1. كرِّموا قدرَهُ وصدقَ خلالِهِ

    واحمدوا سعيه وحسن مآلهِ

    Honor his stature and the sincerity of his character.

    And praise his endeavor and its good outcome.

  2. وخذوا الزينة البهيجة من آ

    ثاره والخطيب من أفعاله

    And take splendid adornment from his

    works, and let his deeds be the orator.

  3. وأعدوا له الوسائل والأس

    باب ميمونة إلى آماله

    And prepare for him the means and

    auspicious avenues toward his aspirations.

  4. صحبه الأكرمون والآل أنتم

    وهو أقوى بصحبه وبآله

    You are his most noble companions and his kin,

    and he is stronger through his companions and his kin.

  5. يا شيوخ الحمى ونوابه في

    مجلسيه ويا أباة رجاله

    O elders of the homeland and its deputies in

    its two chambers, and O its unyielding men!

  6. حزبه أنتمُ وخير بنيه

    جمع الملك في مكان احتفاله

    You are his party and the finest of its sons,

    the realm's assembly at the site of his celebration.

  7. جئتمُ تذكرون عهداً إليكم

    لضمين امتداده واتصاله

    You have come to recall a pledge made to you,

    whose endurance and continuity he surely guarantees.

  8. وتوفُّون ما استحق وزير ال

    شعب من حبه ومن إجلاله

    And you render what the minister of the

    people deserves of their love and reverence.

  9. صاحب السيرة التي انتقلت من

    ه تجاريبها إلى أمثاله

    The man whose life's lessons have passed from

    him to his peers.

  10. بطل الدولة المعيد لها من

    دهرها ما أبى على أبطاله

    The state's champion, restoring to it from

    its age what had eluded that age's champions.

  11. والقويُّ الذي لحرية الوا

    دي أتى والكفيل باستقلاله

    And the strong man who came for the freedom of the

    Valley, and the guarantor of its independence.

  12. يا وزير البلاد والجوُّ صفوٌ

    والزمان المعين في إقباله

    O minister of the land, while the air is clear,

    and time is a helper in its favorable turn,

  13. ومقر المكان بعد عناء

    من أعاصيره ومن زلزاله

    and your position is made firm after suffering

    from its hurricanes and its earthquake;

  14. والخطيب الزعيم يعلن للأم

    مةِ عقبى جهاده ونضاله

    and the leader-orator proclaims to the

    nation the fruits of his striving and struggle.

  15. قدر اللّه ما ملكت فمن يق

    وى على رده أو استبداله

    What you possess is God's decree; who can

    repel it or replace it?

  16. أنت أدرى بفضل إمهالك الأم

    رِ وأدرى بحكمة استعجاله

    You know best the merit of delaying the

    matter, and best the wisdom of hastening it.

  17. زال خصم من الطريق وما زل

    تَ على الخصم مشفقاً من زواله

    A rival has left the path, yet you have not

    ceased to pity the rival over his downfall.

  18. واكتوى اليوم بالحقيقة من كا

    ن غريقاً في وهمه وخياله

    And today the truth has seared the one who

    was drowning in his delusion and fantasy.

  19. وتولى العيان إسكات من طا

    لت أراجيفه وفوضى جداله

    And plain reality silenced the one whose

    false rumors and chaotic disputing had dragged on.

  20. وانتهى العابثون إلا فريقاً

    لم يزل في عناده وضلاله

    And the troublemakers desisted, save a faction

    that persists in its obstinacy and error.

  21. لم يقع ما توعدوك به فاش

    تغلوا بافتراضه واحتماله

    What they threatened you with did not occur, so they

    busied themselves with supposing it and entertaining its possibility.

  22. حملوا الأمر وهو في هدنة الده

    ر وألقوه وهو في أهواله

    They took up the task during a truce with

    time, and cast it aside amid its terrors.

  23. وتناهوا إلى مخادعة الشع

    ب لتسخيره ولاستغلاله

    And they went to extremes in deceiving the

    people, to subjugate them and exploit them.

  24. وادعوا أنك المبذر في الما

    ل ولولاك ضيعوا كل ماله

    And they claimed you were the squanderer of

    money; but for you, they would have wasted all the people's wealth.

