابَه الأعراقُ والأغصانُ

Their sons took their forefathers as their models,

And their sons followed their forebears,

until ancestral roots and branches resembled one another.

so roots and branches came to resemble one another.

أصلحتَ لي زمني ورُضتَ صعابَهُ

أصلحتَ لي زمني ورُضتَ صعابَهُ

والناسُ ناسٌ والزمانُ زمانُ

والناسُ ناسٌ والزمانُ زمانُ

You set my circumstances aright and tamed their hardships,

You set my days right for me and tamed their hardships,

though people remain people, and time remains time.

while people are people, and time is time.

وكفلتَ لي بالنُّجْحِ منذ وعدتَني

وكفلتَ لي بالنُّجْحِ منذ وعدتَني

وكذاكَ ميعادُ الكريمِ ضَمانُ

وكذاكَ ميعادُ الكريمِ ضَمانُ

You guaranteed me success from the moment you promised me;

And you guaranteed me success from the moment you promised me;

such is a noble man’s promise—a guarantee.

and so a generous man’s promise is a guarantee.

وكفيتَني منَّ اللئيمِ بجاهِه

وكفيتَني منَّ اللئيمِ بجاهِه

إنَّ اللئيمَ بجاهِه منَّانُ

إنَّ اللئيمَ بجاهِه منَّانُ

You spared me recourse to an ignoble man with influence;

And you spared me the base man’s taunts over favors done through his influence;

for an ignoble man, when influential, vaunts every favor.

for a base man endlessly flaunts favors done through his influence.

وأريت حظّي أين مطرَحُ رحلِهِ

وأريت حظّي أين مطرَحُ رحلِهِ

فأناخَ لي وتحوَّلَ الحِرْمانُ

فأناخَ لي وتحوَّلَ الحِرْمانُ

You showed my fortune where to set down its load;

And you showed my fortune where to set down its saddle,

there it made its camel kneel for me, and deprivation moved away.

so it encamped for me, and deprivation departed.

من حيثُ جادَ المعتفي فجَداؤهُ

من حيثُ جادَ المعتفي فجَداؤهُ

وجهٌ أغرُّ وراحةٌ هتَّانُ

وجهٌ أغرُّ وراحةٌ هتَّانُ

Wherever the seeker of favor comes, his reward is

Where he gives generously to the supplicant, his bounty is

a radiant face and a palm pouring bounty like rain,

a radiant face and a rain-pouring palm,

وخلائقٌ طُبِعتْ على شكل الهدى

وخلائقٌ طُبِعتْ على شكل الهدى

بيضُ الوجوهِ نواصعٌ غُرَّانُ

بيضُ الوجوهِ نواصعٌ غُرَّانُ

with virtues molded in the very form of right guidance—

and virtues stamped in the pattern of right guidance,

bright-faced, stainless, and resplendent.

white of face, pure and radiant.

هي حاجةٌ بِكرٌ قضيت وراءَها

هي حاجةٌ بِكرٌ قضيت وراءَها

أخرى على طَرفِ النجاحِ عَوانُ

أخرى على طَرفِ النجاحِ عَوانُ

Here is a fresh request you have fulfilled; behind it

It is a maiden request you fulfilled; behind it

another, now mature, stands on the verge of fulfillment.

is another, mature, on the verge of success.

لمعُ المكارمِ والثناءِ تقارنَا

لمعُ المكارمِ والثناءِ تقارنَا

فيها كما ضَمَّ السُّعودَ قِرانُ

فيها كما ضَمَّ السُّعودَ قِرانُ

Within it the gleams of noble deeds and praise are paired,

The gleams of noble deeds and praise were joined

as an astral conjunction unites auspicious stars.

within it, as a conjunction joins auspicious stars.

فَصِلِ الأوائلَ بالأواخرِ إنَّها ال

فَصِلِ الأوائلَ بالأواخرِ إنَّها ال

أرواحُ قد قامت بها الأبدانُ

أرواحُ قد قامت بها الأبدانُ

Join the forebears to their descendants: they are but the—

So join the first to the last: they are the

spirits by which bodies stand.

souls by which bodies are sustained.

واربَأْ بعُرفِكَ من شريكٍ يدَّعي

واربَأْ بعُرفِكَ من شريكٍ يدَّعي

فيه النصيبَ وما له بُرهانُ

فيه النصيبَ وما له بُرهانُ

Keep your bounty far above any partner who claims

And safeguard your beneficence from a partner who claims

a share in it, though he has no proof.

a share in it, though he has no proof.

إن يُنْتَجِ النُعمَى سواك فإنَّه

إن يُنْتَجِ النُعمَى سواك فإنَّه

بجميلِ فعلِك لُقِّحَ الإحسانُ

بجميلِ فعلِك لُقِّحَ الإحسانُ

If anyone besides you brings forth beneficence, it is only because

If someone other than you is made to bring forth a favor, then indeed

through the beauty of your deed, benevolence was made fruitful.

your gracious deed is what made beneficence conceive.

أوْ أُسقَ سجْلاً من نداهُ فإنّما

أوْ أُسقَ سجْلاً من نداهُ فإنّما

من عندك الأوزامُ والأشطانُ

من عندك الأوزامُ والأشطانُ

Or if a bucketful is drawn from his generosity, it is only—

Or if I am given a full bucket from his bounty to drink, then

from you that the bucket-thongs and long well-ropes came.

the bucket-straps and ropes come only from you.