1. بليت بكل أمعة جهول

    أصم السمع عن عذل العذول

    I am plagued by every ignorant, mindless follower,

    deaf to the reproaches of the reprover.

  2. الومهم فانفخ في رماد

    وانهاهم فاندب في طلول

    I reproach them, only to blow into ashes;

    and admonish them, only to lament amid ruins.

  3. جروا في حلبة العلماء ركضا

    بمضمرة الدعاوي والفضول

    They galloped in the scholars' racecourse,

    on a lean racing mare of pretensions and idle talk.

  4. تساموا بالفروع فنكستهم

    وهل تسمو الفروع بلا أصول

    They sought to rise through branches, but these cast them down;

    can branches rise without roots?

  5. أقاموا عاكفين على فتاوى

    ترد الدهر ذا طرف كليل

    They remained engrossed in legal opinions

    that leave Time itself dim-eyed.

  6. وعلم الفقه أكثره قياس

    يبين به التفاوت في العقول

    And most of jurisprudence is reasoning by analogy,

    through which disparity in intellect becomes clear.

  7. فليتهم وقد ضلوا استدلوا

    فنهد الحق وضاح السبيل

    If only, having gone astray, they had sought evidence,

    for truth's high ground has a bright, clear path.

  8. يضاحكني سراب القاع منهم

    وما اخترعوه من قال وقيل

    Their mirage upon the plain smiles at me,

    and the 'he said' and 'it was said' they have invented.

  9. لقد كثرت دعاة الفقه حتى

    غدوت أرى النباهة في الخمول

    The advocates of jurisprudence have grown so numerous that

    I have come to see eminence in obscurity.

  10. سأصمت حيث لا يصغى لقولي

    إذا اختلط النهاق مع الصهيل

    I shall be silent where no one listens to my words,

    when braying mingles with neighing.

  11. وأصبر إن وجدت اذى فكم قد

    حمدت عواقب الصبر الجميل

    And I shall endure if I encounter harm, for how often

    have I praised the outcomes of gracious patience.

  12. فليس يضيع عند الله سعي

    وما أوضحت من سنن الرسول

    For no striving is wasted in God's sight,

    nor what I have clarified of the Messenger's traditions.

  13. وقد أحصيتها خمسين عاماً

    مضت في خدمة العلم الجليل

    And I have counted them—fifty years

    spent in the service of noble learning.

  14. فما آوى إلى فرش بليل

    ولا أصغي النهار إلى مقيل

    So I do not retire to bedding at night,

    nor turn by day toward a midday rest.

  15. أنقب عن حقيقة كل معنى

    تحير فيه ذو الرأي الأصيل

    I delve into the true nature of every meaning

    that has baffled one of sound judgment.

  16. وأكشف كل مشكلة أقامت

    مجاريها مقام المستقيل

    And I uncover every problem that has placed

    its challenger in the position of one seeking release.

  17. مسائل حارت الأفهام فيها

    تسكن عظم شقشقة الفحول

    Questions in which minds stand bewildered,

    that still the mighty bellowing of the bull camels.

  18. إذا جالت بها الأفكار يوما

    أعارتهن اطراق الذليل

    If thoughts ever roamed through them,

    they lent them the humbled one's downcast gaze.

  19. حللت رموزها وأثرت منها

    معاني أطفأت حر الغليل

    I deciphered their symbols and brought forth from them

    meanings that quenched the burning heat of thirst.

  20. وكم أودعت في التفقيه منها

    وميزت الصحيح من العليل

    And how many of them I have set down in instruction in law,

    and distinguished the sound from the flawed.

  21. جلوت بها البكور لخاطبيها

    فأين الراغبون من البعول

    With these I unveiled the maiden to her suitors;

    where, then, are the eager ones among the husbands?

  22. وأين السائلون عن المعاني

    وأين الباحثون عن الدليل

    And where are those who ask about meanings?

    And where are those who search for proof?

  23. لقد أصبحت في زمني غريبا

    أجاري العلم فيه بلا رسيل

    Indeed, I have become a stranger in my own time,

    keeping pace with learning in it, without a companion.

  24. ولكني صدفت به مليكا

    أغر من الملوك بني الرسول

    Yet in it I happened upon a king,

    radiant among the kings of Banu al-Rasul,

  25. ممهدها وأشرفها المرجى

    أبو العباس ذو الباع الطويل

    their consolidator and noblest, the one in whom hope is placed:

    Abu al-Abbas, whose reach is long.

  26. فأشهد ما كإسماعيل فيمن

    سمعنا أو رأينا من مثيل

    I testify that Ismail, among those

    we have heard of or seen, has no equal.

  27. له ما شئت من عفو عجول

    إلى الجاني ومن بطش مطول

    His is all the swift pardon you could wish,

    for the offender, and punishment slow to come.

  28. وكم كرم تزيد على الغوادي

    غواديه ويزري بالسيول

    And how much bounty! Surpassing the morning rains

    are its morning showers, and it puts floods to shame.

  29. بعيد مطاوح العزمات تمضى

    عزائمه بأطراف النصول

    Far-ranging are his firm intentions; carried out

    are his resolves by the tips of blades.

  30. بنا لي جده وأبوه بيتا

    على سمك السماك المستطيل

    His grandfather and his father built me a house

    at the height of towering al-Simak.

  31. وأدركني فأنساني نداه

    بما قد أسدياه من الجميل

    And he reached me; his bounty made me forget

    about the kindness those two had bestowed.

  32. واغناني فاسكنني رضاه

    من النعماء في ظل ظليل

    And he enriched me; his favor settled me

    in the deep, sheltering shade of blessings.

  33. وما برحت أياديه توالي

    عليّ عوائد الفضل الجزيل

    And his benefactions have never ceased to bring

    upon me recurring gifts of abundant bounty.

  34. فيارب اجزه عني بخير

    وقابله بإقبال القبول

    So, Lord, reward him with good on my behalf,

    and meet him with welcoming acceptance.

  35. تكفل لي به دنيا وأخره

    وحسبي أنت من رب كفيل

    Undertake his care for me, in this world and the next;

    and You suffice me as a Lord and guardian.