الحِلمُ أَولى بِمَن شابَت ذَوائِبُهُ

وَالحَمدُ أَحرى بِمَن دامَت تَجارِبُهُ

Dreams are more fitting for one whose temples have grayed,

And praise is more proper for one whose trials have endured,

وَالمَرءُ مَن لَم يَضِق ذَرعاً بِنائِلِهِ

وَلا يَرى الهَول إِلّا وَهوَ راكِبُهُ

And a man is one who is not vexed by what comes his way,

Who does not see terror except when in its midst,

فَإِن تَعَذَّرَ مطريه وَمادِحه

أَتى إِلَيهِ مرجِّيهِ وَنادِبُهُ

So if his eulogizer and praiser are inaccessible,

His wishers and mourners will come to him,

أَبا العَلاء الَّذي جَلَّت مآرِبُهُ

مِن قبل قَصدي لَهُ دَرَّت سَحائِبُهُ

Abu Al-‘Ala whose calamities were immense,

Because of my intention towards him, his clouds rained,

لَولا المطهَّر ما تَهدي أَنامِلُهُ

إِلى العُفاةِ يعافُ الشعر صاحِبُهُ

Were it not for the Purified, his fingers would not

Guide him to the chaste where poetry adorns its owner,

يَجودُ بِدءاً وَعوداً قَبلَ تسأَلَهُ

فَإِن سَأَلتَ فَنَل ما أَنتَ طالِبُهُ

He gives freely, unasked, before being requested,

So if you ask, you get what you seek from him,

إِن أَخلَف المُزنَ لَم تَخلِف أَنامِلُهُ

أَو أَمسِك الغَيثَ لَم تُمسِك مَواهِبُهُ

If times betray, his fingers will not betray,

Or if the rain withholds, its gifts do not withhold,

مباركُ الوَجهِ مَيمونُ النَقيبَةِ

وَهّابُ الرَغيبَة مَعدومُ ضَرائِبُهُ

Blessed of face, auspicious of forehead,

Bestower of wishes, exempt from tolls,

يُريكَ في بدءآتِ الرأي أَحسَن ما

يأتي بِهِ بَعدَ أَحوالٍ عَواقِبُهُ

He shows you in the beginnings of opinion the best

Of what its consequences will later bring,

يا كاتِباً جَرَتِ الأَقدارُ حينَ جَرَت

أَقلامُهُ في الوَرى شاعَت مَناقِبُهُ

O Scribe! When destinies flowed, his pen flowed,

His virtues have spread in the land,

قَضَت عَلى المالِ لِلعافي أَنامِلُهُ

كَما قَضَت في أَعاديهِ قَواضِبُهُ

His fingers have ordained spending for the virtuous,

Just as they have ordained destruction for his enemies,

وَواجِد طرقاً لِلحَمدِ واصِفُهُ

وَعادِمٍ طُرُقات الذَمّ عائِبُهُ

A finder of ways to praise and describer of it,

And devoid of ways of dispraise and censure,

لا يَغفَل الخَير ما لاقيتَ غُرَّتُهُ

بِحَيثُ حَلَّ وَلا تَدجو غَياكِهبُهُ

Goodness does not escape you wherever its forehead shone,

Or its darkness crept in whatever place,