قَرَنْتَ بواو الصدغ صادَ المُقَبّل

وأعربتَ في لامِ العذارِ المسلسلِ

You joined the Waw of beauty to the Sad of the kisser,

And declined the Lam of the charms in an unending chain,

فإن لم يكن وصلٌ لديك لآملِ

فكم لاحَ في مرآك للمتأمّلِ

If you have no affection for the hopeful,

Then how often did the glances of your mirror shine for the beholder!

يُعزُّ الأماني منه خطُّ مبيّنٌ

فإن حاولْتهُ صادفْت كلّ مُشْكلِ

The line of love is manifest from it, which fortifies hopes,

And if you attempt it, you will find every problem solved,

بدائعِ أصلِ الحبِّ منها مسبِّبٌ

لمن كان فيها قانعاً بالتعلل

The wonders of the origin of love are its cause,

For one who is content with it through pretenses,

وقد ذكَروا أنّ الشبابَ ولايةً

تؤكّدُ بالإجمالِ أو بالتجمُّلِ

They mentioned that youth is a trusteeship,

Which confirms with hints or with flirtation,

وقالوا أتَتْ كُتُب العِذارِ بعزلِه

فقلتُ لهمْ لا تعجَلوا فبِها ولي

And they said the books of coquetry came with its isolation,

So I said to them “Do not rush, through it I have a loyal friend”,

وما صدّني عن ترك حبّكَ فتنةً

بخدٍّ كروضٍ أو رضابٍ كسلسَلِ

And it was not the temptation of a cheek, like a garden,

Or wrists, like a chain, that prevented me from leaving your love,

ولكنْ لقولٍ قد محا الشِعْرُ رسمَهُ

وهل عند رسمٍ دارسٍ بالهونِ منزلي

But rather words whose inscription poetry has erased,

And is there, after considering circumstances, a station like my station?

لك الله قد أنِسْتُ بعزّتي

فما منزلُ اللذاتِ بالهونِ منزِلي

To you belongs God, I have become accustomed to my honor,

So the abode of pleasures is not like my abode,

ألم يَدْرِ أني آخرٌ في ضلوعه

فؤادُ أبى أن يرتَضي لحظَ أولِ

Does he not know that my innermost heart,

Refused to approve a glance or moment at first?

