1. عيدٌ يعود كعود عُرفك دائما

    نلقاك فيه مثلَ عرضك سالما

    A festival returns, as your kindness always returns;

    we meet you at it, sound as your honor is unblemished.

  2. تُعطي فيهدم جودُ كفك ثروةً

    وتشيد أنت معالياً ومكارما

    You give, and your hand's generosity tears down wealth,

    while you build lofty honors and noble deeds.

  3. ولعلَّ ما تلقي لمجدٍ بانيا

    إلا امرءاً أضحى لمالٍ هادما

    Perhaps you find no builder of glory

    except a man who has become a destroyer of wealth.

  4. وجرت ظباؤك للوَلِيِّ أَيامِناً

    سُنُح الوجوه وللعدوِّ أشائِما

    May your gazelles run auspiciously for your ally,

    favorable in aspect, but ill-omened for your enemy.

  5. وطرفْتَ عيناً لا تزال لها قذىً

    ووطئت أنفاً من حسودك راغما

    May you strike an eye to which you are always a mote,

    and trample the humbled nose of one who envies you.

  6. ورأت أبا العباس عينُك بالغاً

    ما قد بلغتَ مُحارباً ومُسالما

    May your eye see Abu al-Abbas attaining

    what you have attained, waging war and making peace;

  7. وأخاه هارون الذي أضحى له

    في الصالحات مُشاكلاً وملائما

    and his brother Harun, who has become

    his counterpart and match in righteous deeds.

  8. أخوان أيهما بلوتَ وجدْتَه

    في كل نائبة مفيداً عاصما

    Two brothers: whichever you test, you find him

    helpful and protective in every calamity.

  9. وإذا هما عند الفعال تَباريا

    فكأنما بارَى ابنُ مامةَ حاتما

    And when the two vie with each other in deeds,

    it is as though Ibn Mamah vied with Hatim.

  10. الأحسنَين ظِهارةً وبِطانةً

    والأطْيبين مَشارباً ومَطاعما

    The two finest in outer fabric and inner lining,

    and the purest in their drinks and their food;

  11. الألينين مَلامساً ومعاطفاً

    والأصلبين مَغامِزاً ومعاجما

    the softest in touch and in their sides,

    and the firmest at points of pressure and trial.

  12. تلقى أبا العباس بدراً طالعاً

    وشقيقَه هارون نَجماً ناجما

    You find Abu al-Abbas a rising full moon,

    and his brother Harun an emerging star,

  13. وأباهُما شمساً تُمدُّ بنورها

    نوريهما أبداً مِداداً دائما

    and their father a sun that supplies, with its light,

    their two lights forever, with an unceasing supply.

  14. وشقيقةٍ قالت أراك مُفكراً

    حتى أراك من السكينة نائما

    And a sister said, "I see you pondering,

    until your stillness makes you seem asleep to me."

  15. فأجبتُها إني امرؤٌ هيامَةٌ

    في كل وادٍ ما أُفيقُ هَماهِما

    I answered her, "I am a restless wanderer,

    through every valley, never coming to my senses amid murmuring thoughts.

  16. أُمسي وأصبحُ للشوارِد طالباً

    بهواجسٍ حول الأوابد حائما

    I pass evening and morning seeking stray verses,

    with passing thoughts, circling around untamed verses,

  17. متوخياً حظي بذاك مؤدياً

    فرضاً لخيرِ الطاهريّة لازما

    seeking my share thereby, and fulfilling

    a binding duty to the best of the Tahirids:

  18. ملكٌ يُطيع الجودَ في أمواله

    عند السؤالِ ولا يُطيعُ اللائما

    a king who heeds generosity with his wealth

    when asked, and does not heed the reproacher.

  19. ما زال يحبوني الجزيلَ وإنما

    أحبوه مدحي صادقاً لا زاعما

    He has always granted me lavish gifts; I only

    grant him my praise, truthful, not making empty claims."

  20. ومتى يقومُ بحق مدحك شاعرٌ

    حتى يُرى في كلّ وادٍ هائما

    And when can a poet do justice to your praise,

    before he is seen wandering in every valley?

