1. أرقتُ لبرق مثل جفنيَ ساهراً

    ينظِّم من قطر الغمام جواهرا

    I lay sleepless for lightning, wakeful like my eyelid,

    stringing jewels from the cloud's raindrops,

  2. فيبسم ثغرُ الرَّوض عنه أزَاهرا

    وصبحٍ حكى وجه الخليفة باهرا

    so the garden's mouth smiles forth in flowers;

    and for a dazzling dawn that mirrored the caliph's face,

  3. تجسّم من نور الهدى وتجسّدا

    شفانيَ معتلُّ النسيم إذا انبرى

    taking shape and bodily form from the light of guidance.

    The languid breeze healed me when it arose,

  4. وأسند عن دمعي الحديث الذي جرى

    وقد فتَقَ الأرجاءَ مسكاً وعنبرا

    and related the flowing tale on my tears' authority,

    having opened the horizons with musk and ambergris,

  5. كأنَّ الغني بالله في الروض قد سرى

    فهَبَّتْ به الأرواح عاطرة الرَّدا

    as though al-Ghani bi-llah had passed through the garden,

    and the breezes stirred through him, their mantles fragrant.

  6. عذيريَ من قلبِ إلى الحسن قد صبا

    تُهّيجُهُ الذكرى ويصبو إلى الصّبا

    Who will defend me against a heart drawn to beauty?

    Memory rouses it, and it yearns for the east wind,

  7. ويُجري جيادَ اللهو في ملعب الصَّبا

    ولولا ابن نصرٍ ما أفاق وأعتبا

    and races pleasure's steeds in youth's arena.

    Without Ibn Nasr, it would not have recovered or made amends;

  8. رأى وجههُ صبح الهداية فاهتدى

    إليك أمير المسلمين شكايةٌ

    it saw his face as guidance's dawn and found its way.

    To you, Commander of the Muslims, comes a complaint:

  9. جنى الحسنُ فيها للقلوب جنايةُ

    وأعظم فيها بالعيون نكايةً

    beauty has committed a crime against hearts therein,

    and how grievous the harm wrought therein by eyes!

  10. وأطلع في ليل من الشَّعر آيةُ

    محيَّاً جميلاً بالصَّباح قد ارتدى

    It brought forth a marvel within a night of hair:

    a beautiful face that had clothed itself in dawn.

  11. بهديك تُهدى النيرات وتهتدي

    وأنوارُها جدوى يمينك تجتدي

    By your guidance the shining stars are guided and find their way,

    and their lights beg the bounty of your right hand.

  12. وعدلك لأملاك أوضح مرشد

    بآثاره في مشكل الأمر تقتدي

    Your justice is the clearest guide for kings;

    in difficult affairs they follow its traces.

  13. فما بال سلطان الجمال قد اعتدى

    تحكم منا في نفوسٍ ضعيفةِ

    Why, then, has beauty's sovereign transgressed?

    He has ruled over weak souls among us,

  14. وسلَّ سيوفاً من جفونٍ نحيفة

    ألمْ يدر أَنَّا في ظلال خليفةِ

    and drawn swords from slender eyelids.

    Does he not know we dwell beneath a caliph's shade,

  15. ودولةِ أمن لا تُراع منيفةِ

    بها قد رسَا دِينُ الهوى وتمهَّدَا

    and in a lofty realm of security untouched by fear,

    where the faith of love has become firmly established?

  16. خذوا بدم المشتاق لحظاً أراقَهُ

    وبرقاً بأعلام الثنية شاقَهُ

    Exact vengeance for the lover's blood from the glance that spilled it,

    and from lightning at the pass's landmarks that stirred his longing.

  17. وإن كلفوه فوق ما قد أطاقَهُ

    يُبثُّ حديثاً ما ألذَّ مساقَهُ

    Though they burden him beyond what he can bear,

    he confides a tale—how sweet its telling!—

  18. خليفتنا المولى الإمامَ محمّدا

    تقلَّد حكم العدل ديناً ومذهبا

    to our caliph, our lord, Imam Muhammad.

    He adopted just rule as his faith and way,

  19. وجَوْرَ الليالي قد أزاح وأذهبا

    فيا عجباً للشوق أذكى وألهبا

    and swept away the tyranny of nights.

    How wondrous the yearning he kindled and inflamed!

  20. وسلَّ صباحاً صارم البرق مُذْهبا

    وقد بات في جفن الغمامة مُغمدا

    At morning he drew lightning's gilded blade,

    which had spent the night sheathed in the cloud's eyelid.

