1. ذكر العَقيقَ فَسالَ مِن أَجفانِهِ

    وَاِشتفَّهُ وَجدٌ إِلى سُكانِهِ

    He recalled al-ʿAqīq, and tears streamed from his eyelids,

    and longing for its inhabitants consumed him.

  2. وَاِشتَمَّ في ريح الصَبا أَرجَ الصّبا

    فَصَبا حَليفَ جَوىً إِلى أَوطانِهِ

    In the east wind he breathed the fragrance of youth,

    and, wedded to heartache, yearned for his homelands.

  3. وَشَجاهُ مَسجور الفُؤادِ إِلى الحِمى

    وُرقٌ سَواجِعُ هِجن مِن أَشجانِهِ

    His heart aflame for the sanctuary, he was saddened by

    cooing gray doves that stirred his sorrows.

  4. تروى عَنِ الورقِ الغَرامَ وَطالَ ما

    دَرَسَت فُنون العِشقِ في أَفنانِهِ

    They recount passion from the leaves, and long

    have they studied love's arts among its boughs.

  5. فيهِنّ سالِمَة الحَشا مِن لَوعَةٍ

    لَم تَدرِ طَعمَ الوَصلِ مِن هِجرانِهِ

    Among them was one whose heart was free of anguish,

    who could not tell union's savor from separation's.

  6. تُمسي وَتُصبِحُ في أَرائِكِ أَيكَةٍ

    مَع إِلفِها وَالعُمرُ في رَيعانِهِ

    She passed evenings and mornings on a thicket's couches,

    beside her mate, with life still in its prime.

  7. تَرتادُ رَوضَ الشامِ أَخصَب مَنزِلٍ

    حَيثُ العرارُ صَغى إِلى حَوذانِهِ

    She roamed the gardens of al-Shām, the most fertile dwelling,

    where ʿarār flowers leaned toward its buttercups;

  8. حَيثُ المَعالِم مُشرِقاتٌ بِالدُمى

    وَالغانيات يَطُفنَ حَولَ مَغانِهِ

    where the haunts shone with statue-like beauties,

    and fair women wandered around its dwellings,

  9. في ظِلِّ مُنبَجِسِ اللُجَينِ جَرى بِهِ

    ذَهَبُ الأَصيلِ يَسيلُ مِن قيعانِهِ

    in the shade of a gushing silver stream, through which flowed

    the gold of late afternoon, streaming from its hollows.

  10. أَلمى الظلال كَأَنَّ سُمرَتهُ لَمىً

    عَذبُ المَراشِفِ نَدَّ عَن غُزلانِهِ

    Dusky in shadow, as though its brown hue were the dusk of lips,

    sweet-lipped, a stray from its gazelles.

  11. بَينا تراودُ فيهِ مِن عَذبٍ إِلى

    عَذب يَفوق عَلى العُذَيبِ وَبانِهِ

    While she wandered there from one sweet stream to

    another, surpassing al-ʿUdhayb and its bān trees,

  12. في صَفوِ عَيش إِذ رَمَتها نيّةٌ

    لِلرُوم فاخِتُها بِسودِ رِعانِهِ

    in life's serenity, a journey cast her

    toward Rum, a turtledove amid its black mountain spurs.

  13. هَبَطَت بِها الأَقدار أَرضاً لَم يَكُن

    فيها نُزول الوَحي مِن فُرقانِهِ

    Fate brought her down to a land where there had been

    no descent of revelation from His Criterion.

  14. سَوداءُ مُظلِمَةُ الفَضاء كَأَنَّها

    قَلبُ الحَسود عَلَيهِ ظُلمَةُ رانِهِ

    Black, dark in its expanses, it was like

    an envious heart veiled by the darkness of its rust.

  15. فَغَدَت تَنوحُ عَلى الدِيار بِمَدمَعٍ

    سَحٍّ يُباري الغَيثَ في تَهتانِهِ

    So she began lamenting the homeland with tears

    pouring down, rivaling the rain in their torrent.

  16. ماسورةُ القَلبِ المُعنّى مِن جَوىً

    مَسجورةُ الأَحشاءِ مِن نيرانِهِ

    Her heart captive, tormented by burning grief,

    her innards aflame with its fires,

  17. تَبكي إِذا ذُكِرَ الحِمى حَيثُ الحِمى

    رَوضٌ تَفَرَّد في ذُرى أَغصانِهِ

    she weeps when the sanctuary is recalled, where the sanctuary is

    a garden unrivaled in its lofty boughs.

