وقفت في الدار عنهم اسأل الطللا

وكيف يوما تجيب الدار من سألا

I stood in the dwelling, asking its ruins about them.

And how could a dwelling ever answer one who asks?

لا شك حادي المنايا قد حدا بهم

وجد في الير داعي البين وارتحلا

No doubt the camel-driver of deaths has driven them onward.

And the herald of parting hastened on the [journey] and departed.

وما عفا الدهر عنهم في تحكمه

وقد عفى ربعهم من بعدهم وخلا

And time, in its arbitrary rule, did not spare them,

while their dwelling had faded after them and stood empty.

وقد ابادهم صرف الزمان ولا

عار على الدهر يوما بالذي فعلا

And the turns of time destroyed them, yet no

shame ever falls upon time for what it has done.

وكم سقى قبلهم كأس الردى امما

حتى لقد راح كل منهم ثملا

And how many nations before them it made drink the cup of death,

until indeed each of them went away drunk.

وصار ذكرهم من بعدهم سيرا

تتلى وقد اصبحوا بين الورى مثلا

And their remembrance after them became tales

recited, while they had become an example among humankind.

وايقنوا بنزول الراس انهم

غرقى وطالعهم في الحوت قد نزلا

And as the head descended, they knew that they were

drowned, their ascendant having descended into Pisces.

كأنهم لم يكونوا قبلها ركبوا

بحرا ولا قطعوا سهلا ولا جبلا

As though before this they had never sailed

a sea, nor crossed a plain or a mountain.

وطالما لمضاف دورهم عمروا

وقد بنوها على فتح لمن دخلا

And long had they maintained their homes for guests,

and built them to stand open to whoever entered.

وبعد تلك القصور المشرفات بهم

غابوا وعنها اللحود استوطنوا بدلا

And after those palaces, ennobled by them,

they vanished, making tombs their home instead of those palaces.

يا لهف قلبي على من كان شملهم

يزهو به وعلى اقرانه فضلا

Ah, my heart’s grief for him in whom their company

gloried, and who stood above his peers in merit:

الماجد الندب عبد القادر العلم الفر

د الذي فضله قدرا سما وعلا

The noble, gallant ʿAbd al-Qādir, the illustrious, peer-

less one, whose excellence soared high in rank.

من كان همته عود الصلات ولا

يزال في طلب العلياء مشتغلا

He whose aim was repeated giving, and who never

ceased to be engaged in seeking lofty honor.

ومن اذا الدهر ولى عنك منحرفا

وجئت يوما حماه طاب واعتدلا

And he who, when fortune turned aside from you,

and you came one day to his refuge, made it kind and fair.

ومن لسائله يوبي الندى كرما

ولم يزل بره بالجود متصلا

And he who [bestows?] bounty on his petitioner out of generosity,

and whose kindness never ceased to be joined with generosity.

لئن مضى فلقد ابقت مآثره

ذكرا له ليس يطوى في الحياة إلى

Though he has passed away, his noble deeds have indeed left

a remembrance of him never effaced in life—to...

فاصبر وقم يا ولي الدين مجتنبا

فالصبر من شيم السادات والنبلا

So be patient and rise, O Walī al-Dīn, avoiding...

for patience is among the traits of lords and noble men.

لا ذقت مولاي رزءاً بعدها أبدا

وأجزل الله في الدنيا لك العملا

May you never taste any loss after this, my lord.

And may God make your deeds abundant in this world.

واصبر فما مات يوما من تكون له

من بعده خلفا يا اوحد الفضلا

And be patient: no one ever dies if you are to be his

successor after him, O peerless among the worthy.

لا زال وصفك بالمعنى البديع اذا

ما قلت شعراً يزين المدح والغزلا

May your descriptions, with their wondrous meaning, always—whenever

you speak in verse—adorn praise and love poetry.

ولم تزل في مرور كامل وهنا

وجمع شمل وسعد مشرق وعلا

And may you ever have perfect [joy] and happiness,

and a united circle, radiant good fortune, and eminence,

ما قام في جامع الروض الخطيب وما

اجاد سجعاً على اعواده وتلا

as long as the preacher stands in the Mosque of al-Rawḍ, and

excels in rhymed prose upon its pulpit and recites.