  21. يذكّرني ثغراً لأسماء أشنبَا

    إذا ابتسمت تجلو من الليل غَيهبا

    It reminds me of Asma's cool, pearly mouth:

    when she smiles, she clears away night's darkness,

  22. كَعزْم أمير المسلمين إذا اجتبى

    وأجرى به طِرفاً من الصبح أشهبا

    like the Commander of the Muslims' resolve when he chooses,

    and drives with it a gray steed of dawn,

  23. وأصدر في ذات الإله وأوردا

    فسبحان من أجرى الرياح بنصرِهِ

    sending forth and bringing back for God's sake.

    Glory to Him who sent the winds with victory for him,

  24. وعطَّر أنفاسَ الرياض بشكرهِ

    فبرد الصِّبا يُطوى على طيب نَشرهِ

    and perfumed the gardens' breaths with praise of him!

    The east wind's mantle wraps itself around his sweet fragrance.

  25. ومهما تجلّى وجهُهُ وسط قصرِه

    ترى هالةٌ بدرُ السماء بها بدا

    Whenever his face appears within his palace,

    you see a halo in which heaven's full moon has appeared.

  26. إمامٌ أفادَ المعلُواتِ زمانَهُ

    فما لحقت زُهْرُ النجوم مكانَهُ

    An imam who bestowed lofty attainments upon his age:

    the shining stars could not attain his station.

  27. ومدَّ على شرقٍ وغربٍ أمانَهُ

    ولا عيب فيه غير أن بنانَهُ

    He extended his security over east and west.

    He has no fault except that his fingertips

  28. تُغرِّقُ مُستجديه في أبحر الندى

    هو البحرُ مدَّ العارضَ المتهلِّلاَ

    drown his petitioners in seas of generosity.

    He is the sea, extending a smiling rain cloud;

  29. هو البدر لكن لا يزال مُكمَّلا

    هو الدهر لا يخشى الخطوب ولا ولا

    he is the full moon, yet remains forever complete;

    he is Time, fearing no calamities—no, no;

  30. هو العَلمُ الخفّاق في هضبة العُلا

    هو الصّارم المشهور في نصرة الهدى

    he is the fluttering banner upon eminence's summit;

    he is the drawn blade defending guidance.

  31. أما والذي أعطى الوجودّ وجَودَهُ

    وأوسع من فوق البسيطة جودَهُ

    Indeed, by Him who gave existence its being,

    and lavished His bounty on those upon the earth,

  32. لقد أصحب النصرَ العزيزَ بنودَهُ

    ومدَّ بأملاك السماء جنودَهُ

    He has made mighty victory attend his banners,

    and reinforced his troops with heaven's angels,

  33. وأنجز للإسلام بالنصر موعدا

    أَمَوْلاي قد أَنْجحَتَ رأياً ورايةً

    and fulfilled a promise of victory to Islam.

    My lord, you have prospered in counsel and banner,

  34. ولم تُبْقِ في سبق المكارم غايَةً

    فتهدي سجايا كابن رشد نهايةً

    and left no further goal in the race of noble deeds.

    Your qualities offer a culmination, like Ibn Rushd;

  35. وإن كان هذا السعدُ منك بدايةً

    سيبقى على مر الزمان مخلَّدا

    and though this good fortune is but a beginning from you,

    it will remain immortal through the passage of time.

  36. سعودك تُغني عن قراع الكتائبِ

    وجودك يُزري بالغمام السواكبِ

    Your good fortunes dispense with the clash of battalions,

    and your generosity puts the pouring clouds to shame,

  37. وإن زاحمتها شهبها بالمناكب

    ووجهك بدر المنتدى والمواكبِ

    even when their meteors jostle them shoulder to shoulder.

    Your face is the full moon of the assembly and processions,

  38. وقد فَسَحَتْ في الفخر أبناؤك المدى

    بنوك كأمثال الأنامل عِدَّةً

    and your sons have widened glory's reach.

    Your sons are like fingers in number,

  39. أُعِدَّتْ لما يخشى من الدهر عُدةً

    وزيد بهم بُرْدُ الخلافة جدَّةً

    prepared as a defense against what is feared from time.

    Through them the caliphate's mantle gained freshness.

  40. أطالَ لهم في ظل ملكك مُدَّةً

    إلهٌ يُطيل العمر منك مؤبدَا

    May their time beneath your kingdom's shade be prolonged

    by a God who prolongs your life forever.

  41. بدروٌ بأوصاف الكمال استقلَّتِ

    غمامٌ بفيّاض النوال استهلَّتِ

    Full moons risen with the attributes of perfection;

    clouds pouring forth abundant gifts;

  42. سيوفٌ على الأعداء بالنصر سُلَّتِ

    نجومٌ بآفاق العلاء تجلَّتِ

    swords drawn victoriously against enemies;

    stars appearing on loftiness's horizons,

  43. ولاحت كما شاءت سعودُكَ أَسْعُدا

    وإن أبا الحجاج سيفُك مُنْتَضى

    shining as auspicious stars, as your good fortunes wished.

