1. للهِ درُّ فَوارسٍ أَغمَارِ

    لا يرهبونَ بوادرَ الاقْدَارِ

    God bless the untried horsemen,

    who fear no sudden strokes of fate.

  2. واذا هم ركبوا الى حاجَاتِهم

    لبسوا مضاربَ كلِّ نَصْل عَارِ

    And when they ride to pursue their aims,

    they clothe themselves in the blows of every naked blade.

  3. وتحككوا حكَّ الجِرابِ وما بهم

    الا الارانُ وصحةُ الانْشَارِ

    They scratch themselves like mangy beasts, yet they have

    only exuberance and the vigor of renewed life.

  4. بقواطعٍ مأثورةٍ آياتها

    في الدارعينَ خفيةِ الآثارِ

    With keen swords whose signs are renowned,

    leaving barely visible traces on armored men,

  5. وبكل مطرودِ الكعوبِ سِنَانُه

    كالبرقُ ينبضُ أَو لِسَانِ النَّارِ

    and every even-jointed spear, whose point

    throbs like lightning or a tongue of flame.

  6. يحبو الكميُّ اذا احتداهُ مِرشَةً

    مجنونةَ الاقبالِ والادبَارِ

    It grants the armored warrior, when he confronts it, a spurting wound [reading uncertain],

    wild in its surging and retreating,

  7. نَعَّارةً تَطغى اذا هي رُوغمتْ

    بالفتكِ رجع قَوافها الهَدَّارِ

    a roaring gusher that rages when challenged,

    with slaughter, its openings echoing thunderously [wording uncertain].

  8. قومٌ اذا غضبوا فلم يستعبوا

    سلوا سُيوفَهم على الأَعْمَارِ

    A people who, when angered and not appeased,

    draw their swords against lives.

  9. يَرمى بهم وبنفسه قُحَمَ الوَغى

    غَرِضُ المقامِ عَطَوَّد الأَسفَارِ

    He hurls them and himself into battle's perils,

    weary of staying, hardy in travel.

  10. لا تستريحُ ولا تبيتُ جيادُه

    الا على خَطَر من الأَخطَارِ

    His steeds neither rest nor spend the night

    except amid one danger or another.

  11. يقدَحْنَ من عزماتِه وهُمومِه

    مثل الشَّرارِ تطيرُ كلَّ مَطَارِ

    They strike sparks from his resolves and cares,

    like sparks flying every which way.

  12. تأبى بفخرِ الملكِ نفسٌ مُرَّةٌ

    مشغوفةٌ بالنقضِ والامرَارِ

    In Fakhr al-Mulk, a stern soul refuses,

    enamored of loosening and binding,

  13. انْ يطمئنَّ الى الحَشَايا قلبُه

    وعناقِ جنبِ الطفلةِ المِعْطَارِ

    to let his heart rest upon cushions

    and in embracing a tender, perfumed maiden's side.

  14. هَجَرَ اللذَاذَةَ والكرى فجفونُه

    لا ينطوين وهن غيرُ قِصَارِ

    He forsook pleasure and sleep, so his eyelids

    never close, though they are not short.

  15. ما ضرَّ طرفَ العينِ لو داويتَه

    بالغمضِ أو عللتَه بعَرَارِ

    What harm would it do your eye if you treated it

    with closed lids, or soothed it with fragrant 'arar blossoms?

  16. ومُحَجَّب يرجو العفاةُ ببابهِ

    نَفْحاً براحتهِ على الزُّوَّارِ

    And a secluded man, at whose gate petitioners hope

    for gifts from his palm to his visitors,

  17. حتى اذا رفعَ الحجابُ ستورَه

    شقتْ مهابتُه على الأَبصَارِ

    until, when the chamberlains raise his curtains,

    his majesty overwhelms the eyes.

  18. وافيته يوم السُرادقِ خالياً

    فاختصَّنى بالاذْنِ والايثَارِ

    I met him privately on the day of the pavilion,

    and he singled me out for admission and favor.

  19. وَهَبَ الكرامةَ أَنَّها صِلةُ العُلا

    وتحيةُ الاحرارِ للاحْرَارِ

    He bestowed honor, for it is nobility's gift

    and the greeting of free men to free men.

