1. Victory is your ally, the sword your guide,
Conquest your promise, God your guarantor.

2. The gardens of kingship are secured by you,
A flourishing branch that will never wither.

3. The tree of kingship sways gracefully because of you,
Branches dripping with dew, leaning gently.

4. You rose like a full moon with no fear of setting,
A day with no dusk to make it fade.

5. When the tongues of guidance spoke in your favor,
And this era embraced you as its heir,

6. Seeing you fit for the caliphate after him,
He showed you the flint of kingship, how to ignite it.

7. Your rule covered the lands and their people
With a shade that protected all who sought shelter.

8. The burden of politics was carried by you,
His resolutions passed, his tribe grew mighty.

9. Then he hurried to his Lord,
And departed for the Abode of Bliss.

10. The religion of unbelief nursed ambitions
That its strings would be severed, it would wilt.

11. Then determination took hold of you, whatever it intended,
While determination makes light its firm knots if delayed.

12. It handed over to you the reins of command,
Which, with all its branches and roots, was left to you.

13. It accomplished glorious victory and continued
To wave the banner of the faith because of you.

14. So the religion of God rested in its meadows
And the youthful generation regained its vigor.

15. Guidance sought you out, analyzing
Any interpretation that strayed from what is right.

16. You cured it with wisdom though the evildoers
Had often wearied of resisting the wretched.

17. Until the lands became secure
And safety spread its coverlets between them.

18. Peace sheathed the blades of its fighters
And war slept, its seasons folded away.

19. You gave comfort to the faith, following
What the Book related and what the Messenger legislated.

20. The lineages took pride in you, a glorious Arab,
And you built a pride no ages would erode.

21. You went about erecting the fallen houses
Whose corners and walls were askew.

22. So divine guidance made you worthy
Of a position whose ends were just like its beginnings.

23. Where there is glory, eminence, wild cows,
And a house whose builder made it everlasting.

24. Until its shadows stretched over you
And its spirits of acceptance blew gently.

25. The branches of Khuzaymah’s date palms clustered thickly,
To give glory to each and delimit it duly.

26. You wed the caliphate after they
Had labored long to erect and extend it.

27. So it shone, when dawn broke, to the beholder
Dazzling, making eyes squint at its sharp brilliance.

28. Nights pass while it grows ever newer,
And spring blooms fade while it remains fresh.

29. There the gardens opened their flowers,
And your clouds stretched out to water them.

30. There awe made people’s hearts tremble,
His likeness too sublime for their minds to picture.

31. In its meadows silk was threaded
Through, like brocade, the seasons being unveiled.

32. With each bird of colorful wings alighting,
Their domes glazed with patterned glass on every side;

33. And atop the thrones, luxurious cushions
Whose fine covers added to the beauty.

34. Then, fulfilled, your lofty kingdom
Became an embodiment of perfect unity.

35. While good news spread over the land,
And intimacy embraced all creation.

36. The rhythms branched out in their melody,
Captivating minds with their tempo, slow and fast.

37. You made victory eternal, following its tracks,
And you tread a path from which none stray.

38. What great eternity, to dwell in those palaces
As your good fortune imparts their glory and reaches it.

39. Until their walls were adorned with boys
And the extent of the caliphate displayed its length.

40. So I can see the royal bond tied securely,
Its splendid filigree like a crown for it.

41. I can see you as the conquests pour forth
And the captured foes throng the meadows.

42. With happiness Saʿd upheld guidance and gained its legacy—
After Yūsuf, his grandson and progeny.

43. A mighty king, honored neighbor, protected sanctuary,
Bestower of meadows dripping with bounty, open-handed.

44. Ever wakeful, not wearied by guarding frontiers,
Nor daunted by formidable tasks.

45. And if kingship summoned him to pleasure,
Godwariness called him back from transgression.

46. His care encompassed the lands and their people,
His clouds showered them with rain gently.

47. The caliph of God whose opinions
Are meteors giving light, transforming blindness.

48. Receive from me, as token of submission, these verses
That show poetry abasing itself before you.

49. Pearls formed in oceans of eloquence,
The precious and priceless are gifted to you.

50. Give greetings eternal when the eggs of ostriches appear,
Going on even if Time should stumble and halt.

51. For you are the pillar and pillar of kingship,
Just as you are the refuge and shelter of faith.