Sol 6.1

  1. لِمُلْكِكَ ما نَشاءُ مِنَ الدَّوامِ

    حَظيتَ مِنَ المَعالي بِالمَعاني

    May your reign have all the endurance we desire.

    You attained the substance of lofty honors;

  2. وَلاذ النّاسُ بَعدَكَ بِالأَسامي

    عَزيزُ المُنتمى عالي المَراقي

    while others after you took refuge in names.

    Noble in lineage, lofty in ascent,

  3. بَعيدُ المُرتمى غالي المسامي

    فَما أَحدٌ إِلى العَلياءِ يُدلي

    far-reaching in aim, too exalted for rivals.

    No one lays claim to the heights

  4. بِمَحتَدِكَ القَسيمِيِّ القسامي

    أَبوكَ المُعتَلي قِمَمَ الأَعادي

    through your Qasimi, Qasami ancestry.

    Your father rose above the heads of foes

  5. إِذا اِستَعَرَت مذامِرَةُ القمامِ

    زَكا عِرقُ العِراقِ وَقَد تَكنّى

    when the chieftains' war-cries blazed.

    Iraq's stock flourished, taking its appellation

  6. بِهِ وَأَطالَ مِن شممِ الشَآمِ

    وَجَدُّكَ جَدَّ حَتّى قالَ قَومٌ

    from him; and he heightened Syria's proud eminence.

    Your grandfather strove until some said:

  7. عَلى الفَلَكِ اِبتَنى عُمُدَ الخِيامِ

    فَخرتَ فَفُتَّ آباءً عظاماً

    “He raised his tent-poles upon the celestial sphere.”

    You boasted, surpassing great forefathers,

  8. إِذا فَخرَ المُنافِرُ بِالعِظامِ

    وَقفنا وَالنَّواظِرُ مُسجداتٌ

    when a rival in boasting gloried in bones.

    We stood, our gazes bowed in prostration,

  9. وَروحُ العِزِّ ذاريّ الخِتامِ

    أَساطِرُ كَالزَّبورِ مُفصّلات

    and glory's breath wafted the seal's fragrance.

    Rows set out distinctly, like the Psalms,

  10. كَأنّا مِن صَلاةٍ في نِظامِ

    لَدى مَلكٍ سَجاياهُ سِجالٌ

    as though we stood in ordered prayer.

    Before a king whose dispositions take turns,

  11. تَعاقَب بَينَ عَفوٍ وَاِنتِقامِ

    فَأَهلَلنا لِسالِفَتيْ هِلالٍ

    alternating between pardon and vengeance.

    So we acclaimed a crescent's twin neck-sides,

  12. وَكَفَّرنا لِضاحِكَتي حُسامِ

    ذَهلنا وَالسّماط يخالُ سمطاً

    and bowed to a sword's two smiling edges.

    We were amazed, the ranks seeming a necklace,

  13. وَقَد سَجَدَ المقاوِلُ لِلسّلامِ

    هَلِ الدّستُ اِستَقَلَّ بِلَيْثِ غابٍ

    while the chieftains bowed in greeting.

    Has the throne borne aloft a forest lion,

  14. أَمِ الفُلكُ اِرتَدى بَدرَ التّمامِ

    كَريمٌ أَكثَرَت يَدُهُ أَيادي ال

    or has the firmament donned the moon at its full?

    A generous man whose hand multiplied gifts to the

  15. عُفَاةِ وقَلَّلَتْ عَدَدَ الكِرامِ

    وَخَيرُ سَماعِهِ ضَربٌ مُدامٌ

    supplicants, and diminished the number of the generous.

    His finest music is unceasing blows,

  16. إِذا طَرِبَ الملوكُ إِلى المُدَامِ

    تَطيرُ بِهِ إِلى العَلياءِ نَفسٌ

    when kings revel in wine.

    A soul carries him flying toward the heights,

  17. غَروبٌ عَن مُلاءَمَةِ الملامِ

    سَقى اللَّهُ العَوامِل مِن جِبالٍ

    aloof from any accord with reproach.

    May God water the spears from the mountains

  18. سَعَفنَ النّقعَ عَن نَقعِ الأوامِ

    فَكَم أَنتَجتَ مِن أَمَلٍ عَقيمٍ

    that served battle-dust instead of slaking thirst.

    How many a barren hope you brought to fruition

  19. بِها وَحَسَمْتَ مِن داءٍ عقامِ

    بِإِنَّب وَالرّعالِ كَأَنَّ ثَولا

    with them, and how many an incurable ailment you cut away.

    At Inab, the squadrons seemed a swarm

  20. تَطاوَحَ تَحتَ عيرٍ مِن أيامِ

    وَأَيدي الخَيلِ تَذرَعُ لُجَّ بَحرٍ

    tossed about beneath a cloud of smoke.

    And the horses' forelegs measured the depths of a sea

  21. مِنَ الدَّمِ مُزبِدَ الثَّجَّيْنِ طامي

    مَقامٌ كُنت قُطب رحاهُ أَرجى

    of blood, its twin torrents foaming and overflowing.

