طابَ الوِصال بِلا جام وَإِبريقِ

فَهاتَ لي في التَهاني خَمرة الريقِ

Sweet is union, without goblet or ewer.

Then bring me, amid congratulations, the wine of your mouth.

وَناوِليني مِن الخَدّين ثانيةً

ما اِحتاج بِالطَبع صافيها لِترويق

And hand me a second draught from your two cheeks;

naturally pure, it needs no clarification.

وَلا تضنّي بِها بخلاً فَما حرمت

مَع الحلال عَلى إِلفٍ وَصدّيق

Do not grudge it me out of stinginess, for it is not forbidden

with a lawful spouse, in intimacy and lovemaking.

وَلا نهى الشَرع عَن تَعزيز لذَّتِها

بضمّ قامة مَيّاس وَمَعشوق

Nor has sacred law forbidden heightening its delight

by embracing a swaying, beloved form,

يَرنو بِفاتك أَلحاظ حَواجبُها

شَبيهةٌ بقسيٍّ عِندَ تَفويق

who casts the deadly glances of his brows,

like bows when arrows are fitted to the string.

فُديتِ لا تُشمِتي بِالمطل عاذلتي

فَقَد نما فيك تَعذيبي وَتَأريقي

I would ransom you—do not, by delaying, let my censor gloat;

for through you my torment and sleeplessness have grown.

وَكادَ سُهدي بِإِسراري يَبوح لِمَن

لَم يَدرِ وَجداً أُواريه بِتلفيق

My wakefulness almost betrayed my secret to one

who knew nothing of the passion I hide with feigned excuses.

وَالدَمعُ لَولا ثَباتي في الغَرام جَرى

مِن مُقلَتي تَحتَ أَقدامي بِتدفيق

But for the restraint of my constancy in love, tears would have poured

from my eyes beneath my feet in torrents.

يا صاح خلِّ سَبيل الراهبين وَلا

تَرغب عَن النسل أَو تركن لِتعويق

Friend, leave the path of monks, and do not

turn away from offspring or incline toward hindering it.

فَما بَدا درُّ ثَغرِ الدَهرِ مُبتسماً

إِلا بِأَعياد تَفريح وَتَشريق

Never do the pearls of Time’s smiling mouth appear

except at festivals of joy and radiant celebration;

أَو في مَواسم تَأهيلٍ أَهلّتُها

مُضيئةٌ بَينَ هالات وَتَطويق

or during seasons of marriage, whose crescents rise

shining amid halos and encircling rings;

أَو في زَواج وليّ العَهد مَن طُبعت

لَهُ القُلوب عَلى ودّ وَتَوميق

or at the wedding of the crown prince, for whom

hearts were fashioned in affection and longing.

فَاشرح صَدور المَوالي بِالثَناء عَلى

عَلياه وَانظم لآليه بتنسيق

So gladden the loyalists’ hearts by praising

his high estate, and string its pearls in ordered verse.

وَاركض مَعي في مَيادين المَديح وَقل

ما شئت في وَصفه مِن بَعد تَنميق

Gallop with me through the fields of panegyric, and say

whatever you wish in describing him, once duly adorned.

فَإِنَّهُ خَيرُ مَولود لخير أَب

وَليدُه لِلمَعالي خَير مَخلوق

For the son is the finest child of the finest father—

and his father, for lofty deeds, the finest creature

حَيث المهيمن مِن لُطف وَمِن كَرَم

أَنشاه في عَصر تَشريف وَتَشويق

of the Sovereign, Possessor of kingship, in virtue and generosity.

He raised him in an age of honor and eager hope.

وَأَيد الملك وَالدين القَويمَ بِهِ

في دَولة ذات تَمكين وَتَوثيق

Through him He strengthened kingship and the upright faith

within a firmly empowered, securely founded state—

في دَولة لخديوي مصر راضيةٍ

عَنهُ لِما فيهِ مِن حلم وَتَدقيق

a realm of Egypt’s Khedive, content

with him for the forbearance and discernment within him.

