لعمري أنتم العرب الكرام

ومن تهدي بنورهم الأنام

By my life, you are the noble Arabs,

and those by whose light humankind is guided.

سمت بسمو مَجدكم المَعالي

كَما يَسمو بِجَوهره الحسام

Lofty honors rise with the elevation of your glory,

as a keen sword gains distinction through its metal.

وَدان لَكُم أَبو الدَهر حَتّى

كَأَنَكُم لِجامحه لِجام

The father of Time submitted to you, until

you seemed a bridle for its unruly force.

وَطَأطَأت الرُؤوس لَكُم فَأَنتُم

لَها تاج إِذا اِشتَد الزحام

Heads bowed before you, for you are

their crown when the press grows fierce.

فَيا فرع الأَئمة مِن قُريش

وَكُل منكُم فَرد إِمام

O scion of the imams of Quraysh,

each one among you is an imam.

وَيا عَين الخلاصة من مناف

وَمن بِجوارهم تحمى الذمام

O very essence of Manaf's choicest stock,

and those under whose protection pledges are upheld.

وَيا بَيت النُبوة وَهوَ بَيت

تدين لَهُ السَموات العِظام

O house of prophethood—a house

to which the mighty heavens bow.

أَغَيركم بَدا جبريل فيهم

يَلوح عَلى ثَناياه القتام

Did Gabriel appear among anyone other than you,

with dust showing upon his front teeth?

وَهَل في غَير بَيتكم المَثاني

تكرر وَالصَلاة بِهِ تُقام

Is it in any house but yours that the Oft-Repeated verses

are repeated, and prayer is performed therein?

نَعم أَنتُم هداة الناس حَقاً

ولولاكُم بوادي الجَهل هاموا

Yes, you are truly the guides of humankind;

but for you, they would wander in the valley of ignorance.

فَللجهال نور مُستَضاء

وَلِلعافين بَحر أَو غَمام

For the ignorant, a light from which to draw illumination,

and for seekers of bounty, an ocean or a rain cloud.

تورث مَجدكم من آل فَخر

جَهابذة غَطارفة كِرام

Your glory is inherited from the house of Fakhr:

discerning masters, noble and generous lords.

هُم العُلَماء وَالأُمَراء فينا

وَهُم غَيث إِذا شح اللئام

They are the scholars and rulers among us,

and rain when the base withhold their bounty.

وَهُم نور عَلى شَرَف المَعالي

تُضيء بِهِ الحَنادس وَالظَلام

They are a light upon the summit of lofty honors,

by which black nights and darkness are illumined.

نَماهُم للعُلى وَالفَضل طه

وَمَولانا عَلي لا هِشام

Taha raised them to eminence and virtue,

and our master Ali—not Hisham.

بِحار لا تكدرها العَطايا

حُماة من أَتاهُم لا يُضام

Oceans that gifts cannot muddy,

protectors: whoever comes to them is never wronged.

لَقَد عَظمت مَناقبهم وَجلت

لأَنَّهُم أَجلاء عِظام

Their virtues have indeed grown great and glorious,

for they are illustrious, mighty men.

لَقَد بدئت بجدهم المَعالي

وَعَبد اللَه كانَ هوَ الخِتام

Lofty honors indeed began with their grandfather,

and Abd Allah was their culmination.

لَهُ في كُل مَكرُمة وَفَضل

فُؤاد ما تُسليه المدام

In every noble deed and virtue, he has

a heart that wine cannot distract.

كَأن الناس عِندَ نَداه آل

وَعمر مثل ما يهب اللئام

Beside his bounty, other people seem a mirage,

and a lifetime is like what the base bestow.

تَصاغَرَت الحَواسد في عُلاه

وَإِن كانَت لَهُم جثث عظام

The envious shrink before his loftiness,

even if their bodies are huge.

وَلَيسَ لشبهه فيهم مُقيماً

وَلَكن مَعدن الذَهب الرغام

He dwells among them, though not through any likeness,

yet the source of gold is dust.

بِهِ اِنتَبَهت بَصائرهم وَكانَت

مُفتحة عُيونهُم نِيام

Through him their inner sight awakened; before,

their eyes were open, but they were asleep.

وَما مِنهُم لَهُ شَخص قَرين

وَما أَقرانها إِلا الطَعام

Not one of them is his peer,

and their only peers are food.

إِذا ما بانَ عَبد اللَه وَلت

كَأَن قنا فَوارسها ثمام

When Abd Allah appears, they turn away,

as though their horsemen's lances were thumam grass.

وَأَعيت عِنده الفصحاء مِنهُم

وَإِن كثر التَجمل وَالكَلام

Their eloquent speakers are confounded before him,

however much adornment and speech abound.

فَلو رَعَت الذمام العجم يَوماً

تَجَنب عُنق صيقله الحسام

Had the non-Arabs ever honored their pledges,

the sword would have spared its polisher's neck.

وَدنيانا لأحقر كُل شَيء

وَأشبهنا بِدُنيانا الطغام

Our world is surely the most contemptible of all things,

and those among us most like our world are the rabble.

وَلَولا حكمة الديان فينا

تَعالى الجَيش وَاِنحَطَ القتام

But for the Judge's wisdom among us,

the army would rise and the dust would fall.

وَلَو راموا رقياً أَو عروجاً

لرتبته أَسامهم المسام

Were they to seek ascent or elevation

to his rank, the very quest would abase them.

وَحَقك هُم وإِن كَثروا حطاماً

ضِياء في بَواطنه ظَلام

By your honor, though many, they are but wreckage—

a radiance with darkness in its depths.

