ليالي الصبا درت عليك السحائب

وجادك هطال مرته الجنائب

O nights of youth, may the clouds pour rain upon you!

And may a downpour, milked forth by the south winds, drench you!

فقد كنت مرعى للشباب ومرتعا

إذا جف منه جانب طاب جانب

For you were a pasture for youth and a place to roam;

when one part of it dried up, another flourished.

إذا ضحكت أيامك البيض ناشئا

غريرا بكاك المعلقون الأشايب

When your bright days smiled on you as a youth,

innocent, the gray-haired lovers wept for you.

إذا كسب الشيب الوقار فإنه

يذمك بالشيب الحسان الكواعب

If gray hair earns dignity, then

the lovely, budding-breasted maidens reproach you for gray hair.

وفي طيّ هذا الدهر كل عجيبة

فمن عاش لافته النهى والعجائب

Within the folds of this age lies every marvel;

whoever lives is met by understanding and wonders.

وبصّره بالفكر ما كان عله

عليه الهوى والمشكلات الغرائب

And through thought it showed him what had been [apparently: obscured],

from him by passion and strange perplexities.

وإني بحمد الله أنظر عن مدى

بعيد أنثني للخير والخير عازب

And I, praise be to God, look from a distance

far away, turning toward good, though good is remote.

فإن غالني صرف الزمان وريبه

وأعوزني فيه خليل مقارب

If time's vicissitudes and calamities overwhelmed me,

and I lacked a close companion in that time,

ليست له الصبر الجميل على جوى

تشيب له في المعضلات الذوائب

I [apparently: donned] noble patience for it amid an anguish

that turns forelocks gray amid grave afflictions.

وجاورت من لا يعدم الخير جارهُ

ولا راجيا إحسانه منه خائب

And I dwelt beside one whose neighbor never lacks goodness,

nor is anyone hoping for his kindness disappointed by him.

وقلت له والصبر أكبر جنّة

إذا بهرج القول الخؤون المكاذب

And I said to him—patience is the greatest shield—

when the treacherous liar falsifies speech:

ألا أيها الإنسان والسيد الذي

برغم العدا شدّت إليه الركائب

O man and lord toward whom,

despite the foes, riding camels set out,

أبا مسلم إن الإمارة خيّرت

قرينا كريما يتقي ويراقب

O Abu Muslim, rulership was indeed given a choice

of a noble partner, God-fearing and vigilant;

قرنت بمحمود السجايا محمّدا

حسيب أديب كاتب وهو حاسب

it was joined to Muhammad, praiseworthy in character,

noble-born, cultured, a scribe—and a reckoner.

محاسنه اشتقت وكان اشتياقها

من اسم أبيه سؤدد وهو ناسب

His virtues were derived, and their [apparent] derivation was

from his father's name, with Nobility tracing his descent.

ولو قيل للمجد اقترع خير صاحب

للاذ به مستعصم وهو راغب

Were Glory told, 'Choose the best companion by lot,'

it would eagerly seek refuge in him, seeking protection.

ولو نطق المجد المؤثل عن فم

لقال به اسطو وعنه اضارب

Were deeply rooted Glory to speak through a mouth,

it would say, 'Through him I strike; for him I fight.'

ففي كل وقت من جلالة قدره

له مادح عن جوده ومخاطب

At every moment, such is the grandeur of his rank,

he has a praiser of his bounty and someone to address him.

خلائقه كالنور باكرهُ الندى

وجادت عليه بالعشيّ السحائب

His qualities are like blossoms greeted at dawn by dew,

and generously showered by the clouds at evening.

وكالسيف متناه تلين للامس

وحدّاه فيها الموت والموت قاضب

And like a sword whose two flats yield to the touch,

and whose two edges hold death—death that severs.

وكالشمس والبدر المضيئة في الضحى

إذا ازدحمت في جانبيه المواكب

And like the sun and full moon, radiant in the forenoon,

when processions crowd on either side of him.

رأى الحرم في إمضائه العزم للعلى

فأمضاهما بالرأي والرأي ثاقب

He saw [apparently: prudence] in carrying his resolve toward eminence,

and put both into effect with judgment—judgment that pierces.

وبالملك التاج المؤيّد عزّه

منوطٌ بعزّ أسعتده الكواكب

And to King al-Taj al-Mu'ayyad his glory

is bound—to a glory the stars [apparently: favored].

فلا زال هذا الملك تعلو فروعهُ

إلى النسر والعيوق والأصل راسب

May this kingdom's branches never cease to rise

to the Eagle and al-'Ayyuq, while its root is sunk deep.

فقد طابت الدنيا وطاب نعيمها

فمن كان فيها زاهدا فهو راغب

For the world has grown sweet, and its pleasures sweet;

whoever once renounced it now desires it.

أمان أمين وانتصار وعفة

وبسط وعدل شامل ومواهب

Assured security, victory, and integrity,

and bounty, all-embracing justice, and gifts.

فقد آمن الله البلاد فأصبحت

ذئاب الفلا ترعى الكلا والأرانب

For God has made the lands safe, and now

wilderness wolves graze on grass alongside the rabbits.

ألا أيها الأستاذ دعوة مادح

رأى المدح فرضا واجبا وهو واجب

O master, hear the prayer of a praising poet,

who deemed praise an obligatory duty—and obligatory it is.

عمرت ضواحي عكيرا وعراصها

يعدل رئيس هذبته التحارب

'Akira's outskirts and open grounds have flourished;

a leader refined by warfare acts justly.

عفافا وعدلا وانتصارا وسطوة

ألا يأبي الله تلك الضرائب

Integrity, justice, victory, and might—

may God not reject those qualities! [Wording uncertain.]

وراعيت أحوال الرعيّة مشفقا

فدرت عليهم بالنقيّ المكاسب

And you tended the people's affairs with compassion,

so pure earnings flowed abundantly upon them.

وقرّبتهم حتى كأنك والد

فحلمك موجود وكيسك غالب

And you drew them near until you seemed a father;

your forbearance is present, and your good judgment prevails.

فعش سالما تخشى وترجى وتتّقى

برغم العدى ما دام للدر حالب

So live safe, feared, looked to with hope, and held in awe,

despite the foes, as long as milk has a milker.

وما كنت أعيا للقريض ونظمه

فمنها إذن سدّت عليّ المذاهب

And I was never unequal to verse and its composition;

so because of it, then, the paths were barred to me.

ثمانون عاما أخلفتني ولم أزل

جليداً إذا ما صافحتني النوائب

Eighty years have left me diminished, yet I have remained

steadfast whenever calamities shook my hand.

فأصبحت كالشيء اللقى بعد نهضتي

إلى معجر قد غيبته الغياهب

Now I am like a discarded thing, after my rising

to a head-wrap [unclear in context], now hidden by deep darkness.

مدحتك مختاراً ورمت تشرفا

وإنيَ من مدحي سواك لتائب

I praised you freely and sought distinction,

and I am surely repentant for praising anyone but you.