1. جلبتَ الخيل تمرحُ بالعَوالي

    تُعيدُ ضُحى معاركها ظلاما

    You brought the horses prancing among tall spears,

    Turning the morning light of their battles into darkness.

  2. رواسبُ في الغُبارِ وطافياتٌ

    تخالُ رَعيلَ سُبَّقها سِهاما

    Sinking into the dust and floating above it,

    You would take their leading troop for arrows.

  3. تَجانِفُ عن زُلالِ الوِردٍ شدّاً

    وقد جحظتْ نواظِرها اُواما

    At full gallop they turn aside from clear drinking-water,

    Though their eyes already bulge with burning thirst,

  4. لتبلغَ مُثْعِلاً صِرْفاً نَجيعاً

    أسألَ طُلىً لواردِها وهاما

    To reach a gushing stream of pure, fresh blood,

    Spilled from necks and heads for those coming to drink.

  5. عليها كلُّ أغْلَبَ شمْريٍ

    يرى الاِحجامَ دون الموتِ ذاما

    Upon them rides each stout-necked, resolute warrior,

    Who deems retreat, rather than death, a disgrace.

  6. فأفْنيتَ العُصاةَ بكلِّ أرْضٍ

    ببأسٍ منك رُعبْاً أو خِصاماً

    Thus you destroyed the rebels in every land,

    By your might, through terror or combat.

  7. وكنتَ اذا نَهدْتَ لغزوِ قوْمٍ

    سقيتهمُ على ظَمَأٍ حِماما

    And whenever you rose to raid a people,

    You gave them death to drink while they thirsted.

  8. وَهَبْتَ حَوافرَ الجُرْد المذاكي

    ديارهمُ فردَّتْها قَتاما

    You bestowed upon the hooves of sleek, mature steeds

    Their dwellings, and they turned them into dust.

  9. فأنت غِياثُ دين اللهِ تحْمي

    حِمى الاسلامِ دُمْتَ له وداما

    You are the succor of God's faith, defending

    Islam's sanctuary: may you endure for it, and may it endure.

  10. أبو الفتحِ المُظفَّرُ في المَساعي

    اذا ما خابَ مُقتحمٌ وخاما

    Abu al-Fath, victorious in his endeavors,

    When a bold contender fails and recoils.

  11. سليمُ القلب منْ صَوَرٍ وغِشٍ

    يعزُّ اذا توكَّلَ واسْتناما

    His heart is free of crookedness and deceit;

    He is mighty when he trusts and rests assured.

  12. تَفُلُّ الجيش هيبتُه ولَّما

    يُنِطْ بالطِّرْفِ سْرجاً أو لجاما

    Awe of him breaks an army before he has even

    Fitted saddle or bridle to his noble steed.

  13. طليقُ الوجهِ مَعْسولُ السَّجايا

    كأنَّ على خلائقهِ مُداما

    Open-faced and honey-sweet in disposition,

    As though his character were suffused with wine,

  14. يفوقُ الماء والصْهْباءَ لُطفْاً

    وحَدَّ السيفِ بأساً واعْتزاما

    He surpasses water and ruddy wine in gentleness,

    And the sword's edge in might and resolve.

  15. حماهُ اللهُ من بُخْلٍ وكِبْرٍ

    وجُبْنٍ منذُ أنْشأهُ غُلاما

    God has shielded him from stinginess and pride,

    And cowardice, since He created him as a boy.

  16. فجاءَ مُوَطَّأَ الأكْنافِ سَمْحاً

    يروحُ بنفسهِ جيْشاً لُهاما

    Thus he grew approachable and generous,

    Going forth himself a vast, devouring army.

  17. تَهونُ مَطالبُ الدُّنيا لديهِ

    فيُصغرُها ويَحْقرُها ضِخاما

    The world's pursuits are easy in his eyes;

    He belittles and disdains them, however immense.

