ألذ حديث ما روته الحبائب

وأعذبه ما قد حوته الجوائب

The sweetest talk is what the loved ones recounted,

And the most delicious is what the bosoms contained,

صحائف ننميها لأحمد فارس

وما هو إلا البحر وهي السحائب

Pages we cultivate for Ahmed the Knight,

It is but the sea and they are the clouds.

احاديث شتى نظمت في صحيفة

كعقد لآل والطروس ترائب

Various conversations composed on a page,

Like a necklace of pearls and gems adorning,

فرائد درّ من فوائدها بدت

وابكار افكار حسان غرائب

Exquisite ideas shone from its benefits,

And brilliant thoughts were strange wonders.

هي البرج زانته الكواكب في العلا

أو البرج حلته العذارى الكواعب

It is the tower adorned with stars in the horizon,

Or the tower where the maidens resided.

وتحسب من لطف الفنون خميلة

جميلة أفنان وفيها الاطايب

And it seemed from the gentleness of the arts, delightful,

Beautiful, skilled, and in it were aromas.

ويكرم مثواها لدى كل فاضل

وفيها لكل العالمين رغائب

And its dwelling was honored by every virtuous one,

And in it for all the worlds were wishes.

لقد طبعت قصداً على الصدق فانجلت

بها عن خفيات الأمور غياهب

It was composed with truth and so it shone,

Through it the hidden matters of affairs became clear.

رقيقة لفظ حرة عربية

مهذبة ما شانها قط عائب

Delicate in wording, free Arabic,

Refined, never in any way blamable.

فقل لحسود رام ادراك شأوها

تنكب والا قطرتك المناكب

So say to the envious one who sought to reach its status,

Turn away or else shed your tears.

بديع المعاني ربها غير انه

لقس ايادٍ في الفصاحة غالب

Marvelous in meaning, its Lord is He,

Though hands were harsh in eloquence, victorious.

إذا سفرت جلت معارفها كما

ترى لك من ذاك النقاب مناقب

When it traveled, its knowledge became apparent,

As you see for yourself from that veil, virtues.

لها يخطب القول الانيق وضده

كخابط ليل أو به هو حاطب

For it, the excellent word woos, and its contrary,

Like one groping in the night, or with it, firewood collecting.

وما هو إلا الشمس عم ضيائها

ومن هم سواه ان سموا فكواكب

And it is but the sun—immense is its light,

And who else are they if named but stars?

إذا شاء إنشاء فلله دره

يرى الدر فيه والدراري الثواقب

Whenever it composed, by God his worth,

The jewels in it and the probing insights were seen.

وتسكن في أبيات شعر نظامه

عقائل غيد بالعقول لواعب

And there settle in the verses of its systematic composition,

Intellects caressed gently by hearts enraptured.

وكل القوافي واقفات لأمره

فيختار منهن التي هو طالب

And all the rhymes are standing for its command,

So it chooses from among them what it desires.

كذاك غدت كل الفواصل طوته

رقائقها تجلى له فيكاتب

Thus have all the punctuation become submissive to it,

Its subtlety revealed to it, so it might inscribe.

اديب غدا الشعر الجميل شعاره

وينثر كالمنثور إذ هو كاتب

A literary figure whom poetry made his banner,

And he disseminates as if disseminated when he is scribe.

فلا تطلبوا يا حاسديه لحاقه

فذاك محال والمزايا مواهب

So do not, O envious ones, seek to catch up with him,

For that is impossible, and gifts are God-given.

ولا تطمعوا ان تغلبوا في جدله

تجد لكم منه ليوث غوالب

And do not hope to overcome him in his discourse,

You will find in him lions victorious.

همام تسمى فارساً عن تفرس

فذا الاسم في هذا المسمى مناسب

They are called knights for their discernment,

So this name suits this attributed one.

فلا زال في افق العلا بكماله

مشارقنا تثني كذاك المغاربُ

He never ceased to be in the horizon with his perfection,

Our easts and likewise the wests praise him.