1. لولا ظُبىً تنسلُّ من لحَظاتِه

    لجنيتُ ورداً لاحَ في وجَناتِه

    Were it not for blades slipping from his glances,

    I would have plucked roses shining on his cheeks.

  2. ظبيٌ تحمّل خصره من ردْفِه

    خطَراً إذا ما اختالَ في خُطُواتِه

    A gazelle whose waist bears, from his haunches,

    peril whenever he sways proudly in his walk.

  3. أجني العيونَ جليَّ نورِ جبينهِ

    وجنى بمنعِ جنيِّ نورِ لِثاتِه

    I let the eyes gather the clear radiance of his brow,

    yet he wrongs me by forbidding the harvest of his gums' light.

  4. قلبي فيسرةُ ليثِ طرْفٍ فاترٍ

    لا يتّقي الهجَماتِ من أجَماتِه

    My heart is prey to the lion of a languid gaze,

    unguarded against attacks from its thickets.

  5. يا أهلَ رامةَ ما ريمكُمُ عَدا

    في فتْكةٍ بالأسْدِ عن عاداتِه

    O people of Rama, your gazelle has not departed

    from his habits in his deadly assault upon lions.

  6. أقطعْتُهُ قلبي فقطّعه أسًى

    فعلامَ يُتلِفُ ذاتَه بأداتِه

    I granted him my heart as a fief; he cut it to pieces with grief.

    Why then does he destroy himself with his own weapon?

  7. ومعرّضٍ للسومِ فيهِ سفاهةً

    حرُّ الكلومِ ألذّ من كلِماتِه

    And one who foolishly hints at bargaining for him—

    the burning of wounds is sweeter than his words.

  8. كاتمتُه وجدي فعبّر ناظري

    عن سرّ ما ألقاهُ من عبَراتِه

    I hid my passion from him, but my eye expressed

    the secret of what I suffer through its tears.

  9. ولكَمْ نَهى عنّي النُهى فعصيتُه

    ورِضيْتُ بيعَ النفسِ في مَرْضاتِه

    How often reason forbade it for my sake, yet I disobeyed it,

    and agreed to sell my soul to win his pleasure.

  10. ولقد عدِمْتُ العيشَ لما هالَني

    بدرٌ حُدوجُ العيسِ من هالاتِه

    Indeed, I lost my life when I was awed

    by a full moon, with the pale camels' howdahs among his halos.

  11. فليَ الغرام وللإمامِ المُرتَجى

    مجدٌ عقودُ الحمدِ في لبّاتِه

    Mine is passion; the Imam in whom we place our hopes has

    glory, with necklaces of praise upon its breast.

  12. يقظٌ أضاءَ بقلبِه نورُ الهُدى

    فكأنّه النبراسُ في مِشكاتِه

    Wakeful, he has guidance's light shining in his heart,

    so he is like a lamp in its niche.

  13. ومحبِّر الألفاظِ يكسو طُرْسَهُ

    وشياً صفاتُ الروضِ دون صفاتِه

    And an embroiderer of words, he clothes his page

    in brocade whose qualities surpass the garden's.

  14. ربضَ ابنُ حُجْرٍ حَجْرةً عن شأوِه

    واغتالَ غَيْلاناً مدى غاياتِه

    Ibn Hujr crouched aside, far short of his reach,

    and the reach of his goals laid Ghaylan low.

  15. أبداً روّيتُه بديهتُهُ فما

    يلقاكَ لولا حِلمُه بأناتِه

    His considered thought is ever spontaneous; he would not

    meet you with unhurried patience but for his forbearance.

  16. وموطّأ الأكنافِ قد نسجَ التُقى

    ثوباً فأفرَغَهُ على جَنَباتِه

    And easy of approach, for piety has woven

    a robe and draped it over his flanks.

  17. يا حافظاً يُطْوى صباحُ علومِه

    ما مدّ ليلُ الجهلِ من ظُلُماتِه

    O keeper of learning, by whose knowledge's dawn is folded away

    whatever darkness the night of ignorance has spread.

