سرى عائداً حيث الضنى راع عودي

سرى البدر طيف بالدجنة مهتدي

He came by night to visit, where wasting sickness had shaken my frame.

The full moon came by night, a phantom finding its way through the darkness.

وما رق لو لم يدر حيني ولا سرى

على البعد في ثوب الحداد لمرقدي

He would not have softened had he not known my dying hour, nor come by night

From afar, in mourning garb, to my resting place.

فأعجبه شوقي إليه على النوى

كذا كان حيث الشمل لم يتبدد

So my longing for him despite separation delighted him;

So it had been when our union was still unbroken.

وعاتبته والظن أيأس طامع

فجاوبني والقلب أطمع مجتد

And I reproached him, expectation the most despairing of hopeful souls;

Then he answered me, my heart the most eager of suppliants.

ولاطفته حتى استلمت فؤاده

فيا لك سعداً بعضة لين جلمد

And I caressed him until I took hold of his heart.

Oh, what good fortune—a bite softened a boulder!

وبت كأن الدهر ألقى زمامه

إلي وصافاني فأحرزت مقصدي

And I spent the night as though Time had cast its reins

To me and befriended me sincerely; thus I attained my desire.

وحكمني من جيده وهو عاطل

فحلاه دمعي بالجمان المنضد

And he gave me mastery over his neck, while he was unadorned;

So my tears adorned it with pearls in ordered rows.

إلى أن نعى بالبين صبح كأنه

غراب النوى لكنه غير أسود

Until dawn mournfully announced separation, as though it were

The raven of separation—yet it was not black.

وقد جدد التذكار ما أخلق الصبا

وأي عهود مثلها لم تجدد

And remembrance renewed what the east wind had worn away;

And what vows like those could fail to be renewed?

فيا ليت أبقى ذكرها لي عبرة

لأبكي لها أو ليت أبقى تجلدي

Oh, would that their remembrance had left me a tear

To weep for them—or would that it had preserved my fortitude!

خليلي ما آليتما جهد ناصح

ولكن حيران القضا كيف يهتدي

My two friends, you have spared no effort in giving counsel;

But how can one bewildered by fate find his way?

أما تصلح الأيام بعد فسادها

فلم تبق من عيشي صباحاً لمفسد

Will the days not mend after their corruption?

For they left no morning of my life for a spoiler.

وقد زادني ظلماً وأوسعني أذى

يدا عصبة لم تخش لله من يد

And more injustice and abundant harm have been heaped upon me

By the two hands of a band that feared no hand of God.

فاكبادهم للخير في جوف جلمد

والسهم للشر في فم أسود

So their livers, toward goodness, lie within a boulder's hollow,

And the arrow, for evil, is in a black serpent's mouth.

عسى يهدم الإنسان ما شيد الأذى

إذا لذت بالركن الشديد المشيد

May man demolish what harm has built,

When I seek refuge with the mighty, towering pillar:

إمام أقال الدين من عثراته

وأحيت مساعيه شريعة أحمد

An imam who delivered the faith from its stumbles,

And whose efforts revived the law of Ahmad.

كأن أماليه الرياض ثمارها

الدراري وللأقلام صوت المغرد

His dictated lessons are like gardens whose fruits are

Brilliant stars; and the pens have a songbird's voice.

لأحكامه دان القضاء فأصبحت

بأقلامه الأيام والدهر يقتدي

Fate submitted to his rulings, so the days came to be

Governed by his pens, and Time follows his lead.

وفي كل قلب من نداه وبأسه

يخال رجا وعد وخوف توعد

And in every heart, from his bounty and might,

One senses hope in a promise and fear of a threat.

يجود الحيا بالماء باك وجوده

مع البشر يهمي من لجين وعسجد

The rain bestows water, weeping; his bounty,

With cheerfulness, pours down silver and gold.

تقلدت الشهباء صارم عدله

ولولا مضاء السيف لم يتقلد

Al-Shahba girded itself with the keen sword of his justice;

And were the sword not keen, it would not be worn.

ولو كلف المخلوق ما فوق وسعه

سعت للقاه سعي صاد لمورد

And if a creature were tasked beyond its capacity,

She would hasten to meet him like one thirsting for a watering place.

إني وظلام الظلم فيها كأنه

وساوس شرك في فؤاد موحد

Indeed I—while oppression's darkness within her was like

Whispers of polytheism in a monotheist's heart—

فاشرق بدر العدل في عرصاتها

بوجه أغر مبرق العزم مرعد

Then the full moon of justice shone in her courtyards

With a radiant face, flashing lightning and thundering with resolve.

تردت بثوب بالصيانة معلم

وحفت ببحر بالمكارم مزبد

She donned a robe emblazoned with protection,

And was surrounded by a sea foaming with noble deeds.

عزائم بانت فاختفى كل جاحد

وقامت فأغني وفرها كل مقعد

Resolves became manifest, and every denier disappeared;

They rose, and their abundance enriched everyone laid low.

وساخت أياديه فشردت الندي

وردت من العلياء كل مشرد

And his favors sank deep, scattering the gathering,

And restored everyone driven from the heights.

غدت تقرأ الأقلام سورة حمده

سجوداً ومن يستوجب الحمد يحمد

The pens began reciting the surah of his praise,

Prostrate; and whoever deserves praise is praised.

فيا ركن دين اللَه والحرم الذي

به يأمن الملهوف من كل معتدي

O pillar of God's faith, and sanctuary where

The distressed find safety from every aggressor:

ظلمت وما لي غير بابك ملجأ

فخذ بيدي وانجح بفضلك مقصدي

I have been wronged, and have no refuge but your door.

So take me by the hand, and by your grace fulfill my aim.

ودونكها غراء يحكي نظامها

فرائد در في ترائب خرد

And take this radiant poem, whose ordered verse resembles

Choice pearls upon the bosoms of shy maidens.

كأن معانيها خلال سطورها

خرائد تجلى تحت شعر مجعد

Its meanings, amid its lines, are like

Shy maidens unveiled beneath curled hair.

تهنيك بالعيد الذي جاء مؤذناً

بحين الأعادي وارداً خير مورد

It congratulates you on Eid, which has come announcing

The enemies' doom, arriving at the finest watering place.

فلا برحت أعتاب فضلك قبلة

لحج القوافي والثناء المخلد

So may your bounty's thresholds ever remain a qibla

For the pilgrimage of rhymes and immortal praise.

ولا زلت في سعد وإقبال دولة

بأعظم إجلال وأشمخ سؤدد

And may you ever enjoy good fortune and flourishing authority,

With the greatest honor and the loftiest eminence.