رعى الله نجراً زينبياً تألَّقتْ

معاليه حتى خابط الليل موضِحُ

May God watch over a Zaynabid scion, whose high qualities shone

until even one blundering through night could see clearly.

تفارطَ فامْتاح الجمامَ من العُلى

وغادر للورَّاد ما ليس ينْضحُ

He strode far ahead, drawing copious waters from the heights of glory,

yet left for later drawers what no drawing could drain.

أقرَّ فخاراً في عَليَّينِ لم أزلْ

بمجدهما أُثْني ملياً وأمْدَحُ

Through two exalted ones he secured proud renown; never have I ceased

long to praise and extol the glory of them both.

فخُضَّ طِرادٌ والحسين برحمةٍ

مذاهبها من واسع الخرق أفْسحُ

So may Ṭirād and al-Ḥusayn be steeped in a mercy

whose courses are broader than the widest open waste.

وللهِ فخرُ الدين أنَّ مَقامهُ

شهير إذا عُدَّ المقامُ المُمدحُ

By God, Fakhr al-Din—his station

is renowned whenever praiseworthy stations are counted.

أغَرُّ غَماميُّ البَنانِ وأنهُ

لأغدق من ماء الغمام وأسمحُ

Radiant, his fingertips like rain clouds—and indeed

more bountiful than the rain cloud's water, more generous.

يخفُّ إلى نصرِ الطَّريد بسالَةً

ويُربي على الأطواد حلماً ويرجح

Valiantly he hastens to the aid of the pursued,

and in forbearance rises above the mountains and outweighs them.

ويحبسهُ فرطُ الحِرانِ عن الدُّنا

فإنْ عَنَّ مجد ظل يجري ويجمحُ

Utter proud aversion restrains him from all that is base;

but let glory appear, and he keeps running, charging unbridled.

تبارى شَبا أقواله واعتزامهِ

وكلٌّ قطوعٌ في الصناديد يجرح

The keen edges of his words and his resolve vie with each other;

each cuts deep, wounding mighty chiefs.

فماضي السطا أمضى من السيف سورةً

وبادي النهى من أوضح الصبح أوضح

In the fury of assault, he strikes keener than the sword,

while his manifest judgment is clearer than the clearest dawn.

فتىً مِلءُ بُرْديه إذا ما بلوتَهُ

نهوضٌ بأعباء المغارم أسجحُ

When tested, he proves a man of substance, filling both his robes,

ready, most graciously, to shoulder burdensome debts.

وما كنتُ بالمُثْنى عليه تملُّقاً

ألا أنَّ علْياهُ من الشعر أفْيحُ

Never have I praised him out of flattery—

behold, his lofty merit is more spacious than poetry.