سَلَّمتُ فارتجل الرضى وتبسّما

أرَأيتَ كيفَ القلبُ يَسَبِقِ الفما

I bid farewell, and delight blossomed as he smiled,

Did you see how the heart precedes the mouth?

عبِثت صفاوةُ نفسِهِ بِوَقارِهِ

وتقسّماه فليس أروَعَ منهما

The gentleness of his soul played with his composure,

And shared it - nothing is more beautiful than them both.

ومشى إليّ ففي خُطاه رَصانةٌ

وكأنما يطأ الطريقَ ترسُّما

He walked towards me, his steps dignified,

As though he strode the path engraving it.

متأنقٌ بادي الرواءِ حسِبتُه

أخَذَ الأناقة والرُّواء عن الدُّمى

Elegant, radiant, I thought him

The essence of elegance and radiance from the dolls.

حيَّاك قبل لسانِهِ بفؤاده

لمَّا أطلَّ من العيون وسَلَّما

His heart greeted me before his tongue did

When he smiled from his eyes and bid farewell.

الحبُّ ما نشرتْ أسِرَّةُ وجهِهِ

واللُّطْفُ ما وهبَ اللسانَ وقَسَّما

Love is what his cheerful face revealed,

And kindness is what his tongue dispensed and shared.

صدق الحكيمُ فلِلمروءة مجدُها

ومن المروءة أن تعفّ وترحما

The wise man spoke true that manliness has its glory,

And it is manly to pardon and show mercy.

نزَّهت فضلك بالعفاف فصنتَه

وعصمتَ جاهك أن يُنال فيُثلَما

I extolled your nobility by being chaste, protecting it,

And kept your stature safe from harm and blemish.

الطبُّ من نِعم السماء على الورى

فادعُ الطبيب كأنما تدعو السما

Medicine is a blessing from heaven upon the world,

So summon the doctor as though calling upon the sky.

لبّاك يحمل علمَهُ وفؤادَه

هذا الحنانُ طوى وذاك البلسم

Your hands carry your knowledge and your heart,

This tenderness folded, and that healing balm.

عفّ اليدِ السمحاء تُبسط للنَّدى

وأبى عليه حياؤه أن تلثما

The generous hand is outstretched to the dew,

But modesty prevented it from touching.

عف اللسان يرى الفصاحةَ سُبّةَ

في ما حدا بالظرف أن يتجهّما

The eloquent tongue sees eloquence as disgraceful,

When it borders on tactless bluntness.

عفّ السماع عن النميمة خلته

وهو الفصيحُ غدا الأَصمَّ الأَبكما

The keen hearing avoided gossip and slander,

And the articulate became mute and deaf.

نادمته فهو الكياسةُ جملة

وبَلَوتُه فهو الإباءُ مجسَّما

I reproached him, but he is discretion itself,

And I tested him, but he is determination embodied.

في محفلٍ وفد الجموعُ لساحه

كالسيل مندفعاً على الشعب ارتمى

In a gathering, crowds flocked to hear him,

Like a torrent rushing down a valley they came.

وفدوا ليستمعوا فما استمعوا إلى

أسمى معانَي أَو أَحبَّ تكلُّما

They came to listen, but heard nothing

More sublime, or dearer speech.

أثنى على الأخلاق فاذدكروا به

عيسى وقد خَطَبَ الجموعَ وعلَّما

He praised morals, so they remembered through him

Jesus, as he preached to the crowds and taught.

واستنفر الحريةَ الحمراء في

كِلمٍ كأن حروفَها قطرت دما

He rallied the red freedom in

Words, as though its letters dripped blood.

تجري على ألفاظِهِ نبراتُه

كَمُرَتّلٍ غنّاك سورةَ مريما

His voice flows over his expressions,

Like a reciter chanting Surat Maryam.

بتنا يساقطُنا البيانُ كأننا

بتنا يساجلُنا الهزارُ مُرَنّما

We are made to seem, through his eloquence,

As though we argue with his joking, chanting.

في ناظرَيه فصاحةٌ كلسانِهِ

لم تدرِ بينهما الخطيبَ المفحِما

In his eyes, eloquence like his tongue –

Between them, the orator cannot silence.

يمشي النعيمُ إليك عند رضائه

وتُنير غضبتُه لديكَ جهنَّما

Contentment walks to you with his pleasure,

And his wrath illuminates hell for you.

هذا فقيد اليومِ أَصبح يومُه

كالأمسِ يدركه الخيالُ توهُّما

The departed one of today, his day

Is like yesterday, imagined and unreal.

ليتَ البيان أطاعني فرثيتُه

بأجلَّ ما يوحي البيانُ وأعظما

Would that eloquence obeyed me, and I elegized him

With the greatest that eloquence can inspire, the sublimest.