1. قضى عجباً من حاله المتعجب

    يجد اشتعالاً رأسه وهو يلعب

    The marveler is consumed with wonder at his state:

    he finds his head ablaze, yet he plays on.

  2. أيبغي التصابي بعدما ابيض فوده

    فيا للنهى للشيخ بالدف يضرب

    Does he seek youthful dalliance after his temple has turned white?

    O discerning minds—an old man beats the tambourine!

  3. ألم يأن ان يقني الحياء مؤنب

    بلى آن أن يقني الحياء مؤنب

    Has the time not come for one reproached to embrace modesty?

    Indeed, the time has come for one reproached to embrace modesty.

  4. ومن لم يزع شيب المفارق غيه

    فلائمه باللوم أحرى وأنسب

    And whoever's waywardness is not checked by gray hair at his partings,

    his reprover is more deserving of blame, and more fittingly so.

  5. أبن لي على ماذا حصلت من الدنا

    فقد ذقت منها ما يمر ويعذب

    Tell me what you have gained from worldly life,

    for you have tasted its bitterness and sweetness.

  6. أكان سوى طيف ملم وعارض

    جهام وبرق مخلف النوء خلب

    Was it anything but a passing phantom and a cloud,

    rainless, and deceptive lightning that fails to bring rain?

  7. مني أنت في العمياء غاد ورائح

    تصعد في بهمائها وتصوب

    A drop of seed, you go out and return in blind confusion,

    ascending through its trackless darkness and descending.

  8. تبارز بالعصيان من هو قادر

    عليك وفي آلائه تتقلب

    You openly challenge, through disobedience, Him who has power

    over you, while you move amid His blessings.

  9. أحدثت أن المرء في الأرض معجز

    لقد كذبتك النفس والنفس تكذب

    Have you been told that man can elude God's power on earth?

    Your own self has surely lied to you, and the self does lie.

  10. لقد لذك التسويف في مازق على

    شفا حفرة سرعان ما تتصوب

    Procrastination has indeed [trapped] you in a strait, on

    the brink of a pit into which you will swiftly plunge.

  11. لعمري المنايا إنها لقريبة

    على أنها من ساحة الشيب أقرب

    By my life, death is indeed near,

    though nearer still to the precincts of gray hair.

  12. وان مراس الموت لا در دره

    وإن كان صعباً فالذي بعد أصعب

    And grappling with death—may its milk never flow!—

    hard though it is, what comes afterward is harder.

  13. تقلص ظلم العمر إلا صبابة

    الا فانتهبها قبل ما أنت تنهب

    Life's shadows have dwindled, leaving only a last drop;

    come, seize it before you yourself are snatched away.

  14. وبادر فإن الوقت ضاق على الونا

    وصم فسكيت الرهان المذبذب

    And hasten, for time has grown too short for slackness;

    press on resolutely: the wavering one comes last in the race.

  15. وخذ للقاء اللَه ما اسطعت أهبة

    فإن لقاء اللَه ما عنه مهرب

    Make what preparations you can for meeting God,

    for there is no escaping the meeting with God.

  16. وإن ضقت ذرعاً من تعاظم ما مضى

    فلا تنس عفو اللَه فالعفو أرحب

    And if you are overwhelmed by the enormity of what has passed,

    do not forget God's pardon, for His pardon is wider still.

  17. ولذ بجناب الفاتح الخاتم الذي

    به يطمئن الخائف المترقب

    And seek refuge with the Opener, the Seal, who

    gives reassurance to the fearful, watchful one.

  18. هو العاقب الماحي الذي بزغت به

    على الكون شمس نورها ليس يغرب

    He is the Last, the Effacer, through whom rose

    over creation a sun whose light never sets.

  19. له الشرف الوضاح والرتبة التي

    تسنمها لم يدن منها مقرب

    His is radiant honor, and the rank

    he ascended; no favored being has drawn near it.

  20. نحل له الرسل الكرام حباهم

    وان ذكروا فهو العذيق المرجب

    The noble messengers bestowed on him their gifts,

    and when they are named, he is the treasured, propped-up palm.

  21. إذا الخطب أبدى ناجذيه فناده

    تجد خير جار في الملمات يندب

    When calamity bares its teeth, call upon him;

    you will find the best protector to summon in afflictions.

  22. وإن لدغتك الموبقات فداوها

    به فهو ترياق السموم المجرب

    And if ruinous sins sting you, treat them

    with him, for he is the proven antidote to poisons.