  20. انَّ الاكاريدَ الذينَ تمنعوا

    بمعاقلِ الهضباتِ والاوعَارِ

    Indeed, the Kurds who fortified themselves

    in strongholds on plateaus and rugged ground,

  21. وطويتَ كورةَ اصفهانَ اليهم

    حتى صَبْحتَ جموعَهم ببوَارِ

    and you crossed the district of Isfahan to reach them,

    until you struck their hosts at dawn with destruction,

  22. في ليلةٍ سرقَ المُحَاقُ هِلالَها

    فكأَنَّهُ في الأُفقِ نصفُ سِوَارِ

    on a night whose crescent the moon's dark phase had stolen,

    so it seemed half a bracelet on the horizon.

  23. رَهَجٌ ينم على الطِلابِ عمودُهُ

    وسُرى على الاعداءِ غيرُ سِرَارِ

    A cloud of dust, its column betraying the pursuit,

    and a night march against the enemy, no secret.

  24. وبنو خَفَاجةَ من عقابكَ عالجوا

    يوماً طويلَ الشرِ بالأَنبَارِ

    And Banu Khafaja endured, under your punishment,

    a day long in its evil at al-Anbar.

  25. يَنزونَ من وقعِ الحِرابِ كأَنهم

    عطبُ القسي تُثارُ بالاوتَارِ

    They leap at the blows of lances, as though they were

    cotton stirred by the strings of bows.

  26. أَزرى بهم عند الكريهةِ أَنهم

    لا يَخطرونَ الى القَنا الخَطَّارِ

    What disgraced them in battle was that they

    did not advance toward the swaying spears.

  27. وَمُجَلَّؤُونَ عن المناهلِ طالما

    عُقِرتْ مطيهم على الاعقارِ

    And, driven from the watering places, how often

    their mounts were hamstrung at their homesteads!

  28. تركت لجوثةَ صدقَها ووفاءَها

    وأَتتكَ ترفلُ في ثياب العَارِ

    It left its truthfulness and loyalty to Jawtha,

    and came to you trailing garments of shame.

  29. وأَرى عُبَادَةَ في المقادةِ صعبةً

    مُسِحَتْ فما تزدادُ غير نِفَارِ

    And I find Ubada difficult to lead,

    stroked, yet growing only more skittish.

  30. أَمنوا الخطوبَ كأَنهم لم يبصروا

    آثارَ أَهلِ الحضرِ والثرثارِ

    They felt safe from calamities, as though they had never seen

    the traces of the people of al-Hadr and al-Tharthar,

  31. وَمَبَارِكاً ملاتْ ايادٌ قبلَهُم

    اعطانَها وربيعةُ بن نزارِ

    and camel-rests where, before them, Iyad had filled

    their watering enclosures, and Rabi'a ibn Nizar likewise.

  32. ولعمرُ جدهم لقد أَنذرتهم

    لو أَنهم أَصغوا الى الانذارِ

    By their forefather's life, you surely warned them,

    if only they had listened to the warning.

  33. ان كان قد خَدَعَ الخريف وأَخلقتْ

    فيه الظنونَ مخائلُ الامطارِ

    If autumn has deceived you, and hopes have been worn threadbare

    by its portents of rain,

  34. وتعللَ الثمدُ المُعلِلُ طرفُه

    فَحَذَارِ انْ صدقَ الربيعُ حذارِ

    and his steed has made do with a meager pool offering little water,

    then beware, if spring proves true—beware!

  35. حتى اذا بهر الاباطحَ والرُّبى

    نظرتْ اليكَ بأَعينِ النُّوارِ

    Until, when it dazzles the valleys and hills,

    they look at you with eyes of blossoms,

  36. واستودعَ الوسمى كان وقيعه

    من فضلِ صَيِّبهِ وكل قَرارِ

    and the autumn rain has laid up, where it fell [text uncertain],

    the bounty of its downpour in every hollow,

  37. فهناكَ تستَمعونَ جَرسَ كتائبٍ

    فيها السروجُ تموج بالأكوَارِ

    then you will hear the clamor of battalions,

    in which horse saddles surge with camel saddles.

