1. بيضاءُ واضحةُ الترائبِ غادة

    إن شُبْهَتْ ظُلِمَتْ ببَدْرِ تمَامِ

    Fair-skinned, bright of breast, a graceful maiden,

    if compared to a full moon, she is wronged.

  2. سمع الخيالُ بها فخلتُ جبينها

    شمساً تلأُلأُ تحتَ جُنحِ ظلامِ

    The phantom heard of her; I imagined her brow

    a sun glittering beneath the wing of darkness.

  3. باتتْ تبثُّ لي العتابَ مودةً

    وتدبرُ من فيها كؤوسَ مُدَامِ

    She spent the night pouring out affectionate reproaches to me,

    and dispensing cups of wine from her mouth.

  4. وتقولُ لي هلاّ تريدُ سُلافةً

    تشفى من البُرحَاء والآلامِ

    She said to me, 'Will you not have some choice wine

    to cure you of torment and pain?'

  5. فأجبتها ألاّ أريدُ مُحرَّماً

    حاشا لِمْثلِى لارْتكاب حرَامِ

    I answered her that I wanted nothing forbidden;

    far be it from one like me to commit a forbidden deed.

  6. لما رأتْني والعفافَ فكفكفتْ

    عبراتِ عيني عروةَ بْن حِزامِ

    When she saw me cleaving to chastity, she wiped away

    the tears from the eyes of Urwa ibn Hizam.

  7. أُلْفى فلست من الذين إذا خلوا

    بخريدةٍ سَحَبُوا ذيولَ أَثَامِ

    Thus am I found; I am not among those who, when alone

    with a maiden, drag the trailing skirts of sin.

  8. وخرائدٌ قد زرنَني فوجدْنَني

    متنزهاً في يَقْظَتِي ومَنَامِي

    And maidens have visited me and found me

    untainted in my waking and my sleep.

  9. فكأنّني مستعلمٌ من عفّةِ

    الملكِ الأشم السيد القَمْقَامِ

    As though I were learning from the chastity

    of the lofty king, the mighty lord,

  10. ذِى الفضلِ سلطانِ بن سيفِ الندَى

    الزاكِي المكرَّمِ في مَدَى الأيَّامِ

    the virtuous Sultan ibn Sayf, the bountiful,

    the pure, honored throughout the span of days,

  11. اليعربيِّ الشمرى المرتضَى

    وذِى الدِّينِ والإيمانِ والإسلامِ

    al-Ya'rubi, the resolute, the approved,

    possessed of religion, faith, and Islam,

  12. الباسلِ العدلِ السرىّ الماجدِ

    اللبقِ الأبىِّ الهزبرىِّ السَّامي

    the valiant, just, noble, illustrious,

    the adroit, unyielding, lionlike, exalted.

  13. تتقاصرُ الأملاكُ عنه هيبةً

    وترى بلا هربٍ ولا إقْدَامِ

    Kings shrink before him in awe,

    and you see them neither fleeing nor advancing.

  14. وتودُّ ترشفُ نعلهُ وبساطهُ

    فتظلُّ واقفةً على الإقْدَامِ

    They yearn to kiss his sandal and his carpet,

    and remain standing on their feet.

  15. ملك يجدِّلُ مَنْ يشاءُ بسيفهِ

    الماضي وينبُو عنه كل حُسَامِ

    A king who fells whomever he wills with his sword,

    keen-edged, while every blade glances off him.

  16. لو يكتِفي بالذِّهْنِ في رَهَجِ الوَغَى

    لكفاهُ مِنْ قتل عَنِ الصَّمصَامِ

    Were he to rely on his mind amid the dust of battle,

    it would suffice him for killing in place of the keen sword.

  17. ربُّ السماحةِ والفصاحةِ والحجا

    والخيرِ والأسنَى أبو الأيتَامِ

    Master of generosity, eloquence, and wisdom,

    of goodness and the loftiest excellence, father of orphans.

  18. لولاهُ ما علم امرؤٌ كيفَ الجدَى

    والطعن في الأحشَا وضرب الهَامِ

    Without him, no man would know the art of bounty,

    of thrusting into entrails and striking heads.

  19. إنْ حلَّ حلَّ النهبُ في أموالهِ

    أو سارَ حلَّ القتلُ في الأجْسَامِ

    If he settles, plunder descends upon his wealth;

    if he marches, slaughter descends upon bodies.

