أخا اللوم لا تتعب لساناً ولا ذهنا

ملامك لا لفظٌ لديه ولا معنى

O brother, do not blame a tongue or mind,

Your reproach has neither words nor meaning,

بروحيَ وضَّاح المحاسن أغيد

رشيق أغار البدر والظبي والغصنا

With a soul that makes beauty clear I sing,

Slender, more shy than the moon, gazelle or branch.

من الترك في خدَّيه للحسن روضة

ولكنَّها تجني علينا ولا تجنى

On his cheeks beauty has a garden from the Turks,

But it wrongs us without being wronged.

وللحظ منه سنّةٌ عربيَّة

ألم تره في الحربِ قد كسَّر الجفنا

And for a glance from him an Arab tradition

Did you not see him in war how he broke the eyelids?

إذا قام يروي حاجباه وطرفه

ترى السحر منه قاب قوسين أو أدنى

When he stands reciting his eyebrows and his gaze,

You see magic in him an arm's length or nearer.

تحجبه عنا الأسنَّة والظبا

وأفتك منها لحظ من حجبت عنَّا

The white flowers and gazelles veil him from us

And the glance they hid from us slips out from them.

وتمنع رمحاً بينها من قوامه

ولكنَّه لا جرحَ فيها ولا طعنا

And they prevent a spear among them from his figure,

But it has no wound or stab in them.

فتى الحسن هلاّ أنت للصبّ عاطف

فتجمع ما بين المحاسن والحُسنى

O youth of beauty, be kind to lovers

And bring together beauty and the beautiful!

غلا الجوهر الأعلى بثغرك فلتَفُضْ

مدامع لا تكون على العرض الأدنى

The sublime essence overflowed in your mouth, so pour

Tears that would not be for the lowest cause.

حكى الخلق من قاضي القضاة بخلقِه

فهذا حوى حسناً وهذا حوى حسنى

Creation related from the Judge of Judges in his making

So this one contained beauty, and that one contained more beauty.

كريمٌ لنا في فعله ومقاله

سحاب الغِنى المنهل والروضة الغنَّا

Noble to us in his actions and speech,

Clouds of bounty pouring, a meadow and singing garden.

يقاسمنا في كلِّ يومٍ جميله

فنثر العطا منه ونثر الثنا منَّا

He shares with us in every beautiful day

His gifts spread and our praise of him spreads.

أخو صدقاتٍ يحبس المنّ جودا

على أنَّها في الجودِ لا تحسن المنَّا

A brother sincerely good who keeps away gifts

Deeming that in generosity they do not make praise good.

رأى الفكر إعراب الثنا فيهِ كلَّما

بناه إلى أن صارَ في معربٍ يبنى

Reason saw the declension of praise in him whenever

He built it, until it was in a constructed declension.

وأقسم أن لا شيء كالغيث في الندى

فلمَّا رأى جدوى أنامله اسْتثنى

And he swore nothing is like rain in freshness

But when he saw his fingers' avail he made exception.

وما فيه من عيب سوى أنَّ عنده

أيادٍ تعيد الحرّ في يده قنَّا

His only fault is that in his possession

Are hands that make the free man needy through him.

دعاني على بعد المنازل جوده

وجدَّد لي نعمى وأنجح لي ظنَّا

His generosity called me from far dwellings

And renewed my blessings and brought my hopes to fruition.

ومجد يردّ السائدين به سدًى

وعلم يردّ المفصحين به لكنَا

Glory that turns back the mighty vainly

And knowledge that turns back the eloquent dumbfounded.

لياليَ وَدَّعت المؤيد والثنا

وفارقت أوقات الغِنى منه والمغنا

Nights where I bid farewell to the aide and praise

And parted from times of plenty from him and song.

وزايل نظم الجوهر الفضل منطقي

وأعوزني من قوتي العرضَ الأدنى

I have lost composing jewels, my dignity's adornment,

And I lack the strength that sustained my lowest state.

أيا جائداً بالتبرِ في حالِ عسرةٍ

لنا لم نكد من طرفها نجد التّبنا

O you who blame in harsh circumstance,

We have scarcely tasted of it before we found the straw.

فعلت فلو وفى تطوّلك الثنا

لقلَّت أفانين الثناء وطوّلنا

You have done so, if only your praise would be prolonged,

Praises would diminish and ours would lengthen.

وأفحمتنا في البرّ حتَّى كأنَّنا

لدى البرّ ما رمنا المقال فأفصحنا

And you would confound us in righteousness until we were

Before righteousness like those who never composed speech.

إذا نحن قابلنا صلاتك بالثنا

تكدَّس من هنّا علينا ومن هنّا

If we matched your prayers with praise

Praise would accumulate here and here from us.

وحقك ما ندري أإجراء ذكرنا

بفكرك أم هذا العطاء لنا أهنا

And your due―we know not if expressing remembrance of you

With your reason or this giving to us is more fitting.

هو الرفد يتلو الودّ طابَ كلاهما

كما حملت للمحل روحِ الصبا المزنا

It is the aid following affection―both are excellent―

As you carried to the abode the spirit of radiant youth.

كذا أبداً تزهى العلى بجلالها

فلله ما أسرى فخاراً وما أسنا

So forever the sublime adorns itself with its majesty,

My pride in it has diminished and my song increased!

فيا ليت شعري كيف ألقى بواحدٍ

من الشكر مثنى من أيادِي الندى مثنى

Would that I knew how to cast with a single one

Of all the thanks, a pair from the hands of generosity, a pair,

على ذكرك العالي بنا كلّ معربٍ

ثناه فيا لله من معربٍ يبنى

For mention of you high among us every one in grammar

Praises you. By God, what a constructed grammar!