1. Wherever you may be, you have a place and means
And a king whose authority kings and sultans envy

2. You have pitched a tent of formidable glory
So you dwell between the two skies as inhabitants

3. And it’s not stars or clouds that you see
But it is your glorious faces

4. And above the throne of kingship is a magnificent conqueror
Noble in lofty affairs, most perceptive

5. He is the fortunate king, skilled in opinion and leadership
Whose power has humbled jinn and men

6. Rising tomorrow bearing the burden of kingship
While his peers fill offices as boys

7. And the pillars of pulpits tremble at his name
Do they remember their days when they were rods?

8. And if he breathed in the tamarisk, you would see
Moses’ staff become a snake

9. The magic of his words enchants you when he speaks
And one is amazed by his paper which is a garden

10. And how often has death been deprived of its dues
When one aspires to the heights where death watches in loss

11. Where the tongue of the sword speaks with the blows
Eloquent, and the spear’s edge is awake for stabbing

12. And how many cheeks has it cleaved, smooth, rosy red
That is nothing but gentle stroking and training

13. May God reward with benevolence ships that carried him
Kindness and benevolence have indeed befallen them

14. He possesses all beauty such that it is as though
He brandishes it on his right cheek as two moles

15. And those waves did not rage when he crossed them
But they marched in their awe, confused

16. That wave would thunder fearfully
And a heart within it would pound, filled with terror

17. O king whose generosity encompasses all people
He has no glory apart from magnanimity

18. You arrived like the coming of the mighty lion
And you came like the coming of pouring rain

19. Egypt has not ceased yearning for you
And who is there like you for countries to yearn for?

20. It sheds a tear for you so its Nile overflows
And a pylon sways upon the dais bending

21. And when knowledge came to it that you were coming
Its face shone joyfully though it was bashful

22. And Eid has come to you indicating
That it is proof of lengthened happiness

23. And here it is, in the joy of your nearing
Damietta and Aswan have been adorned by it

24. Leaves clap and doves sing
Branches dance and buds burst open

25. And its regions have spread out brocade for you
With varieties of floral hues and light

26. Wherever you may be, a meadow comes to meet you
And wherever you may be, a spirit and a basil plant come to you

27. And if of its sultanate you possess such beauty
It will increase in beauty if you come and adorn it

28. It suffices you, O Egypt, that Joseph has come to you
It suffices you, O Nile, that a deluge has come to you

29. And the face of the land beams when you settle it
As though you are the divine oneness it encompasses and faith

30. For you have been absolved of all sin
And you are unmatched in the Hanifi religion

31. I have sent to him the best horses
And lionesses have flown from them like eagles

32. With resolve the ground quakes from the impact of their hooves
And steeds tremble at them while they tremble

33. The regions of the land fill with awe
And Baghdad and Khorasan quake for him

34. You have given security to that land from every fear
Though great oppression and tyranny had afflicted it

35. And in it there was a group from Shu’ba
Engaged in injustice, enmity, and aggression

36. You have settled it such that whenever the north wind blew
Namman did not sway in the grove of Namman

37. There was no one there who knew adversity
So that if a departed angry ghost were to visit it

38. May God allow the pilgrims in the Two Holy Sanctuaries to invoke for you
Whatever the pilgrims and caravans invoke for you there

39. Is ‘Amr mentioned when you have prevailed and dominated?
And alas for Chosroe over there and the Khan

40. They describe smoothing the brown spear
Yet here it is red before you and well-honed

41. I had hoped to visit you in the darkness of night
And I regret what I have missed of you

42. I excuse myself with promises and good intentions
Though time for that has passed and times

43. I see my glory apart from you as humiliation
And my life apart from you is deprivation

44. And hopes told me of good fortune and intentions
Yet the land of sand dunes and meadows is not far

45. I would see the Yemeni lightning submissive
So I would tremble in my yearning as though I am bending branches

46. And I would smell the southern wind and bend over
Passionately like the bending of a bough

47. And countries did not tempt my heart, but only
The call of the fortunate king tempting people

48. A young man that kingship would choose glorious
And pasture that fate would choose as fortunate

49. It is not strange that he whose estrangement is towards you
Has family wherever he was and homelands

50. And God has brought close the distance between us
So here I am, encompassing him and it in a hall

51. I doubt and suspect that when he arrives
I wipe my eyes – am I asleep or forgetful?

52. Will the herald be pleased with my gift
Despite the afflictions with it as it is branches?

53. I will thank this life on the day I meet him
Though it is a life that does not cease to betray

54. And I do not see in the arena of victory anyone catching up
As thoroughbreds have surpassed them in merits

55. There the outstanding horse is not missed, nor Dahis
Nor do the enemies miss ‘Abs and Dhubyan

56. By your life, after me among the people there is no speaker
So this is an arena for steeds and a racecourse

57. Leave every water when Zamzam is mentioned
And leave every valley when Nu’man is mentioned

58. And no land is like a land that is a protected sanctuary
And no vegetation like vegetation that is grazing lands

59. And the like of me, a guardian whose praise shook your shoulder
And if you wish then Salman and if you wish then Hasan

60. Indeed, thus should a speaker speak well
And the like of Salah ad-Din, little is left of his dominion