أتطنّ قلباً منك يوماً قد خلا

أتطنّ قلباً منك يوماً قد خلا

وهواك ما بين الضلوع تخلّلا

وهواك ما بين الضلوع تخلّلا

Do you think a heart has ever been empty of you,

My heart once harbored hope that you would be true,

When love for you has threaded its way between the ribs?

And your love threaded through my ribs ensued.

وكتابك البحر المحيط بفضل ما

وكتابك البحر المحيط بفضل ما

عَقَد الجمان معقداً ومفصّلا

عَقَد الجمان معقداً ومفصّلا

And your book is an all-encompassing ocean, by virtue of what

Your book, an ocean with its branches and roots-

It has strung of pearls, closely knotted and set apart.

Well structured, articulated and imbued.

بهر العقول جِناسه فجنانه

بهر العقول جِناسه فجنانه

تُدني جَناه يانعاً ومذلَّلا

تُدني جَناه يانعاً ومذلَّلا

Its wordplay dazzled minds; its gardens, in turn,

It amazes minds with rhetorical flair,

Bring its fruit near, ripe and easy to gather.

Drawing near with its delicate feel and mood.

روض تفتّق زهره وتكهّلا

روض تفتّق زهره وتكهّلا

أفقٌ تألّق بدره فتكمّلا

أفقٌ تألّق بدره فتكمّلا

A garden whose blossoms burst open and matured;

A meadow blossoming, leaves budding with care,

A horizon whose full moon shone and attained perfection.

A horizon beaming as the full moon stood.

يهدي المعاني من مغانيها التي

يهدي المعاني من مغانيها التي

غَنيت فأغنت كلّ فهْم أمحلا

غَنيت فأغنت كلّ فهْم أمحلا

It offers meanings from their dwellings, which

It presents meanings from their melodies that

Flourished and thus enriched every mind grown barren.

Enriched every mind, vacant and astute.

إن قال غرٌّ مثله فيما مضى

إن قال غرٌّ مثله فيما مضى

فلقد تأوّل باطلاً وتقوّلا

فلقد تأوّل باطلاً وتقوّلا

If a naïve man claims its like existed in the past,

If an ignorant ever claimed it as his,

Then he has surely interpreted falsely and fabricated a claim.

He but falsely interpreted and impute.

فليهني العلياء ما تجري به

فليهني العلياء ما تجري به

أقلامك الغرُّ الميامنة العُلا

أقلامك الغرُّ الميامنة العُلا

So may lofty glory rejoice in what flows from

Let men of knowledge congratulate the flow

Your radiant, auspicious, exalted pens.

Of your right-hand pens, sublime and acute.

وليهنئ القرطاس ما قلدته

وليهنئ القرطاس ما قلدته

يا ابن الكرام من المآثر والحُلا

يا ابن الكرام من المآثر والحُلا

And may the page rejoice in what you have garlanded it with,

Let the paper rejoice in what you bestowed-

O son of the noble—glorious deeds and adornments.

Graces and feats, O son of nobility.

كتبتْ عليه من الأفاضل سادةٌ

كتبتْ عليه من الأفاضل سادةٌ

مدْحاً يروق مدبَّجاً ومسلسلا

مدْحاً يروق مدبَّجاً ومسلسلا

Masters among the distinguished have written upon it

Upon it, the virtuous wrote praise, adorned and refined,

Praise that delights, richly embroidered and linked in a chain.

That delights, embroidered and well-constituted.

ورأيتُ أني عن مداهم قاصرٌ

ورأيتُ أني عن مداهم قاصرٌ

فقعدتُ ثم أتيتهم متطفّلا

فقعدتُ ثم أتيتهم متطفّلا

And I saw that I fell short of their reach,

I saw my praise fell short of their kind,

So I held back, then came to them as an uninvited guest.

So I sat, and to them was affiliated.

أين الثريّا والثرى أين السهى

أين الثريّا والثرى أين السهى

ممن سها أن التداني والقلا

ممن سها أن التداني والقلا

Where are the Pleiades, and where the dust? Where is Suhā

Where is generosity, where is joy, where is vigor

Beside one who forgets that nearness and aversion...

For one who almost drew near and saluted?

دُم في سعودك يا خليل فلا خلا

دُم في سعودك يا خليل فلا خلا

منك المكان ولا سلا عنكَ الملا

منك المكان ولا سلا عنكَ الملا

Remain in your good fortune, O Khalīl; may you never be absent

Stay in your glory, O Khalil, nothing but

From this place, nor forgotten by the gathering.

Your company occupies this place, or ruled.