لله ساعٍ بلَّغتْهُ قدَمُهُ

حيث تعدَّت عالياتٍ هممُهْ

God gave him feet that brought him

To heights beyond ambitious minds

طوَى السُّرى يبغِي العلا حتى انطوى

إخوتُه تحت الظلام أنجمُهْ

He traversed the path seeking glory until he attained it

While his brethren remained in the dark with their stars

حَكَّمَ أخطارَ الفلا في نفسه

يُوغلُ أو تمَّ له تحكُّمُهْ

He took dangerous risks upon himself

Plunging ahead or able to rein himself in

تحُصُّه الأيّام وهو طائرٌ

يزاحم الحظَّ به تهجُّمُهْ

Time tests him while he remains a bird

Competing against fate with his onslaught

وقاعدٌ مع العفاف قانعٌ

ببُلغةِ الزاد حشاه وفَمُهْ

Yet he sits chaste and content

With the ample provisions he has stored in his mouth

لم تُنتقَص طلاوةٌ في وجهه

ورقّةً ذلُّ السؤال يصِمُهْ

No sweetness in his face has diminished

Nor has the question of begging made him deaf

يَأْلَمُ كلَّ قطرةٍ سائلةٍ

من مائه كأنما سال دمُهْ

He hurts for every drop that drips

From his water as if it were his blood

تلونت خلائق الدهر به

فحنَّكَتْه شُهْبُه ودُهُمُهْ

People's natures have been colored by him

So his gray hair and sorrows have molded him

واختبر الناسَ فلو ساومتَه

قُربَ أخيه خلتَه يحتشِمُهْ

He tested people so if you bargain with him

For his brotherly affection he will feel ashamed

إن كان لا يُرزَق إلا سائلا

فرزقُه المشكورُ مما يُحرَمُهْ

If he is only given sustenance by begging

Then his thankful rizq is from what is forbidden to him

والله ما عفتُكِ يا دنيا قِلىً

وإنَّ فيك لمتاعا أعلمُهْ

What a name hides behind its evil

Yet the lion cannot be fooled by its smile

لكنَّ أبناءكِ مَن لا صنعتي

صنعتُه ولا وفائي شِيَمُهْ

If God and resolute reason had not helped him

The arrows of correctness would not have hit their mark

أُخرِجُ من مكمنهِ الصِّلَّ وما

فيهم بسِحري من يصِحُّ سَقَمُهْ

With abundant kingdom, legacy and satisfaction

Whatever he desired, nothing would be missing

عندهُمُ شكري وما أموالُهم

عندي فهل عندكِ ذا من يقسِمُهْ

He rained in summer so he thought

His rain had saturated the earth completely

كم باسمٍ لي من وراءِ شَرِّه

والليثُ لا يغُرُّني تبسُّمُهْ

He keeps me up praising him without

Arrogance and sleeps heedless of his duties

لو لم يقِ اللهُ وحزمٌ ثابتٌ

ما نَصَلَتْ عندي سدادا أسهمُهْ

His acceptance and wisdom are not straitened

But my understanding falls short of grasping him

وواسعٍ ملكا وصيتا واجدٍ

ما شاء لم يُسمع بشيء يَعْدَمُهْ

Joy and generosity shine from his face

So his cheer is for me and his generosity for others

أمطرَ صَيْفيّاً فظنّ أنّه

قد عمّت الأرضَ جميعا دِيَمُهْ

Yesterday I had mercy on my lot in what I missed

Of his money and today I have mercy on him

أسهرني في المدح لا يَلزَمُني

عُجْباً به ونام عمّا يَلزَمُهْ

My friendship matches his perfectly

The full moon is born a twin unable to be separated

ما ضَاق في قبوله ورأيه

في الجود لكن ضاق عنّي فَهَمُهْ

His heart wanted me close

But ideals I hold myself to kept me aloof

في وجهه بِشرٌ وفيه كرَمٌ

فبشرُه لي ولغيري كرَمُهْ

He thought and deemed his money too much for me

Calculating, while I could not afford a dirham from him

رحِمتُ حظّي أمسِ فيما فاتني

من ماله واليومَ منه أرحَمُهْ

If there is still a connection then it is from me

Or if there is a rope of harmony let him tie it fast

وخاطبٍ على اتحادي صحبتي

والبدرُ مولودٌ يعِزُّ توأمُهْ

I wish Hussein who carries me would, among them

Guide me on the clear path so I meet him

أرادني مستجلَباً فؤادُه

وردّني مستعلياتٍ قِيَمُهْ

