في مثل ذا الموقف المشهود تحتلب

غر القوافي وتستنقى وتنتخب

At such a well-attended gathering are milked

The radiant rhymes, purified and selected.

هذا المقام الذي لولا كرامته

ما أشرفت في السماء السبعة الشهب

This is the station, but for whose dignity

The seven bright stars would not have risen in the sky.

هذا المقام الذي لولا أوامره

لم يشرف البيت والأستار والحجب

This is the station, but for whose commands

The House, the curtains, and the veils would not be honored.

نور البنوة في ذا الدست مؤتلق

بالناظرين ونار العزم تلتهب

The light of filial descent on this throne is dazzling

To beholders, and the fire of resolve blazes.

تمسي وتصبح في إيوانه أبداً

بيض المنى والمنايا السود تصطخب

Forever, evening and morning, within his hall,

White hopes and black deaths raise their clamor.

في صدره فائز بالنصر محتجب

بنوره وبتاج العز معتصب

At its head is Fa'iz, victorious, veiled

In his light, his brow bound with glory's crown.

مبارك الوجه ميمون نقيبته

تجلى بطلعة الأحداث والنوب

His face is blessed, his nature auspicious;

Calamities and misfortunes are dispelled by his countenance.

انظر إلى وجهه تنظر إمام هدى

خير الورى رضي الأملاك أم غضبوا

Look at his face: you behold an imam of guidance,

The best of humankind, whether kings approve or grow angry.

لا يستوي وملوك الأرض في شرف

إلا كما يتساوى الصفر والذهب

He and earth's kings are no more equal in honor

Than brass and gold are equal.

من معشر شابت الدنيا ومجدهم

غض وأثوابه فضفاضة قشب

He comes from a people: the world has grown gray, yet their glory

Is fresh, and its robes are ample and new.

لولا الصلاة عليكم ما استجيب لمن

يدعو ولا رفعت عن دعوة حجب

Were blessings not invoked upon you, no one

Who prayed would be answered, nor would veils be lifted from a prayer.

وأنتم العروة الوثقى فلا انفصمت

وحبكم في دخول الجنة السبب

And you are the firmest handhold—may it never break!

And love for you is the means of entering Paradise.

وفي مدائحكم فخر لمادحكم

وفي ولائكم ذخر ومنقلب

In praising you lies honor for your praiser,

And in loyalty to you, a treasure and a place of return.

مما كسا المدح فخراً وطيب ذكركم

والصدق يشرق مهما أظلم الكذب

Among what has clothed praise in honor and sweetened your remembrance—

And truth shines, however dark falsehood grows—

مناقب كالنجوم الزهر قد ملئت

بحسن أوافها الأسماع والكتب

Are virtues like radiant stars, which have filled

Ears and books with the beauty of their [descriptions].

جاءت لها سور القرآن مادحة

فما عسى يتعاطى الشعر والخطب

The Qur'an's chapters have come in praise of them;

What then can poetry and oratory attempt?

لله في أهل هذا القصر سابقة

من الإرادة من أسرارها عجب

God has a prior decree for the people of this palace,

Of His will, among whose secrets lies a marvel.

لما أراد ابن باديس إزالتهم

والناصرون لأنوار الهدى غيب

When Ibn Badis sought to remove them,

And the champions of guidance's lights were absent,

أبت عليهم يد آلية ويد

تعزى إلى آل رزيك وتنتسب

On their behalf a sworn hand resisted, and a hand

Ascribed to the house of Ruzzik, tracing its descent to it.

لولا الوزير أبو الغارات ما خفقت

للنصر في القصر رايات ولا عذب

Were it not for the minister Abu al-Gharat, there would not have fluttered

Banners or pennons for victory within the palace.

ولا اعتزى لعلي عند نازلة

من القبيلين لا عجم ولا عرب

Nor would anyone have declared allegiance to Ali in a calamity,

From either people, neither non-Arab nor Arab.

لما جلبت إليه الخيل مقربة

لم يحمه منك إلا الشحط والهرب

When you brought against him steeds kept close at hand,

Nothing shielded him from you but distance and flight.

إضافة الملك لما جئت زائره

كرامة ما لها إلا الظبا سبب

The king's hospitality, when you came to visit him,

Was an honor prompted only by sword edges.

ولى ويا بئس ما أولى مواليه

ولو تعاينتما لم ينجه الهرب

He fled—how wretched what he bestowed on his supporters!

And had you met face to face, flight would not have saved him.

وأيد الله دين الحق منك بذي

يد لها في الوغى التأييد والغلب

And God strengthened the faith of truth through you, one endowed with

A hand that brings support and victory in battle.

