محبك يا شقيق الروح يرجو — Shabrawy

Your loving friend, O brother of my soul, hopes

for your coming, for companionship and joy.

And he makes known that he longs for you,

with a longing for which spacious lines are too narrow.

And he hopes you will come this day

and favor him by sitting awhile and dropping by.

So if you have already obtained leave today

from the master, the minister, son of a minister,

the best kindness is prompt kindness; otherwise,

obtain leave and hasten to attend.

And do not leave your loving friend waiting,

for he cannot endure a long separation.

And tell the learned master Ali

and his companion, the radiant Shihab:

'The friend who loves you both has invited us to his home,

all three of us—come, you two, early in the morning.'

And I hope from all of you

for fulfillment of what my heart desires.

And I thank our master for his favor toward me,

and am earnest in visiting and making the journey.

And I ask the kindness of each of them in

visiting the home of this poor servant.

So if you show kindness and come,

you will indeed have gained immense rewards.

And if fate keeps you from us,

through some excuse or a pressing necessity,

then on a day other than this one—but

with a promise that brings relief to our hearts.

And do not be annoyed with me, brother of my soul,

for a brother in affection is not impatient.

And indeed, love conceals every fault,

especially when it comes from an impatient friend.

And God, our Lord, is All-Forgiving,

and you, as you see, are Abd al-Ghafur—servant of the All-Forgiving.

And take heart in the company of one who has risen

to the heights, utterly without equal:

Abu al-Yaqazat, Abd Allah Pasha,

scion of noble deeds, son of al-Kafuri.

Deep-rooted in glory, master of every master,

noble in nature and renowned in lineage.

A minister, a support in his good fortune,

he resembles the noonday sun in radiance.

The ministry has adorned itself, through his eminence,

with a necklace that protected it from every falsehood.

He established justice in Egypt and revived

its landmarks there after their effacement.

He governed the realm for an age, and there stood firm,

through the strength of his resolve, every frontier.

He inherited eminence by allotted share and reversion,

an emir descended from an emir descended from an emir.

And he judges among the people, not with oppression

that would disgrace judgment, nor with injustice.

All fine qualities gathered in him, until—

by your father's life—he surpassed many.

His nature is to grant release to one who seeks release,

and his purpose is to shelter one who seeks shelter.

A lion, if he struts or stretches—

how many a champion is slain or captive!

And a mighty lion when the spearheads clash,

his challengers have no helper.

And if his sharp swords flash in a land,

the rebels rush toward their graves.

And if you fight him, he is a daring lion;

and if you meet him, he is one of the full moons.

And if you converse with him about knowledge, you encounter

seas whose waves are pearls for necks.

And if I vie with him in poetry, then speak

of Ibn Abi Rabi'a or Jarir.

And if you hear his recitation, you will find him

like David, intoning the Psalms.

And if you behold his countenance, you will see him,

among lights, like the shining full moon.

Marvelous in rhetorical artistry, he has meanings

whose expression almost kindles like a fire-stick.

And his marvelous speech—what is Ibn Hani

beside him, and what are al-Hariri's Maqamat?

Blessed is He who appointed him over us

and gave him the keys to affairs,

and distinguished his ancestry with the noblest qualities,

the most perfect stock and the fullest goodness.

May God preserve his rule in Egypt,

and let us enjoy him for ages upon ages,

and deliver us through him from every distress,

and restrain the wicked through his resolve.

O seeker of his rank in glory, desist,

and do not inquire into so difficult a matter.

And O you who came to enumerate his perfections,

and hope thereby to accomplish that weighty task,

stand back: this is not within our powers.

Yes, I can tell you something small:

in short, he is a minister who has no

peer or equal in the ministry.

His noble traits—none can count

their beauties except the Almighty Lord.

Perfection within perfection within perfection,

and light above light above light.

And the proportion of what I have mentioned to his eminence

and the fullness of his vast, abundant virtue

is like that of a drop one day added

to a mighty sea, or to many seas.

And this is what you have heard, in brief,

but you have come in the latter days.

And it is enough for you that he is a servant obedient

to the law of his Prophet, Taha, bearer of glad tidings.

Upon him may God send blessings as long as they lament together

upon the branches—the tongues of birds.

َ

So take it, a daughter of one day, an utterance

brief, yet not free of shortcomings.

And my excuse for it is clear, for I,

among the learned, have but a short reach.

And praise of his eminence cannot be encompassed by anything

measured in years or months.