1. يا من حواه الدين في عصره

    صدراً يحلّ العِلم منه فؤاد

    O one whom faith embraced in his age

    as its breast, where learning dwells as the heart,

  2. ماذا يَرى سَيدنا المُرتضى

    في زائر يخطب منه الوداد

    what does our master al-Murtada think

    of a visitor who seeks his goodwill?

  3. لا يبتغي منه سوى أحرُف

    يعتدها أَشرف ذخرٍ يفاد

    He seeks from him nothing but a few letters,

    which he deems the noblest treasure to be gained.

  4. ترسمها أنمله مثل ما

    نمّق زهر الروض كفُّ العهاد

    His fingertips trace them, just as

    the hand of successive rains adorned the garden’s flowers,

  5. في رُقعةٍ كالصبح أَهدى لها

    يَد المعَالي مِسك ليل المداد

    on a sheet like dawn, to which was given

    by the hand of eminence the musk of ink’s night:

  6. إجازةً يورثنيها العلا

    جَائزة تَبقى وتفنى البلاد

    a scholarly license that glory bequeaths to me,

    a prize that endures while lands perish.

  7. يستصحب الشكر خِديما لها

    والشكر للامجادِ أَسنى عِتَاد

    He takes gratitude along as its servant,

    and gratitude is the finest provision for the illustrious.