عزاء وإن أضحى العزاء حراما

مضى من حمى سرب الأنام وحامي

Take solace, though solace has become forbidden.

Gone is he who guarded humankind's flock and defended it.

قضى ومضى أورى الورى زندَ سؤدد

ومجدٍ وأوفى ذمة وذماما

Dead and gone is he whose firestick burned brightest among men in nobility

and glory, most faithful to pledge and covenant.

قضى غامر الدنيا وغامر أهلها

عطاء كجّمات السيول جماما

He died, who flooded the world and flooded its people

with bounty abundant as the gathered waters of torrents.

قضى قائد الخيل العتاق سواها

تخال نعاما بل تظن نعاما

He died, leader of noble steeds, which he readied

so you take them for ostriches—indeed, you think them ostriches.

قضى نحبه من كان باعدل ملهما

وبالجيش يردى المارقين لهاصا

He fulfilled his mortal term, he who was inspired by justice,

and with the army struck down renegades [final word unclear].

قضى ملك زم الزمان برأيه

ورم أمورا كن قبل رماما

He died, a king who bridled time with his judgment,

and mended affairs that had once been ruins.

سلام على ذاك الضريح لقد حوى

صلاة ونسكا زاكيا وصياما

Peace upon that tomb: it has enclosed

prayer, pure devotion, and fasting.

ولا فاته جَود من المزن لا يني

كجود ابنِهِ المحي العفاة سجاما

May unceasing downpours from the rainclouds never miss it,

streaming like his son's bounty that revives supplicants.

لئن جبَّت الأيام غارب ملكه

لقد عوضتنا غاربا وسناما

Though the days severed the withers of his sovereignty,

they have surely given us withers and a hump in exchange.

فقدنا غماما عوض الله بعده

وزاد سماء ثرة وغماما

We lost a raincloud; God recompensed us after it,

adding a rain-rich sky and a raincloud.

خليفة حق وهو خير مخلّفٍ

تقاعد بالناس الزمان فقاما

A rightful caliph, the best successor left behind;

time failed the people, but he rose.

وأوسعهم عدلا وبذلا ورحمةً

وعلما وحلما يستخفّ شماما

He lavished upon them justice, generosity, and mercy,

and knowledge, and forbearance that makes Mount Shamam seem light.

تلاقى تلافَ المسلمين ببيعة

شفت من صدور المخلصين أواما

He confronted the Muslims' ruin with a pledge of allegiance

that quenched the burning thirst in the breasts of the faithful.

به رأب الله الثأى ورعى الورى

وسدَّ حمى ثَغرٍ وشد لظاما

Through him God mended the breach and tended humankind,

and secured a frontier's defenses and tightened its bonds [reading uncertain].

رأينا ملاجهما إذا سئل الندى

ولا برقَه للسائلين جهاما

We saw him [not grim-faced?] when bounty was sought,

nor his lightning rainless for petitioners.

كفاه غداة الفخر أن عُدَّ هاشما

إذا عد قوم للفخار هشاما

It sufficed him, on the day of boasting, to be reckoned a Hashim,

when others counted a Hisham among their glories.

غني بلطف الرأي أن يشرع القنا

لجسم عدو أو يهز حساما

His subtle judgment spared him the need to level lances

at an enemy's body, or to brandish a sword.

ويستنجد بالله جلّ من العلا

محلا علتِ أركانه وتسامى

And he seeks help from God—exalted in loftiness,

in a station whose pillars rise and soar.

فعادته في السلم والحرب أنه

يفرّق همًّا أو يغلِّق هلما

His custom, then, in peace and war is

to dispel care or shut fast [unclear object].

كأَنّي لما إن فضضت مديحَهُ

فضضتُ عن المسك الذكي ختاما

It was as though, when I broke open his praise,

I broke the seal on fragrant musk.

من القوم راشوا سهم كل فضيلةٍ

وعاشوا كما شاء العلاء كراما

Of a people who feathered the arrow of every virtue,

and lived nobly, as glory willed.

تملّ أمير المؤمنين خلافةً

تريد على مرِّ الزمَان دواما

Long enjoy, Commander of the Faithful, a caliphate

that seeks to endure through the passage of time.

رضعتَ أفاويق المراد مهنَّئا

ولا ذقتَ منها ما حييت فطاما

May you suck the fresh milk of your wishes in bliss,

and never taste weaning from it as long as you live.

ولا قربت منك المقادير حادثا

ولا بعدت يوما عليك مراما

May fate never bring calamity near you,

nor ever put a goal beyond your reach.