1. قدوم أتى باليسر والسعد مقبلا

    وعود به وجه السرور تكملا

    An arrival came forward, bringing ease and good fortune,

    And a return by which the face of joy grew complete.

  2. وروض الهنا أبدى لنا غصن بانة

    واهدى لنا من نشره ما تحملا

    And the garden of bliss revealed to us a bān-tree bough,

    And offered us, of its fragrance, what it had borne.

  3. ووافى نسيم القرب ينشر ما انطوى

    وقد زاد في اعذاره وتعللا

    And the breeze of nearness arrived, unfolding what had lain folded,

    And multiplied its excuses and pleaded pretexts.

  4. وقام خطيب الدوح بالبشر ساجعا

    وأبدع في انشائه وترسّلا

    The orator of the grove rose, cooing glad tidings,

    And excelled in his composition and spoke in flowing prose.

  5. ودهر لنا كانت تريش نصاله

    وقد تاب مما قد جنى وتنصلا

    And time, whose arrowheads once were fletched for us,

    Has repented of the wrong it wrought and disavowed it.

  6. وأضحت لنا كانت تريش نصاله

    فاكرم بها دارا وربعا ومنزلا

    And it became ours—its arrowheads once were fletched—

    So how splendid a home, dwelling, and abode it is!

  7. وغزلانها قد غازلتنا عيونها

    الم تر فيها قد حمدنا التغزلا

    And its gazelles—their eyes have flirted with us.

    Have you not seen how we have praised love-poetry there?

  8. وقد كسيت من سندس الروض حلة

    تجل لمعنى حسنها ان تفصلا

    And it has been clad in a robe of the garden's fine silk,

    Too sublime in its beauty's meaning to be described in detail.

  9. موشّعة تحلو بدر الندى الذي

    علينا به قاضي القضاة تفضلا

    Variegated, lovely with the dew-pearls of bounty that

    The chief judge graciously bestowed upon us.

  10. فتى قصبات السبق حاز فيا له

    جوادا كريما في الجياد محجلا

    A youth who won the stakes of victory—oh, what a

    Generous, noble steed, white-socked among the steeds!

  11. هو الالمعي الماجد الفطن الذي

    يكاد يجيب المرء عما تخيلا

    He is the keen-witted, noble, perceptive one who

    Almost answers a man about what he has merely imagined.

  12. فيوضح بالتسهيل ما كان غامضا

    وبعرب بالتوضيح ما كان مشكلا

    So, by simplifying, he makes what was obscure clear,

    And through elucidation explains what was perplexing.

  13. معانيه لم أستوف بعض صفاتها

    ولو أن مدحي جاء فيه مطولا

    His excellences—I have not exhausted even some of their attributes,

    Even if my praise of him were extended at length.

  14. اذا رمت اتلو الحمد فيه مفصلا

    بدأت ببسم الله في النظم اولا

    When I seek to recite his praise in detail,

    I first begin my verse with 'In the name of God.'

  15. اليه حديث الجود يعزى لأنه

    رواه عطا في النقل عنه مسلسلا

    The tradition of generosity is traced to him, for

    ʿAṭāʾ narrated it, transmitting from him in a linked chain.

  16. سريع الندا وافي الحيا وافر العطا

    ارى كل بحر عنده صار جدولا

    Swift in bounty, ample in rain, lavish in gifts,

    I see every sea become a stream beside him.

  17. له سمر اقلام على الطرس ان جرت

    جرى الجود منها منهلا وتسبّلا

    He has dusky pens that, when they run across the page,

    Generosity flows from them in torrents and showers.

  18. سقتها اياديه فأثمرت الندا

    وعادت كما كانت وأبهى واجملا

    His hands watered them, and they bore the fruit of bounty,

    And returned to what they were, more splendid and more beautiful.

  19. فمن كفه در المكارم يجتنى

    ومن لفظه در المحاسن يجتلى

    From his palm the pearls of noble deeds are gathered,

    And from his speech the pearls of beauty are revealed.

  20. كثير افتناء الحمد يرغب في الثنا

    ويرفض لواما عليه وعذلا

    He gathers abundant praise and seeks commendation,

    And rejects those who censure and reproach him.

  21. ومبتدئا يعطيك قبل سؤاله

    حياء ويخشى ان تقول فيخجلا

    Taking the initiative, he gives you before you ask him,

    Out of modesty, fearing you might speak and he would blush.

