تذكر أهله وبنيه صبٌّ

نوى سفراً ولله الإراده

A passionate lover remembered his family and his sons;

he intended a journey—but to God belongs the will.

وصوَّرَ فكره للبين ركباً

فبادرَ جفن عينيه المزاده

His thought pictured a caravan for the parting,

and his eyelids raced the waterskin.

ومثلي من بكى لفراقِ بابٍ

علائيّ الفعالِ المستجاده

One such as I may well weep to leave a gate

of exalted deeds, excellent and acclaimed.

جواري الأفقِ تخدم زائريه

بتوفيقٍ وتتبعهم سعاده

The coursers of the horizon serve its visitors

with providential favor, while happiness follows them.

فيا منْ لم أزلْ أحظى لديه

بفضلٍ جامعٍ بابَ الزِّياده

O you with whom I have never ceased to find favor,

through bounty encompassing the gate of increase,

بقيتَ ممدّحاً في كلِّ نادٍ

مدائحَ كلها وسطى القلاده

may you remain praised in every gathering

with panegyrics, each the necklace’s central jewel.

فما ذكري حبيب لها بباك

ولا عبث الوليد أبا عباده

My naming Ḥabīb in them is no mourner’s lament,

nor did al-Walīd trifle, O Abū ʿUbāda.