    A stand, with you the axis of its mill—more hope-inspiring

  22. مَقامٍ بَينَ زَمزمَ وَالمقامِ

    أَحلتَ الدِّينَ فيهِ وَكانَ هَمّاً

    than a stand between Zamzam and the Maqam.

    There you transformed the faith, once a decrepit old man,

  23. عَزيزَ القَومِ مُعتَدِلَ القوامِ

    رَمَيتَهُمُ بِأَرعَنَ مُرجَحِنٍّ

    into the people's pride, upright in stature.

    You hurled at them a towering, ponderous host

  24. أَبارَهُمُ وَكُنت أَبرَّ رامي

    وفي شَجراءَ حارِمَ شاجَرَتهم

    that annihilated them; you were the truest archer.

    And in Harim's woodland, there clashed with them

  25. سَواهِمُ كَالسِّهامِ بِكالسّهامِ

    فَطائِر حَمَّمت لَهمُ حِماماً

    lean steeds like arrows, bearing riders like arrows.

    So you appointed them a bird of death;

  26. تَطايَرُ تَحتَهُ مِثل الحمامِ

    فَلَو قَد مثّلَ الإِسلامَ شَخصاً

    beneath it they fluttered like pigeons.

    If Islam were embodied as a person,

  27. لِرَشفِ ما وَطِئتَ مِنَ السّلامِ

    حَماهُ وَقَد تَناعَسَ كُلُّ راعٍ

    it would kiss the stones your feet had trodden.

    He guarded it while every shepherd drowsed,

  28. وَقامَ وَقَد تَقاعَسَ كُلُّ حامِ

    فَأَكذب مُدَّعين هَفوا وَغَرّوا

    and stood firm while every protector hung back.

    Thus he exposed as liars claimants who erred and deceived,

  29. بِأَنَّ الأَرضَ تَخلو مِن إِمامِ

    أُلي الأَبصارِ كَم هَذا التعاشي

    claiming that the earth was empty of an imam.

    O people of sight, how long this feigned dimness

  30. عَنِ النّورِ المُبينِ بَلِ التّعامي

    عَنِ القَمَرِ الَّذي يَجلوهُ ظِلُّ ال

    before the manifest light—nay, this feigned blindness

    before the moon revealed by the shade of the

  31. عَواصِمِ في ضِيا اللّيلِ التّهامي

    هُوَ المَهدِيُّ لا مَن ضَلَّ فيهِ

    strongholds, in the radiance of the Tihami night?

    He is the Mahdi, not the one concerning whom

  32. كَثيرٌ وَاِستَخَفَّ سِوى هِشامِ

    وَقائِم عَصرِنا لا ما يمنّى

    Kuthayyir went astray, and all but Hisham were beguiled.

    And the Qa'im of our age, not what is fancied

  33. بِهِ مِن صَوْغِ أَضغاثِ المَنامِ

    بِنورِ الدّينِ أَنشُرُ كُلَّ حَقٍّ

    of him through the fashioning of tangled dreams.

    Through Nur al-Din every truth was revived

  34. أُطيلُ ثواؤَهُ تَحتَ الرّجامِ

    وَطالَت قُبَّةُ الإِسلامِ حَتّى اِس

    whose sojourn beneath the stones had been prolonged.

    And the dome of Islam rose so high that it

  35. تَوَتْ بَينَ الفَوارِسِ وَالنّعامِ

    تطابُقٌ لاِسْمِهِ لَفظٌ وَمَعنىً

    stood level between the Horsemen and the Ostriches.

    His name's wording and meaning agree;

  36. أَحلّاهُ الطِّباقُ على الأَنامِ

    جَرى قُدّامه اِبن سُبُكْتِكِين

    their harmony sweetened it for mankind.

    Before him ran Ibn Subuktigin,

  37. وَقبلَ الوَبلِ هيمنةُ الرّهامِ

    وَكانَ مِنَ النُّجومِ بِحَيثُ تُومي

    and before the downpour comes the murmur of light rains.

    And he had been among the stars, where you could point

  38. إِلَيهِ مِن غَياباتِ التّكامي

    وَجِئتَ فَصارَ أَشمَخَ ما بَناهُ

    toward him from concealment's dark recesses.

    Then you came, and the loftiest he built became,

  39. لَمّا شِيدَتِ الطأ مِن رغامِ

    أَطاعَكَ إِذ أَطعتَ اللَّهَ جدٌّ

    when you raised your own, lower than dust.

    Good fortune obeyed you when you obeyed God;

  40. رَكِبتَ بِهِ الزمانَ بِلا زمامِ

    أَلا يا رُبَّما اِتَّفَقَ الأَسامي

    through it you rode time without a rein.

    Ah, how often names agree,

  41. وَفاضَلَ بَينها دَرج التّسامي

    جَنى شَرَفاً مَنِ اِستَغواهُ حَتفٌ

    yet the degrees of eminence distinguish them.

    He reaped honor whom death enticed

  42. إِلَيكَ وَكَم حَياة مِن حِمامِ

    ترشّفكَ الكُمَاةُ وَأَنتَ مَوتٌ

    toward you—how much life springs from death!

    Armored champions sip at you, though you are death,

  43. كَأَنَّكَ مِن طِعانٍ في طَعامِ

    as though amid spear-thrusts you were food.