عوجوا رقاب اليعملات الذلل

يا معمليها لو كحل العقل لي

Turn the necks of the strong, tractable she-camels,

O their drivers, if only reason were anointed with kohl for me;

ويمد لي لو كنتم بظهورها

منكم كريم يدٍ يد المستعجل

And, if you were upon their backs, may there reach out to me

from a generous-handed man among you, the hand of one in haste.

وليمددن ثناً يكن لكم سناً

وتحية مني كنشر المندل

And let him surely offer praise that will be your radiance,

and a greeting from me, like the fragrance of aloeswood.

فإذا تنوشد بينكم فكأنه

أري يسوغ لكم وريح قرنفل

When it is chanted among you, it is as though it were

honey sweet to swallow, and the scent of cloves.

في كل قافيةٍ بدائع حكمةٍ

وبكل صدرٍ البيت حكمة مقول

In every rhyme are wonders of wisdom,

and in each verse's opening hemistich, an eloquent speaker's wisdom.

فإذا ركبتم فاجعلوه شعاركم

ليلاً خلاف النص أفضل ما تلي

When you mount, make it your watchword

at night—the finest thing recited apart from scripture.

وإذا نزلتم منزلاً عوذوا به

وتباركوا بنشيده في المنزل

And when you halt at a lodging, seek protection through it,

and seek blessing through its chanting at your lodging.

فهو الرواء لكم بكل هجيرةٍ

وهو الضياء بكل ليلٍ أليل

For it is your refreshment in every midday heat,

and it is the light in every pitch-dark night.

من قدره وبهائه وجلاله

فالتاج يجعل تحته من أسفل

Because of its worth, its splendor, and its majesty,

the crown is placed beneath it, lower down.

إن تحرموا فهو اللباس لكم وإن

أحللتم فهو الثواب لمحلل

If you enter consecration, it is your garment; and if

you leave consecration, it is the reward for one released.

وإذا القلاص به حدين ترزمت

شوقاً لمن تحدى إليه وتعتلي

When the young she-camels are driven by its song, they rumble,

yearning for the one toward whom they are urged and climb.

خير الثناء الجزل ما وخدت به

أيدي الركاب إلى الكريم المجزل

The finest, richest praise is that to which

the mounts' forelegs trot toward the generous, lavish giver:

السيد الصمد النبي محمد الزا

كي الشفيع النور الجلي

the master, the refuge, the Prophet Muhammad,

the pure, the intercessor, the manifest light;

الطاهر الأخلاق والأعراق واب

ن الطاهر الأخلاق ذي الشرف العلي

pure in character and lineage, and the son

of one pure in character, possessed of lofty honor;

صافي النجاد أجل من وطئ الحصى

وأعز من حاف ومن متنعل

pure of sword-belt, greatest of those who have trodden gravel,

and most honored of the barefoot and the sandal-shod;

المهتدي الهادي النبي المصطفى الزا

كي الرضي المدثر المزمل

the rightly guided guide, the chosen Prophet,

the pure, the well-pleasing, the mantle-clad, the wrapped;

الخاتم الرسل الكرام أخيرها

بدءاً وفي الفضل العظيم الأول

the seal of the noble messengers, the last of them

in advent, yet first in great excellence.

لولاه ما الدنيا تكون ولا الورى

خلقت وكل الكتب لما تنزل

Without him, the world would not exist, nor would humankind

have been created; nor would any of the books have been sent down.

لولاه لم تك جنةً أبداً ولا

كانت لظى خلقت لعاصٍ مثقل

Without him, Paradise would never have existed, nor

would blazing Hell have been created for a burdened sinner.

لولاه ما خلق المهيمن آدماً

بعلاً لحوا وهي أم الأبعل

Without him, the Sovereign Guardian would not have created Adam

as Eve's husband, she the mother of husbands.

هو سر خالقه وخاتم رسله

لولا الرسول فرسله لم ترسل

He is his Creator's secret and the seal of His messengers;

without the Messenger, His messengers would not have been sent.

مسلسل من صلب آدم نوره

أكرم بنور واضح متسلسل

His light passes in succession from Adam's loins;

how noble a light—clear, transmitted in succession!

من آدم من شيثه إدريسه

من نوح ولسامه المتكفل

from Adam, from his Seth, his Idris,

from Noah, and to his Shem, the custodian;

ولعابر ولفالغٍ عدنانه إب

راهيمه إسحاقه المتبتل

and to Eber and Peleg, his Adnan,

his Ibrahim, his Isaac the devout;

لقصيه السامي لعبد منافه

ولهاشم عمرو العلا السامي العلي

to his lofty Qusay, to his Abd Manaf,

and to Hashim, Amr al-Ula, the lofty, the exalted.

