أسنا جبينك أم صباح مسفرٍ

وشذا أريجك أم عبير أذفر

Is that the radiance of your brow, or a brightening morning?

And your scent's fragrance, or richly fragrant perfume?

أهلاً بطلعتك التي ما أسفرت

إلا وليل الهم عنا يدبر

Welcome to your face, which never shone forth

without the night of worry retreating from us.

بل عاد ذابل روض آمال الورى

غضا ولا عجب فإنك جعفر

Rather, the withered garden of humankind's hopes has become

fresh again—no wonder, for you are Ja‘far.

وتبسمت أرض الغري مسرةً

بك بعدما عبست فكادت تزهر

And the land of al-Ghari smiled in delight

because of you, after frowning, and nearly burst into bloom.

ومدارس العلم استنارت مذ بدا

فيها محياك البهيج الأنور

The schools of learning lit up when there appeared

within them your joyous, most radiant face.

واستبشرت فرحاً بك العلماء بل

كل الأنام وحق أن يستبشروا

The scholars rejoiced gladly in you—indeed,

all humankind, and rightly do they rejoice.

كنا بفرقته بأعظم وحشةٍ

وبعوده عاد السرور الأكبر

In parting from him, we were in the deepest loneliness,

and with his return, the greatest joy returned.

فكأننا روض تجانبه الحيا

فذوي وعاوده فأصبح يزهر

We were like a garden shunned by rain:

it withered; rain revisited it, and it began to bloom.

وكأنه شمس فيغشى الليل إن

غابت ويبدو الصبح مهما تسفر

And he is like a sun: night descends if

it sets, and morning appears whenever it shines.

سبحان من أحيى الورى بمعانٍ

بنواله موتى الخصاصة تنشر

Glory to Him who revived humankind through noble qualities;

by his bounty, those dead from poverty are raised.

هو جعفر لا بل هو البحر الذي

كم فاض بحر من نداه وجعفر

He is Ja‘far—no, rather, he is the sea

from whose bounty so many seas and streams have flowed.

والحمد للَه الذي أولاه من

آلائه ما الشكر عند يقصر

And praise be to God, who bestowed on him, among

His blessings, gifts before which gratitude falls short.

ودعاه فضلاً من لدنه لبيته

وقراه من جدواه ما لا يحصر

And invited him to His House, as a grace from Him,

and entertained him with His bounty beyond all counting.

فسرى مسير الشمس في فئةٍ به

حفت كأمثال الكواكب تزهر

So he traveled like the sun, amid a company

that surrounded him, shining like stars.

أكرم به وبصحبه من سادةٍ

كرمت سجاياهم وطاب العنصر

How noble he and his companions are, those lords

whose characters are noble and whose lineage is pure!

لا سيما صدر الأفاضل محسن

كنز العلوم المحسن المتبحر

Especially Muhsin, foremost among the eminent,

a treasury of knowledge, beneficent and deeply learned;

وجواد الندب الجواد جلال أر

باب الجلال وعزهم والمفخر

and Jawad, gallant and generous, the glory of the

lords of majesty, their might and their pride;

وسمي حجتي العلي محمد

وعلي الطهر الزكي الأطهر

and Muhammad, exalted namesake of my authority;

and Ali, the pure, virtuous, most pure—

أعني سليل الأعسم الحبر الذي

هو بحر علمٍ مده لا يجزر

I mean the scion of al-A‘sam, the scholar who

is a sea of knowledge whose tide never ebbs;

وسليل صادق الصدوق محمد

والنعمة الكبرى التي لا تنكر

and Muhammad, scion of Sadiq the ever-truthful,

and the supreme blessing that cannot be denied.

قوم تردوا بالعلى وتقمصوا

بالمكرمات وبالعفاف تأرروا

Men who cloaked themselves in eminence and clothed themselves

in noble deeds, and [girded] themselves in chastity.

وقد اقتفوا مناهج من عن فضله

أقلام أرباب البلاغة تقصر

And they have followed the paths of one whose excellence

the pens of masters of eloquence cannot fully describe.

أكرم به من مقتف من يهتدي

بهداه يحظى بالنجاح ويظفر

How noble a follower he is! Whoever is guided

by his guidance gains success and triumphs.

ذاك الذي لولاه ما وخدت إلى

جمع بهم قب البطون الضمر

He is the one without whom none would have sped to

Jam‘ bearing them—those lean, hollow-bellied mounts.

مولىً به بطحاء مكة أشرقت

وبنور عرته أضاء المشعر

A master through whom Mecca's valley shone,

and by the light of his [brow], al-Mash‘ar was lit.

بهجت بوطأته المواقف واغتدى

بعض ينهي بعضها ويبشر

The stations rejoiced at his tread, and began

to tell one another the news and give glad tidings.

ولقد غدا الحرم الشريف به على

ما فيه من فخر يتيه ويفخر

And the Noble Sanctuary, through him, despite

all its glory, became proud and exultant.

مذ طاف طاف به العلاء ومذ سعى

سعت المعالي نحوه والمفخر

When he circumambulated, eminence circled him; when he hastened,

high honors and glory hastened toward him.

وبلمسه الحجر السعيد يمينه

ربحت وتم له السعود الأوفر

And by touching the blessed Stone, his right hand

prospered, and the fullest good fortune was his.

بل تم للحجر السعود وكاد أن

يبيض بشراً لونه المتغير

Rather, the Stone gained full good fortune, and its altered color

almost turned white with delight.

وعلا مقاماً في المقام كما اعتلى

بمقامه فيه المقام الأنور

And his rank rose at the Station, just as

the most radiant Station rose through his standing there.

وأفاض من عرفات بعد وقوفه

فأفيض رضوان عليه أكبر

And he streamed forth from Arafat after standing there,

and greater divine favor was poured upon him.

جمع الإله له جميع الخير في

جمع فيا للَه جمع مبهر

God gathered for him all good in

Jam‘—O God, what a dazzling gathering!

نالت مني بمبيته فيها المنى

وصفا به عيش الصفا المتكدر

Mina attained its wishes through his spending the night there,

and through him al-Safa's troubled life grew clear.

وبسوقه للهدي سيق له الهدى

وبنحره نحر الحسود الأبتر

And by his driving the sacrificial beasts, guidance was led to him;

and by his slaughter, the envious, cut-off foe was slaughtered.

ورمى غداة رمى الجمار عداته

بعداً لهم فليخسؤا وليذمورا

And on the morning he cast the ritual pebbles, he cast his enemies away:

Away with them! Let them be abased and [destroyed]!

وبأرض طيبةٍ طاب مثواه بنا

طوبى لها أحضت به تتعطر

And in Tayba's land his stay with us was sweet;

blessed is she: she [became] perfumed through him!

وبزورة المختار نال الغابة ال

قصوى التي عنها الكواكب تقصر

And by visiting the Chosen One, he attained the [goal]

most distant, beyond the reach of stars.

وسما بزورة آل أحمد رتبةً

بصر البصيرة عن مداها يحسر

And by visiting Ahmad's family, he rose to a rank

before whose reach the eye of insight fails.

فليحمد اللَه الذي في جنب ما

أولاه طولاً كل حمد يصغر

So let him praise God, in comparison with whose

bounty bestowed on him every praise is small.

وليبتهج بشراً بما أرخته

بشرى فقد حج المسدد جعفر

And let him rejoice in delight at my chronogram:

Glad tidings! The rightly guided Ja‘far has performed the Hajj.