  23. به تكشف الغما به يقزع الأذى

    به الداء يستشفي به الصدع يرأب

    Through him distress is dispelled; through him harm is scattered;

    through him sickness is healed; through him the breach is mended.

  24. إليك رسول اللَه قد جاء ضارعاً

    أخو عثرة يرجو الأقالة مذنب

    To you, O Messenger of God, has come in supplication

    a stumbling sinner, hoping for pardon.

  25. فبابك باب اللَه ما عنه مذهب

    وطالبه من غير بابك يحجب

    For your door is God's door; there is no turning away from it,

    and whoever seeks Him other than through your door is barred.

  26. فليس بنا من منحة بتفضل

    من اللَه إلا عن مساعيك تجلب

    For no gift comes to us by gracious favor

    from God except what is brought through your endeavors.

  27. ولا مسنا من محنة أو تمسنا

    بكسب يد إلا بيمنك تذهب

    And no affliction has touched us, or will touch us,

    through a hand's deeds, but your blessing dispels it.

  28. أغثني تداركني أجرني فإنني

    لفى ان تراخى عنه لطفك يعطب

    Help me, come to my rescue, protect me, for I am

    a castoff who will perish if your kindness is delayed.

  29. غريق ذنوب خانه الحول فاغتدى

    بملتطم الأمواج يطفو ويرسب

    Drowning in sins, his strength has failed him, and he now

    floats and sinks amid the crashing waves.

  30. ذنوب تحيل العذر فالخوف غالب

    ولكن رجائي في جنابك أغلب

    Sins that make excuse impossible: fear prevails,

    yet my hope in your protection is stronger still.

  31. وأبعد شيء ان يضيق برحبها

    شفاعتك العظمى بنا فهي أرحب

    And least conceivable is that, for all its breadth,

    your supreme intercession should be too narrow for us; it is broader still.

  32. إذا قمت موعود المقام فإننا

    على ثقة ان ليس منا مخيب

    When you rise to the promised station, we shall

    be certain that none of us will be disappointed.

  33. ألم يرضك الرحمن في سورة الضحى

    وحاشاك أن ترضي وفينا معذب

    Has the All-Merciful not pleased you in Surah al-Duha?

    Far be it from you to be pleased while one of us is tormented.

  34. أترضى مع الجاه الوجيه ضياعنا

    ونحن إلى أعتاب بابك ننسب

    With your eminent standing, would you accept our loss,

    while we belong to the thresholds of your door?

  35. أترضى مع العرض العريض بأن ترى

    مقامك محموداً ونحن نعذب

    With your vast honor, would you accept seeing

    your station praised while we are tormented?

  36. أتخذل يا حامي الذمار عصابة

    بهديك دانت ما لها عنه مذهب

    Would you abandon, O guardian of honor, a band

    that follows your guidance, with no other path to take?

  37. دعوت فلبيناك سمعاً وطاعة

    وحاشاك أن ندعوك ثم تخيب

    You called, and we answered you, hearing and obeying;

    far be it from you that we call upon you and you then disappoint us.

  38. وأن أك قد أدللت فالعذر واضح

    إذا كثر الإحسان ساء التأدب

    And if I have presumed, my excuse is clear:

    when kindness abounds, courtesy falters.

  39. وان لسان المدح فيك لقاصر

    وإن أسهب المداح فيك وأطنبوا

    Indeed, the tongue of praise falls short in speaking of you,

    however expansively and at length your praisers speak.

  40. ألست فريد الكون فضلاً فمن لنا

    بنظم فريد الحسن فيك يرتب

    Are you not peerless in creation in excellence? Who, then, can provide us

    with verse of peerless beauty, composed in your praise?

  41. وماذا عسى مثلي يشيد بذكر من

    محامده في الذكر تتلى وتكتب

    And how could one like me exalt the renown of one

    whose praises are recited and written in the Qur'an?

  42. ولكن خمولي حثني أن يكون لي

    بمدحك قدح في النباهة يضرب

    But my obscurity urged me to have

    a lot-arrow cast for renown through praising you.

  43. عليك صلاة اللَه تترى مسلماً

    مع الآل والأصحاب ما انهل صيب

    May God's blessings follow one another upon you, as I offer salutations,

    and upon your family and companions, as long as rain pours down;

  44. صلاة توازي قدر ذاتك رفعة

    بتبليغها عني إلى اللَه أرغب

    blessings matching the exalted worth of your person,

    for whose conveyance on my behalf I appeal to God.