1. ألا يا أيها الخل الوفيُّ

    ومن والاه مولاه الوليُّ

    Ah, O faithful friend,

    and whom his Lord, the Protector, has befriended:

  2. أخذتَ بذمة الإيمان شرعاً

    فلا وأبيك يَثنيك الأبيُّ

    you have embraced faith’s covenant according to sacred law,

    so, by your father, no defiant man can deter you.

  3. وأودعت النفوس بها مزايا

    حباك بحرزها المولى العلي

    And through it you have instilled virtues in souls;

    the Lord Most High favored you with their safekeeping.

  4. فكلٌّ من فعالك مستحبٌّ

    وكلٌّ من صفاتك عبقري

    So every deed of yours is commendable,

    and every quality of yours is extraordinary.

  5. فتومي أَنمُلٌ ويشير طرفٌ

    وترنو فكرةٌ ويَرى رَوِيُّ

    Thus fingertips gesture, and an eye signals,

    and thought gazes, and a reflective thinker sees

  6. بأنك يا مَكَرْديجُ المفدى

    حَمِيُّ أمانةٍ بطلٌ كَمِي

    that you, O cherished Makardij,

    are the faith’s defender, a champion clad in armor.

  7. بحلِّكَ مشكلاتٍ ذات قدر

    بها إنجيلُنا أبداً رضي

    Through your resolving problems of great importance,

    with which our Gospel is forever pleased.

  8. جلاها منك فكرٌ لوذعيٌّ

    عصاميٌّ وعقلٌ ألمعي

    They were clarified by an incisive thought of yours,

    self-made, and by a brilliant intellect.

  9. رآك المبدعون وهم حيارى

    بأنك فيهم قدحٌ ورِيُّ

    The innovators saw you and were bewildered,

    for you are a fire-kindling flint in their midst.

  10. جَنِيُّ المبدعين حُماتُ شوكٍ

    وإن جَنيَّكم ثمرٌ شهي

    The innovators’ harvest is the sharp points of thorns,

    whereas your harvest is indeed delicious fruit.

  11. فولى منك نسطورُ المعادي

    وديسقوروس الفدم الغبي

    So Nestorius, the adversary, fled from you,

    and dull-witted, foolish Dioscorus,

  12. وبَرصومُ الخبيث وتابعوه

    ويعقوب اللعين البردعي

    and wicked Barsoum and his followers,

    and accursed Jacob al-Barda‘i,

  13. وسركيسٌ وذو الحيات أيضاً

    وفوثي ثم بالاما الشقي

    and Sarkis, and the one with the serpents too,

    and Photius, then wretched Palamas.

  14. همُ الغاوون فيما حرّفوه

    هم الباغون والباغي عصي

    They are the misguided in what they have distorted;

    they are transgressors, and a transgressor is disobedient.

  15. فلا تزكو الرعية في سراها

    ومرعاها وراعيها صبي

    So the flock cannot thrive on its night journey,

    nor in its pasture, while its shepherd is a child.

  16. إذا ما قيل من أفتى بفتكٍ

    يشينهم وفتواه سَرِيُّ

    If ever it is asked, ‘Who decreed a deadly blow

    that disgraces them, while his ruling is a rivulet?’

  17. أجبت بأن شانئهم جميعاً

    مَكَرْديجُ الكسيح الأرمني

    I would answer that the foe of them all

    is Makardij, the crippled Armenian.

  18. فروح اللَه إن قرت أقرَّت

    وشاهده العزيز اليوسفي

    For God’s Spirit, if it abides, confirms,

    as does His honored witness, al-Yusufi.

  19. فحقّاً أنك المختار حقّاً

    حريٌّ في أمانتنا حري

    So truly you are the chosen one—truly,

    worthy in our faith—worthy indeed.

  20. فقد أرويتها من عذب فضلٍ

    هو الوسميُّ فيها والولي

    For you have watered it with sweet bounty,

    which is its first autumn rain and the rain that follows.

  21. فماء الشرع إن روَّى عَدِيّاً

    فلم ينجُمْ به أصلٌ دعي

    For if sacred law’s water gives drink to an outsider,

    then no spurious root springs up through it.

  22. ركبت طريقةً في الحق جلَّت

    وقصر عن مداها اللوذعي

    You followed a path in truth that rose high,

    and the keen-witted fell short of its reach.

  23. وهل يسمو دخان الرِّمثِ يوماً

    يفوحُ العنبر العَطِرُ الذكي

    And can the smoke of saltbush ever soar

    when fragrant, sweet-scented ambergris wafts?

  24. ختمت الأولين من القضايا

    كما قد يختم الشعرَ الروي

    You brought the earlier questions to their close,

    just as the rhyme-letter may close a verse.