1. ما للعلى عتبٌ على الأيامِ

    ولهابكم هذا المحلُّ السامي

    Glory has no grievance against the days,

    for through you it holds this lofty station.

  2. عودتموها مالها تعتاده

    أبداً من الإِجلالِ والإِكرامِ

    You have accustomed it to the regard it rightly enjoys,

    ever, in reverence and honor.

  3. حامت على العليا الملوكُ وما اهتدوا

    لدخولها ودخلتها بسلامِ

    Kings hovered about the highest eminence, but found no way

    to enter it, while you entered it in peace.

  4. لكَ كل يوم في المكارم بدعةٌ

    لا تعتدى في فعلها بإمامِ

    Each day you devise a new act of generosity,

    following no leader's example in performing it.

  5. تتصاءلُ الأحساب عنك وتختفي

    أدباً بها في الناس حين تُسامي

    Noble lineages dwindle beside you and hide,

    out of their own courtesy among men when you vie for eminence.

  6. الملك بينكمُ بحقِ وراثةٍ

    يقضي وبين الناس بالأقسامِ

    Kingship among you, by hereditary right,

    is decreed; among other men, by allotted shares.

  7. يمسي الفتى المملوك لاقى أرضكم

    ملكاً قريب العهد بالإِرغامِ

    An enslaved youth who reaches your land becomes

    a king, though only lately subjected to humiliation.

  8. من في الملوك يعد ما عددتمُ

    فيهم من الآباء لا الأعمامِ

    Who among kings can count as many as you have counted

    among them as fathers, not paternal uncles?

  9. ما همَّ من يقفو أباه منكم

    إلاّ المزيدَ عليه في الإِكرامِ

    No one among you who follows his father aspires

    to anything but surpassing him in generosity.

  10. فلذاك طلتم كلًَّ ملكٍ في الورى

    فخراً وايد ملككم بدوامِ

    Thus you surpass every king among mankind

    in glory, and your kingship is sustained in perpetuity.

  11. وإذا جرى صدع لأمتمُ شعثهُ

    وسواه ما صدع له بملامِ

    Whenever a breach occurs, you mend its disarray,

    while for another ruler, each breach brings reproach.

  12. في كل ارض كل عام دولة

    تمضى وتؤذن دولة بقيامِ

    In every land, each year, a dynasty

    passes away, and another dynasty heralds its rise.

  13. ودوامَ ملككم دليلُ أنكم

    توفون شكراً أوجب الإِنعامَ

    The endurance of your kingship is proof that you

    render in full the gratitude that has earned beneficence.

  14. في الجاهليةِ ما نظرتُم ملككُمْ

    فلذاك دامَ ودامَ في الإِسلام

    In the age of ignorance, you did not dwell on your kingship;

    thus it endured, and endured into Islam.

  15. الملكُ فيكم نسبةٌ خلقيةٌ

    من جُملتي لحم به وعِظام

    Kingship in you is an inborn bond,

    part of the two constituents of your being: flesh and bone.

  16. ملكٌ تولّى الله فيكم وضعَهُ

    فارقد فربُّ العالمين يُحامي

    A kingship whose place among you God Himself established:

    so sleep, for the Lord of the worlds stands guard.

  17. ما قولي ارقد طالباً لك نومة

    عند الخطوب فلست بالنوّامِ

    When I say 'sleep,' I am not asking you to slumber

    amid calamities, for you are not one to sleep.

  18. لكنْ لتعلمَ أنَّ ربك قائمٌ

    بالأمر دون علاك خير قيامِ

    But that you may know your Lord stands

    in charge, defending your glory with the finest care.

  19. قد كان سعدك كافياً لولا الذي

    تهوى من الإِسراجِ والإِلجامِ

    Your good fortune would have sufficed, were it not for what

    you love: saddling and bridling.

  20. يأبى اهتمامك أن يقال ملكتها

    بالسعد لا بذؤابةِ الصَّمصام

    Your zeal refuses to let it be said you gained it

    through good fortune, not through the tassel of the keen sword.

  21. ولقد كفيتَ من الخطوب أجلّها

    ولقد حميت فكنت خير محامي

    And indeed you have warded off the gravest calamities,

    and indeed you gave protection, proving the finest defender.

  22. ودفعَت في صدرِ الزمان براحةً

    ألقته عنا للقفا والهامَ

    And you struck Time in the chest with a palm

    that hurled him away from us onto his nape and crown.

  23. وإذا طلعتَ على العدا في موكبٍ

    ورأوا نجوماً حول بَدرٍ تَمامِ

    When you appear before the enemy in a cavalcade,

    and they see stars around a moon at the full,

  24. خفقَ اللوآءُ على المدمر خصمه

    بصوارمٍ وذوابلٍ وسِهَامِ

    the banner flutters above him who destroys his foe

    with keen swords, slender spears, and arrows.

  25. ما ملك عبد هواه يعدل ملك

    عبد الله في نقض ولا إبرام

    The kingship of a slave to his desire cannot equal the kingship

    of God's servant, in rescinding or ratifying.

  26. المالكُ المنصورُ وابن الناصر

    ابن الأشرف ابن الأفضل الضرغامِ

    The sovereign al-Mansur, also son of al-Nasir,

    son of al-Ashraf, son of al-Afdal, the lion,

  27. وابن المجاهِد والمؤيِد والمظفّرَ

    والشهيدِ فرائدٌ بنظامِ

    and son of al-Mujahid, al-Mu'ayyad, and al-Muzaffar,

    and al-Shahid—choice pearls upon one strand.

  28. من لم يتمم فَخَرهُ بين الورى

    فخرَ الأبوةَ لم يفز بِتمامِ

    He whose glory among mankind is not completed

    by the glory of his fathers has not attained perfection.

  29. ما فخر من لم ترضه آباؤه

    إلاّ افتخاراً يعترى بسَقامَ

    The glory of one whose fathers have not schooled him

    is only boasting afflicted with sickness.

  30. فتهنهُ عيداً أتاك مبشراً

    لك بالمنى ونبيل كلٍّ مرامِ

    So enjoy a feast day that has come to you with glad tidings,

    for you, of wishes and every noble aspiration.