1. إن قلتَ عذراً لها ما أبطأت سَأَما

    فربَّ معتذرٍ يوماً وما اجترما

    If you plead an excuse for her, she did not delay from weariness;

    for many a person apologizes one day without having done wrong.

  2. وكيف تسأمُ من إهداء تهنيةٍ

    كم علَّلت قبلُ فيها المجدَ والكرما

    And how could she tire of offering congratulations,

    with which she so often cheered Glory and Generosity before?

  3. كانت تَمنَّى على الله الشفا لأبي ال

    هادي لتملأَ أكباد العدى ضرما

    She had implored God for the healing of Abu al-

    Hadi, to fill the foes' hearts with fire,

  4. بكلّ سيّارةٍ في الأرضِ ما فَتحت

    بمثلها أبداً أُمُّ القريضِ فما

    with every verse that roams the earth—never has

    the mother of poetry opened her mouth with its like.

  5. تشعُّ فهي لعينٍ كوكبٌ شرقٌ

    وجمرةٌ لحشاً في نادها وُسِما

    She shines: to an eye she is a radiant star,

    and to a heart branded in her gathering, an ember.

  6. فهل تظنُ وربُّ العرشِ خوَّلها

    ما قد تمنَّت وذاك الداءُ قد حُسما

    Do you suppose, now that the Lord of the Throne has granted her

    what she wished, and that illness has been ended,

  7. ينامُ منها لسانُ الشكرِ عن سأمٍ

    إذاً لسانيَ حتفاً نامَ لا سئما

    that her tongue of gratitude would sleep from weariness?

    Then my tongue would sleep in death, not from weariness.

  8. سائِل بها الشرف الوضّاحَ هل كَفرت

    نعماه أو عَبدت من دونِه صَنما

    Ask radiant Honor about her: has she denied

    its blessings, or worshipped an idol besides it?

  9. لا يَنقَمُ المجد منها أنَّها خَفِرت

    في خيرِ عترتِه يوماً له ذِمَما

    Glory finds no cause to reproach her for breaking

    its covenants concerning the finest of its kin, on any day.

  10. لكنَّها لهناةٍ عن ولادتِها

    طروقةُ الفكرِ حالت لا الوفا عَقُما

    But, because of a slight hindrance to her giving birth,

    thought's mate failed to conceive; loyalty was not barren.

  11. وقد تحيلُ لُقاحاً طالما نَتجت

    واستقبلَ الحيُّ من إنتاجها النِعما

    And even milch camels may be rendered barren, though they have often calved,

    and the tribe has welcomed blessings from their offspring.

  12. بكرٌ من النظمِ لم يُثقِب لئالئَها

    فكرٌ ولا فوقَ نحرٍ مثلُها نُظِما

    A virgin poem, whose pearls have never been pierced

    by thought, nor has its like been strung upon a neck.

  13. مولودةٌ في ثيابِ الحسنِ قد رَضَعت

    دَرَّ النُهى في زمان عنه قد فُطِما

    Born in the garments of beauty, she has suckled

    the flowing milk of wisdom in an age weaned from it.

  14. قد أقبلت وطريقُ الحسنِ متّسعٌ

    تضيقُ خُطواً وإن لم تَقترف جُرما

    She came forward along beauty's spacious road,

    her steps constrained, though she had committed no offense.

  15. ما قدَّمت قدماً تبغي الوصولَ بها

    إلاَّ وأخَّرها تقصيرُها قَدَما

    She never advanced a foot, seeking to arrive,

    without her shortcomings setting her a foot back.

  16. حتَّى ألمَّت بأكنافِ الذين بهم

    عن الوليِّ يحطُّ الخالقُ اللمَما

    Until she alighted in the shelter of those through whom

    the Creator removes the devout believer's minor sins.

  17. قومٌ يُؤدّبُ جهلَ الدهرِ حلمهُم

    حتَّى ترى الدهرَ بعدَ الجهلِ قد حَلُما

    A people whose forbearance disciplines Time's ignorance,

    until you see Time, once ignorant, grow forbearing.

