ما فته حظه من أجل الطلبا

فخذ رويدا فما يخطيك ما كتبا

He who delays his quest does not miss his allotted share.

So proceed gently; what was decreed will not miss you.

لا تحسب الهمة العلياء جالبة

ما لم يكن بيد الأقدار مجتلبا

Do not think lofty resolve can bring

What has not been brought by the hand of fate.

كم عاجز راح مملواً حقيبته

وحازم بات مطوى الحشا سغبا

How many an incapable man went away with his bag filled,

While a resolute man spent the night hungry, his belly drawn in.

ومن يجل في قضايا الدهر فكرته

يخيل الجد في أفعاله لعبا

Whoever turns his thoughts upon the decrees of Time

Will see earnestness in its deeds as mere play.

ما أشبه الدهر في تلوين صنعته

بمعشر لم أزل منهم أرى عجبا

How closely Time, in the changing colors of its handiwork,

Resembles a company whose strange ways I never cease to see!

يجلون في صورة الحق المجال ضحى

ويصنعون بصدق ما رووا كذبا

In broad daylight they display [the absurd] in the guise of truth,

And fashion into truth what they have related falsely.

ظلم صريح يعدون الحصى دررا

ويشهدون بأن الدر مخشلبا

Outright injustice: they count pebbles as pearls,

And testify that pearls are imitation glass beads.

سيسفر الحق عن لألاء غرته

يوما ويصبح وجه الزور منتقبا

Truth will unveil the radiance of its brow

One day, and the face of falsehood will become veiled.

فقل ملن سل سيف البغى يقصدني

أهل علمت لهذا بيننا سببا

So tell the man who drew injustice's sword to assail me:

Do you know any cause for this between us—

اساءة وجنايات جنيت بها

منى على غافل ما بات مرتقبا

An injury, or offenses committed

By me against an unwary man who had not lain on his guard?

فارجع إذا شئت عن ظلم بدأت به

أولا فزد فوق ما أضرمته حطبا

Then turn back, if you wish, from the injustice you began;

Or else heap more firewood onto what you have set ablaze.

ما أقدر الله ان يكفى الاذى رجلا

يبغى عليه فيلقى الأمر محتسبا

How able God is to spare a man harm,

Who is wronged and faces the matter seeking God's reward!

ما كنت ممن إذا ما الدهر فاجأه

بما يبؤ تشكى منه أو صحبا

I was never one who, when Time surprised him

With what it brought, complained of it or to companions.

إذا فما قوم المعوج من خلقي

ملك أقام اعوجاج الدهر فانتصبا

For otherwise my crooked character would not have been corrected

By a king who straightened Time's crookedness, and it stood upright.

إن الممهد دين الله ثقفني

وكان طبعي مما يقبل الأدبا

Indeed, al-Mumahhid Din Allah refined me,

And my nature was receptive to refinement.

أفاض من فضله سيبا على خلقي

فرحت في كل يوم أقتني حسبا

He poured generous gifts from his bounty upon my character,

So each day I went on acquiring honor.

فان تعجبت من فضل أتيت به

فذلك الفضل عندي بعض ما وهبا

So if you marvel at some excellence I have displayed,

That excellence in me is only part of what he bestowed.

خدمته فتولاني برحمته

فكنت في بابه عبدا وكان أبا

I served him, and he took me into his care with mercy.

So at his door I was a servant, and he was a father.

وصير العلم لي شغلا وكلفني

حلا لرمز وتسهيلا لما صعبا

He made learning my occupation, and charged me

With deciphering a symbol and making what was difficult easy.

وكان بحثي على مقدار همته

حتى ملكت صفايا العلم والنجبا

My study matched the measure of his ambition,

Until I mastered the choicest and noblest kinds of learning.

وازددت فخرا على الأقران قاطبة

إذ كان علمي من جدواه مكتسبا

And I grew in pride above all my peers,

For my learning was acquired through his bounty.

وصار لي نسبة منه أمت بها

واستطيل على من كان منتسبا

And I gained a tie to him through which I assert kinship,

And claim superiority over those who claim descent.

ملك تخاضع أعناق الملوك له

إذا تجلى بتاج الملك واعتصبا

A king before whom the necks of kings bow,

When he appears with kingship's crown bound about his head.

ما ملك قيصر ما كسرى ومفخره

وهل تفاخر عجم الألسن العربا

What is Caesar's kingdom? What are Chosroes and his glory?

Can the foreign-tongued rival the Arabs in glory?

لم تبق آباء إسمعيل مفتخراً

من البرايا لملك شط أو قربا

Isma'il's forefathers left no cause for boasting

For any king among mankind, distant or near.

متى تخله وعين الله تحرسه

تقطع بما قلت في ابائه النجبا

Whenever you contemplate him, with God's eye guarding him,

You will be certain of what I said about his noble forefathers.

هم الصناديد ما دام الزمان رحا

يدور قدما وما زالوا له قطبا

They are the champions, as long as Time remains a millstone

Turning from of old; they have always been its axle.

تملكوا الدهر طفلا في شبيبته

وجاوروا في سماوات العلى الشهبا

They mastered Time while it was a child, in its youth,

And dwelt beside the meteors in the heavens of eminence.

فمن يعد قديما في الملوك كما

عد الممهد جدا سالفا وأبا

Who, then, can count an ancient forebear among kings as

Al-Mumahhid counts a grandfather of old and a father?

ضم المفاخر من أطرافها

وحوى فضائلا أخرست أوصافها الخطبا

He gathered glories from every side,

And possessed virtues whose descriptions silenced the orators:

مجد طريف ومجد تالد وعلا

أضحى بها كل رأس للعلا ذنبا

Newly won glory, inherited glory, and eminence

Through which every head of eminence became a tail.

فخرا لابائه الغر الكرام به

والغيث يلبس ثوب المفخر السحبا

What pride his radiant, noble forefathers take in him!

And rain clothes the clouds in the robe of glory.

يا ابن الأياهم حارب الملوك معا

وحزت دونهم في الحلبة القصبا

O son of lions, fight all the kings together,

And you have won the reed of victory ahead of them in the racecourse.

وأيقن الملك ان الشمل ملتئم

لما ملكت وأن الصدع قد شعبا

And kingship knew its scattered ranks were united

When you took power, and that the rift had been mended.

شكرا لمن أيد الإِسلام منك بمن

يحمى ذراه ويروى دونه القضبا

Thanks to Him who strengthened Islam through you—one

Who guards its heights and makes blades drink in its defense.

ارضيت ربك عدلا في بريته

فلا تخف بعد ما أرضيته غضبا

You have pleased your Lord through justice among His creatures;

So fear no wrath after you have pleased Him.

كم في الورى لك من داع يمد يدا

ولا يرى أنه يوفيك ما وجبا

How many among mankind pray for you, extending a hand,

Yet do not think they repay you what is due!

ومن يوفيك حقا يا أبا حسن

وأنت في كل يوم تدفع النوبا

And who can give you your due, O Abu Hasan,

While every day you ward off calamities?

إذا تصفحت أحوال الذين مضوا

علمت أنك قد جاوزتهم حسبا

When you survey the circumstances of those who came before,

You know that you have surpassed them in honor.

أخجلت من قص أخبار الملوك ومن

يروي ويسئل عن اهل السخا الكتبا

You have put to shame whoever recounts the histories of kings, and whoever

Tells of the generous and asks the books about them.

فالله نسأله يجزيك خير جزا

فما برحت علينا مشفقا حدبا

So we ask God to reward you with the best reward,

For you have never ceased to be compassionate and caring toward us.