أرِجَ النَّسيمُ فقلتُ نشرُ خميلةٍ

فغمَتْ أنوفَ بَواكِرٍ وأصائلِ

The breeze blew gently, so I said let us spread out a pleasure garden,

With early blossoms and trailing vines,

أو رُفْقةٍ يَمَنيَّةٍ عَدنيَّةٍ

فَضُّوا عِيابَهُمُ بليْلٍ شامِلِ

Or a Yemeni paradise garden,

Where they shed their robes in an all-enveloping night.

طرِبتْ نفوسُ الركب حتى خلتُهم

شَرْباً تُرَنِّحُهُمْ سُلافةُ بابِل

The souls of the riders were excited until I thought them

A draft that makes them stagger, the draft of Babylon,

فطفقتُ أعجب من تضوُّع روضةٍ

للمُعْرقين ونبْتُها بجُلاجِلِ

So I marveled at the greening of a garden

For the intoxicated, with all its creeping vines,

وإذا أريجُ النَّشْر ذكْر خليفةٍ

مَلأ الزَّمانَ بعَدْلِهِ والنَّائلِ

When the fragrance of blossoms recalled a caliph

Who filled time with his justice and petitioners,

ذِكرُ الإمام المُسْتضيءِ وحمده

مِن راحِلٍ بالمْكرُماتِ وقافِلِ

The remembrance of the shining imam and his praise

From a mounted traveller, with gifts and a caravan,

أحْيا حقوقَ الدين وهي دَريسةٌ

مَنْسيَّةٌ وأماتَ نفْسَ الباطلِ

He revived the rights of religion, once forgotten

And extinguished the soul of falsehood,

واسْتصغر العدل العميم لأنْفُسٍ

ظَمِئَتْ فأتْبَعَهُ بجودٍ هاطِلِ

And deemed the widespread justice too small for souls

Thirsting, so he followed with pouring generosity,

وإذا المجامعُ كالرِّياضِ ونشْرُها

كَرُّ الثَّناءِ بكلِّ راوٍ فاضِلِ

When the assemblies were like gardens in bloom, and their fragrance

Spread renown with each noble narrator,

فإذا دَنَتْ منها وديقَةُ جاحِدٍ

رفَعَ الإِمامُ لَها سَحابَةَ وابِلِ

If an envious slanderer approached them

The imam raised up for her a cloud of pouring rain,

فترى البلادَ بهيجةً مُخْضَرَّةً

بعُلاهُ بينَ مكارِمٍ ومَقاوِلِ

You see the country joyous and verdant

Through his eminence, with virtues and fine qualities,

طابتْ به طيبَ الوصال لعاشِقٍ

وزهَتْ به زَهْوَ الرياض بحافِل

By him the scent of union was sweet for a lover

And by him the beauty of gardens flowed with splendor,

فكأنَّها منهُ عَروسٌ بَرْزَةٌ

منْ بعدِ ما كانت كَأمٍّ ثاكِلِ

It was as if by him she had become a radiant bride

After she had been a mother indifferent and distracted,

حَبْرٌ وبحرٌ ما لجُمَّة فضْلِهِ

وعُبابِ فيْضِ بَنانهِ من ساحِلِ

Ink and sea, what breach in the plenty of his merit?

And billows of the outpouring of his springs from the shore?

فالمحْلُ والرَّجُل العليمُ كِلاهما

مُسْتَهْلكانِ بِنائلٍ ودَلائلِ

Both the position and the learned man suit each other,

Busied with attainments and proofs,

صافي الطَّويَّةِ لا يغُشُّ رَعيَّةً

لا بالخَدوعِ لهُمْ ولا بالخاتِلِ

Pure of intention, he does not cheat the commoners,

Neither by guile toward them nor by striking harshly,

مُستودعين بساهرٍ غَفلوا به

عنْ هَمِّ أنفُسهم وليس بغافِلِ

Trusting in a wakeful guardian, they forgot

Their own concerns, while he is not neglectful,

زوْلٌ يُزرُّ قميصهُ في سَلْمِه

بأغَرَّ فيَّاضِ النَّوالِ حُلاحِلِ

A shadow who demeans his shirt in his peace

With the most glistening ample endowment,

فإذا تَنَكَّر نِيطَ منهُ نِجادُهُ

بمُهنَّدٍ صافي الحَديدةِ قاصِلِ

But if he changes and dons his battle dress,

With bright polished sword blades that slash,

يَتباريانِ فعَزْمُهُ وحُسامُه

سِيَّانِ حِذْقُهُما بعلْمِ مَقاتِل

His resolve and his sword vie

In skill and in the knowledge of how to fight,

فبقيت يا شمس الزَّمانِ وعَيْشه

لرَشادِ حَيْرانٍ وثَرْوةِ عائلِ

So you remained, O sun of the age and its life,

To guide the perplexed and enrich the destitute,

تنْضو ملابس كلِّ عيدٍ ذاهِبٍ

وتُجِدُّ آخرَ مُقْبلاً في القابِل

Shedding the garb of each departed feast

And renewing the next one in the coming seasons,

ما جَنَّ ليلٌ واسْتقلَّ بطَرْدِهِ

صُبْحٌ وبوركَ في الإِمامِ العادِل

No night has gloomed and taken over with its shadows

A morn on which the blessings of the just imam were invoked.