خَمْسُونَ لا تُنْسَى مِنَ الأحْوَالِ

مَرَّتْ وَأَنْتَ بِهَا لِسَانَ الحَالِ

Fifty years not forgotten in events

You lived through as the tongue of fate spoke

دَالَتْ بِهَا دُوَلٌ وَلاَقَيْتَ الَّذِي

لاَقَيْتَ مِنْ غِيَرٍ ومِنْ أَهْوَالِ

States rose and fell as you met what

You met from others and from calamities

ثَبْتاّ وَعَزْمُكَ مُسْتَزِيدٌ قُوَّةً

مِنْ طارِىءِ الإِدْبَارِ لِلإقْبَالِ

Steadfast, your resolve growing stronger

Against the ebb and flow of time

أَلسُّحْبُ تُطْبِقُ وَالنجُومُ عَوَاثِرٌ

وَهُوَ المَنَارَةُ ضَوْءُهَا مُتَلاَلِي

Clouds gather as stars fall as shooting stars

While it remains the beacon, its light undimmed

كَمْ فِي صَحَائِفِكَ الَّتِي أَخْرَجتَها

مِنْ جُهْدِ أَيَّامٍ وَسُهْدِ لَيَالِي

How much in your volumes compiled

From the toil of days and nights' vigil

كَمْ ذُدْتَ عَنْ حَقٍ وَكَمْ سَدَّدْتَ مِنْ

رَأْيٍ وَكَمْ بدَّدْتَ شَمْلَ ضَلاَلِ

How much you defended what’s right and made straight

Opinion, dispelled the unity of misguidance

فَأَنَارَ أَهْلَ الحَزْمِ كُل حَقِيقَة

وَأَثَارَ أَهْلَ العَزْمِ كُلُّ خَيَالِ

So for the discerning you illuminated each truth

And stirred the resolute with every imagination

مَا أَنْسَ لاَ أَنْسَ المُؤَازَرَةَ الَّتِي

أَوْلَيْتَنِيها فِي الزَّمَانِ الخَالِي

Unforgotten, never will I forget the support

You gave me in my empty time

أَيَّامَ يَبْتَعِثُ الشَّبَابُ عَزيمَتِي

وَأَجُولُ فِي شَوْطِ البَيَانِ مَجَالِي

Days where youth emboldens my resolve

And I roam in the field of rhetoric freely

وَأَرَى الحَيَاةَ تَبَشُّ لِي فِيهَا المُنَى

عَنْ أَلْفِ ثَغْرٍ فِي حُرُوقِ مَقَالِي

And see life smiling before me

At a thousand facets in my fiery speeches

فَرَعَيْتَنِي طِفْلاً وَأَيُّ مُهَيِّيءِ

لِتَقَدُّمٍ كَرِعَايَةِ الأطْفَالِ

You nurtured me as a child, and what preparation

For advancement like raising children

وَإِلَى الحِمَى أَهْدَيْتَ كُتَّاباً بِهِمْ

يَعْتَزُّ دَعْ مَنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَشْكَالِي

And to protection guided me books with which

I take pride, no matter detractors’ forms

عَهْدَ الخَلِيلِ سَقَتْكَ أَصْفى دَرِّهَا

دِيَمُ الضُّحَى وَغَمَائِمُ الآصَالِ

The era of the sincere quenched you with its purest nectar

Always shining, clouds of nightfall

كنْتَ الطَّليعَةَ فِي الزَّمَانِ المُرْتَجَى

لِتَحَوُّلِ الأَفْكَارِ وَالأَحْوَالِ

You were the vanguard in the awaited time

For the change of ideas and circumstances

وَأَبُو الصَّحَافَةِ فِيكَ يَدْأَبُ دَأْبَهُ

نَسْجاً بِلاَ سَأَمٍ عَلَى مِنْوَالِ

And the father of journalism in you works his work

Weaving tirelessly to a pattern

كَانَ الخَلِيلُ بِجِدِّهِ وَثَبَاتِهِ

لِلْمُقْتَدِينَ بِهِ أَجَلَّ مِثَالِ

The sincere with his dedication and steadfastness

Was for his followers the finest example

فَلاَّلُ غَرْبِ الكَارِثَاتِ بِحَمْلِهِ

لِلحَادِثَاتِ وهُنَّ جِدُّ ثِقَالِ

So he carried the burden of catastrophes with his capacity

For events, though weariness weighs heavy

يَجْنِي المُنَى كَالوَرْدِ مِنْ أَشْوَاكِهَ

