1. أَأُهنِّيك قائلاً لك بشرى

    أو أُعزِّيك قائلاً لك صبرا

    Shall I congratulate you, saying, 'Glad tidings!'

    Or console you, saying, 'Patience!'

  2. فرحة أردفت بترحة ثكلٍ

    ساءَ فيها الزمانُ ساعةَ سرَّا

    A joy was followed by the sorrow of bereavement;

    in it, Time brought sorrow at the very hour it brought delight.

  3. شفعت فيه أوبةٌ بذهابٍ

    فمنحنا سجلين نفعاً وضرَّا

    A return was paired therein with a departure,

    and it gave us two bucketfuls: benefit and harm.

  4. ملأا بالسرور للمجدِ شطراً

    من حشاه وبالكآبة شطرا

    They filled one half of Glory with joy,

    deep in its heart, and the other half with sorrow.

  5. زمنٌ آبَ بالسعود حميداً

    بعدما أقلقَ الركائب عصرا

    Time returned with good fortune, worthy of praise,

    after keeping the riding camels restless for an age.

  6. قلت ألقى العصا وما كنتُ أدري

    أنَّ فيها له مآربَ أُخرى

    I said, 'He has laid down his staff,' not knowing

    that he had other uses for it.

  7. بينما تكتسي وجوهُ الليالي

    رونقاً للسرور إذ عدن غبرا

    While the faces of the nights were clothing themselves

    in the luster of joy, suddenly they turned dust-gray.

  8. خيرُ يومٍ بدا بحلَّةِ زهوٍ

    ما له تحتها تأبَّط شرَّا

    The finest day appeared in a robe of splendor—

    why did it carry evil under its arm beneath that robe?

  9. يا خليليَّ والحديثُ شجونٌ

    فأجيلا معي إلى الحزم فكرا

    O my two friends—and talk has many branches—

    so turn your thoughts with mine toward prudence.

  10. خبراني عن الصواب برشدٍ

    إن تكونا أحطتما فيه خبرا

    Tell me with sound judgment where the right course lies,

    if you two have fully grasped it.

  11. كانَ لي في الأُمور قلبٌ ولكن

    بمقاديم دهشتي طارَ ذعرا

    I had a heart for dealing with affairs, but

    at the onset of my bewilderment it flew away in terror.

  12. قد وفدنا لكي نهنِّي المعالي

    فوجدنا العيونَ منهنَّ عبرى

    We came to congratulate high honors,

    yet found their eyes full of tears.

  13. فبماذا أُواجهُ الفخرَ أم في

    أيِّ شيءٍ أُخاطبُ المجدَ جهرا

    With what, then, shall I face Pride, or in

    what terms shall I address Glory aloud?

  14. أبنعيٍ فأنثرُ الشجوَ دمعاً

    أم أُحيِّي فأنظم السعدَ شعرا

    With death's tidings, scattering sorrow as tears?

    Or offer greetings, weaving good fortune into verse?

  15. فالليالي أقررن للجودِ عيناً

    وعلى النعيِّ منه أقذين أُخرى

    The nights gladdened one eye of Generosity,

    and at death's tidings put a mote in its other.

  16. ومن المكرمات أبكين جفناً

    بعدما للسعودِ أضحكن ثغرا

    They made an eyelid of Noble Deeds weep,

    after making a mouth smile with good fortune.

  17. طبت يا أرضُ بينَ حيٍّ وميتٍ

    بالشذا عطَّراك بطناً وظهرا

    You grew fragrant, O earth, between one living and one dead;

    both perfumed your belly and back with fragrance.

  18. فعزاءً لمصطفى المجد عن مَن

    خلت بالمصطفى أهنِّيه بشرى

    So, condolences to Mustafa, Glory's elect, for the man

    I had thought to congratulate with glad tidings of Mustafa.

  19. رحلت بالجواد أيامُ دهرٍ

    أين مرَّت من بعده قيل عقرا

    The days of Time departed with the generous man;

    wherever they passed after him, the cry was, 'Perish!'

  20. كانَ بالأمسِ أنظرَ الناس ربعاً

    وهو اليوم أطيبُ الناس قبرا

    Yesterday his abode was the fairest of all,

    and today his grave is the most fragrant of all.

