جرى لك في خرق العوائد والعرف

غرائب ادناها يجل عن الوصف

In defiance of customary ways and convention, there have come to pass for you

wonders, the least of which surpasses description.

فمن شط عنك اليوم جهلا وغرة

اتاك ذليلا في غد راغم الانف

Whoever strays far from you today through ignorance and heedlessness

will come to you tomorrow abased, his nose rubbed in the dust.

وعادتك الحسنى مع الله وعدها

بما أنت تهوى في امان من الخلف

Your happy experience with God carries a promise

of what you desire, safe from ever being broken.

إذا رمت أمراً يقتضي العقل بعده

على السعي قال السعد ذلك في الكف

When you seek a thing that reason judges beyond

the reach of effort, good fortune says: ‘It is in your palm.’

وكم من يد لله عندك ما جرت

بامر قياسي ولا نظر عرفي

How many a favor God has shown you has come about

by no rule of analogy or customary reasoning.

ولكن كرامات ظهرن لربنا

عليك لكي ينفي من الشرك ما ينفى

Rather, these are miraculous favors of our Lord, made manifest

upon you, to dispel whatever can be dispelled of polytheism.

فسعدك جيش لا يطاق نزاله

بحرب متى تبعث به وحده يكفى

Your good fortune is an army whose assault cannot be withstood;

whenever you send it alone to war, it suffices.

ويأخذ من ف يالبر والبحر إن غدا

ويدرك من فات الصوارم في الكف

It seizes whoever is on land and sea when it advances,

and overtakes those who escape the sharp swords held in the hand.

واشقى الورى هذا المعذب نفسه

بما خاض من موج ومن مسلك عنف

Most wretched of mankind is this man who tormented himself

with the waves he braved and the harsh paths he took,

وهجر بلاد أنت سلطان أهلها

إلى بلد للهسف لاقاه والخسف

and abandoned a land whose people have you as sovereign

for a land where [unclear affliction] and humiliation met him.

وما زال يرمي بالخطوب ونفسه

تقطع من فرط التاسف واللهف

He was continually assailed by calamities, while his soul

was torn apart by excessive regret and anguish,

إلى ان رثا الأعدا له فرحمته

وقلبك ادنى ما يكون إلى العطف

until even his enemies pitied him; then you showed him mercy,

your heart being as near to compassion as can be.

وامنته لو كان لم يعمه القضا

ويمنعه من عطف لديك ومن لطف

You would have granted him safety, had fate not blinded him

and barred him from the compassion and kindness you offered.

دعوت به نحو الحياة فلم يجب

ووافاه مجيبا من دعاه إلى الحتف

You summoned him toward life, but he did not answer;

yet he came obediently to the one who called him to death.

فعاهده مكرا يحاول اسره

لكي يفتدي منه بمال ويستكفى

That man made a treacherous pact with him, seeking to capture him,

so that he might be ransomed from him for money, and his harm averted.

وسعدك قد ألجا إلى قتله له

لتحرز أنت المال عن ذلك الخلف

But your good fortune compelled him to kill him,

so that you, instead of that base fellow, would secure the wealth.

فكان عليه وحده عار قتله

وكانت لك الاموال عفو بلا صدف

Thus the shame of killing him fell on him alone,

while the wealth became yours freely, without hindrance.

فلا سعد الا ما ينال به الفتى

امانيه من غير لوم ولا قذف

There is no true good fortune but that whereby a man attains

his wishes without reproach or slander.

لقد ظهرت في ردة الامن خيرة

ظفرت به من غير عقد ولا حلف

His rejection of safety indeed proved a blessing:

you prevailed over him without a covenant or an oath.

وما كانت الا حساب لا جآء تائبا

تخليك ان تشفى من الغيظ ما يشفى

It was only a reckoning; he did not come repentant [text unclear],

leaving you free to assuage whatever wrath could be assuaged.

وكان يحرى لو اتاك صنيعه

سواه وياتى مثل ماته يستعفى

It would have been fitting, had his deed been done to you

by another, that one doing its like should seek pardon [text unclear].

وحسبك فعل الله فاملا من الكرى

جفونا إذا امسى امرؤ ساهر الطرف

God's action is enough for you; so fill with sleep

your eyelids, when another man spends the night wakeful.

تعودت ان يجرى القضاء بما تشا

وانت على المعهود من ذلك الالف

You are accustomed to fate proceeding as you wish,

and you remain in that familiar, established pattern.

