1. حاديَها أيْنَ بها تَذْهبُ

    إذْ ليْسَ عن ورْدِ المنى مَذْهبُ

    O their camel-driver, where are you taking them?

    For there is no departing from the watering place of wishes.

  2. هذا هوَ الربْعُ بهِ للظِّبا

    والأنْجُمِ المَرتعُ والمرْقبُ

    This is the dwelling, where the gazelles

    And the stars have their pasture and lookout.

  3. إن تسْأل الرِّفْدَ يَجُدْكَ الحَيا

    أو تَسْتَضئْ فالنّور لا يُحْجَبُ

    If you seek bounty, the rain will lavish it on you.

    Or if you seek light, the light is not veiled.

  4. لا يُظْمِئُ الوجدُ الحُمولَ التي

    سرَتْ ومن دمْعي لها مَشرَبُ

    Longing does not make thirsty the laden camels that

    Traveled by night; my tears offer them a watering place.

  5. شَامت سَنا بارِقها كُلّما

    يجيءُ في الظلماءِ أو يذْهبُ

    They watched the radiance of their lightning whenever

    It came or went amid the darkness.

  6. إنْ هُزّ فهْوَ ذابِلٌ مُشْرَعٌ

    أو سُلّ فهْوَ صارمٌ مُذْهَبُ

    If brandished, it is a slender spear leveled for battle;

    Or, if drawn, it is a sharp, gilded sword.

  7. وأدْهَمُ الليل يُجدُّ السُّرى

    يَتبعُهُ من صُبْحِه أشْهَبُ

    And night's black steed presses on its nocturnal journey;

    A gray steed from its morning follows it.

  8. قد عُقِدَ الفجْرُ لهُ رايةً

    عِقْدُ الدّراري تحْتها يُنْهَبُ

    Dawn has been raised as a banner for it,

    Beneath which the necklace of bright stars is plundered.

  9. وجيرَةُ الحقِّ لهُمْ أوْجُهٌ

    نورُ الضحَى بحسْنِها يعْجَبُ

    And the neighbors of truth have faces

    At whose beauty the light of morning marvels.

  10. يَشبّ وجْدُ القلب من ذِكْرِهمْ

    مهْما تَبدّى فَوْدُهُ الأشيَبُ

    The heart's longing flares at their remembrance,

    However much its gray sidelock shows.

  11. سَعى بيَ الواشي لهمْ عندما

    قد خيّمُوا والسّعْيَ ما خيّبُوا

    The slanderer denounced me to them when

    They had pitched camp, and they did not thwart his tale-bearing.

  12. مالي وللعذّال ما شأنُهمْ

    كُلُّ مُحِبٍّ بِهِمُ مُتْعَبُ

    What have I to do with reproachers? What concern is it of theirs?

    Every lover is tormented by them.

  13. قد علِموا بأنّ أهْلَ الهَوى

    كُلُّ عَذابٍ عندهُمْ يَعْذُبُ

    They know that, for the people of love,

    Every torment tastes sweet.

  14. هلْ أعْيُنٌ فُوِّقْنَ أمْ أسْهُمٌ

    تُصْمي بِها قُلوبَنا الرَّبْرَبُ

    Are these eyes nocked for shooting, or arrows

    With which the gazelle herd strikes our hearts dead?

  15. هذا وكمْ للدّهْرِ من جفْوةٍ

    لا تُبْلِغُ الآمِلَ ما يَطْلُبُ

    So it is—and how many a cruel rebuff from Time

    Leaves the hopeful short of what he seeks!

  16. كمْ قلّبَتْ قلبيَ في جَمْرِها

    وإنهُ لحُوَّلٌ قُلَّبُ

    How often it has turned my heart upon its embers,

    Though it is truly cunning and resourceful!

  17. دهْرٌ جَهامٌ سُحْبُهُ كلّما

    يُرْجى الحَيَا وبرْقُهُ خُلَّبُ

    An age whose clouds are rainless whenever

    Rain is hoped for, and whose lightning deceives.

  18. فأين منهُ يا إمامَ الهُدى

    إلا إلى عليائِكَ المَهْرَبُ

    Where, then, away from it, O imam of guidance,

    Is there escape except to your lofty heights?

