1. صبراً جميلاً فلعل وعسى

    يورق عود الوصل بعد ما عسا

    Gracious patience—for perhaps, perhaps,

    The bough of union will leaf again after growing dry.

  2. والدهر قاس قلبه وربما

    يلين قلب الدهر بعدما قسا

    And Time is hard of heart, yet perhaps

    Time's heart will soften after growing hard.

  3. أساءني من بعد ما أحسن بي

    يا ليته أحسن بعدما أسا

    It wronged me after treating me kindly;

    Oh, if only it would be kind after doing harm!

  4. أطلق دمعي بعد ما قيده

    وقال خذ منه طريقاً يبسا

    It loosed my tears after restraining them,

    And said, 'Take a dry path through them.'

  5. أنهلني من الدنو راحة

    أكرع منها للبعاد أكؤسا

    It gave me a draught of comfort from nearness,

    From which I quaff cupfuls against separation.

  6. يا دهر كم مارستني في موطن

    شاهدت مني فيه قرماً اشوسا

    O Time, how often you have tested me in an arena

    Where you saw in me a fierce champion,

  7. لا ينثني عن غاية يطلبها

    أو يبلغ الغاية طبعاً أشرسا

    Who never turns from a goal he seeks

    Until he reaches the goal, fierce by nature.

  8. أبوه قد أسس بيتاً للهدى

    وهو بنى فشاد ما قد أسسا

    His father had founded a house of guidance,

    And he built, raising what his father had founded.

  9. من فتية أبوهم عليها

    وأمهم فاطمة خير النساء

    Among young men whose father is [Ali?],

    And whose mother is Fatimah, the best of women.

  10. رووا حديث الفضل عن جدهم

    وجدهم رواه عن أهل الكسا

    They transmitted the tradition of virtue from their grandfather,

    And their grandfather transmitted it from the People of the Cloak.

  11. ما أصبح الصبح على أمثالهم

    أطواد حلم لا ولا أمسى المسا

    Morning has never dawned upon their like—

    Mountains of forbearance—no, nor has evening fallen.

  12. من كل وضاح الجبين نوره

    استعار نور الشمس منه قبسا

    Each one radiant of brow—his is the light

    From which the sun's radiance borrowed a flame.

  13. ما عسعس الليل على آملهم

    إلا وصبح جودهم تنفسا

    Night never darkened over one who hoped in them

    Without the dawn of their generosity breathing forth.

  14. وعيلم إن أعضلت معضلة

    كان لبرء دائها نعم الأسا

    And an ocean of learning: if a problem proved intractable,

    He was the finest remedy for curing its ill.

  15. يا دهر جد بالقرب منهم نفسا

    وعد كل العمر ذاك النفسا

    O Time, grant me one breath of nearness to them,

    And reckon all of life as that one breath.

  16. أسلمتني إلى الأسى من بعدهم

    من بعدهم اسلمتني إلى الأسى

    You gave me over to sorrow in their absence;

    In their absence, you gave me over to sorrow.