1. طربَ الدهر فاستهلَّ منيرا

    يملأ الكون بهجةً وسرورا

    Time rejoiced and broke forth radiant,

    filling the universe with delight and joy.

  2. وسرت نفحةٌ من البِشر فيه

    ضمَّخت خيمةَ السماءِ عبيرا

    A breath of gladness spread through it,

    perfuming the tent of heaven with fragrance.

  3. عُدنَ أوقاته رِقاق الحواشي

    لك تَهدي بشاشةً وحبورا

    Its hours became gentle at the edges,

    offering you cheerfulness and bliss.

  4. كلّ وقتٍ يمرُّ منه تراه

    باردَ الظلِّ طيباً مستنيرا

    Every hour of it that passes, you find

    cool of shade, pleasant, and bright.

  5. فكأَنَّ الهجيرَ كانَ أصيلاً

    وكأَنَّ العشيَّ كلنَ بكورا

    As though the midday heat were late afternoon,

    and as though evening were early morning.

  6. بوركت من صبيحةٍ في ضُحاها

    وَفَدَ اليمنُ بالسعود بشيرا

    Blessed be that morning, in whose forenoon

    good fortune arrived, heralding happy auspices.

  7. وإلى طلعةٍ جلت كلَّ همٍّ

    ببنان الإِقبال أضحى مشيرا

    And toward a countenance that dispelled every care,

    it pointed with prosperity's fingertips.

  8. فتأمل عقودَ هذي التهاني

    كيف زانت بها الليالي النحورا

    Contemplate the necklaces of these congratulations:

    how the nights adorned their necks with them.

  9. وتصفَّح أيَّامها الغرّ وانظر

    كيف قد وشحت بهنَّ الخصورا

    Leaf through their radiant days, and behold

    how they have girdled their waists with them.

  10. فرحٌ من شعاعه اقتبسَ النورَ

    محيَّا الدنيا فشعَّ منيرا

    A joy from whose rays light was borrowed

    by the world's face, which shone radiant.

  11. فاقتبل عمرها جديداً وأَيَّامك

    عيداً والعيشَ غضًّا نضيرا

    Welcome its life anew, and your days

    as a festival, and living as tender and fresh.

  12. طاب نشر الأفراح في بِشرِ قومٍ

    لهم الفضلُ أوَّلاً وأَخيرا

    Sweet is joy's fragrance in the gladness of a people

    whose excellence is first and last.

  13. عترة المجد أُسرة الشرف المحض

    زكوا محتداً وطابوا حجورا

    The offspring of glory, the family of pure honor,

    pure in lineage and noble in their nurturing laps.

  14. شرعٌ في العُلى وغير عجيبٍ

    فلها رشّح الكبيرُ الصغيرا

    Equal in eminence—and no wonder:

    the elder groomed the younger for it.

  15. معهم يولد النهى فترى اليا

    فعَ كهلاً والكهلَ شيخاً كبيرا

    Wisdom is born with them: you see the youth

    as a mature man, and the mature man as a venerable elder.

  16. خاطروا في العُلى فناهيك فيهم

    شرفاً باذخاً ومجداً خطيرا

    They ventured for the heights; sufficient in them are

    towering honor and momentous glory.

  17. منهم يستضاءُ شرقاً وغرباً

    بوجوهٍ تكسو الكواكب نورا

    From them light is sought, east and west,

    from faces that clothe the stars in light.

  18. فمع الشمس يشرقون شموساً

    ومع البدر يُشرقون بدورا

    With the sun they shine as suns,

    and with the full moon they shine as full moons.

  19. أيها العصر لا أرى لكَ مِثلاً

    زانك المصطفى فباهي العصورا

    O age, I see no equal to you:

    al-Mustafa adorned you, so rival other ages in glory.

  20. قبله هل مسحت غرّة صبحٍ

    عن لثام الإِسفار أبدت سفورا

    Before him, did you ever brush a morning's bright brow

    that emerged unveiled from daybreak's veil?

  21. شخصت نحوه العيونُ ولكن

    عاد بعض يَقذى وبعضٌ قريرا

    Eyes fixed their gaze upon him, but

    some returned smarting, and others content.

  22. فبعينٍ شعاعهُ كان ناراً

    وبعينٍ شُعاعه كان نورا

    To one eye his radiance was fire,

    and to another his radiance was light.

  23. بلّغته الرضا عزيمةُ نفسٍ

    كبرت أن ترى الخطيرَ خطيرا

    His soul's resolve brought him fulfillment,

    too great to deem the formidable formidable.

