إلى الله اشكو ما تكن ترائبي

واسكب دمعا صيبا كالسحائب

I complain to God of what my worry has become

And I shed tears like pouring rain

ابيت وفي قلبي من البين حسرة

تثير غراما حاضرا اثر غائب

I spend the night with longing in my heart

Stirring up present passion for an absent love

ولو كنت معذورا على ما اصابني

لها على اليوم بعض مصائبي

And if I were excused for what has befallen me

It would still have some of my misfortunes

ولكنني القى الورى بين شامت

وآخر لماز وآخر عاتب

But I find the people gloating

While another is indifferent and another blames

اما في الورى من عادل غير عاذل

اما فيهم من صاحب غير حاصب

Is there in people an equitable one but unjust?

Or among them a friend but not a scorner?

واني اذا ما قمت اشكو معاتبا

شكاني غير شكو خصم معاقب

And if I complain of blameworthy ones

My complaint is not the complaint of a punished adversary

وما تنفع الشكوى لدى غير منصف

وما ينفع البرهان عند المشاغب

And complaining is no use with the unfair

Nor is evidence useful with the contentious

الم يأن للايام ان تستفيق من

اذاي وحرماني اعز ما ربي

Will not the days awake from

My misery and deprivation of my dearest possession?

وما ضر دهري لو كفاني ذي النوى

وآنسني يوما برؤية صاحب

And my fate would not be harmed if it relieved me

And gave me joy one day in seeing my companion

سميري في وجه النهار يراعة

وليلى درس الصحف من كل كاذب

My friend Samir's face in the daylight is a meadow

And Laila studying the pages of every liar

فيا لك من يوم كريه صباحه

ويا لك من ليل بطيء الكواكب

Oh what an odious morning is its dawn

And what a slow night are its stars!

كأني في حلق الزمان شجا فلم

يزل لافظاً لي ارض من لم يبال بي

As if I were in the midst of time, a wound from which

No land that did not care for me continued to injure me

كاني على ظهر البسيطة حامل

لاعباء هذا الخلق فوق مناكبي

As if on the expanse I were bearing

The burdens of these people above my shoulders

يلوع فوادي ما يلوح لناظري

من الظلم والعدوان من كل جانب

My heart grieves at what appears to my eyes

Of injustice and aggression from all sides

ووالله ما ادرى اسحر الم بي

ام الناس قد اوتوا حمات العقارب

By God, I don't know if madness is within me

Or if people have been given scorpions' wiles

ارى كل فرد هاترا عرض غيره

وكلا يلاقي قرنه بالمثالب

I see every individual exposing another's reputation

And each meets his match in blame

فيا ليت شعري ايهم هو صادق

واي ابن انثى لم يشب بشوائب

So I wonder which of them is truthful

And which son of a female is free of defects?

ومن ذا الذي قد برأ الله ذاته

من النقص حتى لم يشن بالمعايب

And who is he whom God has acquitted of

Imperfection so he is not censured for faults?

اذا كان اصل الناس من حمأ فما

عسى ان يرى في الفرع صفو المشارب

If the origin of people is from mud then what

Can be expected but dregs in the product of their drinking?

