إن الخلافة لم تزل عن أصلها — Dhafer Al Haddad

إنّ الخلافةَ لم تَزُلْ عن أصِلها

بل أصبحتْ في ملكِ ناظمِ شَمْلِها

The caliphate has not departed from her origin;

rather, she is now possessed by the one who unites her ranks.

صارتْ إلى مَن لو حَواها غيرُه

ما كان مُضطلِعا بأَيسرِ ثِقْلِها

She has passed to one; had anyone else possessed her,

he could not have shouldered even her lightest burden.

إن الهناءَ لها برُتْبِة وَصْلِهِ

ضعفُ الهَناءِ له برتبِة وَصْلِها

Her delight at the honor of union with him

is twice his delight at the honor of union with her.

فالمُلْكُ كالفُلْكِ المضيءِ بشمسِه

والشمسُ أنت وضوءُه من فِعْلِها

For kingship is like a ship illuminated by its sun,

and you are the sun; its light comes from the sun's work.

يا حجةَ الله التي وجبَتْ على

أهلِ الزمانِ بفَرْعِها وبأصلها

O proof of God, which has become binding upon

the people of the age, in its branch and its root.

إن القلوب تألفت واستسلمتْ

طوعا إليك بعلمِها لا جهلها

The hearts have united and surrendered

willingly to you, through knowledge, not ignorance.

والحقُّ أبلجُ والضرورة شاهدٌ

بقضيةٍ تقِضى العقولُ بعَدْلِها

Truth is manifest, and necessity bears witness

to a judgment whose justice minds affirm.

وَرِث ابنُ عمِّ محمدٍ من بعدِهِ

حقَّ الخلافةِ مُنْصِفا في نَقْلِها

Muhammad's cousin inherited after him

the right to the caliphate, acting justly in her transfer.

وورثتَ أنت عن ابنِ عمك حَقَّها

فجَرى قياسُ خِلافه في شكلها

And you inherited the right to her from your cousin;

thus the analogy of his succession followed the same pattern.

واللهِ ما اختارتْك إلا بعد ما

وَجدتْك أَوْلَى وارثٍ من نَسْلِها

By God, she chose you only after

finding you the worthiest heir of her lineage.

حتى لوِ اجتمع الخَليقةُ كلها

من شيخِها أو طفلها أو كَهْلها

Even if all creation had assembled,

whether its elders, its children, or its middle-aged,

لم ينهضوا بدقيقةٍ من حمِله

ووجدتْك أَنْهضَ من يقوم بحملها

they could not have shouldered the slightest part of his burden,

and she found you the ablest of those who bear hers.

يا حافظا للدينِ حِفْظَ حِياطةٍ

بسياسةٍ ما شُوهدتْ من قَبْلِها

O guardian of religion, guarding it with vigilant care,

with a governance never witnessed before.

عدلٌ وإنصافٌ وفَرْطُ صِيانةٍ

ومواهبٌ تُرْوِى الأَنامَ بَهطْلِها

Justice, fairness, and utmost protection,

and gifts that slake humankind with their downpour;

وسدادُ رأىٍ أظهرتْ مرآتُه

لك ما يدِقُّ بما صَفا من صَقْلها

and sound judgment, whose mirror has revealed

to you what is subtle, through the clarity of its polish;

ورجاحةٌ وفصاحةٌ وسماحة

أربتْ على البحر الخِضَمِّ بوَبْلِها

and balanced judgment, eloquence, and generosity

that has surpassed the vast sea with its downpour;

وتواضعٌ للهِ عن شرفٍ سَما

فوق الثريا ضِعْفَ ضعفِ مَحَلِّها

and humility before God, born of a nobility that rose

above the Pleiades, at four times their height.

يا ابنَ النبوةِ والخلافةِ والأُلَى

نهضَوا بصعبِ المَكْرُمات وسهلها

O son of prophethood, the caliphate, and those

who shouldered noble deeds, the difficult and the easy alike.

الفرضُ طاعتُكم وطاعةُ غيرِكم

تَبَعٌ لها بضرورةٍ من أجلها

The duty is obedience to you; obedience to anyone else

is subordinate to it, of necessity and for its sake.

إن الصلاة بكم تَصِحُّ وذكرُكم

تتميمُها في فَرْضها أو نَفْلِها

Indeed, prayer is valid through you, and mentioning you

completes it, whether obligatory or voluntary.

بكم تسعدُ الدنيا ويسعد أهلها

يا خيرَ حيٍّ من سُلالة رُسْلِها

Through you the world prospers, and its people prosper,

O best living descendant of its messengers.

