بِأَي حُدُودٍ حُدَّ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ الشِّعْرُ

وَأَيِّ قُيُودٍ قُيِّدَ الحِسُّ وَالفِكْرُ

With what boundaries was poetry bounded before you

And with what shackles were sense and thought shackled

عَلَى مَا رَأَى الإِغْرِيقُ وَالرَّسْمُ رَسْمُهُمْ

جَرَى الجِيلُ بَعْدَ الجِيلِ وَالعَصْرُ فَالعَصْرُ

Based on what the Greeks saw and their method was their method

The generations flowed after the generations and the age after the age

وَظَلَّ مَثالاً لِلبَيَانِ مِثَالُهُمْ

وَأَمْرُهُمُ حَتَّى أَتَيْتَ هُوَ الأَمْرُ

And their example remained an example of eloquence

And their affair until you came was the affair

فَلَمَّا هَدَتْكَ الفِطْرَةُ السَّمْحَةُ الَّتِي

رَأَتْ أَنَّ أَسْراً كَيْفَ كَانَ هُوَ الأَسْرُ

So when the good nature that guided you saw

That bondage no matter how it was is bondage

وَأنَّ افْتِكاكاً مِن هَوىً مُتَمَكنٍ

عَنَاءٌ عَلَى مِقْدَارِهِ يَعْظُمُ الفَخْرُ

And that liberation from an entrenched passion

Is an ordeal according to its extent great pride

وَأَنَّ العُقُولَ المُسْتَرَقَّةَ حُرِّرَتْ

وَقَدْ آنَ أَنْ يَقْتَادَهَا القَلَمُ الحُرُّ

And that emancipated minds were liberated

And it was time for the free pen to lead them

أَسَلْتَ يَنَابِيعَ الفَصَاحَةِ كُلَّهَا

وَكَانَ الَّذِي يُمْتَاحُ مِنْهَا هُوَ النَّزْرُ

You unleashed the springs of eloquence all

And what was attainable from it was the little

فَللّهِ دَرَّ العَبْقَرِيَّةِ إِنَّهُ

لَفَيْضٌ إِذَا مَا غَاضَ مِنْ غَيْرِهَا الدُّرُّ

So for God the value of genius it is

An outpouring when the pearls of others ebb

لَهُ فِي النُّهَى عَزْمُ الإِتيِّ وَصَوْتُهُ

يُصَاحِبُهُ تَطْريبُهُ الفَخمُ وَالهَدْرُ

For it in purpose is strong determination and its voice

Its solemn and gentle murmur accompanies it

تَسَاقَاهُ أَعْشَابٌ فُتُوِفي نَصِيبَهَا

مِنَ الحُسْنِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلاَ يُحْرَمُ الزَّهْرُ

It was watered by plants and each got its share

Of beauty in life and the flower was not deprived

فَمِن أَيِّ أَوْجٍ بِالحَيَاةِ وَأَهْلِهَا

وَبِالكَوْنِ وَالأَحْدَاثِ أَلْمَمْتَ يَا نَسْرُ

So from which horizons in life and its people

And in the universe and events did you swoop, O eagle

وَفِي أَيِّ فَنٍّ مِنْ فُنُونِ جَمَالِهَا

تَعَايَى عَلَيْكَ النَّظْمُ أَوْفَاتَكَ النَّثْر

And in which art of its arts of beauty

Did prosody fail you or prose miss you

تُرَى سِيَرُ الأَحْقَابِ فِيمَا خَطَطْتَهُ

موَاثِلَ وَهْيَ الطِّرْسُ بِالعَيْنِ وَالحِبْرُ

The course of the eras is seen in what you planned

Confrontations, and it is the inscription with the eye and the ink

وَتَطَّرِدُ الأَحْقَابُ مِنَّا بِمَشْهَدٍ

وَإِنْ هِيَ إِلاَّ السَّطْرُ يَتْبَعُهُ السَّطْرُ

And the eras elapse from us in a scene

And it is but a line followed by a line

لَقَدْ جِئْتَ بِالبِدْعِ الَّذِي آبَ سُنَّةً

لَكَ الفَضْلِ فيهَا خَالِداً وَلَكَ الذِّكْرُ

You have come with the innovation which became a tradition

Yours is the merit in it enduring and yours is the mention

وَجَارَاكَ فِي الفَتْحِ الحَدِيثِ فَوَارِسٌ

تَوَازَعَ فِي عُقْبَاهُ بَيْنَكُمُ النَّصْرُ

And competing with you in the new conquest are horsemen

Victory in its aftermath is shared between you