1. O protector of this peninsula, no sword equals yours
In defending the law of Islam against those who disobey

2. In peace and war, you are sublime in your generosity and courage
None but you can lead, parting clouds and crushing mountains

3. You keep watch on the enemy with a penetrating eye
And a sharp blade that severs heads

4. Our master the Imam saw that none deserved more
To bear the banners and lead the brave

5. So he clothed you in the garment of authority
Above the common folk and nobles alike

6. And you defended the holy frontier and all behind it
While the Cross conspired in futile schemes

7. You plunged into the midst of swords and lions
Till you opened a way through the densest throng

8. Becoming an arrow in the throat of their forts
As the Imam drew his bow taut against the foe

9. You descended on their lands like a raging flood
With fire blowing beneath the winds over their dwellings

10. With the sword of war you adorned every brave youth
Teaching him warcraft though still a beardless lad

11. He meets the swords exultant and drives them back
Gleefully, like the buzzing of hornets disturbed

12. His eyelids know no sleep until he makes their skulls
A pillow for his own in the bloodstained dust

13. He led his peers but did not advance his feet
Save in the path of utmost courage

14. When the enemy came they brought darkness
The gloom of night, the blackness of nightfall

15. But you made the swords your friends and you became
A lion feeding on the game in the thickets

16. You filled their eyes and hearts with terror both asleep and awake
In their dreams and waking hours haunted by fear of you

17. The Romans conceded leadership to you
Either willingly converting or by force submitting

18. Knowing that only death awaited if they fought you
And did not depart from your lands in peace

19. So they donned the garb of flight in disgrace
As you drove them to the farthest roads of Syria

20. On the day of battle you herded them to al-Dhiba
It who once defied rulers and climbed over nobles

21. You repelled them though death was their only escape
Retreating against their will, such is your nature

22. With true confidence you exerted your dominance
Relying on the One, the All-Sustaining

23. Marvelous in victorious manifestation, though you seek
No personal glory or worldly gain

24. You sacrificed sleep to defend the weak
Remaining awake when even stars slumber

25. Sharing with the wilderness its protective role
Your sword as sharp as your charity is ample

26. You left only plundered tents and widows grieving
For their children, weeping over orphans

27. O scion of glorious forebears whose familial bonds
Were as strong as their virtues were sublime

28. They turned a deaf ear to the cries of the oppressed
Yet in times of woe they were most wise and forbearing

29. They are the same but this is a different time
When war consumes the commoners

30. In battles their tongues give eloquent arguments
To protect the innocent from unjust blame

31. With a vengeance that abandons even kin for foes
Consigning all to unrecognized oblivion

32. By God, you have been granted a discernment
That makes questioning redundant

33. And you have demonstrated an exemplary path
That no one from any people has trod before

34. Many have yearned through the ages to follow it
But you revived it in these very days

35. The caravans have gloriously taken it from you
Aiming through the horizons without end

36. Your sword has struggled and fought vigorously
To separate souls from bodies

37. Today the champions of unbelief are fearful
Haunted by endless terrors of you

38. And their leader wrapped his head in the shroud of fear
After long arrogance and bluster

39. Whether he packed up or stayed his presence was ill-omened
And his every halt boded only evil

40. In his vanity he aspired to your banners
Which believers in God regard with awe

41. Then he converted to the faith and obedience
From his former heresies and sins

42. Astonishing – he claims to be your protector
Yet his place is but a rug upon a rug

43. In his ignorance he brought the Cross seeking victory
Which only comes through Islam

44. How strange that such an army's leader survived
When soaked in ruin and disgrace

45. You left the victims of his devastation
Destined for hell, monstrous in size

46. These are the conquests of your deputy, bearing witness
To your good fortunes amidst oaths sworn and pacts sealed

47. And you have surely left upon the path of his success
The sword of guidance, solemnly sworn

48. He returns smiling though grim affairs surround him
As smiles grace the faces of heroes

49. You have filled the hands of those loyal to you with gifts
As though a meadow overflowed from the clouds

50. You have spent your days and nights immersed
In a succession of blessings and spiritual retreats

51. And you have instilled in the noblest steeds such skill
That if pens could speak they would praise you

52. You have composed poems that weave your virtues
Confounding the minds of poets

53. We praise you in prose and verse
Since deeds speak louder than words

54. How many despairing and destitute have your hands
Rescued from fear and death

55. How many hopeful but disappointed have you left
Content in your benevolence and justice

56. O brother of the living, son and father of the noble
For the generous are born of the generous

57. You have watered my hopes when they were faint
With the oceans of your kindness, and they flourished

58. I have gained blessings from you, I began to thank you
But my incapacity constrained even starting

59. The free man is like the goblet - what is within him
Can be seen through its transparent sides

60. You have persisted striving in the path of leadership
Obedient to your Creator and Imam