حَيَّ على الأُنْسِ إِنْ طَيْفُ الْهُمومِ سَرى

وَسَلِّ نَفْسَكَ وَانْهَجْ نَهْجَ مَنْ صَبَرَا

Hail to joy, though care's spectre pass,

Come to joy if the phantom of sorrow travels by night,

And train yourself as patient folk have trained before;

Console your soul, and follow the path of those who endure.

وَلاَ تُصِخْ لِدَوَاعِي الْبَثِّ إِنْ صََدَحَتْ

إِنَّ دَواعِيهِ تَسْتَجْلِبُ الضَّرَرَا

Give not your soul to plaint and moan, though they sound loud,

Pay no heed to the voices of grief when they cry out,

For their result is loss, be sure.

For their calling only summons harm.

وَاذْكُرْ مَعاهِدَ قد رَاقَتْ نَضَارَتُها

فَإِنَّ في ذِكْرِها أُنْساً وَمُعْتَبَرَا

Think of old pacts whose fruit yet lives,

Remember the familiar grounds whose freshness once delighted,

For in remembrance lies much solace and much gain.

For in their memory lies both comfort and a lesson.

للهِ مِنْها أُصَيْلانٌ جَنَيْتُ بِهَا

فِي رَوْضَةِ الَّلهْوِ مِنْ نَخْلِ الْمُنَى ثَمَرَا

God gave me years wherein those joys were gathered in

Heavens! What late afternoons I spent there, gathering

While I still culled the palms of pleasure and desire.

Fruits from the palms of desire in the garden of delight.

إِذْ لاَالأَحِبَّةُ يَعْدُو عَنْ وِصَالِهِمُ

بُعْدٌ يُؤجِّجُ فِي أَحْشائِنا سَقَرَا

No distance parts true lovers when they meet

When no distance could keep the beloveds from our union,

But fans a flame within their hearts is lit with Hell's own fire.

A distance that ignites the fires of Hell within our chests.

حَيْثُ ائْتَلَفْنَا وَلاَ وَاشٍ يَنِِمُّ بِمَا

نِلْنَا عَدا الأَعْطَرَيْنِ الْوَرْدَ وَالزَّهََرَا

We met in joy, no envious spies on our delight,

Where we united, with no slanderer to betray

Save those twin spies, the Rose, the Vinewood's clustered flower.

The blisses we attained, save the two fragrant witnesses: the rose and the blossom.

وَلاَ رَقِيبَ عَلى الأَفْراحِ يَحْسُدُنَا

دَانٍ خَلاَ الْنَّيِّرَيْنِ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقََمَرَا

None watches o'er our joys but those twin watchers there,

And no watcher stood over our joys to envy us,

The Sun and Moon that lighten heaven with their ray and power.

Drawing near, save the two luminaries: the sun and the moon.

وَزَهْوُنَا بِتَلاقِينَا وَأُلْفَتِنَا

أَغْرَى بِنا الأَعْجَمَيْنِ الطَّيْرَ وَالْوَتَرَا

Our coming was a joy unto us, and glad were we,

Our pride in our gathering and our sweet intimacy

And music made, as fowl and lute together blending chime;

Enticed the two speechless ones to join us: the bird and the lute string.

فَصاحَ ذَاكَ عَلى أَفْنَانِ دَوْحَتِهِ

حَيَّ عَلى الأُنْسِ إِنْ طَيْفُ الْهُمومِ سَرَى

Then one sang out o'er bowls of wine, while smiles went round:

So the former sang out upon the branches of its great tree:

"Hail to joy, though care's spectre pass in turn of time;

"Come to joy if the phantom of sorrow travels by night!"

وَبَثَّ ذَا بِبَنَانِ اللَّذْ يُحَرِّكُهُ

خُذْ مَا صَفَا لَكَ وَانْبُذْ كُلَّ مَنْ كَدَرَا

Take thou the wine unsullied, cast the troubled drink away."

And the latter broadcasted, through the fingertips of its player:

The sea spreads glassy as the mirror's moulded plane;

"Take what is pure for you, and cast away all that clouds the soul."