  18. تَنفَكُّ تَنثُرُ لُؤلُؤاً مِن مَدمَعٍ

    كَالدُرِّ ينظمُ في سُموط جُمانِهِ

    She keeps scattering pearls from a weeping eye,

    like pearls threaded in strands of pearl beads,

  19. حَتّى تَرى رَوضَ الحِمى أَو تَجتَلي

    رَوضَ اِبنِ بُستانٍ إِمامِ زَمانِهِ

    until she sees the sanctuary's garden, or beholds

    the garden of Ibn Bustān, imam of his age:

  20. قاضي العَساكر مَن تَبَوّأ مَنزِلاً

    تُمسي النُجومُ الزُهرُ مِن أَخدانِهِ

    the judge of armies, who attained a station

    where shining stars become his companions;

  21. المُعتلي شَرَفَ العُلا بِبيانِهِ

    المُجتَلي سِرَّ القَضا بِعِيانِهِ

    who ascends the heights of eminence through his eloquence,

    who beholds the secret of judgment through direct vision.

  22. ذُو غايَةٍ في المَجدِ رامَ بُلوغَها ال

    فَلَكُ المُحيطُ فَجدَّ في دَوَرانِهِ

    His is a summit in glory whose attainment was sought by the

    encompassing sphere, which hastened in its revolutions.

  23. سَبَقتهُ فَاِستَعدى عَلَينا طاوِياً

    لِصَحائِف الأَعمالِ في سُرعانِهِ

    His summit outstripped it, so it turned against us, folding up

    the scrolls of deeds in its haste.

  24. لِلَّهِ مَولىً هامُ هِمَّتِه سما

    هامَ السِماك فحلَّ فَوقَ مكانِهِ

    God be praised for a lord whose ambition's crown rose above

    the crown of al-Simāk and settled above its station.

  25. مولىً تَرَدّى الفضلُ أَبهى حُلَّة

    تَوشيعُها المَعروفُ مِن إِحسانِهِ

    A lord for whom excellence donned its fairest robe,

    its embroidery the kindness of his beneficence.

  26. ظِلُّ المُحيّا لَو يُقابل نُورَهُ

    بَدرُ الدُجى لِحِماه عَن نُقصانِهِ

    The shade of his face—if its radiance were faced by

    the full moon of night—would shield it from waning.

  27. وِإِذا دَجى لَيلُ الخُطوبِ فَرَأيُهُ

    فيها كَضوءِ الشَمس في لَمَعانِهِ

    When the night of calamities grows dark, his judgment

    amid them shines like sunlight in its brilliance.

  28. ماضي العَزائِمِ خَيرُ مَولى أمَّه

    رَكبٌ يَجوب البيدَ في رَمَلانِهِ

    Resolute in purpose, the finest lord sought by

    a caravan crossing deserts at a swift trot.

  29. في ثَني بُردَيه إِمامُ تَقىً وَفي

    حِقوَيه رَضوى بانَ بَعدَ إِبانِهِ

    Within the folds of his two cloaks is an imam of piety, and at

    his loins is Raḍwā, appearing after its appointed time.

  30. هُوَ مَن عَلِمتَ فَدَع سِواهُ وَمَن يُرِد

    بِحرَ المَكارم صَدَّ عَن غُدرانِهِ

    He is the one you know; leave others. Whoever seeks

    the sea of noble deeds turns away from its pools.

  31. بَحرٌ لَنا مِن راحَتيهِ جَداوِلٌ

    طَفَحَت فَسالَت مِن مَسيلِ بَنانِهِ

    A sea, with streams for us from both his palms,

    overflowing and flowing from the channels of his fingers.

  32. مُتَبَسِّمٌ يَومَ النَدى لعُفاتِهِ

    كَالرَوضِ ضاحَكَهُ نَدى هَتّانِهِ

    He smiles upon his petitioners on the day of giving,

    like a garden smiled upon by the moisture of its pouring rain.

  33. ما رَدَّ يَوماً سائِلاً وَلَهُ سَطى

    باس تَردُّ الدَهرَ عَن حَدَثانِهِ

    Never has he turned a petitioner away; his are onslaughts

    of valor that turn Time back from its calamities.

  34. راوي حَديث العِلمِ عَن نُعمانِهِ

    حاوي فُنون الفَضلِ مِن بُستانِهِ

    Transmitter of knowledge's traditions from his Nuʿmān,

    gathering excellence's arts from his Bustān,

  35. العالِمُ الطهرُ الَّذي ظَهَرَت لَهُ

    كَشفاً شُؤون الحَقِّ في أَعيانِهِ

    the pure scholar to whom appeared

    through unveiling, the workings of the Real in His manifestations;

  36. وَجَلا صَدا الأَلوان عَن مِرآتِهِ

    وَرَأى وُجُودَ الحَقِّ في سَرَيانِهِ

    who polished the rust of colors from his mirror,

    and saw the being of the Real in His pervasive flow.

