1. I see that speech is made sweet by mention of men,
And not by mention of the graceful maidens.

2. Men of politics, command and prohibition,
Men of wisdom, the likes of the eminent.

3. I began my speech well,
But when I made comparisons, my words turned foul.

4. For he whom I intended to praise,
Appeared through virtues peerless and unrivaled.

5. A minister who strengthens the king,
Advising him, and success follows his counsel.

6. When he desires a matter, it happens,
Smoothly attaining the difficult goals.

7. So he chooses each appropriate course,
And brings distant hopes to every mind.

8. His brown pens upon the white paper
Act like the lofty deeds.

9. They humble every rebel and aim at him
Their arrows like well-honed blades.

10. He manages a far-reaching kingdom
And judges with complete justice.

11. He builds homes for friends,
While enemies' homes become desolate.

12. He sees in consequences what others cannot,
And in past and present events what is hidden.

13. For kindness he is an ocean, and for knowledge a sea,
For the kingdom, a sincere and active heart.

14. Praiseworthy in qualities, felicitous in purity,
Unique in grandeur, unmatched in perfection.

15. Blessed is He who instilled good in him,
And protected him from the flaws of men.

16. Neither power nor glory makes him vain,
Nor the majesty of his office.

17. Neither accumulating wealth nor lasting fortune,
Neither ancestral glory nor stellar fate.

18. If an emir challenges his eminence,
He is but a lost phantom.

19. Ask warfare about him, or if you wish,
Peace, for in both he is masterful.

20. Has not the time come for Romans to see
What his intellect makes clear in the nights?

21. Is there no warner in his warning
Cautioning them of their precarious state?

22. No herald in his tidings
Securing them in loyalty's refuge,

23. And housing them in safe abodes
For self, wealth and family?

24. Do they not have what we have
Except guidance, each clan's protector?

25. After this discourse, is there still doubt
And a contentious slanderer inviting strife?

26. Deceit brings no good,
How oft have you acted like sly foxes!

27. One time claiming to be enemies,
Another claiming amity.

28. Yet you definitely seek from us things
And propose impossible gains.

29. If you were men and we were women,
You could bear such guile and scheming!

30. By God, your claims are disgraceful,
Nothing but pitfalls of misguidance!

31. Obey the Caliph in truth and fear
His swords - they readily strike.

32. When the fierce calamity moves them,
It leaves you with no trace.

33. Deaths come upon you quickly
While you stand before them like lambs.

34. Does Abdelaziz, king of kings, not have
Armies as countless as sand grains?

35. When he calls his subjects to battle,
They say: "We obey, into the fray!"

36. Caliph of the Lord of servants, endowed with generosity,
Bestowing gifts before being asked.

37. Merciful to one seeking refuge,
Yet stern toward the impossible demander.

38. God grants him glorious victory
Against every belligerent warmonger.

39. So best for you is to be as your fathers
Under his extending, shady protection.

40. You have no dearer friend than him,
Let no smooth-talker deceive you.

41. You have no refuge but him,
Even were you on the highest peaks.

42. No shelter from him,
So let no deluded one mislead you.

43. Come to what he has called you,
Nothing but sincere obedience.

44. With him you are safe,
And live in bliss and fortune.

45. How oft has he said that he is kind
To the people of the Cross like the Crescent!

46. Why do you not heed advice
Or follow counseled reason?

47. The greatest sultan in rank and glory,
The most generous when bestowing gifts.

48. The most compassionate to servants,
The most forbearing toward the offensive.

49. For the seeker of His good pleasure, all bounty,
The obstinate - misery and torment.

50. Make rhyming his praises
Stars for your fortune eternally fixed.

51. The aim of aspirations, treasure of spoils.
What state rivals his in South, East or West?

52. What peer of his lofty origin?
Gracious, noble and majestic in mien.

53. He awes above the throne and battle,
On the day of fortune and day of strife.

54. God supports him in private and public
And grants him victory with sharpened swords.

55. May his enemies remain like dust,
And the sun of his beginnings perfected!