وَالْبَحْرُ مِثْلُ مُذَابِ التِّبْرِ حَاكَ بِهِ

كَفُّ النَّسِيمِ دُرُوعاً حُسْنُهَا سَحَرَا

Zephyr breathes on its breast till myriad beauties dawn;

The sea was like melted gold, upon which

Its waves drop pearl like diamonds, strewing them in vain,

The hand of the breeze wove chainmail of bewitching beauty.

وَالْوُرْقُ تَسْقُطُ في أَمْواجِهِ دُرَراً

كَمَا سَقَطَتْ عَلى بَحْرِ الْعُلاَ عُمَرَا

Or Umar's life, cut short by death, too soon withdrawn.

And the silver coins fell into its waves like scattering pearls,

Who masters lore until men own its sway

Just as they descend upon the sea of eminence, Omar,

حَبْرِ الْجَزَائِرِ وَالدُّنْيا بِرُمَّتِها

مَنْ عالَجَ الْعِلْْمَ حَتَّى ذَاعَ وَانْتَشَرَا

Is the true phoenix of his age, born anew each dawn.

The great scholar of Algiers and of the entire world,

Light of the great, lamp of perfection, robe

Who cultivated knowledge until it broadcasted and spread.

بَدْرِ الْجَلاَلِ وَمِصْباحِ الْكَمالِ وَمِقْ

باسِ الْجَمالِ الذِي كُلَّ الْوَرَى بَهَرَا

Wherein all beauty shines revealed from frayed and tattered gown.

The full moon of majesty, the lamp of perfection, and the blazing

And leaves no room for later comers, less or more.

Torch of beauty that has utterly dazzled all of mankind.

شَيْخٌ أَحَاطَ بِأَنْواعِ الْمَدِيحِ فَمَا

أَبْقَى لِمَنْ بَعْدَهُ شَيْئاً وَمَا وَذَرَا

Awake the learned ones and they avow

A master who has encompassed every form of praise, leaving

They are but offshoots from his fertile, copious store.

Nothing for those who come after him, leaving not a trace.

إِِنْ تَنْمِ أَهْلَ الْعُلاَ إِلَى مَحَاسِنِهِ

تَجِدْ جَمِيعَهُمْ مِنْ بَحْرِهِ نَهَرَا

A spirit fired with proud ambition's flame

If you trace the people of eminence back to his virtues,

Once urged a young eaglet to soar too nigh the sun:

You will find they are all but a single river from his vast sea.

ذُو هِمَّةٍ شُغِفَتْ بِالْمَجْدِ عَالِيَةٍ

حُمَّ بِهَا أَحَدُ النَّسْرَيْنِ فَانْكَدَرَا

Dazzled, distracted, down he rushed, his life in vain essayed,

Possessor of a lofty ambition, passionately in love with glory,

And dead, spoiled pinions trailed the sand, their brief course run.

By which one of the celestial eagles was struck with fever and plummeted.

إِلَى شَمَائِلَ أَزْرَتْ بِالنَّسِيمِ ضُحىً

وَخُلُقٍ كَالْخَلُوقِ قَدْ هَفَا سَحَرَا

Turn to his traits, pure orient hues that shame the morn,

Alongside traits that shame the gentle morning breeze,

And manners sweet as morning light that floods refreshed our sight.

And a character like sweet perfume wafting at the break of dawn.

مَنْ يُبْلِغُ الأَهْلَ أَنِّي بَعْدَ بَيْنِهِمُ

جَالَسْتُ بَدْرَ هُدىً بِالشَّمْسِ مُعْتَجِرَا

Say to my folk: Beside their hearths I sit no more,

Who will tell my family that after being parted from them,

But next the sun converse with the moon in rays of light.

I sat with a full moon of guidance, wearing the sun as his turban.

وَقَدْ ظَفِرْتُ بِمَا كُنْتُ آمُلُهُ

لَمَّا قَضَتْ مُنْيَتِي مِنْ نُورِهِ وَطَرَا

I gained the wish that was my lifelong quest

And I have seized the very thing I had been hoping for,

When his death brought release, and to his sphere of radiance prest,

When my longing fulfilled its utmost desire from his light.