  18. ولئن عدا من عادةٍ محمودةٍ

    من أخذِنا للقوتِ في أوقاتِه

    And though time has left a praiseworthy custom—

    our taking sustenance at its proper times—

  19. واغتالَ بالجدْبِ الغلالَ وخالَنا

    إن غلّ نَلبسُهُ على علاّتِه

    and slain the harvests with drought, supposing we,

    if it betrayed us, would wear it, faults and all,

  20. فمليكُه المرهوب يُعدِمه ندىً

    فيعودُ حيّ العَود بعدَ مماتِه

    its dreaded sovereign then annihilates it with bounty,

    so it returns with a living stem after its death.

  21. لا غرْوَ إن صلُحَ الزمانُ بصالحٍ

    أفعالُه غُرَرٌ على جَبهاتِه

    No wonder time is set right through Salih,

    whose deeds are white blazes upon its brows.

  22. ملكٌ لو انّ اللهَ قدّم عصرَهُ

    لأتى به القرآنُ في آياتِه

    A king: had God brought his age forward,

    the Qur'an would have included him in its verses.

  23. كالغيثِ في إروائه ورَوائِه

    والليثِ في وثَباتِه وثَباته

    Like rain in his quenching of thirst and his beauty,

    and like a lion in his leaps and steadfastness.

  24. ذو راحةٍ وكفتْ ندىً وكفتْ ردًى

    فقضَتْ بهُلْكِ عِداتِه وعُداتِه

    His is a palm that has dripped bounty and warded off ruin,

    thus bringing his promises and his enemies to an end.

  25. زهرتْ نجومُ السعدِ عن آرائه

    وسطَتْ جيوشُ النصرِ عن راياتِه

    The stars of good fortune have shone forth from his counsels,

    and armies of victory have charged forth from his banners.

  26. فرعٌ فالمُجتَلى المُجتَنى

    من حُسنِه يحظى ومن ثَمَراتِه

    A bough, at once beheld and harvested:

    one gains from his beauty and from his fruits.

  27. ألِفَتْ خزائنُ مالِه من جُودِه

    ما تألفُ الأعداءُ من فَتَكاتِه

    His treasuries have come to know, through his generosity,

    what enemies know from his deadly assaults.

  28. يا ماجداً يطوى بشارقِ عدلِه

    ما مدّ ليلُ الجهلِ من ظُلُماتِه

    O noble one, by whose justice's sunrise is folded away

    whatever darkness the night of ignorance has spread.

  29. إنّا حمِدْنا الدهرَ منكَ ولم نكُنْ

    لنذُمّ دهراً أنت من حسَناتِه

    We have praised time because of you; we would never

    condemn an age that counts you among its blessings.

  30. اهنأ بعيدٍ أنت معنى لفظِه

    فيكَ اكتَسى مُستَحْسَناتِ صِفاتِه

    Rejoice in a festival whose very name you embody;

    in you it has donned its admirable attributes.

  31. فإذا سمعتَ بقائلٍ سمعَ الحَيا

    بنوالِه نبِّهْهُ عن غَفَلاتِه

    So if you hear of someone extolling the rain

    for its bounty, rouse him from his heedlessness.

  32. أترى سحابَ الجودِ أقْشَعَ مانعاً

    هيهاتَ ليس المَنْعُ من آلاتِه

    Do you think the cloud of bounty has dispersed, denying gifts?

    Far from it! Withholding is no instrument of his.

  33. أبَتِ المكارمُ أن يضنّ بمشْربٍ

    أن غرّقَ الثَقَلينِ بحرُ هِباتِه

    Noble virtues forbid his begrudging a draught,

    since the sea of his gifts has drowned both humankind and jinn.

  34. ما أنجحَ الآمالَ عند مظفّرٍ

    ظفِرَتْ لديه بشافعٍ من ذاتِه

    How readily hopes succeed with Muzaffar!

    In his presence they have found an intercessor in his own being.

  35. فاسْلَمْ لتفريقِ النوالِ مضاعِفاً

    فينا وجمعِ الحمدِ بعد شَتاتِه

    So live in safety, doubling the gifts you distribute

    among us, and gathering praise after its dispersal.