    Abu al-Hajjaj is your unsheathed sword,

  44. وبدرٌ بآفاق الجمال تعَرَّضا

    بنورك يا شمسَ الخلافة قد أضا

    and a full moon appearing on beauty's horizons.

    By your light, O sun of the caliphate, he has shone,

  45. ورَاقت على أعطافه حُلل الرضا

    فحلَّ محلاًّ من عُلاك ممهَّدا

    and robes of favor gleam upon his shoulders.

    He has settled in a prepared station within your eminence.

  46. مليك له تعنو الملوكُ جلالةً

    يُجرِّرُ أذيال الفخار مُطالةً

    A king before whom kings bow in reverence,

    trailing the long skirts of glory,

  47. وتفْرَقُ أسدُ الغاب منه بسالةً

    وترضاه نصَار الرسول سُلالةً

    whose valor makes the forest's lions afraid;

    the Prophet's helpers approve his lineage,

  48. فأبناؤه طابوا فروعاً ومحتدا

    أزاهر في روض الخلافة أينعَتْ

    so his sons are pure in branches and ancestral root.

    Flowers ripened in the caliphate's garden;

  49. زواهرُ في أفق العلاء تطلّعَتْ

    جواهرُ أغيتْ في الجمال وأبدعتْ

    radiant stars rising on loftiness's horizon;

    jewels perfected in beauty and wondrously fashioned;

  50. وعن قيمة الأعلاق قدراً ترفَعَتْ

    يسرُّ بها الإسلام غيباً ومشهدا

    their worth has risen above the price of precious treasures.

    Islam rejoices in them, unseen and in public.

  51. بعهدِ وليِّ العهد كُرِّمَ عهدُهُ

    وأنجز في تخليد ملكك وعْدُهُ

    By the crown prince's pledge, his covenant was honored,

    and his promise to perpetuate your kingdom fulfilled.

  52. تنظَّمَ منهم تحت شملك عِقدُهُ

    وأورثهم فخراً أبوهُ وجَدُّهُ

    Its necklace was strung from them within your fold;

    their father and grandfather bequeathed them glory.

  53. فأعلى علياً حين أحمدَ أحمدا

    ونجلُك نصرٌ يقتفي نجل رسمِه

    He exalted Ali when he praised Ahmad.

    Your son Nasr follows the son's example:

  54. أمير يزينُ العقلَ راجحُ حِلْمِهِ

    أتاك بنجلٍ يُستضاءُ بنجمِهِ

    a prince whose weighty forbearance adorns reason.

    He brought you a son whose star gives light;

  55. لحب رسول الله سَمَاهُ باسمِهِ

    وباسمكَ في هذي الموافقة اقتدى

    for love of God's Messenger, he named him after him,

    and followed your name in this accord.

  56. أقمتَ بإعذار الإمارة سنةً

    وطوَّقت من حلي بفخرك مِنّةً

    By the princes' circumcision you upheld a prescribed custom,

    and wreathed a favor in ornaments with your glory.

  57. وأسكنتها في ظل بِرِّك جَنَّةً

    وألحفتَها بُردَ امتنانك جُنَّةً

    You lodged it in a paradise beneath your kindness's shade,

    and covered it with your gracious mantle as a shield,

  58. وعَمّرْتَ منها بالتلاوة مسجدا

    فلله عيناً من رآهم تطلَّعُوا

    and made a mosque of it through recitation.

    Blessed is the eye of whoever saw them emerge:

  59. غصُوناً بروض الجود فيك ترعرعُوا

    وفي دوحة العلياء منك تفرعُوا

    branches grown tall through you in generosity's garden,

    branching from you in eminence's mighty tree.

  60. ملوكٌ بجلبابِ الحياء تقنعُوا

    أضاء بهم من أفق قصرك منتدى

    Kings veiled themselves in modesty's cloak;

    through them an assembly shone from your palace's horizon.

  61. وقد أشعروا الصبر الجميلَ نفوسَهُمْ

    وأضْفَوُا به فوق الحلي لبوسَهُمْ

    They clothed their souls in beautiful patience,

    and draped their attire in it above their ornaments.

  62. وقد زيّنوا بالبِشر فيه شموسَهُمْ

    وعاطَوْا كؤوس الأُنس فيه جليسَهُمْ

    They adorned their suns there with cheerful faces,

    and passed cups of companionship to their fellow guest,

  63. وأبْدَوْا على هوْل المقام تجلُّدا

    شمائلُ فيهم من أبيهم وَجَدِّهِمْ

    and showed fortitude despite the occasion's terror.

    Traits inherited from their father and grandfather:

  64. تُفَصَّلُ آيُ الفخر فيها بحمدِهِمْ

    وتنسبها الأنصار قدماً لسعدِهِمْ

    the signs of glory are unfolded therein through their praise.

