إذا ابطات عنا من المحسن الحسنى

حمدناه علما إن موجبه منا

When kindness from the benefactor is slow to reach us,

we praise him, knowing that its cause lies in us.

فما عن قلي يجفوا الموالي عبيدها

ولا بغضة ما يوجع الوالد الابنا

For masters do not shun their slaves out of aversion,

nor is a father's hurting his son an act of hatred.

وفي مبكيات المرء لا مضحكاته

صلاح تربه المبكيات به إحنا

In what makes a man weep, not what makes him laugh,

lies betterment, which his tearful trials make seem like malice against him [reading uncertain].

فلا تعجبوا ممن تأمل طرسه

فأفسد بعض اللفظ كي يصلح المعنا

So do not marvel at one who examines his written sheet

and spoils some wording to set the meaning right.

فما أحمد معط ولا مانع سدى

فاوسعه حمدا كلما جاد أو ضنا

Ahmad neither gives nor withholds in vain;

so lavish praise upon him whenever he gives generously or withholds.

ففي كل فعل صادر عنه حكمة

لها ظاهر تلقى النجاح به ضمنا

For every action proceeding from him contains wisdom,

whose outward form lets you find success within.

مهيب الرضا كالسيف خيف بجفنه

وخيفته أقوى إذا فارق الجفنا

Awe-inspiring even when pleased, like a sword feared in its sheath,

and fear of it is stronger when it leaves the sheath.

إذا قال يا للحلم والغيظ قابض

على ألسيف القى السيف من يده جبنا

When he calls, 'O forbearance!' while anger grips

the sword, anger drops it from its hand in fear.

ومن كان اصلاح الورى من همومه

يكن عنده الإقصى من الناس كالأدنا

One whose concerns include setting humankind right

holds the farthest of people as close as the nearest.

علقت به لا آئساً منه ان نأى

ولا مرخيا ثوبي إذا ما دنا أمنا

I cling to him, not despairing of him if he grows distant,

nor letting my robe hang loose in security when he draws near.

أنبه حظاً نام نومة مدنف

متى ما أقمه خر من قامة وهنا

I rouse a fortune that slept the sleep of a gravely ill man;

whenever I set it upright, it collapses from weakness.

وقالوا تنقل واغد فالما بجريه

يطيب وطول المكث يكسبه نتنا

They said, 'Move about and set out at dawn, for water, through flowing,

grows sweet, while long stagnation gives it a stench.'

فقلت نعم والبدر يأخذ كلما

تنقل في النقصان والوهن أو يفنا

I said, 'Yes—and the full moon begins, whenever

it moves onward, to wane and weaken, or disappear.'

إذا لم أقل ريا على الماء ناله

ببيداء فيها الضب يستنكر المكنا

If I do not rest, thirst quenched, beside the water he reached,

in a wilderness where even the lizard finds eggs strange,

دعوني فلم أظفر بإيام أحمد

لا مسيى بها الأشقى أو الخائب الظنا

leave me be; I have not prospered in Ahmad's days;

none thinks ill of them but the most wretched or one disappointed in his hopes [reading uncertain].

قفا نعله عندي ولا وجه غيره

ولو بايعوا في النعل بالوجه ما بعنا

For me, the back of his sandal, not another's face;

even if they offered a face for the sandal, we would not sell.

غبنت رجالا عاصروا غير أحمد

فما جاوروا البحر المحيط ولا المزنا

I have outbargained men who lived in the time of someone other than Ahmad,

for they dwelt beside neither the encompassing ocean nor the rainclouds.

خصصت به واختص مني زمانه

بأحسن من أثنى على خير من أغنا

I was favored with him, and through me his age was favored

with the finest praiser of the best of benefactors.

فيا بايعا من غيره المدح بالعطا

عقدت ولكن صفقة ملئت غبنا

O you who sell praise to another in exchange for gifts,

you have struck a bargain—but one filled with loss.

ابا الله ان يشقي مديحي بغيره

فما غيره أرضي يقلدني منا

God refuses to let my praise come to grief with another,

for I accept none but him to adorn me with favors.

ووالله إني كلما صد معرضا

طمعت وزاد الظن عندي به حسنا

By God, whenever he turns away, averting himself,

my hopes rise, and my opinion of him grows still better.

وذاك لعلمي أنه خير آخذ

وأن ليس للحسنى لديه سوى الحسنى

That is because I know he is the finest receiver,

and that, with him, kindness receives nothing but kindness.

وإني بحمد الله من جعلت له

يمين ابن إسمعيل من جودها حصنا

And, praise be to God, I am one for whom

Ibn Isma'il's right hand has made a fortress of its generosity.

كريم يرى ما ليس فرضا فريضة

وكان افتراض الجود أول ما سنا

A generous man who deems a duty what is not obligatory;

making generosity obligatory was the first rule he established.

إذا سمع الحسنى استبد بنشرها

وان سمع العوراء أوسعها دفنا

When he hears something good, he takes sole charge of spreading it;

and when he hears a shameful word, he buries it deep.

أحب العلا طفلا وأقسم لا راى

له قبل أن يكنى بها مقلة وسنا

He loved glory as a child; I swear that no

eye of his saw slumber before he was named for her.

وكان بها من لاعج الشوق ما به

وقد ظفر أهناهما الله ما هنا

And she bore the same burning longing he bore;

he has won her—may God make them both happy while joy endures.

وأصبح للعليا كما أصبحت له

خليلا هوى كل بصاحبه اغنا

He became hers, as lofty glory became his:

two companions in love, each richer through the other.

فما لفت العليا فتى في ثيابها

كأحمد مذ كانت ترام ومذكنا

Never has lofty glory wrapped a youth in her robes

like Ahmad, ever since she was sought and we have existed.

بنى للعلا منحصنه الفص منزلا

يقبل فيه النجم في رجلها اليمنا

From his fortress al-Fass he built glory a dwelling,

where the star kisses her on her right foot.

وكانت تعز والحصيب تساهما

فذي أخذت حصنا وذي أخذت حصنا

Taizz and al-Husayb had shared the allotment:

one took a fortress, and the other took a fortress.

فلما بنيت الفص طالت به التي

جمعت لها حبا إلى حسنها الحصنا

Then, when you built al-Fass, the one rose higher through it

for whom you assembled the fortress, out of love as well as for her beauty.

فتم لها منك الفخار وما بقى

لتلك لديها ما تقيم به وزنا

Thus, through you her glory became complete, and nothing remained

for the other to carry any weight beside her.

نسخت بخير منهما الاسم والنبا

فطابق بين اللفظ في الحصر والمعنا

You superseded the name and renown with something better than both,

thus bringing wording and meaning into accord in singling it out.

سعيد المباني يشمل الوفد يمنه

إذا أَمك الراجي نداك به استغنا

Auspicious in its buildings, its good fortune embraces the visitors;

when one hoping for your bounty seeks you there, he becomes enriched.

وما عاد منه من يحبك خائبا

إذا عاد عنه خائبا كل من تشنا

No one who loves you returns from it disappointed,

while everyone you hate turns away from it disappointed.

رددت به عنه العدى فهو نفسه

يرد إذا ما أعلق الأنس والجنا

With it you repelled enemies from it; it itself

repels whenever it engages humankind and jinn.