يا عروةَ اللهِ التي لم ينتفع

إلا امرءٌ عَلِقتْ يداه بحبلها

O handhold of God, from which none has benefited

except one whose two hands have clung to its rope.

يا بحرَ علمٍ كالبحارِ جميعِها

لك من فنونِ الفضلِ عِدَّةُ رَمْلِها

O sea of knowledge, like all the seas together,

you have as many kinds of excellence as they have grains of sand.

الله خَصَّك في الكمال برتبةٍ

لم ينفتح لسواك مُغْلَقُ قُفْلِها

God singled you out in perfection for a rank

whose sealed lock has opened for no one but you.

أَمنتْ بك الدنيا لأنك حافظٌ

بالحزمِ بين أَدَقِّها وأَجلِّها

Through you the world became safe, for you are a guardian,

with firm resolve, from its smallest affairs to its greatest.

قد كان قبلَك نيلُ مصرَ مُقصِّرا

والناسُ في جَزعٍ لوافدِ مَحْلِها

Before you, Egypt's Nile had fallen short,

and the people were distraught at her approaching drought.

حتى وليتَ فأدركتْها رحمةٌ

يَتتابعُ الغيثُ الغزيرُ بمثلها

Until you assumed rule, and mercy reached her,

through whose like abundant rain falls in succession.

وكفَي بذلك في البرية مُعجِزا

يشِفي السَّرائر من شَوائبِ غُلِّها

And that is miracle enough among humankind,

healing inner hearts of the impurities of their rancor.

إن الخلافة ما أَتتْك عريبة

بل أَيِّمٌ أضحتْ تُزَفُّ لبَعْلِها

The caliphate did not come to you as a stranger,

but as a widow now led in bridal procession to her husband.

جاءتْ إلى الأَوْلَى بقَبْضِ زمامها

وظَهيرِ ذِرْوَتها ومَوْطِىءِ رجلها

She came to the one most entitled to take her reins,

and the support of her summit and the foothold beneath her foot.

فاز الملوكُ من السعودِ ببعضها

وأتيتْ بعدهمُ ففزتَ بكُلِّها

Kings won some of the good fortunes,

and you came after them and won them all.

فضُروبُ فضلِك لا تُعَدَّ فإنها

كالسُّحْبِ لا تُحصَى فَرائدُ وَبْلِها

So the forms of your excellence cannot be counted, for they

are like clouds: the pearls of their downpour cannot be counted.

منها بدورُ سَمائِك الغرُّ التي

فضحتْ أَكُفُّهمُ السحابَ بهَطْلِها

Among them are the radiant full moons of your sky, whose

palms put the clouds to shame with their downpour.

ساروا إلى العَليا ملوكٌ فانتَهى

جهدُ السوابقِ عند أولِ نُزْلِها

Kings journeyed toward the heights, and there ended

the leading steeds' utmost effort, at their first halting-place.

أرضعتَهم دَرَّ الفضائلِ فارْتَوَوا

من بعدِ ما طال الزمانُ بَحفْلِها

You suckled them on the flowing milk of virtues, and they drank their fill

after ages had passed while their milk gathered.

سُحْبٌ تجود لنا بعَذْبِ نوالها

غَدَقا وتَلْحَقنا بباردِ ظلِّها

Clouds that lavish on us the sweetness of their bounty,

abundantly, and reach us with their cool shade.

سُسْتُ الأمور سياسةً بلطافةٍ

فإذا جَفا خَطْبٌ رَمتْه لجَزْلِها

I governed affairs with a gentle policy;

and when a crisis grew harsh, that policy consigned it to its strength.

فاسْلمْ لضبطِ الدين والدنيا معا

حِصْنا يحيط بشيخِها وبطفلها

So remain safe, to keep religion and the world in order,

a fortress encompassing its elders and its children.

فتهنَّ هذا العامَ فهْو مُبِّشر

بسعادةٍ ملأتْ مَسالكَ سُبْلِها

So rejoice in this year, for it brings glad tidings

of happiness that has filled the paths of its ways.

هو وافدٌ وافَى لينصر عِزُّه

نورَ النبوةِ مُعْرِبا عن فضلها

It is a visitor that has arrived, so that its glory may support

the light of prophethood, declaring its excellence.

صَلَّى عليها مَنْ أَتمَّ بها الهدى

علما وفكَّ بها النُّهَى من غُلها

May He who perfected guidance through it bless it,

in knowledge, and through it freed minds from their fetters.