1. عيدٌ ثغورُ الأَماني فيهِ تَبتسِمُ

    وموسمٌ كلّ أجرٍ فيه يُغْتَنَمُ

    A feast day on which the lips of hopes smile,

    and a season in which every reward is seized.

  2. عادتْ بعزٍّ وإقبال عوائدُهُ

    لِمَنْ تُقَصِّر عن أوصافِه الكلِمُ

    Its recurring blessings have returned with honor and good fortune

    for one whose qualities words fall short of describing.

  3. مَلْكٌ بَنَى غُرفَ العَلْيا وشيّدها

    على دعائم عزٍّ ليسَ تَنْهَدِمُ

    A king who built the chambers of high glory and raised them

    upon pillars of might that do not crumble.

  4. يَعْفُوا فتَبْتَسِم الأَرجاء ضاحِكةً

    وترجُفُ الأرضُ خوفاً حين ينْتَقِمُ

    He pardons, so the far reaches smile in laughter,

    and the earth trembles in fear when he takes vengeance.

  5. له سيوفٌ حِدادٌ أَكْلُها أبداً

    وشربُها مُهَجٌ مَفْريةٌ ودَمُ

    His are keen-edged swords whose constant food

    and drink are cleft hearts and blood.

  6. بيضٌ إذا فارقَتْ أجفانَها لِوغىً

    فإِنّما الْقَدرُ الماضي لَها حُلُمُ

    Bright blades: when they leave their sheaths for battle,

    inexorable fate is but a dream beside them.

  7. أقْسَمتُ لولاَ أياديْهِ وعَزْمته

    ما كَانَ في الأرض لاَ سَيفٌ ولا قلمُ

    I have sworn: but for his favors and his resolve,

    there would be neither sword nor pen upon the earth.

  8. كم موقفٍ خَاض أحشاءَ الحروبِ بهِ

    وموجُها بدَم الأَبطالِ يَلْتطمُ

    How many a stand in which he waded through war's entrails,

    while its waves crashed together with the blood of champions.

  9. وكم أعادٍ أبادتْهم صَوارمُه

    قَتْلاً ولا أسْلَموا طَوْعاً لَهُ سَلِموا

    And how many foes his keen swords annihilated

    by slaughter; they did not submit willingly to him and escape unharmed.

  10. ما زالَ يقتلُهم في كلِّ مَعْركَةٍ

    تشيبُ من هَولِها الأصداغ واللمَمُ

    He never ceased killing them in every battle

    whose terror turned temples and locks of hair gray,

  11. إذْ ظَلّ يدعو أخاهُ كلُّ ذي رحمٍ

    إليك عنِّي فليسَتْ بينَنا رَحِمُ

    when every kinsman kept calling to his brother:

    "Away from me! There is no kinship between us."

  12. أقْراهمُ ماضيات الحدِّ تفْعَلُ في

    مَوائِد الحرْب ما لاَ يفعلُ النّهمُ

    He served them keen-edged blades, which do at

    war's banquets what no glutton can do.

  13. جزاهُمُ السيفَ عنْ كُفَران نعمتهِ

    والسَّيفُ أحفظُ ما تُحمَى به النَّعمُ

    He repaid their ingratitude for his bounty with the sword,

    and the sword is the surest means by which blessings are guarded.

  14. ولم يَزلْ مُقدماً في كلّ ملحمةٍ

    غرّاء فيها عُرَى الأَقدام تَنْفَصِمُ

    And he never ceased advancing in every great battle,

    glorious, where the bonds of the feet are torn apart,

  15. حتّى غدا الدينُ لا في عينِه عَمشٌ

    مِن الضّلال ولا في أُذنِه صمَمُ

    until religion came to have no dimness in its eye

    from error, nor any deafness in its ear.

  16. مِن الملوكِ الأُلى لَولاَ وجودُهمُ

    وجودُهُمْ في الوَرى لم يُعْرَفِ الكرم

    He is among those kings who, but for their presence

    and their bounty among mankind, generosity would not be known;

  17. من سَادةٍ قادةٍ شمٌّ جَحَاجحةٍ

    تُرعَى لديهمْ عهودُ اللهِ والذّممُ

    among lords and leaders, lofty, mighty chieftains,

    with whom God's covenants and pledges are upheld.

