ثغر الهدى متبلج بسام

ووجوه أيام الزمان وسام

The mouth of guidance shines, smiling,

and the faces of time's days are fair.

عزم الإله لعبده ووليه

عزماً جرت بسعوده الأقلام

God resolved for His servant and His ally

a resolve whose good fortunes the pens inscribed.

ورأى بنور الله عقد صهارة

سعدت به الأخوال والأعمام

And by God's light he discerned a marriage bond

through which maternal and paternal uncles were blessed.

لما تعرض حاسدوه لرده

أمضاه كرها والأنوف رغام

When his enviers sought to prevent it,

he carried it through against their will, their noses in the dust.

وأتم ما فعل الكفيل طلائع

إن البداية حسنها الإتمام

And complete what Tala'iʿ, the guardian, did;

a beginning's beauty lies in its completion.

ولئن وفيت لقد وفى لك قبلها

وكفاك إذ خان الكفاة وخاموا

And if you have kept faith, he surely kept faith with you beforehand,

and met your needs when the capable men betrayed and faltered.

وبدون ما أولاك من إخلاصه

يرعى ذمار بعده وذمام

And even for less than the devotion he bestowed on you,

honor and covenant are safeguarded after him.

قد قلت للنفر الذين تعرضوا

بخلاف ما تهوى وأنت إمام

I have indeed said to the men who interposed

against what you desire, though you are the Imam:

إن الخلافة لا يزال يمدها

من ربها التأييد والإلهام

Indeed, the caliphate is ever sustained

by support and inspiration from its Lord.

فإذا قضت بعض القضاء فإنه

برد على كبد الهدى وسلام

And when it pronounces any judgment, that judgment

is coolness and peace upon guidance's liver.

أوليس للرحمن فيك سريرة

لم ترق في درجاتها الأوهام

And does not the All-Merciful have a secret in you

to whose heights no imaginings have ascended?

لم تعتقل إلا عقيلة معشر

لعلاك منهم غارب وسنام

You have embraced only the noble lady of a clan

whose withers and hump uphold your eminence.

أبناء رزيك الذين تكشفت

عنا بهم غمم وجاد غمام

The sons of Ruzzik, through whom were lifted

our sorrows, and rainclouds poured freely.

ضموا بشملك شملهم وكأنهم

من إلفة ألف تضم ولام

They joined their union to yours, as though they were

an alif and a lam joined by affection.

وغدوتم كالخمس في كف الهدى

والدهر إلا أنك الإبهام

And you became like the five fingers in the hand of guidance

and of time, except that you are the thumb.

هذا المقام العاضدي مخلد

أبداً عليك ودائم ما داموا

This station of al-Adid is made everlasting

for you forever, enduring as long as they endure.

وأبو شجاع كافل لك أنه

حرم على أهل العناد حرام

And Abu Shujaʿ guarantees you that it is

a sanctuary forbidden to the people of defiance.

لزمت ملازمها وأبرم عقدها

ملك إليه النقض والإبرام

It held fast to its stations, and its bond was sealed

by a king who holds the power to unbind and bind.

العادل بن الصالح الحامي العلى

والشبل يحمي ما حمى الضرغام

Al-Adil, son of al-Salih, protector of eminence;

and the lion cub protects what the lion protected.

ملك يلوح على معاطف ملكه

للناظرين سكينة وعرام

A king upon the folds of whose sovereignty appear,

to onlookers, serenity and fierceness.

جمع الزمان فرد فضل عنانه

بيد لها الإنعام والإرغام

He gathered time in and drew back the slack of its reins

with a hand that bestows favors and compels submission.

وتزلزت قدم العلى فأقرها

ثبت تزول لخوفه الأقدام

And the foot of eminence trembled, so he steadied it—

a steadfast man, for fear of whom feet falter.

سهرت جفون سيوفه مذ سلها

فغدت جفون الناس وهي نيام

The eyelids of his swords have kept vigil since he drew them,

so the people's eyelids came to rest in sleep.

أهدى إليك هدية ميمونة

بقبولها تتواشج الأرحام

He presented you with an auspicious gift,

through whose acceptance kinship ties intertwine.