  20. إن جئتَه تعرُو فلا تظهرْ لهُ

    يُعْطيك مبتئاً بغير كلامِ

    If you come to him seeking bounty, do not declare your need:

    he gives to you unprompted, without a word.

  21. إنْ قلتَ كالبحرِ المحيطِ ظلمته

    في جُودِه أو قلتَ وَبل غمَامِ

    If you liken him to the encompassing sea, you wrong him

    in his generosity—or call him a downpour from clouds.

  22. حَاشَا ابن سيفٍ أن يضاهى بالورَى

    أو أنْ يشاكلَه كريمُ كرامِ

    Far be it that Ibn Sayf should be compared with humankind,

    or that any noble among nobles should equal him.

  23. هو أولٌ هو آخرٌ في نضله

    هو سابغ الآلاء والإنْعَامِ

    He is first, he is last in his supremacy in contest;

    he is lavish in favors and beneficence.

  24. هو كعبةُ الأربابِ طرًّا مالهُ

    مِنْ مُشْبه في أعصرِ الأعْوَامِ

    He is the Kaaba of all lords; he has no

    peer across the ages of the years.

  25. يا محيَ الكرم الكثير بمالهِ

    بَلْ مُهلك الأعداء والإعدامِ

    O reviver of lavish generosity with your wealth,

    rather, destroyer of enemies and poverty!

  26. يا من تفرَّد بالشجاعةِ واللُّهى

    يا مَنْ أمات عبادة الأصنامِ

    O you unequaled in courage and gifts,

    O you who extinguished the worship of idols,

  27. يا من إذا اشتدَّ الوغَى وطغى الرّدَى

    يلقى الجيوشَ بواضحٍ بسَّامِ

    O you who, when battle grows fierce and death runs rampant,

    meet armies with a bright, ever-smiling face,

  28. إنِّي دعوتك فاستجبْ لِي دعوتي

    يا غايةَ الإجْلال والإعْظامِ

    I have called upon you; answer my appeal,

    O utmost object of reverence and veneration.

  29. أمطرْ علىَّ سحائبا من فضةٍ

    من أنمل مثلَ البحارِ هَوَامِي

    Rain clouds of silver upon me,

    from fingertips pouring like the seas.

  30. أقسمت لم ترددْ فقيرا خائبا

    وترد في الهيجاءِ كلَّ لُهَامِ

    I swear: you have never turned away a poor man disappointed,

    yet in battle you repel every mighty host.

  31. وغدوتَ تصغى للوفودِ مَسامِعاً

    وتصمها عن طاعة اللُّوَّامِ

    You have come to lend your ears to delegations,

    and make them deaf to heeding the reproachers.

  32. من مَعشَرِ سَادُوا البريَّة كلَّهم

    أنتَ الهُمَامِ وكَهْفُ كلُّ همامِ

    From a company who all ruled humankind,

    you are the hero, the refuge of every hero.

  33. أقصرْ لقدْ جاوزت حدَّ المنتهَى

    في الجودِ والبأساءِ والإكرَامِ

    Enough! You have surpassed the furthest limit

    in generosity, might in war, and hospitality.

  34. إني نثرتُ عليكَ دُر قلائِد

    تزرى بكلِّ لآلىءِ ونظامِ

    I have scattered upon you the pearls of necklaces

    that put all pearls and strings of jewels to shame.

  35. خُذْها مبرأةً من التدليس والألح

    انِ فهْي أتتْ لخير إمامِ

    Take them, free of deceit and linguistic er—

    —rors, for they have come to the finest imam.

  36. وحكتْ فريضَ البحتري سلاسةً

    وابن الحسين الفذَّ في الإحكامِ

    They echoed al-Buhturi's verse in fluency,

    and the peerless Ibn al-Husayn in precision.

  37. كِلا معانيها وجودة لفظِها

    من شعِر ذِي المعنى أبي تمّامِ

    Both their meanings and the excellence of their wording

    come from the poetry of Abu Tammam, master of meaning.

  38. فليهْن هذا الدهرُ أنك خالدٌ

    يا كعبةَ الأمراءِ والحكامِ

    So may this age rejoice that you are everlasting,

    O Kaaba of princes and rulers.

  39. فعليكَ طولَ الدهرُ رحمة ربِّنا

    وعليكَ ألفُ تحيةٍ وسَلامِ

    May our Lord's mercy be upon you for all time,

    and upon you a thousand greetings and peace.