علاك إليه ناظر السعد ناظر

ووجهك مثر بالجمال وناضر

The eye of good fortune gazes toward your eminence,

And your face abounds in beauty and shines.

وأبدت بك الدنيا سروراً وبهجة

وقد أعلنت بالبشر فيها البشائر

Through you the world displayed joy and delight,

And glad tidings within it proclaimed good cheer.

وما انت الا الغيث جوداً ونائلاً

وما انت الا الروض زاو وزاهر

You are nothing but rain in generosity and giving,

And nothing but a garden, splendid and flowering.

ومقدمك الميمون بالعيد طالعا

اتى وبه قد سر باد وحاضر

Your auspicious arrival, dawning with the feast,

Came, gladdening desert-dweller and townsman alike.

وسارت بك الامثال شرقا ومغربا

ولا مثل الا بذكرك سائر

Sayings about you traveled east and west,

And no proverb travels without mention of you.

وايدك الرحمن منه بنصرةٍ

وانت يحمد الله للضدّ فاطر

The All-Merciful aided you with victory from Himself,

And you—God be praised—are a breaker of foes.

وسعدك في مسراك ولد نصرة

وشكلك فيه دل انك ظافر

Your good fortune on your night journey begot victory,

And your configuration there showed you would prevail.

وللّه سرٌّ في علاك فما عسى

يقول حسودٌ او عدو يجاهر

God has a secret in your eminence; what, then, could

An envier say, or an enemy openly hostile?

واضحت دمشق الشام بالحسن جنة

عليها جمال منك باه وباهر

Damascus of al-Sham became a paradise of beauty,

Adorned with beauty from you, resplendent and dazzling.

وحاكت لها ايدي السحاب مطارفا

موشعة قد دبجتها الازاهر

For her the clouds' hands wove fine mantles,

Patterned, embroidered by the blossoms.

وروض الهنا بالدق نفر طيره

وغنى على العيدان والريح زامر

The birds of joy's garden took flight at the drumming,

And sang upon the boughs, while the wind played the pipe.

وايامها لما حلت بها حلت

وكاد من الاعدا تشق المرائر

Her days grew sweet when you alighted in her,

And the enemies' gallbladders nearly burst.

وجامعها بالحسن اصبح مفرداً

وقد اعربت بالوصف عنه الضمائبر

Her congregational mosque became peerless in beauty,

And hearts spoke plainly in describing it.

وصار عليه من شعارك رونقٌ

وفيه لقد اضحت تقام الشعائر

Your insignia lent it luster,

And within it the sacred rites came to be observed.

ومنبره لما به قمت خاطبا

تمنت بان تسعى اليك المنابر

When you stood upon its pulpit to preach,

The pulpits wished they could hasten to you.

وردت مع الايام ليلا لاهلها

ووافت وحي الشوق بالانس عامر

With the passing days, Layla came to her people,

And she arrived, longing's dwelling alive with companionship.

فقل للذي اضحى يضاهيه في العلا

كفاك المحيا منه والفرق ظاهر

So tell whoever would rival him in eminence:

His face is enough for you; the difference is plain.

لعمري لقد زاد التعدي جهالة

وحاولت امرا عنه فعلك قاصر

By my life, such presumption has only increased folly,

And you attempted a task beyond the reach of your deeds.

فهذا هو البحر الذي عن نواله

موارده قد اعربت والمصادر

For he is the sea whose bounty

Its inlets and outlets have plainly proclaimed.

سريع العطايا بالندا متدارك

بسيط مديد كامل الجود وافر

Swift with gifts, ever following bounty with bounty,

Open-handed, far-reaching, perfect in generosity, abundant.

يشار اليه بالاصابع في العلا

وقد عقدت فضلا عليه الخناصر

Among the eminent, fingers point to him,

And little fingers are folded in acknowledgment of his merit.

على فعله دلت شمائله كما

مكارمه دلت عليها المآثر

His qualities attest his deeds, just as

His noble exploits attest his generous virtues.

اخو الجود من كفيه يستمطر الندى

وما هو الا الغيث بالجود ماطر

Brother to bounty, from whose palms generosity is begged like rain,

He is nothing but rain, showering generosity.

وتروي حديث الجود يمناه عن عطا

وهذا حديث في الورى متواتر

His right hand relates bounty's tradition on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ,

And this tradition is widely transmitted among humankind.

والفاظه الاسماع بالدر شنفت

وما هذه الالفاظ الا جواهر

His words have adorned ears with pearls,

And these words are nothing but jewels.

وليس له في فعله من مضارع

وما مثله في الحال ناه وآمر

He has no peer in his deeds,

And no man who forbids and commands is his equal today.

واقلامه السمر الرشاق كأنها

رياض والحاظ الظباء المحابر

His slender, dusky pens are like

Gardens, and the inkwells are gazelles' eyes.

اذا ما جرت قوق الطروس تمدها

يداه بها عنه تضيق الدفاتر

When they run across the sheets, sustained

By his hands, notebooks cannot hold what they convey from him.

امولاي يا قاضي القضاة ومن به

تضيء سما العليا وتسمو المفاخر

O my master, O Judge of Judges, through whom

The heaven of eminence shines, and glories soar!

اليك فخذها من لساني حديقة

يشوع الشذا من نشرها وهو عاطر

Here, then, take from my tongue a garden:

Perfume wafts from its fragrance, sweetly scented.

من الزرد المنظوم احكمت نسجها

فكانت دروعا للقا ومغافر

From ordered mail-rings I made its weaving firm,

So it became coats of mail and helmets for battle.

وليس على منوالها ونسيجها

يحوك ابن برد لا ولا حاك شاعر

Not upon its loom, nor in its manner of weaving,

Does Ibn Burd weave—no, nor has any poet woven.

فدونك مدحا قد تنظم دره

له انت يا بحر المكارم ناشر

Take, then, this praise, whose pearls have been strung:

You, O sea of noble virtues, are the one to spread it.

وجد لي بمال قد تقدم ذكره

فاني على طول المدا لك ذاكر

Be generous to me with the money already mentioned,

For I shall remember you for all time.

وما غبت عن عيني وان كنت غائبا

فشخصك في قلبي كأنك حاضر

You have never vanished from my eyes, though you are away,

For your form is in my heart, as though you were here.

واني لارجو الجود منك تكرماً

لأنك بالافضال والجود غامر

I do hope for bounty from you, out of your kindness,

For you overflow with beneficence and generosity.

ومن ذا الذي يخشى صروف زمانه

وانت له يوما ولي وناصر

Who is there who fears the reversals of his time,

When you are his protector and helper, even for a day?

فلا زلت ترقى في سما المجد صاعدا

وتعنو لعلياك النجوم الزواهر

May you ever ascend, rising through the sky of glory,

And may the radiant stars bow to your eminence.

ودمت مدى الايام هبت الصبا

وما حركت عوداً وغرد طائر

May you endure through the days, as long as the east wind blows,

And as long as it stirs a bough and a bird sings.