  19. حدائِقُ الآداب مُذْ أمْحَلَتْ

    ما هَبّ منها نفَسٌ طيبُ

    Since the gardens of letters have grown barren,

    No fragrant breath has wafted from them.

  20. ولم يجُدْ للجودِ غيثٌ بها

    فلا جَنابٌ عندَها مخْصِبُ

    Nor has a shower refreshed generosity there,

    So no ground around them is fertile.

  21. لكنّ موْلانا لهُ راحةٌ

    ديمَتُها الآن بها تَسْكُبُ

    But our lord has a palm

    Whose steady rain now pours upon them.

  22. لا عَجَبٌ ممّا جَفا أو جنى

    فكُلُّ دهْرٍ شأنُهُ مُعْجِبُ

    No wonder at its cruelty or its wrongdoing;

    For every age is astonishing in its ways.

  23. كمْ منعَ المرْغوبَ لي مانحاً

    ما كُنْتُ عنهُ دائماً أرْغبُ

    How often it has denied me what I desired, granting

    What I had always wished to avoid!

  24. كمْ صدّني عن مطلبي ظالِماً

    وسُدَّ لي دونَ المُنى المذْهبُ

    How often it has unjustly barred me from my aim,

    And the road to my wishes was barred to me!

  25. كمْ حمّلَ المُغْرَمَ ما لا يَفي

    بِحَمْلهِ رَضْوَى ولا غُرَّبُ

    How often it has burdened the lover with more than

    Radwa or Ghurrab can bear!

  26. كم ليلةٍ قد بِتُّها ساهِراً

    تكادُ فيها الشُّهْبُ لا تَغْرُبُ

    How many a night I have spent awake,

    In which the bright stars scarcely seemed to set!

  27. وبَدْرُها كأنّهُ بَيْنَها

    وجْهُ ابْنِ نصْرٍ حَفّهُ الموْكِبُ

    And its full moon among them seems like

    The face of Ibn Nasr, surrounded by the retinue.

  28. يوسُفٌ الناصِرُ بحْرُ النّدى

    ومَنْ له قيسُ بنُ سعدٍ أبُ

    Yusuf al-Nasir, the sea of bounty,

    And he for whom Qays ibn Sa'd is a father.

  29. فالهامِيانِ رحْمةً للورى

    نوالُهُ والمَطَرُ الصَّيِّبُ

    Thus the two pouring down as mercy for humankind are

    His bounty and the pouring rain.

  30. والنّيِّرانِ في ظلامِ الدُّجى

    جَبينُهُ المُشْرِقُ والكَوْكَبُ

    And the two lights in the darkness of night are

    His radiant brow and the star.

  31. والطّيِّعانِ لِعُلَى مُلْكِهِ

    بعدْلِهِ المَشْرِقُ والمغرِبُ

    And the two obedient to his kingdom's grandeur

    Through his justice are the East and the West.

  32. والماضِيانِ منهُ يومَ الوَغى

    عزْمَتُهُ وسيفُهُ المُرْهِبُ

    And his two decisive powers on the day of battle are

    His resolve and his fearsome sword.

  33. والأشْرفانِ بِحُلَى مُلكِهِ

    مَدْحي لموْلايَ وما أكْتُبُ

    And the two noblest ornaments of his kingship are

    My praise of my lord and what I write.

  34. والناصِرانِ مَن لمَرْوانِها

    يُنْمَى ومَن لسَعدِها يُنسَبُ

    And the two Nasirs: he who to its Marwan

    Is traced, and he who to its Sa'd is ascribed.

  35. ذلك مَلْكٌ أصْلُهُ مكّةٌ

    وذا إمامٌ أصْلُهُ يثرِبُ

    That one is a king whose origin is Mecca;

    And this one an imam whose origin is Yathrib.

  36. أنصارُ دينِ اللهِ آباؤُهُ

    للهِ مَوْلىً منهُمُ أنجَبُوا

    His forefathers are the helpers of God's religion.

    God be praised for the noble lord they begot from among them!

