أجل في مغاني وصف أهل العلا طرفا

أجل في مغاني وصف أهل العلا طرفا

ونزّه بروضات امتداحهم طرفا

ونزّه بروضات امتداحهم طرفا

Let your gaze roam through the haunts where people of exalted rank are praised,

Let your gaze roam the haunts where the exalted are described;

And refresh it awhile in gardens devoted to praising them.

And delight your gaze in the gardens of their praise.

ونظم كتابا من مكارم خلقهم

ونظم كتابا من مكارم خلقهم

ودوّن بعلياها الدواوين والصحفا

ودوّن بعلياها الدواوين والصحفا

Compose a book from the noble qualities of their character,

And compose a book from the noble qualities of their character;

And record their loftiest deeds in volumes and scrolls.

And fill volumes and scrolls with their loftiest virtues.

فتلك سجايا ذكر وصف خلالها

فتلك سجايا ذكر وصف خلالها

يزيد بها حبى إلى ضعفه ضعفا

يزيد بها حبى إلى ضعفه ضعفا

Such are innate virtues: recounting and describing their qualities

Such are virtues: recalling the description of their qualities

Makes my love, through them, grow to twice its measure—doubled.

Increases my love for them, doubling it yet again.

بهم طاب من بطحاء طيبة تربُها

بهم طاب من بطحاء طيبة تربُها

بهم عز مثواها منهم شمخت أنفا

بهم عز مثواها منهم شمخت أنفا

Through them the soil of Taybah’s broad gravel plain grew fragrant;

Through them, the soil of Taybah's pebbled plain grew sweet;

Through them her abode gained glory; because of them she held her head proudly high.

Through them her abode gained glory; because of them she lifted her nose in pride.

بهم نمّ ريّاها وفاح نسيمها

بهم نمّ ريّاها وفاح نسيمها

بهم تربها قد فاق نور الربا عرفا

بهم تربها قد فاق نور الربا عرفا

Through them her fragrance flourished, and her breeze breathed perfume;

Through them her fragrance spread and her breeze grew fragrant;

Through them her soil surpassed the upland blossoms in fragrance.

Through them her soil surpassed the hills' blossoms in fragrance.

همُ أسسوا العليا وأحيوا رسومها

همُ أسسوا العليا وأحيوا رسومها

ففخر العلا حتماً عليهم غدا وقفا

ففخر العلا حتماً عليهم غدا وقفا

They founded lofty glory and revived its vanished traces,

They laid the foundations of eminence and revived its traces;

So the pride of glory inevitably became theirs alone.

So the pride of eminence became, assuredly, theirs alone.

منازل فيها برءُ سقمى وعلّتي

منازل فيها برءُ سقمى وعلّتي

فياما ألذّ العيش فيها وما أصفى

فياما ألذّ العيش فيها وما أصفى

Dwellings wherein lie the cure for my sickness and affliction—

Abodes wherein lies the cure for my sickness and affliction;

Ah, how delightful life is there, and how pure!

And oh, how sweet life is there, and how pure!

بتُرب مغانيها من السقم والضنا

بتُرب مغانيها من السقم والضنا

وبرح شكايات التباريخ يستشفى

وبرح شكايات التباريخ يستشفى

In the dust of its haunts, for sickness and wasting,

With the soil of her dwellings, from sickness and wasting,

And to cool the complaints of searing anguish, healing is sought.

And the agony of anguished complaints, healing is sought.

عليّ عهود للمطايا وثيقةٌ

عليّ عهود للمطايا وثيقةٌ

إذا أعملت بى نحو ذاك العلى خفّا

إذا أعملت بى نحو ذاك العلى خفّا

I owe the mounts a firm and solemn pledge:

I owe the riding camels binding pledges,

If they ply their padded hooves, bearing me toward that exalted place,

When they ply their padded feet, bearing me toward that height:

أمرّغ خدى في تراب مسيرها

أمرّغ خدى في تراب مسيرها

وألثم إجلالاً مواطئها ألفا

وألثم إجلالاً مواطئها ألفا

I shall rub my cheek in the dust of their path,

I will rub my cheek in the dust of their path,

And reverently kiss the ground they tread a thousand times.

And kiss their footprints a thousand times in reverence.

أيا خير خلق اللَه كن لي مؤمّلا

أيا خير خلق اللَه كن لي مؤمّلا

فلم أتخذ ركنا سواك ولا كهفا

فلم أتخذ ركنا سواك ولا كهفا

O best of God’s creation, be the one in whom I place my hope,

O best of God's creation, be my hope;

For I have taken no support but you, nor any refuge.

For I have taken none but you as my pillar and refuge.

شفيعى يا خير الأنام مدائح

شفيعى يا خير الأنام مدائح

أنَظّمها درّا وأحكمها رصفا

أنَظّمها درّا وأحكمها رصفا

My intercessor, O best of humankind, is my poetry of praise;

My intercessor, O best of humankind, is poetry of praise,

I string it like pearls and make its setting firm.

Which I string as pearls and fit firmly together.

إذا قدّم الراجون منك شفاعةً

إذا قدّم الراجون منك شفاعةً

وسائلهم يوماً أقدمها نصفا

وسائلهم يوماً أقدمها نصفا

When hopeful souls come before you seeking intercession,

When those who hope for your intercession present

I shall one day fairly present these praises among their pleas.

Their means of approach one day, I offer these in fairness.

عسى بامتداح الهاشميّ وصحبه

عسى بامتداح الهاشميّ وصحبه

سمنحني الرحمن من فضله لطفا

سمنحني الرحمن من فضله لطفا

Perhaps, through praising the Hashemite and his Companions,

May, through praising the Hashimite and his companions,

The All-Merciful will grant me kindness from His bounty.

The All-Merciful grant me kindness from His bounty.

عليهم سلام الله ما ناح ساجع

عليهم سلام الله ما ناح ساجع

بروض رواق الحسن مد به سجفا

بروض رواق الحسن مد به سجفا

Upon them be God’s peace as long as a melodious bird coos

Upon them be God's peace, as long as a cooing bird laments

In a garden where beauty’s pavilion has spread its curtains.

In a garden where beauty's canopy has spread its curtains.