أغيرك يُرْجَى لِخَطْبٍ نَزَلْ

فَتُزجَى إليهِ ركابُ الأمَلْ

Is there anyone else hoped for in times of distress,

So that hopes flock to him?

لقد فاز من كان في أمرِه

على ربّه وعليكَ اتّكلْ

He who puts his trust in his Lord and you shall be successful.

How many hardships, had they not occurred,

فكم مِن شدائد لَوْ لم تكنْ

لِتَفْريجها أبداً ما حَصَلْ

Their relief would never have come.

You attained the ultimate glory,

حويتَ من المجد غاياتِه

وغيرك قصّر عنها وكلّ

While others fell short of it.

You inherited generosity from Qasim,

ورثتَ المكارمَ من قاسمٍ

سميِّك والكرم أصلُ العَسَلْ

Your namesake, and generosity is the origin of honey.

What an excellent young man you are, if an affliction occurs,

لَنِعم الفتى أنتَ إنْ حادثٌ

ألمَّ وإن ريب دهرٍ أَطل

Or the vicissitudes of time continue.

Your determination comes from Hashimite men,

نمتك جَحاجحُ من هاشمٍ

غدوا لِوجوه المعالي مُقَلْ

Who rose to the horizons of glory.

Noble ones ascended to the highest heaven,

كرامُ سموا في سماء العُلَى

لأبعدَ مرقى وأعلَى مَحَلْ

To the farthest and loftiest place.

They performed acts of generosity until

وشادوا المكارم حتى اغتدتْ

مكارمُهمْ في البرايا مثَلْ

Their generosity became proverbial.

So many scholars and workers among them,

فكم عالمٍ منهمُ عاملٍ

نبيلٍ وكم مِن همامٍ بطَلْ

Noble and heroic men.

Glory to the one who followed the one in whose shade,

له المجدُ أتبع من ظِلّه

فإن سارَ سارَ وإن حلّ حَلْ

He walks if he walks and settles if he settles.

When he carries the shield in his hand,

إذا حَمل الطِّرسَ في كفِّهِ

أو الرمحَ تدعو العُلَى لا شلَلْ

Or the spear, he calls the exalted, no weakness.

And you are the one gathered in their arena,

وأنتَ المجلّي بميدانِهم

وحائز تحت ظلِّ الأسَلْ

Acquiring beneath the shadow of the chieftains.

You have the longest hand in glory,

وأطولهم في المعالي يداً

وأثبتُهم تحت ظلِّ الأسَلْ

And the firmest beneath the shadow of the spears.

You are the resolute one who donned

وإنّكَ أنتَ الهمام الَّذي

تردّى رِداء العُلَى واشتَملْ

The cloak of exaltation and wore it.

What knowing woman has not attained,

فأيّةُ عارفةٍ لم تُنِلْ

وأيّةُ مكرمةٍ لم تَنَلْ

And what generous woman has not received,

From you the light of guidance? I complain to you

إليكَ ضياء الهدى أشتكي

هموماً أقَمْنَ وصبراً رحَلْ

Of sorrows that stayed and patience that journeyed,

And a heart that sickness corrupted when

وقلباً أعلّلهُ إن غلَتْ

مراجلُه بعَسَى أو لعَلّ

Its furnaces were stirred with anxiety and hope,

And a debt whose sake I have become

ودَيْناً عَدا صِيرتُ من أجْلِه

على وَجَلٍ من هجومِ الأَجل

Agitated by the onslaught of death,

And the vicissitudes of a painful time I have not cared for,

وأحداثَ دهرٍ عِلّةٍ لم أُبَلّ

منها ومن غُلّةٍ لَمْ تُبَلْ

Nor for its bitterness that was not sweetened.

How much sickness I did not care for,

وكم لِيَ من عِلّةٍ لم أُبَلّ

منها ومن غُلّةٍ لَمْ تُبَلْ

Nor for its bitterness that was not sweetened,

And from preoccupation, worries prevented me,

ومِنْ شُغلٍ مَنَعَتْني الكَرَى

وما شُغَلُ القَلبِ إلاّ شُعَلْ

But the heart’s preoccupation is raging flames.

By my life, that is the way of time,

وذاك لعمري دأبُ الزّمان

فكم مِثلها مَعَ مِثلي فَعَلْ

How many like me has it done the same?

For how long does it not rest its eye,

فحتّى مَتَى طرفهُ ما غَفا

وحتّى متى صرفُه ما غَفَلْ

And for how long does its vicissitude not neglect?

Does time thicken for me once

فهل يغلظُ الدّهر لي مرة

بعطفٍ وهل نافعي قولُ هَلْ

With kindness? And is my saying “if only” of benefit?

Oh, how far I deviated from its kindness!

ويا بُعد ما رمتُ من عَطْفِهِ

مَتَى حالَ عن حالِه وانتقَلْ

When did its state change and transform?

I have determined it to be the opposite of its nature,

لَقد سمتُه الضدَّ من طبعِهِ

وكيفَ يُنيلُ الشفا من أَعَلُّ

So how can the exalted gain healing?

Am I not like one who seeks

وهل أَنا إلاّ كمنْ يَبْتغي

مِن العَلْقمِ المرّطعمَ العَسَلْ

Honey from aloes?

But through your effort, O son of the Prophet,

ولكِنْ بسَعْيكَ يا بْنَ النبي

يَنَال المؤمَّل أَقصى الأَمَلْ

The hopeful attains the utmost hope.

You know best my state, and about

وأنت الخبيرُ بحالي وعن

زيادة نقصانها لا تَسَلْ

Its increase or decrease, do not ask.

Shall I explain my state when you are the one

أَأَشرح حالي وأنت الّذي

لديكَ تفاصيلُها والجُمَلْ

Who has its details and its whole?

My time was kind to me for a while,

وقد رقّ لي زَمني بُرْهَةٌ

وكاد ولكنّه ما فَعَلْ

But then it did not do so.

It brought me in the presence of the guiding Sun

وبوّاني عند شمسِ الهدى

مَحَلاًّ تقاصرَ عنه زُحَلْ

To a position out of reach of Saturn.

I was pampered with its blessings,

وكنتُ رفَلْتُ بنعمائِه

حسان المطارف فيمَن رَفَلْ

Among those pampered with fine gazes.

My time saddened me for what I attained,

فأحزنَ دهريَ ما نلْته

فعاد لِتلكَ الخِلال الأُولْ

So it returned to those old faults.

When I feared what you already know,

ولمّا تخوّفتُ ما قَدْ عَلمتَ

تقَنّعتُ عن بحرِه بالوشَلْ

I sufficed myself from its sea with a handful.

So be my intercessor, O my master,

فكنْ أنت يا مالكي شافعي

إلى مَنْ لِهَامِ السّماك انتَعَلْ

To the one for whom wraps were made into shoes.

And the one whose righteous deeds

ومَن بمآثِرِهِ الصَّالحات

تُزْهى العًلَى وتُزان الدُّوَلْ

Adorn the exalted and straighten nations.

The imam of the time, companion of the Qur’an,

إمامِ الزَّمانِ قرين القُرانِ

أَمانِ الأَنامِ إذا الخطبُ جَل

The safety of mankind when matters are serious.

If I was heavy in my request,

وإن أَنا ثقَّلْتُ في مَطلبي

فمثلكَ من للصديق احتَملْ

Then one like you can tolerate a friend.

You remained for us after the striking light vanished,

بقيتَ لَنا ما شَرى بارقٌ

وما سار ذكْركَ فِينا مَثَلْ

And after your mention continued as a proverb among us.