حَتَّى لَقَدْ خِلْتُ آمَالِي قَوائِلَ لِي

قَدْكَ ابْنَ زَاكُورَ هَذَا الْبَحْرُ فَاقْتَصِرَا

My hopes were mocked by scoffing mates around

So much so that I imagined my own hopes saying to me:

Who said: "Now, Zacur's son, let this great sea suffice thy best!"

"Enough, Ibn Zakour! Here is the boundless sea, so seek no further."

مَنْ ذَا يُطاوِلُنِي وَالْمَجْدُ صَافَحَنِي

وَالْبَدْرُ أَقْبَسَنِي وَالْعِلْمُ لِي سَفَرَا

What rival now can challenge my renown,

Who can rival my stature, now that glory has shaken my hand,

When glory clasps my hand, the moon salutes, and knowledge hoards her treasure?

And the full moon has kindled my light, while knowledge unveiled itself before me?

قَدْ كُنْتُ قِدْماً أَرَى خَطْبَ النَّوَى ضَرَرَا

فَالْيَوْمَ حِينَ اكْتَسَبْتُ الْمَجْدَ لَا ضَرَرَا

Once in those days it irked my soul to sue,

In the past, I viewed the agony of separation as a bitter harm,

Now glory gained, suing irks not nor brings displeasure.

But today, having acquired such glory, I feel no harm at all.

مَا أَحْسَنَ الْبَيْنَ إِنْ كَانَتْ إِسَاءَتُهُ

تَفْضِي إِلَى مِثْلِ مِصْبَاحِ الدُّجَى عُمَرَا

Fair fall the chance whose seeming harm incites

How beautiful separation is, if its initial cruelty

A lamp like his to light our murk till night retires,

Leads ultimately to the lamp of the dark, Omar!

بَقِيَّةِ السَّلَفِ الْمَاضِي وَنُخْبَتِهِ

لَكِنْ مَحَاسِنُهُ أَزْرَتْ بِمَنْ غَبَرَا

Last of a line, neglected and despised,

The lingering essence of the pious ancestors and their elite,

Though rarest beauty shines when dust of death expires.

Yet his virtues outshine those of all who have passed before.

قَاضِي الْقُضَاةِ الذِي لاَ شَيْءَ يَعْدِلُهُ

فِي عَدْلِهِ اللَّذْ فَشَا فِي النَّاسِ وَاشْتَهَرَا

Judge supreme whom naught equals in his sway

The Judge of Judges, matched by absolutely nothing

For even justice famed through smiling peace o'er nations wide.

In his profound justice that has spread and become renowned among the people.

بَحْرِ الْعُلُومِ التِي قَدْ غَاصَ مَنْهَلُهَا

مُنْذُ زَمَانٍ وَسَيْلُ الْجَهْلِ فِيهِ جَرَى

Ocean of lore whose secret fountain flows

The vast sea of sciences whose watering spring had plunged deep

Long ages now while streams of ignorance beside it glide.

For ages, while the torrents of ignorance flowed wildly within.

شَمْسِ الأُصُولِ التِي تًعْشِي أَشِعَّتُهَا

عَيْنَ الْجَهُولِ فَلَمْ يَسْطِعْ لَهَا نَظَرَا

Sun of first principles whose shining rays

The sun of foundational truths, whose brilliant rays blind

Dazzle the ignoramus whose rash gaze its sphere would span.

The eyes of the ignorant, leaving them unable to gaze upon it.

كَمْ مِنْ فَوَائِدَ أَوْلاَنِي غَدَوْتُ بِهَا

أُطَاوِلُ الْعَالِمَ الْحَبْرَ الذِي مَهَرَا

What themes my verse from his rich treasury drew

How many precious insights he bestowed upon me, by which I became

To shame the sage and fluent clerk, the boast of learned clan!

Able to rival the stature of the most masterful and learned scholars.