    The Ansar trace them of old to their Sa'd;

  65. تضيءُ بها نوراً مصابيح سعدِهِمْ

    ولمْ لا ومن صحب الرسول توقّدا

    the lamps of their good fortune shine with their light.

    And why not, when they caught fire from one who accompanied the Messenger?

  66. فوالله لولا سنةٌ قد أقَمتَها

    وسيرة هديٍ للنّبِيّ علمتَها

    By God, were it not for a custom you established,

    and a guiding practice of the Prophet that you knew,

  67. وأحكامُ عدل لجنود رسمتها

    لجالتْ بها الأبطال تقصد سمتَها

    and ordinances of justice you prescribed for the troops,

    champions would have charged there, aiming toward them,

  68. وتترك أوصال الوشيج مُقصَّدا

    ويا عاذراً أبدى لنا الشرعُ عُذْرَهُ

    and left the joints of spear-shafts shattered.

    O circumciser, whose warrant the Law has shown us,

  69. طرقت حمى قد عظم الله قدرَهُ

    وأجريت طيباً يحسد الطيبُ نشرَهُ

    you entered a sanctuary whose worth God has exalted,

    and released a fragrance whose diffusion fragrance itself envies.

  70. لقد جئت ما تستعظم الصيدُ أمرَهُ

    وتفديه إن يقبلْ خليفتها فدا

    You performed an act the proud lords deem momentous,

    and they would ransom their caliph, if he would accept a ransom.

  71. رعى الله منها دعوة مستجابةً

    أفادت نفوسَ المخلصين إنابةً

    May God preserve an answered supplication arising from it,

    which bestowed repentance upon sincere souls,

  72. ولم تُلفِ من دون القبول حجابةً

    وعاذرها لم يُبدِ عذراً مهابةً

    and found no barrier short of acceptance.

    Its circumciser offered no excuse, out of awe,

  73. فأوجب عن نقص كمالاً تزيّدا

    فنقص كمال المال وفرُ نصابِهِ

    and brought increased perfection through a loss.

    Diminishing wealth's fullness increases its due share;

  74. وما السيف إلا بعد مشق ذبابِهِ

    وما الزهر إلا بعد شق إهابهِ

    a sword is made only after its point is drawn out;

    a flower appears only after its covering splits;

  75. بقطع يراع الخط حُسْنُ كتابِهِ

    وبالقص يزدادُ الذُبالُ توقدَا

    cutting the writing reed makes its script beautiful;

    and trimming makes the wick burn brighter.

  76. ولَمَّا قَضَوْا من سنّة الشَّرع واجبا

    ولم نلق من دون الخلافة حاجبا

    When they had fulfilled an obligation of the sacred Law,

    and we encountered no doorkeeper barring the caliphate,

  77. أفضنا نهني منك جذلان واهبا

    أفاض علينا أنعُماً ومواهبا

    we flocked to congratulate the joyful giver in you,

    who poured blessings and gifts upon us,

  78. تعوّد بذل الجود فيما تَعَوَّدا

    هنيئاً هنيئاً قد بلغت مؤمَّلاً

    accustomed, among his habits, to lavish generosity.

    Congratulations, congratulations! You have attained your hope,

  79. وأطلعت نوراً يبهر المتأمْلا

    وأحرزت أجر المنعمين مكمَّلا

    and brought forth a light dazzling to the beholder,

    and gained the benefactors' reward in full.

  80. تبارك من أعطى جزيلاً وأجملا

    وبلّغ فيك الدينّ والملك مقصدا

    Blessed is He who gave abundantly and beautifully,

    and brought religion and kingship to their goal through you.

  81. ألا في سبيل العز والفخر موسِمُ

    يظل به ثغر المسرّة يبسِمُ

    Behold a festival in the service of might and glory,

    where joy's mouth keeps smiling,

  82. وعَرفُ الرضى من جوه يتنسَّمُ

    وأرزاق أرباب السعادة تقسمُ

    and favor's fragrance breathes from its air,

    and the portions of the fortunate are distributed.

  83. ففي وصه ذهن الذكي تبلّدا

    وجلَّلت في هذا الصنيع مصانعا

    In describing it, even the clever mind grows dull.

    In this celebration you adorned palaces,

  84. تمنّى بدورُ التِّمِّ منهم مطالعا

    وأبديت فيها للجمال بدائعا

    which the full moons wished to have as rising places.

    There you displayed wonders of beauty,

  85. وأجريتَ للإحسان فيها مشارعا

    يودُّ بها نهرُ المجرّةِ موردا

    and opened watering places for beneficence,

    where the Milky Way's river longs for a place to drink.

  86. وأجريت فيها الخيل وهي سوابقُ

    وإن طَلَبَتْ في الرَّوْع فهي لواحقُ

    You set horses racing there, swift frontrunners;

    when they pursue in battle's terror, they catch their quarry.

