عَن الدَهر فاصفح إِنَّهُ لانَ جانبُهْ

وَطابَت عَلى رغم الوشاة مَشاربُهْ

Turn away from fate, for its aspect is not kind.

Yet its watering-places are sweet despite the slander of foes.

وَبِالصَبر وَالتَسليم للّه في القَضا

بَلغتَ مِن الأَيّام ما أَنتَ طالبه

With patience and resignation to God's decree

You have attained your wish of the days.

وَهامت بكَ العَليا وَأَلقت زِمامها

إِلَيكَ وَجَيش الأُنس ماجَت مَواكبه

The heights have swayed toward you and handed their reins to you,

While the legions of intimacy have come marching in procession for you.

وَبَدر التَهاني في السَماء بِنُوره

أَضاءَت بِأَوقات السُرور كَواكبه

The full moon of felicitations in the sky has shone for you

With its light at times of joy illuminating its planets.

فَأَشرَقَت الدُنيا بِطَلعته الَّتي

بِها شابَ مِن لَيل التَجافي ذَوائبه

The world has been illuminated by its rising,

Which has rejuvenated the night of estrangement by its beams.

وَلاحَت مِن المريخ فيهِ التفاتة

فَوَلَّت عَلى الأَعقاب مِنهُ غَياهبه

And Mars has glanced toward it diverting

Its spying ravens backward.

وَأَوتر للجوزاء قَوساً رَمَت بِهِ

حشا زحلٍ حينَ اِستَطالَت كَتائبه

And Gemini has drawn a bow against it, shooting with it

The foe bands of Saturn when its troops were overbold.

وَطافَت عَلَينا بِالبشارة في المَسا

مِن المُشتَري أَتباعُه وَصَواحبه

And she has circled about us with good tidings in the evening

From Jupiter—its followers and companions.

فَجادَ لَها بِالرُوح مِنا عِصابةٌ

بِها أَصبَح العرفان تَسمو مَطالبه

So a group of us has responded to it wholeheartedly

Whereby knowledge is exalted and its requests made lofty.

وَمَن يَتَقِ الرَحمن يَظفر بِسؤله

وَحاجاته تُقضَى وَتَعلو مَناصبه

He who fears the Merciful succeeds in his request,

His needs are fulfilled, and his positions made eminent.

وَيَسعى لَهُ بِالخَير مِنهُ تَطوّعاً

شَريفٌ عَن الإِحصاء جلَّت مَناقبه

One noble beyond counting spontaneously seeks good for him,

Whose merits are manifest.

فَيزداد بَينَ الناس جاهاً وَرفعةً

وَتَنجح في كل الأُمور مآرِبُه

Thus he increases among the people in prestige and eminence,

And all his wishes come to fruition.

وَأَنتَ بِحَمد اللَه أَوحَدُ مِن جرت

بِبَحر الهُدى في الحالتين مَراكبه

By God's grace, you are peerless

Among those whose ships have sailed the sea of guidance in both respects.

وَأَخلَصَ في الأَعمال لِلّه فَاِكتَسى

مِن العلم بُرداً حَبذا هُوَ صاحبه

You have been sincere in your deeds for God's sake and so

Have earned a praiseworthy garment of knowledge that suits you.

وَفازَ عَلى حُسن الصَداقة بِالثَنا

فَمَن ذا الَّذي بَعد التَراضي يُغاضبه

You have surpassed in excellence of friendship, so who

After concord would resent you?

فَلا تَبتئس يا اِبن المَعارف وَالعُلا

بِفعل امرئ ما حنكته تَجاربه

So do not grieve, O son of knowledge and sublimity,

For the deed of one whom experience has not matured.

وَهَب أَنه مِن نسل أخوة يُوسف

وَمِن حقده ضاقَت عَلَيهِ مَذاهبه

Suppose he were of Joseph's brothers' stock

And his hatred encompassed by its own tendencies

وَمثلك بِالأسباط أَدرى وَفعلهم

بِيوسف لا تَخفى عَلَيكَ غَرائبه

You know better about the brothers, and their treatment

Of Joseph—its strangeness is not hidden from you.

فَقُل أَنتَ لا تَثريب مِن حَيث أَنَّهُ

أَتى تائِباً لَما تَوالَت مَصائبه

Say you are not to be blamed in that he

Returned penitent when misfortunes followed upon misfortunes.

عَلى أَن سَيف الخَطب شيم وَقد نَبَت

لَدى حدّه المَحدود فينا مَضاربه

Moreover, the sword of disaster is a trait, and it has sprouted

At its limited edge among us its reaping-hooks.

فَكُن آمِناً في دولةٍ داورية

بِها الخائف الموتور يَعتز جانبه

So rest assured in a just state

Where the anxious and dejected soul esteems its aspect.

وَخذ في التَهاني مِن فَرائد مُخلص

نَفيساً أَجادَ النظم في العقد ثاقبه

And take for your felicitations the choice expressions of a sincere friend

Who aptly composes verse in stringing pearls.

فَإِن عابه يَوماً حَسودٌ عذرته

وَعاهَدت خلِّي أَنَّهُ لا يُعاتبه

If an envier blames you one day, ignore him,

And pledge to my bosom friend that you will not reproach him.

وَلَكن نَغضُّ الطَرف عَنهُ سَماحةً

وَإِن لَم تَكُن تُحصى لَدينا مَعايبه

Rather, from magnanimity we avert our eyes from him

Even if his faults cannot be counted against us.

لِأَني مِن الآداب أَدركت بغيتي

بِثاقب فكر وَاجتهاد يصاحبه

Because I have achieved my goal in manners

Through penetrating thought and assiduous application.

وَحَسبيَ أَني أَنتمي لابن رافع

أَميري الَّذي بِالفَضل عَمَّت مَواهبه

It suffices me to belong to the house of Ibn Rafa',

My master whom talents have flooded.

فَلا زالَ كُلٌّ مِنكُما طُول عُمره

بِمصر لَهُ رَب العِباد يُراقبه

So each of you live on, as long as God preserves you in Egypt,

While He watches over you both.

وَلا زالَ مَجدي يَنتقي مِن مَديحه

لِكُل أَميرٍ مِنكُما ما يُناسبه

And my glory continues choosing from his praise

For every master among you what befits him.

وَيبسط راحات الدُعاء مُؤرّخاً

تَدوم لحماد بِفَوز مَراتبه

And it extends the palms of prayer chronicling

May good fortune endure for Hamad in his high stations.