1. You have extraordinary qualities that will never be known
Neither by one who follows a track nor by one who demands

2. And there are promises of victory from the Lord of the Skies
And the promise from the Lord of the Skies will never be broken

3. Whoever has God's victory as the leader of his army
His enemies are certainly doomed and headed for ruin

4. O king who is accustomed to not fighting
Before stopping to ask what news the enemy has brought

5. To remove it from them, following the example of Al-Mustafa
You did not seize the opportunity in their presence

6. Rather, you said, "Return safely, without fear"
"Let whoever wishes to leave, do so"

7. You gave them the choice between life if they stayed faithful
And death if they betrayed, thus you were the fair one

8. Yet they turned away from righteousness and gathered
To wrongfully kill whoever they happened upon

9. When God wills to destroy someone
He blinds them, so they commit destructive sins

10. They broke their oaths while your Lord is not pleased with them
And they intended betrayal when they took the oaths

11. They hastily rushed to treachery, unaware
Until they tasted the painful punishment

12. God withheld knowledge until they killed
And news raced so there would be no regret

13. Whoever does not extend generosity like Sa'd's
Will not lack suffering in what he is granted

14. They killed the son of the commander, thinking that after him
Came a supporter, but instead came their ruin

15. The death of an aggressor in transgression
Is no worse than the death of one dutiful and faithful

16. They saw an opportunity in some of your soldiers
So they took it, fearing it would be missed

17. They gathered thugs against him and committed wickedness
Like moths upon a flaming wick

18. They collided, and if you describe it, you describe
Nothing but clashing glass that deafens hearing

19. The young man Ibn Abi Ghurrah was resolute
When the armor was removed, he regained consciousness

20. He placed loyalty where treachery was sought
And came to treachery where loyalty was expected

21. Today you know the worth of one you have lost
When a young man cannot avail or be of use

22. You turned to the heavens and threw
A rock at them, forcing the heads and skulls back

23. You gathered your people then came to lead them
To battles in which you had not sunk

24. And left them, their backs bare of spears
As you fled, not turning to whoever called you

25. Never again will you have anything but disgrace
Walking in fear, dreading being seized

26. You were needless of this and that, but
Drought overtook the nomads in the wilderness

27. They fell, while your Lord was opening conquests
With no patches for its rents or holes to mend

28. You killed their masses, and they killed one man
Who caused destruction for those left behind

29. Their enemies multiplied as their supporters dwindled
A malady struck them, no cure to mend

30. A heavenly decree you used to stop the enemies
So thank Him, and say, "He who is stopped by God is satisfied"

31. Mercy is only jealous in this way
But not hidden from the insightful people

32. You protected the realms with the Mamluks who
Only know the enemies by their skulls

33. As for the commanders, they did not see in battle
A man shielded from them, shaking a sharpened blade

34. So they imagined it was not created for them
When they charged at the ranks, they recoiled

35. May your good fortune blunt the edge of every blade
And your might make the spears recoil

36. Say to those who retreated after
The swords had eaten their fill of them and sufficed

37. "Here lie your deaths, so whoever fears perdition
Should leave, and whoever is unafraid should renew the assault"

38. You will find sharp swords in the hands of soldiers
That blindness intended to turn away

39. Say to one who mistook a mirage for a water spring
And languidly followed it, led astray

40. He left water overflowing in his gardens
Flooding, yet struggling in arid sands

41. Look with your eyes and follow the path of guidance
God has excused Himself to you and explained

42. Or did they not say the eye is one? So is there
In this, in your reason, any vantage you gained?

43. Are you your Lord or His slave?
Or are you other than yourself? Say, in this, what is hidden?

44. Did Ahmad break the idols whimsically?
Was he excessive in killing Quraysh?

45. Look to Islam and to Yemen, which
You witnessed, and ill omens of what was abandoned

46. And remember your advice which you presented
How much corruption when you obeyed untruthful advisors!

47. In both cases together, though you tasked him
To not tear up their books, so you contrived

48. Or did you not see the soldiers, how they dispersed
Afterwards, because of the dissent and tremors

49. And the family of Dawud and the nobles? And look how they
Today, when you disobeyed, sank down flat

50. How many between the day of questioning, so recognize its origin
And the day of annihilation, so be fair

51. Did the people of annihilation equal their strength?
Never! Nor anyone in asking, weaker

52. But because of Providence for the King
God refined and enlightened him

53. O son of Ahmad, O Caliph of Ahmad
In his religion, in some of your understanding, it sufficed

54. They provoked, but provocation was not for them, but
God willed through it your education

55. To return to the opinion He inspired you
Which those who swayed you from it frightened you

56. Do they frighten you with whom they disobey
While we obey Him? O what an absurd approach!

57. God has already shown you unlearned
And you took your lesson from Him, not from books

58. You rejected God's enemies though no one
Incited you, but God took action

59. He showed you signs by which you knew guidance
So you came to it through its door, yearning

60. This is only a gift of pleasure
Hinting, so increase, and more pleasure and kindness you will find

61. Say to the rebellious Bedouins, how long
This wavering and fleeing that ruins?

62. You, by God's grace, to beseech
The best sultan who pardoned those who fled

63. Al-Malik al-Mansour, the elite of Ahmad
Al-Nasir son of the King, namely Al-Ashraf

64. Son of the most excellent King, son of Ali son of Da'ud
Ar-Rida, son of Al-Muzaffar, Yusuf

65. Son of the most generous kings, and count them
Seventy kings, if you count and add

66. So go with a pride none share with you
Except a father past or a son left

67. The kingdom is your kingdom, ancestral heritage
Kept for you, ruled and managed

68. Since the era of Tubba', and the kings apart from you
This began a kingdom, and that one from it withdrew

69. You knew through established origin
Not in soil growing over Mount Safa

70. They are the pride of those born, but their pride
Through you was adorned, and that pride was augmented

71. If there was healing for the dead, then what
Your enemies met would have healed the dead

72. A king who, though death fears him, survival
Hoped for, so one whose hand he extended feels safe

73. Spurn the rich however much his palm withholds
Rarely, and lighten it if it withholds sharply

74. Do not go near him when he takes a sword
But flee to him when he takes the scripture

75. For God, for the world, and for himself
Each has a share of him given faithfully

76. Lord, keep him for the religion and world together
This one makes it pure, and that is purified