  87. نجومٌ وآفاق الطراد مشارقُ

    يفوتُ المتاحَ الطرف منها بوارقُ

    They are stars, and the horizons of the chase their rising places;

    their flashes outrun what sight can reach.

  88. إذا ما تُجاري الشّهبَ تستبق المدى

    وتطلعُ في ليل القتام كواكبا

    When racing the meteors, they outstrip the distance,

    and rise as stars in the night of battle dust,

  89. وقد وردت نهرَ النهار مشاربا

    تقودُ إلى الأعداءِ منها كواكبا

    having reached the river of daylight to drink.

    You lead squadrons of them toward the enemy,

  90. فترسم من فوق التراب محاربا

    تحورُ رؤوسُ الروم فيهنَّ سجُدا

    and they trace prayer niches upon the dust,

    where the heads of the Rum fall down in prostration.

  91. سوابحُ بالنصر العزيز سوانحُ

    وهُنَّ لأبواب الفتوح فواتحُ

    Swift-swimming horses, auspicious with mighty victory,

    opening the gates of conquests.

  92. تقود إليك النصرَ والله مانحُ

    فما زلت بابَ الخير والله فاتح

    They lead victory to you, and God bestows it;

    you remain the gate of good, and God opens it.

  93. وما تم شيء قد عدا بعدما بدا

    رياحٌ لها مثنى البروق أَعنّةٌ

    Nothing that passed away after appearing came to completion.

    They are winds whose reins are doubled lightning;

  94. ظِباءٌ فإن جَنَّ الظلام فجِنَّةٌ

    تقيها من البدر المتمَّم جُنَّةٌ

    gazelles—and when darkness falls, jinn.

    A shield from the perfected moon protects them,

  95. وتُشرع من زُهر النجوم أسِنَةٌ

    فتقذف شهبَ الرَّجم في أثغر العدا

    and spearheads of shining stars are leveled,

    hurling stoning meteors into the enemy's frontier passes.

  96. فأشهبُ من نسل الوجيه إذا انتمى

    جرى فشأى شُهبَ الكواكب في السّما

    A gray horse, tracing its ancestry to al-Wajih,

    ran and outstripped the meteors of heaven's stars,

  97. وخلّف منها في المقلَّد أنجما

    تردَّى جمالاً بالصباح ورُبمَّا

    leaving stars from them behind upon its neck ornament.

    It clothed itself beautifully in dawn, and sometimes

  98. يقول له الإصباح نفس لك الفدا

    وأحمرُ قد أذكى به البأسُ جمرةً

    daybreak says to it, 'A soul be your ransom!'

    A red horse in which valor has kindled an ember

  99. وقد سلب الياقوت والوردّ حمرةً

    أدار به ساقٍ من الحرب خمرةً

    has stolen redness from ruby and rose.

    A cupbearer of war passed wine upon it,

  100. وأبدى حباباً فوقها الحسن غُرَّةً

    يزيد بها خداً أسيلاً مورّدا

    and beauty showed its forehead blaze as foam above the wine,

    enhancing with it a smooth, rose-red cheek.

  101. وأشقرُ مهما شعشع الركضُ برقَهُ

    أعار جوادَ البرق في الأفق سبقَهُ

    A chestnut horse, whenever galloping makes its lightning gleam,

    lends its swiftness to lightning's steed upon the horizon.

  102. بدا شفقاً قد جلّل الحسنُ أفقَهُ

    ألمْ تَرَ أن الله أبدع خلقَهُ

    It appears as twilight whose horizon beauty has clothed.

    Do you not see how God perfected its creation,

  103. فسال على أعطافه الحسنُ عسجدا

    وأصفرُ قد ودَّ الأصيلُ جمالَهُ

    so beauty flowed over its shoulders as gold?

    A yellow horse whose beauty late afternoon desires

  104. وقد قدَّ من بُرد العشيّ جِلالَهُ

    إذا أسرجوا جِنحَ الظلام ذبالَهُ

    cut its saddlecloth from evening's mantle.

    When they light its wick beneath darkness's wing,

  105. فَغُرَّتُهُ شمسُ تضيء مجالَهُ

    وفي ذيله ذيلُ الظلام قد ارتدى

    its forehead blaze is a sun lighting its course;

    in its tail it has donned darkness's trailing robe.

  106. وأدهمُ في مسح الدُّجى متجردُ

    يجيشُ بها بحرٌ من الليل مُزبدُ

    A black horse stands bare in night's sackcloth:

    a foaming sea of night surges through it.

  107. وغُرَّتُه نَجمٌ به تتوقَّدُ

    له البدرُ سرجٌ والنجوم مُقَلَّدُ

    Its forehead blaze is a star, glowing through it;

    the full moon is its saddle, the stars its neck ornament;

  108. وفي فلق الصبح المبين تقيَّدا

    وأبيضُ كالقرطاس لاح صباحُهُ

    it is fettered in the clear breaking of dawn.

