1. بك الإسلامُ قد لبسَ الشبابا

    وكان سناه قد ولّى فآبا

    Through you, Islam has donned youth,

    and its radiance, which had departed, has returned.

  2. وهزّ الملكُ عطفَيهِ بمَلْك

    تقلّد أمره وكفى ونابا

    And kingship swayed its shoulders through a king

    who assumed its charge, met its needs, and acted on its behalf.

  3. ومذْ لبِسَتْ به الدنيا حِلاها

    جلاها حُسنُها خَوْداً كَعابا

    And since the world donned her ornaments through him,

    her beauty unveiled her as a tender, budding-breasted maiden.

  4. وما عطُلَتْ رِقابُ الدهرِ إلا

    وحلاّها عقوداً لا سِخابا

    Whenever the necks of Time were bare,

    he adorned them with necklaces, not scented bead strings.

  5. فلو أنّ اللياليَ عُدْنَ غيداً

    شجَتْ ليلى وتيّمتِ الرّبابا

    If the nights became supple maidens,

    they would grieve Layla and enthrall al-Rabab with love.

  6. وأحسبُ أن أنجُمَها كؤوسٌ

    تكونُ لها مجرّتُها شرابا

    I fancy that their stars are cups,

    and their Milky Way would be their drink.

  7. ومَنْ للشمس أن تُكسى سَناه

    فتُغشي الناظرينَ لها التهابا

    Who could grant the sun his radiance as a robe,

    so that she envelops her beholders in flame?

  8. ولو حيّا محيّاها بنورٍ

    لما كان الظلامُ لها حِجابا

    Were he to greet her face with light,

    darkness would not be a veil for her.

  9. صباحٌ يملأُ الآفاقَ نوراً

    يقيم إذا سنا الإصباحِ غابا

    A dawn that fills the horizons with light,

    remaining when daybreak's radiance disappears;

  10. وغيثٌ بات يُردي المحلَ طوعاً

    وليثٌ ينزِعُ المهجَ اغتصابا

    and rain that spends the night willingly slaying drought,

    and a lion that forcibly wrests away souls.

  11. وسعدٌ من بني سعدٍ تجلّى

    وقد جعل الدروعَ لها سَحابا

    And a lucky star from Banu Sa'd has shone forth,

    and he has made coats of mail into clouds for it.

  12. ولم يُرَ قبلَهُ بحرٌ خضمٌّ

    أفاضَ على معاطِفِه سَرابا

    Never before him was a vast sea seen

    pouring a mirage over its flanks.

  13. رسا طَوْداً وأسفرَ بدرَ تِمٍّ

    وجادَ غمامةً وسَطا شِهابا

    He stood firm as a mountain and shone as a full moon,

    gave freely as a raincloud and struck as a meteor.

  14. مَروضُ الحِلمِ طمّاح المواضي

    إذا ساموهُ عفواً أو عقابا

    His forbearance is tame, his keen swords headstrong,

    when they ask him for pardon or punishment.

  15. وما صابَتْ سماءُ الحربِ إلا

    سقى أبطالَها شرْياً وصابا

    Whenever the sky of war pours rain,

    he gives its champions colocynth and bitter sap to drink.

  16. وكم زهِرَتْ رياضُ دمٍ تغنّى

    ذُبابُ حُسامه فيها ذُبابا

    How many gardens of blood have bloomed to the song

    of his sword's tip amid them, buzzing like a fly.

  17. يواصلُ شُرْبَ كأسِ البأسِ صِرْفاً

    ويجتنبُ المُدامةَ والرّضابا

    He keeps drinking the cup of battle unmixed,

    and shuns wine and the sweet saliva of kisses.

  18. ويبتعدُ الأعارِب ناعماتٍ

    ويستَدْني المُضمّرةَ العِرابا

    He keeps far from soft, pampered Arab women,

    and draws near the lean, purebred Arabian horses.

  19. وقالوا أطولُ الأبطالِ باعاً

    فقلت نعمْ وأعلاهُم رِكابا

    They said, 'The longest-reaching of champions!'

    I said, 'Yes, and the loftiest in the saddle,

  20. وأفصَحُهُم إذا نطقوا لساناً

    وأفسَحُهُم إذا طُرِقوا جَنابا

    the most eloquent of tongue when they speak,

    and the most spacious of court when guests call.'

  21. وقد سمعوا رُقاهُ وجرّبوها

    فلا ينسابُ كيدُهُمُ حُبابا

    They have heard his incantations and tested them,

    so their cunning cannot slither forth like a serpent.

  22. ولا يغْرُرْهُمُ عفوٌ لديه

    فربّ عذوبةٍ نتِجَتْ عَذابا

    Let them not be deceived by a pardon from him,

    for many a sweetness has begotten torment.