  21. يا بني المصطفى وبيتُ نداكم

    قد بنى طائرُ الرجا فيه وكرا

    O sons of Mustafa, your house of bounty—

    the bird of hope has built a nest within it.

  22. شدتموه على التقى يهدمُ الدهرَ

    ويبقى بناؤه مشمخرَّا

    You raised it upon piety; it brings Time down,

    while its edifice remains towering.

  23. لستُ أدري أَأودعَ المجدُ منكم

    بشراً فيه أم ملائك غرَّا

    I do not know: did Glory lodge some of you

    within it as mortals, or as radiant angels?

  24. خلَّد المصطفى به لكم الفخرَ

    وزدتم بالمصطفى اليومَ فخرا

    Mustafa made your glory everlasting through it,

    and today you gained further glory through Mustafa.

  25. أرجُ المجد لو تجسَّم نشراً

    من شذاه لعطَّر الأرضَ نشرا

    If Glory's scent took bodily form as perfume,

    its fragrance would perfume the earth far and wide.

  26. ولودَّت أترابُها الغيدُ أن قد

    جعلته على الترائبِ عطرا

    And her graceful maiden peers would wish

    to have laid it as perfume upon their bosoms.

  27. بسط الكفَّ بالسماح فقلنا

    أرسلت نوءها الثريَّا فدرَّا

    He spread his hand in generosity, and we said:

    'The Pleiades sent their rain, and it poured forth!'

  28. ملكٌ في يديه عشرُ بنانٍ

    نشأت للورى سحائبَ عشرا

    A king, with ten fingers upon his two hands,

    that have risen as ten rain-clouds for mankind.

  29. زاد في قدره التواضعُ حتَّى

    عاد منه الزمانُ يصعر قدرا

    Humility increased his stature until

    Time itself held its head high in rank through him.

  30. فهو قلبُ العُلى وأيُّ مكانٍ

    حلَّ فيه تواضعاً كانَ صدرا

    He is the heart of Eminence; whatever place

    he humbly takes becomes the place of honor.

  31. بل هو العقدُ زانها وكذا العق

    دُ يزين الفتاةَ جيداً ونحرا

    Rather, he is the necklace adorning her; likewise, a necklace

    adorns a maiden's neck and bosom.

  32. لو تحكُّ النجومُ في عاتقيها

    أخمصيه لقيل حسبُك فخرا

    Were the stars to rub upon their shoulders

    his arched soles, one would say, 'Glory enough for you!'

  33. أطبقت ظلمةُ الخطوب ولكن

    بأخيه من ليلها شقَّ فجرا

    The darkness of calamities closed in, but

    through his brother he cleft a dawn from their night.

  34. فأرانا شمساً بوجه أبي الها

    دي وشمنا به ولا ليلَ بدرا

    He showed us a sun in the face of Abu al-Hadi,

    and in him we glimpsed a full moon, though there was no night.

  35. ذاك مَن أزهرت مزايا علاهُ

    فبدت والكواكبُ الزهر زهرا

    He is the one whose lofty merits blossomed,

    appearing as flowers beside the radiant stars.

  36. جاءَ محضَ النجار أملسَ عرضٍ

    فيها طابت حواضنُ المجد حجرا

    He came of pure stock and unblemished honor;

    there, the laps of Glory's nurses were pure.

  37. عبقَ الجيب طاهرَ الردن والأذ

    يال عفّ الأزار سرًّا وجهرا

    Fragrant at the collar, pure of sleeve and trailing hems,

    chaste of waistcloth, in secret and openly.

  38. قد حلتْ لي أخلاقه في زمانٍ

    قلتُ لمَّا طعمته ما أمرَّا

    His character grew sweet to me in an age

    of which, when I tasted it, I said, 'How bitter!'

  39. علمتني هي النظام إلى أن

    قيلَ لي أنتَ أشعرُ الناس طرا

    It taught me the craft of verse until

    I was told, 'You are the greatest poet of them all.'

  40. وأداروا لي المدامة منها

    ثم قالوا تحبُّها قلتُ بهرا

    They passed me the wine of those virtues,

    then asked, 'Do you love it?' I said, 'Beyond measure!'

