سر الحسود بما أساء وارجفا

والله مما كنت خائفه كفى

The envious man rejoiced in the harm he did and the rumors he spread;

but God protected me from what I had feared.

بعث الشفاء إلى الزمان وأهله

من بعد ما كانوا وكان على شفا

He sent healing to the age and its people,

after they, and it, had stood upon the brink.

وافي البشري فكان كل مؤمل

لقياه يعقوباً ويوسف يوسفا

The bearer of glad tidings came, and everyone who hoped

to meet him became a Yaqub, and Yusuf was Yusuf.

أهدى السرور إلى القلوب كتابه

عظمت به النعمى وكان ملطفا

His letter brought joy to hearts;

great was the blessing it bore, though it was a brief note.

نبأ هو الماء الزلال أتى على

ظمأ فأطفأ لوعة وتلفها

News that was limpid water, arriving amid

thirst, quenching burning anguish and its ravages.

ومن كابن أيوب ومن كصفيه

نصر إذا ما النصر أعوز والصفا

Who is like Ibn Ayyub, and who like his chosen friend,

Nasr, when victory and serenity are lacking?

لسما سمو المجد في صدر الضحى

وفللت بالعزم الحسام المرهفا

He indeed rose with glory's ascent in the morning's prime,

and you, with resolve, blunted the keen-edged sword.

وكلاهما محيي السماح وقد ثوى

ومثبت حلم الزمان وقد هفا

Both revive generosity, though it had lain buried,

and steady the age's forbearance when it has faltered.

أعط ومن على المسيء بعفوه

عنه فأنسى حاتماً والأحنفا

He gave, and favored the wrongdoer by pardoning

him, making Hatim and al-Ahnaf forgotten.

ففدى صلاح الدين كل متوج

كالنجم يفيد الشمس من أن تكسفا

May every crowned king be a ransom for Salah al-Din,

like a star aiding the sun against eclipse.

وبقيت تعضده وتحمي سرب دو

لته إذا خطب أغذ وأوجفا

And may you endure, supporting him and guarding his realm's flock,

whenever a calamity hastens and gallops forth.

فلقد ذوى روض الثناء كاهله

فأعدته بندى يديك مفوفاً

For the garden of praise had withered, like its people;

you restored its rich pattern with the dew of your hands.

وصفا معين الرفد فهو مصفق

وحلفت لولا راحتاك لما صفا

The flowing spring of bounty grew clear, finely filtered;

I swore: but for your two palms, it would not have cleared.

وسواك إما جد جد تصنعاً

منه وإما جاد جاد تكلفا

Anyone but you, if earnest, is earnest only through affectation

on his part; and if he gives, he gives with forced effort.

حطت البلاد وما سللت لحفظها

سيفاً ورعت وماهززت مثقفا

You guarded the lands without drawing, to protect them,

a sword; you struck fear without brandishing a straightened spear,

بخلائق غيد وبأس تحتها

خشن كما نبع الزلال من الصفا

with gentle manners and, beneath them, a might

rugged, as limpid water springs from hard rock.

همم جمعن المجد ثم شددن متنه

وكان مبدداً مستضعفا

High resolves gathered glory, then strengthened its backbone,

when it had been scattered and deemed weak.

سلكن نهجاً واضحاً هو في العلى

جدد يؤم مدى الزمان ويقتفى

They followed a clear path which, in the heights of honor,

is a level road, sought and followed through all time.

فلك الهناء وللورى بك أنها

نعمى شفت نضو العلاء المدنفا

So joy is yours, and mankind's through you, for it is

a blessing that healed glory's wasted, gravely stricken frame.

فسناك نور الداجيات فلا خبا

وذراك ربع المكرمات فلا عفا

So your radiance is the light of dark nights—may it never dim;

and your shelter is the abode of noble deeds—may it never be effaced.