1. هَلْ إلَى وَصْل مَنْ هَويتُ سَبيلُ

    خَبِّرا أَمْ مَطامِعِي تَسْويلُ

    Is there a way to union with the one I love?

    Tell me, you two—or are my hopes mere delusion?

  2. قَدْ تَقَضي الشّبابُ والحالُ مَا حا

    ل وفي الشَّيْبِ يُسْمَحُ التَّنْويلُ

    Youth has passed, yet my condition has not

    changed; and in gray old age, favors may be granted.

  3. أَرْقُبُ الوَصْلَ واصِلاً لِسُهادٍ

    وَنَدِيمي التَّسْويفُ والتَّأْميلُ

    I await union, joined to sleeplessness,

    And my boon companions are delay and hope.

  4. قَدْ عَرَى ذِهْنِيَ الذُّهُول وَقَدْ كا

    نَ لَدَى الحادِثاتِ سَيْفٌ صَقِيلُ

    Bewilderment has seized my mind, though once it was

    a polished sword in the face of calamities.

  5. وَعَلا جِسْمِيَ النُّحولُ وإنِّي

    بادِنٌ قَبْلَ حُبِّها لا نَحِيلُ

    Wasting has overtaken my body, though I

    was stout before loving her, not lean.

  6. مَشْرَبُ الحُبِّ في مبادِيهِ صَفْوٌ

    فَإذا اسْتَمْكَنَ الغَرامُ وَبيلُ

    Love's draught is pure in its beginnings;

    But once passion takes firm hold, it is baneful.

  7. يا ابْنَةَ القَوْمِ قَدْ أَطَلْتِ رِشَا الْمَطْ

    لِ كما طَوَّلَ الإمامُ الجَلِيلُ

    O daughter of the tribe, you have lengthened the rope of

    delay, just as the illustrious imam has done,

  8. الّذي جَدَّدَ الإلَهُ بهِ الدّي

    نَ فَقامَ التّأْويلُ والتَنزيلُ

    through whom God renewed the

    faith, so interpretation and revelation stood firm.

  9. وبِه وَجْهُ سُنَّةِ الْمُصْطَفَى مِنْ

    بَعْدِ تَعْبِيسِهِ صَبِيحٌ جَمِيلُ

    Through him, the face of the Chosen One's tradition,

    after its frown, is radiant and beautiful.

  10. وبِهِ بَتّل الإلَهُ ابْتِداعا

    تٍ لِقَوْمٍ فحبَّذا التَّبْتِيلُ

    Through him God cut away the innovations

    of certain people—how excellent that cutting away!

  11. يا وَجيهَ الأَنامِ أَنْتَ بهذَا ال

    عَصْرِ حِصْنُ يَأْوِي إليه النَّبيلُ

    O eminent one among mankind, you are in this

    age a fortress to which the noble turn for refuge.

  12. أَنْتَ أَنْتَ الذي بِكَ اطّرحَ الرَأ

    يُ وَقَدْ كانَ حَوْلَهُ التَّعْويلُ

    You—you are the one through whom opinion was cast aside,

    though once reliance centered upon it.

  13. صَارَ مَنْ في التَّمذْهُباتِ غَرِيقاً

    سائِلاً مُذْ قَدِمْتَ كَيْفَ الدّليلُ

    Whoever was drowning in allegiance to legal schools has become

    a questioner, since you came: 'What is the evidence?'

  14. لا تَرَى الحَقَّ غَيْرَ إسْنادِكَ العا

    لِي وَعَنْ كُلِّ ما سِواهُ تَميلُ

    You see truth only in your lofty

    chain of transmission, and turn away from all besides it.

  15. كُلَّ حِينٍ تَرْوي فَيُروِي غَليلاً

    وَبِهِ يَشْتَفَى ويَشْفَى العَلِيلُ

    At every moment you narrate, and it quenches burning thirst;

    And through it healing is found, and the ailing are cured.

  16. غَيْرَ أنّي إذَا ذَكَرْتُ شُيوخاً

    لِشُيُوخي أَعْيانِيَ التَّفْصِيلُ

    Yet when I name the teachers

    of my teachers, detailed enumeration exhausts me.

  17. إنْ عَدَدْتُ الذينَ في سُوحِ صَنْعا

    ءَ فَما لي إلى سِواهُمْ سَبِيلُ

    If I count those in the precincts of Sana'a,

    I have no way to proceed to any others.

  18. قَدْ تَطَوَّلْتَ أيّها الحَبْرُ بالوَعْ

    دِ وَما شَانَ وَعْدَك التّطوِيلُ

    You have been gracious, O learned scholar, with your

    promise, and delay has not marred your promise.

  19. لا تَكُنْ مُهْمِلاً لِمُعْجَمِ أَشْيا

    خِكَ إنّ الإهْمالُ خَطْبٌ دَخيلُ

    Do not neglect the biographical dictionary of your

    teachers: neglect is an unwelcome affliction.

  20. بُغْيَة المسْتَفِيدِ عَدِّلْ بِها فال

    بِرُّ لا شَكَّ خَيْرُهُ التّعْجيلُ

    Do justice to the learner's wish through it, for

    kindness is surely best done promptly.