يا فتى بالبديع حل كلامه

وعن القلب قد ازال كلامه

O youth whose speech is adorned with rhetorical art,

And who has removed the heart’s wounds.

من بديع النظام ارسلت لغزا

مغلقا فيه قوة وفخامه

From wondrous verse you sent a riddle,

Impenetrable, containing strength and grandeur.

معنوي لم يستحل بانعكاس

عند تصريفه تزول الملامه

A riddle of meaning, unchanged by reversal;

When it is rearranged, reproach disappears.

ملحق بالطباق ابدعت حقا

في المباني تركيبه ونظامه

Linked with antithesis—you truly excelled

In its wording, its construction and arrangement.

طيب النشر طال بحرا ومنه

كم غدا الزهر مخرجا اكمامه

Sweet-scented, it stretched out as a sea; and from it

How often the blossom has put forth its buds!

كامل وافر مديد بسيط

جاء تخليعه عليه علامه

Complete, abundant, long, expansive—Kāmil, Wāfir, Madīd, Basīṭ;

Its metrical alteration came as a mark upon it.

واقفا قد تركته يترامى

فوق الاعتاب هيبة وكرامه

You left it standing, casting itself

Upon the thresholds, with awe and dignity.

تهرع الناس والوفود اليه

تارة خلفه وطورا أمامه

People and delegations hurry to it,

Sometimes behind it, sometimes before it.

بان تصحيفه وان زال منه

صدره آب قافلا بالسلامه

Its dot-altered form became clear; and if it lost

Its beginning, it returned home safely.

طارة جيبه اروم فتوحا

لو تراني وقد فضضت ختامه

I seek to open the circular rim of its collar;

If only you could see me, having broken its seal!

سيدي قد قرعت بابك جد لي

بالرضا لا قرعت سن ندامه

My lord, I have knocked at your door; grant me

Your favor—may you never gnash a tooth in regret!

وابق بحر شعري يهدي سريعا

دره المنتقى ويبدي نظامه

And keep the sea of my verse swiftly offering

Its choice pearls and displaying their arrangement.