1. ما زلتُ في لهوٍ وفي طربٍ وفي

    عيشٍ رغيدٍ مَعْ سرورِ كاملِ

    I remained in amusement and delight, and in

    A life of ease, with perfect joy.

  2. حتى إذا لاحَ المشيبُ بلّمتي

    قطعتْ حبالَ مودتي ووسائلِي

    Until, when gray hair appeared in my locks,

    She severed the cords of my affection and my means of approach.

  3. يا هذه إن تُنْصفي أو تَعْدِلي

    عن زورةِ المضنَى فلستُ بعادِلِ

    O you, whether you are fair or turn away

    From visiting the love-worn, I am not one to turn away.

  4. إن تنكرِي شيبي فمنكِ حلولُه

    أو تُنكرِي جسمي فهجرُك قاتلِي

    If you reject my gray hair, you brought it upon me;

    Or if you reject my body, your desertion is killing me.

  5. أعرضتِ حينَ بدَا بياضُ مفارقي

    عَنْ مذهبي وأطعتِ قولَ العاذِلِ

    You turned away when whiteness appeared in my hair-partings,

    From my path, and obeyed the reproacher's words.

  6. أنسيتِ عهداً قد مضى زَمنَ الصبي

    قضَّيتُه وعصيتُ فيكِ عواذلِي

    Have you forgotten that bygone time of boyhood,

    Which I spent defying my reproachers for your sake?

  7. إن تعذرِي فالعذرُ منك سجيةٌ

    ووِدادك النامِي كظلٍّ زائلِ

    If you excuse me, pardon is in your nature,

    And your growing affection is like a vanishing shadow.

  8. قالتْ وما قرعَ العتابُ حصانها

    هيهاتَ لا يرجُو وصالَ مواصلِ

    She said—and reproach had not struck her steed—

    "Far from it! He has no hope of union with a lover."

  9. صدَّتْ ولى دمعٌ يسيل كأنما

    أعداهُ فيضُ ندى الإمام العادلِ

    She turned away, and my tears flowed, as though

    The flood of the just Imam's bounty had infected them:

  10. أهلُ الممالكِ والفضائلِ والعلا

    ذى الفضل سلطان بن سيف الفاضلِ

    Worthy of kingdoms, virtues, and exalted rank,

    The man of merit, the virtuous Sultan bin Sayf.

  11. نسلُ الكرامِ الطيبين أولِى الندى

    والجودِ أهل مسائلِ وَوَسائِل

    Scion of noble, pure men, possessors of bounty

    And generosity, men to whom petitions and appeals are brought.

  12. فضلوا الورَى بمراتبٍ ومناصبٍ

    وطبائع محمودة وشمائلِ

    They surpassed mankind in ranks and stations,

    And in praiseworthy natures and traits,

  13. وخلائق غرٍّ حسانٍ وُضَّحٍ

    ومواهبِ منشورةِ وفواضلِ

    And in radiant, beautiful, shining qualities,

    And in gifts spread abroad and generous favors.

  14. لك يا ابن سيف سطوة لو صادمتْ

    جبلا لأصبح كالكثيبِ السائلِ

    Yours, O son of Sayf, is a might that, were it to strike

    A mountain, would make it like a flowing sand dune.

  15. وضياء وجهٍ مشرق ذى رَوْنَق

    يُزْرِى على القمر المنيرِ الكاملِ

    And the radiance of a shining face, full of splendor,

    That puts the radiant full moon to shame.

  16. يا سائلي عَن جوده وسخائِه

    فندَاهُ يقصر عنه وصفُ القائِل

    O you who ask me about his bounty and generosity,

    His bounty lies beyond a speaker's description.

  17. إن قلتُ كالغيثِ الملِثِّ بَخَسْتُه

    أو قلت كالبحر المحيط الشاملِ

    If I say he is like unceasing rain, I undervalue him,

    Or say he is like the ocean, encircling and embracing all.

  18. وبخسته إن قلتُ في الهيجاءِ والب

    أساءِ كالليثِ الهزبرِ الباسلِ

    And I undervalue him if I say that, in battle and hard-

    ship, he is like a mighty, valiant lion.

  19. هو أولٌ هو آخرٌ في جودِه

    لا تحكه بأواخِر وأوائِل

    He is first, he is last in his generosity;

    Do not compare him with later men or earlier ones.

  20. وضياءُ عدلِك ما لَه من جاحدٍ

    كخضمِّ جُودِك مَا له من سَاحلِ

    The radiance of your justice has no denier,

    Just as the ocean of your bounty has no shore.

  21. أمَّلْتُ فيكَ بأن تسد خَصاصتي

    ولديك ليس يخيبُ سَعْىُ الآملِ

    I have set my hope on you to relieve my poverty,

    And with you, the hopeful one's effort does not fail.

  22. وعملت فيك معانياً منظومةً

    ولديكَ ليس يضيعُ أجرُ العاملِ

    And I have fashioned thoughts about you into verse,

    And with you, the worker's reward is never lost.

  23. من معشرٍ لا شىء أقبحَ عندهم

    من قطع ذِى القُربى وردّ السائِل

    You are of a people who find nothing uglier

    Than cutting off a kinsman and rebuffing a petitioner.

  24. طلعتْ شموسُ الحق من أرجائكم

    وبِعْدَلِكم أفلَتْ نجومُ الباطلِ

    The suns of truth have risen from your domains,

    And through your justice the stars of falsehood have set.

  25. كلٌّ أقَرَّ بعدْلِكم ونوالِكم

    من ذا الورى من عالمٍ أو جاهلِ

    Everyone has acknowledged your justice and bounty,

    Among these mortals, whether learned or ignorant.

  26. فلأشكرنَّ جَدَا يديك لأنه

    يأتي إلىّ بسرعةٍ في العاجِلِ

    So I shall surely thank you for your hands' bounty, for it

    Comes to me swiftly, without delay.

  27. وليهْن عيدُ الفطر إنك عيدُه

    وليهن عيدٌ غيرُه من قابِل

    May Eid al-Fitr rejoice, for you are its festival,

    And may another festival in the coming year rejoice.

  28. واخلد وعش واسلم ودم وما غردتْ

    وُرْق الحمائم فوقَ غُصن مائِل

    And live forever, live, be safe, and endure as long as there sing

    Gray doves above a leaning branch,

  29. أو حَن مشتاقٌ إلى أوطانِه

    أو لاحَ برْق في غمامٍ هاطلِ

    Or a yearning man pines for his native lands,

    Or lightning gleams in clouds pouring rain.