  18. وجودُهم يتداوى المُسنَتونَ به

    ما اعتلَّ بالجدبِ عامٌ بالورى أزِما

    And their generosity is a remedy for the famine-stricken,

    whenever a year grows sick with drought and oppresses mankind.

  19. فكيف مرَّت شكاةٌ ساورت لَهُمُ

    عضواً من المجدِ سُرَّ المجدُ إذ سَلِما

    How, then, did the illness pass that had assailed

    a limb of their Glory, whose recovery gladdened Glory?

  20. أبكَت وأضحكَت العَلياءَ والكرما

    روعاءُ قطّب فيها الدهرُ وابتسما

    It made Loftiness and Generosity weep and laugh:

    a terrifying ordeal in which Time frowned and smiled.

  21. دجّت ببؤسٍ فلم تَبرح تضاحِكُها

    بوارقُ اللُّطفِ حتَّى أمطرت نِعما

    It darkened with misery, yet there kept smiling upon it

    the flashes of grace, until blessings rained down.

  22. أمَّت قليلاً وهبَّت في جوانِحها

    مِن الدعاءِ قَبولٌ فانجلت أمما

    It came only briefly; within its breast there stirred

    acceptance of prayer, and it soon cleared away.

  23. أضحى طَريفاً لنا نشر السرورِ بها

    لنشرِنا ذلك البشرَ الذي قَدِما

    Proclaiming joy through it became a new delight for us,

    for we had proclaimed that gladness long ago.

  24. مسرَّةٌ لأبي الهادي أعادَ بها

    بُرءُ الحسينِ لنا العهدَ الذي قدُما

    A joy for Abu al-Hadi, through which

    Husayn's recovery restored for us the days of old.

  25. إذ قد جنى الدهرُ ما لم تَستطع مَعهُ

    نشرَ المسرَّةِ لكن راجَعَ الندما

    When Time had wrought a wrong that left her unable

    to spread joy; but then it turned to remorse,

  26. فأتبَعَ الفرحةَ الأُولى بثانيةٍ

    لم تُبقِ في الأرضِ لا غمًّا ولا غُمما

    and followed the first gladness with a second,

    leaving on earth neither sorrow nor gloom.

  27. فارشفِ المجدَ في كلتيهما طَرباً

    راحَ التهاني وقَرِّط سمعه نَغما

    So make Glory sip, in rapture at them both,

    the wine of congratulations, and hang melodies like earrings at its ear.

  28. وقُل وإن صُمَّ سمعٌ من أخي حَسدٍ

    فسرَّني أنه ما فارق الصمما

    And say—even if an envious man's hearing is deafened,

    it gladdens me that it has never ceased to be deaf—

  29. ليُهنِكَ النعمةُ الكبرى أبا حسنٍ

    في صحَّةٍ لم تدَع في مُهجةٍ سَقما

    May the greatest blessing give you joy, Abu Hasan,

    in health that leaves no sickness in any heart.

  30. أنت الذي رَمَقت عينُ الرشادِ به

    فما رأت بكَ يا إنسانَها ألَما

    You are the one through whom the eye of guidance gazed,

    and saw no pain in you, O pupil of that eye.

  31. وقد صبرتَ وكانَ الصبرُ منك رضى

    عن الإِلهِ وتسليماً لما حَكما

    You endured, and your endurance was contentment

    with God, and submission to what He decreed.

  32. أصالحٌ أنت أم أيوبُ بل قَسماً

    بما تخمّلتَ مِن ضُرٍّ لأنتَ هُما

    Are you Salih or Job? Rather, I swear,

    by the suffering you bore: you are both.

  33. وهبكَ لم تكُ مَبعوثاً كما بُعثا

    فقد ورثتَ بحمدِ الله ما عَلِما

    Granted you were not sent as a prophet as they both were,

    you have inherited, praise be to God, what they knew.

  34. سقمٌ وما مسَّكَ الشيطانُ فيه لقد

    حكيتَ أيوبَ صبراً عندما سَقُما

    An illness in which Satan did not touch you; yet indeed

    you resembled Job in patience when he fell ill.