  37. فَأَتى عَلى عين اليَقينِ وَقَد مَضى

    وَالقَومُ فيهِم غَفلَة عَن شانِهِ

    Thus he attained the eye of certainty, and passed away,

    while heedlessness of his stature lingered among the people.

  38. صَبَّ الإِلَهُ سَحابَ رَحمَتِهِ عَلى

    ذاكَ الضَريح وَحاضِري جِيرانهِ

    May God pour the clouds of His mercy upon

    that tomb and the neighbors dwelling around it,

  39. حَتّى يَعودَ ثَراه أَنضَر رَوضَةٍ

    فيها جَميمُ النَبتِ مِن رَيحانِهِ

    until its earth becomes the freshest garden,

    lush with sprouting fragrant herbs.

  40. وَغَدَت تَحايا الرَب كُلَّ عَشيَّةٍ

    تُهدى إِلَيهِ عَلى يَدي رِضوانِهِ

    And may the Lord's greetings, every evening,

    be offered to him at the hands of His Riḍwān.

  41. فَبِحَقِّهِ رَبا عَلَيكَ وَوالِدا

    وَبِحَق ما تَرعاه مِن رِضوانِهِ

    So by his right over you as master and father,

    and by the approval of his that you cherish,

  42. أَلّا نَظَرتَ لِعَبدِ بابِكَ راحِما

    فَالدَهرُ جارَ عَلَيهِ في عُدوانِهِ

    will you not look mercifully on the servant at your gate?

    For Time has wronged him in its hostility.

  43. عطفاً عَلَيهِ بِمَنصبٍ يَسمو بِهِ

    بَينَ الأَنام وَمِزه عَن أَقرانِهِ

    Show him kindness with a post through which he may rise

    among mankind, and distinguish him from his peers.

  44. فَلَقَد شَجاه جاهِلٌ في دَرسِهِ

    يَرقى وَرَبُّ الفَضلِ في حِرمانِهِ

    For an ignoramus has grieved him, one who in his teaching

    rises while the man of merit remains deprived.

  45. حاشا لِما حَرَستهُ كَفُّ نَداك أَن

    يَذوي وَفَيضُ نَداك في جَرَيانِهِ

    Far be it that what your generous hand has guarded should

    wither while the flood of your generosity still flows.

  46. وَلِمثل فَيضِكَ أَو يُؤخِّر ساعَةً

    عَنهُ وَهَذا الوَقتُ وَقتَ أَوانِهِ

    Nor should bounty such as yours be delayed an hour

    from him, when this moment is its proper season.

  47. وَاِستَجلها عَربِيَّةً أَوطانُها

    شِعب الغَوير وَمُلتَقى كُثبانِهِ

    Behold her unveiled, an Arabian whose homelands are

    the ravine of al-Ghuwayr and the meeting of its dunes.

  48. قَلَّدتَها دُرَّ المَدائِحِ لُؤلُؤاً

    رَطبا يَكاد يَفوقُ دُرَّ عُمانِهِ

    You adorned her neck with praise's pearls—pearls

    fresh, almost surpassing the pearls of Oman.

  49. وَكَسَوتَها وَشيَ الثَناءِ مُحبَّرا

    بُرداً يَفوحُ المسك مِن أَردانِهِ

    And you clothed her in richly patterned brocade of praise,

    a cloak whose sleeves exhale musk.

  50. وَاِبسُط لَها كَفّ الرَجا وَأَقِم لَها

    بِالروم وَزناً تَعلُ في ميزانِهِ

    Extend to her the hand of hope, and establish for her

    weight in Rum, that she may stand high in its scales.

  51. فَالشعر عِندَ القَومِ حاشا سَيّدي

    لا فَرقَ بَينَ هَجينه وَهِجانِهِ

    As for poetry, among these people—my lord excepted—

    there is no distinction between its mongrel and its purebred.

  52. وَاِسلَم وَدُم في نِعمَةٍ مَحسودَةٍ

    طولَ المَدى وَالعَيشُ في رَيّانِهِ

    May you remain safe, and continue in enviable blessings

    for all time, with life in its lush fullness,

  53. وَبَنُوكَ أَقمارُ الفَضائل ما سَرى

    بَرقٌ فَهاجَ الصَبّ في لَمَعانِهِ

    and your sons, moons of virtue—as long as there courses

    lightning that stirs the lover with its gleam.