ليس إلاَّ إليك للعيس نَشطُ

كلُّ رحلٍ إلى حمال يُحَطُّ

Only toward you do the camel mounts quicken;

every saddle is set down within your sanctuary.

يا أخا المكرماتِ حَسبُك فخراً

أنها حين تعتزي لك رَهط

O brother of noble deeds, this is glory enough for you:

that when those deeds declare their lineage, they are your clan.

لك خُلقٌ به الرضى لمحبٍّ

ولذي البُغض والقِلى فيه سُخط

You possess a nature that shows favor to one who loves,

and in it is wrath for one of hatred and aversion.

بشّروا يا بني الرجاءِ الأماني

بابنِ علياءِ كفُّه الجعدُ سَبط

O children of hope, give your desires glad tidings

of the son of Glory, whose clenched hand is outspread.

وانزلوا حيثُ لا تمدُّ الليالي

يَد خطبٍ وحيثُ لا الدهر يَسطو

Make camp where the nights cannot stretch forth

a hand of calamity, and where Time cannot assail—

في حمىً ليس يرفعُ الطرفَ فيه

رهبةً أشوسُ ولا الليثُ يخطو

within a refuge where no gaze is raised

in fear of a fierce foe, nor does even the lion step;

حرمٌ آمنٌ مهابتُه سِترٌ

على من به استجارَ يُلَطُّ

a secure sanctuary whose awe is a veil

sheltering whoever seeks protection there.

رَجَع الدهرُ لاقتبالِ صِباه

بعد ما قد علاهُ للشيبِ وخِط

Time returned to the first bloom of its youth

after gray hair’s streaks had overspread it,

بفتىً أصبحت مناقبهُ الغرُّ

على جبهةِ الزمان تخطُّ

through a youth whose radiant virtues have come

to be inscribed upon the brow of Time.

يقبضُ المال لا لغيرِ العَطايا

فالندى في يديه قبضٌ وبَسط

He takes hold of wealth for no end but gifts;

thus bounty in his hands is both grasp and release.

لو رأينا الجوزاءَ تحكي مزاياه

لقُلنا لدرِّها أنت سَمط

Were we to see al-Jawzāʾ recounting his virtues,

we would say of its pearls, “You are their string.”

والثريّا قد داسها فلهذا

لم نقُل إنَّها لعلياهُ قِرط

And the Pleiades he has trodden underfoot; therefore

we did not call them an earring for his lofty station.