نعمْ ليس نَسْري في المطارِ بواقعٍ

وليس سِماكي في النِفارِ بأعزلِ

Yes, my soaring is not based in reality,

Nor is my rising to eminence unrestricted,

سل الأفْقَ عني وهو روضةُ نرجس

يشقُّ نواحيْها المجرَّ بجَدْول

Ask the horizon about me, it is a narcissus meadow

Whose streams are parted by a brook,

وكيف اعتزامي والنجومُ أسنّةٌ

تلمّعُ في الظَلْماءِ من حلفِ قسطَلِ

And how can I intend while the stars are spying,

Gleaming in the darkness with the belt of Cassiopeia,

وكيفَ طرقتُ الحَذْرَ يُكرَهُ ربّهُ

على رغم أنفِ الساهرِ المتبتّلِ

And how did I knock on the door of caution - disliked is he

Whose Lord disapproves despite the efforts of the devoted worshipper,

وعانقتُ غصنَ البانِ لان لمُجتَنٍ

وقبّلتُ بدرَ التمّ ضاءَ لمجتلِ

And I embraced the branch of the acacia for a fair one's kiss

And I kissed the full moon's light for a young beauty,

وهل أنا إلا نبعةٌ يمنيّةٌ

منضّرةُ الأفنانِ في رأسِ يذْبُلِ

And am I not a Yemeni spring,

Green are its branches at the hilltop,

سقى أصلَها النعمانُ ماءَ مَفاخرٍ

فأثْمَرَ منها كلُّ فرعٍ بأفضلِ

Whose roots were watered by Al-Numan with water of glories,

So every branch bore the finest fruits,

ومنْ كان صدرُ الدين أحمدُ شيخَهُ

أطالَ به باعَيْ يمينٍ ومِقْوَلِ

And whoever's breast has Ahmad the Shaykh of the religion as its master,

He lengthened through him the hand spans of aid and the words of virtue,

إمامٌ لقيتُ الدّهرَ أدهمَ دونَه

فألبستُه وصفَ الأعزّ المُحجّلِ

An imam - I met time robbed of such as him -

So I clothed him in the description of the most honorable and venerated,

أقامَ به اللهُ الشريعةَ فاعتلتْ

دعائمُها فوقَ السِماكِ وتعتلي

God established through him the Sacred Law so its pillars

Were exalted above the heavens and rise high,

يفسِّرُ من ألفاظِها كلّ مُشكِلٍ

ويفتحُ من أعواصها كلَّ مُقْفَل

He interprets every unclear meaning of its vocabularies

And opens every locked one of its strongholds,

وما كان لولا أحمدٌ دينُ أحمدٍ

ليدري صحيحٌ سالم من مُعلَّل

And were it not for Ahmad, the religion of Ahmad

Would not know which authentic and sound, and which unsound,

ولا عرَفَتْ حُفّاظُهُ بين مُسْنِدٍ

يُعنْعِنُهُ رفعاً ولا بينَ مرسّلِ

Nor would its preservers recognize between a connected transmission,

Raised through him, or one mursal and incomplete,

هوى قصباتُ السّبْقِ في العلم وادِعاً

فوا عجَباً للسابقِ المتمهل

The reed pens of precedence craved him as a beloved,

So how strange is it for the unhurried predecessor!

نَماهُ الى الفُرس الكرامِ فوارسٌ

بأقلامِهم يغنَوْنَ عن حمْلِ ذُيَّلِ

They nurtured him to the noble horsemen, so there are horsemen

Whose pens suffice instead of carrying a tail,

إذا اعتقَلوها للأناملِ سدّدَتْ

الى الخَطْبِ حتفاً لا يخِلُّ بمقْتَلِ

When they capture ideas for the fingers they extend

Straight to literary compositions, not missing with a spear-thrust,

همُ آلُ كسرى غير أنّ تُقاهُمُ

نماهمْ الى آلِ النبيّ المرسَّلِ

They are the family of Chosroes but their upbringing

Nurtured them to the Prophet's Family, the Messengers,

لهم دورُ فضلٍ بالفراتِ فسيحةٌ

لضيفِ المعالي لا بدارةِ جُلجُل

They have extensive houses of virtue along the Euphrates,

Spacious for the guest of glory, not in the abode of Juljul,

وحسبُهُم بالحفاظِ الحَبْرِ مَفْخَراً

عَلا فهو يرنو للكواكبِ من عَلِ

And it suffices them in guarding the ink as a matter of pride

He arose so he aims for the stars from the height,

تسيرُ العَطايا من أسرّةِ وجهه

مخايلَ برقِ العارضِ المتهلِّلِ

The gifts flow from his cheerful face,

Blinking from the lightening of his merry eyes,

تفيضُ بحارُ العلمِ من لهَواتِه

فإن كنت ظمآناً فرِدْ خيرَ منهَلِ

The oceans of knowledge overflow from his wit,

So if you are thirsty, resort to the best spring,

فمن سجعةٍ لم تُلْفَ في لفظِ شاعر

ومن فَقْرةٍ لم تأتِ من مترسَّل

Of a rhyme never created in a poet's expression,

And a verse never composed by one who sends messages,

ولله ألفاظٌ جَلاها يراعُه

كعِقْدِ بأجيادِ الطروسِ مفضَّلِ

And God has expressions He sanctified which He observes in him,

As if pearls, if they were stars, their nights

لآلئ لو كانت نجوماً لغادرَتْ

لياليُّها والصبحُ ما لاحَ ينجَلي

Would be overtaken by the dawn when it emerges,

The sons of caprice are incapable of every problem,

بنو الخاطر العجلانِ عن كلِّ مشكلِ

لها لا بَنو العجلانِ رهطُ ابنِ مُقْبل

Not the sons of caprice, the crew of Ibn Muqbil!

Oh Ahmad, the praiseworthy from every speaker,

فيا أحمدُ المحمودَ من كلِّ ناطقٍ

على كل مَعنى في فَنا كلّ منزلِ

On every meaning in the termination of every abode,

Days envied you, so you do not cease to be

تحاسدَتِ الأيامُ منك فلا تزلْ

مُنى القادمِ الجذلانِ والمترحِّلِ

The hope of the noble visitor and traveler,

The holidays return to you a thousand, its like,

تعودُ لك الأعيادُ ألفاً مثالُه

وإنْ شئتَ ألفاً بعد ذاك فعوّلِ

And if you wish a thousand after that, so desire!