1. دعِ العذلَ إني أكره العذلَ والغَدْرا

    وإن خان من أهوى أقمتُ له العُذرا

    Leave off reproach: I loathe reproach and treachery.

    Even if the one I love betrays me, I find an excuse for him.

  2. ولم أرضَ أيضاً ما حييتُ جنايةً

    فمثلي لا يرضى الجناية والغدرا

    Nor have I, throughout my life, approved wrongdoing either;

    For one like me accepts neither wrongdoing nor treachery.

  3. بَراني هوى ظبيٍ غريرٍ مهفهفٍ

    كبدرِ الدُجى بل وجهُه يُخجِل البدرا

    Love for a guileless, slender-waisted gazelle has wasted me away,

    Like the full moon of night—rather, his face puts the full moon to shame.

  4. نذرتُ إذا ما زار في النوم مضجعي

    خيالٌ له صوماً ولا أخلِفُ النّذرا

    I vowed that, if ever my bed were visited in sleep

    By a vision of him, I would fast—and I do not break my vow.

  5. تأمّلْ ترى في طرفِه السّحرَ كامناً

    وذُقْ ريقَه تلق المعتّقة الخمرا

    Look closely: you will see magic lurking in his glance;

    And taste his saliva: you will find aged wine.

  6. إذا جاد لي يوماً بخمرةِ ثغرِه

    على ظمأٍ أحسَسْتُ في كبدي جمرا

    If one day he grants me the wine of his lips,

    In my thirst, I feel embers in my liver.

  7. ذلِلْتُ به من بعدِ عزٍّ ومنعة

    وأوسعتُه وصلاً فأوسعني هَجرا

    Through him I was humbled, after honor and strength;

    I lavished union on him; he lavished estrangement on me.

  8. إذا جئتُه أستنجزُ الوعدَ في الهوى

    يرفّعُ عِرنيناً ويُسمعُني هُجرا

    When I come to him, seeking fulfillment of the promise in love,

    He lifts his nose and makes me hear abusive words.

  9. بوجنته روضٌ أنقٌ مدبّجٌ

    يفتّحُ في عين الذي ينظرُ الزّهرا

    On his cheek is a lovely, richly embroidered garden,

    Which opens its blossoms in the beholder's eye.

  10. بدا لي وكأس الخمرِ في يده بدت

    فأبصرتُ بدراً يحملُ الأنجُم الزّهرا

    He appeared to me, and the winecup appeared in his hand;

    So I saw a full moon carrying the bright stars.

  11. وقد كنتُ في ليلٍ من الصدّ مظلمٍ

    فلما بدا أبصرتُ في وجهه الفجرا

    And I had been in a dark night of rejection;

    Then, when he appeared, I saw dawn in his face.

  12. حوى الحسنَ والظّرفَ البديعَ كما حوى ال

    إمامُ الفقيهُ الحافظُ الأمجدُ الفخرا

    He possessed beauty and exquisite charm, just as the

    Imam—the jurist, master of tradition, most illustrious—possessed glory.

  13. هو العالمُ العلاّمةُ العلَم الذي

    له همّةٌ علياءُ جاوزتِ النّسْرا

    He is the scholar, the great savant, the luminary

    Whose lofty ambition has surpassed the eagle.

  14. له راحةٌ فيها لراجيه راحةٌ

    إذا ما رآها معسِرٌ صاحَبَ اليُسرا

    His palm holds comfort for those who hope in him;

    When a man in hardship sees it, ease becomes his companion.

  15. وأحسنُ ما فيه إذا جئت طالباً

    ندى راحتَيه يُكثرُ الرّحْبَ والبِشرا

    And his finest trait is this: when you come seeking

    The bounty of his palms, he abounds in welcome and good cheer.

  16. لقد طيّب الرحمن أخلاقه لنا

    كما منه فينا طيّب الذِّكر والنّشرا

    The Merciful has surely made his character sweet to us,

    Just as He has made his remembrance and renown sweet among us.