  18. وما جَمُّ الغَواربِ ذو زَهاءٍ

    يحطُّ صَفا الشَّوامِخ والسِّلاما

    No vast torrent with abundant crests,

    Casting down the rock of lofty peaks and loose stones,

  19. تدافعَ مُفْعماً شَرِقتْ شِعابٌ

    بمدَّتهِ وأغْرقَتِ الاِكاما

    Surging brimful, with ravines choked

    By its swelling flood, and hillocks drowned,

  20. مَرَتْ أطباءهُ من بعد هَدْءٍ

    صَباً نصَرتْ على المحْلِ النُّعامى

    Its teats milked after a lull

    By an east wind helping the south wind against drought,

  21. فبارى رعْدُه زَجلاً وصوتاً

    وفاقَ رُكامُ سوْرتهِ الغَماما

    Its thunder vying in clamor and sound,

    Its heaped-up fury surpassing the clouds,

  22. وغادرَ كلَّ مُخرفةٍ حَميلاً

    تُريكَ الغيلَ عن وشْكٍ ثُماما

    Leaving every orchard as flood-borne debris,

    Soon showing you dense thickets as mere desert grass,

  23. فعادَ الوحشُ كالنَّينانِ عَوْماً

    ولَّما تَحْمِ أجنحةٌ نَعاما

    Till wild beasts swam like fish,

    While wings had not yet shielded ostriches,

  24. بأجْرأ من غِياثِ الدين قلْباً

    اذا ما الشمسُ أغْدفتِ اللِّثاما

    Is bolder at heart than Ghiyath al-Din,

    When the sun lets fall its veil.

  25. وأغبر مُسْنتٍ عرَقتْهُ غُبْرٌ

    ترادفَ جدْبُها عاماً فَعاما

    And a dust-covered, famine-stricken man, worn to the bone by dusty years,

    Whose drought followed drought, year after year,

  26. ينوسُ بغُبَّرٍ من صاعِداتٍ

    بِطاءِ الجَذْبِ يضطرمُ اضطراما

    Sways with the remnants of rising sighs,

    Drawn slowly, while he burns intensely.

  27. تخوَّنهُ الطَّوي فَغدا سَقيماً

    ولم يرَ عندهُ الآسي سَقاما

    Hunger ravaged him, and he became sick,

    Yet the physician found no illness in him,

  28. لدى شنْعاءَ كاذبةِ الغَوادي

    تُخيِّبُ منْ تلمَّحها وشاما

    In a grim year of deceptive morning rain-clouds,

    Disappointing whoever watches it and scans for rain.

  29. اذا ما قيلَ حافلةٌ أسَفَّتْ

    لُمنتجِعٍ غَدتْ قَزعَاً جَهاما

    Whenever someone says, 'A laden cloud has descended low,'

    To one seeking pasture, it turns to scattered, rainless cloud.

  30. تساوي عاجِزٌ فيها وجَلْدٌ

    فسِيَّانِ الغَطارِفُ والأيامى

    The helpless and the hardy are equal in it;

    So noble lords and widows fare alike.

  31. وبالغَرْثانِ خوف مُسْتَطيرْ

    يُناوشهُ فيُنسيهِ الطَّعاما

    And the famished man is gripped by spreading terror,

    Assailing him and making him forget food.

  32. يخافُ ويتَّقي ما يرْتجيهِ

    مخافةَ أنْ يُسِرَّ لهُ غَراما

    He fears and shuns the very thing he hopes for,

    Fearing it may conceal ruin for him.

  33. اذا ما عارضٌ أعْلى سَناهُ

    توهَّمَ لمْعَ بارقهِ حُساما

    Whenever a rain-cloud raises its radiance,

    He imagines its lightning's flash to be a sword.

  34. قَراهُ نائلُ السَّلطانِ غَمْراً

    فأوْسعهُ الرغائبَ والذِّماما

    The sultan's bounty gave him lavish hospitality,

    And lavished rich gifts and protection upon him.

  35. قراهُ فكان من خوْفٍ وجوعٍ

    له لَّما أناخَ به عِصاما

    He welcomed him, and against fear and hunger

    Was his safeguard when he alighted in his care.

  36. من المُتغطرفين على المَنايا

    اذا خاضوا الرَّدى مُرّاً زُؤاما

    Among those who lord it over death,

    When they plunge into death, bitter and swiftly fatal,

  37. تظلُّ الصِّيدُ لاثِمةً ثَراهَمْ

    اذا عَصَتِ الأشاجِعُ والسُّلاما

    Proud chieftains remain kissing their dust,

    When hand-tendons and joints refuse to obey.

  38. ويرتفقونَ من فوق الحَشايا

    فيغْدو الباذخونَ لَهم قِياما

    And they recline upon cushions,

    While the exalted stand in attendance upon them.

  39. يطيبُ الجوُّ اذْ تُتْلى عُلاهُمْ

    كأنَّ حديثهُمْ نَشْرُ الخُزامى

    The air turns fragrant when their glories are recited,

    As though talk of them were the scent of lavender.

  40. وتخْفى شمسُ روعِهُم لنَقْعٍ

    فيأتلقونَ تيجاناً وَلاما

    And the sun of their battle is veiled by dust,

    So they gleam in crowns and armor.

  41. سبقءتهمُ وانْ كانوا جياداً

    وفُقْتَهمُ وانْ كانوا كِراما

    You outstripped them, though they were fine steeds,

    And surpassed them, though they were noble.