علاك علا السماكين أرتفاعا

وجودك للوجود غدا انتفاعا

Your eminence has surpassed the two Simāk stars in height,

and your generosity has become a boon to existence.

ومجدك فوق هام النجم بادٍ

فلن يرقى إليه ويستطاعا

Your glory is manifest above the stars’ crests,

so none can rise to it, nor can it be attained.

فلو رام الأماجد أن يحاذوا

علاه لربما حاذوا الشعاعا

Were the illustrious to seek to draw level

with its height, they might well draw level with the radiance.

وسعدك فوق ذاك فكل فخرٍ

تنال إذا بسطت له الذراعا

Your good fortune is higher still; every honor

you attain when you stretch your arm toward it.

فلن يستطيع شأوك من تحدي

ولو جعل المجرة فيه باعا

So no challenger will ever match your reach,

even if he made the Milky Way an arm-span for that endeavor.

وأني يستطاع منال شهمٍ

له نسب إلى الفاروق شاعا

And how can one attain a noble man

whose descent from al-Fārūq is widely known?

ومن خير الكرام بني عدي

لبيب الفضل قد أضحى سفاعا

One of the finest nobles of Banū ʿAdī,

discerning in virtue, now a fierce striker [uncertain reading],

إماماً عالماً بحراً خضماً

هماماً باسلاً بطلا شجاعا

a leader, a scholar, a vast and surging sea,

resolute, valiant, a courageous hero,

زكي النفس محمود السجايا

مغيثاً مغنياً مولى مطاعا

pure of soul, praised for his character,

a rescuer, an enricher, an obeyed lord.

أعز بني الكرام الغر نفساً

وأكرمهم وأكثرهم نفاعا

The noblest in spirit among sons of illustrious nobles,

the most generous of them, and the most helpful.

كرام التبر في كفيه صفر

مخافة بذله أن لا تباعا

The choicest gold in his two palms is yellow,

for fear of his giving it away, lest it go unsold.

هو المطر الملث إذا جدبنا

وصاعقة إذا رام القراعا

He is the unceasing rain when we suffer drought,

and a thunderbolt when he seeks combat.

تهز يداه شعلة مشرفي

على الأفرند من الموت ساعا

His two hands brandish a blazing Mashrafī sword,

with death hastening over its damascened steel [uncertain reading].

يهاب الطود منه فلو علاه

بياس كاد ينصدع انصداعا

The mountain fears him; were he to mount it

with might [uncertain reading], it would all but split asunder.

أخو همم إذا جاشت أرته

محيط البحر من كثب وقاعا

A man of lofty ambitions: when they surge, they show him

the ocean’s expanse and level ground close at hand.

وأفكار تضيئ بها الدياجي

لو اتخذ الدجى منها لفاعا

And thoughts that would make dark nights shine,

were darkness to make a cloak of them.

فصيح در ما نثرت يداه

بنظم منه يجتمع اجتماعا

Eloquent—the pearls his two hands have scattered

come together in the verse he composes.

فيا سحبان وائل في قريضٍ

وما قس إذا مسك اليراعغا

So, O Suḥbān of Wāʾil in poetry!

And what is Quss beside him when he takes up the reed pen?

يراعاً روع القضب المواضي

إذا نسخ الرسائل والرقاعا

A reed pen that terrifies keen-edged swords

when he copies letters and written slips.

فكم في خطه من بنت فكرٍ

لها نسجت محابره قناعا

How many a daughter of thought lies in his handwriting,

for whom his inkwells have woven a veil!

إلا ابن الكرام وليس فخراً

ويا غوث الأنام ولا نزاعا

Behold, son of nobles—this is no boast—

and O succor of mankind—beyond dispute—

لقد شيدت في بغداد سوراً

ولولا أن ترممه تداعى

you have indeed raised a wall in Baghdad,

and had you not repaired it, it would have collapsed.

قديماً يعهد الأهرام لما

رست فكأن بينهما رضاعا

Ancient, it remembers the pyramids when

they stood firm, as though the two had suckled together.

ولكن الزمان عليه أخنى

فغير ثوب جدته رقاعا

But time ravaged it,

turning the robe of its newness into patches.

فلو لاقى الذي لاقاه رضوى

من الحرب العوان لصار قاعا

Had Raḍwā suffered what it suffered

from recurrent war, it would have become level ground.

أشاب الدهر فوديه وأضنى

قواه ولم يطق منه امتناعا

Time grayed its temple-locks and weakened

its strength, and it could not resist it.

تووده الرياح فحيث ناعت

إلى أي الجهات تراه ناعا

The winds bend it; wherever they sway,

in any direction, you see it sway.

لذاك ترى بجبهته انصراعاً

كأن برأسه أمسى صداعا

Thus you see its forehead caving in,

as though a headache had settled in its head.

فباشرت البناء به بعزم

تقويه الصخور ولن تراعا

So you undertook its rebuilding with a resolve

that rocks strengthen; you will never be daunted,

وهمة ماجدٍ لو شئت ترقى

بها الأفلاك كنت المستطاعا

and a noble man’s ambition: had you wished to ascend

by it to the celestial spheres, you could have done so.

فلولا أن جزء الجزء منها

ببالي الأس لم يلق انصداعا

But for a fraction of a fraction of that ambition

upon its worn foundation, it would have suffered no splitting,

ودام إلى القيامة في ثياب ال

بقاء يصد من رام الخداعا

and would have endured until the Resurrection in the robes of

permanence, repelling whoever sought deceit.

لقد جددت أركاناً تداعت

وأحكمت المعاقل والقلاعا

You have indeed renewed pillars that had crumbled

and secured the strongholds and fortresses,

وشيدت الجميع فصار يزهو

كما طينت بالغدن السياعا

and rebuilt the whole, until it stood resplendent,

as you coated the plaster with soft clay.

فبعد الأندراس غدا جديداً

يناجم كل نجمٍ ارتفاعا

After decay, it became new,

vying in height with every star.

وأمسى تشرق الشرفات فيه

كأن الشمس تكسبها شعاعا

And its battlements came to shine,

as though the sun were giving them radiance.

بذلت الجهد فيه كما رأينا

يقينا ليس نرويه سماعا

You lavished effort upon it, as we saw,

with certainty, not something we recount from hearsay.

حفظت الدين والدنيا جميعا

به وقمعت أقواما رعاعا

You preserved religion and worldly life together

through it, and subdued bands of rabble.

فشكراً أيها المولى وحمدا

فقد عمرت بالسور الرباعا

So thanks and praise, O lord,

for with the wall you have made the dwellings flourish.

ألا يا من مزاياه توالت

ومن أضحت سجاياه طباعا

O you whose virtues have followed one another,

and whose fine qualities have become innate dispositions,

بلا طمع بعثت إليك مدحي

على أني أود الانتفاعا

without greed I sent you my praise,

though I do desire to benefit.

فلا زالت تطول بك المعالي

وأهل الفضل تقصر عنك باعا

May lofty honors never cease to rise through you,

while men of merit fall short of your arm-span.