خليلي هل لهجرك من خِتَامِ

فإنه منه مختصر المَنَامِ

My beloved, is there an end to your abandonment

For it shortens my sleep

وهل تدري بأنّك في فؤادي

فكيف تُذيقُني كأسَ الحِمَامِ

Do you know that you are in my heart

So how can you make me drink the cup of fever

وَلَسْتُ بِمُعْظِمٍ حتفي لشيءٍ

سِوى خَوْفِ انتقالِكَ من عظامي

And I do not hold anything as dear

Except the fear of your disappearance from my bones

فبالحُسْنِ الذي أولاك رِقّي

وأولاني مُحَالَفَةَ السّقام

So by the beauty that made you graceful

And made me befriend illness

تَرَفَّقْ بي فإنّي لستُ مِمَّنْ

يرى حِلّ التّنقّل في الغرام

Be gentle with me for I am not of those

Who see dissolving love as permissible

ولستُ بِمُذْنِبٍ إلاّ بِوَجْدِي

إذا مَا الْوَجْدُ عُدَّ من الحرام

And I have committed no sin except my passion

Since passion is counted among prohibitions

وَصِلْني كَيْ ترى جسماً نحيفاً

يبيت من التفقّه في مُدام

Unite me so you would see an emaciated body

That from studying love all night stays up

فيشرح مُبْهماً ويبين معنىً

ويُبْدِي عِلَّةً وِفْقَ الغرام

Explaining the ambiguous and clarifying the meaning

And stating the causes according to passion

ويسلك في مسالكها وجوهاً

لها وجهُ القوارح في اغتمام

And taking in its paths different ways

That have the way of perception in gloom

ويُعْرِب عن ضمائرها بلفظٍ

بديعِ الصَّنْعِ في سحر الأنام

And articulating its secrets in words

Of exquisite making in the magic of people

كأنّ الشيخَ إسماعيلَ لمّا

تَلأْلأَ عِلْمُه يوم الخِتام

As if Sheikh Ismail when

His knowledge shone at the end

وفتَّحَ أَعْيُناً وشفى صدوراً

وأذهب داءَ أَفْئِدَةً لِئام

And opened eyes and healed chests

And cured the illnesses of vile hearts

وأسمع صُمَّ آذانٍ وحلّى

بُدورَ اللّفظِ ما يوفي الكلام

And made the deaf ears hear and adorned

The phrases of speech fulfilling discourse

وأبرز حين برّز في جَلاَلٍ

علوماً دونها الهمم السّوامي

And brought out when he excelled with sublimity

Sciences beyond which the high aspirations bow

وأطلع من تطلّع في جمالٍ

سَناً من دونه بَدْرُ التّمام

And ascended when he ascended in beauty

An instant beyond which lies the full moon

إمامٌ قد حوى عزّاً وعلماً

وأحرز مصطفى شِيَمِ الكِرام

An imam who comprised might and knowledge

And earned from Mustafa the traits of nobility

وشيخٌ قد حَبَاهُ اللّه فضلاً

له الْفُضَلاَءُ جاثيةُ المقام

And a sheikh who Allah graced with merit

To whom people of merit bow

ويمّمه التّمام بدرّ كلام

فلُقِّب بالتّميميِّ الإمام

The perfection destined him the full moon of speech

So he was titled Al-Tamimi the Imam

وشرّفه علا نَسَباً ونُسْكاً

فكان من الكمال على تمام

And a lineage and devotion nobler

Made him complete in perfection

وما مدحي له لينال مَدْحاً

ولكن كي يَزِينَ به نِظامي

And my praise of him is not to gain praise

But so through it my composition is adorned

وأودع عنده عهداً فإنّي

أرى الأَشْرافَ عهداً للذِّمام

And I placed with him a covenant for I

See covenants with nobles as bindings

ولا زالت به الأشرافُ تَسْمُو

فإنّ بقاءَه سَبَبُ الدّوامِ

And it is through him that nobles ascend

For his survival is the cause of eternity