في مثل جود الوزير يرغب

ومن سطاه في الروع يرهب

One longs for generosity like the vizier's,

and fears his might in times of terror.

الباسم الثغر للمرجي

بشرا إذا ما البخيل قطب

He smiles upon the hopeful,

with good cheer when the miser scowls.

أبيض جود له أثاف

ما زلن سودا والعام أشهب

White in generosity, he has hearthstones

that remain black while the year is ash-gray.

لبغضه ما له تراه

إلى قلوب الورى محبب

Because he hates what he owns, you see him

endeared to the hearts of humankind.

غزير علم رزين حلم

يخف عنه حِرا

Abundant in learning, weighty in forbearance,

Mount Hira is light beside him.

متشح بالعفافِ عار

من كل عار خرق مهذب

Clad in chastity, stripped

of every disgrace, generous and refined.

قد جربت كل يوم حرب

عداه من سيفه المجرب

Tested on every day of battle are

his foes, by his battle-proven sword.

سيف معد لكل باغ

شغب أو خالع توثب

A sword ready for every seeker

of strife, or oath-breaker who rises in revolt.

مؤمل دهره مرجى

معذل عمره مؤنب

Hoped in throughout his days, looked to with hope;

throughout his life, chided and reproached.

يخال في ليل كل نقع

بدرا غدا طاعنا بكوكب

He appears in the night of every cloud of battle-dust

a full moon that has begun to thrust with a star.

طود على شامخ وبحر

سماحه العدليس ينضب

A towering mountain of eminence, and a sea

whose ever-flowing bounty never runs dry.

أجدب ربعي فشمت برقا

من بشره صادقا فاخصب

My homestead grew barren; I spied a lightning flash

from his cheerful face, true in its promise; then it grew fertile.

وطال عتب الزمان حتى

أتيته مادحا فاعتب

Long endured my grievance against time, until

I came praising him, and he removed my grievance.

كم من سماح له ورفد

أبدع في بذله وأغرب

How much generosity and aid are his!

He has made his giving wondrous and extraordinary.

يسمح للمجتدي وحلما

يصفح عمن أسا وأذنب

He gives freely to the petitioner, and with forbearance

forgives whoever has done wrong and sinned.

أقسم ما السحب هاطلات

تجم أذيالها وتسحب

I swear: no clouds pouring rain,

their skirts brimming and trailing,

غمامها الجون مستهل

عن كل ثغر للبرق أشنب

their dark cloud-mass streaming

from every cool, bright-toothed mouth of lightning,

يوما بأندي من راحتيه

على فتى معدم وأرطَب

are ever richer in dew than his two palms

toward a penniless youth, or wetter.

كلا ولا مخدر هصور

شر دل الساعدين أغلب

No, nor any lair-dwelling, crushing lion,

powerfully built in both forelegs, thick-necked,

مصغٍ فإما أحس حسا

أبرز نابا له وخلب

listening—then, if it hears a sound,

it bares its fang and claw—

يهاب ما لاح في إهاب

كأنه بالنجيع مذهب

feared whenever it appears in a hide

as though gilded with gore,

يوما باجرا منه جنانا

واليوم يوم بالنقع أكهب

is ever bolder at heart than he,

while the day is dusky with battle-dust.

يا عضد الدين يا كريما

نداه للطالبين مطلب

O Adud al-Din, O generous one,

whose bounty is the petitioners' goal.

كم أسد قد تركت ملقى

للوجه من طعنة بثعلب

How many a lion you have left cast down

face-down, from a thrust with a spear-point!

وكم وفي خضتها بنهد

عبل كسيد الفلاة سلهب

And how many a [battle] you have plunged into on a powerful steed,

big-limbed and tall, like a wilderness wolf!

هيهات ما للطغاة منجًى

منك ولا للعداة مهرب

Far from it! Tyrants have no escape

from you, nor do your foes have anywhere to flee.

تلحقهم والمدى بعيد

بلا حقات الأقراب شزب

You overtake them, though the distance is great,

on slender-flanked, lean mounts.

عشت الذي عاشه شعيب

فإن راجي مداك أشعب

May you live the span that Shuayb lived,

for he who hopes for your far-reaching bounty is Ash'ab.

تهنَّ بالعثر وابق واخلد

تحت رواق العز المطنب

Rejoice in [unclear text], remain, and live forever,

beneath the firmly guyed canopy of glory,

في دولة ما لها انتهاء

عدوها لا استراح متعب

in a reign that has no end.

Its enemy—may he never rest—is worn out.