حبذا والحال داجي الظلم

وهمومي قد أماتت هممي

How welcome—when all was dark with gloom

and my cares had killed my ambitions—

طارقا أهدى عروسا حسنها

يجتلى فى حليها المنتظم

was a night visitor who brought a bride whose beauty

was revealed in her well-strung jewels.

اذهبت انوارها ذاك الدجى

وأعادت روح تلك الرمم

Her lights dispelled that darkness

and restored life to those mouldering bones.

وكست نُظّارها ثوب الصبى

وهم في عنفوان الهرم

And she clothed her beholders in the robe of youth,

though they were at the height of decrepitude.

يا لها من رقعة نلت بها

رفعة أغلت وأعلت قيمي

What a letter! Through it I gained

a distinction that enhanced and exalted my worth.

أطربت من غير صوت مثلما

أفصحت من غير نطق بفم

She brought rapture without a sound, just as

she spoke eloquently without a mouth's utterance.

طرسها أضحى سماء زانها

من معانى الخط زهر الا نجم

Her page became a sky, adorned

with the bright stars of the script's meanings.

نقشها نور وان كان لها

لسواد العين نور الظلم

Her lettering is light, though she holds,

for the eye's black pupil, the light of darkness.

جليت كأسا بعينى شربها

فلقد دقت وجلّت عن فمي

She was unveiled—a cup I drank with my eyes,

for she was too subtle and sublime for my mouth.

وسرور النفس منها دائم

ومن الراح سريع العدم

And the soul's joy from her endures,

while joy from wine soon vanishes.

دوحة أغصانها الاحرف اذ

نوح وُرق الضبط معنى الكلم

A spreading tree whose branches are letters, where

the vowel marks are gray doves whose cooing is the meaning of words.

جنة عليا وكم عين بها

هي ينبوع عيون الحكم

A lofty garden—how many a spring it holds,

each a fountainhead of the choicest wisdom!

لم أكن أهلا لها حتى لقد

خلت وجدى بلقاها موهمي

I was unworthy of her, so much so that

I thought my rapture at meeting her was deluding me.

ولو انى من غرام فارغ

قلت طيف زارني في الحلم

And had I been free of passion,

I would have said, 'A phantom visited me in a dream.'

واجب شكري لمن أرسلها

ومن الواجب شكر المنعم

My thanks are due to him who sent her,

and thanking the benefactor is a duty.

غرس المولى بذهنى نبذا

نبّها من كل فضل محكم

My lord planted in my mind small portions—

distinguished ones—of every firmly established excellence.

فانتظرت العرس إذ يثمر لي

قدرة الشكر لتلك النعم

So I awaited the wedding, for it would yield me

the ability to give thanks for those blessings.

ثم أقدمت مع العجز ولم

يك هذا لي لو لم ترسم

Then I ventured, despite my inability; nor

could I have done this had you not commanded it.

انا عبد لك قد كاتبتنى

عالما بي الخير او لم تعلم

I am your slave; you have written me a freedom contract,

whether you knew goodness in me or did not.

ونجومى انا عنها عاجز

وأنا العبد دواما فدم

And my installments—I am powerless to pay them;

and I am your slave forever, so live on,

وارق اعلى رتب عن رتب

وابق مولى نعم في نعم

and rise to the highest ranks, rank beyond rank,

and remain a lord of bounties, amid bounties.