اضاءت سعود الملك جالية زهرا

وراقت رياض العيش جانية زهرا

The fortunes of kingship shone, unveiling bright stars;

and life's gardens grew fair, yielding blossoms.

وجاءت لنا بيض الاماني بانعم

لبسنا بلا خلع مطارفها خضرا

Fair hopes came to us bearing blessings;

we donned their green, bordered robes without shedding them.

فبات يعاطينا الهنا اكؤساً بها

سكرنا ولم نشرب سلافاً ولا خمرا

Then joy spent the night passing us cups with which

we grew drunk, though we drank neither choice vintage nor wine.

شربنا سلاف الروح لا الراح فاغتدت

بها الروح نشوى فهي مرتاحة بشرا

We drank the soul's nectar, not wine, and so

the soul grew drunk with it, and rests in gladness.

الا ان ثغر الدهر اصبح باسماً

الينا فدام الدهر مبتسماً ثغرا

Lo, time's mouth has begun to smile

upon us; may time remain smiling of mouth.

واشرقت الدنيا جمالا وبهجة

ترينا المحيا الطلق والخلق النضرا

The world shone with beauty and joy,

showing us its beaming face and radiant form.

شفى غلة الآمال سلسل نيلها

فاروى الحشى من بعدما كان قد أورى

The sweet water of fulfillment quenched the thirst of hopes,

and slaked the heart after it had blazed with fire.

هي الملة الغراء تطلب مجدها

وحق طلاب المجد للملة الغرا

It is the illustrious community seeking its glory;

and seeking glory is the illustrious community's right.

فقد خطبوا العلياء بالسيف وانبروا

يسوقون من غالي النفوس لها مهرا

They wooed high glory with the sword and set out,

offering her a bride-price of precious lives.

وقد طلبوا من قبل اسعاف أهلها

فلما ابوا حازوا عقيلتهم قسرا

They had earlier sought her family's assistance;

but when they refused, they took their cherished maiden by force.

إذا حجبت بيض الكواعب فلتكن

وسيلتك البيض القواضب والسّمرا

If fair, full-bosomed maidens are kept veiled, let

your means be bright, cleaving swords and dusky spears.

الا برزت من خدرها ذات عفة

على رقبة من قبل لم تبرح الخدرا

Lo, a chaste lady emerged from her secluded chamber,

warily; she had never before left her chamber.

كعاب من الغيد الأوانس حرّة

فما تصطفي الا الفتى الماجد الحرا

A freeborn, full-bosomed maiden among graceful, charming women,

she chooses none but the noble, freeborn youth.

وتبسم عن ثغر فننظم مثله

نسيباً كلا العقدين قد نظما درّا

She smiles, revealing her mouth, and we string its likeness

into love verse: both necklaces are strung with pearls.

وترنو باجفان المهاة إذا رنت

فتنفث في الألباب من لحظها سحرا

She gazes through an oryx's eyelids when she looks,

and breathes enchantment from her glance into minds.

من الحضر الا ان بارع حسنها

بابداعه قد تيم البدو والحضرا

She is of the towns, yet her exquisite beauty,

through its wondrous artistry, has enthralled nomads and townsfolk.

وردنا نمير الوصل منها وربما

شكونا لها حاشا سجيتها الهجرا

We drank the sweet water of union with her, and sometimes

complained to her of estrangement—far be it from her nature.

تقلد قانون العدالة أمرنا

واجدر به ان يملك النهى والأمرا

The law of justice took charge of our affairs;

and how fit it is to wield the power to forbid and command!

وكائن ترى فوق البسيطة دولة

به عظمت شأناً وكانت هي الصغرى

How many a state you see upon the earth

has grown great in stature through it, though once the smallest.

ولا سيما في أمة قد تعاضدت

على الحق حتى نالت العز والفخرا

Especially among a nation that has joined forces

for the truth, until it gained might and pride.

تسامت إلى أوج الرقي وطنبت

بيوت المعالي حيث طالت به النسرا

It rose to the summit of progress and pitched

the tents of lofty honor, outsoaring the Eagle by its aid.

وقد صبرت دهراً فانجح سعيها

كذلك من يستصحب الحزم والصبرا

It endured for an age, and its striving succeeded;

so fares whoever takes resolve and patience as companions.

جنوا ثمر العلياء حلواً وطالما

جنوا من تجني من مضى ثمراً مرا

They reaped the sweet fruit of high glory, and how often

had they reaped bitter fruit from the injustice of those before them!