  24. كم طوى البيدَ باسطاً كفَّ جودٍ

    نشرت مَيّتَ الندى المقبورا

    How often he crossed deserts, extending a generous palm

    that revived generosity, dead and buried.

  25. واستقلَّ البحورَ جوداً فأجرى

    من أسارير راحتيه بحورا

    He deemed the seas scant in generosity, and set flowing

    seas from the creases of his two palms.

  26. ما نحا بلدةً بمسراه إلاَّ

    وأَبت نحو غيرها أن يسيرا

    He never headed toward a town on his journey

    but it refused to let him travel elsewhere.

  27. وإذا ذكره أطافَ بأُخرى

    كاد شوقاً فؤادها أن يطيرا

    Whenever mention of him reached another,

    its heart nearly soared with longing.

  28. فأتى مشهداً لمن طافَ فيه

    قد أعدَّ الإِله أجراً كبيرا

    He came to a shrine where, for whoever circles it,

    God has prepared a great reward.

  29. فيه لطف الله الذي من يزره

    زار في عرشه اللطيف الخبيرا

    There is God's grace: whoever visits him

    visits the Gentle, the All-Aware upon His throne.

  30. حاز أجراً لو الورى اقتسمه

    لغدا فيه كلّهم مأجورا

    He won a reward which, if all creation shared it,

    would leave every one of them rewarded.

  31. وبتلك الديار أبقى مزاياً

    تستقلُّ المنظومَ والمنثورا

    In those lands he left deeds of excellence

    too great for either verse or prose.

  32. وانثنى راجعاً بأحشاء قومٍ

    معه سافرت وعفنَ الصدورا

    He turned homeward bearing the hearts of a people

    that traveled with him, forsaking their breasts.

  33. يا نديمي على الهنا زانك الله

    ولقّاك نظرةً وسرورا

    O my companion in happiness, may God adorn you

    and grant you a gracious glance and joy.

  34. قل لعبد الكريم بُشراكَ يا مَن

    شاد بيتَ المكارم المعمورا

    Tell Abd al-Karim: glad tidings to you, O you

    who built the flourishing house of noble deeds.

  35. قد أقرَّ الإِله عينيك فيمن

    كان في غرّة لعينيك نورا

    God has gladdened your eyes through one

    whose bright brow was a light to your eyes.

  36. زارَ بغدادَ من بها ركز اليومَ

    لواءَ المفاخر المنشورا

    He visited Baghdad, he who today planted there

    the unfurled banner of glorious deeds.

  37. راقها منه طلعةً بدرُ مجدٍ

    لا رأت للغروب فيه نذيرا

    A full moon of glory delighted her with his countenance;

    may she never see in him a warning of his setting.

  38. ما تجلَّى بباهر الضوء إلاَّ

    عادَ طرفُ الحسود عنه حسيرا

    Whenever he appeared with dazzling light,

    the envious eye turned away from him exhausted.

  39. حسدتها السما عليه وقالت

    لمجلّيكِ ما حويتُ نظيرا

    Heaven envied her for him and said:

    "I possess no equal to the one who illumines you.

  40. لو قبلتِ التعويضَ عنه لقايض

    تك حتَّى هلاليَ المستنيرا

    Were you to accept compensation for him, I would barter

    with you even my radiant crescent.

  41. فهو يغني عمَّن سواه ولكن

    ليس يُغني سواه عنه نقيرا

    For he suffices in place of all others, but

    no other can replace him in the slightest."

  42. من رآه يقري الضيوف ويسعى

    للمعالي ويطلق المأسورا

    Whoever sees him feeding guests and striving

    for noble heights, and freeing the captive,

  43. قال هذا محمدٌ ذلك الصا

    لحُ قد عادَ شخصه منشورا

    says: "This is Muhammad, that righteous one—

    his very person has returned, raised to life."

  44. ونعم لا تقل طوى الموت مَن لم

    تفتقد منه سعيَهُ المشكورا

    Indeed, do not say death has carried off someone whose

    praiseworthy endeavors you have not lost.

  45. وكذا الشمس إن تغب فابنها البد

    ر يجلّي بنورها الديجورا

    So too, if the sun sets, her son, the full moon,

    disperses darkness with her light.

  46. يابن من قد أتى على الجود حينٌ

    فيه لولاه لم يكن مذكورا

    O son of one—a time came upon generosity

    when, but for him, it would have gone unmentioned.

