ومن قاس الملوك على ديوك

يُسَنّ لها الحديد فقد تجنّى

He who compares kings to roosters

And prepares iron for them has transgressed

وما قلنا الملوك لكي نسوّي

بلفظ الملك بين الكل معنى

We did not say kings to make them equal

The word king has a different meaning for all

أولئكَ ما لقوا في الفضل ندا

كوالدهم به لم يلق قرنا

They did not find peers in merit

Like their father who found no match

ولست بواجد أخرى الليالي

كذاك موفّقين أبا وإبنا

I do not find other nights

As blessed, a father and son in harmony

على أن العوارف من أبيهم

تعرفهم أوان الخوف أمنا

Yet their noble manners from their father

Give them safety when afraid

صلاة المرء تصلح من بنيه

وتدخلهم عن الأسواء حصنا

A man's prayer benefits his children

And protects them from harm

كذا فنّ القريض وإن ذكرنا

علي بن الحسين يزده فنا

So too the art of poetry, and we mentioned

Ali son of Hussein who perfected it

همامٌ همه أقصى المعالي

وهمّ الناس منه ما تسنّى

He aspires to the highest glories

While people aspire to what he attained

أقلّ تكلفا وأجل حلما

وأضخم همّةً وأدقّ ذهنا

Very unpretentious and most forbearing

With greatest ambition and keenest mind

بظاهر برّه نفع البرايا

وأضعاف المشاهد قد أجنّا

His evident kindness benefited people

And he strove beyond what was asked

يزيدك كلّما تلقاه أخرى

على الولى من ألإحسان لونا

Every time you meet him, he increases

His benevolence in yet another hue

ويحمي كل من وافى حماه

سوى من جاءه ليثير ضغنا

And protects all who seek his protection

Except one who came to cause him grief

فكان له على الدنيا وداد

يقاوم ملأها سهلا وحزنا

He was friendly towards this world

Countering its fullness and emptiness alike

ولما لم تقم بأداه فورا

وكان لمعسر الغرماء هينا

When it failed to fully reward him

Though he was gentle with the indebted

تقاضى بعض واجبه فأغضى

وقد أبقى على الأيّام دينا

He sought some of what was owed him

Yet left the days in his debt

لهذه والبشاشة في التلاقي

ومهما غبت عن مرآه حنا

For this and his cheerfulness when meeting others

However long absent from his mirror

تودّ لو أن تباع له حياة

ويأخذ سائر الأحياء رهنا

It wishes it could sell him its life

And take all other lives as guarantee

فيا ملكا يغار عليك شعري

فإن وافاك أحسن منه جنّا

So oh king, my poetry is jealous of you

For if it reaches you it gains perfection

بفضلك لا تلمه إذا رماه

بساحرة من الشعار غنا

Please do not blame it if it casts

A spell of words upon you and sings your praise

تمُرّ به فتصرعه سريعا

إلى مثواك ما أرضاك حسنا

Passing by you it swoons swiftly

To your abode, so pleasing is your beauty

فإن فاقت فقد هذّبت قبلا

مهذّبها إلى أن صار شفنا

But if it exceeds due bounds, you've refined it already

Until it became eloquent yet chaste

وإن ظفرت بعتب منك كانت

به أعنى لتفتح منه عينا

And if it wins a reproach from you

It means, I wish, to open its eyes through you

لبعدك أن تجيء به جزافا

وأبعد منك أن تبديه طعنا

Since you are too far for it to approach rashly

And too noble for it to show presumptuous blame

فلا زالت سعودك في ازديادٍ

بها في كل آونةٍ تهنّا

So your good fortune is ever on the rise

Through it, with every hour more blissful