أقبل كالبدر محياه

يحمل كالشمس حمياه

He came forward, his face like the full moon,

bearing his fiery wine, like the sun.

وما سوى الشهب لجاماتها

من حبب وهي ثناياه

Its goblets have nothing but shooting stars

for bubbles—and these are his front teeth.

طاف ولو لم يسقنا أسكرت

كرات عينيه نداماه

He made the rounds; even had he not served us,

his eyes' glances would have intoxicated his drinking companions.

حي فأحي بلمى ريقه

مفلج المبسم ألماه

Greet him, and revive with his dark lips' moisture—

the dusky-lipped one with a gap-toothed smile.

مكرر منه بنات اللمى

فكيف أسلوه وأنساه

Dusky-lipped maidens are copies of him;

how could I cease loving him and forget him?

رق أديم الخد منه فلو

مر به الوهم لأدماه

So tender is the skin of his cheek that, were

even a thought to pass over it, it would make it bleed.

يموج ماء الحسن في خده

وقد طغا فيه عذاراه

The water of beauty ripples in his cheek,

and his two sideburns have risen there in flood.

كأنما عارضه عنبر

والموج بالساحل ألقاه

As though his cheek-down were ambergris,

and a wave had cast it upon the shore.

يقذف بالزورق من خاله

فليس يدري أين مرساه

He launches a skiff from his beauty-mark,

and knows not where its anchorage is.

يا ملك الحسن الذي أصبحت

كل بني العشق رعاياه

O king of beauty, whose subjects now are

all the sons of love!

مذ قيد الأسرى بجعد له

مسلسل ما فك أسراه

Since he bound the captives with a curl of his,

chain-linked, he has never freed his prisoners.

يسطو على العشاق من لحظه

في صرام عري متناه

He assails lovers through his glance,

a keen blade with both its sides laid bare.

حاجبه قوس لنبالة

رمى بها القلب فأصماه

His eyebrow is a bow for archery;

he shot the heart with it and slew it.

عندم خديه غدا شاهداً

أن دمي طلعته عيناه

His cheeks' dragon's-blood crimson now bears witness

that his eyes have drawn forth my blood.

أرخص در الدمع لكنما

قلبي بنار الوجد أغلاه

He cheapened the pearls of tears; yet

my heart made them precious in longing's fire.

طوقه الأفق هلال السما

فقال قرطاي ثرياه

The horizon made heaven's crescent his necklace;

he said, 'Its Pleiades are my two earrings.'

أن نسب الدر إلى ثغره

فهو أب وهي يتاماه

If pearls are traced back to his mouth,

it is their father, and they are its orphans.

جفناه كالنرجس في روضة

وكالشقيق كذا الغض خداه

His eyelids are like narcissi in a garden,

and his cheeks likewise resemble tender anemones.

لولم تكن ترصد ورداتها

عقارب الصدغ قطفناه

Were its roses not watched over

by the scorpions of his temple-locks, we would pluck them.

طاب أريج المسك في فرعه

فعطر الكون برباه

The scent of musk grew sweet in his hair,

and perfumed the universe from his heights.

كأنه لاقى شذا أحمد

فاكتسب الطيب بلقياه

As though it had met Ahmad's fragrance

and acquired its sweetness by meeting him.

تكلف البدر على تمه

ورام يحكيه فأخفاه

The full moon strained, even at its fullness,

and sought to resemble him—but he eclipsed it.

سماه باريه لنا أحمداً

فطابق الاسم مسماه

His Maker named him Ahmad for us,

and the name matched its bearer.

إذا دعا داعي الهدى باسمه

من قبل رجع الطرف لباه

Whenever the caller to guidance calls his name,

he answers him before the blink of an eye.

اليمن معقود بيمناه

واليسر مقرون بيسراه

Blessing is bound to his right hand,

and ease is paired with his left.

في أمة الفضل على فترةٍ

بالعلم قد أرسله اللَه

Among the people of excellence, after a lull,

God has sent him forth with knowledge.

أحمد منه مرسلاً جوده

مصحف إحسان قرأناه

Ahmad's bounty, sent forth from him,

is a scripture of kindness we have read.

وقائل صحف لي نجوم السما

وعدها قلت مزاياه

To one who said, 'Set heaven's stars down for me

and count them,' I said, 'His virtues.'

فرد بجمع الفخر ما شابهت

علاه أنداد وأشباه

Unique in gathering glory—never have

peers or equals resembled his exalted rank.

مجتهد قلد منه الورى

مطابقاً بالوحي فتواه

An independent jurist whom all mankind follows,

his legal opinion accords with revelation.

يمد ظل الأرض عدلاً فما

من خائفٍ إلا تفياه

He extends the earth's shade with justice; no

frightened soul but shelters in it.

يستكشف العرف بمعروفه

ويعرف النسك بتقواه

Goodness is discerned through his kindness,

and devotion is known through his piety.