  37. موْلىً يُنيلُ الخلقَ إرْفادَهُ

    إن سألُوا والعَفْوَ إنْ أذْنبُوا

    A lord who grants humankind his bounty

    If they ask, and pardon if they sin.

  38. مَكارِمُ الأخلاقِ تقضي لَهُ

    أن يَبْذُلَ العُتْبى ولا يعْتُبُ

    The nobility of his character requires of him

    That he offer amends and never reproach.

  39. فالحِلْمُ والعِلْمُ لهُ شيمةٌ

    والحزمُ والعزمُ الذي يُرْهَبُ

    For forbearance and knowledge are his nature,

    And prudence and the resolve that inspires fear.

  40. مآثرٌ ليستْ لمَلْكٍ مَضى

    هَيْهاتَ لا تحْصَى ولا تُحسَبُ

    Deeds of glory belonging to no bygone king—

    Far beyond counting or reckoning!

  41. لوْ أبْصرتْ منهُ مُلوكٌ مضتْ

    مآثراً عن ذاتِه تُعرِبُ

    Had the kings of old beheld in him

    Glorious deeds revealing his very self,

  42. بالنّصرِ والهَدْيِ وبالرّشْدِ في

    آرائِهمْ والأمنِ ما لُقِّبُوا

    For victory, guidance, and sound judgment in

    Their counsels, and security, they would not have been given titles.

  43. في حَرْبِه أو سلْمهِ سيفُهُ

    وسَيْبُهُ المُرهِبُ والمُرْغِبُ

    In his war or peace, his sword

    And his bounty inspire fear and desire.

  44. إنْ قَطّبَ الخوفُ وُجوهَ العِدَى

    فكُل ثَغْرٍ ثغرُهُ أشنَبُ

    If fear has furrowed the faces of his foes,

    Then every frontier has a mouth of gleaming teeth.

  45. سوفَ يُرَى يَفتحُ منْ أرضِهم

    ما هُوَ مُسْتعْصٍ ومُسْتَصْعَبُ

    Soon he will be seen conquering those parts of their land

    That are defiant and hard to subdue.

  46. والبيضُ قد قامت لديْهِ عَلى

    منابرٍ منْ هامِهمْ تخطُبُ

    And the bright swords have risen before him upon

    Pulpits made of their heads, delivering sermons.

  47. والسُّمْرُ ترْتاحُ إذا ما غَدا

    سِنانها منْ دَمِهِمْ يُخْضَبُ

    And the brown spears rejoice whenever

    Their spearpoints become dyed with the foes' blood.

  48. يا مَلِكَ الدنْيا الذي عَدْلُهُ

    به انْجَلى عن أفْقِها الغَيْهَبُ

    O king of the world, whose justice

    Has cleared the dense darkness from its horizon,

  49. بَلَغتُ آمالي بما نِلْتَهُ

    لمْ يَبْقَ لي منْ بعْدِها مطلَبُ

    I have fulfilled my hopes through what you have attained;

    No further aim remains for me beyond them.

  50. فلا يخيبُ اليومَ لي مقْصَدٌ

    ولا مَرامٌ رُمْتُهُ يَصْعُبُ

    So today no aim of mine is disappointed,

    Nor is any goal I have sought hard to reach.

  51. موْلايَ خذهَا مِدْحَةً فذّةً

    ولَفْظُها عنْ مَقْصَدي مُعْرِبُ

    My lord, take it as a peerless praise-poem,

    And its words express my intent.

  52. قَبولُك القَصْدُ فمَن نالَهُ

    فوقَ السّحابِ ذيْلَهُ يَسْحَبُ

    Your acceptance is the aim; whoever gains it

    Trails the hem of his robe above the clouds.

  53. وصْفُكَ لا يأتي به شاعِرٌ

    سِيّان مَن يُطنِبُ أو يُسْهِبُ

    No poet can do justice to describing you;

    It is all the same whether he elaborates or speaks at length.

  54. فَدُمْتَ للإسْلامِ ما أصْبَحَتْ

    شمْسُ الضحَى أنوارَها تصْحَبُ

    So may you endure for Islam as long as there rises

    The morning sun, in company with its rays.