  18. سادُوا البريّةَ من عالٍ ومُنْخفضٍ

    فَهمْ ملوكٌ وأملاكُ الورى خدمُ

    They ruled over mankind, the high and the low;

    so they are kings, and the world's kings are servants.

  19. فَكُلّ فضلٍ نَبيلٍ دونَ فضلِهِمُ

    وكلّ مجدٍ أثيل دونَ مجدِهمُ

    So every noble excellence falls below their excellence,

    and every deep-rooted glory falls below their glory.

  20. إذا تفاخرَ أمْلاك الورى فَخَروا

    وإنْ تحاكم أبناءُ العُلى حَكَموا

    When the world's kings vie in glory, they prevail,

    and if the sons of eminence seek arbitration, they give judgment.

  21. وإن دَعاهم إلى الإعطاء مُفتْقَرٌ

    يلبّه المجدُ والعلياءُ والشيمُ

    And if a needy person calls on them to give,

    glory, eminence, and noble traits answer him.

  22. وتستعيرُ البرايا مِنْ مكَارِمِهِمْ

    فَكُلُّ مكرمةٍ بينَ الورى لَهُمُ

    And all creatures borrow from their noble qualities,

    so every noble deed among mankind is theirs.

  23. فازوا مِن الرتَب العُلْيَا بأرفعِ مَا

    تَدْعُو لَه شِيَمُ العَلْياءِ والهِمَمُ

    They have won, among exalted ranks, the highest that

    the qualities of eminence and lofty ambitions call one to.

  24. ترى معاديَهمُ في كلِّ معركةٍ

    شهبُ البزاةِ سواءٌ فيه والرخَمُ

    Their foe is seen in every battle

    by gray hawks and vultures alike.

  25. يَبْني لَهمْ غرفَ المجد الأَثيل فتىً

    مُسَوّدٌ لا يداني جودَهُ هَرمُ

    A youth builds for them chambers of deep-rooted glory,

    an acknowledged chief whose generosity Harim cannot match.

  26. لو أنّ أَسيافه في الأرضِ مُصْلتةٌ

    من أوّلِ الدَّهر لم يُعبَدْ بها صَنَمُ

    Had his swords been unsheathed upon the earth

    from the beginning of time, no idol would have been worshiped there.

  27. ليَهْنِ قَوماً إلى أبوابه وَفدُوا

    فإنها كعبةُ المعْروفِ والحَرَمُ

    May the people who came as a delegation to his gates rejoice,

    for they are the Kaaba of beneficence and the sanctuary.

  28. أَمُسْترِقً ملوك الأرضِ قاطبةً

    كيفَ استرقّ يديكَ الجود والكرمُ

    O enslaver of all the kings of the earth,

    how have bounty and generosity enslaved your hands?

  29. لو أنصفَ الدَّهرُ أَهليهِ لما حُدِيتْ

    إلاَّ لِقَصْدِ حماك الأنْيقُ الرُّسُمُ

    Had time dealt fairly with its people, they would not be urged by song

    except toward your protected domain—the swift she-camels.

  30. لا يُعْدِم اللهُ هَذَا الخَلْقَ منكَ يداً

    بجودِها أُمِنَ الأقْتارُ والعُدُمُ

    May God never leave these people without your hand,

    through whose bounty poverty and destitution are no longer feared.

  31. وانعمْ بمقدمِ هذا العيد لا بَرِحَتْ

    لديك فيه وفي أمثالِهِ النِّعَمُ

    And rejoice at this feast's arrival; may there always remain

    blessings with you, on it and on occasions like it.

  32. واسْعدْ بمأجورِ ما قدَّمتَ مِن قُربٍ

    وما دعا لكَ فيه العربُ والعجمُ

    And rejoice in the reward for the acts of devotion you offered,

    and in the prayers Arabs and non-Arabs offered for you on it.

  33. يَفْديكَ رُبّ حَسودٍ في الملوكِ بما

    أحرزْتَ من قَصَباتِ السَّبقِ دونَهُمُ

    Many an envious one among kings would ransom you for what

    you have won of the race's prize reeds, ahead of them.

  34. ما دُمْتَ فالدَّهْرُ مأمُونٌ عداوتهُ

    والعيشُ غضُّ وثغر الملكِ مُبتسِمُ

    As long as you live, time's hostility need not be feared,

    and life is fresh, and the mouth of kingship smiles.