1. تبلَّج وجه دولتنا الإغرّ

    لنا وافترّ للإِسلام ثغرُ

    The radiant face of our state has shone forth

    for us, and Islam's lips have parted in a smile.

  2. وأذعنت البرية واستقادت

    لأروع أمره المعتوم أمرُ

    All creation has submitted and yielded

    to a majestic lord whose [unclear] word is command;

  3. لأكرم هاشم فرعا ونجرا

    إذا ما عد يوم الفخر نجرُ

    to the noblest of Hashim's line in branch and ancestry,

    when lineage is reckoned on the day of boasting.

  4. طويل الباع أغلب شمرى

    منيع الجار سيب نداه غمرُ

    Long of reach, lionlike and resolute,

    his neighbor is unassailable, his bounty an overflowing flood.

  5. أمام هدى له يمنى ويسرى

    لعان فيهما أمن ويسرُ

    An imam of guidance, with a right hand and a left,

    in both of which a captive finds safety and ease;

  6. وأقدام يشيّعه برأي

    إذا دجت الحوادث فهو فجرُ

    and courage that he supports with judgment—

    when calamities darken, that judgment is dawn.

  7. يحبّبه إلى الراجى سماح

    أبر على الغيوث ندى وبرُ

    Generosity makes him dear to the hopeful petitioner,

    surpassing the rains in bounty and goodness.

  8. فبين بنانه والجود وصل

    وبين لسانه والهجرُ هجرُ

    Between his fingers and generosity there is a bond,

    and between his tongue and foul speech, estrangement.

  9. تخايلت المنابر مذ توالى

    عليما لاسمه لا زال ذكرُ

    The pulpits have strutted proudly ever since

    his name has been remembered [upon them]—may that remembrance never cease.

  10. وأصبحت الرعية ذاك يدعو

    له سرا وذا فرح يسرُ

    His subjects have become such that one prays

    for him in secret, while another rejoices in delight.

  11. حلا بنداه عيشهم لديه

    وكان يرى زمانا وهو مرُ

    His bounty has sweetened their lives under his care,

    though for a time their life had been deemed bitter.

  12. أمين الله والمختار فينا

    ومن عصيانه بالله كفرُ

    God's trustee and the chosen one among us,

    disobeying him is disbelief in God.

  13. سماح يديه عد ليس يحصى

    ولا يلقى له عد وحصرُ

    The bounty of his hands is a tally beyond counting,

    with neither number nor limit to be found for it.

  14. وأنعمه الجزيلة ليس يخلو

    إذاً من جود منا جيد ونحرُ

    And his lavish favors leave

    no neck or breast among us, then, bare of bounty.

  15. أقام الجود منه في بنان

    أظلتنا سحائب منه عشرُ

    Generosity has made its home in his fingers;

    ten clouds from him have cast their shade over us.

  16. أنمدحه إذا في الدست منه

    وفوق الطرف ضرغام وبدر

    Shall we praise him, when upon the throne

    and atop his steed he is a lion and a full moon?

  17. تعاظم أن نشبّهه بطود

    وجل بأن يقاس إليه بحرُ

    He is too great for us to liken him to a mountain,

    too exalted for a sea to be compared with him.

  18. ومن آي القران المنديع

    يقصر دونه نظم ونثرُ

    And from the verses of the Qur'an comes [praise],

    before which poetry and prose fall short.

  19. رأينا أمستضي أمم حق

    طليعة جيشه فتح ونصرُ

    We have seen al-Mustadi, [an imam] of truth;

    the vanguard of his army is conquest and victory.

  20. أتت أنباء خلبته بمصر

    وربك لا خلا من ذاك مصرُ

    News of his [sermon] in Egypt has arrived;

    and, by your Lord, may no city be without that!

  21. أمام تشرق البطحاء تهيا

    به ويجلّه حَجَر وحِجرُ

    An imam: al-Batha shines with [pride]

    through him, and stone and intellect revere him.

  22. جواد لاندى كفيه نسزر

    ولا معروفه للناس نكسر

    A generous man whose palms' bounty is not [scant],

    nor is his kindness to people [unknown].

  23. نراه ثالث العمرين عدلا

    فمد له مدى الأيام عمر

    In justice, we see him as a third beside the two Umars;

    so prolong his life throughout the span of days.

  24. وعاش لنا الوزير فذاك خرق

    به يشتد للإسلام أزر

    May the vizier live on for us, for he is a noble, generous man,

    through whom Islam's strength grows firmer.

  25. أخو الغارات تنكره الهوينا

    وتعرفه ظبي بيض وسمر

    A brother to raids, whom ease does not recognize,

    yet the edges of white swords and brown spears know him.

  26. خليل للمكارم والعطايا

    كأن خلاله ماء وخمر

    A friend to noble deeds and gifts,

    as though his qualities were water and wine.

  27. يبخل حاتم كرما لديه

    ويحببن عنده زيد وعمرو

    In generosity, Hatim seems miserly beside him,

    and before him Zayd and Amr seem [cowardly].

  28. فشقر خيوله بالنفع دهم

    وبيض سيوفه بالضرب حمر

    Thus his chestnut horses are black with [dust],

    and his white swords are red from striking.

  29. أمولى الجود والمولى المرجي

    ومن في كفّه نفع وضر

    O master of bounty, the patron in whom hope rests,

    and you in whose palm lie benefit and harm;

  30. ويا من عصره لبني الأماني

    إذا زمن نبا عصر وذخرا

    O you whose age, for the children of hope,

    when time turns hostile, is refuge and reserve:

  31. بقيت فما لما تبنيه هدم

    ودمت فما لمن تغ نيه فقر

    may you remain—what you build knows no destruction;

    and may you endure—those you enrich know no poverty.