اذا كنت تبغى صاحبا دون زلة

اجئت الى زلات غير المصاحب

If you seek a companion without lapse

You will come to those with lapses who have no company

صبرت على مر الزمان وحلوه

وقد ادبتني منه ايدي النوائب

I was patient with the bitterness and sweetness of time

And its afflictions educated me in all respects

فالفيت سعي كله فيه ضائعا

سوى مدح اسماعيل رب المواهب

So I wasted all my efforts in it, lost

Except praise of Isma'il, Lord of Gifts

مليك علا شانا وعزا فلا ترى

له مشبها في فضله والمناقب

A king whose standing and honor are lofty so you see

No peer to him in merit and virtues

اذا ما تحرى خطة ينتضى لها

عزيمة جد نافذ في المضارب

When he examines a plan to adopt

He has the resolute determination for it in undertakings

هو البحر لمكن دره غير غابر

هو البدر لكن نوره غير غارب

He is the sea but his pearls are not covered

He is the moon but his light does not set

ولو لم يكن بدرا لما سار صيته

وحلق اوج الشرق ثم المغارب

And if he were not the moon his fame would not have spread

And circled the East then the West

تمنت ملوك ان تراه ومذ رآت

محياه حابته حباء المناسب

Kings desired to see him and when

They saw his face they loved him with fitting loves

فكان غريبا بينهم في سخائه

وفي حبه من اهلهم والاقارب

So he was a stranger among them in his generosity

And in his love of their families and kin

وعاد غىل مصر وقد عيل صبرها

لفرقته فاستبشرت بالرغائب

He returned to Egypt and it had pined for him

In his absence, so it rejoiced in hopes

وكل اتاه داعيا ثم حامدا

كذلك كان الدأب داب الاجانب

And all who came to him praising then lauding

That was the custom, the custom of foreigners

ولا غرو فهو اليوم روح حياتها

تحسبها في الحسن طلعة كاعب

And no wonder - today he is the spirit of its life

You would think it beautiful in rising like a cloud

وتكبره والله ان لاح وحده

وفي حبأ كالبدر بين الكواكب

And by God I esteem him highly when he shines alone

And in his love he is like the moon among the stars

ولم ار فرقا بين شيئين مثلما

ارى بين انسانين عند التارب

And I have not seen a difference between two things like

What I see between two men when associated

يقارب اسماعيل في السن معشر

وليس له في مجده من مقارب

Ismail resembles a group in age

But has no peer in his glory

لئن كان لم يملك بلادا بعيدة

فاكباد اهليها له ملك غالب

If he does not rule distant lands

The hearts of their people are his conquering kingdom

وان كان لم ينطق بكل لغاتهم

فآلاؤه فيهم اجل مخاطب

And if he does not speak all their tongues

His favors among them are a greater discourse

اذا عرفوا الانسان بالنطق فابتدر

وقل نطق تحميد لتلك النقائب

If they recognize a person by speech, then listen

And say: praise extolling those virtues is speech

ومن لم يطق حمدا له بلسانه

ففي لبه يرويه ضربة لازب

And whoever cannot praise him verbally

In his heart he recites it - an excellent companion

وان يك اسماعيل بالذبح قد فدى

فهذا يفدى بالنفوس النجائب

And if Ismail by slaughter was ransomed

This one ransoms with pure souls

كلا السيدين استخلص العرب امة

وبوأها في العز اعلى المراتب

The two masters purified the Arab nation

And endowed it with the highest positions

فها نحن في ظل العزيز اعزة

وها نحن من افضاله في مآدب

So here we are mighty in the shadow of the Mighty

And here we are at his banquets of favor

حرام على المدح الا له له

ومن هو فيه اليوم افصح كاتب

Praise is forbidden unless for him, for him

And who today is a more eloquent writer than

كاحمد وهبي ذي البلاغة والحجا

له كلم فيها غنى عن مراضب

Ahmed Wahebi, with his eloquence and experience

His words have a wealth making other words superfluous

سقاني راحا من قوافيه اسكرت

نهاي فبي من ذاك هزة شارب

He gave me pleasure from his rhymes and I became drunk

From that in me is a tremor of one drinking

تحريه مدحي في الوقائع منة

مضاعفة شكرى لها جد واجب

Seek my praise of him for events - a repeated

Thankfulness for it is duty and obligation

فهذان معروفان لست بواجد

نظيرهما من مدحه في الجوائب

These two are known, I cannot find

Their equals in praising virtues

باي لسان امدح اليوم مادحي

واين التغني من نواح النوادب

With what tongue can I praise today my praiser

And where is the singing from the wailers of elegy?

بديع البيان يوقع اللفظ موقعا

مصوغا على قدر المعاني الثواقب

Wondrous in expression, he places the word in place

Cast in the mold of penetrating meanings

فمن بدر معنى السابقات وكان في

بيان المعاني سابقا كل كاتب

He who preceded in the meanings of the predecessors and was

Preceding every writer in clarifying meanings

يعز عليه ان يرى بين لفظه

ومعناه سبقا او لحاقا لعائب

It is hard for him to see between his word

And meaning precedence or lag of defects

له فكرة بالنجم نيطت فلم ينل

مداها امرؤ افكاره في الملاعب

He has an idea tied like a star and the extent of it

Has not been reached by one sporting with ideas

فذاك الذي يصبو اليه اولوا النهى

وقد ضل من يصبو لعين وحاجب

He is the one toward whom the possessors of resolve incline

And one who inclines to an eye or brow goes astray

ومقوله ذاك الفصيح وانه

متى اختلف القولان احدى العجائب

And his saying: that eloquent one, if

The two sayings differ, is one of the wonders

يطوع له في الحكم كل معاند

ويرضى به في الفصل كل مؤارب

Every obstinate submits to his judgment for him

And every adversary is content with his decision

تباهى به مصر السعيدة فهو في

سماء حماها زين كل المناصب

Happy Egypt prides itself on him, for he is

An adornment of all its positions in its protectorate sky

الا ليت شعري والاماني شهية

اتلمس من مصر ترابا ترائبي

Oh, if only I knew, though wishes are temptation,

If I could touch Egyptian soil consoling my anxiety

تنعمت فيها بين شيخ مؤدب

وخل وفي كان اكرم آدب

I enjoyed myself there between a polite sheikh

And maternal uncles, the most generous of manners

فكان جزآي بعد ان بنت عنهم

عناء وضربا في جميع الجوانب

Yet my reward after building with them

Weariness and desolation on all sides

سلام عليها كلما شاقت الصبا

محبا وما حنت اليها ركائبي

Greetings to it whenever the morning breeze was harsh

Loving and whenever my caravans leaned toward it