1. أنا من جوارِكَ في أعزّ مكان

    ومن اصطناعِكَ في مُنىً وأمانِ

    Through your protection, I am in the most honored place,

    And through your patronage, amid hopes and safety.

  2. ومن افتقادِكَ في رياضِ مكارمِ

    حيّيْنَني بغرائبِ الإحسانِ

    And through your attentive care, in gardens of noble deeds

    That greeted me with marvels of kindness.

  3. ومن التفاتِك في حراسةِ جانبٍ

    ليستْ لأُسْدِ الغابِ في خُفّانِ

    And through your regard, my person enjoys a protection

    That not even the forest lions of Khuffan possess.

  4. وعليّ من نظراتِ جاهكَ لأْمةٌ

    أبداً تَقيني أسهمَ الحدَثانِ

    And from the glances of your prestige, armor covers me,

    Forever shielding me from the arrows of time's misfortunes.

  5. ولديّ من حُسْن الولاءِ عقيدةٌ

    مشفوعةٌ بعقيدةِ الإيمانِ

    And I hold a creed of true loyalty,

    Coupled with the creed of faith.

  6. وحللتُ دارَك في جوارِك آهلاً

    فعلمتُ أنّ الدارَ بالجيرانِ

    And I settled in your house, at home under your protection;

    Then I learned that a home is made by its neighbors.

  7. وأقمتُ حيث المجدُ نائي المُرتَقى

    وجَنى المكارمِ بالمواهبِ دانِ

    And I dwelt where glory's summit is far beyond reach,

    Yet gifts bring the fruit of noble deeds within reach.

  8. ووجدتُ بحرَ نَداك سهلَ المُسْتَقى

    فغنيْتُ مرتوياً عن الأشطانِ

    And I found your sea of bounty easy to draw from;

    So, with my thirst quenched, I needed no well-ropes.

  9. فليعلمِ السَمْدانُ إذ فارقتُه

    أني لديكَ بذروةِ السُمْدانِ

    So let al-Samdan know, now that I have left it,

    That with you I stand at the summit of al-Sumdan.

  10. وهل المعاقلُ غيرُ عزٍّ حُزْتُه

    بكَ لا بتشْييدٍ ولا بُنيانِ

    And what are strongholds but the strength I have gained

    Through you, not through construction or masonry?

  11. يا مُلتقى سُبُلِ الوفودِ كما التقَتْ

    في البحرِ أوديةُ الحَيا الهتّان

    O meeting place of delegations' paths, just as

    The watercourses of pouring rain meet in the sea.

  12. ومطالعَ الضُلاّالِ في غسَقِ الدُجى

    نهجَ الطريقِ بألسُنِ النيرانِ

    And you who show lost wanderers in night's deepest darkness

    The course of the road with tongues of flame.

  13. في الأرض منكَ ومن أبيكَ وإن مضى

    سعدانُ ما ناواهما السُعْدانِ

    On earth, in you and your father, though he has passed away,

    Are two lucky stars, unrivaled by the two auspicious planets.

  14. ملكٌ تقدّمهُ بلالٌ أولاً

    فسَما وياسرٌ السعيدُ الثاني

    A realm first led by Bilal

    Rose high; fortunate Yasir is the second.

  15. الأوحدُ الغدِّ الذي لم يختلفْ

    في فضلِه ونَدى يديْهِ اثنانِ

    The peerless one, living in ease, on whose

    Merit and the bounty of his two hands no two people disagree.

  16. والموسِعُ الأضيافَ أصنافَ القِرى

    ملءَ الجِفانِ الفيحِ والأجفانِ

    And who lavishes on guests every kind of fare,

    Filling wide bowls and eyes alike.

  17. جودٌ عميمٌ ما ادّعى أوصافهُ الت

    هتانَ إلا جاءَ بالبُهتانِ

    An all-embracing bounty: its qualities are never claimed by the pouring

    Rain without a falsehood being told.

  18. بطلاقةٍ كتبت بصفحةِ وجهه

    وضحَ الصباحِ لمن له عينانِ

    With a cheerfulness that inscribed upon the page of his face

    Morning's brightness for anyone with two eyes.

  19. والبشر والبُشْرى شقيقا نسبةٍ

    قُرئَ الكتابُ بها من العُنوانِ

    And cheerfulness and glad tidings are siblings in lineage;

    Through that kinship, the book was read from its title.

  20. لعقدتُ آمالَ الذُرى بك همّةً

    أُسِرَ الطليقُ بها وفكّ العاني

    I have indeed bound lofty hopes to you through a resolve

    By which the free was captured and the captive released.

  21. وعمرْتَ بالزوارِ مُقْفرةَ الفَلا

    متسرّعاً من عامر البُلدانِ

    And you peopled the barren wilderness with visitors,

    Hastening from the flourishing towns.

  22. وبنيتَ في عدْنٍ مفاخرَ طاولَتْ

    قحطانُ فيها الصيدُ من عدنانِ

    And you built glories in Aden, through which

    Qahtan rivaled the proud nobles of Adnan.

  23. وتبجّستْ كفّاكَ فهي سحائبٌ

    تهْمي بماءِ الجودِ كلَّ أوانِ

    And your two hands gushed forth: they are clouds

    Pouring the water of bounty at every moment.

  24. فلئنْ عمَمتَ القاصدينَ أياديا

    ما للمديحِ بشكرهنّ يدانِ

    For if you have lavished favors on all who seek you,

    Praise lacks the hands to give thanks for them.

  25. فلقد خصَصْتَ النازلينَ بأنعُم

    أغنيتَهُم عن أربُع ومغاني

    For you have singled out your lodgers for blessings;

    You have made them need no homes or dwelling places.

  26. وأنا المخيِّمُ في ذُراك وقد رأى ال

    أقوامُ عندكَ موضعي ومكاني

    And I am camped upon your heights; the

    People have already seen my position and place with you.

  27. فاشفَعْ وما تنفكّ تفعل مثلَها

    رحُبَ المكان لديكَ بالإمكانِ

    So add another favor, as you never cease doing its like;

    With you, capacity makes the place capacious.

  28. فوراءَ آمالي عيونٌ إن تغِبْ

    عنهن أنساني فما أنساني

    For behind my hopes are eyes; if you keep

    My person away from them, how forgetful I am!

  29. شخّصتَ ما أولى نداكَ وإن تفض

    كرماً عليّ به فما أولاني

    You have sent forth what your bounty bestowed; and if you pour

    Generosity upon me through it, how deserving I am!

  30. وقد اقتضاني الوجدُ تجديدي بهم

    عهداً يخفّفُ من جَوى أشجاني

    And longing has required me to renew with them

    A bond that eases my sorrows' burning pain.

  31. وجَوادُ أشواقي إليهمْ جامحٌ

    فامدِدْ له الإحسانَ فضلَ عِنانِ

    And the steed of my longings for them is bolting;

    So extend kindness to it as extra length of rein.

  32. فإذا وصلتُ ولم يُسعهم نائلي

    لم يُرضِهم مني الذي أرضاني

    Then if I arrive and what I received does not suffice for them,

    What satisfied me will not satisfy them as a gift from me.

  33. فاجْعَلْ حقائبَ عِيسِ وفدي تكتَفي

    بثنائها عن ألسُنِ الرُكْبانِ

    So make the saddlebags of my party's pale camels suffice

    With their own praise, without the riders' tongues.

  34. فلسان شكري لا يقومُ ببعضِ ما

    أوليتَ لو وافى بكلِّ لسانِ

    For the tongue of my gratitude cannot do justice to even part of what

    You bestowed, even if it came with every tongue.