صرف النسيب إلى اللوى وزرود

ضرب من الشعراء غير مفيد

Directing love-poetry toward al-Liwā and Zarūd

is an unprofitable practice among poets.

وأرقهم ديباجة من عنده

غزل يرود هوى الفتاة الرود

And the most delicate in diction is he whose

love-verse seeks the love of the tender maiden.

وإذا عمدت إلى النسيب وصفته

في غير وصف كنت غير عميد

And if you turn to love-poetry and describe it

without true portrayal, you are no stricken lover.

قل لي متى لقيتك ظبية حاجر

تختال بين محاجر وعقود

Tell me: when did a gazelle of Ḥājir meet you,

strutting among rocky hollows and dune-ridges?

ملك أوحد مجده ولو أنني

ثنيته ثنيت بالتوحيد

A king whose glory I proclaim unique; and were I

to count him twice, I would praise his uniqueness.

أثني عليه ولا أردد مجده

ونداه مجبول على الترديد

I praise him without repeating his glory,

while his bounty is fashioned for repeated giving.

وإذا قرنت مقالتي بفعاله

فاسمع مجيداً في صفات مجيد

And when I set my words beside his deeds,

hear a gifted poet on a glorious man's qualities:

جزلاً يقابله جزيل مكارم

أثنى بما لم يجر في المعهود

weighty verse, matched by weighty noble gifts.

He praised deeds beyond customary bounds:

عن كل بيت بيت مال صامت

إذ كل بيت قلب كل قصيد

for every verse, a treasury of coined wealth,

since every verse is the heart of every ode.

قالت حماسته لمادح جوده

أحسنت لكن أين مدح الجود

His valor told the praiser of his bounty,

"Well done—but where is praise for the swift steeds?"

طوداً تعجب حلمه ووقاره

كيف استقل جواده بالجودي

A mountain: his forbearance and dignity marveled

how his steed could carry al-Jūdī.

جعلت بنو أيوب راية عزمهم

معقودة بلوائه المعقود

The sons of Ayyūb have made their banner of resolve

fastened to his firmly bound banner.

وغدت بسؤددك العريض مقرة

يا شمس دولتهم بغير جحود

And they have come to acknowledge your vast eminence,

O sun of their dynasty, without denial.

والشمس معروف لها أن تنجلي

بضيائها ظلم الليالي السود

The sun is known for clearing away,

with its radiance, the darkness of black nights.

قوى قدومك ضعف كل عزيمة

وسددت ثلماً ليس بالمسدود

Your arrival strengthened every faltering resolve,

and you closed a breach that stood unclosed.

وتوفق الفتح المبين وما شفى التس

ديد حتى جئت بالتشديد

And manifest victory was won; no cure came from recti-

fication until you came with rigor.

كشفت مهابتك القناع وقررت

بالمرهفات قواعد التمهيد

Your majesty lifted the veil and established,

with sharpened swords, the foundations of stability.

فالفتح فتحك سقت غرة نصره

بين الظبى والعزم والتأييد

The conquest is yours; you led its triumph's white blaze

amid blades, resolve, and support.

وكأنما الإسلام عقد صنته

يا سلك لؤلؤه عن التبديد

Islam is like a necklace you have guarded,

O thread of its pearls, from scattering.

إن فقت جيشاً أنت منه فإنه

ما غير يوم العيد مثل العيد

If you outshine an army of which you are part, then indeed

no day but Eid itself is like Eid.

لو صورت شيم الملوك حكاية

كنت المعبر عنه بالمقصود

If the characters of kings were portrayed in a tale,

you would be the intended subject of that portrayal.

كرم بذلت به الثمين وقلت لي

اعذر فإن الجود بالموجود

A generosity through which you gave precious things and told me,

"Forgive me, for giving depends on what is available."

ولكم وهبت الألف وهو أقل ما

تعتده في النائل المعهود

How often you have given a thousand, though it is the least

you count among your customary gifts.

