1. حلا بك الدهر وازدانت علا حلب

    والآن شهباؤنا من دونها الشهب

    Time grew sweet through you, and Aleppo’s heights were adorned.

    And now the bright stars lie beneath our Shahba.

  2. وخصك الله بالعدل الذي اعتدلت

    منه الطبائع واعتلت به النوب

    And God singled you out with justice that brought balance

    to temperaments, while calamities fell ill through it.

  3. والحلم والعلم في حكم وفي حكم

    يمحى به الشك أو تجلى بها الريب

    And with forbearance and knowledge, in judgment and in maxims,

    doubt is erased by it, or misgivings are dispelled by them.

  4. وبالفضل في كل خطب عن كثب

    والفضل في خطب تتلى بها الكتب

    And with excellence in every crisis, close at hand,

    and excellence in sermons in which books are recited.

  5. وبالبلاغة في لفظ بلغت به

    من الفصاحة ما لا تبغ العرب

    And with eloquence of expression, through which you attained

    a degree of eloquence to which the Arabs do not aspire.

  6. تمضي يراعك في أمر يراع له

    كل سواك وعنه كلت القضب

    You wield your reed pen in an affair that strikes fear

    into all but you, and against which swords have grown blunt.

  7. كأنما هو أفعى في يدي أسد

    به الأساود والأساد تصطحب

    As though it were a viper in a lion’s two paws;

    through it, black serpents and lions keep company.

  8. سمج سما ودريافا لذي عود

    ومستقيم ففيه البرء والعطب

    It spews poison and antidote for the crooked [reading uncertain],

    and the upright; in it lie healing and ruin.

  9. وبالنهاية حتى لو غضبت علي

    أهاب حي نضاه العظم والعصب

    And with consummate excellence, so that, were you angry at

    a living creature’s hide, its bones and sinews would cast it off.

  10. وربما أجمد الدأماء زجر هدي

    من فيك والصخرة الصماء تضطرب

    And sometimes the dark sea would freeze at a gentle rebuke

    from your mouth, while solid rock trembled.

  11. كأنما كل عضو منك يوم سطا

    على أولى البغي حقا جحفل لجب

    As though each limb of yours, when it struck

    at the unjust, were truly a clamorous army.

  12. يا ساحباً ذيل فضل من مكارمه

    تود لو أدركت آثاره السحب

    O you who trail a hem of bounty from your noble deeds,

    the clouds wish they could catch up with its traces.

  13. ورافعاً بيت مجد قد سما وتداً

    على السماك وطال المرزم السبب

    and raise a house of glory whose tent-peg has soared

    above al-Simak, its guy-rope surpassing al-Mirzam;

  14. أنى تصدق في أموالهم نفراً

    والله يشهد فيهم أنهم كذبوا

    how can you trust people concerning their wealth,

    when God bears witness concerning them that they lied?

  15. وكيف تميل في الميقات من عجلوا

    إلى عبادة عجل إنه عجب

    And how can you favor, at the appointed time, those who hastened

    to worship a calf? It is astonishing.

  16. وإن أعظم ذنب لا خلاف به

    أن يعبد العبد رباً خلفه ذنب

    And surely the greatest sin, about which there is no dispute,

    is for a servant to worship a lord with a tail behind it.

  17. وأنت أعلم مني فيهم وأولو ال

    علوم لم يخف عنهم كل ما يجب

    And you know more about them than I, and those possessed of

    knowledge—nothing required is hidden from them.

  18. وبي عضاضة عيش مسنى لغب

    منها وساورني في سؤرها سغب

    Life’s hardship gnaws at me; weariness has touched me

    from it, and hunger has assailed me amid its dregs.

  19. حتى تصور لي منها على ظمأ

    إن المنية في ثغر المنى شنب

    Until, thirsting because of it, it seemed to me

    that death was the cool sweetness in the mouth of hope.

  20. ولو شربت حمامي كان أعذب من

    عذاب طول حياة كلها نصب

    And if I drank my death, it would be sweeter than

    the torment of a long life entirely filled with toil.

  21. إني لراض من الدنيا على سخط

    إن الكرام إذا ما استضغبوا غضبوا

    I am indeed resigned to this world, though discontented;

    for the noble, when provoked to anger, become angry.

  22. ولست في كل أمر من حوادثها

    الاك عبد الكريم الندب انتدب

    And through every affair among its vicissitudes, I call upon

    none but you, the gallant Abd al-Karim.

  23. فأنت ذو همة تعلو وتدأب في

    علو من حطه من دهر الأدب

    For you have a soaring resolve, tirelessly striving for

    the rise of one whom letters have long cast down.

  24. مولاي خير هباة في الأنام لنا

    من الزمان وما من طبعه يهب

    My lord is the finest gift among mankind granted to us

    by Time, though giving is not in its nature.

  25. ومن لديه لولوا العليا خجبة

    والشهب عند طلوع الشمس تحتجب

    And one before whom [unclear] of high rank are [unclear];

    and the stars hide themselves when the sun rises.

  26. ونعم مولى بدهر تكتسى شرفاً

    منه الموالي وبعض الفضل يكتسب

    What a fine patron, in an age when honor is donned

    by clients through him, and some merit is acquired.

  27. عطفاً علي وعفواً فالقريض به

    جناً يحب ومجنى منه يجتب

    Show me kindness and pardon, for poetry contains

    fruit that is loved, and fruit from it that is cut away.

  28. يجول في القلب هم عن بدايعه

    وربما صح لي في بعضها الطلب

    Concern for its marvels wanders through the heart,

    and sometimes my pursuit succeeds in some of them.

  29. فهاكها كلهيب النار من كبد

    حرى وان ثمار الواقد اللهب

    So take it, like a flame of fire, from a liver

    aflame; indeed, flame is the fruit of what burns.

  30. ولست أبلغ أوصافاً بك اكتملت

    ولو صفا لي دهري وانقضى الوصب

    And I cannot encompass the qualities perfected in you,

    even if my time grew serene and affliction ended.

  31. فإن غاية من أقضى به أمل

    إلى تناول ما فوق السهى التعب

    For the end of one whom hope has led

    to grasp what lies above al-Suha is exhaustion.