1. نَزَلوا بحيثُ السّفْحُ من نُعمانِ

    حيثُ الهوى وملاعبُ الغزلانِ

    They alighted where the slope of Nu'man lies,

    where love dwells and gazelles have their playgrounds.

  2. هامَ الفؤاد بهم وزادَ صبابةً

    يا شدَّ ما يلقى من الهَيَمان

    My heart was enthralled by them, and its longing grew;

    how fiercely it suffers love's distraction!

  3. يا لَيتهم عَلموا على بعدِ النوى

    ماذا أُلاقي بَعدهم وأُعاني

    If only, across the distance of separation, they knew

    what I endure and suffer after their departure.

  4. كيفَ السلوُّ ولي فؤادٌ مُغرمٌ

    في مَعزلٍ مني عن السُّلوان

    How can I forget, when mine is an enamored heart,

    aloof from me and far removed from consolation?

  5. أصْبو إلى وادي العقيق وأدفعي

    لشبيهةُ وأبيك بالعِقيان

    I yearn for the valley of al-Aqiq, and my [tears?]

    are indeed like pure gold, by your father.

  6. وبمهجتي نارٌ تشبُّ من الجوى

    إنّ الجوى لمهيُّجُ النيران

    Within my heart a fire blazes from burning grief;

    burning grief is indeed a kindler of fires.

  7. لا تُكثرا عذلي فإنَّ مسامعي

    صُمَّت عن اللاّحي إذا يلحاني

    Do not, you two, reproach me so much, for my ears

    have gone deaf to the reproacher when he rebukes me.

  8. يا صاحبيّ ترَفَّقا إنِّي أرى

    فيما أُعاني غيرَ ما تَريان

    My two companions, be gentle: I see

    in what I suffer something other than what you see.

  9. هذا الفُؤاد وهذه أعلاقُه

    ضاق الغرام به عن الكتمان

    Here is the heart, and here are its cherished attachments;

    its passion has grown too great for concealment.

  10. فعلَ ادِّكاري بي لأيام مضَتْ

    ما تفعل الصهباءُ بالنشوان

    My remembrance of days gone by did to me

    what ruddy wine does to the intoxicated.

  11. أيامَ كنتُ لَهوْتُ في زمن الصبا

    وطرِبْتُ بين مثالثٍ ومثاني

    The days when I made merry in the season of youth,

    and delighted amid the lute's third and second strings;

  12. أيامَ نادمْتُ البدور طوالعاً

    والشمسُ تُشرق من بروج دنان

    the days when I drank with rising full moons,

    while the sun shone from the towers of wine jars.

  13. راحٌ إذا علَّ النديمُ بكاسها

    ما للهموم عليه من سلطان

    Wine: when the boon companion drank deeply from its cup,

    cares held no dominion over him.

  14. بَرَزتْ لنا منها السُّقاة بقَرفٍ

    قد كلِّلت بالدُّر والمرجان

    From it the cupbearers came forth to us with a leather vessel,

    already crowned with pearls and coral.

  15. ويُديرها أحوى أغنَّ إذا رنا

    سَحرَ العقول بناظرٍ وسْنان

    A dark-lipped, soft-voiced one passes it round; when he gazes,

    he enchants minds with a drowsy eye.

  16. ومُهفهفِ الأعطافِ خِلْتُ قوامَه

    من خَوْط بانٍ يا له من بان

    And a slender-waisted one, whose stature I imagined

    a shoot of the ban tree—what a ban-tree he was!

  17. في روضةٍ تزهو بمنهلّ الحيا

    بتنوُّعِ الأشكال والألوان

    In a garden flourishing with pouring rain,

    with its variety of shapes and colors;

  18. وتأرَّجَتْ فيها بأنفاس الصِّبا

    زهر الرُّبا بالرَّوْح والرَّيحان

    and there, with the breaths of the east wind, grew fragrant

    the hilltop blossoms, with refreshing air and fragrant herbs.

  19. تتَرنَّم الأوتار في نَغماتها

    من غير ألفاظٍ أتَتْ لمعاني

    The strings sing in their melodies,

    without words conveying meanings.

  20. فكأنَّما تلك القِيانُ حمائمٌ

    تُملي عليك غرائب الألحان

    Those singing girls seem like doves,

    dictating wondrous melodies to you.

  21. زمن الشبيبة مُذْ فَقدْتُك لم أجِدْ

    للَّهو عندي والهوى بمكان

    O season of youth, since losing you I have found

    no place within me for amusement or love.

  22. فارقتُ مذ فارقتُ عَصْرك أوجهاً

    طَلعَتْ علينا كالبدور حسان

    Since I left your age, I have parted from faces

    that rose before us, beautiful as full moons.

  23. تسطو على العشاق من لحظاتها

    بصوارمٍ مشحوذة وسِنان

    They assail lovers through their glances,

    with honed swords and a spearpoint.

  24. وصَحَوتُ من شكر الشباب وغيّةِ

    وأرَحْتُ من قد لامني ولحاني

    And I sobered from youth's [intoxication?] and folly,

    and relieved those who had blamed and reproached me.

  25. وعَرَفتُ إذ حلَّ المشيبُ بعارضي

    أنَّ الهوى سَببٌ لكلّ هوان

    When gray hair settled on my cheek, I knew

    that love is a cause of every humiliation.

  26. كانَ النسيبُ شقيقَ روحي والهوى

    في مهجتي وقراره بجنابي

    Love poetry was the twin of my soul, and love

    was in my heart, its dwelling at my side.

  27. فهجرتُه هجرَ الخليلِ خَليلَه

    من بعد ما قد حَلَّني وجَفاني

    So I forsook it as a friend forsakes his friend,

    after it had released me and shunned me.