لَهُم كَالشَباب السكر وَالشي

ب هما فَالحَياة هِيَ الحمام

For them, drunkenness is like youth, and old—

—age, both of them; thus life itself is death.

لَقَد بخل الزَمان لَهُ بمثل

وَلا كُل عَلى بُخل يُلام

Time has indeed begrudged him an equal,

and not everyone is blamed for stinginess.

يَقول لَهُم لسان الحال إِني

لِمثل عند مثلهم مقام

The tongue of circumstance tells them: 'I

am a place for an equal among their like.'

تَجنَب عَن مَخازي اللؤم طَبعاً

فَلَيسَ يَفوتها إِلا الكرام

By nature he shunned the disgraces of baseness,

for only the noble escape them.

فَما أسنى المَكارم حَيث تَمت

وَكانَ لأَهلِها مِنها التَمام

How radiant are noble deeds when perfected,

and their possessors gain perfection through them!

وَلَما أَن عَلا وَعَلا أَبوه

أَنافا ذا المغيث وَذا اللكام

When he rose, and his father rose,

they towered above Dhu al-Mughith and Dhu al-Lukam.

يَمُر عَلى أُنوف الصَيد لَكِن

يَمُر بِها كَما مَر الغَمام

He passes over the noses of proud lords, yet

passes over them as a rain cloud passes.

رَضعنا كَفه الهامي فَعشنا

بَدر ما لراضعه فِطام

We suckled his rain-pouring palm and lived;

he is a full moon whose nursling is never weaned.

يَدوم عَلى مَحاسنه وَيَبقى

وَمن إِحدى عَطاياه الدوام

He continues in his virtues and endures,

and endurance is among his gifts.

لَقَد غَطى مَساوي الدَهر عنا

كَسلك الدر يخفيه النِظام

He has indeed hidden Time's faults from us,

as ordered pearls conceal their thread.

تعشق كُل مَرتبة تَسامَت

وَمَن يَعشق يلذ لَهُ الغَرام

He passionately loved every lofty rank,

and whoever loves finds passion sweet.

بِهِ شغفت وَكانَ بِها شغوفاً

وَواصلها فَلَيسَ بِهِ سقام

Each was enamored of him, and he of it,

and he attained union with it, so no sickness afflicts him.

تَكمل في المَعارف وَهوَ طفل

فَما نَدري أَشيخ أَم غُلام

He attained perfection in learning while still a child,

so we cannot tell: is he an elder or a youth?

تَحكم إِن أَرَدت لَهُ سُؤالاً

وَأَما في الجِدال فَلا يُرام

Ask as you please, if you wish to put a question to him;

but in debate he is unassailable.

فَأَخذ عَطائه لِلناس مدح

وَقَبض نَوال بَعض القَوم ذام

Taking his gifts brings people praise,

but receiving some men's bounty brings blame.

أَقامَت في الرقاب لَهُ أَياد

هِيَ الأَطواق وَالناس الحمام

His favors have settled upon people's necks:

they are collars, and the people are doves.

فَكُل فَضيلة قصرت عَلَيه

كَما الأَنواء حينَ تعد عام

Every excellence is confined to him,

as the rain-star seasons, when counted, make a year.

فَتى تَحمي صَوارمه الغَواني

إِذا بِشفارها حمي اللطام

A young man whose keen swords protect fair women,

when blows grow hot upon their edges.

فَلو بشرت من بِالغَرب فيهِ

لأَعطوك الَّذي صَلوا وَصاموا

If you brought those in the West glad tidings of him,

they would give you what they prayed and fasted for.

لَهُ في الرَوع أَصحاب وَقَوم

خِفاف وَالرِماح بِها عرام

In times of terror he has companions and kinsmen,

light-footed, their spears filled with fierceness.

لَهُم رَد الجَحافل بِالعَوالي

وَشزر الطَعن وَالضَرب التؤام

They drive back great armies with tall lances,

with slanting thrusts and paired blows.

حياء يَنكص الظامي لَدَيهم

وَتَنبو عَن وَجوههم السهام

In shame, the thirsting sword recoils before them,

and arrows glance away from their faces.

فَيا مَن قَد تحمل كُل عبء

كَما حملت مِن الجَسد العِظام

O you who have borne every burden,

as the bones bear the body.

أَمثلك مَن يُشابه يا ابن فَخر

وَجدك حيدر الملك الهمام

Who could match you, O son of Fakhr,

with Haydar, the valiant king, your grandfather?

وَمالك أَنتَ تكسبه بِحَق

وَيشرك في رَغائبه الأَنام

Your wealth you earn rightfully,

and humankind shares in its treasures.

وَلَست بِصاحب للوفر حَقاً

لأَن بصحية يَجب الذمام

You are not truly a companion to riches,

for companionship makes loyalty binding.

إِذا ما حل كَفك كُنت مَولى

تُصافحه يَد فيها جذام

When it settles in your palm, you become a master

whose hand is shaken by a leprous hand.

عَلامتك النَدى وَالطَعن شزراً

بِهَذا يَعلم الجَيش اللهام

Your mark is generosity and slanting spear thrusts;

by this the mighty army knows you.

لَقَد ضَحِكَت لَكَ الأَعياد بشراً

كَأَنَّك في فَم الزَمَن اِبتِسام

The festivals have indeed laughed with joy for you,

as though you were a smile in the mouth of Time.

وَهَذا العيد جاءَ يَقول مَعنى

عَلَيكَ صَلاة رَبك وَالسَلام

This festival has come saying, in essence:

'Upon you be your Lord's blessing and peace.'