كَذا فَليَجد مَنْ يَطلُب الرُّتبةَ العُليَا
وَإلا فَمَا الدَّعوَى بِمُجدِيةٍ شَيِّا
Thus shall he who aspires to rank supreme find naught,
Unless by deeds that merit he such heights may mount.
جَرَى صَاحِبُ القاموسِ فِي بُعْدِ غَايَةٍ
فَجَّلى وَبَاقِي الناسِ في رِبقَةِ الأعيَا
The author of the lexicon trod a distant, lofty goal,
And shone, while folk in mirk of ignorance still roam.
فَجَاءَ بِمَا لاَ يُثقِلِ اليَد حَجْمُهُ
وَيُوسِعُ مِنْ مَعنَاهُ كُلَّ الوَرَى رَيَّا
He brought what no hand bears, so slight its girth,
Yet comprehends its meanings the entire earth.
يَضِيقُ عَلَى مَنْ رَامَ قَولاً مَجَالُهُ
إذا لَم تَكُنْ مِما حَوَاهُ لَهُ الفُتيَا
Strait is the way for him of narrow scope, whose speech
O'ersteps not what for him her scrolls did teach.
وَمَا مِنَّةُ القاموسِ خُصَّتْ بِجَانِبٍ
وَلَكِنَهَا الأخرَى إذا شِئتَ وَالدُّنْيَا
No special favour Lexicon on some conferred,
But generous boons the whole wide world interred.
سَقَى صَيِّبُ الرضوانِ رَوضاً ثَوَى بِهِ
عَلَى كُلّ حَرفٍ مِن تَرَاكِيبِهِ سُقيا
The wine-pourer of Ridwan watered beds wherein
For lexicon's every letter grows a tree.
خَدَمْتُ بِهِ نَفْسِي وَكَابَدْتُ ثِقلَهُ
كَما كَابَدَتْ أمُّ الجَنِينِ بِهِ وَنْيَا
Myself I served it, and its weight I bore,
As a mother bears her child, in pain and sore.
أسِيرُ في نَهَارِي تَنَائِفِ بِيدِهِ
وَلَمْ تُثنِنِي عن سَيرِها الليلَةُ الضَّحيَا
By day I travel led on by its hand,
Nor turn from it by night, in dark or dawn's first ray.
فَآلَ إلَى كَفّ الأمِيرِ الذي بِهِ
أفَاضَ عَلَى الأحيَا المَسرَّةَ وَالمَحيَا
To the Emir's hand it came, who joy did rain
On all the living, sadness to refrain.
عَلِيِ بنِ حُسَينِ حَسَّنَ اللهُ شَأنَهُ
وَسَدَدَ مِنهُ الرَّأيَ وَالأمرَ وَالنهيَا
'Ali ibn Husayn - God Deck his fame! -
Made straight through it thought, command, and deed.
وَمَا ضَاعَتْ الألطَافُ مِنْ ذي كَرِيمَةٍ
إذا صَادَفَتْ من قلبِ كُفٍْ لها وَليَا
No boon is lost, if but a generous heart it meet,
A hand that's open, and a kinsman true.
وَقَابَلتْهُ عَنْ إذنِهِ غَيرَ مُخلِدٍ
إلَى فعل مَنْ يَطوِي علىغثه طيا
It met him with free leave, not fixed in place,
Unlike the deeds of whoso masks his vice in grace.
وخاطبته لا زال يسمو مؤرخاً
أتاكم لطف الله بالسعد قد حيا
It addressed him, ceaseless making honour's tide to flow:
"God's blessing came to you in fortune blest, so know!"
وَدَامَ رضِيَّ العَيشِ فِي عِزِ مُلكِهِ
كَمَا دَامَ ذُو الحَيَاةِ فِي مُلكِهِ حَيا
Long live in glory his command, as long did last
The life of Him whose rule shall never pass.
وأزكَى صَلاةٍ يَفرَغُ العَدُّّ دُونَهَا
عَلى سَيِّدِ الكَونَينِ مَنْ حَسَمَ الثَّأيا
Most hallowed prayer be, whose count falls short before
The Lord of Both Worlds, who cleft the dawn in four.
