أَغار إِذا وَصَفتُكَ مِن لِساني

وَمِن قَلَمي عَلَيكَ وَمِن بَناني

I am jealous when my tongue praises you,

And my pen and my mind sing your virtues;

لَئِن مِنَعتُكَ قَومَك مِن حَديثي

فَكَم باتَت تُساجلك الأَماني

If your people prevent me from talking about you,

Then my thoughts have long conversed with you in secret.

وَإِن حَجبوك عَن نَظري فَإِني

أَراكَ بِعَين فكري مِن مَكاني

And if they hide you from my sight,

I still see you with my mind’s eye from afar.

وَإِن تَكُ نار صَدِكَ لي تَلظى

فَمِنكَ أَشمُّ رائِحَة الجِنانِ

And if the fire of your rejection burns me,

I still smell the fragrance of paradise from you.

وَإِن شَرَّقت أَو غَرَّبت عَني

فَمالَكَ مِنزل إِلّا جِناني

Whether you turn east or west from me,

You have no abode but my heart.

سَقى الأَثلاث مِن بَيرين دَمعي

وَحَيا العَهد هاتيك المَغاني

The evergreen trees have drunk from the pools of my tears,

And these songs have renewed the covenant.

مَعاهدُ كَم جَنيت العَيش غَصّاً

بِها زَمَناً وَلَم أَعهَد بِجاني

Covenants - how long have I suffered anguish from life

Yet made no covenant with my soul.

أَروح بِها أَجرُّ الذَيل تَيهاً

وَأَسقي الراح مِن راح التَهاني

I wander lost, dragging my tail in confusion,

Giving my spirit the wine of forgetfulness to drink.

لَيال كُلَها سحر وَدَهري

فَوادي مِنهُ يَرتَعُ في أَمانِ

My nights are all an enchantment and my days

Are a meadow where my love freely grazes in peace.

فَغالَطَني الزَمان وَقالَ كَهل

وَأَيام الصِبا في العُنفُوانِ

Time has deceived me saying I am old,

Though the days of youth are still in their prime.

أَقبل الأَربَعين أُصيب شَيباً

فَما عذر المُشيب وَقَد دَهاني

I turned forty and was touched with a streak of grey;

What excuse is greying when youth still attends me?

طَوَت أَيدي الحَوادث بَسطَ لَهوي

وَأَلوت عَن مَواطِنِهِ عِناني

The hands of fate have stretched to fulfill my desires,

And loosened from their reins all my whims.

وَما تَرَكتُ مِن اللذات شَيئاً

لِمِثلي غَير مَدحِكَ في الزَمانِ

I have left nothing of pleasures except

Praising you through time.

لَكَ القَلَم الَّذي يَزري مَضيّاً

لَدى الأَحكام بِالعَضب اليَماني

For you is the pen which flows spontaneously

In judgments with the staff of the right hand.

بَراهُ اللَهُ لِلأَعداءِ حَتفاً

وَصَيرَهُ الحَياة لِكُل قانِ

God has made it a death to enemies

And the life of all people.

وَخَط يَسحر الأَلباب وَدَت

لَو اِكتَحَلَت بِهِ مُقل الحِسانِ

Its script enchants hearts and would entrance

The eyes of the aloof doe.

وَفي طَي الطُروس لَهُ رِياض

سَقاها الفَضل أَنواع المَعاني

In the plain of page it has gardens

Watered by the rains of diverse meanings.

وَما الفاتهُ إِلّا غُصون

أَزاهرها العُقود مِن الجُمانِ

In it there are only branches whose buds

Are necklaces of pearls from perfect shells.

وَواواتٌ هِيَ الأَصداغ يَحكي

سَواد سُطورَها طُرر الغَواني

Its "waws" are cheeks that tell

Of the darkness of its lines - pure pearls.

لَكِ الخَيرات عُذر اليسَ يُحصى

لِساني بَعض وَصفِكَ بِالبَيان

Goodness uncountable is your excuse

That my tongue can only in part describe you in words.

وَلَو أَني أَتيت بِكُل مَعنى

بِديع في مَديحك ما كَفاني

And if I brought every eloquent meaning

In praising you it would not suffice me.

وَإِن أَسهبت أَو أَطنَبَت فيما

بِهِ أَمعَنَت كانَ العَجز شاني

If I am verbose or long-winded in what

I am zealous in, it is my inadequacy.

بِكَ الشَرَف الرَفيع سَما مَحَلّاً

عَلَيّاً دونَ ذاكَ الفرقدانِ

Through you noble glory climbed to the highest,

Celestial sphere beyond the stars' domain.

وَأَخصيت الممالك بَعدَ مَحلٍ

وَعادَ رَبيعُها بَعدَ الأَوانِ

You brought the realms happiness after desolation

And Spring returned to them after its loss.

حُسام الدين وَالدك المُفدى

وَأَنتَ كَميه عِندَ الرِهانِ

Husam al-Din your father, the ransomed one,

And you are two treasures at the time of need.

إِذا ما جلتما في بَحثِ علمٍ

تَحل المُشكِلات بِلا تَواني

Whenever you engage in an intellectual quest

You solve the most complex matters without delay.

أَخفت بُغاة هَذا الدَهر حَتّى

بِهِ تَخشى الأُسودُ مِن الجَبانِ

You have subdued the rebels of this time until

Even the lions fear the cowardly rabbits.

عَنَت لسطاك أَزمنة وَدانَت

لَكَ الثَقلان مِن أُنسٍ وَجان

Your authority has humbled the times and brought

Both men and jinn under your influence.

فَمالك في صِفاتك مِن نَظيرٍ

وَلا لَكَ في مَقامك مِن مَداني

So who among your attributes has a peer?

And who stands as your equal in rank?