مولاي حاشاك لقد مال بي

دهري وقد جار علي الزمان

My lord—may you be spared!—I have indeed been brought low

by my fate; time has dealt unjustly with me.

وللشقا أسلمني والعنا

من بعد ما كنت طليق العنان

It surrendered me to misery and suffering,

after I had once been free of rein.

والفقر بي افضى الى بيع ما

فوقي وتجتي بالهوى والهوان

And poverty drove me to sell what lay

above and beneath me, in abasement and humiliation.

وبعت حتى بغلتي والكسا

وجرت القافية الطيلسان

I sold even my mule and clothing,

and the rhyme dragged in the mantle.

ولم يكن عندي سوى فروة

تعد سبعا وقرونا ثمان

I had nothing but a fur coat,

counting seven [years] and eight centuries.

قد طار من طول المدى صوفها

وعاف منها كل قاص ودان

Its wool had flown away through the long passage of time,

and everyone, far and near, shunned it.

وقد وهى جسمي وقل القوى

وكنت من قبل قويّ الجنان

My body weakened, and my strength dwindled,

though once I had been stout of heart.

وجاء زحفا جيش فصل الشتا

محاربا بالبرد لا بالسنان

The army of winter came advancing,

waging war with cold, not with the spearhead.

واشتد حتى ان من يرده

لم يدف مني فيه غير اللسان

It grew so fierce that, on confronting it,

nothing in me stayed warm within it but my tongue.

ولم اجد لي في الورى مخلصا

منه سوى رب السجايا الحسان

I found no rescuer for myself among mankind

from it, save the master of noble qualities:

قاضي القضاة الشافعي الذي

من بابه ام غدا في امان

the Shafi‘i Chief Judge, at whose

door all who seek him come to safety.

من ساد فضلا وسما رتبة

ونال في العلياء اعلى مكان

Who excelled in merit and rose high in rank,

and attained the loftiest place on high;

سباق غايات جياد العلا

مدرك شأو والمجد يوم الرهان

first to the finish ahead of the steeds of eminence,

attaining the goal and glory on the day of the race;

رب التقى والفضل فرد الندى

من ليس يثنيه على الجود ثان

master of piety and excellence, peerless in bounty,

whom none can turn aside in his generosity.

يمم الى نحو حماه تنل

ما رمت منه وعلي الضمان

Make for his sanctuary, and you will obtain

what you seek from him—and I stand surety.

لا عيب فيه غير ان العطا

يفيض من راحته والبنان

He has no fault, except that bounty

overflows from his palm and fingertips.

ذو منطق من نحو تصريفه

يبدو لنا حسن معاني البيان

A master of speech, from whose turns of phrase

the beauty of eloquence's meanings appears to us.

ايامنا وقل ما شئت في مدحه

وخل من مدح قل او فلان

In our days, say what you will in his praise,

and leave off praising, say, this man or that.

بمدحه كي غدا ناطقا

قد ينطق المرء بغير اللسان

Through praising him, one has thus found a voice—

a man may speak without a tongue.

يا حاتم الجوذ وكعب الندى

وقس وعظ وبديع الزمان

O Hatim of generosity and Ka‘b of bounty,

and Quss in preaching, and Badi‘ al-Zaman;

ومن على الشهب علا مجده

حتى ثراءى دونه الفرقدان

and you whose glory rose above the stars,

until the two Farqad stars appeared beneath it:

عطفا على سائل دمعي الذي

عن شرح حالي لم يزل ترجمان

Have compassion on my flowing tears, which

have ever been the interpreter of my plight.

وجد بما ذكرك يبقى به

فكل ما في الكون حاشاك فان

And give what will keep your memory alive,

for all in the universe, save you, must perish.

وخذ قصيداً قد غدا نظمها

بالدر يزري وبنظم الجمان

And accept a poem whose composition has come

to put pearls and strands of pearls to shame.

روضة حسن في ربيع بدت

ترفع من ابياتها في جنان

A garden of beauty that has appeared in spring:

from its verses you are lifted into gardens.

بها تفننت الى ان اتت

بديعة في الحسن ذات افتتان

In it I varied my art until it emerged

wondrous in beauty, full of enchantment.

لا زال يوما في سماء العلا

نجمك والسعد معا في اقتران

May there always be, each day in glory's sky,

your star and good fortune together in conjunction.

ولا برحت الدهر في رفعة

ما لاح نجم واضا النيران

And may you remain exalted for all time,

as long as a star shines and the two luminaries gleam,

وأغرب المطرب عن لحنه

وغردت ورق على غصن بان

and the singer brings forth wonders from his tune,

and gray doves warble on a ban-tree bough.