1. يا حُسْنَهُ قَمَراً وَأَنْتَ سَماؤُهُ

    أَطْلَعْتَهُ فَجَلا الظَّلامَ ضِياؤُهُ

    How beautiful he is as a moon, and you his sky!

    You made him rise, and his light dispelled the darkness.

  2. يا سَعْدَهُ مِنْ قادِمٍ سُرَّ السُّرُو

    رُ بِهِ وَهُنَّئَ بِالخُلُودِ هَناؤُهُ

    How fortunate this newcomer—joy itself rejoiced

    in him, and his happiness was hailed as everlasting.

  3. وافاكَ فِي جَيْشِ الْفَخارِ مُتَوَّجاً

    بِالْحَمْدِ خَفّاقاً عَلَيْهِ لِواؤُهُ

    He came to you in glory's army, crowned

    with praise, his banner fluttering above him.

  4. قَمَرٌ كَفى الأَقمارَ سَعْداً أَنَّها

    أَشْباهُهُ فِي الْمَجْدِ أَوْ أَكْفاؤُهُ

    A moon—the moons have fortune enough in being

    his likenesses in glory, or his equals.

  5. يُمْسِي وَيُصْبِحُ فِي الْبَقاءِ شَرِيكَها

    أَبَداً كَما هِيَ فِي الْعُلى شُرَكاؤُهُ

    At evening and morning he shares their lasting life

    forever, as they share his lofty rank.

  6. كَفَلَتْ عُلاكَ لَهُ بِكُلِّ فَضِيلَةٍ

    إِنَّ النَّبِيهَ نَبِيهَةٌ أَبْناؤُهُ

    Your eminence has guaranteed him every virtue;

    surely the illustrious man's sons are illustrious.

  7. مَنْ كُنْتَ أَنْتَ أَباهُ كانَ لِمَجْدِهِ

    أَنْ يَسْتَطِيلَ وَأَنْ يُشادَ بِناؤُهُ

    Whoever has you as his father, his glory has the right

    to tower high and have its edifice raised.

  8. تُنمى الْفُرُوعُ إِلى الأُصُولِ وَخَيْرُها

    وَأَجَلُّها فَرْعٌ إِلَيْكَ نَماؤُهُ

    Branches are traced to roots; the best of them

    and noblest is a branch that traces back to you.

  9. مَنْ كانَ مِنْ نَجْلِ الْبُدُورِ وَنَجْرِها

    لَمْ يَعْدُها إِشْراقُهُ وَعَلاؤُهُ

    Whoever is of the offspring and stock of full moons,

    his radiance and eminence do not go beyond theirs.

  10. وَلَقَدْ ثَلَثْتَ النَّيِّرَيْنِ بِثالِثٍ

    لَوْلاكَ أَعْجَزَ ناظِراً نُظَراؤُهُ

    And indeed, you have added a third to the two luminaries;

    but for you, his equals would elude any observer.

  11. لا فَرْقَ بَيْنَهُما يُعَدَّ وَبَيْنَةُ

    فِي الْفَضْلِ لولا بَأْسُهُ وَسَخاؤُهُ

    No difference is reckoned between the two and him

    in excellence, were it not for his valor and generosity.

  12. مَنْ ذا يَذُمُّ الشَّمْسَ عَمَّ ضِياؤُها

    أَمْ مَنْ يَعِيبُ الْبَدْرَ تَمَّ بَهاؤُهُ

    Who could fault the sun, whose light spreads everywhere?

    Or who could fault the full moon, whose beauty is complete?

  13. وَهُما هُما لكِنَّ مَنْ لِمُؤَمِّلٍ

    أَكْدَتْ مَطالِبُهُ وَخابَ رَجاؤُهُ

    They are what they are—but who will help one who hopes,

    whose pursuits prove fruitless and whose hope is dashed,

  14. وَطَرِيدِ خَوْفٍ لا يُحاوَلُ مَنْعُهُ

    سُدَّتْ مَطالِعُهُ وَعَزَّ نَجاؤُهُ

    and one driven out by fear, whom no one tries to protect,

    whose ways out are blocked and whose escape is hard,

  15. وَأَسِيرَ دَهْرٍ لا يُرامُ فَكاكُهُ

    وَقَتِيلِ فَقْرٍ لا يُرى إِحْياؤُهُ

    and time's captive, whose release no one seeks,

    and one slain by poverty, whose revival none foresees?

  16. لَمْ يُعْطَ هذا الدَّهْرُ قَطُّ فَضِيلَةً

    كَنَدى أَبِي الْيُمْنِ الْجَزِيلِ عَطاؤُهُ

    This age has never been granted a virtue

    like the bounty of Abu al-Yumn, whose giving is abundant.

  17. إِنَّ الْكِرامَ لِداءٍ كُلِّ مُلِمَّةٍ

    أَعْيا عَلَى الْفَلَكِ الْعَلِيِّ دَواؤُهُ

    Indeed, the noble, for the malady of every calamity

    that has defied the lofty firmament, are its cure.