Make him eternal in this world and keep him for me

While others come and go or pass away

فكَّرَ فاستكثرَ لي دينارَهُ

محاسباً ولم يسعْني درهمُهْ

Or I wish he would lighten my load

For it has weighed heavily on me, his blessings

فإن يكن وصلٌ فمنِّي أو يكن

حبلُ وِفاقٍ جُدَّ فهو يَصْرِمُهْ

Loss upon loss as the pearls of Muzn broke apart

And its string snapped

ليت الحسينَ الحاملي من بينهم

على طريقٍ واضح لي لَقَمُهْ

It's as if what we gain of his wealth

Is a burden whose loss we fear and so snatch up

تُخلِدُه الدنيا وتستبقيه لي

وغيرُه تُبقيه أو تخترِمُهْ

I tire of abundance so while his excellence

Builds it up, a request comes and tears it down

أو ليته يمنعني مخفّفاً

فإنها قد أثقلتني نِعمُهْ

It's as if he swore never to attain wealth

So whatever he gives, his oath obliges it

سَيبٌ على سَيب كما تقطَّعتْ

أوكية المزن وحُلَّت عُصُمُهْ

He tied me in friendship so no creditor

Can unravel it nor can any envious one sever it

كأنّ ما نغنَم من أمواله

حطٌّ يَخاف فوتَه يَغتَنمُهْ

He does good even if I cut off

My kinship to him, it's as if our love were a womb relation

أعيا على الوفرِ فبينا فضلُهُ

يبنيه إذ عنّ سؤالٌ يهدمُهْ

Melancholy gave him a towering origin

And discerning wisdom perfects it

كأنه أقسم لا نال الغنى

فهو بما يُعطى يَحِلُّ قَسمُهْ

He brings together every pair of opposites

Until his sword and his pen are reconciled

عاقدني الودَّ فلا قارضةٌ

تنشره ولا حسودٌ يفصِمُهْ

No delusion about you dims the brilliance

In you nor does any doubt about you make him suspicious

مجتهدُ البِرِّ ولو قاطعتُه

في صِلتي كأنَّ ودّي رحِمُهْ

Rather faults that anger carps at

He vents now and then but then suppresses

ملَّكه السوددَ أصلٌ فارعٌ

فيها ورأيٌ بارعٌ يُتمِّمُهْ

God reveals their excellence though he hides them

As gray hair loudly proclaims its owner though he hides it

يجمعُ بين كلِّ ضدين له

حتى تصافَى سيفُه وقلمُهْ

Hear its glorification as the singer eulogizes its splendor and proclaims it

It let fall for them the starred dusk and wept

ما خلَبتْ مَن اصطفاك برقةٌ

فيك ولا أخلفه توسُّمُهْ

From the blaze of noon its hot tears

Its lush plants vied turbulently

لمّا قضَى قاضي القياس عنده

مَن هائبُ الأمرِ ومَن مقتَحِمُهْ

Where the stirrings of the wind murmured

Walk among them and you will smell a recognizable scent

ومَن أخو الفخر إذا ما أَشكلتْ

مذاهبُ الفخر وخيفتْ ظُلَمُهْ

The fragrance of the jasmine, pure and pungent

Witnessing for the eloquent mouth that

شمَّ الذليلُ التربَ رغما ووُقِي

أنفُ الحميِّ أن يُضامَ شممُهْ

Free speech is a slave that serves it

When people see you wearing its cloak

ما للحسود فرصةٌ يعيبها

منك ولا ذنبٌ عليك يَنقِمُهْ

Bearing it, reciting it or rendering it song

They are amazed by its form on you

بلى خلالٌ قد شجاه غيظُها

ينفُثُه طورا وطورا يكظِمُهْ

And your description of it, ordered and from it I order my poem

Every generous, eloquent soul

يكتمها والله يبدي فضلها

كالشيب صاح باسمه من يكتمه

And you surpass it in your generosity and silence it

إسمعْ لها كما احتبتْ بنَوْرها

غنَّاءُ يُوشِي بُردَها ويُعلِمُهْ

دَرَّ لها نوءُ السِّماك وخَبا

من وهَج القيظِ عليها مِرزَمُهْ

تزاحمتْ مصطخبا نباتُها

بحيث هبهابُ الرياح زَمزَمُهْ

عِرضك منها عبَقاً مُعَرَّفٌ

عَرْفَ اليلَنجوج ذكيّا فحمُهْ

شاهدة لمفصح فاه بها

أن الكلام الحر عبد يخدُمُهْ

إذا رآك الناسُ في وشاحِها

تحمله مقلَّدا أو تُفْغِمُهْ

تعجّبوا من شكلها في حمله

وصفَك منظوماً ومنه أنظِمُهْ

كلُّ كريم منطقٍ شاعرُهُ

وأنتَ من فَرْط السماح تُفحِمُهْ