1. سَقاك خيام الغور صوب الحيا عهدا

    يجدد عنا في معاهدك العهدا

    May rain's downpour water you, tents of al-Ghawr, for a season,

    renewing on our behalf the covenant in your familiar haunts.

  2. وَلا برحت فيك الرياح مريضة

    تَناغى الغصون الخضر وَالقضب الملدا

    May the winds within you never cease to be languid,

    murmuring lovingly to green branches and supple boughs,

  3. وَتنثر در الطل في ظل روضة

    ترش يد الانداء في وردها الوردا

    and scattering dew's pearls in the shade of a garden,

    where the hand of dew sprinkles roses among its blooms.

  4. كأن صبا نجد سقتها مدامة

    عبيرية تهدي لمن لم يجدو جدا

    as though the east breeze of Najd had given it wine to drink,

    ambergris-scented, bringing rapture to one who had never felt it.

  5. فَاس خَزاماها وَباتَ حمامها

    يغنى وَظل الزند يعتنق الزندا

    Then its lavender [apparently swayed], and its doves spent the night

    singing, while one forearm kept embracing another.

  6. رَعى اللَه اذ كنا برامة حيرة

    وَمحكم أصل الاصل قد نسخ الصدا

    May God preserve the time when we were bewildered at Ramah,

    and the firm root of the root [wording unclear] had effaced estrangement.

  7. وابكار بكر يسترقن عقولنا

    بسحر عيون ان رنت قتلت عمدا

    and Bakr's maidens stole our minds

    with the magic of eyes that, if they gazed, killed deliberately.

  8. أَحباب قَلبي كَيفَ أَكتم حبكم

    وأَحجده وَالدَمع لا يعرف الجحدا

    Beloveds of my heart, how can I conceal my love for you,

    and deny it, when tears know no denial?

  9. صلواواهجروا فالقَلب راض بفعلكم

    فَلَم ار لي عنكم وَلا منكم يدا

    Whether you keep close or shun me, my heart is content with your deeds;

    for I see no power to leave you or withstand you.

  10. وَأَحلى الهَوى ان مت في اسر حبكم

    فَكَم من أَسير في للصبابة لا يفدى

    And love is sweetest if I die captive to your love;

    for how many a captive to ardent longing is never ransomed.

  11. وَما ضقت ذرعا دون ادراك مطلب

    وَفي الرد من لم يخش سائله الردا

    Nor have I lost heart before attaining a goal,

    and in reply there is one whose petitioner fears no refusal.

  12. أَعاد عَلَينا اللَه من بَركاته

    وَمد لنا الرحمن في عمره مدا

    May God renew for us a share of his blessings,

    and may the All-Merciful greatly prolong his life for us.

  13. الى صارم الدين اِنتَهى أَمَلي فَلَم

    أَجد قبله قبلا وَلا بعدهبعدا

    To Sarim al-Din my hope has come at last; I have not

    found a beginning before him, nor an ending after him.

  14. مَتى تأته تنزل بواحد أمة

    هدى وندى جاء الزَمان به فردا

    Whenever you come to him, you alight with one man who is a nation,

    of guidance and bounty, whom time brought forth without peer.

  15. سَجاياه للراجي رَبيع مبارك

    وَسبع سمان للزَمان اذا اشتدا

    His qualities are a blessed springtime for the hopeful,

    and seven fat years for the age when it grows harsh.

  16. وَساحته مأوى الغَريب وَماله

    عَلى رغم أنف البخل ينهبه الوفدا

    His courtyard is a refuge for the stranger, and his wealth

    is plundered by visiting delegates, to stinginess's humiliation.

  17. فَتى ينسب الشيخ المبارك جده

    كَما ينسب الاشراف خير الوَرى جدا

    A young man who claims the blessed shaykh as his grandfather,

    as the sharifs claim the best of humankind as theirs.

  18. سَقى اللَه مِن قَبري عواجة مشهدا

    كَريما تخذناه لحاجتنا قصدا

    May God water a shrine among the two graves at Awajah,

    a noble one that we have made our destination in need.

  19. أَفي روضة القبرين روضة أَحمَد

    فتحدى لَها عيس إِلى طيبة تحدى

    Is Ahmad's garden within the garden of the two graves,

    that pale camels are urged toward it as they are toward Taybah?

  20. أَم التزم الزوّار حجا وَعمرة

    اليها فزموا العبس تطوي الفلا وَخذا

    Or have the visitors undertaken a hajj and an umrah

    to it, bridling the [pale camels?] that stride swiftly across the desert?

