حَسْبُ التّقْريظِ حُلاك وما

حَسْبُ التّقْريظِ حُلاك وما

هِي إلا السؤدَدُ والحَسَبُ

هِي إلا السؤدَدُ والحَسَبُ

Your adornments suffice for praise, and they are nothing

The praises you shower are your ruin, nothing but infatuation and delusion,

but eminence and noble lineage.

A ferocity no hero can overcome, an ambition no seeker can fulfill,

بَأسٌ لا يَغْلِبُه بَطَلٌ

بَأسٌ لا يَغْلِبُه بَطَلٌ

وَنَدىً لا يَبْرَحُه طَلَبُ

وَنَدىً لا يَبْرَحُه طَلَبُ

Valor no champion can overcome,

Phrases that leave rhetors helpless and speechless, their devices and strategies useless,

and bounty never free of requests.

And when the verses describe them, poems and speeches cannot match,

نُخَبٌ عَيَّ البُلَغاءُ بها

نُخَبٌ عَيَّ البُلَغاءُ بها

عَجزاً ومآخِذُهم نُخَبُ

عَجزاً ومآخِذُهم نُخَبُ

Choice virtues before which the eloquent falter,

Won for Abd al-Wahid, protected by Yahya, son of the Prophet's lineage and its father,

helpless, though their own resources are choice.

The head of Uliya is his grinding stone, Umar al-Farooq its axis,

وإذا وَصَفَتْها الآي فَما

وإذا وَصَفَتْها الآي فَما

تَصِفُ الأشْعارُ والخُطَبُ

تَصِفُ الأشْعارُ والخُطَبُ

And when the sacred verses describe them, what

A house in the dust settled, its pillar reaching the highest heavens,

can poems and speeches describe?

Good news it is, illuminating the face of this world, its smile radiant,

عَن عَبْد الوَاحِد أحْرَزَها

عَن عَبْد الوَاحِد أحْرَزَها

يَحيى لِلنّجْل ابْنٌ وأبُ

يَحيى لِلنّجْل ابْنٌ وأبُ

From Abd al-Wahid he acquired them—

It rose defying norms, so watch your enemies, they have faded away,

Yahya, both son and father in the lineage.

They supposed tumult as usual, but faced what could not be anticipated,

في جُمْجُمَة عُليْا وَرَحىً

في جُمْجُمَة عُليْا وَرَحىً

عُمَرُ الفاروقُ لَها قُطُبُ

عُمَرُ الفاروقُ لَها قُطُبُ

Within an exalted clan and a mill

Sincere in their attack, yet were forsaken, as if their pledge was a lie,

whose pivot is Umar al-Faruq.

The banners themselves wavered from your conquests when unfurled in haste,

بَيْتٌ في الترْبِ رَسا وَتَداً

بَيْتٌ في الترْبِ رَسا وَتَداً

وَعَلى الأفْلاكِ لَه طُنُبُ

وَعَلى الأفْلاكِ لَه طُنُبُ

A house whose peg is firmly planted in the dust,

They shy from the bitter warfare by its standards, thus the Arabs do not object,

and whose tent-rope lies upon the celestial spheres.

The whites envied its brilliance, blushing red in your presence,

بُشرى هي في وَجْهِ الدُّنيا

بُشرى هي في وَجْهِ الدُّنيا

بِشْرٌ وَبِمَبْسَمِهَا شَنَبُ

بِشْرٌ وَبِمَبْسَمِهَا شَنَبُ

Good news—on the world's face it is

gladness, and in its smiling mouth, cool sweetness.

طَلَعَتْ للعادةِ خَارقَةً

طَلَعَتْ للعادةِ خَارقَةً

فارْقُبْ أعداءَك قَد غَربوا

فارْقُبْ أعداءَك قَد غَربوا

It dawned, breaking the customary order;

so watch your enemies: they have set.

حَسبوا الهَيجاءَ كَما ألِفوا

حَسبوا الهَيجاءَ كَما ألِفوا

فأتَاهُم ما لا يُحْتَسَبُ

فأتَاهُم ما لا يُحْتَسَبُ

They expected battle as they had known it;

then the unexpected came upon them.

صَدَقوا زَحْفاً لَكنّهُم

صَدَقوا زَحْفاً لَكنّهُم

خُذِلوا فكأنّهُم كُذُبُ

خُذِلوا فكأنّهُم كُذُبُ

They advanced in earnest, yet they

were forsaken, and so seemed liars.

حتّى الرّاياتُ يُخامِرُها

حتّى الرّاياتُ يُخامِرُها

لِفُتوحِكَ إذ نُسِقَتْ طَرَبُ

لِفُتوحِكَ إذ نُسِقَتْ طَرَبُ

Even the banners are suffused

with rapture at your conquests, when arrayed.

تَسْتَعْذبُ مُرّ الحَرْب بِها

تَسْتَعْذبُ مُرّ الحَرْب بِها

فَلِذلكَ ما تَهْفو العَرَبُ

فَلِذلكَ ما تَهْفو العَرَبُ

You find the bitterness of war sweet beneath them;

and that is why the Arabs yearn.

حَسَدَتْها البيضُ تجلّيها

حَسَدَتْها البيضُ تجلّيها

حُمْراً فغدتْ لك تختضِبُ

حُمْراً فغدتْ لك تختضِبُ

The white blades envied them as you displayed them

red, and so began to dye themselves for you.