  17. إذا ما رأيتَ الوافدينَ ببابه

    فقُل لهمُ يهنيكمُ لكمُ البُشرى

    If ever you see visitors at his door,

    Then tell them, 'May it bring you joy! Glad tidings are yours.'

  18. ترى مالَه نهباً ترى عِرضَه حِمًى

    وسؤدُدَه جمّاً ونائلَه غَمرا

    You see his wealth free for the taking, his honor a guarded sanctuary,

    And his nobility abundant, his bounty overflowing.

  19. حمى الفضلَ والمجدَ المؤثّلَ والحِجى

    ولم أرَ زيداً قد حواها ولا عَمرا

    He safeguards excellence, deep-rooted glory, and wisdom;

    Nor have I seen Zayd or Amr possess them.

  20. وليس بمُفشٍ سرّ خِلٍّ وصاحبٍ

    حفاظاً له حاشاهُ أن يفشيَ السّرا

    Nor does he divulge the secret of a dear friend or companion,

    Out of loyalty to him—far be it from him to reveal a secret.

  21. على الخيرِ موقوفٌ برغمٍ عدوّه

    ولم يره قطّ امرؤٌ يقصد الشّرا

    He is devoted to good, to his enemy's chagrin;

    And no one has ever seen him intending evil.

  22. وجوهُ أعاديه من الغيظِ أصبحتْ

    على رغمِهم من فرطِ غيظهم صُفرا

    His enemies' faces, from rage, have turned

    Yellow, despite themselves, from the excess of their fury.

  23. جوادٌ بما تحوي يداه تبرّعاً

    وراحتُه من جودِه لم تزلْ صِفْرا

    He is generous with all his two hands hold, giving freely;

    And his palm, through his generosity, has remained empty.

  24. عهدناهُ ذا فضلٍ ومجدٍ وهمّةٍ

    عليماً علياً عالماً صادقاً بَرّا

    We have known him as a man of virtue, glory, and ambition,

    Knowledgeable, exalted, learned, truthful, and righteous.

  25. فمَن مثلُه بين الورى أين مثله

    يُميرُ البرايا كلما قحَطوا بُرّا

    So who among humankind is like him? Where is his equal?

    He supplies humankind with wheat whenever drought strikes.

  26. عليمٌ بأخبارِ الرسولِ وصحْبِه

    وجدوى يديهِ تُخجِلُ الغيثَ والبحرا

    He is learned in accounts of the Messenger and his companions,

    And the bounty of his hands puts rain and sea to shame.

  27. بجَودِ يَديهِ زيّن الله للعلى

    وللمجدِ والإفضالِ والسؤدُدِ النّحرا

    With his hands' generosity, God adorned, for eminence,

    And for glory, beneficence, and nobility, the bosom.

  28. أسيّدَنا خُذها إليك عروسةً

    مجانسةَ الأبيات أخرجْتُها بِكرا

    O our master, take her to yourself as a bride,

    Harmonious in her verses; I have brought her forth a virgin.

  29. ولم أتكلّفْ مثلَ غيري صُنْعَها

    ولم آتِ فيما قلتُ مفتخراً نُكرا

    Nor did I strain to compose her, as others do,

    Nor, boasting in what I said, did I utter anything outrageous.

  30. فدُم وارْقَ واسلَمْ وابقَ واعلُ وطُلْ وسُدْ

    وعشْ ألفَ عامٍ هكذا بعدَها عَشْرا

    So endure, rise, be safe, live on, ascend, excel, and rule;

    And live a thousand years like this, then ten more thereafter.

  31. فلا زلتَ دون العالمين بأسرِهم

    تبدِّلُ يُسراً من رأيتَ به عُشْرا

    May you never cease, alone among all humankind,

    To turn hardship into ease for anyone you see afflicted.