خذ العفو وأمر بالذي أنت أهله

فتحت يديد الامر والنهى كله

Practice pardon, and enjoin what befits you.

For beneath your hands lie all command and prohibition.

ولا تنس أضيافاً على جودك رتموا

وإن كان معروفا فأنا محله

Nor forget guests who have cast themselves upon your generosity.

And if kindness is to be shown, I am its proper recipient.

تبصر بنا وازرع جميلك عندنا

فزرعك فينا لا يضيع مغله

Look closely at us, and sow your kindness among us.

For the yield of what you sow in us will not be lost.

أنا الكوكب السيار في كل بلدة

تراعيه أعيان العلا وتجله

I am the wandering star in every town,

Watched over and revered by the leading men of eminence.

تطوف على سمع البلاد قصائدي

ويخدمني سهل الكلام وجزله

My poems make the rounds of the lands' ears,

And speech, both plain and stately, serves me.

أنا ابن الذين استوثقوا صهوة العلا

ودربهم وبل السخاء وطله

I am the son of those who secured a firm seat on eminence's back,

And whose way is generosity's downpour and its dew.

نرى الذي في شكوى الزمان لغيرنا

ولو سكنت في حبة القلب نبله

We see [humiliation] in complaining of time to others,

Even if its arrows lodge in the heart's very core.

ولا خير في فضل الفتى بين قومه

إذا لم يوازي صدمة الدهر فضله

And there is no good in a man's merit among his people,

If his merit does not match time's blow.

وإني لصبار لدى كل صدمة

وكل حسام ليس تدريه فابله

And I am indeed steadfast before every blow;

And any sword you do not know, put it to the test.

اضاع دنى الاصل فضلي ولم يضع

ويكفي سخيف العقل في الناس جهل

A base-born man neglected my merit, yet it was not lost;

And ignorance is enough for the feeble-minded among men.

ويا رب باغ سل سيفا وجاءني

فكان بسيف سله قتله

And many an aggressor drew a sword and came at me,

Only to meet his death by the sword he drew.

وكلنا جزاء الغادرين لغدرهم

وكل امرىء منا سيجزيه فعله

We entrusted the traitors' requital to their own treachery;

And each of us will be requited by his deeds.

فلا تشمت اليوم العدا بمصابنا

لعل غدا يأتي لهم فيه مثله

So do not let our foes gloat today over our misfortune;

Perhaps tomorrow will bring them its like.

هو الدهر يمسى المرء في ليل أمنه

وقبل انشقاق الفجر يدهيه ختله

Such is time: a man enters the night in safety,

And before dawn breaks, its guile brings him calamity.

وما جرب الايام والدهر وارعوى

من الناس الاكل من تم عقله

None has experienced days and time and taken heed,

Among men, save those whose reason is complete.

لعمري لقد صاحبت دهري وأهله

فلم أر إلّا ما أرى وأملّه

By my life, I have indeed kept company with my age and its people,

But I have seen only what I see and grow weary of,

سوى حضرة الآغا رعى الّله قدره

ودام به في قلعة الطور عدله

Except His Excellency the Agha—may God preserve his stature—

And may his justice endure through him in the fortress of al-Tur.

فاحمدت منه أحمدا لا اذمه

وحملت منه نائلا لا اقله

So I found in him a praiseworthy Ahmad whom I do not blame,

And took from him bounty beyond my power to carry.

نزلنا فحيانا وحيت رجاله

وكاد يحيينا من الطور اثله

We alighted; he greeted us, and his men greeted us,

And even al-Tur's tamarisks almost greeted us.

فاسفر كل عن أصالة غرسه

وفعل الفتىينبي اذا غاب اصله

Thus each revealed the nobility of his stock;

And a man's conduct reveals his lineage when it is unknown.

ساذكرهم في كل ارض حللتها

وذكر الفتى للحشر يمتد حبله

I shall mention them in every land where I alight,

And the cord of a man's renown stretches to the Day of Gathering.

امنا به الاعداء من كل جانب

ولولاه لم تسلك من البر سبله

Through him we were safe from foes on every side,

And but for him, the roads overland would not be traveled.

فلا زال كهف الخائفين جنابه

ولا زال مجموعاً كما شاء شمله

So may his presence ever remain a cave of refuge for the fearful,

And may his circle ever remain united, as he wishes.