  41. ماجدٌ تطرب المسامعُ منه

    من رقيق الثناء ما كانَ حرا

    A noble man: the ears delight, on his account,

    in whatever is noble in delicate praise.

  42. وإذا مرَّ في العطا ودَّ فيه

    مجلسُ الجود لم يزل مستمرَّا

    And when he passes by bestowing gifts,

    Generosity's assembly wishes he would never stop.

  43. لا كمن إن تكلَّف الرفدَ يوماً

    أكلتْ كفَّه الندامةُ دهرا

    Unlike one who, if he forces himself to give one day,

    has his hand gnawed by regret for an age.

  44. ففداءاً لشبره باع قومٍ

    لم تقس في ذراعها منه فترا

    Let a people's armspan be ransom for his handspan:

    their cubit could not match a finger-span of his.

  45. مدَّ لكن يداً صناع العطايا

    طرّزت بردتيه حمداً وشكرا

    But he stretched out a hand skilled in giving,

    which embroidered his two cloaks with praise and thanks.

  46. لا تفاخر به المجرَّة إلاَّ

    إن ترد تكسب المجرةَ فخرا

    Do not vie with the Milky Way through him, unless

    you wish to lend the Milky Way glory.

  47. فهو بحرٌ ويقذف الدرَّ جوداً

    وهي نهرٌ وليس يقذف درَّا

    For he is a sea, casting forth pearls in generosity,

    while it is a river that casts forth no pearls.

  48. وهو والمصطفى بنادي العُلى شف

    عٌ وكلٌّ يقوم في القوم وترا

    He and Mustafa are a pair in the assembly of Eminence,

    yet each stands among the people alone and unmatched.

  49. حفظا حوزةَ السماح وكلٌّ

    دونها للعذول كم سدَّ ثغرا

    They guarded generosity's domain, and each

    sealed many a breach against the censurer in its defense.

  50. فدمُ المكرمات لو لم يجيئا

    لنعته يتائم الشعر هدرا

    Had they not come, the blood of Noble Deeds

    would have been mourned, unavenged, by poetry's orphaned verses.

  51. قد غرسنا فأثمر النظمُ حمداً

    وسقيتم فأينع الجودُ وفرا

    We planted, and verse bore fruit in praise;

    you watered, and generosity ripened into abundance.

  52. لسواه يا عاصراً حلبَ الفكر

    بكفِّ الخسار تعصر خمرا

    O you pressing thought's milk for anyone but him,

    you press wine with the hand of loss.

  53. أيُّها الطيّبون معقدَ أزرٍ

    لكم اللهُ شدَّ بالنصر أزرا

    O you whose waistcloth-knots are pure,

    God has strengthened your backs with victory.

  54. ذكركم بالجميل سارَ ولكن

    كمسير الرياح برًّا وبحرا

    Your fair renown has traveled, but

    with the passage of winds over land and sea.

  55. قرَّت الأرضُ بالجبال وكانت

    هي والراسياتُ فيكم أقرَّا

    The earth grew steady through the mountains, and

    it and those rooted heights grew steadier through you.

  56. هاكموها بكرَ القريض وعنها

    سائلاها هل مثلها افتضَّ بكرا

    Take her, the virgin of poetry; and about her,

    ask her: 'Was ever a virgin like her deflowered?'

  57. بسوى السحر لن تعب أي وعي

    ب البابليات إنَّه كانَ سحرا

    You will fault her for nothing but magic—that is, the fault

    of the Babylonian charms: that it was magic.

  58. مزجت راحةَ السرور بضرٍّ

    فأذاقت طعمين حلواً ومرَّا

    She blended the ease of joy with affliction,

    and gave two tastes: sweet and bitter.

  59. همت في عفرها وما كلُّ من ها

    مَ بوادي القريض يصطاد عفرا

    I wandered in love with her pale gazelles; not everyone who wanders

    in poetry's valley hunts down pale gazelles.

  60. زانَ تحبيرُها الطروسَ ففتّش

    ما عداها تجده طرساً وحبرا

    Her artistry adorned the pages; examine

    anything but her, and you will find merely paper and ink.