  23. سَلوا عنه بَني رُزّيكَ لما

    أفادَ الحربَ منهم والحِرابا

    Ask the sons of Ruzzik about him, when

    he gained war and lances from them,

  24. وأقدَمَ نحوهُم أسَداً مُشيحاً

    فولّوا بين أيديه ذئابا

    and charged toward them as a resolute lion,

    so they fled before him like wolves.

  25. فإن عمرَتْ جموعُهُمُ الفيافي

    فقد تركوا رُبوعَهمُ خرابا

    If their hosts have populated the deserts,

    they have left their dwellings in ruins.

  26. أهابَ بهم لسانُ الخوفِ حتى

    أقامَهُمُ لراحتِه نهابا

    The tongue of fear called out to them until

    it made them plunder for his palm.

  27. ومنّتْهُم ظنونُهُم نجاةً

    ورُبّ حجًى رأيَ خطأَ صوابا

    Their conjectures promised them deliverance,

    and many a mind has taken error for what is right.

  28. فإن جعلوا الظلام لهم مطايا

    فقد جعلَ النجومَ له رِكابا

    If they make darkness their mounts,

    he has made the stars his steeds.

  29. فلا يهْنِ الذين نجوا هروبٌ

    فلو آبوا لكان الملك يابى

    Let flight bring no joy to those who escaped,

    for if they returned, kingship would reject them.

  30. ولو شاءَتْ صوارِمُهُ المواضي

    أقامَتْ دونَهُم سوراً وبابا

    Had his keen swords wished,

    they would have raised a wall and gate in their path.

  31. ولم يُرسِلْ شفارَ ظُباه إلا

    غدَتْ قُلَلُ الملوكِ لها جوابا

    He never unleashed the edges of his blades

    without kings' heads becoming their answer.

  32. إذاً لأزارَهُم تيّارَ حربٍ

    تكون له جماجِمُهُمْ حَبابا

    Then he would have brought them into a torrent of war,

    whose foam would be their skulls.

  33. وساقَ إليهمُ غرْباً ورُعْباً

    يسمّيها الكتيبةَ والكتابا

    And he drove sword-edge and terror toward them,

    calling them the battalion and the letter.

  34. وصدّعَ شعبَهُمْ بوميضِ عزمٍ

    يروّي من دمائِهمُ الشِّعابا

    And he shattered their unity with a flash of resolve

    that waters the ravines with their blood.

  35. وكم فتحٍ أبو الفتحِ اجتناهُ

    بقُبٍّ في العُلى رفعَتْ قِبابا

    How many victories Abu al-Fath has harvested

    with lean-bellied steeds that raised domes in the heights of glory.

  36. ولما لم يجدْ رُزّيكُ عنه

    الى غير الملاذِ به ذَهابا

    And when Ruzzik found no escape from him

    except by seeking refuge with him,

  37. أتاهُ ورهطُه في الهَوْنِ سعياً

    وقد سُلِبوا الحميّةَ والثيابا

    he and his clan came running to him in humiliation,

    already stripped of pride and clothing.

  38. وقد قادوا الصواهلَ مُقرَباتٍ

    فقُلْنَ لهم الى الذُلِّ اقترابا

    They had led their prized, neighing horses close,

    which said to them, 'Draw near to humiliation.'

  39. وكم ملؤوا الدروعَ وليس تُغني

    وقد مُلئَتْ قلوبُهُمُ ارتِعابا

    How many coats of mail they filled, yet these availed nothing,

    their hearts already filled with terror.

  40. وكم شاموا ظُباً بأكُفِّ غُلْبٍ

    قضَتْ شؤماً عليهم أو غِلابا

    How many blades they unsheathed with mighty hands,

    which decreed ill fortune or defeat upon them.

  41. وكم ركَزوا رماحَهُمُ كِناساً

    وسمّوها وما صدَقوا غيابا

    How often they planted their lances as a gazelle's covert,

    and called them forests, though they spoke falsely.

  42. وخالوا أنّ راحَهمُ غمامٌ

    فغادرَها مؤمِّلُهُم ضَبابا

    They imagined their palms were rainclouds,

    but their hopeful petitioner left them mere mist.

  43. فجازَهُمُ إليه المُلْكُ طوعاً

    ومَنْ وصلَ الرؤوسَ جَفا الذُنابى

    So kingship passed willingly beyond them to him,

    and whoever reaches the heads forsakes the tails.

  44. فحسّن رُتبةً قبُحَتْ لديهمْ

    وكان التاجُ في الأرساغِ غابا

    He beautified a rank that had grown ugly in their keeping,

    and the crown had vanished among the wrists.

  45. ليَهْنِ المُلكَ أن أمسى مَصوناً

    عشيةَ راحَ عزُّهُمُ مُصابا

    May kingship rejoice that it now stands protected,

    on the evening when their glory lay stricken,

  46. بأنّ الله أكرمَهُ بمَلْكٍ

    أذلّ له الغطارفةَ الصِّعابا

    because God honored it with a king

    for whom He humbled the unyielding noble lords.