محلك لا يسام ولا يسامى

وقدرك لا يرام ولا يرامى

Your station cannot be priced or rivaled;

your rank cannot be reached or matched.

وناديك الكريم أجل ناد

يحج إليه من صلى وصاما

And your noble hall is the most august of halls,

to which whoever prays and fasts makes pilgrimage.

إذا البيت الحرام نأى فإنا

نزور بدارك البيت الحراما

If the Sacred House is far away, then we

visit the Sacred House within your home.

فناء لا تزال العين تلقى

لأعيان الملوك به زحاما

A courtyard where the eye is forever met

by throngs of the foremost kings.

وتذهلنا المهابة منه حتى

كأنا قط لم نرد المقاما

And its awe so overwhelms us

that we seem never to have visited the place before.

ولولا ما نشاهده لخلنا

من الإجلال يقظتنا مناما

And were it not for what we witness, we would think,

from sheer reverence, our waking state a dream.

يجل عن السلام علاً وقدراً

فنهدي بالسجود له السلاما

He is too exalted in eminence and rank for a greeting,

so we offer him our greeting through prostration.

وكم شمنا سناء كاملياً

فلاح نعائماً وجرى نعاما

How often we have glimpsed al-Kamil's splendor,

which shone as the Ostrich stars and raced as ostriches.

وشرفنا بمدحك كل معنى

أطلناه وقصرنا الكلاما

And through praising you we ennobled every theme

we elaborated, while keeping our speech brief.

حديث من حديث علاك أغنى

فلم نذكر قديمك والقدامى

One tale among the tales of your glory sufficed,

so we mentioned neither your past nor the men of old.

فكيف وبيت شاور خير بيت

تغار له الوزارة أن يساما

How could it be otherwise, when Shawar's house is the finest house,

whose worth the vizierate jealously holds beyond price?

إذا مرح الملوك غداة فخر

وجدناكم لجامحها لجاما

When kings swagger on a morning of boasting,

we find you a bridle for their headstrong ones.

وإن عميت بصائرهم رددتم

إلى نور البصيرة من تعامى

And if their inward sight goes blind, you bring back

to insight's light whoever feigns blindness.

متى ما تذكروا نسيت علاهم

وعند المسك نطرح الخزاما

Whenever you are mentioned, their glories are forgotten;

and beside musk, we cast lavender aside.

ألم تر شاوراً ألقت يداه

من الدنيا إلى يدك الزماما

Have you not seen how Shawar's hands delivered

the reins of the world into your hand?

ورشحت الوزارة منك شبلاً

حمى حرم الخلافة أن يضاما

And in you the vizierate chose a lion cub

who guarded the caliphate's sanctuary from violation:

مهيباً كف عادية الليالي

عظيماً كشف الكرب العظاما

awe-inspiring, he checked the onslaught of the nights;

mighty, he dispelled mighty afflictions.

رأت مصر أباك لها مسيحاً

فأنشر عدله فيها رماما

Egypt saw in your father a Messiah for her;

and his justice revived decayed bones within her.

وأشفى ملكها سقماً فداوى

دخيلة دائها وشفى السقاما

And her realm was sick unto death, so he treated

the hidden depths of her disease and cured the sickness.

بنيت أبا الفوارس من علاه

ذرى قعد الزمان بها وقاما

You built, Abu al-Fawaris, from his eminence,

heights upon which Time sat and stood.

وكنت كشاور خلقاً وخلقاً

ومكرمة وعزماً واهتماما

And you were like Shawar in form and character,

in nobility, resolve, and care.

لئن كفلت عزائمه الإماما

لقد كفلت مواهبك الأناما

If his resolves have safeguarded the Imam,

your gifts have surely provided for all humankind.

وقد كان الزمان لنا عبوساً

فعلمه نداك الابتساما

Time had indeed been grim-faced toward us,

so your bounty taught it to smile.

فلازالت مدائحنا تهني

بكم أعيادنا عاماً فعاما

May our praises never cease to congratulate

our feast days for having you, year after year.

لئن خدمتك في عشر ونحر

فقد خدمتك فطراً بل صياما

If they served you during the Ten Days and the Sacrifice,

they served you at Fast-Breaking—rather, while fasting.

لها قوت مصت سنة عليه

وعدة أشهر أيضاً تماما

They have a ration over which a year has passed,

and several full months besides.

وليس بمنكر للعيد يوماً

من المولى إذا طلب الطعاما

Nor is it strange for a feast, one day,

to ask its patron for food.