قدوم أتى باليسر والسعد مقبلا

وعود به وجه السرور تكملا

His arrival brought ease and good fortune, approaching

With promises, his face bringing joy to complete

وروض الهنا أبدى لنا غصن بانة

واهدى لنا من نشره ما تحملا

The meadows of bliss have given us a blooming branch

And gifted us with its blossoms an armful to bear

ووافى نسيم القرب ينشر ما انطوى

وقد زاد في اعذاره وتعللا

The breeze of proximity blew, spreading what was folded

Increasing in its excuses and pretending illness

وقام خطيب الدوح بالبشر ساجعا

وأبدع في انشائه وترسّلا

The speaker of the assembly rose to give glad tidings

And excelled in his prose, relaxed and flowing

ودهر لنا كانت تريش نصاله

وقد تاب مما قد جنى وتنصلا

Time for us had readied its arrows

But now repents what it had gathered and abandoned

وأضحت لنا كانت تريش نصاله

فاكرم بها دارا وربعا ومنزلا

Our time had readied its arrows

To honor us a house, lands, and homes

وغزلانها قد غازلتنا عيونها

الم تر فيها قد حمدنا التغزلا

Its gazelles have flirted their eyes with us

Have you not seen how we have praised this flirting

وقد كسيت من سندس الروض حلة

تجل لمعنى حسنها ان تفصلا

Adorned in the meadow’s silk raiment

Its beauty’s splendor shines if detailed

موشّعة تحلو بدر الندى الذي

علينا به قاضي القضاة تفضلا

Gleaming, sweet like the full moon’s dew

Bestowed upon us by the Judge of Judges graciously

فتى قصبات السبق حاز فيا له

جوادا كريما في الجياد محجلا

A youth who won precedents of horsemanship - what a

Noble, generous steed among steeds, decked out

هو الالمعي الماجد الفطن الذي

يكاد يجيب المرء عما تخيلا

He is the brilliant, glorious, ingenious Al-Alma’i

Who can barely suffice to answer one’s imaginings

فيوضح بالتسهيل ما كان غامضا

وبعرب بالتوضيح ما كان مشكلا

Clarifying the ambiguous with ease

And articulating the problematic clearly

معانيه لم أستوف بعض صفاتها

ولو أن مدحي جاء فيه مطولا

I cannot enumerate all the traits of his meanings

Even if my praise came prolonged for him

اذا رمت اتلو الحمد فيه مفصلا

بدأت ببسم الله في النظم اولا

When I aim to recite praise, beginning with In the Name of God

Then first composing verse for him

اليه حديث الجود يعزى لأنه

رواه عطا في النقل عنه مسلسلا

To him the discourse of generosity is attributed, for he

Relayed it, dictating from him uninterruptedly

سريع الندا وافي الحيا وافر العطا

ارى كل بحر عنده صار جدولا

Quick to help, true to his word, abundant in giving

I see every sea as but a stream to him

له سمر اقلام على الطرس ان جرت

جرى الجود منها منهلا وتسبّلا

His jet-black pens over parchment - if they flowed

Generosity streamed from them, a spring and river

سقتها اياديه فأثمرت الندا

وعادت كما كانت وأبهى واجملا

His hands have watered them, so they have borne fruit

And returned even more beautiful and perfect

فمن كفه در المكارم يجتنى

ومن لفظه در المحاسن يجتلى

From his palm the pearl of virtues is collected

And from his words the pearl of beauties gleams

كثير افتناء الحمد يرغب في الثنا

ويرفض لواما عليه وعذلا

Loving to be praised, he aspires for commendation

And rejects any blame upon him, embarrassed

ومبتدئا يعطيك قبل سؤاله

حياء ويخشى ان تقول فيخجلا

To a beginner, he gives before being asked

Out of shyness, fearing you might say, so he is shy

هو الغيث الا انه طاب نائلا

هو البحر الا ان مورده حلا

He is rain, except he came pure when attained

He is an ocean, except its shore is sweet

على انه اندى من البحر راحة

ونائله اضحى من الغيث اجزلا

Though it is cooler than the ocean’s expanse

And its attainment richer than rain’s torrents

فذاك تراه باكيا ومقطبا

وهذا تراه ضاحكا متهللا

So that you see the former crying and frowning

And the latter laughing and exultant

اذا انت رمت الحمد فيه مبالغا

على صيغة التفضيل تلقاه افضلا

If you seek to praise him excessively

In the style of aggrandizement, you will find him even better

غدا حرما للطائفين محله

فيا فوز من يسعى اليه مهرولا

Tomorrow his sanctuary will be a refuge for pilgrims

What bliss for one who strives hastily toward it

يفوز بما يرجوه من ام بابه

ويبلغ منه فوق ما كان املا

At his door one attains what one hopes for

And reaches beyond what one aspired to before

عليه بحسن المدح عولت في الندا

وما خاب من اضحى عليه معولا

I relied on praising him well for generosity

And one who relies on him is never let down

وافي وان قصرت في حق شكره

لارجو مدحي من نداه التطولا

Loyal, even if my gratitude falls short for him

I hope my praise will prolong for his giving

فيا روضة العليا ومنهاج دوحها

ومفتاح علم بابه كان مقفلا

O loftiest garden and straight path to its meadow

Key to the door of his knowledge that was locked

بماذا الذي ندعوك يا احمد الورى

تقول شهاب انت ام واحد العلا

What shall I call you, O Ahmed of all creation?

Shall I say you are the sun or the sole supreme?

فخذها من الدر النظيم بتيمة

فانك اولى من بها قد تكفلا

Take them from the prose I have strung as a pledge

For you are most worthy to undertake them

مدائحها السحر الحلال نسيبها

باوصافه المعنى الغريب تأهلا

Your praises - lawful magic, their rhymes - kinfolk

To your uncommon meanings - family, related

جياد المعاني استطردت في بديعها

الم تر فيها اللفظ كيف تعجلا

The steeds of meaning bolted in its rhetorical beauty

Have you not seen in it how words hurried?

بديعة حسن راق ماء انسجامها

وقد جل قدرا حسنها ان يمثلا

A beauty whose harmony’s water is exquisite

Its beauty so great it cannot be pictured

لتصديرها شيخ الشيوخ فلو رأى

لكان على ابياتها متطفلا

Sheikh al-Sheikhs authored it - if only he could see

He would be an addendum to its verses

ولو أن يوما للنباتي عارضت

لقال لها هذا النبات الذي حلا

If one day it contended with Ibn Nabata

He would say “This growth that has arrived”

وتسمو على طرح ابن برد بوشيها

ومن نسجه جاءت ارق واغزلا

It transcends Ibn Burd’s most excellent composition

And what he wove came finer and more spun

ولولاك لم يحسن محرر لفظها

ولا كان يحلو مجملا ومفصلا

Without you the words could not be mastered

Nor pleasant in its entirety or details

ولا اشرقت حسنا اهلة افقها

ولا انتظمت عقدا جواهرها ولا

Nor would its horizons shine beautifully

Nor its necklace of jewels be strung

فدم وابق واسلم فالزمان بكم صفا

وطاب مزاجا بالهنا وتعدّلا

With you time is unsullied, so stay eternally

And its humor improved, by our bliss, well-balanced

فلا زلت ترقى في صعود وفي علا

وشانيك قد افضى الهبوط به الى

You continue rising, ascending, and towering

While my state has declined, diminishing low

ولا زالت الامداح فيك ختامها

يفوح من الارجاء مسكا ومندلا

And praises of you, their conclusion -

Musk and perfume suffuse the horizon’s breadth