عَتَب الشريفُ لأن نشرتُ محاسنا

مرموقةً من خُلقِه وجلالهِ

The Sharif reproached me because I made known virtues

held in esteem for their source in his character and majesty.

وزعمتُ حقّا أنّ بدرَ جَماله

زانت مطالعَه نجومُ خِصالهِ

And I declared—truly—that the full moon of his beauty

had its rising horizons adorned by the stars of his virtues—

بمحاسنٍ لو كان يمكن صوغُها

أغنت غزال الإنس عن خَلخالهِ

virtues which, if they could be fashioned into ornaments,

would leave the human gazelle no need of her anklet.

صِفة الهلال بدا أوانَ طلوعه

أن لا يشعَّثَه زمانُ كمالهِ

I described the crescent as a full moon at the very moment it rose,

for fear that the hour of its fullness might fail to make it whole.

فضلُ الملاحةِ عند كلّ مصوِّرٍ

في الناس ليس إليه نقصُ مثالهِ

The choicest subject of praise, in every portraitist’s eyes,

among mankind—no likeness of him but falls short.

عتبٌ لعمرُك ليس يَعِتب مثلَه

إلا حبيبٌ شاءَ قطعَ حباله

My reproach—by your life—none offers the like of it

except a beloved who wishes to sever his ties.

فامسح جفونَك عن عقابيل الكرى

وانظر وصلِّ على النبىّ وآلهِ

So wipe from your eyelids the lingering traces of slumber,

and look; invoke blessings upon the Prophet and his family.