Sol 6.1

  1. يا فرعَ لطف اللّه إنك بيننا

    ملكُ الفضائل والندى والسؤددِ

    O scion of Lutf Allah, among us you are

    King of virtues, generosity, and eminence.

  2. إني عرضتُ هديةً بهديةٍ

    حبَّ التجمُّل لا التماسَ المجتدي

    I offered a gift in exchange for a gift,

    For love of graciousness, not a beggar's plea.

  3. حييتُ مجدَك معجِباً فأجبتني

    بجميلك المتجددِ المتعدد

    I saluted your glory admiringly, and you answered me

    With your kindness, ever renewed and manifold.

  4. وبعثتَ بالنعمى رضاً فشكرتها

    وشكرتُ سعي أمينكِ المتودد

    And you sent bounty in approval, so I gave thanks for it,

    And thanked your friendly confidant for his efforts.

  5. وسمعتُ منه خيرَ ما سَمع الورى

    عن خير عاطفةٍ وأطيبِ محتد

    And I heard from him the best that humankind has heard

    Of the finest affection and the noblest lineage.

  6. وتلوتُ من مستور برك صفحةً

    لك عند عيسى أجرُها ومحمد

    And I read a page of your hidden benevolence;

    Its reward is yours with Jesus and Muhammad.

  7. والعمرُ ذكرٌ شيدته رواتُه

    يا حسنَ ذكر للعيان مُشَيَّدِ

    And life is a remembrance raised by those who recount it;

    How fair a remembrance, raised for all to see!

  8. خيرتني فاخترتُ من جدواك ما

    لا بدَّ منه لخادمٍ ولسيد

    You gave me a choice, so from your bounty I chose what

    A servant and a master alike cannot do without:

  9. رِفد يدور مع الزمان فمن يدٍ

    تقضي به وطر النفوس إلى يد

    A gift that circulates with time, from one hand

    That satisfies souls' needs with it, to another hand.

  10. غالي الجواهر من صنائِعه إذا

    لم ينطلقْ عبثاً ولم يتقيد

    Precious jewels are among its works, when

    It is neither let loose in vain nor held in bonds.

  11. أنت الذي جرأتَ أشعاري على

    ما لم أطاوله ولم أتعود

    You are the one who emboldened my verses toward

    What I had neither aspired to nor grown accustomed to.

  12. قد كنتُ أستحيي إذا أنشدتُ ما

    أنا منشدٌ حَذَر اتهامِ المنشد

    I used to feel ashamed whenever I recited what

    I would recite, fearing accusations against the reciter.

  13. فرجعتُ أستحيي إذا شاهدتُ ما

    تُوليه من نُعمى ولم أتقلد

    So I came instead to feel ashamed whenever I see what

    You bestow of bounty, yet I have not worn it about my neck.

  14. وغدوت أمرح في ظلال مكارمٍ

    كالطير بين خمائلِ الروضِ الندي

    And I began to frolic in the shade of noble deeds,

    Like birds amid the thickets of a dewy garden.

  15. وكفى بشعري أنه ثمرُ الرضى

    عما تروح به وعما تفتدي

    And it is enough for my poetry that it is the fruit of satisfaction

    With what you carry away and with what you redeem.

  16. وكفى بما أهدَيتنيه كرامةً

    لي في المغيبِ وزينةً في المشهَد

    And what you gave me is honor enough

    For me when absent, and an adornment when present.

  17. فرجت عن صدر كثيرٌ هَمه

    والضيقُ ضيقُ الصدر لا ضيقُ اليدِ

    You relieved a breast whose worry was great,

    And distress is the breast's constriction, not the hand's.

  18. عندي من الأموالَ ما فيه الغنى

    لو لم يكن للدائن المتشدد

    I have wealth enough for self-sufficiency,

    Were it not owed to the unyielding creditor.

  19. إني لأبرئ ذمتي من غارم

    وأدينها للأريحي الأمجد

    Indeed, I discharge my obligation to a creditor,

    And put it in debt to the magnanimous, most illustrious man.

  20. شهدتْ لك الآدابُ أنك عونها

    في أمسك الماضي ويومِك والغد

    Literature has borne witness in your favor: you are its support

    In your bygone yesterday, your today, and tomorrow.