بُشْرَى لِفَاسٍ وَقَدْ طَمَتْ دَيَاجِيهَا

لَوْلاَ مَصَابِيحُهَا مِنْ آلِ فَاسِيهَا

Good tidings to Fes, whose shadows had swelled in gloom,

were it not for its lanterns lit by the lineage of al-Fasi.

إِنْ عَمَّرَ اللهُ رَبْعاً لِلْعُلُومِ وَقَدْ

ظَلَّتْ مَحَاسِنُهُ لِلرِّيحِ تَسْقِيهَا

If God has restored an abode for the sciences,

after its beauties had been left for the wind to scatter,

بِعَالِمٍ مَا سَخَى قَطُّ الزَّمَانُ بِهِ

أَضْحَى بِصَرْفِ الْعُلاَ وَالْعِلْمِ يَسْقِيهَا

It is with a scholar the likes of whom Time has never generously bestowed,

who now waters it with the pure essence of eminence and knowledge.

فَاخْضَرَّ رَوْضُ الْمُنَى مِنْهَا بِصَيِّبِهِ

وَغَرَّدَتْ طَرَباً وُرْقُ قُمَارِيهَا

So the garden of hopes turned green from his pouring rain,

and its collared doves sang out in joyous rapture.

لَيْسَ كَمَا حَدَّثُوا عَنْ أَهْلِ مِصْرَ وَلاَ

عَنْ أَهْلِ أَنْدَلُسٍ عُجْباً وَتَنْوِيهَا

He is not merely like what they boastfully tell of the people of Egypt,

nor of the people of Andalusia, in wonder and praise.

هَذَا الزُّلاَلُ الذِي صَفَتْ مَوَارِدُهُ

فَاكْرَعْ بِهَا يَا حَلِيفَ الْجَهْلِ وَاْتِيهَا

This is the pure, sweet water whose sources have cleared,

so drink deep from it, O ally of ignorance, and draw near.

بَحْرُ الْعُلُومِ مَلاَذُ الدِّينِ عَاضِدُهُ

وَكَعْبَةُ الْمَجْدِ لاَ هُدَّتْ مَبَانِيهَا

An ocean of knowledge, the refuge of religion and its defender,

and the Kaaba of glory—may its foundations never be brought down!

أَحْيَى جَمِيعَ الْفُنُونِ بَعْدَ مَا دَرَسَتْ

وَقَرَّرَ الْكُتْبَ مِنْ بَعْدِ تَلاَشِيهَا

He revived all the arts after they had been erased,

and firmly established the books after they had faded away.

سَلِ الْمَهَارِقَ إِنْ تَجْهَلْ مَآثِرَهُ

فَهِيَّ تُنْبِيكَ مَا الأَقْلاَمُ تُولِيهَا

Ask the scrolls if you are ignorant of his exploits,

for they will tell you what the pens have entrusted to them.

تَبَارَكَ اللهُ مَا أَجْلَى مَحَاسِنَهُ

كَأَنَّ عَرْفَ الْصَّبَا لِلنَّاسِ يُبْدِيهَا

Blessed be God! How manifest are his virtues,

as though the scent of the east wind reveals them to the people.

مُوَضِّحَاتٍ فَلاَ تَخْفَى عَلَى أَحَدٍ

إِلاَّ عَلَى جَاهِلٍ قَدْ رَاحَ يَنْفِيهَا

So clearly explained, they remain hidden from no one,

save an ignorant man who goes about stubbornly denying them.

مَا ضَرَّ شَمْسَ الضُّحَى فِي الأُفْقِ طَالِعَةً

إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَرْمَدُ الْعَيْنَيْنِ رَائِيهَا

It does no harm to the morning sun rising in the horizon,

if a man with sore, unseeing eyes cannot perceive it.

يَا رَوْضَةً أَرِجَتْ أَزْهَارُهَا فَغَدَتْ

أَفْكَارُنَا تَجْتَنِي مِنْ غَضِّ خِيرِيهَا

O garden whose blossoms exhaled sweet fragrances,

so that our minds now gather from its fresh wallflowers.

كَمْ مِنَّةٍ لَكَ لاَ يُحْصَى تَعَدُّدُهَا

عَظِيمَةٍ لَيْسَ إِلاَّ اللهُ يُحْصِيهَا

How many a favor you possess, whose myriad cannot be counted,

so immense that none but God can number them.

أَحْيَيْتَ ذِكْرَ أُنَاسٍ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِمُ

أَكْرِمْ بِهَا مِنَّةً أَعْظِمْ بِمُسْدِيهَا

You have revived the memory of people after their passing;

how noble the favor, how great the one who grants it!

هَذَا وَصُغْرَى الْعَقَائِدِ التيِ بَهَرَتْ

أَلْبَسْتَهَا حُلَلاً مَا الدَّهْرُ يُبْلِيهَا

And this "Minor Creed" which has dazzled minds,

you have clothed in garments that Time can never wear out.

فَضَضْتَ أَبْكَارَهَا الْغِيدَ التِي عَنَسَتْ

إِنْ لَمْ تَجِدْ فِي الْوَرَى كُفْءاً يُضَاهِيهَا

You unsealed its untouched beauties that would have remained unwed,

had they not found in this world an equal to match them.

عَقِيدَةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ شَائِبَةٍ

هِيَ الْجَوَاهِرُ وَالأَسْرَارُ مَا فِيهَا

A creed entirely free from every blemish;

jewels and secrets are what lie within it.

أَزْرَتْ بِكُتْبِ إِمَامِ الْحَرَمَيْنِ كَمَا

مُحَصَّلَ الْفَخْرِ فَاقَتْ بِمَغَانِيهَا

It outshone the books of the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries,

just as it surpassed the "Muhassal" of Fakhr in its rich depths.

يَا غَادِيَ الْوَابِلِ الْهَطَّالِ فَامْضِ عَلَى

أَرْضِ تِلِمْسَانَ وَاسْكُبْ فيِ نَوَاحِيهَا

O morning cloud of pouring rain, proceed to

the land of Tlemcen and pour forth upon its environs.

وَاسْقِ ضَرِيحَ السَّنُوسِي وَلْتُؤَدِّ لَهُ

بِشَارَةً مَا نَسِيمُ الرَّوْضِ يَحْكِيهَا

And water the tomb of al-Sanusi, and convey to him

glad tidings that the breeze of the garden cannot fully recount:

أَنَّ عَقَائِدَهُ لاَ بَلْ فَرَائِدَهُ

أَمْسَى إِمَامُ الْوَرَى الْكَمَّادُ يُقْرِيهَا

That his creeds—no, his peerless pearls—

the Imam of the world, al-Kammad, now teaches them,

وَفِي حِمَى سِبْطِ خَيْرِ الْخَلْقِ قَاطِبًَة

إِدْرِيسَ غَيْثِ الْوَرَى طُرّاً وَحَامِيهَا

In the sanctuary of the grandson of the best of all creation,

Idris, the abundant rain of all mankind and its protector.

مِنِّي عَلَى جَدِّهِ الْمُخْتَارِ مِنْ مُضَرٍ

أَزْكَى صَلاَةٍ يَوَدُّ الْمِسْكُ يَفْدِيهَا

From me, upon his grandfather, the Chosen One of Mudar,

the purest blessings, for which musk would gladly give itself as ransom,

وَالْآلِ وَالصَّحْبِ مَا غَنَّتْ مُطَوَّقَةٌ

وَأَطْرَبَ الْعِيسَ بِالأَلْحَانِ حَادِيهَا

And upon his family and companions, as long as a ringdove sings,

and the camel-driver delights the white camels with his melodies.