هاجتْ هواكَ منازلٌ وديارُ

دَرَسَتْ معالمهنَّ فهي قِفَارُ

Your abode has become desolate, and homes are in ruins.

Their features have been erased, so they are barren lands.

ولقد يكونُ ولي بهنَّ مآلفٌ

إذ هندُ هندُ وإذ نَوارُ نَوار

And yet, perhaps I will find intimacy in them,

As India is India, and Nawar is Nawar.

لا غَرْو أن تبكي لرسمِ مَنازلٍ

ما في البكاءِ على المنازلِ عار

Do not grieve over the traces of dwellings.

There is no shame in crying for dwellings.

رَبْعٌ نأى عنه الأَنيسُ فما به

إِلاَّ وحوشٌ رُتَّعٌ وَصِوارُ

A land the beloved has abandoned, so it contains

Only beasts, rabbits, and whistling winds.

واستضحكتْ فرحاً به الأَطيار

غنَّى الحمامُ تطرُّباً فكأَنَّما

The birds rejoiced there happily as if

The doves cooed joyfully, and it seemed

دارتْ عليهنَّ الغداةَ عُقار

وأُعيرَ وَجْهُ الأرضِ من أنوارها

The morn circled above them offering wine.

The face of the earth borrowed its lights

ما لم يكنْ من قبلِ ذاك يُعَار

وتأزرتْ تلك الرُّبى بمطارِفٍ

That were never lent before.

Those hills wore green mantles,

خُضْرٍ وأبدتْ حُسْنَها الأسحار

نَوْرٌ أنارَ على رُباها فاغتدتْ

And displayed their beauty at dawn.

A light that illuminated its dwellers so they became

وعلى الرُّبى من نَوْرِه أنوارُ

وردٌ وخيريٌّ يَلُوحُ ونرجِسٌ

Radiant, and the hills had lights from its light.

Roses, clover blooming, narcissi,

وبنفسجٌ وشَقائقٌ وَبَهار

أبدتْ بطونُ رياضِهِ بأدِلَّةٍ

Violets, daisies, and blossoms.

Their meadows appeared with young gazelles

العيونُ تغار

فكأَنَّ أخضره المريعَ زُمُرُّدٌ

Whose eyes compete in brilliance.

As if its lush green were emeralds,

وكأَنّ أصفرَهُ البديعَ نُضار

نشر الخزامى الغضُّ طيَّبَ نَشْرِهِ

And its beautiful yellow were fresh jujubes.

The lavender spread its fragrance profusely

فأَضاءَ حوذانٌ ولاح عَرار

يا صاحبيَّ ذرا الملامَ وأقْصِرا

Lighting up the valleys and slopes.

My friend, leave blame and shorten your rebuke of me

عنِّي فما حَسَنٌ به الإقصار

لا عُذْر لي إِنْ لم أُقم أَوَدَ الصِّبا

For brevity in rebuke is best.

I have no excuse if I don’t live my youth vigorously

ما لم يَشِبْ لي مَفْرِقٌ وَعِذار

وَمُهَفْهَفٍ يجري الوشاحُ بخصرِهِ

Before my temples turn gray and my vigor wanes.

A damsel with fluttering robe and sash around her waist

ويضيقُ عنه دُمْلُجٌ وَسِوار

نازعتُهُ حمراءَ يحسبُ أنها

Too narrow for her statue and bracelets.

I disputed with her, thinking her blush to be

برقٌ تأَلَّقَ ضوؤُهُ أو نارُ

عُمْرِيَّةٌ ما أن تَقَضَّى عُمْرُهُا

Lightning whose glow flashed or fire.

A life that no sooner its life is over

حتى تَقَضَّتْ دونه الأعمار

في قَعْرِ دَنٍّ لم تزل في قَعْرِهِ

Than the lives before it have ended.

In the depth of a pit that did not cease to be in its depth

حتى تزايلَ طينُهُ والقار

فعليه من نسجِ العناكبِ حُلَّةٌ

Until its clay and tar diminished.

