1. إِذا جاءَ نَصرُ اللَّهِ لِلفَتحِ طالِباً

    حَمدتُ وَلي الحمدُ في أَبلَغِ الشُّكرِ

    When God's victory comes seeking Fath,

    I give praise, and my praise lies in the fullest thanksgiving.

  2. وَإِنّيَ فَتحُ اللَّه لِلنصرِ طالِبٌ

    وَمَن كانَ مَنسوباً إِلَيهِ بِلا نُكرِ

    And I, Fath Allah, am a seeker of victory,

    and of one associated with it, beyond dispute.

  3. فقال لسانُ السّعدِ بالبِشْرِ ناطقاً

    حُبيتَ فَأَبشِرْ أَيّها الفتحُ بِالنّصري

    Then the tongue of good fortune spoke with gladness:

    “You have been favored; so rejoice, O Fath, in al-Nasri!”

  4. إِمامُ ذَوي العِرفانِ والفضلِ والتُّقى

    ومَن هو عينُ الوقتِ بل مقلة الدهرِ

    The imam of those endowed with knowledge, excellence, and piety,

    and he who is the eye of this age—rather, the pupil of time.

  5. مُحقِّقُ هذا الوقت برهانُ فضلهِ

    إِذا كانَ قَد يَخفى يَفوقُ على الفجرِ

    This age's discerning scholar—the proof of his excellence,

    if ever it might be hidden, outshines the dawn.

  6. هُمامٌ لَهُ كَالبرقِ أَصدَقُ هِمّةٍ

    وَعَزمٌ كَماضي السَّيفِ أَنفَعُ مِن قطرِ

    A noble man, his truest aspiration like lightning,

    and his resolve like a keen sword, more beneficial than rain.

  7. أَديبٌ أَريبٌ حاذِقٌ وَسَمَيدعٌ

    فَصيحٌ بَليغٌ في النِّثارِ وَفي الشِّعرِ

    A man of letters, sagacious, skillful, and noble,

    fluent and eloquent in prose and in poetry.

  8. حَكيمٌ فَكَم مِنهُ تَفجَّرُ حِكمةٌ

    تَسيلُ عَلى درٍّ مِنَ النظمِ والنثرِ

    A sage—how much wisdom bursts forth from him,

    flowing over pearls of verse and prose.

  9. هوَ البحرُ يَبدو الدرُّ مِن لَفظِ ثَغرِهِ

    وَيَخرُجُ أَغلى الدّرِّ مِن ذَلكَ الثَّغرِ

    He is the sea; pearls appear from the utterance of his mouth,

    and the most precious pearls emerge from that mouth.

  10. فَريدٌ تَخَلّى عَن نَظيرٍ مُقاربٍ

    كَشَمسِ الضُّحى وَالأفق في الأَنجُمِ الزّهرِ

    Unique, free of any comparable peer,

    like the forenoon sun and the horizon amid the radiant stars.

  11. فَإِن يَكُ بَدراً غيره في فضائِلٍ

    فَإِنّا نَراهُ الشّمسَ تَعلو عَلى البدرِ

    If another is a full moon in virtues,

    then we see him as the sun, rising above the full moon.

  12. جَليلٌ عليُّ الجاهِ وَهوَ مُحمّدٌ

    له حسَنٌ أصلٌ ويكنى أبا النصرِ

    Majestic, exalted in standing, and he is Muhammad;

    Hasan is his forebear, and he is styled Abu al-Nasr.

  13. حَفيدُ المَعالي وَالمَكارِمِ وَالنّدى

    أَبو المَجدِ نَجلُ العزِّ فَذْلَكَةُ الفَخرِ

    Grandson of high honors, noble virtues, and generosity,

    father of glory, son of might, the epitome of pride.

  14. فَكَم قَد سَمِعنا عَن كِرامِ طِباعِهِ

    حِسان صِفاتٍ لَم تَنَلها يَدُ الحصرِ

    How much we have heard of his noble dispositions:

    fine qualities the hand of enumeration has not encompassed.

  15. وَكَم نَقَلَ الراوونَ آيات فَضلهِ

    وَيَتلونَها بِالحمدِ كَالشّمسِ وَالفَجرِ

    How often narrators have conveyed the signs of his excellence,

    and they recite them with praise, like the sun and the dawn.

  16. وَحَدَّثنا البربيرُ ذو الفَضل والحِجى

    حَديثَ مَزاياهُ الفَريدةَ في الدّهرِ

    And al-Barbir, endowed with excellence and intellect, told us

    the tale of his merits, unique in all time.

  17. وَعاضَدَ ما يُروى مِنَ الخُبْرِ شاهِدٌ

    وَصَحَّحتُ إِنّ البرَّ حَدَّثَ عَن بَحرِ

    And a witness corroborated what was related from experience,

    and I confirmed that the land had spoken of a sea.

  18. وَدِدتُ اِجتِماعاً لَيلةً بِجانِبِه

    لِعِلمي بِما قَد جاءَ في لَيلَةِ القدْرِ

    I wished for a meeting one night beside him,

    for I know what has been told of the Night of Decree.

  19. وَقَد ضَرَّني جَهلي بِرِفعَةِ قدْرِهِ

    وَجَهلُ الفتى لا شكَّ مِن أَكبَر الضُّرِّ

    And indeed my ignorance of his lofty worth has harmed me,

    and a young man's ignorance is surely among the greatest harms.

  20. عَلى أَنَّهُ عُذرٌ لَدى الحُرِّ واضحٌ

    وقد عُدَّ جهلُ المرءِ من أبلغ العُذرِ

    Yet it is a clear excuse in the eyes of the noble,

    and a person's ignorance has been counted among the most compelling excuses.

  21. وَأَنتَ أَخا العِرفانِ لِلعُذرِ قابِلٌ

    وَإِنَّ قبولَ العُذرِ مِن شيمَةِ الحُرِّ

    And you, brother of knowledge, accept excuses,

    and accepting excuses is indeed a trait of the noble.

  22. وَيا أَيّها المَولَى الهُمام أَبو العُلا

    إِلَيكَ قَد أَهدَيتُ بِكراً من الخِدْرِ

    O noble lord, father of high honors,

    to you I have offered a maiden from her secluded chamber.

  23. وَتي مِن خرافاتي وَفي تَطفُّلي

    وأنتَ كريمُ الطبع في السرِّ والجهرِ

    And this is one of my fanciful tales, and part of my presumption,

    and you are generous by nature, in private and in public.

  24. فَخُذها بِإِقبالٍ وَأَخفِ عُيوبَها

    وَكُن خَيرَ حُرٍّ قابَلَ العَيبَ بِالسّترِ

    So receive it graciously, and hide its flaws,

    and be the finest noble man to meet a flaw by veiling it.

  25. وَدُمْ في هَناءٍ بِالسّرورِ مُؤبَّدٍ

    مَدى الدّهرِ ما غنّى الهزارُ أو القُمري

    And remain in happiness, made everlasting by joy,

    through all time, as long as the nightingale or turtledove sings,

  26. وَما هَبَّ في رَوضٍ نَسيمٌ من الصَّبا

    فَعَطَّرها بِالطّيبِ مِن أَرَج الزّهرِ

    and as long as a breeze from the east wind blows in a garden,

    then perfumes it with the sweetness of the blossoms' fragrance.