وحفظت سر وديعة علمت بها

أيديكما والواحد العلام

And you preserved the secret of a trust known

to the hands of you both and the One, the All-Knowing.

وتسلمتها منه راحتك التي

للدين والدنيا بها استعظام

And your palm received her from him,

which religion and the world hold in awe.

رحلت من الكنف الذي مازال في

أرجائه لبني الرجاء زحام

She departed from the shelter that always had in

its precincts a throng of the sons of hope,

كنف يبيت العلم في حجراته

يتلى وتخفق حوله الأعلام

a shelter in whose chambers learning spends the night,

being recited, while banners flutter around it.

ولقيتها بكرامة من أجلها

قعد الرجال الحاسدون وقاموا

And you received her with an honor that caused

the envious men to sit down and stand up.

وتبوأت من حسن رأيك منزلاً

لم يعده كرم ولا إكرام

And through your sound judgment she took a dwelling

beyond which neither generosity nor honor could go.

لم يرضك القصر الشريف وقد

شرفاته بالنيرات تقام

The noble palace did not satisfy you, though

its battlements rise amid the luminaries.

فأحلها الإكرام خاطرك الذي

للوحي عنه رحلة ومقام

So honor lodged her in your mind,

from which revelation journeys and where it abides.

يهنا أمير المؤمنين مسرة

هناه عنها الملك والإسلام

May the Commander of the Faithful be congratulated on a joy

on which kingship and Islam have congratulated him.

لو لم يسامح بالهناء عبيده

لنهاهم الإجلال والإعظام

Had he not permitted his servants to congratulate him,

reverence and veneration would have restrained them.

ولو أنه لم يغض عن تقصيرهم

عثرت بذيل قصورها الأفهام

And had he not overlooked their shortcomings,

minds would have stumbled over the hem of their inadequacy.

يا عادلاً لولا شريعة عدله

جار الزمان وجارت الحكام

O just ruler, but for the law of his justice,

time would have been unjust, and rulers unjust too.

قد كانت الوزراء يسهل عندها

هدم الحطيم لأن يصح حطام

The viziers once found it easy

to demolish al-Hatim so that paltry worldly gain might be secured.

ويبيت بيت المال يشكو جورهم

مما يراق به دم ومدام

And the treasury would spend the night lamenting their oppression,

because of the blood and wine poured out within it.

حي أزلت بنور عدلك

علة الدنيا فلا ظلم ولا إظلام

Hail! With the light of your justice you removed

the world's sickness, so there is neither injustice nor darkness.

حملت لبيت المال عنك ذخائر

ذخرت علاك لمثلها الأيام

Treasures were carried to the treasury on your behalf,

for whose like the days had kept your eminence in store.

ورعيت حق المسلمين رعاية

صلوا بها لك لو أردت وصاموا

And you guarded the Muslims' rights with such care

that, had you wished, they would have prayed and fasted for you.

راحت أياد من يديك جسيمة

فغدت لك الأرواح والأجسام

Immense favors went forth from your two hands,

so souls and bodies became yours.

وتيقنت أهل البسيطة أنه

بوجود جودك يعدم الإعدام

And the people of the earth became certain that

where your bounty exists, destitution ceases to exist.

لو لم تكن بوصي آدم لم يعش

سام ويافث في نداك وحام

Had you not been Adam's legatee, they would not have lived—

Shem, Japheth, and Ham—within your bounty.

يا سادة لولا مناقب مجدهم

ما فض عن مسك الثناء ختام

O masters, but for the virtues of their glory,

the seal on the musk of praise would not have been broken.

ألغيت ذكر الشمس إذ لم أرضها

في حقكم والبدر وهو تمام

I omitted mention of the sun, since I found it unworthy

of you—and the moon too, even at its fullness.

ومتى تقاس النيرات إليكم

وسعودهن لمثلكم خدام

And how could the luminaries be compared with you,

when their auspicious influences are servants to your like?

فبقيتم وعلي حسن ثنائكم

وعليكم الإحسان والإنعام

So may you endure; mine is the duty of praising you well,

and yours, beneficence and bounty.