لما علمت بما ألقى من الوصب

بعثت لي عوذة عافت من الكرب

When you learned of the illness I suffer,

you sent me a protective charm that warded off distress.

فضضتها فازدهانا الروض مبتسما

وأنشدت فهنانا مجلس الطرب

I broke its seal, and the garden bloomed before us, smiling;

I recited it, and the gathering of delight hailed us with joy.

ألفاظها والمعانى فى لطافتها

والنظم كالماء والصهباء والحبب

Its words and meanings are exquisite in their delicacy,

and its verse is like water, red wine, and sparkling bubbles.

قد أعجزت بفنون من فصاحتها

لولا التأخر كانت حجة العرب

Through the many arts of its eloquence, it has proved inimitable;

had it not come in a later age, it would have been an authority for the Arabs.

لما فهمت معانيها استناء بها

ذهنى وعدن لذهنى محنة الادب

When I grasped its meanings, my mind was illumined by them,

and they restored to my mind literature’s exacting test.

فان اجد فى امتثالى ما أمرت بها

فذاك من غرس فضل منك مكتسب

If, in complying, I accomplish what you commanded through it,

that is a gain from the seed of grace you planted.

كاتبتنى واداء الحق يعجزني

فلا أزال لكم قنًا مدى الحقب

You wrote to me, though giving you your due is beyond me;

so I shall remain your bondsman through all the ages.

لقد شرفت بودى والولاء لكم

ونسبة الود عندى اشرف النسب

Indeed, I am ennobled by my affection and allegiance to you,

for the bond of affection is, to me, the noblest lineage.

كم جئتكم ثم تثنيني مهابتكم

فانثنى وفنون الشوق تلعب بي

How often I have come to you, only to be turned back by awe of you;

I turn away while all the forms of longing play with me.

لا زلت ياجامع الآداب تلبس أث

واب المحاسن كلاً غير ذي نصب

May you ever, O compendium of the arts, wear the robes

of every virtue, untouched by weariness.

تجلى عليك فتستحلى غرائبها

افكار ذى الفضل فى أثوابها القشب

May they unveil themselves to you, that you may savor their wonders—

the thoughts of a man of merit in their fresh attire.