  47. بك قرَّت عينا أخيك كما طَر

    فُك قد عاد في أخيك قريرا

    Through you your brother's eyes are gladdened, just as your gaze

    has found gladness once more in your brother.

  48. فلمن منكما أُهنِّي تساوى

    فيكما البشر زائراً ومزورا

    Which of you two shall I congratulate? Equal

    is your gladness, as visitor and visited.

  49. إنَّما أنت للمعالي يمينٌ

    وهو قد كان سيفَها المشهورا

    You are the right hand of noble heights,

    and he has been their unsheathed sword.

  50. فإذا ما هَزَزتهُ يوم فخرٍ

    جاءَك الدهر مُذعناً مستجيرا

    Whenever you brandish it on a day of pride,

    time comes to you yielding and seeking refuge.

  51. فرويداً مُراهنيه رويداً

    لن تشقُّوا غبارَه المستطيرا

    Easy, you who wager against him, easy!

    You will never break through his flying dust.

  52. خلفكم عن مدًى يشقّ عليكم

    ما ركبتم إليه إلاَّ الغرورا

    Keep back from a reach too hard for you:

    you have ridden toward it on nothing but delusion.

  53. ما لعليا محمدٍ حسنِ الأخلاق

    تلقى الشعرى العبور عبورا

    Why does the eminence of Muhammad, gracious in character,

    find Sirius al-Abur merely a crossing?

  54. ماجدُ النفس في اقتبال صباه

    يلبس الفخر كلّ آن حبيرا

    Noble of soul in the first bloom of youth,

    he wears pride as brocade at every moment.

  55. مستطيلٌ كم ابتدا مكرماتٍ

    عاد باع الكرام عنها قصيرا

    Far-reaching—how many noble deeds he initiated

    that left the reach of generous men too short.

  56. رفَّ نبت المُنى بجانب جدوا

    هُ فكانا خميلةً وغديرا

    The plants of hope flourished beside his bounty,

    and the two became a grove and a pool.

  57. كان تأريخ بيْته أوَّل الدهر

    على جبهة العُلى مسطورا

    His house's history, from the beginning of time,

    was inscribed upon the brow of eminence.

  58. عن أبيه عن جدّه المصطفى ير

    وي حديثَ المكارم المأثورا

    From his father, from his grandfather, al-Mustafa relates

    the handed-down account of noble deeds.

  59. قد بنى في السماءِ قبَّة مجدٍ

    تخذ النيِّرات فيها سميرا

    He built in heaven a dome of glory,

    taking the bright stars within it as nightly companions.

  60. من كرامٍ قد استرقُّوا لباس ال

    حمد والناس تسترقّ الحريرا

    Of noble men who have refined the garment of

    praise, while other people refine silk.

  61. لعلاها محمدٌ قد أعدَّته

    جواداً على الثناء مُغيرا

    For its heights, it has readied Muhammad,

    a steed charging upon praise.

  62. كم جرى والصبا بحلبة جودٍ

    فغدا عنه شأوها محسورا

    How often he raced the east wind in bounty's arena,

    leaving its utmost reach exhausted behind him.

  63. وجلا أُفقها محمدٌ الها

    دي لمن نصَّ في الظلام المسيرا

    Muhammad al-Hadi has illumined its horizon,

    a guide for whoever hastens his journey through darkness.

  64. كوكبٌ عزّ أن يرى فلك المجد

    منيراً بمثله مستديرا

    A star: scarcely is glory's sphere ever seen

    revolving, radiant with his like.

  65. ولها من محمَّدٍ بأمينٍ

    حفظت كنز فخرها المذخورا

    And in Muhammad it has a trusty guardian;

    it has preserved its stored treasure of pride.

  66. قد رقى حيثُ ليس ترقى الثريَّا

    وسقى الوافدينَ نوءاً غزيرا

    He ascended where the Pleiades cannot rise,

    and watered those who came with abundant rain.

  67. وبعبد الحسين قد فاخروا الشم

    س فودَّت في الأُفق أن لن تُنيرا

    Through Abd al-Husayn they vied in glory with the sun,

    and it wished it would never shine on the horizon.

  68. هم بنو السؤدد القديم كما هم

    إخوة المجد واحداً وعشيرا

    They are sons of ancient eminence, just as they are

    brothers of glory, singly and as a band.

  69. فادع غرّيد أُنسهم ثم أرِّخ

    رجعة المصطفى بها اسجع دهورا

    Summon the songbird of their fellowship, then chronicle

    al-Mustafa's return: sing of it in rhyme for ages.