يَا أَخَا الُّلبِّ يَا بَدِيعَ الْقِيلِ

رَاقَنِي حُسْنُ نَظْمِكَ الْمَقْبُولِ

O brother of intellect, O creator of wondrous speech,

The beauty of your pleasing verses has delighted me.

بَهَرَتْنِي أَبْيَاتُكَ الْغُرُّ بَلْ

آيَاتُكَ الْمُعْجِزَاتُ فِي التَّخْيِيلِ

Your brilliant verses have dazzled me—nay,

They are miraculous signs of poetic imagery.

لَمْ أَجِدْ إِذْ وَرَدْتُهَا سَلْسَبِيلاً

لِمُجَارَاةِ نَظْمِهَا مِنْ سَبِيلِ

When I came to its sweet spring, I found

No possible way to keep pace with its composition.

أَطْمَعَتْنِي إِذْ أَطْعَمَتْنِي جَنَاهَا

فِي مَقَامٍ فَلَمْ أُطِقْ مِنْ قِيلِ

It tempted me as it fed me its plucked fruits,

In a station where I could not utter a single word.

وَكَأَنِّي إِذْ قُلْتُ مَا قُلْتُ فِي طَوْ

عِ التَّمَنِّي وَمِلْتُ لِلتَّأْوِيلِ

And it is as if I, when I spoke my words in sub-

-mission to desire, and leaned toward interpretation,

مَائِقٌ قَابَلَ النُّضَارَ بِصُفْرٍ

وَتَظَنَّى الأُجَاجَ مِثْلَ النِّيلِ

Were a fool who compared pure gold to brass,

And imagined bitter water to be like the Nile.

وَالْمُنَى مَا الْمُنَى يُسَاعِدُ فِيهَا

فَلْتُسَاعِدْ دَأْباً ذَوِي التَّأْمِيلِ

And hopes—what hopes can be of assistance therein?

So let it continuously aid those who hold onto hope.

وَاتَّخِذْ حِينَ لاَ خَلِيلَ خَلِيلاً

دَاِئمَ النَّفْعِ مِنْ عُلُومِ الْخَلِيلِ

And when there is no friend, take as an intimate companion

The enduring benefit from the metrical sciences of Al-Khalil.

شِعْرُكُمْ شِعْرُ شَاعِرٍ مَجْبُولٍ

قَادَهُ طَبْعُهُ إِلَى الْمَنْحُولِ

Your poetry is the work of an innately gifted poet,

Whose nature has guided him to the most finely crafted verses.

لَمْ يَضِرْهُ خَرْمُ التَّعَاقُبِ إِذْ أَبْ

دَى الْمَعَانِي غَرِيبَةَ التَّحْجِيلِ

The prosodic breach of succession did not harm it, as it re-

-vealed meanings with wondrously radiant markings.

فَانْخِرَامُ الْمُعَاقَبَاتِ بِهَذَا ال

بَحْرِ فَاشٍ فِي شِعْرِ هَذَا الْجِيلِ

For the breaching of metrical successions in this

Meter is widespread in the poetry of this generation.

وَفُحُولُ الدِّلاَءِ قَدْ خَرَّمُوهَا

وَإِمَامُهُمْ شَارِحُ التَّسْهِيلِ

And the master poets of Ad-Dila' have breached it,

With their leader being the commentator of "At-Tashil".

سَهَّلَ اللهُ أَمْرَنَا إِنَّهُ الْمَرْ

جُوُّ فِي نُجْحِ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ جَلِيلِ

May Allah ease our affairs, for He is the One

Hoped for in the success of every great endeavor.

فَالطِّبَاعُ لاَ تَجْتَوِيهِ وَإِنْ كَا

نَ عَرِيقاً فِي الْحَظْرِ بِالتَّأْصِيلِ

For natural tastes do not loathe it, even if it

Is deeply rooted in foundational prohibition.

فَخَفِيفٌ مِنْ أَجْلِ هَذَا ثَقِيلٌ

مَنْ يَكَدْهُ يَجْعَلْهُ فِي تَضْلِيلِ

Thus, the Khafif (light) meter becomes, because of this, heavy;

Whoever schemes against it, He leads his scheme astray,

وَيَسُمْهُ بِالْعَجْزِ وَالْعَيِّ لَو كَا

نَ عَلِيماً بِالْوَزْنِ ذَا تَحْصِيلِ

And brands him with impotence and speechlessness, even if he

Were deeply learned in metrical rules and possessed great erudition.