بَرى اللهُ وهباً يومَ صوّرَ خَلْقَهُ

نهاية آمالي وأقصى مآرِبي

God fashioned Wahb, on the day He shaped His creation,

as the furthest reach of my hopes, the utmost of my desires.

ولولاهُ ما لبيتُ دعوةَ ماجدٍ

ولا كنتُ أرضى غايةً في المَطالِبِ

Were it not for him, I would never have answered a noble man’s summons,

nor would I have accepted any limit to my quests.

رَدَدْتَ صروفَ الدّهْرِ عني ذليلةً

تُقلِّبُ أطرافاً بغيرِ مَخالِبِ

You turned the vicissitudes of time away from me, abased,

flailing their limbs, bereft of claws.

وعلّمتني من أينَ يُكتَسَبُ الغِنى

ومن أينَ كانت حِرفَتي في المكاسِبِ

You taught me where wealth is gained

and where my craft of earning lay.

وكثرتَ إخواني وكنتُ مسافراً

غريبَ الهَوى في بلدتي وأقارِبي

You multiplied my brothers, though I was a traveler,

a stranger to affection in my own town and among my kin.

فزِدني نُهى قاضي القُضاةِ ووُدَّهُ

ورودَ العِطاشِ الهيمِ صفوَ المشارِبِ

So grant me still more of the Chief Judge’s wisdom and affection,

and lead the thirst-maddened camels to pure watering places.

أقولُ له إذْ شردَ الجورَ عدلُه

هذاذيك يا ربَ الهُمومِ الغَرائبِ

I say to him, when his justice drives oppression away:

“Keep on thus, O master of extraordinary aims!”

أفادَ عقولَ الناسِ صحّةُ رأيِه

فلم يُبقِ نفْعاً يُرْتَجى في التّجارِبِ

The soundness of his judgment enriched the minds of men,

leaving no benefit still to be hoped for from experience.

وقورٌ ولو دارتْ رَحا الحربِ حولَه

وهبتْ أعاصيرُ القَنا والقواضبِ

Composed, though the millstone of war should turn around him

and whirlwinds of spears and cutting swords should blow.

أتَتْهُ على قربِ المزارِ ركائبي

تخبُّ بولهانِ المودةِ خاطِبِ

My riding beasts came to him, though the place of visiting was near,

trotting with a suitor distraught by affection.

فلا تَحرمنّي وُدَّهُ إنّ وُدَّهُ

ليرفعُ من بدرِ الدُّجى والكواكبِ

Do not deny me his affection—for his affection

surely raises one above the full moon of darkness and the stars.

أخافُ إذا جئتُ العُلا أنْ يقولَ لي

رجعتَ ولم تُبصِر نظامَ المناقِبِ

I fear that, once I reach the heights, he may say to me:

“You returned without beholding the ordered strand of virtues.”

فَيا وهبُ لَبّس أحبُلي بحِبالهِ

تكن نعمةً أنعمتَها في النّوائبِ

So, Wahb, entwine my cords with his cords;

let that be a favor you bestow amid adversity.

فأنتَ شِهابي في الخطوبِ إذا دَجَتْ

وغيثي إذا جفّتْ جُفونُ السّحائبِ

For you are my blazing meteor when calamities grow dark,

and my rain when the eyelids of the clouds run dry.