لا زلت تروي كل ظام حائم

بأنامل عشر كعشر غمائمِ

May you never cease to quench every thirsty seeker,

With ten fingertips like ten rain clouds.

يا من كان عليه حتما واجبا

تخجيل كعب في السماح وحاتمِ

O you whose binding, inescapable duty it was

To put Ka‘b and Hatim to shame in generosity.

عرفت يمينكَ بالعوارف والندى

فهما عليهما الدهر ضربة لازم

Your right hand is known for kindness and bounty;

Both are forever laid upon them as a binding duty.

لله منك عزائم مضاءة

يوم الوغى وصرائم كصوارم

God be praised for your forceful resolves

On battle’s day, and your decisions sharp as swords.

بأبي آباؤك ذلك المر الذي

يابي لعودك إن يلبن لعاجم

May my father ransom your forefathers—that bitter stock which

Refuses to let your wood [soften?] for anyone testing it.

ومواقف مزقت أعمار العدا

فيها بجمع المازق المتلاحمِ

And battle-stands where you tore your enemies’ lives apart,

There, with a host amid battle’s tightly locked press.

يا مشمس الآراء يوم عجاجة

كدراء مظلمة ونقع عاتم

O you who make counsels shine like the sun on a day of dust,

Murky and dark, with a pall of black battle-dust;

ومجيلها مثل القداح ضوامرا

من تحت اسد كالسهام سواهم

And you who wheel them, lean as arrow-shafts,

Beneath lions, gaunt as arrows.

ومضيّق البر الفضاء بارعن

لجب كموج اللَّجةالمتلاطم

And you who crowd the open land with a mighty host,

Clamorous as the crashing waves of the deep.

من شام برق المعصرات فإنني

لبروق بشرِك جد راجٍ شائمِ

Others may watch the lightning of rain-heavy clouds; I

Eagerly watch and hope for the flashes of your smiling welcome.

قسما لعون الدين يحي لم يزل

بفعاله محبي على مكارم

I swear: ‘Awn al-Din Yahya has never ceased

Through his deeds, [to revive lofty virtues?].

ملك إذا اسودت سماء عجاجة

صدم العدا في جوها بصلادمِ

A king who, when the sky of battle-dust grows black,

Charges the foe within it with powerful steeds,

وصوارم مثل الروق لوامع

وأسنة مثل النجوم نواجمِ

And keen swords gleaming like horns [possibly lightning],

And spearheads rising like stars.

جهم إذا لقي العدا فإذا انتدى

لا بالجهام ندى ولا المتجاهمِ

Stern when he meets the foe; but when he joins the assembly,

No rainless cloud in bounty, nor a scowling man.

يلقى العفاة إذا النوائب كلحت

أنيابها طلقا بثغر باسمِ

He meets petitioners, when calamities bare

Their fangs, with a cheerful face and smiling mouth.

وإذا عفا والعفو منه سجية

لم يعف إلا قادر عن جارمِ

And when he pardons—and pardon is his nature—

None but one with power pardons an offender.

سَنَّ العطاء فليس يقرع بعده

فعل البخيل الغِرسِنَّ النادمكِ

He made giving his custom, never afterward gnashing

His teeth in regret like a foolish miser [text uncertain].

يرعى رعيته بعفة زاهد

وعقاب جبار ورأفة راحمِ

He tends his subjects with an ascetic’s self-restraint,

And a mighty ruler’s punishment, and a merciful man’s compassion.

فلذاك خائفهم بسرب آمن

يلهو وساهرهم بطرف نائمِ

Thus their fearful one, in a safe abode,

Plays carefree, and their sleepless one has an eye at rest.

أمذل دولة من تمرد واعندى

بحسامه ومعز دولة هاشمِ

O humbler of the dominion of those who rebel and [transgress?],

With his sword, and exalter of Hashim’s dynasty,

أصبحت حرب محارب ومخالف

عادى خلافتها وسلم مسالم

You have become war to every combatant and opponent

Hostile to its caliphate, and peace to the peaceable.

كم كاسف بالا نعشت بأنعم

تترى فأصبح رب بالناعمِ

How many a dejected soul you have revived with favors

Coming in succession, until he enjoyed a life of ease.

يا من عدمت الفقر حين وجدته

ما واجد لندى يديك بعادمِ

O you, on finding whom I ceased to know poverty,

No finder of your hands’ bounty is ever in want.

واسلم على قدم الغلاء مخلطا

وتهن بالشهر الشريف القادمِ

And live safely, [immortal?] at the forefront of [glory?],

And rejoice in the coming noble month.

واستوفِ أعمار الزمان ودم كذا

في دولتي مجد وعز ودائمِ

And live out all the ages of time, and remain thus,

In the twin realms of glory and might, enduring forever.