قَد طَالَ بِي شَوقٌ إلى لُقيَاكَا

وَاليَومَ وافاني الزَّمَانُ بِذاكَا

Longing for your encounter has wearied me,

And today time has brought me that.

إِني لأشكُرُ لِلزَّمَانِ صَنِيعَه

مَا كُنتُ أعهُدهَا له لَولاَكَا

I thank time for its deed,

Had it not been for you I would not expect this from it.

رَحُبَت بِمَقدَمِكَ الصدورُ فَهل مشَى

فَصلُ الرَّبيعِ لِصَدرِنضا بخُطاكا

Hearts welcomed your arrival, so did

The season of spring walk to the cheerful chest with your steps?

يَا طاهرَ القَلبِ الرحيبِ وطاهرَ النَّسَبِ

الحَسيبِ وطاهرٌ أشُمُّ نَداكا

O you whose heart is pure, and lineage is pure,

And reckoning is pure, I sense your pleasant scent.

قد رُرتَنا فَكشَفتَ عَنَّا غُمَّةً

ما كانَ يكشِفُها سِوى مَرآكَا

You have delighted us and cleared away gloom from us

None other than seeing you could have cleared it away.

وتَضوَّعت مرَّاكشٌ مِسكاً بِكُم

لَو ضَاع مِن مِسكٍ شَذاً كشَذَاكا

Cities have been perfumed with musk through you.

If any fragrance of musk is lost, it is your fragrance.

تَرتدُّ عينُ النَّاظِرينَ كَلِيلَةً

يَا شمسُ إن نُظِرَت لنُورُ سَنَاكا

The onlookers' eyes tire like a sleepy person’s

O sun, when looking at the light of your brilliance.

قد كُنتَ أكبرَ شَخصِه بِالعِلم وال

آدَابِ مُستمِعاً لِحَاكٍ حاكَى

You were the greatest in knowledge and etiquette,

listening to a storyteller narrating tales,

وأوَابدٌ في الشِّعرِ لَم تُلحَق ومَا

خَشِيَت بِتَيهَاءِ الخَيَال شَرَاكا

And a seasoned poet whom none could equal,

and you did not fear the delusions of imagination.

من كلِّ معنًى مُودَنعٍ فِي لَفظهِ

كَعُقُود دُرٍّ أُودِعَت أسلاَكَا

Every delicate meaning in its words

was like strands of pearls placed on a string,

حَتَّى ظِفرتُ بِرُؤيَةٍ مِن وَجهِهِ

فرأيتُ شخصَه فوق ذاك وذاكَا

Until I won seeing him, his face

So I saw his person above that and that.

نُورُ الهُدَى إن حُلَّ باطِنُ مَهدِهِ

لاَ نستَطيعُ لكُنهِه إدرَاكَا

The light of guidance, if it originated from his cradle

We cannot comprehend its essence.

يَا مَن رَآه وَمَا رَآه وَإن غَدَت

مَملُوءةً مَن شَخصِه عَينَاكَا

O you who saw him and what you saw

even if your eyes brimmed with his persona.

حَسبِي وَحسبُكَ ما أقولُ وَمَا تَقُو

لُ وَلَيسَ مَن يَبكي عندَنَا مَثوَاكا

My saying and your saying is enough,

And none who cries over us has a dwelling.

الله يعلم أنني لك شيقٌ

لكن تقاصر عندنا مثواكا

God knows I long for you,

But our dwelling has been too small for you.

فَذَهبتَ فِي كَنفِ الإِلهِ وحِفظِهِ

وَاللهُ جَلَّ جَلاَلهُ يَرعَاكَا

So you went under God’s care and protection,

And God, glorious is His majesty, watches over you.