1. بشراك تم بفعلك الفضلُ

    وسما فلا رضوى ولا الفضل

    Good news to you! Your deed has brought excellence to completion.

    And it rose beyond Raḍwā and al-Faḍl.

  2. وغدَت أصول المجد باسقةً

    إذ فخر مولانا لها حِمل

    And the roots of glory have grown lofty,

    For our lord's glory is the fruit they bear.

  3. والأمن عمَّ الخَلق أجمعهم

    فالشاة صار يسومها الحِطَل

    And safety has encompassed all creation,

    So the wolf now pastures the ewe.

  4. وأصول غرس الدين قد مَتنت

    ساقاً وكاد يصيبها بَتلُ

    And the roots of faith's planting have grown sturdy

    Of stem, though severance had nearly struck them.

  5. كحلت عيون الدين غِب قَذى

    والتامَ بعد تَفَرُّقٍ شَملُ

    Faith's eyes were lined with kohl after grit,

    And its company was reunited after dispersion.

  6. ما بعد هذا الفعل مكرمةٌ

    فافخر وحَقَّ لمثلك الطَّولُ

    No noble deed lies beyond this deed,

    So take pride: greatness is the due of one like you.

  7. فَلَكَم عَرَجتَ إلى محل على

    لكن لذا لمّا يكن مِثلُ

    How often you have ascended to a lofty station,

    But this one has never yet had an equal.

  8. فُقتَ الملوك به وشِدتَ على

    كل الورى فأطاعك الكُلُّ

    Through it you surpassed kings and rose above

    All humankind, and everyone obeyed you.

  9. وأذيعَ ذِكرُك في البلاد وفي ال

    زيزاء حيث يُرَنّ َح الأَثلُ

    And your fame was proclaimed through the lands and in the

    Open upland, where the tamarisk sways.

  10. فأهبت أهل الجور أجمعهزو

    مذ زان منك الحلم والعَدلُ

    So you struck fear into all the unjust,

    Since forbearance and justice adorned you.

  11. فإذا ذُكِرَت لهم وعَقلُهُم

    راسٍ وهي فكأنَّ بهم خَبلُ

    Whenever you are mentioned to them, their reason,

    Though firmly rooted, fails, as though madness possessed them.

  12. فالبشرُ للخُنكار حيث له

    بَطلٌ وزيرٌ باسلٌ سِجلُ

    Glad tidings to the Khunkār, for he has

    A hero, a minister, valiant and bountiful;

  13. قَرم همامٌ كاملٌ ملكٌ

    شهمٌ جواد سيد خَدلُ

    A chieftain, resolute, consummate, a king;

    Gallant, generous, a stout-built lord;

  14. غيثٌ غياثٌ كنزُ مفتقرٍ

    سمحٌ لكل فضيلةٍ أهلُ

    Rain, relief, a treasure for the needy;

    Open-handed, worthy of every virtue.

  15. ذو راحةٍ كالبحر يوم ندىً

    لكن على أعدائه تُكلُ

    With a palm like the sea on a day of giving,

    But against his enemies, it is [bereavement].

  16. ذو هِمَّة عليا يَذِلّ لها

    صعبُ الأمور ويسهل العَضل

    A man of lofty resolve, before which

    Hard tasks bow and tangled difficulties grow easy.

  17. ويَذِلُّ عنترةُ الشجاع لها

    وينال حاتَم عندها بُخلُ

    And brave ʿAntarah bows before it,

    And stinginess overtakes Ḥātim beside it.

  18. ولدى الوغى يسطو الكُماة بها

    فيزين منه القَصم والقَصلُ

    And in battle he assails the armored champions with it,

    So shattering and severing are splendid when dealt by him.

  19. ويجول في الهيجا فتحسبه

    أسداً دعاه لنصرةٍ شِبلُ

    And he ranges through battle, so you think him

    A lion summoned by a cub for aid.

  20. يدع الكماة رماة صارمه

    وتفر من وثباته الخيلُ

    He leaves the armored champions as his keen sword's 'archers' [text unclear],

    And horses flee from his leaps,

  21. بمطّهم مثل الظليم فلم

    يُعرَف لديه النهم والرَّكل

    Upon a finely built steed, like an ostrich, which has never

    Known urging cries or kicking.

  22. يجري فيجري العقل يتبعه

    فيفوت ثَمَّ ويحسر العقل

    It runs, and the mind runs after it,

    So it outstrips it there, and the mind grows weary.

  23. تدري المها أن لا نجاة لها

    منه ويعلمُ ذلك الوَعلُ

    The oryx know they have no escape

    From it, and the ibex knows this too.

  24. فلَكَم عليه الشهم غار على

    قوم ودون مَنالِهم حَولُ

    How often the gallant man has raided upon it

    A people a year's journey beyond reach.

  25. فطوى القفارَ به ففاجأهم

    سَحَراً فضاق عليهم السُّبلُ

    He folded up the wastelands upon it and surprised them

    Before dawn, so their paths closed in upon them.

  26. أو ما ترى لما عصاه بنو

    ماء السماء وغرَّهم نَذلُ

    And do you not see—when he was defied by the sons of

    Māʾ al-Samāʾ, whom a base man deceived—

  27. فَحَصَرته فَفَتَحتَ معقِلها

    فتحاً يطيش لفتكه العَقلُ

    How you besieged him, then captured its stronghold,

    In a conquest whose slaughter makes the mind reel?

  28. وأتوا به فالرعب أوثَقَه

    فكأنما في رِجلِه غِلُّ

    And they brought him, with terror binding him fast,

    As though a fetter were on his leg.

  29. وبدا الحِمام له يلوح على

    بيضٍ مُشَرَّعةٍ لها صَقلُ

    And death appeared to him, gleaming upon

    Bright blades, drawn and polished.

  30. فَصَلت بحِدَّتها مفاصله

    فازدان منها البَترُ والبَتلُ

    Their sharpness severed his joints,

    And lopping and severing were made splendid by them.

  31. بشراك دعوى البغي قد فُصِلَت

    وحسامُك الماضي لها فصلُ

    Good news to you! The case of rebellion is settled,

    And your keen sword is its verdict.

  32. وتَهَنَّ فالأعداء شوكتهم

    غِبَّ النُّمُوِّ أصابها جَذل

    And rejoice: the enemies' thorn,

    After growing, has been cut down.

  33. فهم اعتدوا والسيف أرَّخَهم

    ولجزاء المعتدي القتلُ

    For they transgressed, and the sword inscribed their date:

    And surely death is the aggressor's recompense.