هَذا وَجَمْعُ الْجَوَامِعِالذِي بَهَرَتْ

غُرُّ مَعَانِيهِ مَنْ غَابَ وََمَنْ حَضَرَا

His Greatest Sum où meanings rare unfold

This, and the book Jam' al-Jawami', whose dazzling

Gleams through the literal sense to charm whoe'er draws near.

And noble meanings have astounded both the absent and the present—

أبْدَى لَنَا مَا تَحْوِيهِ مِنْ نُكَتٍ

نَفِيسَةٍ تُخْجِلُ الْيَاقُوتَ وَالْدًّرَرَا

What gems of subtlety and truth it spent,

He unveiled for us the exquisite subtleties contained within it,

Shaming the ruby's ruddy fire and pearls esteemed so dear!

Precious gems of thought that put rubies and pearls to shame.

وَاهاً لَهَا مِنْ لَآلٍ قَدْ ظَفِرْتُ بِهَا

فَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ حَمْداً طَيِّباً عَطِرَا

God be praised for this shining diadem!

Oh, how wonderful are these pearls I have attained!

May blessings due forever on his name be poured.

So all praise be to Allah—a pure and fragrant praise.

سَحَّتْ عَلى قَبْرِ تَاجِ الدِّينِعَادِيَةٌ

تُخَفِّفُ الأْثْقَلَيْنِ التُّرْبَ وَالْحَجَرَا

A vine spreads gently over Taju'ddin's tomb,

May abundant rain pour down upon the grave of Taj al-Din,

Screening the heavy load of clay and stone beneath its graceful curtain.

To lighten the two heavy burdens upon it: the earth and the stones.

وَلاَ تَخَطَّتْ مُحَلِّيهِ بِتَحْلَِيَةٍ

بَاهَى بِهَا الثَّقَلَيْنِ الْجِنَّ وَالْبَشَرَا

None tended it but heaven till attention due

And may it not pass over its great commentator, blessing him with an adornment

Anointed it with balm for Moor and Christian clan to share.

By which he might boast before the two realms: the Jinn and mankind.

نِعْمَ الْمُحَلِّي مَوْلانَا الْمُحَلِّيُّقَدْ

نَظَمَ مِنْ دُرِّهِ مَا كَانَ مُنْتَثِرَا

Our Lord the Tend'rer tended it, and wove

What an excellent adorner is our master Al-Mahalli! He has

A broidered verse to garland it with praises rich and rare.

Strung together its scattered pearls into a perfect necklace.

يَا رَحْمَةَ اللهِ عُوجِي بِضَرِيحِهِمَا

وَلاَ تَزَالِي تَنُثِِّي لَهُمَا خَبَرَا

Turn to those tombs, celestial mercy, pour

O Mercy of Allah, pause beside their tombs,

Still, still upon them dew, upon their dust Thy blessing rain!

And never cease to spread their lasting renown.

إِنَّ الإِمَامَ أَبَا حَفْصِ الرِّضَى عُمَرَا

أَضْحَى يُطَرِّزُ مَا حَاكَ وَمَا ابْتَكَرَا

Lo, the Imám Abú Hafs ar-Rida spent his years adorning all he wove

For indeed, the Imam Abu Hafs, the well-pleasing Omar,

With threads of gold and silver from his loom's fast-flying train.

Has come to richly embroider what they wove and pioneered.

بَدْرَ الْجَزَائِرِ صَانَ اللهُ بَهْجَتَهُ

عَنْ أَنْ يُرَى بِخُسُوفِ الْبَدْرِ مُسْتَتِرَا

Dawn of Algiers, may God preserve the light supreme

The full moon of Algiers—may Allah protect his splendor

That dims not though the lesser luminaries suffer dim eclipse!

From ever being veiled by the shadows of a lunar eclipse.

وَبَحْرَهَا الْعَذْبَ لاَ زَالَتْ جَدَاوِلُهُ

تُرَوِّضُ الْعَالَمَيْنِ الْبَدْوَ وَالْحَضَرَا

Her sweetest ocean, may its fountains flow

And its sweet sea—may its flowing streams never cease

Still to give drink to desert nomad and dwellers in terraced town!

To cultivate the lands of both worlds: the nomads and the city-dwellers.