  18. ما مَرَّ خَطْبٌ مُمْرِضٌ إِلاّ وَفِي

    أَيْدِي بَنِي عَبْدِ اللَّطِيفِ شِفاؤُهُ

    No sickening calamity ever came but in

    the hands of the sons of Abd al-Latif lay its cure.

  19. إِنّ الْمُيَسَّرِ وَهْوَ كَوْكَبُ سَعْدِهِمْ

    لَيَجِلُّ عَنْ رَأْدِ الضُّحى إِمْساؤُهُ

    Indeed, al-Muyassar, their star of good fortune:

    his evening far outshines the height of morning.

  20. وَلَدٌ إِذا فَخَرَتْ بِآباءِ الْعُلى

    أَوْلادُها فَخَرَتْ بِهِ آباؤُهُ

    A son: when the fathers of eminence are vaunted

    by its children, his own fathers boast of him.

  21. مَنْ رامَ مُشْبِهَهُ سِوى أَسْلافِهِ

    فِي الْمَكْرُماتِ الْغُرِّ طالَ عَناؤُهُ

    Whoever seeks his like outside his forebears

    in resplendent noble deeds will toil long.

  22. مَلَكَ الْجَمالَ فَأَشْرَقَتْ لأْلاؤُهُ

    وَحَبا الْجَمِيلَ فَأَغْرَقَتْ آلاؤُهُ

    He possessed beauty, so his brilliance shone;

    and bestowed kindness, so his favors overflowed.

  23. مِثْلُ الْحَيا سَطَعَتْ لَوامِعُ بَرْقِهِ

    فِي أُفْقِهِ وَتَبَجَّسَتْ أَنْواؤُهُ

    Like life-giving rain, the flashes of his lightning blazed

    on his horizon, and his showers gushed forth.

  24. قُلِّدْتَ مِنْهُ مُهَنَّداً ما سُلَّ إِ

    لا راق رَوْنَقُهُ وَراعَ مَضاؤُهُ

    Through him you were girded with an Indian-steel sword, never drawn

    without its sheen delighting and its sharpness striking awe.

  25. تَسْمُو بِأَخْمَصِهِ الْمَنابِرُ واطِئاً

    وَتَتِيهُ إِنْ رُقِيَتْ بِها خُطَباؤُهُ

    Pulpits rise beneath the arch of his foot as he treads them,

    and his orators exult when those pulpits are ascended.

  26. وَيُجِلُّ قَدْرَ الْمَدْحِ عاطِرُ مَدْحِهِ

    وَيَطُولُ عَنْ حُسْنِ الثَّناءِ ثَناؤُهُ

    His fragrant praise exalts the worth of praise,

    and his praise surpasses the beauty of eulogy.

  27. وَكَأَنَّما أَخْلاقُهُ أَعْراقُهُ

    وَكَأَنَّما أَفْعالُهُ أَسْماؤُهُ

    And it is as though his virtues were his lineage,

    and as though his deeds were his names.

  28. جارى الأُصُولَ فَجِدُّهُ مِنْ جَدِّهِ

    فِي النّائِباتِ وَمِنْ أَبِيهِ إِباؤُهُ

    He matched his forebears: his resolve comes from his grandfather

    in calamities, and his unbowed spirit from his father.

  29. فتَهَنَّهُ وَتَمَلَّ عَيْشَكَ لابِساً

    فَضْفاضَ عَيْشٍ لا يَضِيقُ فَضاؤُهُ

    So rejoice in him and long enjoy your life, clad

    in the ample robe of a life whose expanse never narrows.

  30. وَتَهَنَّ إِخْوَتَهُ الَّذِينَ وُرُودُهُمْ

    دَيْنٌ عَلَى الأَيّامِ حَلَّ قَضاؤُهُ

    And rejoice in his brothers, whose arrival

    is a debt owed by the days, now due for payment,

  31. حَتّى تَراهُمْ مِنْ تَنُوخٍ أُسْرَةً

    كَرُمَ الزَّمانُ بِأَنَّهُمْ كُرَماؤُهُ

    until you see them as a family of Tanukh,

    the age made noble because they are its noble men.

  32. واسْتَعْلِ وَابْقَ فَما لِراجٍ مُنْيَةٌ

    إِلا بَقاؤُكَ لِلْعُلى وَبَقاؤُهُ

    And rise high and live on; no hopeful soul has a wish

    but that you and he live on for eminence.

  33. إِنِّي هَجَرْتُ الْعالَمِينَ إِلى الَّذِي

    هَجَرَ الْغَبِيَّ إِلى الأَبِيِّ صَفاؤُهُ

    I have forsaken all mankind for the one

    whose affection forsook the dull-witted for the noble-spirited.

  34. شُكْراً وَكَيْفَ جُحُودُ فَضْلِ مُؤَمَّلٍ

    شَهِدَتْ بِباهِرِ فَضْلِهِ أَعْداؤُهُ

    In gratitude—how deny the merit of one looked to with hope,

    whose enemies attest his dazzling merit?

  35. لا يُصْلِتُ الْبَطَلُ الْمُقارِعُ سَيْفَهُ

    إِلاّ إِذا ما الرُّمْحُ قَلَّ غَناؤُهُ

    The battling hero does not unsheathe his sword

    except when the spear's usefulness has waned.