خذا بي نحو الصوت لا تتبعا الصدى

فما كل نارٍ عندها يوجب الهدى

Take me toward the voice, you two; do not follow the echo.

For not every fire guarantees guidance at its side.

ولا تدعوني للفكاهةِ بعدها

فقد ذهبت أيام عمري بها سدى

And do not call me to amusement after that;

for the days of my life have gone to waste in it.

تنيت عناني قارعا سن نادم

لا قرع ما فرطت إذ فاتني الأذى

I turned my reins back, gnashing my teeth in remorse;

not gnashing over what I neglected, when harm escaped me.

تنبهتُ من نوم البطالة حائراً

أمدُّ إلى من مد جانبي اليدا

I awoke bewildered from the sleep of idleness,

and stretch my hand to one who has stretched his hand beside me.

إذا أنست عيناي نارا قصدتها

لعلى أن القى على النار موقدا

Whenever my eyes discern a fire, I make for it,

hoping to find, beside the fire, someone who kindles it.

ومن جدَّ في تحصيل هاد يدلهُ

إِلى الرشد لم يعدم دليلاً ومرشدا

And whoever strives to obtain a guide to lead him

to the right way will not lack a guide and counselor.

ألا إِن بي للعلم علة حائم

يموت وبرد الماء في فمه صدى

Indeed, my yearning for knowledge is the malady of one circling water:

who dies of thirst though cool water is in his mouth.

سأهدى من التسهيد ميلاً لمقلتي

ومن صنعة الظلماء ما عشت إثمدا

I shall give my eye a kohl-stick made of sleeplessness,

and kohl wrought from darkness, as long as I live.

ومن كان كسب العلم أكبر همه

طوى بردة الليل التمام مسهدا

And whoever makes acquiring knowledge his greatest concern

folds up the cloak of the entire night, sleepless.

إذا كنت في دعواك أصدق طالب

لعلم فلا تستمل إِلاَّ محمدا

If, in your claim, you are the truest seeker

of knowledge, seek dictation from none but Muhammad.

واعرض عن المظنونِ من فضل غيره

ولا تعدُ عيناك اليقين وقد بدا

And turn away from the supposed excellence of anyone else,

and let your eyes not stray beyond certainty, now that it is plain.

فما يسقط المكيُّ فرضَ صلاتهِ

بظن ولو بعد التجزي قلّدا

For the Meccan does not discharge his duty of prayer

by conjecture, even if he follows another after inquiry.

وعند وجود الما التيممُ باطلٌ

ولا سيما إن طاب قرباً وموردا

And when water is available, dry ablution is invalid,

especially if it is near at hand and its source is good.

لقد نشر الريمي بالدرسِ دارساً

من العلم قد أودى وطال به المدى

Al-Rimi has indeed revived through teaching what had faded

of knowledge that had perished and over which ages had passed.

وانقذ باقيه وقد عكفت به

صروفُ الليالي شاحذاتٍ له المدى

And he rescued its remnant, though round it had gathered

the nights' vicissitudes, sharpening knives against it.

فكم من عويص حل معناه فهمه

وقد كان في أسر الرموزِ مقيّدا

How many a knotty problem's meaning his insight has unraveled,

though it had been fettered in the captivity of cryptic symbols.

وجلّى ظلامَ المشكلاتِ بواضحٍ

من القولِ خلى ناظر الشمس أرمدا

And he dispelled the darkness of difficult questions with lucid

speech that left the sun's eye sore.

يباهي ابن ادريس به كل قدوةٍ

فيأسف إذا لم يقتديه كما اقتدى

Ibn Idris boasts of him before every exemplar,

and each grieves when he is not followed as Ibn Idris was.

وصار عليهم حجة حيثُ خالفوا

ووافقهُ في القولِ أطولهم يدا

And he became an argument against them wherever they differed,

and the one among them whose hand reached farthest agreed with his words.

نصرتَ مقال الشافعي ولو تشا

سلكتَ طريقاً كنت فيه مقلّدا

You championed al-Shafi'i's teaching; had you wished,

you could have taken a path on which others followed you.

وكم حجة أبرزتها لمخالفٍ

منعت بها أنفاسه أن يصعدا

And how many an argument you brought forth against an opponent,

with which you stopped his breaths from rising!

وكان طليقاً بالجدالِ لسانُه

فلما وعى منك المال تقيّدا

And his tongue had been unrestrained in debate,

but when it grasped the outcome from you, it became fettered.

إِذا ما الحديد الفهم ناجاك لحظهُ

ونازعته المعنى الرقيق تبلّدا

Whenever a keen-minded man's glance confides in you,

and you debate a subtle meaning with him, he grows dull.

إليك زجرت العزم والشوق مزعجٌ

وفي القلب منه ما أقام وأقعدا

Toward you I spurred my resolve, with longing driving me on,

and in my heart is something of it that makes me rise and sit.

أتيتكَ عطشاناً وبحرُك زاخرٌ

يفيضُ بموج قد تلاطمَ مزبِدا

I came to you thirsty, while your sea surged full,

overflowing with waves that clash and foam.

وما كنت للصادي سراباً بقيعة

إِذا ما دعا حوليه جاوبه الصدى

And you were no mirage on a plain for the thirsty man,

when he calls all around him and the echo answers him.

فدونكَ من قد جاء يعرض نفسه

فان ترض بي عبداً رضيتُك سيّدا

So take the one who has come to offer himself;

and if you accept me as a servant, I accept you as master.

متى تمتحنّي قائلاً تلق واعيا

حفيظاً لما تملي على مردّدا

Whenever you test me by speaking, you will find me attentive,

retaining and repeating whatever you dictate to me.

فخذ بيدي وادلل على الرشد مهتد

فما كل من يؤتي يدل على الهدى

So take my hand and show me the right way, you who are guided;

for not everyone who gives points the way to guidance.

وما خابَ من كان الرجاء يقودهُ

إِليك إِلى العلَم المزيّد بالندى

And no one fails whose hope leads him

to you—to the landmark made greater by generosity.

وأَنت كثيرٌ في الزمانِ وأهله

وإن كنت قد أصبحت بالعلم مفردا

And you are a multitude in this age and among its people,

even though in knowledge you have become one of a kind.

بقيت لحفظِ العلم ينشر في الورى

فكانت لك الأعداء والاوليا فدا

May you endure to preserve knowledge, spread among mankind,

so may enemies and friends alike be your ransom.

ولا زالت النعماءُ دارُك دارَها

تمد بها ظلاً على الخلقِ سرمدا

And may blessing always make your house its home,

spreading there a shade over creation forever.