1. أهزلاً وقد جَدَّت بك اللَّمّةُ الشمطا

    وأمناً وقد ساورتِ يا حيةٌ رَقطا

    Do you jest, when your grizzled locks have grown earnest with you?

    And safety, though you have assailed, O speckled serpent? [Wording unclear.]

  2. أغرك طولُ العمرِ في غَيرِ طائلٍ

    وسَرَّكَ أن الموتَ في سيره أبطا

    Has a long life spent to no purpose deceived you,

    And pleased you that death has been slow in its course?

  3. رويداً فإنَّ الموتَ أسرعُ وافدٍ

    علَى عُمرك الفاني ركائبَهُ حطّا

    Wait: death is the swiftest visitor

    To bring his mounts to rest upon your fleeting life.

  4. فإذ ذاتك لا تسطيعُ إدراكَ ما مضى

    بحالٍ ولا قبضاً تطيقُ ولا بسطا

    Since you yourself cannot recover what has passed

    By any means, nor can you shorten it or extend it,

  5. تأهّب فقد وافى مشيبُكَ منذراً

    وها هو في فَودَيك أحرًفَه خطَّا

    Prepare yourself: your gray hair has come as a warning,

    And there it is, inscribing its letters upon your temples.

  6. فوافقت منه كاتبَ السر واشياً

    له القلمُ الأعلى يخطّ بهِ وخطا

    So in it you have met a privy secretary who divulges secrets,

    Who has the supreme Pen, with which he traces flecks—

  7. معمَّى كتابٍ فكُّه احذر فهذه

    سفينةُ هذا العمرِ قاربتِ الشطا

    A cryptic text—beware its unraveling, for this

    Ship of this life has neared the shore.

  8. وإن طالما خاضت لك اللجَجَ التي

    خبطتَ بها في كلِّ مهلكةٍ خبطا

    Though long it has plunged for you into the deep waters in which

    You have floundered blindly through every deadly peril,

  9. وما زلتَ في أمواجها متقلباً

    فآونة رفعاً وآونة حَطَّا

    And you have never ceased tossing in its waves,

    Now lifted up, now cast down,

  10. فقد أوشكت تلقيك في قعرِ حفرةٍ

    تشدُّ عليكَ الجانبين بها ضغطا

    It is now about to throw you into the depths of a pit,

    Whose two sides will clamp tightly around you.

  11. ولستَ على علم بما أنتَ بعدها

    مُلاقٍ أرضواناً من الله أم سخطا

    And you do not know what, after it, you will

    Encounter: pleasure from God, or wrath.

  12. وأعجبُ شيء منك دعواك في النُّهى

    وهذا الهوى المردي على العقلِ قد غطى

    And strangest of all is your claim to reason,

    While this ruinous desire has veiled your mind.

  13. قسطتَ عن الحقِّ المبين جهالةً

    وقد خالفتك النفسُ فادعت القسطا

    In ignorance you have strayed unjustly from manifest truth,

    Yet your soul has contradicted you, claiming justice.

  14. وطاوعتَ شيطاناً تجيبُ إذا دعا

    وتَقبَلُ إن أغوى وتأخذ إن أعطى

    And you have obeyed a devil, answering when he calls,

    Accepting if he misleads you, and taking if he gives.

  15. تناءى عن الأخرى وقد قربت مدىً

    تدانى من الدنيا وقد أزمعت شحطا

    You draw away from the next life, though it has drawn near,

    And draw close to this world, though it has resolved to depart.

  16. وتمنحها حبّاً وفرطَ صبابةٍ

    وما منحت إلا القَتَادةَ والخَرطا

    You bestow on it love and excessive yearning,

    Yet it has given only the thorn-tree and the stripping of its leaves.

  17. فها أنت تهوى وَصلها وهي فاركٌ

    وتأمل قرباً من حِماها وقد شطَّا

    Here you are, longing for union with it, while it spurns you,

    Hoping to approach its precinct, though it has grown distant.

  18. صراطُ هدىً نكّبتَ عنه عمايةً

    ودار رديً أوعيت في سُحتِها سرطا

    A path of guidance—you turned aside from it in blindness;

    And an abode of ruin—you hoarded its unlawful gains, gulping them down.

