1. مَولاي يا قاضي القُضاة وَمَن

    بِالعِلمِ وَالحلم طابَ مَحتِدُه

    My lord, O judge of judges, and one whose

    lineage is ennobled by learning and forbearance,

  2. وَسَيِّداً باب جُودِهِ حَرَمٌ

    أَمن جَميع الأَنامِ تَقصِدُه

    and master, whose gate of bounty is a sanctuary,

    safe, to which all mankind turns.

  3. قَد شاعَ في الشامِ عَدلُهُ وَنَما

    كَمِثل ما ذاعَ فيهِ سُؤدُدُه

    His justice has spread through al-Sham and flourished,

    just as his eminence has become renowned there.

  4. قَصَدتُهُ راجِياً عَلى ثِقَةٍ

    نَجاحَ قَصدٍ إِلَيهِ مَسنَدُه

    I sought him, hoping with confidence

    for success in a quest whose support rests with him.

  5. فَهوَ بِشَرعِ النَبيِّ يَفصِلُ ما

    راحَ أَلَدُّ الخُصوم يَجحَدُه

    For by the Prophet's law he adjudicates what

    the most contentious of adversaries persists in denying—

  6. مِن ناظِرٍ فيهِ لِلبَصير عَمىً

    أَضَلَّهُ اللَهُ كَيفَ تُرشِدُه

    an overseer in whom the clear-sighted find blindness.

    God has led him astray; how can you guide him?

  7. يَرومُ أَكلاً مَعلوم مَدرَسَةٍ

    تَشكو إِلى اللَهِ ما تُكابِدُه

    He seeks to devour the allotted income of a school

    that complains to God of what it endures:

  8. مِن دَرسِ مَعلومِها وَمَعلَمِها ال

    قَديمِ مِمّا بِهِ يُجدِّدُه

    the erasure of its income and its landmark of

    old, through the means by which he renews it.

  9. هُوَ النظامِيّ مُنذُ حَلَّ بِها

    عَدى عَلى شَملِها يَبدِّدُه

    He is al-Nizami; since he settled there,

    he has assailed its unity, scattering it.

  10. فَلَم يَدَع مِن رَسمِها سِوى أَثَرٍ

    تَعرِفُهُ العَين ثُمَّ تَجحَدُه

    So he left of its form nothing but a trace

    that the eye recognizes, then denies,

  11. وَمَعلَمٍ كادَ أَن يَبيدَ بِما

    مِن جَهلِهِ قَد غَدا يُهدّدُه

    and a landmark that nearly perished from what

    he now, in his ignorance, threatens it with.

  12. هَلّا نَظَرتُمُ في حالها كَرَماً

    وَحالِ عَبدٍ قَد طالَ مَوعِدُه

    Will you not, in your generosity, look into its plight

    and that of a servant whose promised appointment is long delayed?

  13. أَضحى فَقيراً إِلى الغَنيِّ وَهَل

    فَقيراً يرى وَالغَنيّ سَيّدُه

    He has become poor, in need of the wealthy one; yet can he

    be thought poor when the wealthy one is his master?

  14. يُحاول السَيرَ نَحوَ أَدرنةٍ

    يَخشى بُمكثٍ يَفوتُ مَقصِدُه

    He seeks to set out for Edirne,

    fearing that by lingering he will miss his goal.

  15. لا زِلتَ في رِفعَةٍ وَفي دعَةٍ

    وَحفظ عَيشٍ يطيبُ مَورِدُه

    May you ever remain exalted and at ease,

    with a safeguarded livelihood, its wellspring sweet,

  16. ما سارَ في الأُفق كَوكَبٌ وَسرى

    نَسيمُ رَوضٍ شَدا مغرِّدُه

    as long as a star courses along the horizon and there drifts by night

    the breeze of a garden whose songbird sings.