  21. حوى قبرها حجرا أَو بيتا وَمذبحا

    وَركنا يمانيا وآخر مسودا

    Does its grave contain a stone, or a House and an altar,

    and a Yemeni corner, and another blackened one?

  22. فَكَم قبلوا تربا وَكَم مسحوا ثرى

    وَكَم وَضَعوا الصرا وَكَم فتحوا عقدا

    How often they kissed dust, how often they stroked the earth,

    how often they laid down [burdens?], how often they untied knots,

  23. وَكَم ثملوا وجداوكمولهو اهوى

    وَكَم سكبوا دماوكم عفر واخدا

    how often they were drunk with rapture, how often they pined with love,

    how often they poured out blood, how often they rubbed a cheek in dust.

  24. وَباتوا وَظلوا في رياض أَنيقة

    يقل عليها الند لو فرشت ندا

    They spent night and day in lovely gardens,

    where perfume would be scant, even were they carpeted with perfume.

  25. تخفهم الاملاك من كل جانب

    وَتَغشاهم الانوار عن طالع سعدا

    Angels surround them on every side,

    and lights envelop them from an auspicious rising star.

  26. لَدىحكمى لم تكن معجزاته

    وآياته تحصى برمل الفلا عدا

    Beside a Hakami [reading uncertain], whose miracles could not

    be counted, nor his signs, even by the number of the desert's sands.

  27. اذا قالَ يا مَولاي لباه سل تنل

    لطائف من لو شاء أَسرى به عَبدا

    Whenever he says, 'My Lord,' He answers him: ask, and receive

    the graces of Him who, if He wished, would take him by night as a servant.

  28. وَلَو سير الاجبال سارَت وان دَعا

    ذرى صخرة لبت له الصخرة الصلدا

    If he set the mountains moving, they would move; and if he called

    to a rock's heights, the solid rock would answer him.

  29. وَلَو سار فَوقَ البحر أَو طارَ في الهَوا

    لامكنه وَالحق ما جاوز الحدا

    If he walked upon the sea or flew through the air,

    it would be possible for him; by the Truth, he would not overstep the bounds.

  30. سَرائر نورانية حكمية

    بِها اللَه زان الارض وَالعرض وَالخلدا

    Luminous, Hakami mysteries [reading uncertain],

    with which God adorned the earth, honor, and Paradise.

  31. هَنيأ لَك التَعظيم يا ابن محمد

    محامد فيالدارين تَستغرق الحمدا

    May this veneration bring you joy, O son of Muhammad—

    virtues in both abodes that encompass all praise.

  32. رَعيت رياض المجد طفلا وَناشئا

    وَكَهلا فمن ذا يدعى معك المجدا

    You grazed in glory's meadows as a child and a youth,

    and as a mature man; who, then, can claim glory beside you?

  33. تَلوذ بك الآمال وَهي غَريبة

    فتؤنسها جودا وَتوسعها رفدا

    Hopes seek refuge in you while they are strangers,

    so you comfort them with generosity and lavish gifts upon them.

  34. وَيَنزل منك الضيف أَخصب ساحة

    فَتَحلوا لهم ودا وَتَصفو لهم وردا

    And the guest alights with you in the most fertile courtyard,

    so you are sweet to them in affection, and clear to them as a draught.

  35. عفاف وانصاف وَحسن شَمائل

    تَفوق شمول الراح مَمزوجَة شهدا

    Chastity, fairness, and beauty of character

    surpass cool wine blended with honey.

  36. أَيا سَيدي شهر كَريم وَغربة

    وَديناقاسيه ولست به جلدا

    O my master: a noble month, and exile,

    and a debt I struggle with, which I lack the strength to bear,

  37. وَغيبة أَطفالوَبعد مَنازِل

    واخوان صدق ذبت مناجلهم فقدا

    and absent children, and far-off homes,

    and true friends for whose loss I have wasted away—

  38. فقض لباناتي وانجح مَطالِبي

    وَما اِسطَعت من بر فَلا تألنى جهدا

    so fulfill my needs, and grant my requests success,

    and spare no effort for me in whatever kindness you can offer.

  39. بقيت لدين اللَه عزا وَللعدا

    حساما وَللراجين عارفة تسدى

    May you remain a strength for God's religion, and for its foes

    a keen sword, and for the hopeful a kindness bestowed.

  40. وَلا زلت للابدال خالف سالف

    وَنور منار استضىء بك الرشدا

    May you ever be a successor to the earlier abdal,

    and a beacon's light, through whom I seek right guidance.