رَوَينا مَزاياكَ نَقلاً وسَمعاً

رَوَينا مَزاياكَ نَقلاً وسَمعاً

وَصَحَّ الحَديثُ بِذاكَ لَدَينا

وَصَحَّ الحَديثُ بِذاكَ لَدَينا

We recounted your virtues through reports and hearing.

We heard of your virtues, told and heard,

And the account of them proved true to us.

And that tale was true for us indeed.

وَلَمّا رَأَينا المَزايا شُهوداً

وَلَمّا رَأَينا المَزايا شُهوداً

رَأَينا قُصوراً بِما قَد رَوينا

رَأَينا قُصوراً بِما قَد رَوينا

And when we saw those virtues firsthand,

But when those virtues we witnessed outright,

We found a shortfall in what we had recounted.

We saw our hearing fell short of the deed.

رَأَيناهُ لَم يَفِ مِنها بعُشرٍ

رَأَيناهُ لَم يَفِ مِنها بعُشرٍ

وَلَم يُنقَلِ العُشرُ مِنها إِلَينا

وَلَم يُنقَلِ العُشرُ مِنها إِلَينا

We found it did not measure up to a tenth of them,

Not a tenth of what's told could we find there,

And not a tenth of them had been conveyed to us.

Nor a tenth of what's there was to us conveyed.

فَلَيسَ الحَديثُ كَمثلِ العيان

فَلَيسَ الحَديثُ كَمثلِ العيان

ولا ما رَوينا كما قد رأينا

ولا ما رَوينا كما قد رأينا

For an account is not like seeing firsthand,

Report cannot equal seeing face to face,

Nor is what we recounted like what we have seen.

Nor what we were told match what we surveyed.