1. أحمدُ اللَّه نيةً وثناءَ

    غُدوةً بل عَشيَّةً بل مساءَ

    I praise God in intention and in spoken praise,

    in the morning—rather, in late afternoon—rather, in the evening;

  2. بلْ جميعاً وبين ذلك حمداً

    أبديّاً يُطبِّقُ الآناءَ

    rather, at all these times and between them, with praise

    everlasting, encompassing every hour:

  3. حَمْدَ مُستعظمٍ جلالاً عظيماً

    من مَليكٍ وشاكرٍ آلاءَ

    the praise of one who reveres the immense majesty

    of a Sovereign, and gives thanks for His blessings.

  4. مَلِكٌ يقدحُ الحياة من الموْ

    تى ويَكفي بفضله الأحياءَ

    A King who kindles life from

    the dead, and through His bounty sustains the living.

  5. صاغنا ثم قاتنا ووَقانا

    بالتي نتَّقي بها الأَسواءَ

    He fashioned us, then nourished us and protected us

    with things by which we ward off evils:

  6. من بناءٍ يَكِنُّنا ولَبُوسٍ

    ودواء يحارب الأدواءَ

    a building that shelters us, and clothing,

    and medicine that fights diseases.

  7. ثم أهدى لنا الفواكه شتّى

    والتحياتِ جَلَّ ذاك عطاءَ

    Then He bestowed upon us fruits of every kind

    and fragrant gifts—how magnificent that bounty!

  8. عَظُمت تلكمُ الأيادي وجَلَّتْ

    فاذكر المَوز واتركِ الأشياءَ

    Great were those benefactions, and mighty;

    so mention bananas and leave other things aside.

  9. إنما الموزُ حين تُمْكَنُ منهُ

    كاسمه مبْدلاً من الميم فاءَ

    The banana—mawz—when you can obtain it,

    is its name with fāʾ replacing mīm;

  10. وكذا فقدُه العزيزُ علينا

    كاسمه مبْدلاً من الزاي تاءَ

    and likewise its loss, so hard for us to bear,

    is its name with tāʾ replacing zāy.

  11. فهو الفوزُ مثلما فقدُهُ المو

    تُ لقد بان فضلُه لا خَفَاءَ

    Thus it is fawz—triumph—just as its loss is

    mawt—death: its excellence is plain, with nothing hidden.

  12. ولهذا التأوِيلِ سَماه موزاً

    مَنْ أفاد المعانيَ الأسماءَ

    For this interpretation, he named it mawz

    who bestowed names upon meanings.

  13. رَبِّ فاجعله لي صبوحاً وقَيْلاً

    وغَبوقاً وما أسأت الغذاءَ

    My Lord, make it my morning and midday draught,

    and my evening draught—I have not chosen my nourishment badly.

  14. وأرى بل أبُتُّ أن جوابي

    لا تُغالط فقد سألتَ البقاءَ

    And I think—no, I am certain—the answer to me is:

    'Do not equivocate: you have asked for lasting life.'

  15. يَشهَد اللَّه إنه لطعامٌ

    خُرَّميٌّ يُغازل الأحشاءَ

    God bears witness: it is indeed a food,

    Khurramite in spirit, flirting with the entrails.

  16. نكهةٌ عذبةٌ وطعم لذيذٌ

    سَاعدا نَعمةً إلى نَعْماءَ

    A sweet aroma and a delicious taste

    joined forces, adding pleasure to bliss.

  17. وتخالُ انْسرابهُ في مجاري

    هِ افتراعَ الأبكارِ والإغفاءَ

    You would think its slipping through its channels

    to be the deflowering of virgins, and dozing off.

  18. لو تكونُ القلوبُ مأوى طعامٍ

    نازَعتْهُ قلوبُنا الأحشاءَ

    If hearts could be a home for food,

    our hearts would contend with the entrails for it.

  19. إنني لَلْحقيق بالشِّبَعِ السا

    ئغِ من أكلِهِ وإن كان ماءَ

    I surely deserve the pleasant fullness

    from eating it, even were it water

  20. مِن عطايا أبي محمدٍ المح

    مودِ ظَرفاً وحكمةً وسخاءَ

    from the gifts of Abu Muhammad, who is

    praised for refinement, wisdom, and generosity,

  21. وجمالاً مُنَمَّقاً وجلالاً

    ووفاءً مُحقَّقاً وصفاءَ

    for finely adorned beauty and majesty,

    for proven loyalty and purity.

  22. ذلك السيدُ الذي قتل اليأ

    سَ بأفضاله وأحيا الرجاءَ

    That lord who slew

    despair with his benefactions and brought hope to life.

  23. سرّني برَّني رعاني كفاني

    جازَهُ السوءُ إنه ما أساءَ

    He gladdened me, treated me kindly, cared for me, met my needs.

    May evil pass him by: he has done no evil.

  24. وتخطَّته كلُّ بأساءَ لكن

    صادمتْ مِن ورائه الأعداءَ

    May every hardship leap past him, but

    strike his enemies behind him.

  25. وتعالتْ به سماءُ المعالي

    أو ترى مجدَه السماءُ سماءَ

    And through him the sky of noble deeds has risen;

    or does the sky regard his glory as a sky?

  26. مَلِكاً يَلْبَسُ الطويل من العُم

    رِ ويَحْظى ويَجْبُرُ الأولياءَ

    May he, a king, wear a long span of

    life, prosper, and succor his allies.

  27. وأما والذي حباني بزُلفا

    يَ لديه أليَّةً غرَّاءَ

    And lo, by the one who granted me my nearness

    to him—a splendid oath—

  28. لأكدَّنَّ للمدائح فيه

    فِكَري أو أردَّها أنضاءَ

    I shall surely strain, in composing his praises,

    my thoughts, until I return them worn out.

  29. ومَعَاذَ الإله لا مدحَ يأتي

    فيه كَرْهاً بل مُعفياً إعفاءَ

    God forbid! No praise comes

    of him under duress; rather, it spares all toil.

  30. وترانا في مدحهِ كيف كنّا

    كالمُعَنَّى في أن يُضيء الضياءَ

    And you see us in his praise, however we may be,

    like one burdened with making light shine.

  31. أيُّ مصباح قادحٍ زاد في الإص

    باح نُوراً إن لم نكن جُهَلاءَ

    What light-giving lamp has added, at

    daybreak, any light—if we are not ignorant?

  32. غير أنَّا نُريغُ بالمدح فيه

    رِفعَةً باسمه لنا وسناءَ

    Yet through praising him we seek

    eminence and splendor for ourselves through his name:

  33. رُتَباً لم تَشِد لنا مثلها الآ

    باءُ نرجو توريثَها الأبناءَ

    ranks whose like were never raised for us by our

    fathers, which we hope to bequeath to our sons.

  34. لا عدِمناه ماجداً بلّغ الأب

    ناء مجداً قد أعجز الآباءَ

    May we never lose him, a noble man who has brought

    the sons to a glory that had eluded the fathers.