وان تر في بعض القضايا توقفا

فان نجاح السعي في ذلك الوقف

If you see a delay in certain matters,

the success of your effort lies in that very delay.

وما فات ما يمسي القضاء يحوشه

إليك ويحببا من أمام ومن خلف

Nothing is lost that fate keeps gathering

to you, bringing it from before and behind.

فثق بعنايات الإله فانها

وفاء من المكروه سامية السجف

So trust in God's protective care, for it is

a shield from harm, its curtains soaring high.

وانك للمنصور اسما وشيمة وتصديق

هذا الوصف قد بان في الوصف

You are indeed al-Mansur, ‘the Victorious,’ in name and character; the proof

of this epithet stands revealed in the description.

بنفسي من لا نفس تشبه نفسه

كمالاً وفيضا بالمعارف والعرف

My life be ransom for him whose soul no other soul resembles,

in perfection and abundance of knowledge and kindness.

بصير بانواع النقادة في الورى

يميز ما بين الرجال من الصرف

Skilled in the various ways of assaying mankind,

he discerns the true metal among men.

وبينهم فيما علمت تفاوت

عظيم تراه العين ما فيه من خلف

Among them, so far as I know, there are differences

so great the eye can see them, beyond all dispute.

فما كرجال السيف بالارجل السوا

لديك رجال البطى بالارجل الحنف

For the swordsmen, with their straight legs, are not matched,

in your eyes, by the slow-footed men with crooked legs.

الا ان عبدالله في الملك واحد

كالف ملوكا بل يزيد على الالف

Behold, Abdallah is one man in kingship,

yet worth a thousand kings—indeed, more than a thousand.

دعوا ذكر كسرى في الملك وقيصر

فاين من البدر السها ليلة النصف

Cease speaking of Kisra and Caesar in kingship:

what is al-Suha beside the full moon on the fifteenth night?

وما راسخ في الملك والمجد معرق

كمن بات فيه مستقيما على حرف

One firmly rooted in kingship and deeply rooted in glory

is not like one who stands upright there upon an edge.

تنام وكم من ساهر لك خيفة

من الرعب لا من بعث جيش ولا زحف

You sleep, while many stay awake in fear of you,

from dread, not from an army dispatched or an advance.

إذا كنت تعطي واشتكى المال هلكه

بكفك قال الجود يا كفه كفى

When you give, and wealth complains of being exhausted

by your hand, Generosity says: ‘O hand of his, enough!’

وحلمك حلم لا تحرك طوده من

الطيش ريح زادها الغيظ في العصف

Your forbearance is such that its mountain cannot be stirred by

a wind of recklessness whose force anger has increased.

وجودك بحر لا تكدره الدلا

فيؤمر مدليهن بالكف والكف

Your generosity is a sea no buckets can muddy,

so no one lowering them is told to hold back and desist.

يفضي على المخطى ويستر ذنيه

إذا خاف من هتك الوقيعة والكشف

It overlooks the offender and conceals his sin,

when he fears the disgrace of slander and exposure.

وكلك احسان إلى الناس كلهم

عممتهم بالعدل في الحكم والنصف

You are wholly kindness toward all mankind;

you have embraced them all with justice in judgment and fairness,

وبالجود والاحسان والعفو والرضا

فأيامك الحسنى توارخ للعرف

with generosity, benevolence, pardon, and favor.

Thus your gracious days are chronicles of kindness.

نحبك حب الماء في شدة الظما

لمن ظل في حر الهواجر يستطفى

We love you as water is loved in the fiercest thirst

by one who spends the scorching noons seeking cool relief.

وألسننا تبدى وتخفى لك الدعا

فاكثر مما نحن نبديه ما يخفى

Our tongues voice prayers for you and keep them hidden,

yet what remains hidden is more than what we reveal.

فإنى لمن لم يجعل الشكر والدعا

بمسد إليه الخير شغلا له أف

For my part, to anyone who does not make gratitude and prayer

for his benefactor his occupation, I say: ‘Fie!’

الهي فاحرسه بعينك واكفه

بعونك واكلاه بما قلت في الصحف

My God, guard him with Your eye and meet his needs

with Your aid; protect him by what You have said in the scriptures.

ومد له في العمر وانصر جيوشه

ودمر عداه بالمثقفة الرعف

Prolong his life and grant his armies victory,

and destroy his foes with straightened, blood-dripping spears.