وَرَدَ السُّرورُ وطافَ بحانِها

مَن كانَ صاحبَها ومن أَخدانِها

Joy came and surrounded its abode,

Whoever was its companion and confidant.

جُلِيَتْ فكان من الحَباب نِثارها

وقلائد العِقيان نظم جمانها

It was unveiled, so its love became scattered,

And necklaces of passion arranged its beauty.

والصُّبحُ قد سَفَرتْ محاسِنُه لنا

وشجون وُرقِ الدَّوح من أشجانها

The morning has revealed its splendor to us,

And the sadness of the branches of the wild peach tree from its grief.

تُملي على فَنَنِ الغصون فنونَها

ورقاءُ قد صَدَحَتْ على أَفنانها

It recites over the crafts of the branches its crafts,

And the gazelle cried over its young.

وتجيد أوتار القيان لحونها

فاشرب على النغمات من ألحانها

And the strings of the qiyán recite its melodies,

So drink to the tunes from its songs.

وانظر إلى الأَزهار كيف يروقها

إشراقُ بهجتها وطيبُ زمانها

And look at the flowers, how its brilliance pleases it

The radiance of its joy and the goodness of its time.

وعلى اتّفاق الحُسنَ من أشكالها

وَقَعَ الخلافُ فكان من ألوانها

And over the concurrence of beauty in its forms

Difference occurred, so it was of its colors.

يَهَبُ النَّسيمُ عبيرَها من روضةٍ

لا زال طفل الطّلّ في أحضانها

The breeze gives off its scent from a meadow

Where the newborn fawn still lays in its bosom.

يا حبَّذا زَمنٌ على عهد الصبا

ومواسم اللذَّات في إبّانها

O excellent time of youth's era

And seasons of pleasures in its prime.

حيث الهوى وطرٌ وأبيات الحمى

أَقمارُ مطْلَعِها وجُوهُ حِسانها

Where passion, infatuation, and verses of yearning

Are the rising moons and beautiful faces of its time.

ويُديرُ بدرٍ التِّمِّ في غَسَق الدُّجى

كأساً حصى الياقوت من تيجانها

The full moon turns the cup in the darkness of the night

A cup whose gems are of its crowns.

لله أوقاتُ السُّرور وساعة

تجري كميتُ الرَّاح في ميدانها

To God belong the times of joy and an hour

That flows like the course of wind in its field.

ضَمِنَتْ لنا الأَفراحَ كأسُ مدامةٍ

وَفَت المسرَّة برهة بضمانها

It guaranteed joys for us like a cup of wine

And opened happiness for a moment with its pledge.

ويروقها ذاك الحَبابُ فَعَقْدُهُ

من نَظْم لؤْلؤِها ومن مرجانها

And that love adorns it, for its necklace

Is of the stringing of its pearls and coral.

مِسْكِيَّةُ النفحات يسْطعُ طيبها

ما افتضَّ ربّ الحان ختم دنانها

The musky breaths whose scent shines

As the Lord of splendor sealed its mouths.

في مجلسٍ دارت به أقداحُها

فكأَنَّها الأَفلاكُ في دورانها

In a gathering its cups revolved around,

As if they were the celestial spheres in their rotation.

يا طالب اللّذّات حسبُكَ لذَّة

ما سال في الأَقداح من ذوبانها

O seeker of pleasures, your pleasure suffices

What melted in the cups from its dissolution.

باكِرْ صَبوحَك ما استَطَعْتَ وعُجْ إلى

كأسِ الطلا واحرصْ على ندمانها

Hasten your morning as much as you can and hurry

To the cup of drinking and be keen on its companionship.

وإذا سََرحتَ إلى الرِّياض فنَلْ إذَنْ

من رَوحها أرَجاً ومن رَيْحانها

And if you travel to the gardens, then obtain

Its spirit’s ease and its basil.

ومُوَرَّدِ الوَجَنات جنَّةُ وَجْهِهِ

تَصلى بأحشائي لظى نيرانها

The garden of the rose’s face that prays

With fires in my heart from its flame.

ومهفهفٍ ذي طلعةٍ قَمَرِيَّةٍ

أَجْني ثمارَ الحُسن من بستانها

And a crescent-faced one whose bloom

I harvest, the fruits of beauty from its orchard.

ما زالَ تَفْعَلُ بالعقول لحاظه

ما تفعلُ الصَّهباءُ في نشوانها

Its glances still captivate minds

As the star Suhail does in its setting.

يَسقي فأَشربُ من لمَاه وكأسُه

ما يُنعِشُ الأَرواح في جثمانها

It quenches so I drink from its drink and its cup

Revives souls in their bodies.

يشفي مريض القلب من أَلم الجوى

ولذا تَقَرُّ النَّفسُ من هيمانها

It cures the heartsick of the pain of passion,

So the self settles from its worries.

ويبلُّ غلَّةَ وامقٍ مستغرم

بالرّيّ من صادي الحشا ظمآنها

And it irrigates the plants of a pasture that thirsts

With pure water from the cascades of mountain peaks.

