هو البدر في أفلاكه يتنقل

تحل به فيها السعود وترحل

He is the full moon, moving among his orbits;

Within them, good fortunes alight and depart with him.

فإن سار فالعلياء والمجد مركب

وإن حل فالافراج والبشر منزل

So if he journeys, high honor and glory are his mount;

And if he alights, relief and gladness are his dwelling.

وتخصب أرض حلها بعد جدبها

وتورق حتى الصخر فيها ويبقل

And a land where he settles grows fertile after its barrenness;

And even its rocks put forth leaves and sprout greenery.

وما ضرها أن السحائب أقبلت

وأنملة فيها تسح وتهمل

And the clouds' approach does it no harm,

While a fingertip there pours abundantly and streams.

إذا أمطرت ارضا سحائب جوده

فلا القطر مرفوع ولا العام ممحل

When the clouds of his generosity rain upon a land,

Its rain is never withheld, nor is its year drought-stricken.

وتحسد أرض فيه أرضا إذا مشى

ومس ثراها من مواطيه انعل

One land envies another for him when he walks

And the sandals on his feet touch its soil.

أبا أحمد قد قدس الله بقعة

تظل المطايا نحوها بك ترفل

O Abu Ahmad, God has indeed sanctified a spot

Toward which the mounts keep striding proudly, bearing you.

هنيئا لأهل الشام إنك رحمة

من الله فيهم من قريب تنزل

Joy to the people of al-Sham: you are a mercy

From God, soon to descend among them.

غدا وخيول العدل منبك مغيرة

على جنبات الجور تسبي وتقتل

He set forth, with justice's cavalry charging from you [reading uncertain],

Against the flanks of tyranny, taking captives and killing.

يطيرها إن طار في الأفق خلفه

وتحزن في عقباه ركضا وتسهل

If it flies to the horizon, he sends them flying after it,

And they gallop in its wake over rugged ground and level plains.

ولا تأتلي حتى تعفى مكانه

وتغسله والجور بالعدل يغسل

And spare no effort until they obliterate its seat,

And wash it clean—for tyranny is washed away with justice.

وتنكشف الغما ويبصر ذو العما

ويفتح باب للندى ليس يقفل

And distress clears away, and the blind see,

And a gate to generosity is opened, never to be shut.

وحسب البرايا منك رؤية طلعة

يرى يمنها في داره المتأمل

All creatures need only a glimpse of your countenance,

Whose blessing the beholder sees in his own home,

وظل مديد فيه حبا تفيؤا

إذا حالت الأفيآء لا تتحول

And a far-reaching shade, beneath which shelter is bestowed;

When other shadows shift, you do not change.

تجيب على بعد نداء صريخهم

وتحمل من أعبائهم ما تحملوا

Even from afar, you answer their cry for help,

And shoulder the burdens they have borne.

وأنت بهم أحفى من الأب بابنه

وألين فيهم منه خلقا وأسهل

You care for them more tenderly than a father for his son,

And are gentler in disposition toward them than he, and more lenient.

يمتون من نعماك فيهم بحرمة

إليك بها ما خاب من يتوصل

Through your favors to them, they claim an honored bond

With you; none who seeks access through it has been disappointed.

وحسن ظنون فيك مازلت عندها

تصدق ما ترويه عنك وتنقل

And their good expectations of you—you have always met them,

Confirming what they recount and relate about you.

أبا أحمد تهنيك رؤيتك ابنه

فقرة عين المرء شبل يشبل

O Abu Ahmad, may seeing his son bring you joy:

For a man's delight is a lion cub that sires cubs.

تفرع من فرع ترعرع ناشئا

فبورك في الفرعين ثان واول

He sprang from a branch that flourished as it grew;

So may both branches be blessed, the second and the first.

وبورك في الميلاد منه وأصبحت

عليه المعالي وهو طفل يطفل

And blessed be his offspring's birth; already

Lofty honors rest upon him, though he is a child in infancy.

ومن كان إسمعيل اصلا لفرعه

نشا نشأة فيها الفلاح موكل

And whoever has Isma'il as the root of his branch

Grows up with success entrusted to watch over his upbringing.

وأمست باذن الله في حفظ عهده

ملائكة والروح فيها تنزل

And by God's leave, his covenant is now kept by

Angels, among whom the Spirit descends.

يحوطونه من كل سوء يناله

ويرعونه والله يرعاه من علو

They guard him from every evil that might befall him,

And watch over him, while God watches over him from on high.

وأنت أبا العباس للخلق كلهم

إذا فزعوا حصن منيع ومعقل

And you, O Abu al-Abbas, are for all creatures,

When they are afraid, an impregnable fortress and refuge.

شغلت الورى عمن سواك من الورى

فليس لهم إلا عليك معول

You have engrossed mankind, turning them from all others,

So they have no one but you to rely upon.

وانسيتهم آباءهم وبنيهم

ومثلك محبوبا ينسي ويشغل

And made them forget their fathers and their sons;

And a beloved such as you makes them forget and engrosses them.

جرى في مجاري الروح حبك فيهم

فلم يبق عرق لست فيه ومفصل

Love for you has flowed through them in the channels of the soul,

So no vein or joint remains in which you are absent.

وفي مهجتي حب وأزعم أنه

يكافىء حب العالمين ويعدل

And in my heart is a love which, I claim,

Matches and equals the love of all creation.