صباح الهدى من ضوء وجهك مسفر

ومن نوره ليلُ التهجد مقمرُ

The dawn of guidance shines from the light of your face,

and from its radiance the night of vigil is moonlit.

خُلقتَ كما شاء التقى غير منطوٍ

على ريبةٍ فيما تسرُّ وتجهر

You were created as piety wished, harboring no

taint of suspicion in what you conceal or proclaim.

لكَ انتهت اليوم الرياسة للهدى

وإنك قبل اليوم فيها لأجدر

Today the leadership of guidance has come to you,

and even before today you were more worthy of it.

ولم أدر حتَّى زار شخصك ناظري

بأن التقى في الأرض شخصٌ مصور

Nor did I know, until your person visited my gaze,

that piety on earth is a person given form.

وأعظم شيءٍ أن كفَّك لم يقمْ

بها عرضُ الدنيا وكلُّكَ جوهر

And greatest of all is that your palm has never held

the world's fleeting wealth; you are substance through and through.

يقرُّ بعين الدين أنك نيِّرٌ

به حوزةُ الإسلام تزهو وتزهر

It gladdens religion's eye that you are a luminary

through whom Islam's realm glories and blooms.

وفرَّج صدري كون ناديك للتقى

وأنك للأحكام فيه المصدِّر

And it eased my breast that your assembly is devoted to piety,

and that you are the one who issues rulings there.

فخاصمتُ فيك البدر يشرق نوره

وإنَّ عليه حجتي منه أنور

So I disputed over you with the full moon as its light shone,

and my argument against it was brighter than it.

فقال كلانا زاهرٌ في سمائه

فقلت نعمْ لكنْ محيّاه أزهر

It said, 'Both of us shine, each in his own sky.'

I replied, 'Yes, but his face is more radiant.'

وقالت نجوم الأفق إنِّي كثيرةٌ

فقلت مزايا شيخنا منكِ أكثر

And the stars of the horizon said, 'We are many.'

I replied, 'Our sheikh's virtues outnumber you.'

وقال النسيم الغضُّ إني لعاطرٌ

فقلت شذا أخلاقه منكَ أعطر

And the fresh breeze said, 'I am fragrant indeed.'

I replied, 'His character's fragrance is sweeter than yours.'

ودعْ راحتيه يا سحابُ فمنهما

يصوب الندى طبعاً وأنت مسخّر

And leave his two palms alone, O cloud, for from them

bounty rains by nature, while you are compelled.

لقد نشأت من رحمة الله فيهما

سحائبُ عشر بالعوارف تمطر

Indeed, from God's mercy there have arisen in them

ten clouds raining benefactions.

فيا علماء الأرض شرقاً ومغرباً

كذا فليكنْ من للهدى يتخيّر

So, O scholars of the earth, east and west,

let whoever is chosen to guide be like this.

ويا خير من يرتاده آمل الورى

فمنظره في روضةٍ منه يحبر

And O best of those whom humanity's hopeful seek,

for the seeker's gaze is gladdened in a garden found in you.

إذا قيل فيمن روضة الفضل تزهر

وأيُ بحار العلم أروى وأغزر

When one asks in whom the garden of excellence blooms,

and which of knowledge's seas best slakes thirst and is most abundant,

إليكَ غدت تومي الشريعة لا إلى

سواك وأثنتْ وانثنت لك تشكر

the Sacred Law now points to you, not to

any other; it praises you and turns to thank you.

وإن قيلَ مَن للمشكلات يحلّها

ذُكرتَ ولم تعقدْ بغيرك خنصر

And if it is asked, 'Who will solve difficult problems?'

you are named, and no little finger is bent for anyone else.

حليف التقى ما سار ذكرٌ لذي تقًى

بمنقبةٍ إلاَّ وذكرك أسير

Ally of piety, no pious person's renown travels

for a virtue without your renown traveling farther.

لقد ضمَّ منك البردُ والبرد طاهرٌ

فتًى هو من ماء الغمامة أطهر

Your cloak has indeed enfolded—pure as the cloak is—

a young man purer than the water of a cloud.

فتًى حبتْه في النفوس خلائقٌ

يكاد بها من وجهه البِشرُ يقطرُ

A young man whose virtues have won him favor in people's hearts,

through which cheerfulness all but drips from his face.

فلو لم أبتْ فيها من الهمِّ صاحياً

لقلتُ هي الصهباء من حيث تسكر

So, had I not spent the night amid them, kept sober by care,

I would have called them tawny wine, for they intoxicate.

إليك عروساً كنتُ أسلفتُ مهرها

ولم تجلَ لولا أنَّها لك تمهر

I offer you a bride whose dower I had paid in advance;

she would not have been unveiled unless she were dowered for you.

شكرتكَ ما أسديته من صنيعةٍ

تقدَّمت فيها والصنيعة تُشكر

I thanked you for the kindness you bestowed,

in which you took the initiative; kindness deserves thanks.

عطاياً أتتْ منك ابتداءاً حسابُها

إليَّ وما كانت بباليَ تخطر

Gifts came from you unbidden; their reckoning

rests with me, though they had never crossed my mind.

وغير عجيبٍ إن بدا من محمدٍ

بمنزلةٍ تشجى الحواسدَ حيدر

And it is no wonder if, through Muhammad,

Haydar appears at a station that grieves the envious.

فما عصرُنا إلاَّ القيامة شدة

وما فيه إلاَّ حوض جدواك كوثر

For our age is nothing but the Resurrection in its severity,

and its only Kawthar is the pool of your bounty.

رمتْ عنده الدنيا كبارَ همومها

وهمَّته العلياء منهنَّ أكبر

The world has cast its greatest cares before him,

and his lofty resolve is greater than them all.

وطاف رجاها في حماه محلقاً

عن الناس حيث الكلُّ منهم مقصّر

And its hope circled, soaring, within his sanctuary,

away from other people, since all of them fall short.