تَسْتَحْسِنُ الأَبصار ما بُليت به

وبَلِيَّةُ العشَّاق باستحسانها

The sights admire what they have been adorned with

And the affliction of lovers is in its approval.

إنَّ النقيب القادريّ لعوذتي

من حادث الدُّنيا ومن عدوانها

Indeed, the al-Qadiri leader is my refuge

From the incidents of life and its aggression.

شهمٌ تذلّ المال عزَّةُ نفسه

ومنزّل الأَموال دار هوانها

Valiant, money’s honor is humbled by his nobility

And the wealth people boast of is the home of its disgrace.

السّيّد السَّنَدُ الرَّفيعُ مكانه

حيث النجوم وحيث سعد قرانها

The eminent master, lofty is his station,

Where the stars are, and where its luck resides.

الطاهر البَرّ الرَّؤوف بأُمَّةٍ

اللهُ وفَّقها إلى إيمانها

The pure, righteous, and merciful to a nation—

May God grant it success in its faith.

كم حُجَّةٍ قد أَنبأَتك بفضله

قام الدليل بها على برهانها

How many signs have told you of his virtues,

Evidence was established for its proof.

الباسطُ الأَيدي لكلِّ مؤمِّل

وجداول الإِحسان فيض بنانها

The open-handed to every hopeful one,

And the streams of benevolence overflow with its bounty.

تزِنُ الرِّجال عوارفُ ومعارفٌ

يتميّز الرّجحان في ميزانها

Men are weighed by noble customs and deeds.

Preference is distinguished in its scale.

قل للمُفاخرِ سادةً قرشيَّةً

ما أَنتَ يوم الفخر من فرسانها

Tell the arrogant from Quraysh’s masters:

You are not on its knights’ day of pride.

فهُمُ الجبال الرَّاسيات وإنَّهم

بين الجبال الشّمّ شم رعانها

For they are firmly established mountains, and they

Are the summit of mountains between its mounts and meadows.

بَنَت المباني في العُلى آباؤه

من قبله فبَنى على بنيانها

Their forefathers built edifices on high—

He then built upon their building.

ما زلتُ أُبصرُ منك كلّ أبيَّةٍ

ما كانَ غيرك آخذاً بعنانها

I do not cease to see from you every wonder,

None other than you held its reins.

حتَّى إذا بلَغَتْ سماوات العُلى

رَفَقَتْكَ حينئذٍ على كيوانها

Until you reached the highest heavens,

You ascended with kindness then upon its throne.

نفسٌ لعمرك في النفوس زكيَّةً

الله فضَّلها على أَقرانها

A soul, by your life, pure in souls—

God favored it over its peers.

ما فوق أيديه لذي شرفٍ يدٌ

لا في سماحتها ولا إحسانها

Above its hands no one of nobility has a hand

In its generosity or benevolence.

كم من يدٍ لكَ في الجميل ونِعمةٍ

تَسْتَغْرِقُ العافين في طوفانها

How many hands you have in good and blessings

That overwhelm the tranquil in its flood.

فالسَّعْدُ والإِقبالُ من خُدَّامها

والعالم العلويُّ من أَعوانها

Good fortune and success are among its servants,

And the highest world among its aides.

ذاتٌ مطهَّرة ومجدٌ باذخٌ

في سِرِّها لطف وفي إعلانها

A pure being and glorious splendor—

In its mystery is subtlety, and its display.

لله فيه سريرةٌ نبويّةٌ

عَرَفَتْ جميعُ الخلق رفعة شانها

To God belongs in it a prophetic way,

All people knew the loftiness of its rank.

نشرت صحائف فضله بين الورى

فقرأت سطر المجد من عنوانها

It circulated among mortals the pages of its virtues,

So it read the line of glory from its title.

إنِّي لأَشكُرُ من جميلك نِعمةً

وأَعوذُ بالرَّحمن من كفرانها

I thank for your kindness a blessing,

And seek refuge with the Merciful from its denial.

أُلْبِسْتُها منك الجميل صنايعاً

سطعت بطيب الشُّكر من أردانها

I was clothed by you in fine character traits,

That shone with good gratitude from its boughs.

ها أنتَ في الأَشْرافِ واحد عصرها

ونجيبُ عنصرها رضيعُ لبانها

And its eminent essence, a suckling infant.

Unless a people attain your heights—they

إلاَّ تَنَلْ قومٌ عُلاك فإنَّهم

طالوا وما بلغوا رفيع مكانها

Yearned but never reached the lofty place of its position.

Or the notables were counted among its elite—

أَوْ عُدَّت الأَعيان من نُقبائها

ما كنتَ إلاَّ العَينَ من أَعيانها

You were nothing but the essence of its essence.

The rhymes in your praise have not ceased

إنَّ القوافي في مديحك لم تزلْ

تُثني عليك بلفظها ولسانها

To praise you in their wording and expression.