لَهابَكَ الكُفرُ حَتّى حَلَّ ما رَبَطا

وَخافَكَ الدَهرُ حَتّى رَدَّ ما فَرَطا

Unbelief so feared you that it loosed what it had bound;

and Time feared you until it restored what it had let slip.

وَالدَهرُ يَكتُبُ شُكراً يَستَمِدُّ لَهُ

نِقسَ الدُجى ثُمَّ يُهدِي زَهرَهُ نُقَطا

Time writes out its thanks, drawing for it

the ink of night, then offering its stars as dots.

أَمُلزِمَ الدَهرِ عَدلاً مِن سَجِيَّتِهِ

وَقاسِمَ العَدلِ فيهِ نائِلاً وَسُطا

O you who compel Time to justice from his—or its—own nature,

and apportion justice within it as bounty and an equitable mean,

جُزِيتُمُ عَن رَسولِ اللَهِ صالِحَةً

فَقَد حَفِظتُم عَلَيهِ الأُمَّةَ الوَسَطا

may you receive a good reward on behalf of God’s Messenger,

for you have preserved for him the community of the middle way.

أَنامِلٌ خَلَقَ اللَهُ الحَياةَ لَنا

وَالمَوتَ تَحريرَ فَتكٍ وَاِنبِجاسَ عَطا

Fingertips through which God fashioned life for us—

and death: the unleashing of deadly force and the gushing forth of bounty.