  35. حتَّى علمنا بأنَّ الابتلاءَ به

    ما للنبيينَ عندَ اللهِ للعلما

    Until we learned that through such trials

    scholars have with God what the prophets have.

  36. آلَ الإِلهُ أقرّ اللهُ أعينكُم

    بالمُبكِيَنِ عيونَ الحاسدين دما

    O household of God, may God gladden your eyes

    with the two who make the envious weep blood.

  37. بِشراً فتلك يدُ البُشرى ببُرئِهما

    مَرَّت على جُرحِ قلبِ الدين فالتحما

    Rejoice! For the hand of good tidings at their recovery

    passed over the wound in faith's heart, and it healed.

  38. كانت ولكن لقلب الدهرِ مُوجعةً

    كادت مضاضتُها تستأصِلُ النَسما

    Yet it had been agonizing for the heart of Time,

    its bitterness nearly uprooting living souls.

  39. قد ودَّ أهلُ السما والأرضِ أنَّ لكم

    ثوابَها وعليهم داؤُها انقسما

    The inhabitants of heaven and earth wished that yours might be

    its reward, while its illness was shared among them.

  40. لقد أعادَ على الفيحاءِ فضلكُمُ

    شبابَها بعد ما قد عنَّست هَرَما

    Your excellence has indeed restored to al-Fayha

    her youth, after she had aged in spinsterhood.

  41. كم ابنُ فهدٍ غدا فيها لعُدّة دا

    عِيكم وكم لأياديكم من ابنِ نما

    How many an Ibn Fahd arose there as a resource for your

    caller; and how many an Ibn Nama arose through your favors!

  42. نَضيتُمُ للمقالِ الفصلِ ألسنةً

    لو تقرع السيفَ يوماً صدرُه انثلما

    You have unsheathed tongues for decisive speech,

    which, if they struck a sword one day, would notch its breast.

  43. رياسةٌ في الهدى أنتم أحقُّ بها

    مَن كانَ جاذَبكم أبرادَها أَثِما

    Leadership in guidance—you have the greatest right to it;

    whoever has vied with you for its robes has sinned.

  44. حيثُ الإِمامةُ من مهديِّها نصَبت

    لها النُبوَّةُ في أحكامِها عَلما

    Where, for the imamate, from its Mahdi there has been set

    by prophethood, within its ordinances, a guiding standard:

  45. مِن قابض ورعاً عن كلِّ مُشتبهٍ

    أناملاً لم تزل مبسوطةً دِيَما

    one who, in piety, draws back from every doubtful thing

    fingers ever outstretched like gentle, lasting rain.

  46. مولًى هو الكعبةُ البيت الحرامُ لنا

    أضحى وأضحت بَنوه الأشهر الحرُما

    A master who for us is the Kaaba, the Sacred House,

    and whose sons have become the sacred months.

  47. قومٌ هُم عُلماء الدينِ سادة خلقِ

    اللهِ أكرمُ من فوق الثرى شِيما

    A people who are scholars of religion, masters of the creatures

    of God—the noblest in character upon the earth.

  48. همُ البدورُ أنارَ اللهُ طلعتَها

    لها الكواكبُ قلَّت أن تُرى خدَما

    They are the full moons whose rising God has illumined;

    the stars are too lowly even to appear as their servants.

  49. من طِينةٍ أبداً تبيضُّ عن كرمٍ

    ما اسودَّ طينُ رجالٍ في الورى لؤما

    Of clay that forever whitens through nobility,

    whenever men's clay among mankind blackens through baseness.

  50. إليكموها هداةَ الخلقِ باهرةً

    لسانُها قال فيكم بالذي عَلِما

    Here she is for you, guides of mankind, resplendent;

    her tongue has spoken of you according to what it knew.

  51. إن أُنس فيكم زهيراً بالثناءِ لكم

    فأنتم لي قد أنسيتم هرما

    If, in praising you, I make Zuhayr forgotten,

    you have made me forget Harim.