عليك برأي السيف فهو سديد

إذا خان ذو عهد وضلَّ رشيد

Heed the sword's counsel, for it is sound,

when a covenant-holder betrays and a wise man goes astray.

وفي حكم مادون الظبا مثنويةٌ

يناقش فيها حاكمٌ وشهودُ

In judgments short of the blades, there is room for qualification,

which a judge and witnesses debate.

ومارد من كان الحسامُ شفيعَه

ولا صدَّ عمّا يشتهى ويريد

And none was refused whose intercessor was the keen sword,

nor barred from what he craves and desires.

دعت بالردى لما دعت عزمك العدى

فجردته والطالعات سعود

Your foes invoked doom when they summoned your resolve,

so you unsheathed it while auspicious stars were rising.

وأقبلت تملي الأرض وهي عريضةٌ

بجيش تكاد الأَرض منه تميد

And you advanced, filling the earth, vast though it is,

with an army that almost makes the earth reel.

بعيد مدى الأقطار لو طاول امرؤ

به الأرض ساواها وكاد يزيد

Vast in its reach across the regions—were a man to measure

it against the earth, it would equal the earth and nearly surpass it.

يسد على الريح الطريق أما ترى

عواليه لم تخفق لهن بنود

It blocks the wind's path—do you not see

its tall lances, whose banners have not fluttered?

به كل ضرغام بحلة آرقم

تحاكي غدير الماء وهي حديد

Within it, every lion wears a speckled serpent's robe,

resembling a pool of water, though it is iron,

على كل طرف ما يظن لراكب

على غير معوجّ إليه صعود

upon each noble steed, which no rider thinks

he can mount without a curved support.

إِذا ملكت كف الطلوب عنانه

تساوى قريب عنده وبعيدُ

When the eager pursuer's hand takes its rein,

near and far become alike to it.

واشقى الورى باغ له النحس طالع

يهمُّ به ملك أغرُّ سعيد

The most wretched mortal is a rebel with ill fortune rising,

against whom a radiant, fortunate king directs his resolve.

إِذا ضرمت أعداه ناراً فإنهم

لها حطب يوم اللقا ووقود

When his foes kindle a fire, they themselves

are its firewood and fuel on the day of battle.

وما برحوا للبيض والسمر عنهم

وفيهم صدود دائم وورود

White blades and brown lances never cease drawing back from them

and plunging into them—an endless withdrawal and return.

فما بقعة في الأَرض إِلا وفوقها

قتيل من الأَعدا له وطريد

There is no spot on earth but has upon it

one of his slain enemies and one driven away.

كأَنهم زرع به تعلف الظبا

فمنهم لديها قائم وحصيد

As though they were a crop on which the blades feed:

some stand before them, and some are reaped.

فواعجبا كم يأكل السيفُ منهم

أما رجلٌ في هؤلاء رشيد

How wondrous—how many of them the sword devours!

Is there no wise man among these?

بلى قل ولكن من يرد يد القضا

ومنه عليه سائق وشهيدٌ

Yes, say so—but who can repel the hand of fate,

when a driver and a witness from it stand against him?

تركت الأَعادى يختشي الوالد ابنه

والابن أبوه والورود ورودُ

You have left your enemies with fathers fearing their sons,

and sons their fathers—even roses seem lions.

سياسيةُ ملك في الرياسة معرقٍ

يدل بنيى السادات كيف تسودُ

Such is the statecraft of a king deeply rooted in sovereignty,

who shows the sons of lords how to rule.

إذا الناصر بن الأَشرف الملك اعترى

فكل الذي فوق الصعيد صعيدُ

When King al-Nasir, son of al-Ashraf, attacks,

all that stands above the dust is turned to dust.

له همة يستصغر الدهر عندها

وشأو إذا رام البعيد بعيدُ

He has ambition beside which time seems small,

and a reach that stretches far when he seeks the far-off.

