1. مسيت بالخير يا جوادا

    ما مس من يجتديه ضر

    May your evening be good, O generous one,

    no harm has touched anyone who seeks his bounty.

  2. ودمت جم النوال يا من

    يمينه ديمة وبحز

    And may you remain lavish in bounty, O you

    whose right hand is steady rain and a sea [probable reading].

  3. أنت الذي طاب منه أصل

    سام وفرع نام ونجر

    You are he whose root is noble,

    lofty, whose branch flourishes, whose stock is pure.

  4. أنت الذي رأيه المورى

    لظلمه الحادثات فجر

    You are he whose illuminating judgment

    is dawn for the darkness of calamities.

  5. يا غرة الدهر من يرجي

    نيل مساعيك فهو غر

    O bright brow of the age, whoever hopes

    to match your achievements is naive.

  6. كم من أخي فاقة عراه

    من بعد يسر اليدين عسر

    How many a needy man, whom hardship overtook

    after his hands had known plenty,

  7. أعلاه في الثراء فردا

    أنامل من يديك عشر

    was raised to peerless wealth

    by the ten fingers of your two hands!

  8. دمت فللعارفات وصل

    منك وللمنكرات هجر

    May you endure: good deeds find fellowship

    with you, and evil deeds abandonment.

  9. يا ابن علي لله فيما

    شيمه من علاك سر

    O son of Ali, God has, within what

    is glimpsed of your greatness, a secret.

  10. فما لنشر نشر ت طي

    ولا لطي طويت نشر

    What you have unfolded can never be folded,

    nor can what you have folded be unfolded.

  11. يا عمر العدل أنت زيد

    تحت مثار الوغى وعرر

    O Umar in justice, you are Zayd

    beneath battle's rising dust—and Amr [conjectural reading].

  12. يفديك يا غامر العطايا

    مصرد في العطاء غمرُ

    May he be your ransom, O lavish giver—

    the scanty giver, inexperienced in generosity,

  13. من كره في الفخار صاع

    وباعه في العلا فترُ

    whose kurr of glory is but a saʿ,

    and whose armspan in greatness is a finger-span.

  14. عاش أبو الفضل من كريم

    حلا به العيش وهو مرُ

    Long live Abu al-Fadl, that generous man

    through whom life is sweet, though it is bitter.

  15. رباعه في الجدوب خضر

    وبيضه في الحروب حمرُ

    His dwellings are green in droughts,

    and his white swords are red in wars.

  16. وأوجه الحاسديه سود

    إذا تأملتها وصفرُ

    And his enviers' faces are black,

    when you look closely at them—and yellow.

  17. بشرنا بالمراد منه

    سماحة ما تني وبشرُ

    Good tidings of what we seek from him come to us

    through unflagging generosity and cheerfulness.

  18. الصاحب الواهب المرجى

    والصّافح المانح الأغرُّ

    The patron, the giver, in whom hopes are placed,

    and the pardoner, the bestower, the radiant one.

  19. خلاله والطباع ماء

    وباسه والذكاء جمرُ

    His character and disposition are water;

    and his valor and intelligence are glowing embers.

  20. وحدت لما وحدّت فيه

    مدحي فمدحي سواه كفر

    I professed oneness when I reserved for him

    my praise: praising anyone else is unbelief.

  21. يا أكبر العالمين قدرا

    إسلم فما في علاك كبرُ

    O greatest of all people in rank,

    live unharmed: no arrogance attends your eminence.

  22. وابق على الدهر مستماحا

    ما مر شهر وكر عصرُ

    And live on through time, sought out for bounty,

    as long as months pass and ages come round.