نسباً ضياء الشمس دون ضيائه

أفلت ونور نجاره لم يأفل

In lineage, the sun's radiance falls short of his:

the sun set, but the light of his stock did not.

خمدت لمولده بفارس نارها

وانهد إيوات لكسرى المؤثل

At his birth, Persia's fire went out,

and the palace hall of firmly established Khosrow collapsed.

والذئب كلمه وظبي جاءه

بتحية اللسن الفصيح المقول

The wolf spoke to him, and a gazelle came to him

with the greeting of a fluent, eloquent speaker.

والبدر شق بكمه وخدرنق

نسجت له بالغار نسج مهله

He split the full moon with his sleeve, and a spider

wove for him in the cave a loose-textured web.

سبحان من أسرى به ليلاً إلى

أقصى المساجد والمحل الأفضل

Glory be to Him who carried him by night to

the farthest of mosques and the most excellent abode.

سرت الملائكة الكرام تزفه

من محفل مرت به ولمحفل

The noble angels journeyed, escorting him,

from one assembly they passed through to another,

حتى لقد ظفر المراد وفاز بالش

رف العظيم المفضل

until he indeed attained his desire and won

great, preeminent honor.

واستل سيف العدل حتى أظهر ال

إسلام إظهار السيوف الفصل

He drew the sword of justice until he made

Islam manifest through the display of decisive swords.

وغدا يغوث ونسره ويعوقه

متكسراتٍ بالظبا والذبل

And Yaghuth, his Nasr, and his Ya'uq became

shattered by sword-edges and slender spears.

صلى الإله عليه ما نفس علا

متصعداً وجرى الكتاب بأنمل

May God bless him as long as a breath rises

upward and writing flows from fingertips.

مولاي بل مولى البرية كلها

أدعوك دعوة مستغيثٍ مبتل

My master—indeed, master of all creation—

I call to you with the plea of an afflicted man seeking aid.

بي علةٌ وحروفها محسوبة

هي ستة ودواؤها لم يعمل

I have an ailment whose letters are counted:

they are six, and its remedy has not worked.

ألف ولام ذال نون واوه

والباء متصل وغير مفصل

Alif and lam, dhal, nun, its waw,

and ba—joined together, not set apart.

فاسأل إلهك أن يمن بفضله

وبستة من أحرف فيجود لي

So ask your God to grant His favor

and be generous to me with six letters:

ألف ولام راء حاء ميمه

من قبل هاء فهي برء المبتلي

alif and lam, ra, ḥa, its mim

before ha—this is the afflicted one's cure.

وإليك يا مولاي عذري إنني

قصرت في مدحي اقتصار المعجل

And to you, my master, I offer my excuse: I

have fallen short in my praise, with a hurried man's brevity.

ولو أنني صورت كلي ألسنا

وبقيت ما تبقى شناخب يذبل

Even if I fashioned all of myself into tongues

and lived as long as Yadhbul's towering peaks endure,

ما إن بلغت عشر عشر العشر أو

عشر العشير بمدحك المتقبل

I would not attain a tenth of a tenth of a tenth, or

a tenth of a tenth, in accepted praise of you.

ولو كنت في مدجك إلا نقطة

في خضرم أو قطرةٍ في مسيل

And even if, in praising you, I were only a speck

in a vast sea, or a drop in a flowing stream.

هذا ثناي عليك واللَه الذي

أثنى عليك بما يقول ورتل

This is my praise of you, while God is the One

who praised you through His words and measured recitation.

لكنني متوسلٌ بك سيدي

فانعش صنيع عبيدك المتوسل

Yet I seek your intercession, my master;

so revive the work of your humble servant who seeks mediation.

وقد افتضحت لديك فاغفر زلتي

أن لا أزورك عاجلاً في المحمل

I stand exposed before you, so forgive my lapse:

my not coming soon to visit you in the camel-litter.

ما إن جهلت الحق فيك وإنما

شغل تلزمنيه أنت فمشغلي

I have not been ignorant of what is due to you; rather,

work you yourself require of me keeps me occupied.

فإذا لقيت العام قابل إنني

لأزور وجهك إن أراد اللَه لي

And when I reach the coming year, I

will surely visit your face, if God wills it for me.

فعليك مني والضجيعيك الثنا

وشذى سلام كل يومٍ مقبل

So upon you and your two companions lying beside you be praise from me,

and the fragrance of peace with every coming day;

والتابعيك وصحبك الأبرار وال

آل الكرام من الطراز الأفضل

and upon your followers, your righteous companions, and

the noble family, of the finest kind.