لا أظلمُ البينَ حالي كالذي كانا

سِيّانِ إنْ غاب من أهوى وإن دانا

I do not blame the one I love if he is absent or close

Both are the same to me if he whom I love is lost or near

ما زادني القرب عما كنتُ أعرفه

إلا أسى وتَباريحا وأشجانا

Nearness did not add to what I already knew

Except more anguish, sighs, and grief for me

والبعد أهونُ من قربٍ يُجدِّد لي

معْ ما أُكابده صدا وهجرانا

And distance is easier than a nearness that renews

Along with what I endure, estrangement and separation

مللتمُ وادعيتم أنّ ذاك لكم

طبعا صدقتُم فمَلُّوا هجريَ الآنا

You grew bored and claimed that was your nature

I believed you, so now keep away from me

والله ما حُلْتمُ عن عادةٍ عُرِفت

منكم ولكنه صبري الذي خانا

By God, you have not deserted a habit I knew in you

But rather it is my patience that has deserted me

بَقُّوا من الصبر عندي ما أصون به

سرَّ الغرام وإلا صار إعلانا

There remains in me little patience to protect

The secret of passion, else it will be made public

مالي بُليت بقاسٍ مُعجَب صَلِف

يرضى إذا بِتُّ بالهجران غضبانا

Why am I troubled by a stubborn arrogant one

Who is content when I spend the night in estrangement, wrathful

لولا تَعلُّقُ عينيه لما تركتْ

أخلاقُه بالقِلى والصد إنسانا

If his eyes were not fixed on me, his ways

Would not have left a human being in distress and rejection

يا مُسقِمِى بجفونٍ تَدَّعى سَقَما

لا أَدَّعى مثَلها زُورا وبهتانا

O you who falsely claim to be lovesick

I do not pretend sickness like you, or lies and falsehoods

بي مابخصرِك من سُقْمٍ وموجِبهُ

صَدٌّ كرِدفك تعنيفا وعدوانا

There is no sickness in your waist, what ails you

Is rejection, your scolding and hostility towards me

قصدتَ ظلمي بلا ذنبٍ كما ظَلمت

كَفّاك ثغرَك بالمِسواك أحيانا

You have wronged me without cause, just as you have wronged

Your mouth by brushing it with a miswak at times

يا أوحدَ الناسِ في خَلْقٍ وفي خُلُق

هَلاّ أضفتَ لذاك الحسنِ إحسانا

O most unique of people in looks and character

Why do you not add kindness to that beauty?

بلِ الكمالُ لَعمري رتبةٌ بَعُدتْ

فلم يَنْلها امروٌّ إلا ابنَ عثمانا

By my life, perfection is a rank too far

No mortal attains it but the son of Uthman

شيخُ الرياسة كهل المكرمات فتى ال

إحسان تِرْب العَطايا كن كما كانا

Elder of leadership, sage of generosity, youth of

Kindness, nurtured by gifts, be as you were

إذا دعوتُ تُلبِّيني عَزائمه

كما دعا المرءُ آباء وإخوانا

If I call you answer my requests

As a man answers his fathers and brothers

كم رام مدحى مكافاةً لنائله

فينثنِى عنه للتقصيرِ خجلانا

How many have sought reward for praising him

Then refrain in embarrassment and shame

يا من حُسِدتُ على أُولى عَزائمِه

جَدِّدْ علي حاسِدي أمرِي فقد خَانا

O he whom I envied for granting requests

Renew my matter for me, for it has failed

أنت الغمامُ وروضى زاهر فإذا

أَغبَّه فكنْ باب سَعْدِي عند مولانا

You are the rain cloud and my meadow blossoms

So when it is absent, be for me the door to my Master

فإن أصِل فهْي عاداتٌ عُرِفت بها

أو لا فلم تبقِ للإِحسان إمكانا

If reconciled, those are known habits

If not, then the ability to be kind no longer exists

سارت فضائُله في الْخَلْقِ واشتهرتْ

فكلُّ قلبٍ حَوَى منهن ديوانا

His virtues circulated among people and became famous

So every heart contained a volume of them

عجزتُ عنها وعن وصفِى ولو ظَهرتْ

فيما مضى أعجزتْ قُسا وسَحْبانا

I am incapable of describing them or my poetry

If they appeared in the past, they would humble a mountain and a sheer rock

ذو همةٍ ساعدتْها نخوةٌ عَظُمت

لو أنها ماءُ بحرٍ كان طوفانا

A man whose high ambition has been aided by great magnanimity

If it were but sea water, it would be a flood

تُعطِي فتَحِقر ما تعطي ولو وهبتْ

كقَدْرِها وهبتْ أضعافَ دُنيانا

You give and spurn what you have given, and if

You gave equal to your worth you would give worlds

لا يلبث الفقرُ في أرضٍ وراحُته

مما يجود فيغني الإنس والجانا

Poverty does not last long in a land which hosts him

With what he donates, providing for mankind and Jinn

يُفرِّق المالَ في جمعِ الثناء له

جودٌ ويَعْتَدُّ جمعَ المالِ حرمانا

Distributing money while gaining praise

While hoarding wealth leads to deprivation

فما حَوتْ كفُّه عينا ولا عَرَضا

إلا ليجعله للحمد أثمانا

Neither has his palm sought reward, nor his dignity

Except to make them coins for praise

له على كلِّ حُرٍّ مِنَّةٌ كَتبت

في وجهه لجميل الذِّكْرِ عنوانا

He has a favor over every free soul, inscribed

On his face for the sake of kind mention

هذا على أنه يُخفِي صَنائعَه

فينا ويأبَى لما أَخْفاه إعلانا

This is while he hides his good deeds from us

Refusing to make public what he has concealed

تخالُ في كل نادٍ من مَدائحه

راحا تَرَقْرَق في النادي وريحانا

You would think, in every gathering praising him

Comfort has settled, with fragrant herbs

يُدبرها فيهم الراوي فيُطربهم

حتى يَظلَّ الحليمُ اللُّبّ نشوانا

He directs it among them and enraptures them

Until even the forebearing becomes playful and merry

أتيتُه وصروفُ الدهرِ تَعْرِقني

عَضّاً وأَحسبُها أُسْدا وغِيلانا

I came to him while time’s events were causing me

Harm and anguish, and I deemed them lions and serpents

فكَفَّ كَفَّ عوادِيها وأَمَّنَنى

منها وصَيَّرَ لي في ظله شانا

So he held back their harm from me and gave me safety

From them, and made for me in his shade glory