  25. وأساءوا قضية الملك حتى

    كاد يدعوهمُ جناة احتلاله

    And they harmed the cause of the realm so much

    it nearly called them the culprits behind its occupation.

  26. وهمُ في اليسير مما تولوا

    مثل ما هم في صعبه ومحاله

    And in the easy parts of what they undertook,

    they are just as in its difficult and impossible parts.

  27. ما لمن ضاق أمس بالحكم أضحى

    يتعدى عليك بعد اعتزاله

    What ails him who chafed at rule yesterday, but now

    assails you after withdrawing?

  28. ما له هان واستكان وأرخى

    ستره بعد تيهه واختياله

    Why has he become abject, yielded, and lowered

    his curtain after his arrogance and swagger?

  29. ما له بعد ما أطاع مشيري

    ه يعد المشير من عزاله

    Why, after obeying his advisers,

    does he count the adviser among those who ousted him?

  30. ناقماً منك أن تقوم بما أل

    قى عليك الزمان من أثقاله

    Resenting you for shouldering what

    time has cast upon you of its burdens.

  31. أيسوس البلاد من راح يلهو

    بألاعبيه إلى أطفاله

    Can one govern the land who has taken to amusing himself

    with his playthings alongside his children?

  32. لم يهن خارج عليك من الوا

    دي وهانت عليك شم جباله

    No rebel against you from the

    Valley was debased, though its lofty mountains yielded to you.

  33. كسبك الخصم بالصنيعة أولى

    لك من قهره ومن إذلاله

    Winning your rival through kindness is better

    for you than subduing him and humiliating him.

  34. إن تكن أزمة فأنت عليها

    يوسف في اقتداره واحتياله

    If there is a crisis, then in facing it you are

    Joseph, in his capability and resourcefulness.

  35. خازن صارف وعدلك في مي

    زانه قائم وفي مكياله

    A keeper and dispenser, your justice in his

    scales stands firm, and in his measure.

  36. غلب الأزمة الرخاء وأنت ال

    مستعد الخليق باستكماله

    Prosperity has overcome the crisis, and you are the

    one ready and fit to bring it to fullness.

  37. أتضيق الحياة والأرض ملأى

    ثمراتٍ والنيل في سلساله

    Can life grow straitened while the earth is full

    of fruit, and the Nile flows sweet and clear?

  38. علة المال أرخصت كل غال

    وأشاعته بعد عز مناله

    Money's malady has cheapened everything costly,

    and made it common after it was hard to attain.

  39. وتلقى الفقير منه نصيباً

    وتأسَّى بعرضه وابتذاله

    And the poor man received a share of it,

    and found comfort in its availability and cheapness.

  40. أنت من يعرف الكرامة للفل

    لاح لا من يراه من عماله

    You are the one who recognizes the dignity owed the

    farmer, not one who sees him as one of his laborers.

  41. تتولاه بالكثير من الرح

    مةِ في كده ورقة حاله

    You care for him with abundant

    mercy amid his toil and meager circumstances.

  42. وتراه الشريك بالنصف فيما

    أنتجته قواه حق اشتغاله

    And you see him as a partner with half of what

    his strength has produced, the rightful due of his labor.

  43. والغنيُّ السريُّ من حصَّل الما

    ل بجهد اليدين لا بسؤاله

    And the wealthy, noble man is he who acquired

    money through the toil of both hands, not by begging for it.

  44. إن دَين الفتى وإن قل جرحٌ

    في عظام الفتى وفي أوصاله

    Indeed, a young man's debt, however small, is a wound

    in the young man's bones and in his limbs.

  45. والذليل المصاب في الشرف الذا

    هب لا في عقاره وغلاله

    And the abased man is wounded in honor that is

    lost, not in his property and harvests.

  46. وخلاص الغريم من دينه مث

    ل خلاص السجين من أغلاله

    And a debtor's release from his debt is

    like a prisoner's release from his shackles.

  47. إن تيسيرك الوفاء عليه

    في مواعيده وفي آجاله

    Indeed, you make repayment easy for him

    at its appointed dates and its deadlines.

  48. أنت من يكتفي من الحكم حراً

    برضى نفسه وراحة باله

    You are one who, as a free man, asks of rule only

    his soul's satisfaction and peace of mind.