ولاؤُك أنفعُ ما يذخرُ

وذكرُك أضوعُ ما يُنشرُ

Your loyalty is the most useful thing stored

And your mention is the brightest thing spread

أجَل ومكارمُك الباهراتُ

أجلُّ وأعظمُ ما يُشكَرُ

Yes, and your magnificent virtues

Are the most sublime and greatest thing thanked

أبا جعفرٍ أنت لطفُ الإِله

وأنت لرأفتهِ مَظهَرُ

O Abū Ja‘far you are God's kindness

And you are the manifestation of His mercy

براكَ الإِله لنا رحمةً

يُعلنُ بها العائِلُ المُقترُ

May God bless you to us as a mercy

He announces through it the needy family

لقد صنتَ وجهي عن أن يُرى

لدى أحدٍ ماؤُه يُقطِرُ

You have protected my face from being seen

By anyone whose water drips

وعوَّدتَني كرماً أن تجود

عليَّ ابتداءً بما يَغمرُ

And you have accustomed me to generosity that you

Give to me first with what floods

فأضحى لِساني لديك يطولُ

وهو لدى غيرِكم يَقصِرُ

So my tongue has become long with you

And with others it is short

أبو إخوةٍ لي على الحاسدينَ

على قلَّتي بهمُ أكثرُ

A father of brothers for me over the envious

Though few they are more with them

وداد الورى عَرَضٌ زائلٌ

وثابتُ ودّهم جَوهرُ

The love of mortals is a fleeting fancy

And their lasting love is essence

هم الأطيبون هم الأنجبون

هم السحبُ جوداً هم الأبحرُ

They are the most fragrant, they are the most noble

They are the clouds, bounteous, they are the seas

وهم عُدَّتي حيثُ لا عدَّةٌ

وهم معشري حيثُ لا مَعشرُ

And they are my equipment where there is no equipment

And they are my company where there is no company

وعنِّي بهم كم دفعتُ الخطوبَ

فولَّت بأذيالِها تَعثرُ

And by them how many tribulations have I repelled

Stumbling with their trains

توعَّدَني زمني بالظما

وفي زعمِه أنَّني أضجرُ

My time threatened me with thirst

And in its opinion I am annoyed

فقلتُ له خلّي عنِّي الوعيدَ

أيظمأُ مَن عنده جعفرُ

So I said to it, "Leave me the threat

Will he thirst who has Ja‘far?"

فتًى أملي في ندى كفِّه

كبيرٌ وهمَّتُه أكبرُ

A young man, my hope in the dew of his palm

Great and his ambition is greater

له أنملٌ سُحبٌ عشرُها

وراحٌ أساريرُها أبحرُ

He has palms, clouds whose downpours

Are seas and their rain is more abundant

وعَيشيَ في طيبها صالحٌ

رياضُ المُنى فيه لي تَزهرُ

And my livelihood in its goodness is sound

The gardens of wishes in it blossom for me

محيَّاهُ كالبدرِ لا بل أتمّ

على أنَّه الشمسُ بل أنورُ

His face like the full moon, no but more perfect

As if it is the sun, no brighter still

فيا رائشي حصَّ منِّي الجناحُ

ففي الوكر طيري لقاً يَصفِرُ

So away with you who think me a prey

For in his den my bird chirps

ويا ناعشي أضعفت من قُوايَ

أمورٌ بها كاهلي مُوقَرُ

And O you who deemed me weak in strength

Matters with which my shoulder is weighted

أعِد نظراً نحو حالي غدت

ومربعُها طَللٌ مُقفِرُ

Reconsider the state of my affairs which have become

And whose courtyard a ruined relic

لئن أنت فيها غرستَ الجميل

بالشكرِ سوفَ إذاً يُثمِرُ

If in it you planted the beautiful

With gratitude will it then bear fruit

وعن بصري إن جلوتَ القَذا

فإنِّي بهديك مستبصِرُ

And from my sight if you remove the irritation

Then I can see clearly by your guidance

وإن كنتَ أخَّرت صنع الجميلَ

بعسرٍ وليتَك لا تَعسِرُ

And if you have delayed doing good

With hardship, I wish you do not make it difficult

فحسبي صنايعُك السالفاتُ

واجبةُ الشكر لا تُكفر

It is enough for me your previous good deeds

The obligatory thing to thank, not annulled

ستُعذَرُ عندي عُذرَ الذي

على نفسِه نفسُه تَصبرُ

You will be excused with me the excuse of one

Who against himself himself shows patience

ولكن على كلِّ حالٍ أخالُ

بأن لكَ نفسك لا تَعذرُ

But in any case I reckon

That for you your soul does not excuse