  38. عَجِلَتْ الى فِرصِ الطِّعانِ أَكفُّهَا

    فدروعها محلولةُ الأزرَارِ

    Their hands hasten toward openings for spear-thrusts,

    so their coats of mail have unfastened clasps.

  39. حلل تحنفتِ الظنى حافاتها

    من بعدِ ما طفحت على الأَظفَارِ

    Robes whose hems have bent askew with wasting [text uncertain],

    after overflowing beyond the fingernails.

  40. طلبوا الترائبَ والنحورَ وأَسندوا

    فيها صدورَ ذوابلِ اِكسَارِ

    They sought breastbones and throats, and lodged

    within them the fronts of slender, splintering spears.

  41. علمتَ كعباً والبلادُ مريعةٌ

    طولَ المقامِ على دَرِينِ الدَّارِ

    You taught Ka'b, though the lands were lush,

    long residence amid the homestead's withered grass.

  42. كيف السبيلُ الى الاشامَةِ بعدما

    أخذت عليها الأرضُ بالاقطَارِ

    How could it find a way toward Syria, after

    the land had hemmed it in on every side?

  43. ترتاح أَن يُهدي اليها راكبٌ

    خَبَراً ولو من رائعِ الأخْبَارِ

    It longs for a rider to bring it

    news, even the most alarming news.

  44. حتى اذا عاذوا بعفوكَ عنهم

    عاذوا بعفوِ المنعمِ الجَبَّارِ

    Then, when they sought refuge in your pardon for them,

    they sought refuge in the pardon of the mighty benefactor.

  45. عاذوا بمن حَمَلَتْ رزانَةُ حلمهِ

    أَثقالَ ما حملوا من الأوزَارِ

    They sought refuge in one whose weighty forbearance bore

    the burdens of the sins they carried.

  46. لا زلتَ في درجِ المعالي صَاعداً

    يغتالُ نورَكَ ساطعُ الأَنوَارِ

    May you ever ascend the steps of greatness,

    your radiance eclipsing the brightest lights.

  47. وبلغتَ في ابنِكَ ذى المفاخرِ منيةً

    بلغت بكَ الغاياتُ في الأوطَارِ

    And may you attain, in your illustrious son, a wish

    that has reached, through you, the furthest bounds of desire.

  48. نِعْمَ الخليفةُ منك ان نَضَبَ الثَّرى

    وغزى المجيرُ على سَوامِ الجَارِ

    What a fine successor from you, should the earth's moisture fail

    and the protector be raided for his neighbor's grazing herds!

  49. ولنهدينَّ الى علاه قصائداً

    تُهدى شواردُها الى الأمصَارِ

    And we shall surely offer his eminence poems,

    whose far-ranging verses are carried to the cities.

  50. هذبتَ جندكَ والرعيةَ آخذاً

    بالعُرفِ تنشُرهُ وبالانكَارِ

    You disciplined your army and subjects, employing

    right conduct, which you spread, and censure.

  51. وقسمتَ مالَ اللهِ حينَ جبيتَه

    فيهم بلا مَطَلٍ ولا استيثَارِ

    And you distributed God's wealth, when you collected it,

    among them, without delay or keeping it for yourself.

  52. وجمعتُ بالكَ فاصطفيتَ عصابةً

    شاركتهم في النفعِ والاضرَارِ

    And I gathered your thoughts, so you chose a band

    with whom you shared benefit and harm,

  53. من بعدما استقصيتَهم وبلوتَهم

    وضممتَهم في حَلبةِ المضمَارِ

    after thoroughly examining and testing them,

    and gathering them on the racecourse.

  54. وتبيتُ ليلكَ دائباً مستظهراً

    بالحزم مطَّلعاً على الاسرَارِ

    And you spend your night tirelessly, seeking support

    in resolve, keeping watch over secrets,

  55. كيداً حثيثاً لم يكن ليكيدَه

    بأَناتِهِ كيوانُ ذو الأَدوَارِ

    devising urgent stratagems that could not have been devised

    by Kaywan, with all his deliberation, lord of the cycles.

  56. والمدحُ ليس خيارُه اِلاَّ لمنْ

    كانتْ رئاستُه على الأحرَارِ

    And the choicest praise belongs only to one

    whose leadership is over free men.