كم قَدْ أَلينُ لمن قسا بصدودِهِ

حتَّى ظَنَنْتُ فؤادَه جلمودا

How gentle I have become to those hardened against me

That I thought their hearts were frozen

ولَكَمْ أَسَلْتَ من العُيون مدامعاً

وأَهَجْتَ من حَرِّ الغرام وقودا

And how many tears have you drawn from eyes

And kindled from the heat of passion the fuel

كبدٌ تذوبُ وحسرةٌ لا تنقضي

ودموعُ طَرفٍ يأْلَفُ التسهيدا

A melting liver and endless sorrow

And the tears of eyes accustomed to sleeplessness

أَنكرتَ معرفتي على عهد النوى

ومَنَحْتَني بَعدَ الوصال صدودا

You denied knowing me after promising fidelity

And after union you became harsh

أَخْلَقْتَ صبري بَعدَ بُعدك بالنوى

وكَسَوْتَني ثوبَ السّقام جديدا

After your distance, my patience was tested

And I was clothed in the garb of sickness anew

لولا العيون النجل ما عرف النوى

من كانَ صبًّا في هواك عميدا

Had it not been for shedding tears the eye would not have known fidelity

To one passionately in love with you since long ago

ولقد أرى نارَ الزَّفير ولا أرى

يوماً لنيران الفؤاد خمودا

I see the fire of sighing but do not see

A day when the fires of my heart find peace

فالموقرات بريّها وقطارها

والحاملات بوارقاً ورعودا

The rain-clouds and their trains

And thunder-bearers with their lightning and thunder

تهمي النَّدى وتريكَ كلّ عشيَّةٍ

سَحَبَتْ على زهر الرِّياض برودا

Give drink to the dew and show you each evening

Clouds that have spread coolness over the flowers of the meadows

ما زلتُ أحْمدُ للمسير عواقباً

حتَّى حَلَلْتُ مقامك المحمودا

I continued to thank the journey for its consequences

Until I attained your praised station

طالَعْتُ في وجه السَّعيد محمَّد

فرأَيْتُ طالع مجتديه سعيدا

I looked upon the fortune of the blessed Muhammad

And saw the ascending fortune of its seeker good

قابَلْتُ أحداثَ النحوس بسَعْدِهِ

فأَعادَ هاتيك النحوس سعودا

I met misfortunes with his bliss

And that returned those misfortunes to bliss

وزَجَرْتُ طير السَّعد يهتُفُ باسمه

ورأيتُ منه الطَّالع المسعودا

And Ideterred the bird of bliss from calling his name

And saw in it an ascending good fortune

أقْرَرتُ عينَ المجد فيك مدائحاً

وأغَظْتُ فيك معانداً وحسودا

I acknowledged the eye of glory in you with praises

And provoked an envier and hater against you

وإذا نظرتَ إلى سناه ومجده

لنَظَرتَ من فلق الصَّباح عمودا

And when I looked upon his age and glory

I looked upon a pillar of the dawn’s cleft

ما زالَ يولينا الجميل بفضله

كرماً يَسرُّ الآملين وجودا

He continues to grant us bounty through his merit

Bounty that makes hopeful ones happy

وإذا استَمَحتُ به النَّوال وجدْتُه

غَيثاً يسِحُّ ومنهلاً مورودا

And if I seek drink through him I find him

A cloudburst flowing and a filled spring

ولقد مدحتُ الماجدينَ فلا أرى

إلاَّ مديحاً مقنعاً ومفيدا

And though I praised the glorious I did not see

Except praise that was deficient and unprofitable

لا فارَقتْ عينايَ طَلْعَتَك الَّتي

مَدَّتْ علينا ظِلَّكَ الممدودا

If my eyes were to part from your ascent that

Stretched its shade over us and prolonged

سادات أبناء الزَّمان بأسرهم

وَرِثوا المكارمَ طارفاً وتليدا

The lords, the prime sons of the age altogether

Inherited the perfections of former and latter days

تَفني مكارمُه الحطامَ ويَقْتَني

ذكراً يُخَلَّد في الثَّناء خلودا

His perfections make transient things pass away and gain

A remembrance made immortal in praise

فلَقَدْ رَقَيْتُ بها لأرفع رُتبةٍ

فبَلغت أسباب السَّماء صعودا

So I have risen through them to the highest rank

And attained the paths to heaven in ascent

ويُريك إنْ ضلَّتْ عقولُ أُولي النهى

رأياً يريك به الصَّواب سديدا

And it shows you, if the minds of people of resolve went astray

An opinion through which it shows you the right way

أخَذوا بناصية المفاخر والعلى

وتسَنَّموها قُوَّماً وقعودا

They seized the forelock of glories and highness

And mounted them corrected and sedentary

وتَخالُهم عند العطاء غمائماً

وتَظنّهم يوم اللقاء أُسودا

And beside giving they seem like clouds

And you imagine them beside encountering as lions

إنِّي لأشكر من جميلك ما به

أكْبَتُّ من بعد الحسود حسودا

I thank for your bounty through which

I became, after the envious, an envier

هذا الذكاء ولا مزيد على الَّذي

أبْصَرتُ منك لمن أراد مزيدا

This intelligence, and there is no increase over what

I saw in you for one who wanted increase

أبَتِ المحاسنُ والمكارم في النَّدى

إلاَّ بقاءً بعدهم وخلودا

Beauties and perfections in humanity refused

To remain after them except lasting and immortal

أخَذوا المذاهبَ في الجميل فلم نجِدْ

إلاَّ مُقَلِّدهم به تقليدا

They took the ways of beauty so we did not find

Except their imitators imitating them

قَلَّدْتَني نِعماً أنوءُ بحملِها

فنَظَمْتُ فيك قلائداً وعقودا

You conferred blessings on me I stoop to bear

So I strung for you necklaces and knots

لا زِلْتَ لي عيداً أُشاهد عَوْده

حتَّى أُلاقي يوميَ الموعودا

You remain a feast I witness its return

Until I meet my promised day