وافى السرور وصحت الأحلام

وتباشرت بقدومك الأيام

Joy has arrived, and dreams have come true.

And the days rejoiced at your arrival.

واتى بشير القرب يعلن بالهنا

فعلى البشير تحية وسلام

And the herald of reunion came proclaiming gladness;

so greetings and peace be upon the herald.

والدهر اشرق وجهه وتهللت

ساعاته وزهت به الاعوام

And Time's face brightened, and joy lit up

its hours; through him the years grew splendid.

والروض خرم ثوبه نشر الصبا

وتفتحت من زهره الاكمام

And the east wind's fragrance pierced the garden's robe,

and the bud-sheaths of its blossoms opened.

ودمشق طابت بالتهاني مشربا

فسرورها ابد الزمان مدام

And Damascus, amid congratulations, grew sweet to drink from;

so its joy is wine for all of time.

ونسيمها المعتل صح بها كما

صحت بطيب قدومك الاجسام

And its ailing breeze recovered there, just as

bodies regained health through the sweetness of your arrival.

وسرى اليها من اصابعك الوفا

وعن الزمان قد انجلى الابهام

And faithfulness flowed to it from your fingers;

and obscurity was lifted from Time.

ورياضها تجلى كأنّ غصونها

فيها قيان للزفاف قيام

And its gardens are unveiled, as though their boughs

were singing girls standing there for the bridal procession.

وبدور جبهتها تضىء واصبحت

تختال في جنباتها الآرام

And the full moons of its brow shine, and now

white gazelles strut through its quarters.

ولنا سماء ربوعها قد اطلعت

نجما له فوق السماك مقام

And the sky above its quarters has brought forth for us

a star whose station is above al-Simak.

قاضي القضاة المفرد العلم الذي

ايامه رفعت بها الاعلام

The chief judge, the peerless luminary, whose

days have seen the banners raised.

هو روضة العليا ومطلب دوحها

كنز به للطالبين مرام

He is high honor's garden and the goal of its spreading trees,

a treasure in which seekers find their aim.

ورث المعالي كابراً عن كابر

فمحله في المجد ليس يرام

He inherited high honors, one great man from another;

so his station in glory is beyond reach.

سامي الذرى من خير بيت قد اتى

لمحاسن الاوصاف فيه نظام

Lofty of summit, from the noblest house—there has arisen

in him an ordered array of beautiful qualities.

من ذا يضاهي قدره وسما العلا

اقمارها الآباء والاعمام

Who can match his worth, when the heaven of glory

has his forefathers and paternal uncles for its moons?

بحر سريع الجود الا انه

عذب به للواردين زحام

A sea, swift to give, except that it

is sweet, and those who come to drink throng around it.

مولى اذا استمطرت غيث نواله

فسحاب جود ماطر وغمام

A lord—when you ask for the rain of his bounty,

he is a raining cloud of generosity and a cloudbank.

هو قبلة العليا وجامع فضلها

وتر الزمان وفي العلوم امام

He is high honor's qibla and the gatherer of its excellence,

Time's peerless one, and an imam in the disciplines of learning.

فس الفصاحة جوهريّ لفظه

قد حار في اوصافه النظام

A [gem?] of eloquence, his words jewel-like,

the versifiers have been baffled in describing him.

وبه المحامد والمكارم جمعت

حتى سجاياه الحسان كرام

And in him praiseworthy qualities and noble virtues are gathered,

even his lovely traits are generous.

لم يثنه في الجود عن بذل اللهى

ثان ولا يلهيه عنه ملام

In generosity, he has not been deterred from lavishing gifts

by any dissuader; nor does reproach distract him from it.

وحوى من العلياء سهما وافرا

منه بافئدة العداة سهام

And he has gained an ample share of high honor,

from which arrows lodge in his enemies' hearts.

فإذا سخا ما حاتم في جوده

واذا سطا في الروع ما بسطام

So when he gives, what is Hatim beside his bounty?

And when he strikes amid battle's terror, what is Bistam?

والدهر اقسم لا يجود بمثله

ابدا ولم تحنث له اقسام

And Time has sworn it will not bestow his like

ever; and its oaths have not been broken.

وبه علا الشرع الشريف وقد غدت

تسمو قواعده به وتقام

And through him the noble sacred law rose high, and now

its foundations rise through him and are upheld.

اوصافه حاشاه لا نقص بها

وعلاه في فلك السعود تمام

His qualities—he is above reproach—have no flaw;

and his glory is full in the sphere of auspicious stars.

مولاي يا نجم الكمال ومن سما

وبه تسامت مصرنا والشام

My lord, O star of perfection, and you who rose high,

and through whom our Egypt and al-Sham rose high,

خذها قصيدا قد تضوع نشرها

طيبا لها مسك المديح ختام

Accept it as a poem whose fragrance has wafted

sweetly; its seal is the musk of praise.

جاءت عروسا تجتلى من خدرها

عنها لغيرك ما اميط لثام

It came as a bride, unveiled from her secluded chamber;

her face-veil was lifted for no one but you.

تبغي على الفتح السداد لها ومن

يبغي سداد الحال ليس بلام

She seeks correctness for herself—with the open 'a' vowel—and whoever

seeks sufficient means for his circumstances is not to blame.

او كيف اخشى بعده فقرا ولي

من راحتيك مواثق وذمام

Or how could I fear poverty thereafter, when I have

pledges and protection from your two palms?

لا زلت ترقى صاعدا درج العلا

ويحفك الاقبال والاكرام

May you never cease rising, climbing the steps of high honor,

and may good fortune and honor surround you.

وتهن شهر الصوم وافى بهالنا

وبه الذنوب تحط والآثام

And may you enjoy the month of fasting, which has arrived [with gladness],

and in it sins and transgressions are remitted.

ويعيش مولانا إلى امثاله

دهرا ويتلو كل عام عام

And may our lord live to see others like it

for ages, while year follows year.

وبقيت محروس الجناب مؤيدا

والدهر عبد والزمان غلام

And may you remain upheld, with your precincts guarded,

while Time is a slave and the age a servant-boy,

ما حرّكت ايدي الصبا عودا وما

غلّت عليه في الرياض حمام

as long as the east wind's hands stir a bough, and as long as

doves [coo] upon it in the gardens.