    A white horse, like parchment, whose dawn shines forth:

  109. على الحسن مغداه وفيه مراحُهُ

    وللظّبَياتِ الآنساتِ مِراحُهُ

    its morning journey is toward beauty, its evening return within it.

    Its pasture belongs to the friendly gazelles.

  110. تراه كنشوانٍ أمالَتْهُ راحُهُ

    وتحسبهُ وسطَ الجمال مُعربدا

    You see it like a drunkard swayed by his wine,

    and think it revels wildly amid beauty.

  111. وذاهبةٌ في الجَوْ مِلْءَ عِنانِها

    وقد لَفَعَتْها السُّحبُ بُرد عَنانِها

    And one soaring through the air, with reins at full stretch:

    the clouds have enfolded it in its sky's mantle.

  112. يفوت ارتداءَ الطَّرف لمح عِيانِها

    وخَتَّمت الجوزاءُ سبط بنانِها

    Its visible flash outruns the eye's return [text uncertain].

    Al-Jawza placed rings on its slender fingers,

  113. وصاغت لها حَلْيَ النجوم مقيّدا

    أَراها عمودُ الصبح عُلْوَ المصاعدِ

    and fashioned it an ornament of stars, fastened in place.

    The pillar of dawn showed it the heights of ascent,

  114. وأوهمها قربَ المدى المتباعدِ

    ففاتته سبقاً في جال الرواعد

    and made the distant goal seem near.

    It outstripped it in the field of thunder,

  115. وأتحفتِ الكفَّ الخضيب بساعِدِ

    فطوّقتِ الزُّهرَ النجومَ بها يدا

    and presented the Dyed Hand with an arm,

    then encircled the shining stars with a hand.

  116. وقد قذفتها للعصيّ حواصبُ

    قد انتشرت في الجوِّ منها ذوائبُ

    Hurling blasts cast it toward the rods;

    trailing locks from it spread through the air.

  117. تزاوَرُ منها في الفضاء حبائبُ

    فبينهما من قبل ذاك مناسبُ

    Dear companions visit one another in space;

    between the two there was kinship before this,

  118. لأَنهما في الروض قبلُ توَلّدا

    بناتٌ لأم قد حَبينَ لرَوْحها

    for both were born earlier in the garden.

    Daughters of a mother have crept toward her comfort;

  119. دعاها الهوى من بعد كتم لبَوْحِها

    فأقلامُها تهوي لخطِّ بلَوْحِها

    desire summoned them, after concealment, to disclose themselves.

    Their pens plunge to write upon her tablet,

  120. فبالأمس كانت بعض أغصان دَوْحِها

    فعادت إليها اليومَ من بعدُ عُودِّا

    for yesterday they were branches of her great tree,

    and today they returned to her, wood again.

  121. ويا رُبَّ حصن في ذراها قد اعتلى

    أنارتْ برُوجُ الأفق في مظهر العلا

    How many a fortress has risen upon its heights!

    The towers of the horizon illuminated, in loftiness's display,

  122. بروجَ قصور شِدْتَها متطوّلا

    فأنشأت برجاً صاعداً متنزَّلا

    the towers of palaces you raised with lavish generosity.

    You fashioned a tower ascending and descending,

  123. يكون رسولاً بينها متردِّدا

    وهل هي إِلاّ هالةٌ حولَ بدرِها

    a messenger traveling back and forth between them.

    Is it anything but a halo around its full moon,

  124. يصوغُ لها حلياً يليق بنحرِها

    تطوّر أنواعاً تشيد بفخرِها

    fashioning ornaments befitting its throat?

    It assumes forms proclaiming its glory:

  125. فحِجْل برجليها وشاحُ بخصْرِها

    وتاجٌ بأعلى رأسها قد تنضّدا

    an anklet upon its feet, a sash about its waist,

    and a crown arranged upon its head.

  126. أراد استراقَ السّمع وهو ممنَّعُ

    فقامَ بأذيال الدُّجى يتلفَّعُ

    It sought to steal a hearing, though hearing was guarded,

    and stood wrapping itself in night's skirts.

  127. وأصغى لأخبار السّما يتسمّعُ

    فأتبعَه منها ذوابل شرَّعُ

    It inclined its ear, listening for heaven's news,

    but leveled slender spears pursued it from there,

  128. لتقذفه بالرعب مثنى ومَوْحَدا

    وما هو إلاَّ قائمٌ مدَّ كفَّهُ

    to strike it with terror, in pairs and singly.

