أمّا الزمانُ فقد لانت حَواشِيهِ

وقام يدعو إلى اللّذّاتِ داعِيهِ

Time's edges have become blunt,

Its caller calls to pleasures,

ولاحَ مجدُ مَعَدٍّ فوقَ غُرتهِ

حتّى أنارت به حسْناً لياليه

Al-Ma'adi's glory shone above its peak,

Lighting up beautifully its nights.

فالدهرُ غَضٌّ نَؤُوم عن حوادِثهِ

كأنّما عاد معنىً مِن معانِيهِ

Fate is grieving, sorrowful of its events,

As if its meanings have returned anew.

رقّت طِباعُ الّليالي منذُ عَنَّ لها

رقيقُ طَبْعِكَ فاقتادتْ لِما فِيهِ

The nights' natures softened since you made delicate

Your delicate nature, so it followed what pleased it.

إنّي وإن فُتُّ منْ يَجْري إلى أمَدٍ

معي برقّةِ تبيِيني وتشبِيهي

And even if I get carried away by what flows to hope,

I have with me the delicateness of my clarity and my likening.

ما عاجَ شِعْري على علياكَ يَنظِمُها

إلاّ انثنَى وعُلاكَ الغُرّ تُعْييه

My poetry did not struggle to compose your height,

Except it bent away as your eminence tired it.

إنّي أُحِبُّكَ حُبَّ المستفِيدِ به

إصابة الُّرشدِ لا حُبّاً أُداجِيه

I love you with the love of one who benefits

From hitting proper guidance, not a love I pretend.

وذاكَ أَنَّك أنت المستحِقُّ له

بالفضلِ لا بنَدىً أصبحتَ تولِيهِ

That is because you deserve it

Through merit, not a dew you started to give.

أضحتْ قلوبُ جميعِ الناسِ كلّهِم

تُسِرُّ حُبَّك والرحمانُ يُبْدِيهِ

The hearts of all people, all of them,

Have become happy with loving you, and the Merciful shows it.

سأجهد النفسَ حتى أَغتْدي وأُرَى

عبداً لمولايَ يَرضاه ويُرِضْيهِ

I will exert myself until I gain and see myself

A servant of my Master, pleasing and pleased by Him.