  22. هو الغيث الا انه طاب نائلا

    هو البحر الا ان مورده حلا

    He is the rain, save that his bounty is sweet;

    He is the sea, save that his watering-place is sweet.

  23. على انه اندى من البحر راحة

    ونائله اضحى من الغيث اجزلا

    Yet he is more generous of palm than the sea,

    And his bounty has become more abundant than the rain.

  24. فذاك تراه باكيا ومقطبا

    وهذا تراه ضاحكا متهللا

    For that one you see weeping and frowning,

    And this one you see laughing and beaming.

  25. اذا انت رمت الحمد فيه مبالغا

    على صيغة التفضيل تلقاه افضلا

    If you seek to praise him with exaggeration,

    In the superlative form, you find him greater still.

  26. غدا حرما للطائفين محله

    فيا فوز من يسعى اليه مهرولا

    His dwelling has become a sanctuary for those who circle it;

    Oh, the triumph of whoever hastens to him at a run!

  27. يفوز بما يرجوه من ام بابه

    ويبلغ منه فوق ما كان املا

    Whoever makes for his door gains what he hopes for,

    And obtains from him more than he had hoped.

  28. عليه بحسن المدح عولت في الندا

    وما خاب من اضحى عليه معولا

    For bounty, I relied on him through beautiful praise,

    And none who has relied on him has been disappointed.

  29. وافي وان قصرت في حق شكره

    لارجو مدحي من نداه التطولا

    Faithful, though I fall short of the thanks he is owed,

    I surely hope, through my praise, for largesse from his bounty.

  30. فيا روضة العليا ومنهاج دوحها

    ومفتاح علم بابه كان مقفلا

    O garden of eminence, and pathway through its grove,

    And key to knowledge whose door was locked,

  31. بماذا الذي ندعوك يا احمد الورى

    تقول شهاب انت ام واحد العلا

    By what name shall we call you, O Ahmad, most praiseworthy of mankind?

    Would you say you are Shihab, or the peerless one of glory?

  32. فخذها من الدر النظيم بتيمة

    فانك اولى من بها قد تكفلا

    Take it, then, as a peerless pearl among strung pearls,

    For you are the worthiest of those who have taken it into their care.

  33. مدائحها السحر الحلال نسيبها

    باوصافه المعنى الغريب تأهلا

    Its panegyrics have lawful magic as their kin;

    Through his qualities, the unfamiliar meaning has found a home.

  34. جياد المعاني استطردت في بديعها

    الم تر فيها اللفظ كيف تعجلا

    The steeds of meaning feigned retreat within its artistry;

    Have you not seen how the wording hurried within it?

  35. بديعة حسن راق ماء انسجامها

    وقد جل قدرا حسنها ان يمثلا

    A marvel of beauty: the water of its harmonious flow is clear,

    And its beauty is too lofty in worth to be portrayed.

  36. لتصديرها شيخ الشيوخ فلو رأى

    لكان على ابياتها متطفلا

    For its opening, the shaykh of shaykhs—if he saw it,

    He would be an uninvited guest at its verses.

  37. ولو أن يوما للنباتي عارضت

    لقال لها هذا النبات الذي حلا

    And if one day it vied with al-Nabati,

    He would say to it, 'This is the plant that is sweet.'

  38. وتسمو على طرح ابن برد بوشيها

    ومن نسجه جاءت ارق واغزلا

    With its embroidery, it rises above Ibn Burd's offering,

    And it came finer and more amorous than his weaving.

  39. ولولاك لم يحسن محرر لفظها

    ولا كان يحلو مجملا ومفصلا

    But for you, its polished wording would not be beautiful,

    Nor would it be sweet, as a whole or in detail.

  40. ولا اشرقت حسنا اهلة افقها

    ولا انتظمت عقدا جواهرها ولا

    Nor would the crescents of its horizon shine with beauty,

    Nor would its jewels be strung into a necklace, nor...

  41. فدم وابق واسلم فالزمان بكم صفا

    وطاب مزاجا بالهنا وتعدّلا

    So endure, remain, and be safe, for through you time has grown clear,

    And its temper grew sweet with bliss and came into balance.

  42. فلا زلت ترقى في صعود وفي علا

    وشانيك قد افضى الهبوط به الى

    May you never cease ascending, upward and into eminence,

    And your hater—descent has led him to...

  43. ولا زالت الامداح فيك ختامها

    يفوح من الارجاء مسكا ومندلا

    And may the closing seal of praises in your honor always

    Waft from every quarter with musk and aloeswood.