نِعْمَ المُعِيْنُ عَلَى الآدَابِ وَالحِكَمِ

صَحَائِفٌ حُلُكُ الأَلْوَانِ كَالظُّلَمِ

A great aid for manners and wisdom

Pages of varied hues like the darkness

لاَ تَسْتَمِدُّ مِدَادَاً غَيْرَ صِبْغَتِهَا

فَسِرُّ ذِي الَّلبِّ فِيْهَا جِدُّ مُكْتَتَمِ

They draw no ink but their own dye

The secret of the heartfelt is locked within

خَفَّتْ وَجَفَّتْ فَلَمْ يَدْنَسْ لِحَامِلِهَا

ثَوْبٌ وَلَمْ يَخْشَ فِيْهَا نَبْوَةَ القَلَمِ

Light yet tough, unsullied by their holder

A robe unmarred by flaws of the pen

وَأَمْكَنَ الْمَحْوُ فِيْهَا الكَفَّ فَاتَّسَعَتْ

لِمَا تَضَمَّنُ مِنْ نَثْرٍ وَمُنْتَظِمِ

Erasing possible by palm so they expanded

For the prose and verse contained herein

حَلَّيْتُهَا بِلُجَيْنٍ وَانْتَخَبْتُ لَهَا

وِقَايَةً مِنْ ذَكِيِّ العُودِ لاَ الأَدَمِ

Adorned with aloeswood, I picked for them

Protection from the witty, not the clumsy

فَالْكُمُّ يَعْبَقُ مِنْهَا حِيْنَ تُودِعُهُ

عَرْفَاً تَنَسَّمُ فِيْهَا أَطْيَبَ النَّسَمِ

So musk scents them when you entrust

A fragrance you inhale, the sweetest breeze

لَوْ كُنَّ أَلْوَاحَ مُوسَى يَوْمَ يُغْضِبُهُ

هَارُونُ لَمْ يُلْقِهَا خَوْفَاً مِنَ النَّدَمِ

If Moses’ tablets, when Aaron angers him

He would not have thrown them, fearing regret