أغنته أفعاله عن فخره بعلى

أست قواعدها آباؤه النجب

His deeds spared him boasting of lofty honors

Whose foundations his noble forefathers established.

والمرء من هم فاستغنى بهمته

عما بناه له جد مضى وأب

A man is he who aspires and, by his resolve, is independent

Of what a departed grandfather and father built for him.

حمى حريم المعالي عزمه فغدت

أكنافه كعرين الليث يجتنب

His resolve guarded the sanctuary of high honor, making

His precincts like a lion's lair that is avoided.

يصاحب الذئب فيها الشاة مؤتمناً

على المغيب وإن أودى به السغب

There the wolf keeps company with the ewe, trusted

Even out of sight, though hunger should kill him.

فما يرى الروح فيها وهو مختطف

ولا يرى المال منها وهو منتهب

No soul is seen there being snatched away,

Nor is its wealth seen being plundered.

وهل يراع لها سرب وقد ضمنت

بأمن من حل فيها البيض واليلب

And can any flock there be frightened, when there is a pledge

By white swords and leather armor for the safety of whoever dwells there?

وسطوة لو خلت من عفو مقتدر

على العصاة لكاد الجو يلتهب

And a might that, but for the pardon of one powerful

Over rebels, would almost set the air ablaze;

ورحمة شكر الرحمن رأفتها

يطفي بها الحلم ناراً شبها الغضب

And a mercy whose tenderness the All-Merciful has commended;

Through it, forbearance quenches a fire anger kindled.

وراحة تهب الدنيا وما احتسب

بها صنيعاً وما اعتدت بما تهب

And a palm that gives the world, never counting

Its gifts as favors, nor taking credit for what it gives;

وسيرة سار عنه من حكايتها

ذكر جميل تمنت مثله السحب

And a way of life whose telling has spread abroad from him

A fair renown whose like the clouds have wished for.

أضاف من منة التشريف لي منناً

لا ينهض الشكر منها بالذي يجب

To the favor of honoring me, he added further favors

For which gratitude cannot render what is due.

أجلها موقفي هذا بحيث أرى

نور الهدى رفعت عن وجهه الحجب

The greatest is my standing here, where I behold

The light of guidance, the veils lifted from his face.

حسبي بخدمتكم بين الورى حسباً

إن ضل بي نسب أو قل بي حسب

Service to you is honor enough for me among humankind,

Should my lineage fail me or my ancestral honor be scant.

فأنتم يا بني الزهراء لا انصرمت

أيامكم كالحيا ماض ومرتقب

For you, O sons of al-Zahra—may there be no end

To your days—are like rain, both past and awaited.

يعلو على الناس أدناها بخدمتكم

وتستفاد بها العلياء والرتب

Through serving you, the least of them rises above people,

And through that service high distinction and ranks are gained.

يا بن البني نداء ما لصاحبه

قلب إلى غير حسن الظن ينقلب

O son of the [Prophet]—a call whose caller has no

Heart that turns toward anything but hopeful trust.

قد قابلتك القوافي وهي واثقة

أن لا يقول رجاها أعوز الطلب

The rhymes have come before you, confident

That their hope will never say, “The quest proved unattainable.”

كم موقف لك قد نادى نداك به

يا مادحين لكف المادح السلب

How many a gathering of yours has heard your bounty call,

“O praisers, the spoils belong to the praiser's hand!”

وأنت أكرم أن تدعى لمكرمة

تقضي عليك بها العلياء والحسب

You are too noble to be summoned to a generous deed

That high distinction and ancestral honor require of you.

يهني الأهلة إن قابلت وافدها

ومعقل الملك من سمر القنا أشب

May the crescents rejoice when you welcome their newcomer,

While kingship's stronghold is a thicket of brown spears.

ووجه دولتك الغراء مبتسم

وثغرها واضح عذب اللمى شنب

The face of your radiant state is smiling,

And its bright mouth has sweet dusky lips and cool, white teeth.

مضى جمادى وفي أحشائه حرق

من الفراق الذي ما ذاقه رجب

Jumada has passed, with burning pangs in its depths

From a parting Rajab never tasted.

وربما حفزت شعبان داعية

من المحبة يحدو عيسها الطرب

And perhaps a summons urged Sha'ban onward,

From love, whose white camels rapture drives with song.

فاسعد بأيام ماضيها ومقبلها

ما استحقبتها على أعجازها الحقب

So rejoice in days, past and yet to come,

So long as the ages carry them on their haunches,

ممتعاً ببقاء الصالح الملك ال

حاني إذا ما جفا ابنا أب حدب

Enjoying the continued life of al-Salih, the king who is

Tender when two sons of a loving father turn cold.