وفى لك حد الجد والسيف غادر

وأنهضك التأييد والدهر عاثر

Fortune's edge proved faithful to you while the sword betrayed;

and divine support raised you while time stumbled.

وأغنتك عن سل المواضي سعادة

تدور بها فيمن عصاك الدوائر

Good fortune spared you the unsheathing of keen blades,

through which misfortune's wheels turn against whoever defies you.

فتوح لها في كل يوم مسرة

تباشر سمع المجد منها البشائر

Conquests whose joy comes every day,

their glad tidings touching the ear of glory.

قضى الله يا ذخر الأئمة أن من

يناويك أو ينوي لك الغدر خاسر

God decreed, O treasure of the imams, that whoever

opposes you or intends to betray you is a loser.

ليهنك فتح أنجبت لك أمه

وأم العلى بالنصر والفتح عاقر

May you rejoice in a conquest its mother bore nobly for you,

while glory's mother is barren of victory and conquest.

أتاك به الجد السعيد وسلمت

مقادته في راحتيك المقادر

Happy fortune brought it to you, and the fates surrendered

its reins into your two palms.

صرفت بن أم الكبائر بعدما

نسينا بها منهن ماأنت ذاكر

You averted [unclear] the mother of enormities, after

we had, through it, forgotten those others you remember.

وأبطلت كيد الخارجي بن يوسف

وأنت كفيل لابن يوسف ناصر

You foiled the plotting of the rebel Ibn Yusuf,

while you are a guarantor and champion for Ibn Yusuf.

توهم أن الملك ما سولت له

وساوس أمثلها المنى والخواطر

He fancied kingship was whatever was made enticing to him

by whisperings whose best were vain hopes and fancies.

وهذا مرام لم تزل دون نيله

موارد حتف مالهن مصادر

Yet this is a goal whose attainment has always been barred

by watering places of death from which none return.

نصبت له فوق التراب وتحته

حبائل كيد ما لهن مرائر

Above the earth and beneath it, you laid for him

snares of guile with no twisted cords.

وسدت عليه الأرض صولتك التي

مهابتها سور على الأرض دائر

Your onslaught barred the earth against him,

the dread it inspires a wall encircling the land.

ومازال مرعياً من الصبح والدجى

بعين رقيب طرفها لك ساهر

And dawn and darkness kept him ever under watch

with a sentinel's eye, its gaze wakeful in your service.

يقرب مثواه من البعد نحوكم

هواجر تحدو عيسه ودياجر

His dwelling is drawn nearer to you from afar

by midday heats and deep nights driving his pale camels onward.

ومن كانت الأقدار خادمة له

مضت في العدى أحكامه وهو قادر

Whoever has the fates as his servants,

his decrees prevail against his foes while he holds power.

وكان ورد النيل أقصى أمانه

فحل به من أمنه ما يحاذر

Reaching the Nile was his greatest assurance of safety,

yet from his very safety there befell him what he feared.

وما راعه إلا توثب أروع

يباده في نصر الهدى ويبادر

Nothing startled him but the pounce of a gallant man,

quick to act and take the lead in championing guidance.

جزى الله عز الدين عزاً فلم تزل

تزورك بشرى النصر فيما يباشر

May God reward ʿIzz al-Din with glory, for never have

tidings of victory ceased to visit you in what he undertakes.

هو الفخر لم يسبق إليه وإن يكن

له قبلها في الناكثين نظائر

This is glory in which none has preceded him, although

he has earlier achieved its like against oath-breakers.

أخو النصح مازالت طوية سره

تباطن فيما سركم وتظاهر

A man of loyal counsel, whose innermost intent has always

worked secretly and openly for whatever pleased you.

وذو الحزم والعزم الذي طال ما غدا

يراوح فيما تشتهي ويباكر

A man of prudence and resolve, who has so often gone forth,

attending evening and early morning to whatever you desire.

فشد به يمنى يديك فإنما

حسام حسام في يمينك باتر

So strengthen your right hand with him, for

Husam is a cutting sword in your right hand.

وما هو إلا نعمة لك حمدها

وكافر نعماكم من الناس كافر

He is only a blessing for which thanks are due to you;

whoever among men denies your favors is an unbeliever.

وخصصت بها بيضاء لم يفتخر بها

من الوزراء الصيد قبلك فاخر

A shining distinction was yours through it, one

of which none of the lordly viziers before you could boast.

تجاوزت قدر الحمد فيها فما الذي

يقوم به منا خطيب وشاعر

In it you surpassed the reach of praise; what then

can any orator or poet among us accomplish?

وأسبغتها نعمى عممت بها الورى

فأثنى بما أوليت باد وحاضر

You lavished it as a blessing embracing all mankind,

so nomad and townsman praised what you bestowed.

ووسعتها من بعدما ضاق رحبها

وغصت بأنفاس الرجال الحناجر

You broadened it after its wide expanse had narrowed,

and throats had choked upon men's breaths.

لكم يا بني رزيك لازال ظلكم

مواطن سحب الموت فيها مواطر

Yours, sons of Ruzzik—may your sheltering shade endure—

are battlefields where clouds of death pour rain.

سللتم على عباس بيض عزائم

قهرتم بها سلطانه وهو قاهر

Against ʿAbbas you drew bright blades of resolve;

with them you subdued his power while he was dominant.

ولو لم تغيبوا فاز بالنصر فائز

وخلص من ظفر المنية ظافر

Had you not been absent, Fa'iz would have won victory,

and Zafir would have escaped death's claw.

حفظتم لآل الحافظ الحرمة التي

رعى حقها منكم قديم وآخر

You preserved the sanctity of al-Hafiz's house,

whose claim both earlier and later men among you upheld.

أبوك سقى في مثلها ابن مدافع

كؤوساً بها خمر المنية دائر

Your father, in such a crisis, made Ibn Mudafiʿ drink

cups in which the wine of death went round.

وأنت كفيت العاضد بن محمد

عدواً أتاه ثائراً وهو ثائر

And you spared al-ʿAdid ibn Muhammad

an enemy who came seeking vengeance, himself a rebel.

فأنتم لهذا البيت كف وساعد

وأنتم لهذا الدست سمع وناظر

Thus you are this house's hand and forearm,

and this throne's hearing and watchful eye.

وكم لك عند العاضد الطهر من يد

لك الله فيها عن إمامك شاكر

How many favors pure al-ʿAdid owes you,

for which God thanks you on your imam's behalf!

ولا مثل خطب تقشعر لمثله

جلود الورى خوفاً وتبلى السرائر

And none like the crisis at whose like

men's skins shudder in fear and their innermost hearts are tried.

تزل به الأقدام بعد ثبوتها

وتذهل أبصار وتعمى بصائر

It makes feet slip after standing firm,

eyes grow dazed, and inner sight turns blind.

ولولاك بعد الله فيها لزعزعت

أسرة ملك للهدى ومنابر

But for you, after God, in that crisis, shaken would have been

the royal thrones and pulpits of right guidance.

خبيت لذا الفتح المبين ذخيرة

ويا رب خطب فرجته الذخائر

You were kept as a reserve for this manifest victory;

how many a crisis has been relieved by reserves!

فدامت معاليك الجسام التي بها

وجوه ليالينا زواه زواهر

May your mighty deeds of glory endure, through which

the faces of our nights are splendid and shining.