1. خليلي هل لهجرك من خِتَامِ

    فإنه منه مختصر المَنَامِ

    My dear friend, is there an end to your estrangement?

    For because of it, sleep is cut short.

  2. وهل تدري بأنّك في فؤادي

    فكيف تُذيقُني كأسَ الحِمَامِ

    And do you know that you are in my heart?

    Then how can you make me taste the cup of death?

  3. وَلَسْتُ بِمُعْظِمٍ حتفي لشيءٍ

    سِوى خَوْفِ انتقالِكَ من عظامي

    Nor do I hold my death a grave matter for any reason

    save fear of your departure from my bones.

  4. فبالحُسْنِ الذي أولاك رِقّي

    وأولاني مُحَالَفَةَ السّقام

    So, by the beauty that granted you my bondage

    and granted me an alliance with sickness,

  5. تَرَفَّقْ بي فإنّي لستُ مِمَّنْ

    يرى حِلّ التّنقّل في الغرام

    be gentle with me, for I am not one

    who deems it lawful to change from love to love.

  6. ولستُ بِمُذْنِبٍ إلاّ بِوَجْدِي

    إذا مَا الْوَجْدُ عُدَّ من الحرام

    Nor am I guilty, save for my passion,

    if ever passion is reckoned forbidden.

  7. وَصِلْني كَيْ ترى جسماً نحيفاً

    يبيت من التفقّه في مُدام

    And grant me union, that you may see an emaciated body

    that spends the night in deep study of wine,

  8. فيشرح مُبْهماً ويبين معنىً

    ويُبْدِي عِلَّةً وِفْقَ الغرام

    then explains what is obscure and makes a meaning clear,

    and reveals a cause in keeping with love,

  9. ويسلك في مسالكها وجوهاً

    لها وجهُ القوارح في اغتمام

    and pursues varied approaches along its paths,

    which bear the look of full-grown steeds in distress,

  10. ويُعْرِب عن ضمائرها بلفظٍ

    بديعِ الصَّنْعِ في سحر الأنام

    and voices their hidden meanings in language

    wondrously crafted to enchant humankind.

  11. كأنّ الشيخَ إسماعيلَ لمّا

    تَلأْلأَ عِلْمُه يوم الخِتام

    As though Shaykh Ismail, when

    his knowledge shone on the day of completion,

  12. وفتَّحَ أَعْيُناً وشفى صدوراً

    وأذهب داءَ أَفْئِدَةً لِئام

    and opened eyes and healed breasts,

    and dispelled the sickness of base hearts,

  13. وأسمع صُمَّ آذانٍ وحلّى

    بُدورَ اللّفظِ ما يوفي الكلام

    and made deaf ears hear, and adorned

    the full moons of expression with what perfects speech,

  14. وأبرز حين برّز في جَلاَلٍ

    علوماً دونها الهمم السّوامي

    and brought forth, when he excelled in majesty,

    sciences beyond the loftiest aspirations,

  15. وأطلع من تطلّع في جمالٍ

    سَناً من دونه بَدْرُ التّمام

    and showed whoever gazed upon beauty

    a radiance that outshines the full moon,

  16. إمامٌ قد حوى عزّاً وعلماً

    وأحرز مصطفى شِيَمِ الكِرام

    were an imam who had gathered honor and knowledge

    and attained the choicest traits of the noble,

  17. وشيخٌ قد حَبَاهُ اللّه فضلاً

    له الْفُضَلاَءُ جاثيةُ المقام

    and a shaykh whom God had granted bounty,

    before whom the learned kneel at their stations.

  18. ويمّمه التّمام بدرّ كلام

    فلُقِّب بالتّميميِّ الإمام

    And perfection sought him out with pearls of speech,

    so the imam was styled al-Tamimi.

  19. وشرّفه علا نَسَباً ونُسْكاً

    فكان من الكمال على تمام

    And eminence in lineage and devotion ennobled him,

    so in perfection he was complete.

  20. وما مدحي له لينال مَدْحاً

    ولكن كي يَزِينَ به نِظامي

    And my praise of him is not to win him praise,

    but so that my verse may be adorned through him.

  21. وأودع عنده عهداً فإنّي

    أرى الأَشْرافَ عهداً للذِّمام

    And I entrust a pledge to him, for I

    regard the noble as a pledge of protection.

  22. ولا زالت به الأشرافُ تَسْمُو

    فإنّ بقاءَه سَبَبُ الدّوامِ

    And may the noble never cease to rise through him,

    for his continued life is the cause of continuance.