يا أَيُّها الصَدر أَنتَ البَدر في أُفق

تَهواك شَمس الضُحى فيهِ بِتحقيق

O chief minister, you are the full moon in a firmament

where the morning sun truly longs for you.

وَمِنكَ تَأتي بِأَشبال غَطارفة

يَخشاهمُ كُلُّ جبارٍ وَزنديق

From you come noble, lionhearted sons

feared by every tyrant and heretic,

وَيتقي بَأَسَهُم في كُلِّ مُعتركٍ

صَعبُ الشَكيمة مِن أَبناء عمليق

whose might is dreaded in every battlefield

by the iron-willed descendants of ʿAmliq.

وَيَنشرون لِواء العَدل في وَطَن

لِلعلم فيهِ غُصونٌ ذاتُ تَوريق

They will spread the banner of justice in a homeland

where learning has branches thick with leaves.

وَكَيفَ لا وَمقالاتي أَدلَّتُها

غَنية فيكَ عَن نَصٍّ بِتَصديق

How could it be otherwise, when my own verses are its proofs,

and, in your case, need no cited text to confirm them?

فَقَد مَلأت بِقاع الأَرض أَجمعها

بِنُور إِنصاف ذي حَقٍّ وَمَحقوق

You have filled every region of the earth

with the light of equity for claimant and respondent alike.

وَنِلتَ مَنزلة لا شَكَ أَنتَ لَها

أَهل بِمَجدٍ تَليدٍ غَير مَسبوق

You have attained a station—you are doubtless worthy of it—

through ancient glory no one has surpassed.

وَبِالخُصوص فَفي الأَحكام رَأيُك قَد

أَضاءَ في كُل مَفهوم وَمَنطوق

Above all, in judgments, your opinion has

illuminated every implication and express wording.

هَيهات يبلغ فيكَ الحَمدُ غايته

مِن ناظم ما حَذا حَذو ابن مَعتوق

Far indeed is praise from reaching its utmost in you

when voiced by a versifier who has not matched Ibn Maʿtuq’s stride—

مِن ناظم قلّ أَن تحوى قَريحتُه

مِن الصِفات سِوى معشار مَطروق

by a versifier whose gift can scarcely encompass

even a tenth of the qualities already celebrated.

تِلكَ الصِفات التي اِزدانَت بِها كُتبٌ

لَم تُحصَ بِالعدِّ في سردٍ وَتعليق

Those are the qualities with which books have been adorned,

too many to number in recital or commentary.

لا زلت في الدَولة الغَرّا بِها عَضداً

ما اِزداد لِلّه شُكراً كُلُّ مَرزوق

May you remain, through them, a pillar of the illustrious state

as long as every blessed soul grows in gratitude to God;

وَما سُررتَ بِهم مَع إِخوة نُبَلا

لِكُل مَدح عَلَيهم حسنُ تَطبيق

and may you rejoice in them alongside noble brothers,

upon each of whom every praise sits well;

وَما اِبتَهجت بِأَبطال سيوفُهم

بِالفَصل تحكم في الأَعناق وَالسُوق

and delight in heroes whose swords

render decisive judgment upon necks and shanks;

وَما اِفتَخرت بإسماعيل في ملأٍ

مِن المُلوك عَلى أَضراب برقوق

and take pride in Ismaʿil before an assembly

of kings, above the peers of Barquq;

وَما اِزدَهى يَوم أنسٍ بِالزَفاف بِهِ

لِلبَدر وَالشَمس لذّاتٌ بِتَعشيق

and may a day of wedding fellowship shine splendidly through him,

with moon and sun joined in the delights of union.

أَو قالَ مَجدي بإِخلاص يؤرخه

بِناء يُمنٍ عَلى شمس لِتَوفيق

Or Majdi said, sincerely setting its date:

“An edifice of good fortune upon a sun, for Tawfiq.”