كم مشكل بالعلم قد حله

فأنتجت علماً قضاياه

How many a problem he has solved through knowledge,

his judgments bringing knowledge forth!

صافه عما شاءه ربه

وخالص الإبريز صفاه

His Lord favored him as He willed,

and refined him as the finest gold.

مذ شاء تمثيلاً لشكل الهدى

روحاً لجسم العلم سواه

When He wished to give guidance visible form,

He fashioned him as a soul for knowledge's body.

وذو يراعٍ لو رمى سهمه

سرب الخفا لم يخط مرماه

And he has a reed pen: were he to shoot its arrow

at the flock of secrets, it would not miss its mark.

لو قست ومض البرق فيه لما

جاراه بالسبق وباراه

Were you to compare lightning's flash with it,

the flash could neither keep pace nor rival it.

يحكي عصا موسى ولكنه

للعلم لا للسحر ألقاه

It resembles Moses' staff, yet he

cast it down for knowledge, not for magic.

يملي ولكن جوفه فارخٌ

وما سوى الإعجاز أملاه

It dictates, though its belly is empty,

and it has dictated nothing but the miraculous.

شبل به أنجب ليث الشرى

تخافه الأسد وتخشاه

A noble cub begotten by the lion of al-Shara,

whom lions fear and dread.

ذاك علي القدر من مجده

ما كان أعلاه وأسماه

That is Ali, lofty in rank through his glory—

how exalted and sublime he was!

مقدم في كل أتي فضله

نصاً وفي من كنت مولاه

Foremost in every account of his merit,

stated explicitly, and in 'Whoever has me as his master.'

أن أمه المقتر مسترفداً

أسعفه جوداً وأغناه

If a needy man came to him seeking aid,

he aided him generously and enriched him.

أبقى جميل الذكر يوم الندى

مذ فرق المال وأفناه

He made fair remembrance endure on the day of giving,

when he divided his wealth and spent it all.

بجده ضاعف فعل الندى

وبالمساعي الغر عداه

With his zeal he multiplied acts of bounty,

and surpassed him in illustrious endeavors.

حلق كالنسر بأفق العلى

لكن من العلم جناحاه

He soared like an eagle in the firmament of loftiness,

but his two wings are made of knowledge.

عن الرضا عن جعفر جده

صحح بالإسناد علياه

From al-Rida, from Ja'far his forefather,

he authenticated his exalted rank by a chain of transmission.

أيا إمام العصر يا من به

نهاية الفضل ومبداه

O Imam of the age, through whom

excellence has its end and its beginning!

نبت عن الحجة في حكمه

وكل حكم لك أمضاه

You deputized for al-Hujja in his rulings,

and he endorsed every judgment of yours.

العلم لفظ فاهٍ فيه الورى

وأنت لو يدرك معناه

Knowledge is a word on all mankind's lips;

you—could they but grasp it—are its meaning.

لو كنت سحبان بيان لما

بلغت من مدحك أدناه

Were I as eloquent as Sahban, I would not

attain even the least of your praise.

صف لي معناك ففي وصفه

حار ذوو الأفكار بل تاهوا

Describe your essence to me; in describing it,

thinkers are bewildered—indeed, they lose their way.

أنت مفيد العلم والمرتضى

الأفعال والهادي نصيراه

You are knowledge's benefactor; al-Murtada, pleasing in

deeds, and al-Hadi are its two champions.

غوثان غيثان كريمان أن

يدعهما الداعي أغاثاه

Two rescuers, two showers of rain, two generous men—if

a caller invokes them, they rescue him.

يا قايساً جودهما بالحيا

هذا القياس العقل يأباه

O you who compare their bounty to rain,

reason rejects this comparison.

إن تختبر كل فتىً منهما

فخبره طباق مرآه

If you put either young man to the test,

his inner worth matches his outward appearance.

شاد بناء الفضل فوق السهى

وذا حسين العلم أعلاه

He built the edifice of excellence above al-Suha,

and this Husayn of knowledge raised it higher.

أخطأ من مثل يوم العطا

بمستهل السحب جدواه

He erred who, on the day of giving, compared

his bounty to the downpour from the clouds.

قد يفتر الغيث انسكاباً ولا

تفتر عمر الدهر كفاه

The rain may slacken in its downpour, but

his two hands never slacken through all time.

تجري كموج اليم أنعامه

فيا أدام اللَه نعماه

His favors flow like the waves of the sea;

O may God make his blessings endure!

عراه باري الخلق عن شائن

وفي رداء الفضل رداه

The Creator of mankind stripped him of every blemish,

and clothed him in the mantle of excellence.

لولا سنا البدر وشمس الضحى

ما كان في الكون ضريباه

Were it not for the full moon's glow and the morning sun,

his two counterparts would not exist in the world.

دوموا بني العلياء في سؤدد

يخافه الدهر ويخشاه

Endure, sons of exalted rank, in glory

that Time fears and dreads.