    It is only one standing with his palm outstretched,

  129. ليسأَلَ من ربِّ السَّموات لُطفَهُ

    لمولَى تولاّه وأحكم رصفَهُ

    asking the Lord of the heavens for His kindness

    toward a lord who tended it and perfected its masonry,

  130. وكلّف أربا البلاغة وصفهْ

    وأكرم منه القانت المتهجِّدا

    and charged masters of eloquence with describing it,

    and through it honored the devout worshipper praying by night.

  131. ملاقي ركب من وفود النواسمِ

    مقبّلَ ثغر للبروق البواسم

    Meeting a caravan from the delegations of breezes,

    kissing the mouth of smiling lightning,

  132. مختِّمَ كفٌّ بالنجوم العوائمِ

    مُبلِّغَ قصد من حضور المواسمِ

    adorning a hand with rings of drifting stars,

    fulfilling the aim of attending festivals,

  133. تجدده مهما صنيع تجدَّدا

    ومضطربٌ في الجو أثبت قامةً

    you renew it whenever a generous work is renewed.

    A figure sways in the air, more firmly planted in stature;

  134. تقدمٍ يمشي في الهواء كرامَةً

    تطلَّع في غصن الرشاء كمامةً

    advancing, he walks through the air as a marvel.

    He rises like a bud upon the branch of the rope;

  135. وتحسبه تحت الغمام غمامةً

    يسيل على أعطافها عَرَقُ الندى

    beneath the clouds you think him a cloud,

    with the sweat of dew flowing down its shoulders.

  136. هوى واستوى في حالة وتقلّبَا

    كخاطف برق قد تألَق خُلَّبَا

    He fell, stood upright, and turned over in an instant,

    like a lightning flash glittering without rain.

  137. وتحسبه قد دار في الأفق كوكبَا

    ومهما مشى واستوقف العقل معجبا

    You think him a star circling the horizon.

    Whenever he walks, arresting the mind in wonder,

  138. تُقَلِّب فيه العين لحظاً مردْدا

    لقد رام يرقى للسماء بسلَّم

    the eye turns toward him with a repeated glance.

    He sought to climb to heaven upon a ladder,

  139. فيمشي على خطَّ به متوهِّم

    أجِلْ في الذي يُبديه فكر توسُّمِ

    walking upon an imagined line there.

    Turn discerning thought upon what he displays:

  140. ترى طائراً قد حلّ صورة آدمِي

    وجنَّا بمهواة الفضاء تمرَّدا

    you see a bird that has assumed a human form,

    and a jinn rebellious in the abyss of space.

  141. ومنتسب للخال سمُّوْه مُلْجَما

    له حَكَماتٌ حكمُها فاه أَلْجما

    One whose kinship is traced to his maternal uncle, whom they called 'bridled':

    he has bridles whose control has bridled his mouth.

  142. تخالَفَ جنساً والداه إذا انتمى

    كما جنسُهُ أيضاً تخالف عنهما

    His parents differ in kind when his ancestry is traced,

    as his own kind also differs from both.

  143. عجبت له إذ لم يلدَّ تولّدا

    ثلاثتها في الذكر جاءت مُبينةً

    I marveled that he was born, though he never begets.

    All three appear clearly in the Remembrance,

  144. من اللاء سَمَاها لنا اللهُ زينةً

    وأنزل فيها آية مستبينةً

    among those God called an adornment for us.

    He sent down a manifest sign concerning them,

  145. وأودع فيها للجهول سكينةً

    وآلاءهُ فيها على الخلق بدَّدا

    and placed in them calm for the ignorant,

    and distributed His blessings in them among creation.

  146. كسوْه من الوشي اليماني هودجا

    يمدُّ على ما فوقَه الظلَّ سَجْسَجَا

    They clothed it in a howdah of Yemeni brocade,

    spreading temperate shade over what is above it.

  147. وكم صورةٍ تجلى به تهر الحجى

    وجزل وقود ناره تصدع الدجى

    How many an image revealed upon it dazzles the mind!

    Abundant fuel for its fire splits the darkness,

  148. وقلب حسودٍ غاظ مذكيه موقدا

    وما هي لا مظهر لجهادِهِ

    and kindles an envious heart, angered by the one who lit it.

    It is only a display of his striving [text uncertain].

  149. أَرَتْنا بِها الأفراح فضل اجتهادهِ

    ملاعبها هزَّت قدود صعادِهِ

    Through it the festivities showed us the excellence of his endeavor.

    Its arenas stirred the figures of his lances,

  150. وأذكرت الأبطال يوم طرادِهِ

    فما ارتَبْتَ فيه اليومَ صدَّقتَهُ غدا

    and reminded champions of the day of his charge.

    What you doubted in him today, you will believe tomorrow.