  19. فما لك إلا السيد الشّافعُ الذي

    له فضلُ جاهٍ كل ما يَرتَجِي يعطى

    You have none but the master, the intercessor who

    Has eminent standing: whatever he hopes for is granted.

  20. دليلٌ إلى الرحمن فانهج سبيلَهُ

    فمن حاد عن نهج الدليلِ فقد أخطأ

    A guide to the All-Merciful: follow his path,

    For whoever strays from the guide's path has erred.

  21. محبته شرط القَبولِ فمن خلت

    صحيفتُهُ منها فَقَد فَقَدَ الشرطا

    Love of him is the condition of acceptance; whoever's

    Record is devoid of it has lost that condition.

  22. وما قُبِلت منه لدى الله قربةً

    وما زكت الأعمالُ بل حبطَت حبطا

    No act of devotion from him is accepted before God,

    Nor do his deeds bear fruit; rather, they are utterly nullified.

  23. به الحقُّ وضاحٌ به الإفكُ زاهقٌ

    به الفوز مرجوُّ به الذنبُ قد حُطَّا

    Through him truth shines clear; through him falsehood perishes.

    Through him salvation is hoped for; through him sin is lifted.

  24. هو الملجأ الأحمى هو الموئل الذي

    به في غدٍ يستشفع المذنبُ الخطَّا

    He is the surest refuge, the haven through whom

    Tomorrow the sinful, ever-erring man will seek intercession.

  25. لقد مازَجَت روحي محبَّتُهُ التي

    بقلبي خُطَّت قبل أن أعرفَ الخطَّا

    Love of him has indeed mingled with my soul—that love which

    Was inscribed upon my heart before I knew how to write.

  26. إليك ابنَ خيرِ الخلقِ بنتَ بديهةٍ

    تُقَبِّلُ تبجيلاً أنامِلَك السُّبطا

    To you, son of the best of creation, a daughter of sudden inspiration,

    Who kisses your slender fingertips in reverence.

  27. وحيدةَ هذا العصر وافت وحيدةً

    لتَبسُطَ من شَتى بدائعها بسطا

    Peerless in this age, she has come alone,

    To spread wide her many varied marvels,

  28. وتتلوَ آياتِ التشيُّعِ إنَّها

    لموثقةٌ عهداً ومحكمةٌ ربطا

    And recite the verses of devoted allegiance; indeed, she is

    Firm in her covenant and tightly bound.

  29. لكَ الشرفُ المأثور يا ابنَ محمد

    وحسبك أن تُنمَى إلى سبطه سبطا

    Yours is inherited nobility, O son of Muhammad,

    And enough for you to be traced, a descendant, to his grandson,

  30. إلى شرفَي دينٍ وعلمٍ تظاهرا

    تبارك من أعطى وبورك في المعطى

    To the twin honors of religion and knowledge, joined together.

    Blessed is He who gave, and blessed be the recipient.

  31. ورهطُكَ أهلُ البيتِ بيتش محمدٍ

    فأعظم به بيتاً وأكرم بهم رهطا

    And your clan are the People of the House—the house of Muhammad—

    How great a house it is, and how noble a clan they are!

  32. بعثت بهِ عقداً من الدرِّ فاخراً

    وذكرُ رسول الله دُرَّتُهُ الوسطى

    I have sent it as a splendid necklace of pearls,

    And mention of God's Messenger is its central pearl.

  33. وأهديتُ منها للسيادَةِ غادةً

    نظمتُ من الدرِّ الثمين بها سِمطا

    And from it I have offered to your lordship a graceful maiden,

    For whom I strung a necklace of precious pearls.

  34. وحاشيتها من كل شانها فإن

    تَجعَّدَ حُوشيٌ تجد لفظها سبطا

    I kept her free of all that marred her; for if

    Uncouth diction grows tangled, you will find her wording smooth.

  35. وفي الطيبين الطاهرين نظمتُها

    فساعَدَها من أجلِ ذلك حُرف الطا

    And I composed her in praise of the good, the pure,

    So for that reason the letter ṭāʾ lent her aid.

  36. عليك سلامُ الله ما ذَرَّ شارقٌ

    وما رددت ورقاءُ في غُصُنٍ لغطا

    God's peace be upon you as long as a rising sun breaks forth,

    And as long as a gray dove repeats its cooing upon a branch.