1. قدمتَ قدوماً كان أشهى إِلى الناس

    من الغوث بعد الاستغاثة والياسِ

    You came, and your coming was sweeter to the people

    than succor after cries for help and despair.

  2. فحل زبيد الأنس من بعد وحشة

    وبيت الحسين الوحش من بعد إيناسِ

    So fellowship settled in Zabid after loneliness,

    and Bayt al-Husayn knew desolation after fellowship.

  3. فارضٌ تليها أكرم الأرض بقعةً

    وساكن أرض زرتها أسعد الناسِ

    Thus a land you govern is earth's noblest spot,

    and an inhabitant of a land you have visited is the happiest of people.

  4. قدمت فودّت إذ تلقاك أهلها

    بان تتلقاكم وتسعى على الراس

    You arrived; as her people greeted you, she wished

    to greet you all and hasten upon her head.

  5. وأقبلت والأفراح تفعل في الورى

    كما فعلت في شارب سورة الكاسِ

    You approached, while joys worked upon mankind

    as the wine-cup's heady force acts upon a drinker.

  6. تساير نصر الله والمجد والعلا

    وتصبحَ منهم جالساً بين جلاّسِ

    You walk beside God's aid, glory, and eminence,

    and become one of them, seated among companions.

  7. ففي كل دار فرجة ومسرة

    كأنك آذنت العذارى بأعراسِ

    So every house has relief and gladness,

    as though you had announced weddings to the maidens.

  8. وأكرمِ بيوم أكرم الله خلقَه

    بقربك منهم فيه يا بن عبّاسِ

    And how noble a day: God honored His creatures

    with your nearness to them that day, O son of Abbas!

  9. لقد عاد في أرض الحصيب جمالها

    كما عاد في بيت ضياء بنبراسِ

    Indeed, the land of al-Husayb has regained its beauty,

    as light returns to a house with a lamp.

  10. وقد تفهمت من سقمها حيث زرتها

    وزال الذي تشكو من البؤس والباس

    And you understood something of her illness when you visited her,

    and the misery and affliction she lamented vanished.

  11. فقل لزبيد أنت في الأرض جنةٌ

    وجنةُ عدنٍ لا تقاس بمقياسِ

    So say to Zabid: You are a paradise on earth,

    and the Garden of Eden cannot be measured by any scale.

  12. فما الخوف من بعد يزيدك رغبةً

    لدى واقع في ضرة ذات أعباس

    So fear will henceforth not make you more desirable

    to one caught with a scowling rival wife.

  13. يراها فيغربه بحسنك قبحها

    ويذكر والتذكير قد ينفع الناسي

    He sees her, and her ugliness, beside your beauty, drives him away,

    and he remembers—for reminders may help the forgetful.

  14. وليس يضر الريح عالٍ من البنا

    وقد أحكمت أرجاؤه فوق أساسِ

    Nor does the wind harm a lofty building

    when its sides have been secured upon a foundation.

  15. هنيئاً مريئاً قرب أحمد فابشري

    بغيث مغيث واكف القطر رجّاسِ

    May Ahmad's nearness be sweet and wholesome—so rejoice

    at a succoring rain, its drops pouring, its thunder roaring.

  16. ترى السحب فيه ساحبات ذيولها

    كما سحبت أرسانها دهم أفراسِ

    You see the clouds therein trailing their skirts,

    as black horses drag their halter ropes.

  17. وما الُملكُ بعد الله إلا لأحمدٍ

    وما هو إلا نائب الله في الناسِ

    And sovereignty, after God, belongs to Ahmad alone,

    and he is none other than God's deputy among the people.

  18. ولما تراخى العيشُ وانجاب عيثر

    وأجلى اليقين الشك من بعد الياسِ

    And when life grew easy and the dust dispersed,

    and certainty banished doubt after despair,

  19. ومدَّ إِليه الناظرون عيونَهم

    فمن ثابت يثني ومن ذاهلٍ ناسي

    and the onlookers cast their eyes toward him,

    some were composed and praising, others dazed and forgetful.

  20. وكات رجالً أن تطير قلوبها

    فدع كل بيضاء الترائب منعاس

    And men's hearts nearly took flight;

    so leave aside every fair-bosomed, sleepy-eyed woman.

  21. كفاك إِله العرش ما كان يتقي

    ويحذر من أنواع سوء وأجناس

    May the God of the Throne spare you what one used to dread

    and fear, of evil's various kinds and sorts.