ورب عزيز ذل في الناس قدره

ورب ذليل عز بين الورى قدرا

Many a mighty man's standing was humbled among people,

and many a lowly man rose in rank among humankind.

فبعداً لأيام تولت ذميمة

إذا ارّخت ساءت احاديثها ذكرا

Away, then, with those days that passed in disgrace;

when chronicled, their stories are wretched to recall.

حقيق بحسن المدح محمود شوكت

فأهد له النظم المهذب والنثرا

Mahmoud Shawkat is worthy of fine praise;

so offer him polished verse and prose.

هو الماجد الحامي حقيقة مجده

تضوع مساعيه إذا نشرت نشرا

He is the noble guardian of his glory's true worth;

his endeavors waft fragrance when spread abroad.

ولما طغى أمر البغاة واعلنوا

بما قد أسرّوا من غوايتهم جهرا

When the rebels' cause ran rampant, and they proclaimed

openly the waywardness they had concealed,

رماهم من العزم الشديد بعسكر

وقاد إليهم مثله عسكراً مجرا

he hurled at them an army of unyielding resolve,

and led another like it against them, a vast army.

وقد صدم الثغر المخوف بحملة

تهدّ رواسي الهضب أو تثغر الثغرا

He assailed the dreaded frontier with a charge

that shatters the hills' firm heights or breaches the frontier,

بابطال صدق يقدمون على الردى

إذا احجمت عنه أسود الشرى ذعرا

with true-hearted heroes who advance toward death,

when the lions of al-Shara recoil from it in terror.

ولم ينكفئ حتى أذل عزيزه

وحكم في الهام المهندة البترا

Nor did he turn back until he had humbled its mighty one

and given keen Indian swords dominion over heads.

فكان لأهل الاتحاد وقد دجى

عليهم ظلام الخطب في غلس فجرا

He was for the people of Union, when there deepened

over them the darkness of calamity, a dawn amid the gloom.

فلله فتح يرفع الله شأنه

ويكسر جمع الظالمين به كسرا

To God belongs a victory whose stature God exalts,

and with which He utterly shatters the oppressors' host.

الا فاذخري يا ملة العدل مثله

وقد عز من اضحى له مثله ذخرا

Lo, treasure one like him, O community of justice;

and mighty is whoever now has one like him as a treasure.

ومثل رئيسيها نيازي وانور

هما سهلا والله منهجها الوعرا

And the likes of its two leaders, Niyazi and Anwar;

the two, by God, smoothed its rugged path.

لتهن أمير المؤمنين خلافة

تشاد مبانيها على هامة الشعرى

May the Commander of the Faithful rejoice in a caliphate

whose edifices are raised upon the crown of Sirius,

وسلطنة تصفو وتضفو ظلالها

على الأرض حتى تملك البرّ والبحرا

and a sultanate whose shades grow serene and spread

over the earth until it rules both land and sea.

وأهلا بأيام زواه زواهر

تضيء لياليها موسمة غرّا

Welcome to splendid, radiant days,

whose nights shine, marked with brilliance.

فتجلو علينا تلك شمس سعودها

وتجلو علينا هذه قمراً بدرا

Those days unveil for us the sun of their good fortune,

and these nights unveil for us a moon at its full.

باشراق سلطان الرشاد محمد

ترنح عطف الملك منشرحاً صدرا

With the radiance of Sultan Muhammad al-Rashad,

kingship's flank swayed, its breast expanded with joy.

وبالخامس المسعود نيطت خلافة

وسلطنة جاءت بشائرها تترى

And to the fortunate Fifth were entrusted a caliphate

and a sultanate whose glad tidings came one after another.

سعدنا بنعمى اسبغ الله ظلها

علينا فجلت ان نقابلها شكرا

We rejoiced in a blessing whose shade God spread fully

over us—too great for us to repay with gratitude.

هو البدر الا ان غرّ صفاته

نجوم سماء لا نطيق لها حصرا

He is the full moon, yet his radiant qualities

are stars in the sky, too many for us to count.

طوى الجور عنا ناشراً ظل عدله

فأحسن به طياً واطيب به نشرا

He folded injustice away from us, spreading the shade of his justice;

how fine his folding, and how fragrant his spreading!

ومذ قام فرد الدهر بالأمر ارذخوا

محمد سلطان الرشاد به البشرى

And when the age's peerless one took charge, record the date:

Muhammad, Sultan al-Rashad—in him are glad tidings.