تأفَّفْتُ بالأيامِ ثمَّ حمِدْتُها

وبُدِّلَ وَعْرُ الحالِ بالدَّمِثِ السَّهْلِ

I chafed at the passing days, and then I praised them;

the ruggedness of my lot was exchanged for soft, level ground.

وأضءحى حَرونُ الحَظِّ مني مُصْحِباً

قَؤُوداً كما سارَ المُحِبُّ إلى الوَصْلِ

My balking fortune became compliant toward me,

easy to lead, as a lover goes toward union.

وما ذاكَ إِلاَّ حينَ أصْبحت بعدما

لَقيتُ الخُطوبَ الدُّهْمَ جارَ أبي الفضْل

That came about only when—after

meeting black calamities—I became Abu al-Fadl’s protégé.

فَفَرَّقَ عنِّي النَّائباتِ بأسِهِ

وبالجودِ كالغيثِ السَّحوحِ وكالنَّصْلِ

His might scattered the calamities away from me,

his bounty like copious rain, his might like a blade.

فَلُذْ بكمالِ الدينِ إِنَّ حَريمَهُ

حِمى الجارِ منْ صرْفِ النَّوائبِ والمَحْلِ

So take refuge with Kamal al-Din, for his sanctuary

shields the protégé from the reversals of calamity and dearth.

ونَمْ مُطْمَئناً إِنْ ظَفِرْتَ بِوِدِّهِ

فجارُ الثُّرَيَّا لا يُرَوَّعُ بالنَّبْلِ

And sleep secure, if you have won his affection;

a neighbor of the Pleiades is not alarmed by arrows.

وإِني سأجْزيهِ بكلِّ غَريبَةٍ

مُعَمَّرَةٍ الرَّاوينَ خالِدَةِ النَّقْلِ

And I shall repay him with every rare poem,

long-lived among reciters, immortal in transmission.