On him is a garment of spider webs woven

منسوجةٌ ومن الغبارِ إِزار

وإِلى أبي عبد الإله عَدَتْ بنا

And a loincloth of dust.

And to Abi Abdillah we have returned after

نُجُبٌ تَقَسَّمُ نُحْضَها الأسفار

إن المطَهَّرَ جعفرَ بنَ محمدٍ

A separation that divided its yearnings.

Verily, the pure Ja'far ibn Muhammad

بَرُّ يفوزُ بحبِّهِ الأبرارُ

سمحُ السجيةِ باسطٌ لِعُفَاتِهِ

Is righteous, succeeding through his love of the devout.

Open-handed, extending his palms,

وَجْهاً عليه مهابةٌ ووقار

نجمٌ تفَرَّقَ عن سناهُ أنجمٌ

His face commanding awe and dignity.

A star whose beams are scattered by stars surrounding it,

بحرٌ تَشعَّبَ من نداهُ بحار

قرمٌ رأى بَذْلَ المكارمِ هيّناً

An ocean branched into seas from its abundance.

A full moon who saw generosity as effortless,

فكبارُها أبداً لديه صغار

أنت المقدَّمُ والمعظَّمُ والذي

Thus, its greatest acts are small in his eyes.

You are the foremost, the revered, the one

بِيدَيْهِ حَلَّ النَّقْضُ والإمرار

ما حلَّ مصراً قطُّ مثلُكَ آخرُ

In whose hands lies acceptance and rejection.

Never did Egypt have a ruler like you before,

فلذاك تحسدُ مصرَك الأمصار

روضُ الأماني من نوالك مُعْشِبٌ

And so the capitals envy your Egypt.

The garden of wishes is verdant with your gift

وسماءُ جودِكَ بالنَّدى مِدْرار

وَطِوالٌ أيامِ الزمانِ على الورى

And the sky of your bounty pours with dew.

The days of time boast longevity to mankind

مما بَلَوْا من ظِلِّهنَّ قِصار

خَشَعَتْ لهيبتك القلوبُ وأطرقت

Of the briefness of their shade.

Hearts are humbled by your awe, and sights lowered

خوفاً وإِجلالاً لك الأَبصارُ

لولا أحاديثٌ مَضَتْ لملوككمْ

In fear and reverence of you.

Were it not for accounts of your kings that circulated

في الناسِ لم تكُ تُعْرَفُ الأسمار

ولكمْ مناقبُ لا مناقبَ مثلُها

Among the people, lineages would not be known.

And you have virtues that have no equal

جاءتْ بها الأَخبار والآثار

ما إِنْ يُقَاسُ بجودكم جودٌ ولا

Brought by narrations and antiquities.

No bounty can be compared to your bounty

بفخاركم أبداً يُقَاسُ فخار

إني لأَضْمِرُ من ودادِكَ في الحشا

Nor glory ever compared to your glory.

Though I profess outwardly little of my affection for you

أضعافَ ما قد بَثَّهُ الإظهار

كنْ أنتَ نعمَ الجارَ يا ابنَ محمدٍ

Inwardly it is manifold.

Be a good neighbor, O son of Muhammad

إذ كان هذا الدهرُ بئسَ الجار

كلُّ الورى بجميلِ شُكْركَ ناطقٌ

Since this life is a wretched neighbor.

All the world praises your generosity

حتى لكادتْ تنطقُ الأحجار

وكأَنما الدنيا بقربِكَ جَنَّةٌ

Even pebbles almost speak of it.

It is as though, with your presence, life is paradise

والليلُ منها للأنامِ نهار

فلئن كفرنا نَعمةً أنعمتها

And its night for people is day.

If we show ingratitude for a favor you have granted

يوماً علينا إِننا كُفَّار

أصبحتَ ما لكَ من هوىً غير العلى

Indeed we are ungrateful.

You have become disinterested in all passions but the sublime

والناسُ في أهوائهمْ أوطار

While people wander in their whims.