1. حبيبَ القوافي وربَّ الندى

    لعينيكَ كلُّ حبيبٍ فدى

    O beloved of rhymes and lord of bounty,

    For your eyes, every beloved is a ransom.

  2. إذا الشعراءُ أباحوا القريض

    نقدٍّ تثنى وطرفٍ رنا

    When poets offered their verse freely

    To a swaying figure [reading uncertain] and a gazing eye,

  3. وحاموا على كل رسمٍ عفا

    وهاموا بكل خيال سرى

    And hovered over every faded trace,

    And were enraptured by every phantom traveling by night,

  4. جعلتُ مناقبك الباهراتِ

    حديثاً يطيبُ لأهلِ النُهى

    I made your dazzling virtues

    A discourse that delights discerning minds.

  5. وصغتُ لمجدِكَ كلَّ قصيدٍ

    إذا ما نُنوشِد أصغى الورى

    And I fashioned every ode for your glory:

    Whenever it is recited, all people listen intently.

  6. هو الثَمرُ الحلو من منطقي

    جَنوهُ ولولاكَ لم يُجتنى

    It is the sweet fruit of my speech;

    They plucked it; but for you, it would not have been plucked.

  7. ولولا الغمامُ واسعادُهُ

    لما كلَّل الزهرُ هامَ الرُبى

    And were it not for the cloud and its aid,

    The flowers would not have crowned the crests of the hills.

  8. وما أنا أوَّلُ قلبٍ سرَرتَ

    فكم بك سُرَّت قلوب الملا

    And I am not the first heart you have gladdened;

    For how many hearts among the people have been gladdened by you!

  9. وكم لك في شرقِنا من يدٍ

    تردُّ إليهِ رُواءَ الصِبا

    And how many a helping hand you have lent our East,

    Restoring to it the freshness of youth.

  10. يكلفني السين إنشادها

    وقبلا بها النيلُ عذباً جرى

    The Seine bids me recite them,

    And earlier the Nile flowed sweetly with them.

  11. فَتحدثُ في موجهِ هزَّةً

    يكونُ لها في الفرات صدى

    So they stir a tremor in its waves,

    Which finds an echo in the Euphrates.

  12. ويوشكُ إِيفِلُ من جوهِ

    يميلُ لفهمِ حديثِ العُلى

    And Eiffel, from its airy height, almost

    Bends to understand the discourse of glory.

  13. أَمولايَ إِن غِبتَ عن ناظري

    فما زلتَ منهُ مكانَ الضِيا

    O my lord, if you are absent from my sight,

    You still hold within it the place of light.

  14. وان منعتني منك البحار

    فما منعت من يديكَ الجدا

    And if the seas keep me apart from you,

    They have not held back the bounty of your hands.

  15. كذا الشمس إِن حجبتها الغيومُ

    فليست لتحجبَ منها السنى

    So too the sun: if clouds conceal it,

    They cannot veil its radiance.

  16. أبو الجود تخلق منهُ الجديَد

    وتبدعُ في خلقهِ ما تشا

    Father of bounty, you create from it what is new,

    And invent in its creation whatever you wish.

  17. وتشكرُ عافيكَ شكرَ العُفاةِ

    فلا يُعرَفُ المجتدي منكما

    And you thank your petitioner as petitioners do,

    So one cannot tell which of you is the petitioner.

  18. كأَن قد تساويتما في العطاءِ

    فمنه السرور ومنكَ الغِنى

    As though you two had become equal in giving:

    From him comes joy, and from you comes wealth.

  19. وماذا أهنِي بهذا الوسامِ

    وأنت لكلّ وسامٍ هنا

    And how can I congratulate you on this medal,

    When you yourself are a joy to every medal?

  20. يُحلِّي المليكُ بهِ منك صدراً

    به من مزاياك أَسمى الحُلى

    The king adorns your breast with it,

    Where your virtues form the loftiest ornaments.

  21. فيسطَعُ للعينِ منه الشُّعاعُ

    بن مكارمكم والوفا

    So radiance shines from it before the eye,

    [Unclear opening word] your noble deeds and fidelity.

  22. ومَن كان فَضلكَ في كفِّهِ

    تملَّكَ من دهرِهِ ما اشتهى

    And whoever holds your bounty in his hand

    Gains from his lifetime whatever he desires.

  23. ومَن كان عزمك في جنبهِ

    أَصاب الثريا مكانَ الثرى

    And whoever has your resolve at his side

    Reaches the Pleiades in place of the earth.

  24. فلا عَدمَتكَ عيونُ البلاد

    لأَنك نجمٌ به يُهتدى

    So may the land's eyes never lose you,

    For you are a star by which one finds the way.

  25. ولا حُرِمَت منك ارضُ الشآمِ

    وان حملَت مصرُ وقر الهوى

    And may the land of al-Sham never be deprived of you,

    Even though Egypt has borne the burden of love.