لطائر البشر بالأفراح تغريد

وللتهاني ونيل السعد تجديد

The bird of glad tidings sings with joy.

Congratulations and the attainment of happiness are renewed.

ومربع الفضل مخضر جوانبه

عليه ظلّ رواق المجد ممدود

The dwelling of virtue is green on every side;

over it stretches the shade of glory’s canopy.

ونصرة واجتماع في طريقك قد

تولدا ولهذا الشكل توليد

Victory and union have, along your path,

come into being; this form, too, has its own creation.

وباب جودك مفتوح لقاصده

كما لسهمك في الاعداء تسديد

The door of your generosity stands open to whoever seeks it,

just as your arrow flies true among your enemies.

وجلّقٌ بك قد طابت مشاهدها

وقد زكا شاهد منها ومشهود

Jillq’s scenes have grown lovely through you,

and both witness and witnessed there have flourished.

وسامرتنا بها السمر الرشاق ومن

غزلانها غازلتنا الاعين السود

There, the graceful, dark-complexioned ones kept us company at night, and

the black eyes of its gazelles flirted with us.

ووجنة الروض وشي القطر دبحها

لما بدت ولها في الخد توريد

The rain’s embroidery marked the garden’s cheek;

when it appeared, its cheek was flushed with rose.

والريح شبب بالعيدان من طرب

والطير يطرب ما لا يطرب العود

The wind sang to the branches in delight,

and the birds made music beyond what a lute can play.

والنهر صفّق والاغصان راقصة

وللهنا كل وقت فيه تجديد

The river clapped, and the branches danced;

joy found renewal there at every moment.

ماذا اقول اذا ما رمت تهنئة

هذا قدوم والا للورى عيد

What can I say when I seek to offer congratulations?

Is this an arrival, or a festival for all people?

تهلك بك في الافراح طلعته

فاعتادنا منه تهليل وتحميد

Its countenance is consumed with joy at your coming,

so cries of praise and thanksgiving have become familiar to us.

على علاك لقد ضل العدى حسدا

ان الكريم على علياه محسود

Your height has led your enemies astray with envy;

a noble man is envied for his eminence.

لم يبق جودك لي شيئا اؤمله

هذا لعمرك في الدنيا هو الجود

Your generosity has left me nothing more to hope for.

By your life, this is generosity in this world.

عطفا فما لي عنك اليوم من بدل

وفي ضميرك مما قلت تأكيد

Show me kindness, for today I have no one in your place;

and in your heart is confirmation of what I have said.

في وصف معناك واللفظ البديع لقد

حلا جناسي منظوم ومنضود

In describing your worth with artful words,

my wordplay has grown sweet, arranged and ordered.

تعددت فيك امداحي فلي عدة

من راحتيك وللاعداء تعديد

My praises of you have multiplied; for me there is abundance

from your two hands, and for your enemies, a reckoning.

يا منهل الفضل يا من بر جودك لن

اظما وبحرك للعافين مورود

O spring of virtue, from the kindness of your bounty I shall never

thirst; your sea is open to those who seek it.

ان كان سيبك ابطا في تأخره

فآتني بجميل منك موعود

If your gift has been slow in its delay,

then grant me the fine thing you have promised.

يظن قوم باني قد مدحتهم

وانت في مدحهم بالذات مقصود

Some people think I have praised them,

but you alone are the one intended in their praise.

وان مدحت سواك اليوم فهو اذا

تهكم فيه تخويف وتهديد

And if I praise anyone besides you today, then it is

mockery containing alarm and threat.

قاسوك بالغير من جهل فقلت لهم

شتان في الفضل معدوم وموجود

In ignorance they compared you with others, and I told them:

How far apart in virtue are what is absent and what is present!

هذا الذي لا عن العليا ينام ولا

بصده عن طلاب المجد تفنيد

Here is one who never sleeps when high aims call,

nor can discouragement turn him from seeking glory:

قاضي القضاة ومن بالفضل قد شهدت

له الاماثل والغر الاماجيد

the chief judge, whose virtue

the finest and most illustrious people have attested.

اليه تسند اخبار النوال وقد

صح الذي قد روت تلك الاسانيد

Accounts of gifts are traced back to him,

and what those chains of transmission relate proves true.

باحمد الاسم قد فاق الورى كرما

وفعله كأبيه فهو محمود

Named Ahmad, he surpasses all people in generosity;

his conduct is like his father’s, and he is praised.

به زهت حسنات الدهر وانتظمت

كما ينظم بالحبات عنقود

Through him the age’s virtues shine and are strung together

as beads are strung into a necklace.

در المكارم من جدواه قلدني

وليس ينكر قول فيه تقليد

His bounty has adorned me with the pearls of noble deeds,

and no one can deny the words with which I adorn him.

على محاسنه الاجماع منعقد

وها عليه لواء المجد معقود

All are agreed upon his fine qualities,

and the banner of glory is raised over him.

شاد الفخار وقد ساد الورى رتبا

مذ كان في المهد طفلا وهو مولود

He built up honor and surpassed people in rank

from the time he lay in the cradle as a newborn child.

كل المكارم في اوصافه جمعت

لكن يداه لها في المال تبديد

All noble qualities are gathered in his character,

though his hands scatter his wealth among them.

خذها قصيدا لعقد الدر واسطة

بديع تركيبها ما فيه تعقيد

Take this poem as the central jewel of a pearl necklace:

its composition is exquisite and free of knots.

مخطوبة ما بدت يوما لخاطبها

الا ودينارها المنقوش منقود

Courted as a bride, whenever it appeared to a suitor,

its engraved gold coin was paid out.

بجيد اللفظ قد حليت عاطلها

كما تجلى من البيض الطلى الجيد

Its unadorned beauty has been decked with graceful words,

as a fine neck appears among fair women.

تفني الليالي مع الايام قاطبة

وذكرها لك باق فيه تخليد

All nights and days will pass away,

but its remembrance of you will endure and preserve your name.

فلا برحت شهابا في العلا رصدا

ونجم طالعك الميمون مسعود

May you remain a watchful star in the heights,

and may the star of your blessed fortune be auspicious.

ما طاب حسن ابتدائي بالمديح وما

لي في ختام حلت تلك الأناشيد

How sweet was my fine opening in praise, and how

sweet to me at the close were these songs.