وِيُهوِّنُ الآلاَمَ بِالآمَالِ

He reaps bliss like roses from their thorns

And eases pain with hopes

وَيَظَلُّ مَا شَاءَ الوَفَاءُ لِقَوْمِهِ

حَرْبَ العَدُوِّ وَسِلْمَ كُلِّ مُوالِ

And remains as long as loyalty to his people dictates

Fighting the enemy and appeasing each ally

فِي صُورَةِ الحَمَلِ الوَدِيعِ وَرُبَّمَا

أَلْفَيْتَهُ فِي صَوْلَةِ الرِّئْبَالِ

In the guise of a gentle lamb, though you may

Find him in the rage of a snarling wolf

إِنِّي لأَذْكُرُ وَجْهَهُ الحُرِّ الَّذِي

زَانَ المَشِيبُ بَهَاءَهُ بِجَلاَلِ

I remember his free face made majestic

By the silver of old age with grace

جَمَعَ الصَّبَاحَةَ وَالسَّمَاحَةَ وَالرِّضَى

مُتَرَائِياتٍ فِي مِزَاجِ جَمَالِ

Bringing together wit, amiability, and contentment

Interplaying traits of beauty

وَأَرَى وُجُوهَ ثِقَاتِهِ مِنْ حَوْلِهِ

وَكَأَنَّ سِتْرَ الغَيْبِ يَجْلُوهَا لِي

And I see the faces of his confidants around him

As if the veil of the unseen were drawn back for me

مِنْ كُلِّ مِعْوَانٍ سَوَادُ مِدَادِهِ

نُورٌ وَمَرْمَى نَاظِرَيْهِ عَالِي

From every trusted ally, the black of his ink

Is light, and the gaze of his eyes high

مَلأُوا صَحِيفَتَهُ بِمَا تُمْلِي النُّهَى

مِنْ رَائِعِ الآرَاءِ وَالأَقْوَالِ

They filled his pages with what integrity dictates

Of splendid opinions and words

وسَلِيمٌ اللَّبِقُ الأَدِيبُ يُفِيضُ مِنْ

بَحْرِ ابْتِكَارِ بَاهِرَاتِ لآَلي

And Salim the eloquent, refined, overflows

From an ocean of dazzling innovation

يَأْتِي بِكلِّ طَرِيفَةٍ بِكْرٍ لَهَا

مِنْ جِدَّةٍ ما لَمْ يَمُرَّ ببَالِ

Bringing every witty virgin idea that holds

A newness unlike what came before

وَيَرى كَوَرْيِ الزَّنْدِ خَاطِرُهُ بِمَا

يَجرِي عَلَى قَلَمٍ لَهُ سَيَّالِ

And his mind sees cascades of ideas

Flowing from a pen of his, prolific

عهْدٌ مَضَى وَغَدا أَعِزَّتُهُ الأولَى

أَحْيَوَا بِلاَداً فِي الرَّمِيمِ البَالِي

An era passed, and its dearest first

Brought dead lands to life

لَكِنَّ مَنْ حَرَمَ العُيُونَ خَلِيلَهَا

سَرَّ القُلُوبَ بِأَكْرَمِ الأَنْجَالِ

But he who deprived eyes of their friend

Gladdened hearts with the noblest youth

يَا رَامِزَ الخَيْرَ الَّذِي آدَابُهُ

فِي عَارِفِيهِ مَضَارِبُ الأَمْثَالِ

O emblem of goodness whose manners

Are for those who know them proverbs sublime

وَخِلاَلُهُ فِي بَالِغي أَعْلَى الذُّرَى

بِمَكَارِمِ الأَخْلاَقِ خَيْرُ خِلاَلِ

And whose ways are for me the epitome

Of moral excellence and rectitude

بِكَ يَسْتَدِيمُ المَجْدُ ذُخْرَ أَمَانَةٍ

هِيَ فِي يَدَيْكَ أَمَانَةٌ الأَجْيَالِ

Through you glory always keeps safe the trust

Which in your hands is generations’ trust

فَاهْنَأ بِيُوبِيلِ اللِّسَانِ وَنَلْ بِهِ

مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ حُبٍ ومِنْ إِجْلاَلِ

So congratulations on your tongue’s jubilee

Take what love and veneration you desire

وَاسْلَمْ لَهُ دَهْراً مَدِيداً وَلْيَدُمْ

عُنْوَانَ فَضْلٍ فِي الحِمَى وَكَمَالِ

And surrender to it an enduring time, and let

Virtue and perfection in protection endure