أهلاً بما أَنسى الذنوب المذنب

ودعى بحي على الصيامِ وثوّبا

Welcome what makes one forget sins, O sinner,

And supplicate the Preserver during fasting and gain reward,

ومحت خبيثاتِ المآثم صومُه

وملا صحائفها ثواباً طيّباً

And his fasting erases the evils of misdeeds,

And fills their pages with good reward.

فليهن يحيى أَنه لم يلهه

ملكٌ به تلهو الملوك ولا نَبا

So it makes Yahya live, he whose kingdom

Makes kings play, and not with might,

وليهنه أَجرِ كاجر صلاة من

صلى وصام بشهره وتحزّبا

And its reward is like the reward of one who prays

And fasts during its month with devotion,

أعيا الكرام الكاتبين له به

ما يكتبون من الثواب وأتعبا

Tiring the generous scribes by it,

What they write of reward and toiling,

وأعاض كتاب الشمال مكاشطاً

يكشطنَ ما أمروا ما أمروا به أن يكتبا

And busying the scribes of the left, scraping away

What they were ordered, what they were ordered to write.

أَجرُّ وعتقٌ في الصيام وصحةٌ

في الجسم اكرمْ بالثلاثة مكسبا

Freedom and reward in fasting and health

In the body, be gracious with the three gains,

من فاته هذا وذاكَ وهذه

منا ففي الدارينْ عاش معذباً

Whoever misses this, that and this

Will live tortured in the two abodes,

شهرٌ به امتحنَ المهيمنُ خلقهُ

بالصوم وهو قضيةٌ لن تصعبا

A month in which The Guardian tested His creation

With fasting and it is an issue that will not be difficult,

وأَعاضهم عنه نعيماً لو سرى

بعذابِ نار جهنم لاستعذبا

And distracted them from it with bliss, if it flowed

With the torment of hellfire, it would be pleasurable,

فليشكرنَّ الله عبدٌ قد جزى

هذا الجزا بعبادة لن تتعبا

So let a servant thank Allah, who has rewarded

This reward with a worship that will not tire,

ما أجر من ذكر الإِله لأَنه

لم يلق ما ألهي ولا ما أَعجبا

What is the reward of one who remembered his God, for he

Did not encounter what distracted or amazed,

كثوابِ ملكٍ تاركٍ شهواتِه

وله خراجُ الأرضِ طراً يجتبى

Like the reward of a king who abandoned his desires

And land taxes for him plentifully gathered,

من آثر الباري على شهواته

من مقنب كالشهب يتلوا مقنبا

Who preferred the Creator over his desires

Like meteors sliding and sliding,

وأمرتهم بحيون ليل صيامهم

بقيامه أكرمْ بذلك مَطلبا

And I commanded them with living nights of their fasting

With its standing, honoring with that a request,

وجميع أَهل العلم منهم والتقى

فيمن جمعت وكل خير مجتبي

And all the people of knowledge among them and the devout

Among those I gathered and every good chosen one,

لتلاوةِ القرآنِ أو لسماعه

ممن بأصوات المزامر أطربا

For reciting the Qur’an or listening to it

From those with voices of singers most enchanting,

وصفوفهم كصفوف أملاك السما

يستغفرون لكل عبد أَذنبا

And their rows are like the rows of the angels of heaven

Seeking forgiveness for every sinful servant,

والذكر يتلى والملائِك حول من

يتلونه للاستماع ثباثبا

And the remembrance being recited and the angels around those

Reciting it to listen closely,

وأكفهم ممدودة لك بالدعا

ونداك توسعهم إليك تحببا

And their palms outstretched to you in supplication

And your call expanding them in affection to you,

انتم ملوك والضعيف بعد لكم

في الحق كفؤ للقوى وذى الابا

You are kings and the weak are equal to you

In truth, equal to the strong and man of prestige,

حسناتُ عدل لا يشارككم بها

أحدٌ كفعل الصالحات تسبّبا

Good deeds of justice none can share with you

Like the doing of good deeds qualifying,

يامن تفردَ بالعبادة مثل من

فيها له شركا وتقسمُ أنصبا

O you who singled out worship like one who

In it has partners and shares portions,

راعيتَ حقَّ الله فيه ولم يكن

شيءٌ عليك سوى العبادةِ أَغلبا

You heeded the right of Allah in it and there was not

Anything upon you but devotion most overwhelming,

للصومِ إِجلالٌ لديكَ وحرمةٌ

تكسوهُ أُبهةُ لديك ومَنصِبا

For fasting you have reverence and sanctity

Adorning it, awe to you and stature,

فإذا رآك رآك قرة عينهِ

ويرى سواك من الملوكِ فيغضبا

So when one sees you, he sees the delight of his eye

And sees other than you among kings and is angered,

فيه الهنا لك والهناءُ له بكم

كلٌّ قضى بلقا أَخيه مأربا

In it for you is our congratulations and congratulations to it through you

Each fulfilled meeting his brother affectionately,

ألقى لديك رضىً به وكرامة

وكسبت فيه محسناً لن تكسبا

It found acceptance with you and dignity

And you gained in it a benefactor you will not gain,

أَرضيت ربك فيه رضواناً غداً

من أجله الشيطان باكٍ مغضبا

You pleased your Lord in it, His pleasure tomorrow

For it the devil crying and angry,

خذها عروسا مانتحلت بمدحها

عن وصف حالك حال مدحك مذهبا

Take it as a bride who assumed in praising you

Describing your state, describing your praise as profession.