يا مَلِكًا وهو بالتُّقى مَلَكٌ

يا مَلِكًا وهو بالتُّقى مَلَكٌ

ووالياً وهو بالعفافِ وَلِي

ووالياً وهو بالعفافِ وَلِي

O king, who through piety is an angel,

O King, who with piety is an angel,

and governor, who through chastity is a saint!

And with chastity, a guardian,

أَصبحتَ شَمْساً تزيدُها شَرَفاً

أَصبحتَ شَمْساً تزيدُها شَرَفاً

حُمْلانُها لا الحُاولُ بالحَمَلِ

حُمْلانُها لا الحُاولُ بالحَمَلِ

You have become a sun whose exaltation is increased

You have become a sun, made more noble

by its gifts of mounts, not its [entry] into Aries.

By its carriage, not the vain attempt at carrying,

واعتدَلَ الدَّهْرُ إِذ عَدَلْتَ فيا

واعتدَلَ الدَّهْرُ إِذ عَدَلْتَ فيا

للهِ من عادلٍ ومُعْتَدلِ

للهِ من عادلٍ ومُعْتَدلِ

And Time grew balanced when you acted justly—oh,

And time attained balance when you acted justly in it,

God, what a just ruler and a balanced age!

By Allah, what a just and balanced one!

وفي سبيلِ السّماحِ مكرُمَةً

وفي سبيلِ السّماحِ مكرُمَةً

نَزَلْتَ منها بمُلتَقَى السُّبُلِ

نَزَلْتَ منها بمُلتَقَى السُّبُلِ

And on generosity’s path, as a noble deed,

And generously upon the path of gentleness,

you have settled where its roads converge.

You descended where the roads meet,

كفَّاكَ في الغيثِ مثلُ عارِضِهِ

كفَّاكَ في الغيثِ مثلُ عارِضِهِ

إِذا انْبَرَى فيه ضاربُ المَثَلِ

إِذا انْبَرَى فيه ضاربُ المَثَلِ

Your two hands, compared with rain, are like its cloud,

Your sufficiency in rain is like its harbinger’s,

when someone comes forward to draw the comparison.

When the one who coins proverbs hastens to it,

هيهاتَ كم بالرُّعودِ من قلقٍ

هيهاتَ كم بالرُّعودِ من قلقٍ

لَهُ وكم بالبروقِ من خَجَل

لَهُ وكم بالبروقِ من خَجَل

Far from it! How much disquiet its thunder shows,

Alas! How much alarm is in the thunder for it,

and how much shame its lightning betrays!

And in the lightning, how much bashfulness,

كنتُ أَذُمُ الزمانُ في جَمَلٍ

كنتُ أَذُمُ الزمانُ في جَمَلٍ

أَوْقَعَنِي أُخْتَ وَقْعَةِ الجَمَل

أَوْقَعَنِي أُخْتَ وَقْعَةِ الجَمَل

I used to blame Time over a camel;

I was stumbling through time in beauty,

it plunged me into a sister of the Battle of the Camel,

Until the fate of the camel made me stumble,

حتى تَوَلَّيْتَ يا محمدُ ما

حتى تَوَلَّيْتَ يا محمدُ ما

كانَ تولاه قبل ذاك علي

كانَ تولاه قبل ذاك علي

until you took charge, O Muhammad, of what

Until you took charge, O Muhammad, of what

Ali had overseen before.

Before that, no one had taken charge of but Ali,

وهذه الحالُ وَهْيَ مَسْأَلَةٌ

وهذه الحالُ وَهْيَ مَسْأَلَةٌ

قدِ انْتَقَلْنَا منها إِلى البَدَلِ

قدِ انْتَقَلْنَا منها إِلى البَدَلِ

And this state of affairs—it is a question—

And this condition—how hard the question—

we have now moved from it to substitution.

We have moved from it to substitution,

ولم أُشاهِدْ ولا سَمِعْتُ بِهِ

ولم أُشاهِدْ ولا سَمِعْتُ بِهِ

من قبلِ ذا اليومِ وَقْعَةَ الإِبِلِ

من قبلِ ذا اليومِ وَقْعَةَ الإِبِلِ

And I have neither witnessed nor heard of

I did not witness, nor hear of before this day,

a Battle of the Camels before this day.

The incident of the camel.