تعدُّ ولا تحصى ملوك توارثت

إِذا عُدَّ آباءٌ له وجدودُ

Kings inheriting in succession are counted, yet beyond all counting,

when his fathers and grandfathers are reckoned.

تبابعة لا يعرفُ الأرض غيرهم

ملوك لهم كلُّ الملوك عبيدُ

Tubbaʿ kings—none but they know the earth,

kings to whom all kings are slaves.

سموا للعلى والدهر في حجر أُمه

وساسوا البرايا والزمان وليد

They rose to the heights while time lay in its mother's lap,

and ruled creation while time was a newborn.

لهم كل فخر فالثناء عليهم

كما هو يبلي الدهر وهو جديد

All glory is theirs; the praise of them,

unchanged, wears out time while remaining new.

وليس بفان من له كصنيعه

بقآءً وللذكر الجميل خلود

Nor does one perish who, like his good deeds, has

enduring life; noble remembrance is immortal.

له بهم فخر ولكن فخرهم

بأحمد من كل الفخار يزيدُ

His pride is in them, but their pride

in Ahmad exceeds every other glory.

مليك وفي لا يخادع خصمه

ولا ينصب الأَشراك حين يصيدُ

A faithful king who does not deceive his adversary,

nor set snares when he hunts,

ولكن جِهارا يأخذ الحق عنوةً

وما احتال في أخذ الحقوق جليدُ

but openly takes his rightful due by force;

no stout-hearted man uses guile to claim rights.

فتلك سَراياه وهذي جيوُشه

لها كل يوم بالفتوحِ يزيدُ

Those are his detachments, and these his armies;

each day he adds to their conquests.

ووفد من الشرى تحطَ وخلفهم

من النصر والفتح المبين وفودُ

And a delegation from al-Shara's lion-haunts alights, and behind them

come delegations of victory and manifest conquest.

فيا ملك الدنيا ويابن ملوكها

ومن لم يزل يبدى بها ويعيدُ

O king of the world, and son of its kings,

and you who have ever begun and begun anew within it,

ويا من أياديه وحسن صنيعه

قلائدُ في جيد العلى وعقودُ

O you whose favors and fine beneficence

are necklaces and jeweled strands around glory's neck,

اقل معشراً لا ذوا بعفوك عثرة

فما خاف ما خافوه منك مزيدُ

pardon the stumble of a people who sought refuge in your pardon;

for no greater fear exists than what they feared from you [wording unclear].

ومن كف خوف السيف فاقطع بأنه

إذا تاب عن ذنب فليس يعودُ

And if someone desists for fear of the sword, be certain

that if he repents of a sin, he will not return to it.

فانت سخيٌ والسخآء شجاعةٌ

وأَنت شجاعٌ والشَّجاعةُ جودُ

For you are generous, and generosity is courage,

and you are courageous, and courage is generosity.

وأَمران اشكو منهما كل واحد

به الخطب عند الانفراد شديدُ

And I lament two things, each one

a severe ordeal even on its own:

لقا جبلة وهي الأمر مذاقه

وفقدُ زبيد والحياة زبيدُ

meeting Jibla, the bitterer in taste,

and the loss of Zabid—for life is Zabid.

إِذا شطًّ عني من أريدُ فمحنتي

بقربي ممن لا أريد تريدُ

When the one I desire is far from me, my affliction

grows through my nearness to those I do not desire.

سلام على الدنيا فروح تهامة

وراحتها الدنيا وأَنت شهيدُ

Farewell to the world! For Tihama's soul

and its comfort are the world—you are witness.

فراق زبيد شدة فعلى الفتى

إِذا انكشفت عنه وعاد سجود

Parting from Zabid is hardship; a man must,

when it lifts and he returns, prostrate himself.

فيارب لفَّ الشمل فيها بأَحمدٍ

سريعاً وقل عد سالما فيعودُ

O Lord, reunite us there with Ahmad,

swiftly, and say, 'Return safely,' and he will return.