أهلا به من بحر علم صدره

كقلبه رحب الفناء بره

Welcome to him, whose breast is a sea of learning!

His bounty, like his heart, has spacious grounds.

أعيى على الغائص نيل قعره

ففاض بالدر النظيم بحره

Reaching its depths defeated the diver,

So his sea overflowed with well-strung pearls.

وسهل العلم على طلابه

فلم يكد الغائصين دره

He made learning easy for its seekers,

So his pearls did not weary the divers.

إمام أهل الأرض علما

وسيرة يعجب منها دهره

Foremost among earth's people in learning,

And in conduct at which his age marvels.

خاطب كلا بالذي يفهمه

صونا له عن خجلة تضره

He addressed each with what he understood,

To spare him an embarrassment that would hurt him.

يبدى لكل قدر ما في وسعه

لينثنى عنه بما يسره

He shows each only as much as he can grasp,

So each may depart from him with something that delights him.

ألقى لحسن ظنه في عبده

أحجية فحار فيها فكره

Out of his good opinion of his servant, he posed

A riddle that left his mind bewildered.

دلت على علم عظيم ذكا

والصبح قد ينبيك عنه فجره

It revealed great learning, blazing bright;

And dawn may tell you of the morning.

في اسم رباعي يكون خمسه

فيما اقتضاه وزنه لا زبره

About a four-letter name, whose fifth part lies

In what its pattern requires, not its written form.

أنبأتموني عنه أن نصفه

في العدات جرا تموه عشره

You informed me that half of it,

In numerical reckoning—[wording unclear]—is its tenth.

فبان ان ربعه كعشر خم

س سبع ما يبقيه مه قدره

So a quarter of it proved equal to a tenth of a fifth

Of a seventh of what it leaves—what is its value?

وقلبه نار ولكن ربعه

طود تولى كل وجه شطره

Its reversal is fire, yet one quarter of it

Is a mountain toward which every face turns.

قد زيد ضعف ما يراد كله

في وزنه وهو العجيب أمره

Twice the whole of what is meant has been added

To its weight—wondrous is its affair.

مكرر في نفسه تكراره

مصحف مصحفا مقره

Repeated within itself, its repetition

Is a codex, with its abode's letter-dots altered.

ولك شيء رفعه كرامة

فرض علينا فحرام جره

And you have a thing whose raising in honor

Is our duty, so dragging it is forbidden.

اللوح فيه ظاهر لأنه

منه وفيه وعليه ذكره

The Tablet is evident in it, for

It is from it and within it, and its mention is upon it.

فيه على الله الثنا من نفسه

وخلقه وحمده وشكره

In it is praise of God from Himself

And His creation, and praise of Him and thanks to Him.

لئن أجاز الشافعي نقله

حينا فحينا جاء عنه زجره

Though al-Shafi‘i permitted its transport

At one time, at another his prohibition was reported.

فما استرم الحل فيه عنده

لكن أبو حنيفة يمره

Thus its permissibility did not remain settled in his view;

But Abu Hanifa allows it.

واتفقوا أن لا يحل نقله

إلى مكان حل عنه قدره

They agreed that it must not be transported

To a place where its dignity is stripped away.

ما المد فيه وهو حق منكر

أو لا غريب أن قصرت قصره

Lengthening it, though correct, is not objectionable;

Or is its shortening not strange, if you shorten it?

ليس بمخلوق ولا بخالق

كذاك حكم ربنا وأمره

It is neither created nor a creator;

Such is our Lord's judgment and command.

وليس بالقرآن من حيثية

بها المحاجي تستقيم عذره

Nor is it the Qur'an, from a standpoint

By which the riddler's justification holds good.

إذ المسمى ليس بالاسم وذا

تحقيقه والوهم لا يضره

For the thing named is not the name; this

Is its true explanation, and misconception does not harm it.

وليس بالقرآن أيضا الذي

بالجمع عند اللغوي قسره

Nor is it the 'qurʾān' which

The lexicographer forces to mean 'gathering';

ولا مثنى القرء فيمن عندهم

في الرفع والنصب وجر قصره

Nor the dual of qurʾ, in the usage of those who retain

Its alif-ending in nominative, accusative, and genitive alike.

أوضحتموه لي فان عرفته

كان لكم على لا لي فخره

You made it clear to me; if I have understood it,

Its distinction is yours over me, not mine.

فليحمد الله امرؤ أوصله

الى لقاء الجزري عمره

Let him praise God who has been brought

By his lifetime to a meeting with al-Jazari.