  28. وأخَذتُ أُنشِدُ في الثناء قصائدي

    بالسيّد السَنَد العظيم الشان

    And I began reciting my poems of praise

    of the lord, the mainstay, great in standing.

  29. قَلَّدْتُه غُرُر الثناء قلائداً

    ما لم تكنْ لقلائد العقيان

    I hung the choicest praises about him as necklaces,

    of a kind unknown to necklaces of pure gold.

  30. أشفي الصُّدور بمدحِه ومديحُهُ

    كالماء يَنْقعُ غُلَّة الظمآن

    I heal hearts with his praise, and his praise

    is like water quenching the thirsty one's burning thirst.

  31. إنَّ المناقبَ والمعاليَ كلَّها

    بِعَليّ هذا العالم الإنساني

    All virtues and lofty merits indeed

    are in Ali, this human universe.

  32. وإذا تَعرَّضْنا لجودِ يمينه

    عَرَضتْ لنا بالعارض الهتَّان

    And when we seek the generosity of his right hand,

    it appears before us as a cloud pouring rain.

  33. شَمِلتْ مكارمُه العُفاة فلم تجد

    إلاَّ غريقاً منه بالإحسان

    His generous deeds embrace the petitioners; you find

    none but one drowned in his beneficence.

  34. مُتفرِّدٌ بالمجد واحدُ عصرِه

    ما في الرِّجال لمجدِه من ثان

    Unique in glory, peerless in his age,

    among men his glory has no equal.

  35. إنْ عُدَّتِ الأعيان من ساداتها

    أبصَرتْ عينَ أولئك الأعيان

    If the eminent among their leaders are counted,

    you behold the choicest—the very eye—of those notables.

  36. هذا النقيب الهاشميُّ ويا له

    إنسانُ عين العزِّ من إنسان

    This is the Hashimite naqib—how remarkable he is:

    the pupil of honor's eye—what a man!

  37. هذا عليُّ القَدْرِ وابنُ علائِه

    المنتمي شَرفاً إلى عَدنان

    This is Ali, high in rank, a son of lofty honor,

    whose noble descent leads to Adnan.

  38. كم شنَّفَتْ أذناً مناقبُه الَّتي

    تُلِيَت محاسنُها بكلّ لسان

    How often his virtues have adorned an ear,

    their beauties recited in every tongue!

  39. وإذا شَهِدتْ جمالَه وجلالَه

    أبصَرتْ ما لا تسمع الأذُنان

    And when you behold his beauty and majesty,

    you see what the two ears cannot hear.

  40. لو يدَّعي فيه الفخارُ مُفاخرٌ

    ما احتاج يومئذٍ إلى برهان

    If a boaster claimed glory through him,

    he would need no proof that day.

  41. حازوا الرئاسة والسيادة والعلى

    أبناء عبد القادر الكيلاني

    They have won leadership, lordship, and exalted rank—

    the sons of Abd al-Qadir al-Kilani.

  42. شيخُ الطريقة والحقيقة مقتدى

    لقمان عمَّا جاءَ عن لقمان

    The shaykh of the Path and the Truth, an exemplar—

    a Luqman, judging by what has been related of Luqman.

  43. كُشِفَتِ له الأسرار وهي غوامضٌ

    دَقَّتْ على الأفكار والأذهان

    Mysteries were unveiled to him, though they were obscure,

    too subtle for thoughts and minds.

  44. غَوثُ الصَّريخ المستجير ببابه

    لا مُعرضٌ عنهُ ولا متواني

    The succor of the distressed who seeks refuge at his door,

    he neither turns away from him nor delays.

  45. مُذْ فاز حيًّا في كرامة ربّه

    ومن الكرامة فاز بالرضوان

    Since, while alive, he prospered in his Lord's grace,

    and through that grace won divine approval;

  46. ومن المواهب لا يزال مريدهُ

    يعطي مزيد الأمن والإيمان

    and among his gifts, his disciple never ceases

    to give increasing security and faith.

  47. من زارَ مرقده الشريفَ أمدَّه

    بالرُّوح من إمداده الروحاني

    Whoever visits his noble resting place, he sustains

    with spirit from his spiritual support.

  48. لا يستطيع الملحدون بزَعمِهم

    إنكارَ ما شَهِدتْ به الثقلان

    The unbelievers, with all their claims, cannot

    deny what humankind and jinn have attested.

  49. وإذا الفتى شَمِلَتْه منه عناية

    أغْنت عن الأنصار والأعوان

    And if his care embraces a young man,

    it dispenses with supporters and helpers.

  50. هو قطب دائرة يدور مدارها

    أبد الزمان ومنتهى الدَوَران

    He is the axis of a circle whose orbit turns

    for all time, to the utmost limit of revolution.

  51. بعوارفٍ ومعارفٍ ولطائفٍ

    تُجلى القلوب بها من الأدران

    Through favors, insights, and subtle graces,

    hearts are polished clean of defilements.

  52. مولاي أنتَ وأَنْتَ غاية مطلبي

    وإليك منتجعي وعنك بياني

    You are my master, and the goal of my quest;

    to you I come for bounty, and of you I speak.

  53. قد حُزت من شهر الصيام ثوابَه

    وغَنِمتَ فيه الأجر من رمضان

    You have gained the reward of the month of fasting,

    and won therein the recompense of Ramadan.

  54. فليَهْنَك العيدُ السَّعيدُ بعَوْده

    واسلم ودُم فينا أبا سلمان

    May the happy festival gladden you with its return;

    be safe and remain among us, Abu Salman.