أدام الله مولانا العليا

يُحاكي الزُّهر والزَّهر الْجنيا

May Allah perpetuate our noble master

May God preserve our exalted master,

Who emulates the flowers and the lovely blossoms

Who resembles the shining stars and the freshly gathered flowers,

ذكي الْخُلق زين الْخَلق يحي الن

واظر والْخواطر حيث حيا

Wise in character, beauty of creation, reviver of faith

Pure of character, the adornment of creation, who revives the

And thoughts wherever life continues

Eyes and minds wherever he brings life,

وحلاه الإله بكل فضل

ولا زال العَلاء له نَجِيا

And Allah has granted him every virtue

And God has adorned him with every virtue,

And the high-minded are still loyal to him

And eminence remains his intimate companion.

أمولانا الذي خفظ الثريا

وبان به العُلا بشرا سويا

Our master who protected the fresh flowers

O our master, who has humbled the Pleiades,

And through him the most high was manifested in good shape

And through whom greatness has manifested as a perfect human being.

لقد أضنت مَحبتك الْمزايا

كما أضنى الْهوى غيلان ميا

Indeed your love has made me lean

The love for you has exhausted all virtues,

As passion made the creeping plants lean

Just as passion once exhausted Ghaylan for Mayya.

حبارك لا تكدرها دلاء

إذا ما كدرت يوما ركيا

Your seas have no turbulence

Your seas cannot be muddied by the drawing of buckets,

If one day they become turbulent

Even when one day they muddy a shallow well.

أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبُوكَ مَنْ قَدْ

أَتَاهُ رَبُّهُ مُلْكاً عَلِيَّا

The Commander of the Faithful your father who

The Commander of the Faithful, your father, is he to whom

His Lord has given him the most high kingdom

His Lord has granted a supreme kingdom,

وَجَدُّكَ خَيْرُ خَلْقِ اللهِ طُرّاً

بِحَسْبِكَ أَنْ تَكُونَ لَهُ سَمِيَّا

And your grandfather the best of Allah's creation

And your ancestor is the very best of all God's creation;

It suffices you to be his namesake

It is sufficient honor for you to be his namesake.

فَكَيْفَ وَقَدْ عَكَفْتَ عَلَى هُدَاهُ

وَصِرْتَ بِكَنْزِ سُنَّتِهِ غَنِيَّا

So how could it be and you have focused on his guidance

So how much more, when you have devoted yourself to his guidance,

And you became rich through the treasure of his way

And become enriched by the treasure of his tradition,

وَجَنَّبْتَ الْمَثَالِثَ وَالْمَثَانِي

وَصَيَّرْتَ الْهَوَى يَهْوِي هَوِيَّا

And avoided trivialities and vain things

And you have cast aside the strings of lutes,

And made desire fall down deeply in love

And caused vain desire to plummet into the abyss.

وَبَيْنَ يَدَيْ خِطَابِكَ يَا مَلاَذِي

أَبُوحُ بِمَا غَدَوْتَ بِهِ شَجِيَّا

And in front of your speech, my refuge

And before addressing you, O my refuge,

I confess what has made me ardent

I reveal the sorrows that have left me so grieved;

بِعَادُكَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ وَهْوَ سُمٌّ

أَعَانَ الْبَثَّ وَالشَّكْوَى عَلَيَّا

Your absence, O Mohammad, is deadly poison

Being far from you, O Muhammad, is a deadly poison,

Helping complaint and weeping against me

That has aided my grief and complaints against me,

وَنَارُ الشَّوْقِ وَهْيَ أَحَرُّ نَارٍ

رَأَتْ قَلْبِي بِهَا أَوْلَى صُلِيَّا

And the fire of passion, which is the hottest fire

And the fire of longing—which is the hottest of all fires—

Saw my heart most worthy of being roasted

Has deemed my heart the most deserving to burn within it.

فِرَاقُكَ صَيَّرَ الْبَيْضَاءَ سَوْدَا

لِأَنَّكَ كُنْتَ كَوْكَبَهَا السَّنِيَّا

Your departure made the white land black

Separation from you has turned the white city black,

Because you were its shining star

Because you were its most brilliant star.

أَمَا شَاقَتْكَ فَاسُفَقَبْلُ شَاقَتْ

لَيَالِي السَّفْحِ مَوْلاَنَا الرَّضِيَّا

Has your separation made the slopes lean before?

Does Fes not fill you with longing? For in the past, it filled with longing

The nights of the foothill, our pleased master

The nights of the foothills, our agreeable master.

لَعَلَّ أَبَاكَ يَنْبُوعَ الْمَعَالِي

مُعِيدُ رَمِيمِ مَيْتِ الْفَخْرِ حَيَّا

Perhaps your father, the fountain of glories

Perhaps your father, the fountain of eminences,

Will revive the corpse of lost pride alive

Who restores the decayed bones of dead glory back to life,

يَكُونُ بِكُمْ عَلَى فَاسٍ سَخِيّاً

كَمَا كَانَ الزَّمَانُ بِهِ سَخِيَّا

To be with you in Fez generous again

Will be generous in bestowing you upon Fes,

As time was generous with him before

Just as time has been generous with him,

يَرُدُّ لِمَطْلِعِ الْخُلَفَاءِ مِنْكُمْ

هِلاَلَ الْفَضْلِ مُلْتَاحاً بَهِيَّا

To bring back for the Caliphate sunrise from you

Returning to the horizon of the caliphs from among you

The crescent of superiority smiling beautifully

The crescent of virtue, radiant and magnificent,

فَيَسْرَحُ مِنْكَ غَيْهَبُنَا فَنَلْقَى

بِكَ الآمَالَ زَاهِرَةَ الْمُحَيَّا

So our anxiety may be relieved by you and we find

So that our darkness will be driven away by you, and we shall find

Through you thriving hopes

In you our hopes, with brightly glowing faces.