1. إِلَهي إنّ قَصدي مِن قَصيدي

    رضاكَ وَما عليه من مزيدِ

    My God, my aim in my poetry

    Is Your pleasure, and nothing beyond it.

  2. مَتى يُنشَد أقُل وَمَتى يؤرّخ

    قَصَدتُ رِضاكَ فَاِمنح للقصيدِ

    Whenever it is recited, I say—and whenever it is dated—

    I sought Your pleasure, so grant it to the poem.

  3. نَظمتُ مَديحَ أَحمدَ فيهِ وُسطى

    لِمدحِ الآلِ بالعقد الفريدِ

    I strung Ahmad's praise within it as the central gem

    In a peerless necklace praising his household.

  4. جَعلتهمُ الوسيلةَ لاِقتِرابي

    فَلَم آتِ المَقاصدِ من بعيدِ

    I made them my means of drawing near,

    So I did not approach my aims from afar.

  5. وَمَن خصّصتهُ منهم بذكرٍ

    فَعَن ودّ لِنَجلهم الودودِ

    And whoever among them I singled out for mention,

    It was out of love for their loving descendant,

  6. لِوجهكَ لا لعائدةٍ ترجّى

    وَلا لإذاعةِ الذّكرِ الحميدِ

    For Your sake, not for any hoped-for reward,

    Nor to spread a praiseworthy reputation.

  7. وَما شابَت لَنا الأغراضُ ودّاً

    وَلا صَرَفتهُ عن نهجٍ سديدِ

    No self-serving aims have tainted our affection,

    Nor diverted it from an upright path.

  8. وَما إِن بَيننا إلّا دعاءٌ

    بِظهرِ الغيبِ عَن قلبٍ شهيدِ

    And between us there is nothing but prayer

    In the other's absence, from an attentive heart.

  9. وَقَد أَغنَيتنا عَن بيع باقٍ

    عَظيمِ الخطرِ بِالفاني الزهيدِ

    And You have spared us from selling what endures,

    Of immense worth, for the paltry and perishable.

  10. كِلانا ذو اِعتزازٍ بِاِنتسابٍ

    إِليكَ رفيعُ همٍّ ذو تليدِ

    Both of us take pride in belonging

    To You, lofty in aspiration, possessing an ancestral heritage.

  11. نُرجّي بِالتحاببِ فيكَ فوزاً

    بِظلّك يومَ قارعةِ الوعيدِ

    Through mutual love for Your sake, we hope for salvation

    Beneath Your shade on the day of the threatened calamity.

  12. فحقّق ظنّنا وَاِختم بخيرٍ

    وَعرّفنا نَوالك بالمزيدِ

    So fulfill our expectation, and grant a good ending,

    And acquaint us with Your bounty in ever greater measure.

  13. وَعمّم نَفعَ هَذا النظمِ وَاِشرح

    صُدوراً منهُ جاشَت للنشيدِ

    And make this verse's benefit universal, and open

    Hearts stirred by it to song.

  14. تُدارُ لَها بِه ذكرى حبيبٍ

    محبّتهُ السعادةُ للسعيدِ

    Through it, remembrance of a beloved is passed round to them,

    Love for him is bliss for the blessed.

  15. فَتُسقى منهُ كأس بعد كأسٍ

    وَتضربُ لِلمعاد وللمعيدِ

    So from it they are given cup after cup,

    And they beat for the refrain and the one repeating it.

  16. تَملّ فَلا يملّ لها معادٌ

    وَتوري كامنَ الشوقِ الخمودِ

    They tire, yet no refrain grows wearisome to them,

    And kindle the hidden, dormant longing.

  17. وَأيّ حشاشةٍ لا يَزدهيها

    مَديحُ نبيّها نور الوجودِ

    And what living soul is not delighted by

    Praise of its Prophet, the light of existence?

  18. وَما مِن رحمةٍ في الكونِ إلّا

    بهِ المولى حَباها للعبيدِ

    And there is no mercy in the universe except that

    Through him the Lord bestowed it upon His servants.

  19. صَلاةُ اللّه والتسليمُ سحّت

    فُيوضُهما بمنهلٍّ برودِ

    May God's blessings and salutations pour down,

    Their abundant streams a cool, cascading shower,

  20. لِروضةِ أحمد وَمُضاجعيه

    وَمَأوى آلهِ حيّ ومودي

    Upon Ahmad's garden and those resting beside him,

    And the abode of his family, living and departed,

  21. وَسائرِ صحبهِ ومتابعيهِ

    إِلى يومِ القيامِ من اللحودِ

    And all his companions and followers,

    Until the day of rising from the graves.

  22. صَلاةٌ لا لِنُضرتها نظيرٌ

    وَتسليمٌ تعاظمَ عَن مزيدِ

    A blessing whose freshness has no equal,

    And a salutation too great for further increase,

  23. مِنَ الرحمنِ ما لهما انتهاءٌ

    عَليه وآله الأبد الأبيدِ

    From the Most Merciful, with no end to either,

    Upon him and his family, forever and ever.