ألا هل أرى ختما لمختصر الجسم

بسقم جُفون أطنبت في الهوى سقمى

Ah, shall I see an ending to this abridgment of a body,

made so by languid eyelids that have drawn out my lovesickness?

وهل من خليل مُسعد الطّرف في

الدُّجى على أدمُع تهمي ومُرتقب النّجم

And is there a friend to comfort my eyes in

the darkness, as tears pour down, and keep watch on the stars?

أيا مالكي ما لي سوى الدّمع شافعي

لديك كعنمان على وجنتي يدمي

O my master, I have no intercessor but tears

before you, like ‘ʿanmān’ (unclear), drawing blood on my cheeks.

يُسالمُ قلبي منك لحظا مُحاربا

فهل فيه يوما يبدلُ الحرب بالسّلم

My heart makes peace with a warring glance of yours;

will it then one day replace war with peace toward my heart,

ويبدلُ منك السّخط عندي بالرّضا

وأحظى على أنف العواذل بالرّغم

and replace your displeasure with me with favor,

and I win favor, with the reproving women's noses humbled?

ولو زُرت في ليل التّمام مُتمّما

لوعدي لخلتُ البدر قد زار في التّمّ

And if you visited on the night of the full moon, fulfilling

the promise to me, I would think the full moon had visited in its fullness.

وإلا سنى أنوار ختم بدرس من

تناهت له العلياءُ في الفضل والعلم

Or else, the radiance of lights at a reading's completion, in the lesson of one

for whom eminence has reached its utmost in excellence and knowledge.

هُمامٌ إلى غريانُ يُعزى وإنّه

لفي كلّ علم تاجُ أعلاقه الشّمّ

A high-minded man ascribed to Gharyan; indeed he

is, in every discipline, the crown of its lofty treasures.

إذا أطرؤوا بالمدح في وصف عالم

وقيس به الممدُوحُ يعزُّ طالبُ الذّمّ

When they lavish praise in describing a scholar,

and the praised man is measured against him, the fault-finder prevails.

فقيرٌ من الدُّنيا غنيّ من العلى

مليء من التّقوى عريٌّ من الإثم

Poor in worldly goods, rich in eminence,

full of piety, bare of sin.

متى كسلت عن خدمة العلم صُحبةٌ

فخدمتهُ للعلم بالجدّ والحزم

Whenever companions grow slack in serving knowledge,

his service to knowledge is marked by diligence and resolve.

ترى لعويص المشكلات بأسرها

على ذهنه الأسنى ازدحاما لدى الفهم

You see all the most intricate problems

crowding upon his lofty mind at the moment of understanding.

إذا جال في ميزان فقه فأشهبٌ

يُسابقُ في إدراكه شُهبُ الدّهم

When he ranges in jurisprudence's balance, he is Ashhab—a gray steed—

racing in understanding against the gray steeds among the black.

ويُوردُ في علم الكلام أدلّة

يقينيّة البرهان قاطعة الخصم

And in scholastic theology he adduces proofs

certain in demonstration, silencing the opponent.

وتُجزم أعلامُ النّحاة برفعه

فأضحى بعلم النحو يرفعُ الجزم

And the leading grammarians affirm his elevation decisively;

thus, through grammar, he has come to raise even the jussive.

وتشهدُ أربابُ البيان بأنّه

لها سيّدُ مولى مُطاعٌ بلادُهم

And the masters of eloquence bear witness that he

is its chief, a lord obeyed throughout their lands.

غدا وهو في الميزان قطب أما ترى

لهُ فيه تهذيب يُقرّرُ بالختم

He has become a pivot in logic's balance—do you not see

that he has a refinement of it, expounded at the concluding reading?

وإن فسّر التّنزيل يوما فذهنه

بإتّقانه كشّاف صادقٌ عن وهم

And if one day he interprets the Revelation, his mind,

through its mastery, is a truthful unveiler, free from error.

غدا في أُصول الفقه ينسخُ ذكرهُ

لذكر الأُصوليين بالحتم والرّسم

In the principles of jurisprudence, his renown has come to efface

the renown of the legal theorists, decisively and in writing.

وأمّا حديث المصطفى صحّ حفظهُ

له وألمّ بالرواية والإسم

As for the Chosen One's hadith, it is securely memorized

by him, and he is well versed in transmission and names.

عليه صلاةُ الله ما ذُكر اسمهُ

على ألسن المدّاح في البدء والختم

God's blessing be upon him whenever his name is mentioned

on the tongues of praise-singers, at the beginning and the end.