1. It is the appointed time that does not fail
And the past cannot be regretted by the sorrowful

2. We accept the decree of Allah, exalted is His majesty
Though the ignorant transgressor may be misguided in it

3. He is the Truth who rewards us for our deeds
And we spend from His bounties while He replaces

4. He pardons and forgives much though we have not ceased
To do wrong while He remains Forbearing

5. How can praise suffice His rightful praise
As befits His glory, by tongue and letters

6. My God we fall short of what You deserve
And we fear while hoping in what is with You and tremble

7. The hand of this world has gestured farewell to its people
And we almost see the tribulations while God gentles

8. We hoped You would be gracious and feared You would be just
So grant what we hope and spare us what we dread

9. It is the bridge to the next so journey as a guest for a night
On it for all that is hosted and fed are transient

10. It tasks us with things beyond our capacity
And we cling to the impossible and exert

11. As for its meanness, that is from selves
Harsh upon it, leaving what they were accustomed to

12. Wayward fancies have confused us blindly
With no purpose sought in what they dispose

13. That is but the nature of a mere dog
Its disposition is only to act doggishly

14. It smiles at every deficient one
And frowns in the face of the noble and bucks

15. Its joy is of no benefit balancing its sorrows
In what it destroys and ruins

16. It is not pleased to gather possessions all together
Adorned with what it turns to and swears by

17. It is no dwelling, though a erected palace
So how when this is its depth, a mere mirage

18. And asceticism in renouncing it, when it is filth
Clamor and din, though it poses as a blond lass

19. It passed not as one would hope but as
The like of Joseph son of Jacob, Joseph

20. Our model and guide is the Stricken One, our Shaykh
And our guiding light in what matters and rows

21. He observes the outcomes of matters with insight
Pessimistic, surrendered to him and hailed

22. You hear of him such wondrous things you do not see
Better than what he would recount, more witty

23. The hearts of enviers plot against him
But their mouths outpace them and expose

24. Discerning in resolving quandaries as if
Revealing their secrets then disclosing

25. Wise, the clouds of Wael and the vipers
Of Jurhum and Qaltaf have faded in him

26. And Thales, Pittacus, Ibn Waramis
And Euclid of the Elements and the Bishop

27. A cloud with the showers of al-Muzan
And a sea with the shells of virtues tossing

28. He has mastered the extremities of destiny and its ways
And he is none other than the Master and the Virtuous

29. The great works of Ibn Yusuf address him
This compiled book on the multiplicity of views

30. He knows in language and grammar what he wished in youth
So he grew versed in verifying and philosophizing

31. He elucidates the verses of the Book while his breast
Is for its collected entirety the Uthmanic codex

32. Lazy ears unaccustomed to knowledge
His teaching does not split and rip open

33. He explicates it with the interpretation of an accomplished scholar
Drawing from the overflowing fount of knowledge

34. Its generosity poured into his palm, Hatim's palm
And the mantle of forbearance wrapped over him

35. He aspires to noble virtues, those are his concern
And is passionate for them just as they are for him

36. Eyes fell short of him, yet he is as though
By seeing ought but them he was gouged and turned

37. I did not know before him death a shaking
That would pound and crush the noble virtues

38. Nor one in need that the son of Layla
Should rise upon the people a full moon then eclipse

39. You have penetrated the prison of sorrow, so be patient a reward
He who rewarded Joseph will reward you, Joseph

40. God wanted for you what is with Him
More fortunate, triumphing, and noble

41. If all of mankind's sins were in one scale
Your reward would outweigh them and prevail

42. Give glad tidings, glad tidings, tell the mother of Ahmad what
Will be doubled for her from its reward and amplified

43. So do not despair, O his parents, for his Lord
Is more merciful to him than parents, kinder

44. And leave, and those you befriended, my love and those in whom
All my crookedness was set straight and cultivated

45. You have laid me on the thorns of loss yet your resting place
In the Firdaws is shelter and plush

46. And may what is best of the best reward you from it
And the Perfect Judge reward you

47. And he left for his Master the lowly and His people
So he has none but Him to yearn for

48. Some ascribe his youth to his few years
While the learned ascribe his knowledge to the elders

49. I was amazed at his precedence in their counting
When they and he are pearls unpierced, untainted

50. He penetrated the knowledge of Sufism, taking
The path of asceticism, not self indulgence

51. You drew him near, when his soul was not pleased,
With that which does not draw near to His pleasure

52. My tongue grew tied speaking of him when he worried
So here I am, digressing in speech, excessive

53. I have not fulfilled the least of his rights
Except to ramble eulogizing him, embellishing

54. An elegy that does not anger God in its words
While grieving the heart as tears flow

55. I wished I were given eloquence in speech
That I may call out in it what I know

56. Yes how can a fleeting vanishing mortal
Draw from the endless ocean and bleed dry

57. He has qualities like the many stars
Some described and some beyond describing

58. The limits of surpassing perfection which
The steeds of prose fall short of, halting