  151. أَلاَ جدَّدَ الرحمن صنعاً حضرتَهُ

    ودوحَ الأماني في ذراه هصرتَهُ

    May the All-Merciful renew a celebration you attended,

    whose tree of hopes you bent within its heights,

  152. بقصرٍ طويلُ الوصف فيه اختصرتَهُ

    يقيّدُ طِرفَ الطَّرف مهما نظرتَهُ

    in a palace whose lengthy description you abridged.

    It fetters the steed of the eye whenever you look upon it;

  153. ومن وجد الإحسان قيداً تقيّدا

    دعوتَ له الأشراف من كل بلدةٍ

    whoever finds goodness a fetter allows himself to be bound.

    You invited nobles to it from every town,

  154. فجاءوا بآمالٍ لهم مستجدّةِ

    وخصّوا بألطافٍ لديه معدّةِ

    and they came with hopes newly awakened.

    They received special favors prepared there:

  155. أيادٍ بفيّاض الندى مستمدّةِ

    فكلُّهُمُ من فضله قد تزوَّدَا

    benefactions drawn from overflowing generosity.

    All of them took provisions from his bounty.

  156. وجاءتك من آل النَّبِيّ عصابةٌ

    لها في مرامي المكرمات إصابةٌ

    A company from the Prophet's household came to you,

    unerring in their aim at noble deeds.

  157. أحبتك حباً ليس فيه استرابةٌ

    ولبَت دواعي الفوز منها إجابةٌ

    They loved you with a love untouched by doubt,

    and answered the calls of good fortune.

  158. وناداهُمُ التخصيص فابتدروا النّدا

    أجازوا إليك البحر والبحرُ يزخَرُ

    Special distinction summoned them, and they hastened to generosity.

    They crossed the sea to you while the sea surged,

  159. لبحر سماح مَدُّهُ ليس يجزرُ

    فروّاهُمُ من عذب جودك كوثرُ

    seeking a sea of generosity whose tide never ebbs.

    A Kawthar of your sweet generosity quenched their thirst;

  160. ووالَيْتَ من نُعماك ما ليس يُحْصَرُ

    وعظّمتَهم ترجو النَّبيَّ محمَّدا

    you bestowed blessings upon blessings beyond counting,

    and honored them, seeking the Prophet Muhammad.

  161. عليه صلاةُ الله ثم سلامُهُ

    به طاب من هذا النظام اختتامُهُ

    Upon him be God's blessing, then His peace.

    Through him this composition's conclusion became sweet,

  162. وجاء بحمد الله حلواً كلامُهُ

    يعز على أهل البيان مرامُهُ

    and, praise be to God, its words came sweetly.

    Its aim is difficult for masters of eloquence to attain;

  163. وتمسي له زُهر الكواكب حُسَّدا

    أبثُّ به حادي الركاب مشرِّقا

    the shining stars become envious of it.

    Through it I impart to the eastbound caravan singer

  164. حديث جهادٍ للنفوس مشوّقا

    رميتُ به من بالعراق مفوّقا

    a tale of striving that awakens longing in souls.

    With it I aimed at those in Iraq, arrow nocked,

  165. وأرسلت منه بالبديع مطوقا

    حماماً على دَوح الثناء مغرّدا

    and sent forth from it, collared with wondrous art,

    doves warbling upon the trees of praise.

  166. ركضتُ به خيلَ البيان إلى مدى

    فأحرزتُ فضلَ السبق في حلبة الهدى

    Through it I raced eloquence's horses toward a goal,

    and won the distinction of precedence in guidance's arena.

  167. ونظّمتُ من نظم الدراري مقلَّدا

    وطوّقتُ جيد الفخر عِقداً منضدا

    I strung a neck ornament from a string of bright stars,

    and encircled glory's neck with an ordered necklace.

  168. وقمتُ به بين السِّمَاطين مِنشدا

    نسقْتُ من الإحسان فيه فرائدا

    I stood reciting it between the two ranks.

    I arranged peerless jewels of excellence within it,

  169. وأرسلتُ في روض المحاسن رائدا

    وقلّدتُ عِطف الملك منه قلائدا

    and sent a scout into the garden of lovely qualities.

    I hung garlands from it on kingship's shoulder,

  170. تعوّدتُ فيه للقبول عوائدا

    فلا زلت للفعل الجميل معوِّدا

    accustomed through it to recurring acceptance.

    May you ever make beautiful deeds your habit,

  171. ولا زلت للصنع الجميل مجدّدا

    ولا زلت للفخر العظيم مخلدا

    and ever renew beautiful works,

    and ever make great glory immortal.

  172. وعُمِّرتَ عُمراً لا يزال مجدَّدا

    وعُمِّرتَ بالأبناء أوحدا أوحدا

    May you be granted a life ever renewed,

    and long life through sons, each uniquely peerless;

  173. وقرَتْ بهم عيناك ما سائق حدا

    may your eyes delight in them as long as a caravan driver sings.