بك الدهر قد أبدى التهلل والبشرا

ومما جنى قد جاء يبدي لنا العذرا

Through you, Time has shown beaming joy and gladness,

and for the wrong it wrought, it has come offering us an apology.

وإن كانت العلياء غاب شهابها

فانك فيها مطلع انجما زهرا

And if high eminence's blazing star has set,

you make radiant stars rise within it.

وان كان ذاك البحر قد غاض في الثرى

فيمناك قد ابدت لنا ابحرا عشرا

And if that sea has drained away into the earth,

your right hand has revealed to us ten seas.

وما مات من في الدهر انت وليه

ولم يطو يوما من نشرت له ذكرا

And none whose guardian you are in this world has died,

nor has anyone whose renown you spread ever been folded into oblivion.

فصبرا اولي الدين صبرا لما مضى

وشكرا لما اوتيت من بعدها شكرا

So patience, O Wali al-Din—patience for what has passed;

and gratitude for what you were given afterward—gratitude.

وبشراك قد وليت اشرف منصب

وبالصبر قد نلت المثوبة والاجرا

Glad tidings to you: you have been appointed to the noblest office,

and through patience have attained recompense and reward.

وزادت دمشق الشام حسنا واصبحت

لها الشرف الاعلى وفاقت بكم مصرا

Damascus of al-Sham has grown more beautiful, and now

the highest honor is hers; through you she has surpassed Egypt.

وقد حازت الشقرا بميدانها العلا

وسادت على الشهبا بجبهتها الغرا

Al-Shaqra, the tawny one, has gained eminence in her arena,

and with her radiant brow prevailed over al-Shahba, the gray one.

ومالت بها السمر الرشاق على الربا

وقد لبست من سندس حللا خضرا

And there the slender, brown forms swayed upon the hills,

and they have donned green robes of fine silk.

وعن لؤلؤ الانداء ثغر اقاحبا

بدا باسماً يزهو فاكرم به ثغرا

And a mouth of daisies, revealing pearls of dew,

appeared smiling, shining proudly—what a splendid mouth!

وجامعها زفت عليك عروسه

ومنبره ابدى المسرة والبشرا

And her congregational mosque—its bride has been led to you,

and its pulpit has displayed delight and gladness.

وقد اصبحت تلك المساكن جنة

فمن حل فيها لا يجوع ولا يعرى

Those dwellings have become a paradise,

so whoever dwells there neither hungers nor goes naked.

منازل للأقمار امست منازلا

اذا غاب بدرٌ اطلعت بعده بدرا

These dwellings have become stations for moons:

when one full moon sets, they raise another after it.

الا يا بني الآمال فاعثوا لناره

وان رستم وردا فدونكم البحرا

Listen, O sons of hope: turn toward his fire,

and if you seek water to drink, the sea lies before you.

فهذا الذي يفتي النضار مواهبا

ولا نصبا حاشاه يخشى ولا فقرا

For this is he who spends pure gold in gifts,

and fears neither toil—far be it from him—nor poverty.

ومن جاءه يشكو من الدهر عسرة

فان مع العسر الذي ناله يسرا

And whoever comes to him complaining of hardship from Time,

indeed finds ease alongside the hardship that befell him.

امام الهدى قاضي القضاة ومن سمت

ببهجته الدنيا واظهرت البشرى

The leader of guidance, the Chief Judge, through whose

splendor the world has risen and displayed gladness.

خبير بصير بالامور اخو ذكا

له فطنة يذكي نوقدها الجمرا

Well-informed and discerning in affairs, a man of intelligence,

he has keen insight whose blaze sets embers alight.

وقد عبق الارجاء طيب ثنائه

واحيا شذاه ما انطوى وذكا نشرا

The sweet fragrance of praise for him has perfumed the surroundings,

and his scent revived what lay hidden and grew more fragrant.

وقد حاز في العلياء مجداً وسؤددا

ونال محلا ساميا وعلا قدرا

He has gained glory and nobility in the heights of eminence,

and attained an exalted station and risen in rank.

وما ذاك الا من ابيه وراثة

ولا عجب للبحر ان ولد الدرا

This is nothing but an inheritance from his father,

and no wonder that the sea should beget pearls.

فقل للذي قد رام يحكي نواله

لقد رمت شيئا لن تحيط به خبرا

So tell the one who has sought to match his bounty:

You have sought a thing you will never fully comprehend.

وما ذا عسى اني اقول ومدحه

اذا قلت شعرا زين النظم والنثرا

And what could I say, when praise of him,

whenever I speak in verse, adorns poetry and prose?

وان تليت بالحمد آيات شاعر

بمدح سواه فهو آيتها الكبرى

And if a poet's verses are recited in praise,

extolling another, he is their greatest verse.

فيا واحد الدنيا ومن نور فرقه

ازال الدجا عنا وابدى لنا الفجرا

O peerless one of the world, the light of whose hair-parting

has dispelled our darkness and revealed the dawn to us:

لنحوك قد اضحى التفاتي لأنني

وحقك لا زبدا اروم ولا عمرا

Toward you my attention has turned, for I,

by your honor, seek neither Zayd nor ʿAmr.

ولولا معانيك البديعة لم اقل

قريضاً ولا صغتُ القوافي والشعرا

Were it not for your wondrous qualities, I would not have spoken

verse, nor fashioned rhymes and poetry.

فخذها عروسا بالمعاني بديعة

مكملة الاوصاف غانية عذرا

So take her as a bride, wondrous in her meanings,

perfect in her qualities, a beauty needing no adornment, a virgin.

مخدرة عنها اميط قناعها

فأسبل عليها من حلي الرضا سترا

A secluded maiden whose veil has been lifted from her;

so drape over her a veil of the jewels of approval.

وألق نثار الدر عند زفافها

عليها وزد في النقد وابذل لها المهرا

And cast a shower of pearls at her bridal procession,

upon her; increase the payment, and bestow her dowry.

فلا زال نجم السعد نحوك ناظرا

وطالعك الميمون يسمو على الشعرى

May the star of good fortune ever look toward you,

and may your auspicious ascendant soar above Sirius.

وقصر عن علياك كل مماثل

وطول رب العالمين لك العمرا

May every rival fall short of your eminence,

and may the Lord of the worlds lengthen your life.