اقطع بذهنك قطع الصارم الذكر

وَ سر بِرَأيك سير الشَمس وَالقَمَر

Cut with your mind like the cutting of a sharp sword,

And walk with your opinion like the sun and moon's pace.

وَقُم خَطيباً بِسَيف العَقل مُعتَمِداً

فَإِن في العَقل ما يغني عن الزبر

Stand as an orator with the sword of reason as your support,

For in reason is that which makes spears redundant.

حَد اليَراعة حَد السَيف إِن وضعت

في كَف مُختَرع الآراء مبتكر

The limit of prudence is the limit of the sword, if placed

In the palm of one ingenious in opinion, an initiator.

وَالخَط كَالعامل الخَطي إِن نقشت

حُروفه بيد الأَشراف مِن مضر

And the line, like the line worker, if its

Letters are inscribed by the hands of honourable Maʿaddites.

وَكَم كِتاب إِذا ما فك طابعه

فل الكَتائب مِن بَدو وَمِن حَضَر

And how many books, if their covers were undone,

Would inspire awe in both nomad and settled folk.

يا صاحب القَلم الأَعلى الَّذي سعدت

بِهِ المُلوك فَأَغناهُم عَن السمر

O owner of the supreme pen, through which

Kings prospered and so were made free of entertainment.

جَعَلته سَيف مَولانا الرضا عمر

لِذاك سَميتهُ بِالصارم العمري

You have made it the sword of our lord, the Eternal Rida,

Thus have I named it “the sharp eternal”.

يَجري بِما شاءَ عَن حُكم وَعن حكم

فَيَأخذ الناس عَن خَوف وَعَن حَذَر

It goes however it desires, beyond any reckoning,

And so takes men out of fear and caution.

ما كُنت أَحسب أَن الفَضل في بشر

حَتّى رَأَيتك يا ابن السادة الغرر

I did not think excellence was in mankind

Until I saw you, O son of noble stars.

وَما علمت بِأَن الخَط غايته

قَط القُلوب وَقَطع الفاجر الأشر

And I did not know the pen’s furthest limit

Was to cut hearts and sever the debauched limb.

حَتّى سَمعت صَرير الطرس مِن قَلَم

يلقي المَهابة بَينَ السَمع وَالبَصَر

Until I heard the scratching of the calamus

Casting reverence between hearing and sight.

يَمج تبراً عَلى وَجه الصحيفة بَل

دراً يَفوق عَلى الدري وَالدرر

It pours out pearls on the cheek of the parchment, nay,

Gems that exceed the mother of pearl and pearls in value.

في كُل ذَرة لَفظ درة نثرت

فَأَصبَحَت بَينَ مَنظوم وَمنتثر

In every atom a word-jewel you have scattered,

To fall between verse and prose.

كَأَنَّهُ جَدول يَفتر عَن درر

مِن بَحر علم فَيلقيها عَلى الأَثَر

As if it is a stream, from a sea of knowledge unleashing

Its pearls, and casting them onto the trace.

طالَ ارتفاعك في أَوج الكَمال فَطل

عَلى قَرينك وَاعرف لذة الظفر

Your rising to the zenith of perfection has lengthened, so rise

Over your companion and know the joy of success.

جئت المَعارف إِذ كانَت لَكُم قَدراً

كَما أَتى رَبه موسى عَلى قَدَر

I came to knowledge when it was destined for you,

As Moses came to his Lord at the appointed time.

إِذا رَأَتك المَعالي قالَ قائلها

تَبارك اللَهُ ما هَذا مِن البَشَر

When the sublime things see you, their sayer says:

“Blessed is God, this is not of mankind”.

يا أَسعَد الناس خُذ مني محيرة

تَميس كَالخود بَينَ الحبر وَالحبر

O most fortunate of men, take from me a confusion

That touches like a cheek between ink and ink.

قَصيرة المَدح قَد طالَت بِكُم فَغَدَت

طَويلة الباع عَن شين وَعَن قصر

Short in praise, it has been lengthened by you and so

Become long in scope, beyond disgrace and inadequacy.

تَقول إِن قرئت يَوماً لِسَيدها

اقطع بذهنك قَطع الصارم الذكر

It says, if read one day by its lord:

“Cut with your mind like the cutting of a sharp sword”.