لك المجد والفضل الذي ليس يجحد

لك المجد والفضل الذي ليس يجحد

بل الحمد والمغبون من ليس يحمد

بل الحمد والمغبون من ليس يحمد

Yours are glory and merit that no one denies.

You deserve all the glory and merit, which no one denies

Rather, praise is yours; the loser is he who gives no praise.

Rather, praise belongs to you, while the ungrateful do not praise

أرى شرف الأخلاق وهي عطية

أرى شرف الأخلاق وهي عطية

بها الله يشقي من يشاء ويسعد

بها الله يشقي من يشاء ويسعد

I see nobility of character—and it is a gift—

I see the nobility of character as a gift

Through which God makes whom He wills wretched or happy.

With which Allah makes miserable whom He wills and brings happiness to whom He wills

تفرد نجم الدين منها بسيرة

تفرد نجم الدين منها بسيرة

يحل بها الذكر الجميل ويعقد

يحل بها الذكر الجميل ويعقد

Najm al-Din stands alone in conduct drawn from these,

The star of religion has been singled out with a conduct

Through which fair praise is unbound and bound.

In which beautiful mention comes and is composed

جمال وإجمال وبأس ونائل

جمال وإجمال وبأس ونائل

وفضل وإفضال ومجد وسؤدد

وفضل وإفضال ومجد وسؤدد

Beauty, graciousness, valor, and bounty,

Beauty and beautification, might and attainment

And merit, beneficence, glory, and eminence,

Merit and bestowal, glory and firmness

وحزم وعزم واتقاء وعفة

وحزم وعزم واتقاء وعفة

وخلق وأخلاق وفرع ومحتد

وخلق وأخلاق وفرع ومحتد

And prudence, resolve, piety, and chastity,

Prudence and resolve, God-consciousness and chastity

And form and character, branch and ancestral stock.

Character and morals, branch and firmly rooted

وما ضم هذا الشمل وهو كم ترى

وما ضم هذا الشمل وهو كم ترى

وتسمعه إلا الأجل المؤيد

وتسمعه إلا الأجل المؤيد

And none has gathered this array—all that you see

That which this group comprises, which you see

And hear—except the most illustrious al-Mu'ayyad.

And hear about, except for the predetermined fate

كريم إذا كلفت دهرك مثله

كريم إذا كلفت دهرك مثله

فقد سميته إيجاد ما ليس يوجد

فقد سميته إيجاد ما ليس يوجد

A generous man: if you asked your age to produce his equal,

Noble one, if your age ever devised the like of him

You would have called it creating what does not exist.

You would have named it the creation of what does not exist

أجزت على الدار الشريفة بعده

أجزت على الدار الشريفة بعده

فقلت هل الأيام لي في عود

فقلت هل الأيام لي في عود

I passed by the noble house after he had gone,

I bid farewell to the noble household after him

And said: Will the days grant me a return?

So I said: Will there ever be days of return for me?

وهل ألتقي بدر الدجى منك طالعاً

وهل ألتقي بدر الدجى منك طالعاً

وأبناؤه في برج سعدك أسعد

وأبناؤه في برج سعدك أسعد

And shall I meet the full moon of night rising from you,

Will I ever meet the full moon of darkness risen from you

With his sons most fortunate in the zodiacal sign of your good fortune?

While his sons are in the ascending constellation of your good fortune, most fortunate?

فلم تمض أيام إلى أن رأيته

فلم تمض أيام إلى أن رأيته

وعهد العلى باق كما كنت أعهد

وعهد العلى باق كما كنت أعهد

Not many days passed before I saw him,

It was not many days before I saw him

And the covenant of greatness endured, just as I had known it.

And the promise of the Exalted remains as I had hoped

فقلت لها يا دار يهنيكي قادم

فقلت لها يا دار يهنيكي قادم

رحابك من أنواره تتوقد

رحابك من أنواره تتوقد

So I said to it: O house, may the arriving one gladden you!

So I said to it: O abode, may the arrival

Your courtyards blaze with his radiance.

Of your courts be congratulated, set ablaze by his lights

فرحت به حتى كأن قدومه

فرحت به حتى كأن قدومه

رحيل بشيب أو شباب يجدد

رحيل بشيب أو شباب يجدد

I rejoiced in him till his coming seemed

I rejoiced at his coming as though his arrival

A departure bearing gray hair away, or youth renewed.

Were a departure of old age or renewing youth

وهنأت حسن الظن منك بمنعم

وهنأت حسن الظن منك بمنعم

يصلي له الخطب الجليل ويسجد

يصلي له الخطب الجليل ويسجد

And I congratulated you on your good faith in a benefactor,

And I congratulated the good expectation from you of the Benefactor

To whom mighty calamity prays and prostrates itself.

For whom the great sermons prostrate and bow down