1. أَمّا الرَّعايا فَإِنَّها رَشَفَت

    لَدَيكَ نُعْمَى عَذباً ثَناياها

    As for the subjects, they have sipped

    At your side, a blessing whose front teeth are sweet.

  2. سَلَكتَ نَهجَ العَدلِ القَويمِ بِها

    فَأَحمَدت دينَها وَدُنياها

    You led them along the straight path of justice,

    And made their faith and worldly life praiseworthy.

  3. وَكَم أمنيت خَوفاً فَأَمَّنَها

    مَتَالِفَ الخَوفِ خَوفُكَ اللهَ

    And how often you doomed fear; they were kept safe

    From fear's deadly perils by your fear of God.

  4. للَّهِ أَقطارُكَ الَّتي قَطَرت

    لَها مُناها إِلى مَناياها

    God be praised for your domains, which drew

    For them their hopes toward their deaths.

  5. أَنَّبَ في إِنَّب فَوارِسَها

    تَرْدِي فَتُردي أُولاك أُخراها

    At Inab, he chastised their horsemen;

    Galloping, your foremost ranks slew their rearmost.

  6. أَشجَت لهاةَ البِرنْسِ هَبوَتَها

    وَكَم عَتا عاتِياً فَأَشجاها

    Their dust-cloud choked the prince's throat;

    And how often he had raged tyrannically and grieved them!

  7. وَجوسِلينَ اِستَساغَ نُطفَتَها

    فَاِحْتَلَبَ الذُّلَّ تَحتَ مَغداها

    And Joscelin found their water-drop palatable,

    Then milked humiliation beneath their morning advance.

  8. رَدَّتهُ صِفْراً مِن كُلِّ ما مَلَكَت

    يَداهُ أَيْدٍ ما ضَلَّ مَسراها

    He was sent back bereft of all that

    His hands possessed, by hands whose night march never strayed.

  9. جُوَيس جاسَتكَ أَوجُهٌ لا رَأَت

    بُؤسَاً وَجادَ الحَيَا محياها

    Juways, faces scoured you—may they never see

    Misery, and may rain lavishly water their faces!

  10. سَرِيَّة لَو تَكونُ فارِسَها

    يَومَئِذٍ ما اِنْبَعَثَ أَشقاها

    A raiding party—had you been its horseman

    That day, its most wretched would not have set forth.

  11. لا زالَ ظِلُّ النَّعْماءِ عَن ملكٍ

    ما الشَّمسُ كُفئاً لَهُ إِذا باهى

    May the shade of blessings never leave a king

    Whom the sun cannot match when he vies in glory.

  12. وَاللَّهُ جازيهِ عَن مُقيَّدةٍ

    أَعزَّها اللَّهُ مُذْ تَولّاها

    And God shall reward him on behalf of a captive,

    Whom God has exalted since he took her into his care.

  13. مَحمودٌ المُعْتَلي إِلى فَلَكِ ال

    حَمْدِ وَثيراً لَهُ وَلاياها

    Mahmud, ascending to the sphere of

    Praise, with her saddlecloths soft beneath him.

  14. أَعطاكَهُ جَدُّكَ المُتَوَّجُ بِال

    جدِّ وَنَفسٌ للَّهِ مَغْزاها

    Your good fortune gave it to you, crowned with

    Diligence—and a soul whose purpose is for God.

  15. نَفسٌ عَزُوفٌ عَنِ الخَنا طُبِعَت

    نَزَّهَها اللَّهُ يَومَ سوّاها

    A soul fashioned to shun indecency,

    Which God made pure the day he formed it.

  16. أَنتَ الَّذي سَلَّم الأَنامُ لَهُ

    يُمْنى طِباقِ العُلا وَيُسراها

    You are the one to whom mankind has yielded

    The right and left sides of glory's tiers.

  17. وَأَنتَ مَولى المُلوكِ قاطِبَةً

    مَن كانَ فَناخِسْرُو شاهِنشاها

    And you are lord of all the kings

    Whose king of kings was Fana-Khusraw.

  18. وَالشِّعرُ هَذا لا قَولٌ أَحمدُهُ

    أَوّه بَدِيلٌ مِن قَوْلَتي واها

    And this is poetry, not a saying I praise:

    ‘Alas’ in place of my utterance ‘Bravo!’

  19. يا اِبنَ الَّذي لَم يَألُ في نَجدَةِ ال

    إِسلامِ إِدلاجاً وَتَهجيرا

    O son of him who spared no effort in aiding

    Islam, journeying by night and in the midday heat:

  20. تَكَنَّفَ الشّامَ وَقَد شامَ بَرْ

    قُ الخَوفِ إِنجاداً وَتَغويرا

    He encompassed Syria, having watched the lightning

    Of fear, marching through highlands and lowlands.

  21. وَكَفَّ كَلبَ الرّومِ مِن بَعدِ أَن

    أَنشَبَهُ ناباً وَأُظفورا

    And checked the dog of the Romans after it had

    Sunk a fang and a claw into it.

  22. فَأَهلُهُ رِقُّكَ إِنْ أَنصَفوا

    رِقّاً بِحَدِّ السَّيفِ مَسطورا

    So its people are your bondsmen, if they judge fairly,

    Bondage inscribed with the sword's edge.

  23. بَدرٌ هَوَى وَاِستَخلَفَ الشَّمسَ في

    دَسْتِكَ إِشراقاً وَتَأثيرا

    A full moon fell and left the sun as successor on

    Your throne, in radiance and influence.