  21. يا ابنَ الأُلى لم يوجَدوا إلا وهُمْ

    عظماءُ دهرٍ يدفعون عظائما

    O son of those who have never been found except as

    the great men of an age, warding off great calamities;

  22. وابنَ الأُلى لم يعدُ دهرٌ طورَه

    إلا غدوا خُطماً له وخزائما

    and son of those who, whenever Time overstepped its bounds,

    became its bridles and nose-rings;

  23. الناكلين عن المآثِم والخنا

    و النافذين بصائراً وعزائما

    those who shrink from sins and obscenity,

    and are penetrating in insight and resolve.

  24. أعني عبيد اللَّه خيرَ عبيده

    إلا أئمتنا العظامَ جراثما

    I mean Ubayd Allah, the best of His servants,

    save our imams, of mighty stock.

  25. يا مَنْ يُحِبّ المجدَ حبّاً صادقاً

    ويرى مغارمَه الثقالَ مغانما

    O you who love glory with a true love,

    and regard its heavy costs as gains;

  26. يا من إذا كُسِيَ المديحَ معاشِرٌ

    حلياً لهم كُسي المديح تمائما

    O you who, when others are clothed in praise

    as ornaments for them, are clothed in it as amulets—

  27. عُوذاً لأخلاق وخَلْقٍ أصبحا

    في الحُسن أمثالاً لنا ومعالما

    charms for character and physical form that have become

    models and landmarks of beauty for us.

  28. عجباً لمن نسي العواقبَ جوده

    نسيانَ جودِك كيف يُدعى حازما

    A wonder: one whose generosity forgets consequences

    as yours does—how can he be called prudent?

  29. ولمن عفا عمن هفا متمادياً

    يوما كعفوك كيف يُدعى صارما

    And one who pardons a man persisting in error,

    once, as you do—how can he be called stern?

  30. ولمن سَقَى مُهجَ النفوسِ سيوفَهُ

    عللاً كسقيك كيفَ يُدعَى راحما

    And one who gives his swords the lifeblood of souls to drink,

    draught after draught, as you do—how can he be called merciful?

  31. ولمن حمى الدنيا حمايتكَ التي

    شَهرتْك كيف يُعدُّ غيثاً ساجما

    And one who guards worldly wealth with that guarding of yours

    that made you renowned—how can he be reckoned pouring rain?

  32. لكنك الرجل الذي لم نَلْقَه

    إلا على سنن المحجة قائما

    But you are the man whom we have never met

    except steadfast upon the course of the clear road.

  33. تأتي الأمورَ وتتقي إتيانها

    طَبَّاً بما تأتي وتترك عالما

    You undertake affairs, and refrain from undertaking them,

    expert in what you do and leave undone, fully knowing.

  34. تعطي وتمنع ما اعتديتَ وتارةً

    تعفو وتبطشُ مُنصفاً لا ظالما

    You give and withhold, never overstepping; and at times

    you pardon and strike, acting justly, not unjustly.

  35. لم تَقْرِ إبهاميك فاك ندامةً

    يوماً إذا عضّ الرجالُ أَباهما

    Never have you lodged your two thumbs in your mouth in remorse,

    on a day when men bite their thumbs.

  36. كم قد عفوْتَ فما أبحْتَ محارماً

    بلْ كم بطشْتَ فما انتهكت محارما

    How often you have pardoned without permitting the forbidden!

    Rather, how often you have struck without violating sacred bounds!

  37. كم قد منحْتَ فما أضعْت منيحةً

    بل كم منعتَ مُحامياً لا حارما

    How often you have given without wasting a gift!

    Rather, how often you have withheld, protecting, not depriving!

  38. يا آل طاهر المُطهَّر كاسمه

    لا تعدموا نعماً ترفُّ نواعما

    O house of Tahir, purified as his name implies,

    may you never lack blessings that flutter luxuriantly!

  39. قد قلتُ للمتكلّفي مَسعاتِكم

    إن الخوافي لن تكون قوادما

    I have said to those straining to match your endeavor:

    "The secondary wing feathers will never become the primaries."

  40. سُدتم فكنتم للوجوه معاطساً

    شُمّاً وكنتم للرؤوس جماجما

    You gained supremacy, and became noses for faces,

    high-bridged, and became skulls for heads.

  41. فإذا وُزنتم بالأباعدِ منكُمُ

    كنتم ذُرىً والآخرون مَناسما

    So when you are weighed against those far removed from you,

    you are summits; the others are the tips of camel feet.