ليهن بنو الآمال أنك قادم

لك السعد والإقبال عبدٌ وخادم

May the sons of hope rejoice that you are coming.

Good fortune and prosperity are your slave and servant.

أرى العمر إلا يوم قربك باطلاً

كأنيَ بين الناس بعدك حالم

I see life as vain, save the day of nearness to you,

As though, among people in your absence, I were dreaming.

ويظمأ طرفي للقا وهو مدامعٌ

فيا لك ظامٍ وهو في الماء عائم

My eye thirsts to meet you, though filled with tears—

What a thirsty one you are, though swimming in water!

سقى الغيث عيساً للحجاز ركبتها

كما ركبت ظهر الرياح الغمائم

May rain water the pale camels you rode to the Hijaz,

As clouds ride the backs of the winds.

وحملتها عبء العلوم فمن رأى

قواعد شرع حملتها قوائم

You loaded them with the burden of learning—who has seen

The foundations of sacred law carried by legs?

ولما حللتَ البيتَ كاد مقامُه

للقياك يسعى فهو للسعي قائم

When you reached the House, its Station almost

Hastened to meet you; it stands ready to run.

وأذكرته في الوفد وفد قديمه

لأنك للأموال في الجود هاشم

Among the pilgrims, you reminded it of its pilgrims of old,

For in generosity you are a Hashim, breaking up wealth.

يطوف بك المعترّ بعد طوافه

ويلثم بعد الركن كفك لاثم

The supplicant circles you after completing his circuit,

And whoever kisses the Corner then kisses your palm.

إلى أن ملأت الحجر بالبيت والورى

لهذا كراماتٌ وهذا مكارم

Until you filled the enclosure at the House and humankind—

The one with miraculous graces, the other with generous deeds.

وعدتَ إلى أوطان يثرب غانماً

وفي كلّ أرضٍ من نداك مغانم

You returned to the lands of Yathrib enriched,

While every land has gains from your bounty.

فعاد إلى علم المدينة مالكٌ

وعاد إلى جود البداوة حاتمُ

Thus Malik returned to the learning of Medina,

And Hatim returned to the bounty of desert life.

وكادت تبارينا دمشق بشجوها

إليك وقد تشجى الرّبى والمعالم

Damascus almost rivaled us in her yearning

For you—and hills and landmarks, too, can grieve.

لئن أوحشتها منك ربوة سؤدد

لقد أوحشتها من نداك المقاسم

If her hill of eminence was desolate without you,

Her places of sharing were surely desolate without your bounty.

فوافيتها والعيش مقتبل الهنا

وعزمك مبرور وسرحك سالم

So you reached her, life in the first bloom of joy,

Your resolve blessed and your herd safe.

تشير لرؤياك الغصون بأنملٍ

وتفترّ من عجبٍ عليها الكمائم

The branches gesture with fingertips at the sight of you,

And the buds upon them part their lips in wonder.

وتهتزّ أعواد المنابر فرحةً

فهل رجعتْ للعهد وهي نواعم

The timbers of the pulpits sway with joy—

Have they returned to the days when they were tender boughs?

وما هي إلا غابُ مجدٍ توطنت

مساكنه أشبالكم والضراغم

They are but a forest of glory; dwelling

In its lairs are your lion-cubs and mighty lions.

وعظتم وقد أحصيتمُ درجاتها

كما صدحت فوق الغصون الحمائم

You preached, having counted their steps,

As doves sang upon the branches.

إليك جلال الدين أصبحت العلى

وسلَّم أعراب الورَى والأعاجم

The heights of glory are now yours, Jalal al-Din,

And the world's Bedouin Arabs and non-Arabs yield.

إذا ريم خير أو تعرّض حادث

روى نافع عن شيمتيك وعاصم

When good is sought or a misfortune arises,

Nafi and Asim tell of your two qualities.

سبقت إلى الفضل السراة فما لهم

من الجهد إلا أن تعضّ الأباهم

You outstripped the nobles in excellence; nothing remains for them

For all their striving but to bite their thumbs.

وجُدتَ على داني الديار ونازح

كأن المداني للبعيد مساهم

You gave generously to those dwelling near and far,

As though the near shared equally with the distant.

فما فات رزق من تنبه للسرى

ومن يتمنى رزقه وهو نائم

No sustenance missed the one who woke to travel by night,

Nor the one who wishes for his sustenance while asleep.

لك القلم الراقي سحائب أنمل

تريك رياض الخطّ وهي بواسم

Yours is the pen that climbs the rainclouds of fingertips;

They show you gardens of script, all smiling.

إذا هزّ في يوم الخطوب فعامل

وإن هزَّ في يوم الخطاب فعالم

When wielded on a day of crises, it is a man of action;

And when wielded on a day of discourse, a scholar.

علوتَ إلى أن جئتَ بالشهب منطقاً

يضيءُ به سارٍ وينهلّ شائم

You rose so high you brought bright stars as speech,

By which a night traveler finds light, and a rain-watcher drinks deep.

وسكّنت من جور الزمان محرّكاً

لأنك بالأفعال في الفضل جازم

You stilled one agitated by time's injustice,

For in excellence you are decisive through your deeds.

ونفّقت قولي وهو في الدهر كاسدٌ

وحققت ظني وهو في الخلق واهم

You made my verse sell, though it lay unsaleable in this age,

And made my hopes come true, though in others they were misplaced.

ونبهت من قدري الذي طال واعتلى

وأقدار قوم في التراب رمائم

You exalted my standing, which towered and rose high,

While other men's ranks are decaying remains in the dust.

وكم مدحة لي فيك عاجلها الغِنى

كما نثرت فوق العروس الدّراهم

How many a praise-poem of mine for you was swiftly met with wealth,

As dirhams are scattered over a bride.

قطعت بها أيدي وأرجل حاسدٍ

كما تتلوّى في الصعيد الأراقم

With them I severed an envier's hands and feet—

He writhes as speckled serpents writhe on the bare earth.

من اللاء تسري في دجى من مدادها

وتجلى كما تجلى النجوم العواتم

Among those that journey through darkness made of their ink,

And are unveiled as dimmed stars are unveiled.

فخذها صناع اللفظ من متأخرٍ

مضى زمن عن مثلها متقادم

So take it, skillfully worded, from a latter-day poet;

A long age has passed since its like was seen.

مشوّقة الميمات يحسن رشفها

فيحلف إلا أنهنَّ مباسم

Alluring in its mims, which are sweet to sip,

So one would swear they are nothing but smiling mouths.

علينا اجتهاد القول فيك وما على

أخي الجهد أن تقضى الحقوق اللوازم

We must strive in speaking your praise; it is not required

Of one who strives that every binding due be paid.

لئن كلفتْ علياك فكرة مادحٍ

وفاء معانيها لحسنك ظالم

If your loftiness asks a poet's mind

To do full justice to its meanings, your beauty is unjust.