1. بِكُم شِعري على غَيري فَخورُ

    وكم زانت قَلائدَها النُّحورُ

    Through you, my verse takes pride over others.

    And how often throats have graced its necklaces!

  2. إذا ما قيل مَن رَبُّ البَرايا

    مَزايا فالأكُفُّ لَكُم تُشيرُ

    When it is asked, 'Who is humankind's master

    in virtues?' then the hands point to you.

  3. بِإبراهيمَ تَفتخرُ المَعالي

    فما كُفءٌ سِواهُ بها جَديرُ

    Lofty honors take pride in Ibrahim;

    for no peer but he is worthy of them.

  4. إذا ما رُمتُ وصفَه في قَريضي

    يَقولُ الشِّعرُ ذا شيءٌ عسيرُ

    Whenever I seek to describe him in my verse,

    poetry says, 'This is a difficult thing.'

  5. فَعَجزى ظاهرٌ في وصفِ كُلٍّ

    ولكن وصفَها الطَّرفُ الحَسيرُ

    So my inability to describe each one is plain,

    yet the weary eye has described them.

  6. أَيُمكِن حال إِشراقٍ لِشَمس

    يُحَدِّدُ وَصفها الطَّرفُ الحَسيرُ

    Can it be, while a sun is shining,

    that the weary eye can encompass its description?

  7. ووَصفُ البَحرِ للرَّائي مُحالٌ

    عنِ التَّحديدِ قد جَلَّت بُحورُ

    And describing the sea is impossible for the beholder;

    seas are indeed too vast to be bounded.

  8. إذا ما النَّاس طينَتُهم تُرابٌ

    فإبراهيمُ طينَتُه الشُّعورُ

    If people's clay is dust,

    then Ibrahim's clay is feeling.

  9. يُمازِجُها حَياءٌ في وقارٍ

    وأخلاقٌ يفاوِحُها العَبيرُ

    Modesty mingles with it in dignity,

    and virtues with which perfume vies in fragrance.

  10. به قَرَّت عيونُ الناسِ طُراًّ

    وأقوى الناسِ مولانا الأميرُ

    In him the eyes of all people find delight,

    and the mightiest of people is our lord, the prince.

  11. فلو شاهدتَه يُثني عليه

    بأوصافٍ هي المِسكُ العطيرُ

    Had you but seen him praising him

    with descriptions that are fragrant musk!

  12. وأوصافُ المًلوكِ مُلوكُ وصفٍ

    شَهادتُهم تُضيءُ بها السُّطُورُ

    And kings' descriptions are kings among descriptions;

    their testimony lights up the lines.

  13. رَأى منهُ خديماً لا يُضاهَى

    يُبَرهِنُ عن محبَّتهِ البُرورُ

    He saw in him a servant without peer,

    whose dutiful devotion bears witness to his love.

  14. رأى روحاً تَسير بدونِ جِسمٍ

    لِشِدَّةِ ما بها لعِبَ السُّرورُ

    He saw a spirit moving without a body,

    so intensely had joy played within it.

  15. تمنَّى لو يُفَرِّشُ وجنتَيهِ

    لِمَولانا المُؤَيَّدِ إذ يَزورُ

    He wished he could spread out his cheeks

    for our lord, the one upheld, when he visits.

  16. كذا الإخلاصُ عندَ ذويهِ دوماً

    يَكون لَدى اللِّقَاءِ له ظُهورُ

    Thus sincerity among those who possess it always

    becomes manifest at the meeting.

  17. أيا فخرَ المزَاوِرِ من شُبولٍ

    حَوالي خَيسهِم أسَدٌ هَصُورُ

    O pride of the Mazawir, those lion cubs,

    around whose lair is a mighty lion!

  18. تَباركَ من حَباكَ سَدادَ رأي

    وعَزماً ليس يَعروهُ فُتورُ

    Blessed is He who granted you sound judgment,

    and a resolve untouched by lassitude,

  19. وسِرّاً كامِناً في حُسنِ خلقٍ

    كما فاحت منَ الروضِ الزُّهورُ

    and a secret hidden in fine character,

    as flowers waft their fragrance from the garden.

  20. وشُكراً سيدي شكراً على ما

    تُخَصِّصُني به إني شَكورُ

    And thanks, my master—thanks for what

    you favor me with; indeed, I am grateful.

  21. فما أنا ناسياً ما دُمتُ حيًّا

    جميلاً بل وإن حلَّ النُشورُ

    For I shall not, as long as I live, forget

    a kindness—nay, not even when the Resurrection comes.

  22. ولا تحفل بِشعرٍ غير شِعري

    فشاعِرُكُم وخادِمُكم غَيورُ

    And pay no heed to any poetry but mine;

    for your poet and servant is jealous.

  23. بلى كيفَ اصطبارُ أخي لالٍ

    وقد ألفَى لها نَحراً يُنيرُ

    Indeed, how can a bearer of pearls be patient,

    when he has found for them a radiant throat?

  24. فدُمتَ لِكٌُلِّ عِزٍّ واغتِباطٍ

    ودامَ لِحفظِكَ المولى النَّصيرُ

    So may you endure in all honor and happiness,

    and may the Lord, the Helper, ever guard you.