1. You resolved with auspiciousness to protect the territory of Yemen
And you went forth, with the stars in your favor, in this age

2. No one remained in fortunate Yemen with any evil
Among the chiefs except the one with the grey beard

3. And the tongues of the days began singing
These noble deeds not lies from any breast

4. So rule as you wish in the lands in full effect
For you are the commander in Syria and in Yemen

5. Indeed authority has cast off its trappings
None would satisfy it as successor among the family of Hasan

6. You held it back and refused it, honoring the tie
While it longed for you like the eye longs for kohl

7. Authority is no matter to be weighed therewith
For you are its adornment, nay, the adornment of the age

8. Did the High One know, when you were given their lands
That they were led to the flowing stream after the brackish spring?

9. God gave a kingdom to the family of Hasan
The like of which in bygone days did not exist

10. Where are the ancient legends that were written
In days of yore about Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan

11. And he who built below the kingdoms of the world in nobility
A structure of glory upon the brow of al-Sammak

12. And the one who staked his honor on wealth and spent it
While many staked their honor on words and did not guard it

13. And the one firm of spirit amidst the plunging steeds, whom
No valiant man encountered except that he was in his shroud

14. The one whose ears were hurt by the refined manners of literature
More than by the twanging of a string however valuable

15. A king lofty above the pretense of kings, his loftiness
Exceeded the grasp of any fanged orator

16. If he were compared to the kings of all the earth
He would distinguish between butter and poison

17. The Indian sword exerts its sway
If it appeared to turn the ages it would not fail

18. If his resolve appeared to the Abbasids
It would terrify every Ma'mun and trustee

19. You made a blessed deal when its contractor
Was the Most High, beyond the deal of loss

20. It gratifies the servant that justice flows from you
According to what you have instituted of religious duties and norms

21. Guidance was lost on earth since you were in it
Like a crown is to a head, nay like the soul to the body

22. Say little, O king of the world, if you boast
Over the misguided one or the arrogant one of Aden

23. Let them thank God since He appointed you over their lands
It is a blessing from the greatest of favors

24. And it behooves them to thank a Lord who made available to them
From your sweet palm after the brackish spring

25. God chose you as king in His dominion
Only to extinguish therein the embers of civil strife

26. For whom you humiliated of the sons of Basra
Will never again be honored, and whom you honored will never be disgraced

27. So the like of your effort - may it be praised - gained you nobility
And the like of your rule - after God - so shall it be