خبراً سمعت به وما الخبر الذي

وقع التواتر فيه بالمردود

A report I heard—and no report that

has been widely corroborated can be rejected.

صدقت عنك به وما شاهدته

والغالب المعلوم كالمشهود

I believed it of you, though I had not witnessed it,

and what is known to be usual is as good as witnessed.

بل لو مدحت سواك أطلب درة

لمسحت من كفيه ضرع حديد

Indeed, had I praised another, seeking a flow of milk,

I would have stroked an iron udder in his palms.

لا يرشحون على المديح كأنما

خلق الإله أكفهم لجمود

They yield not a drop in response to praise, as though

God created their palms for rigidity.

بخلوا بفضل الزاد عن أضيافهم

والزاد آخره طعام الدود

They withheld their surplus provisions from their guests,

though provisions end as food for worms.

عميتهم ولو أنني سميتهم

لم أقض فضل مقامه المحمود

I concealed their identities; even had I named them,

I would not have done justice to his praiseworthy station.

فإذا استوى عرف وعرف صورة

فالفرق في المقصود والمقصود

If bounty and fragrance share the same outward form,

the difference lies in the meaning intended by each.

للمجد عندك حاجة معلومة

ما المجد عن إدراكها ببعيد

Glory has a known request of you,

and glory is not far from attaining it.

تشكو إليك من السهاد جفونها

ما في جفون ظباك من تسهيد

Her sleepless eyelids complain to you

of the wakefulness within the sheaths of your blades.

ضاق الصعيد على جيادك بعدما

ضمنت صعادك فتح كل صعيد

Upper Egypt grew too narrow for your steeds after

your lances guaranteed the conquest of every land.

والغرب و اليمن القصية أهله

من خوفهم في قائم وحصيد

The West and far-off Yemen—their people

are, from fear, some standing and others reaped.

والسيف يلمع في الخواطر برقه

بالسيف من عدن وأرض زبيد

The sword's lightning flashes in their thoughts

on the coast of Aden and the land of Zabīd.

فإلى متى أيدي الكماة معوقة

عن نشر ألوية ونشر بنود

So how long will warriors' hands be held back

from unfurling standards and unfurling banners?

ومعاطف الخيل الخفاف إلى العدى

تشكو جفاف ألبة ولبود

And the flanks of horses swift against the foe

complain of dry breast-straps and felt saddlecloths.

أفلا رميت بها الفلاة مجرداً

عزماً تسد به عراض البيد

Will you not hurl them into the wilderness, unsheathing

a resolve with which to fill the breadth of the deserts,

وخلقت مملكة يقول طريفها

للدهر أرخ في رحل تليد

and create a kingdom whose new acquisitions say

to Time, "Record this in an ancestral abode,"

وعذرت من حسد الرجال على العلى

لما ظفرت بلذة المحسود

and pardon whoever envied men their eminence,

once you attain the delight of being envied?

والنيل منقذ الأديم عليكم

حاشا رضاك بسيفه المقدود

The Nile is a rescuer of the earth's skin for you [wording unclear],

your favor excepted, with its cleft shore.

وسماح كفك لا يقوم بزخره

إلا عباب الأخضر الممدود

Nothing can match the surge of your generous hand

except the swell of the far-stretched green sea.

فاسمع لمنظوم الفرائد صاغها

فرد المحاسن مادحاً لفريد

So listen to these strung pearls, fashioned

by one unique in excellences, praising one peerless.

مدح يعبر عن طنين مهند

وتقول بل يحكي طنين العود

Praise that conveys the ringing of an Indian blade;

and you say, "Rather, it echoes the ringing of the lute."

فصل إذا فصل الخطاب عدمته

ونسبته إياك صوت نشيد

A decisive utterance—if you found it lacking decisive eloquence

and its reference to you, it would be merely a chant's sound.

وتمل عاماً راضياً ومقابلاً

لك بالمنى وأسعد بأسعد عيد

And enjoy a year well pleased and welcoming

you with your wishes; rejoice in the happiest feast.