1. نُهنّي بك الأعيادَ إنك عِيدها

    ومُبْدىء أبكار العُلا ومُعِيدُها

    We congratulate the feasts on you, for you are their feast.

    And the originator of glory’s maiden deeds and their renewer.

  2. وإنك بحرٌ للعفاةِ وموردٌ

    نميرٌ ولكن للبغاةِ وعيدُها

    And you are a sea for seekers of bounty, and a watering place

    Of sweet water—yet a threat to rebels.

  3. وذِى أمَّةٍ مرحومةٍ بك أصلحتٍ

    فقَائمها في نعمةٍ وقَصيدُها

    And this is a nation shown mercy, set right through you;

    So its upright and its stricken alike live in blessing.

  4. وما صَدَّ عن مرآك إلا شقيُّها

    وما حلَّ في علياكَ إلا سَعيدُها

    And none has turned from beholding you but its wretched,

    And none has dwelt in your heights but its fortunate.

  5. ولو لم تكنْ أنتَ المعظَّم مالكاً

    لما خضعتْ شُمُّ الملوكِ وَصِيدُها

    And had you, the exalted one, not been sovereign,

    The lofty and haughty kings would not have bowed.

  6. وقد آنستْ منكَ الرعيةُ رأفةٍ

    لأنك بالبشرِ الجميل تصيدُها

    And the subjects have indeed felt compassion from you,

    For you capture them with your gracious smile.

  7. وقمتَ بدين اللهِ حتى تألفت

    بِعَدْ لك آرامُ الفلا وأُسودُها

    And you upheld God’s faith until there lived in harmony

    Through your justice, the desert’s gazelles and its lions.

  8. أَلاَ قُلْ لمن يبغى المعالي مُبَادِراً

    فهذى العُلا تبغى حكيما يسُودُها

    Lo, tell whoever hastens to seek lofty honors:

    For these heights seek a wise man to rule them.

  9. فإنك مِن جُرثومةٍ يَعْربيةٍ

    يمانيةٍ لا شكَّ أنتَ عَميدُها

    For you come from a Yaʿrubi stock,

    Yemeni, whose chief you are beyond doubt.

  10. على أنَّ هذى أمةٌ خيرُ أمةٍ

    وإنك يا ابن السابقين حَميدُها

    Moreover, this is a nation—the best of nations,

    And you, O son of the forerunners, are its praiseworthy one.

  11. لَئِنْ جَحْدَ الحسادُ بعضَ مَقالتي

    فتشهدُ لي بيض الليالِي وسودُها

    Even if the envious deny some of my words,

    Then the nights, white and black, bear witness for me.

  12. فيَا مَنْ له الأملاكُ طُرّاً تواضعتْ

    ودَانتْ له أحرارُها وعبيدُها

    So, O one before whom all kings have humbled themselves,

    And to whom its free people and its slaves have submitted,

  13. ومن نصَرَ الدين القويمَ بسيفِه

    وزانَتْ به الدنيا وأورق عودُها

    And who championed the upright faith with his sword,

    And through whom the world grew fair and its bough put forth leaves,

  14. ومن لم تَزَلْ أمواله بسخائِه

    كأعدائِه بالمرهَفات يبُيدُها

    And whose wealth, through his generosity, he has never ceased

    To destroy, as he does his foes with keen-edged blades:

  15. فيا نسلَ سلطان بن سيفِ بن مالك

    فأنتَ أخُو علياءَ عالٍ صعودُها

    So, O descendant of Sultan ibn Sayf ibn Malik,

    For you are brother to glory whose ascent is lofty.

  16. أتاكَ بأبكارِ المعاني منصحٌ

    يفوقُ على نَظْم اللآلى قصيدُها

    A sincere well-wisher has brought you maiden thoughts,

    Their verse surpasses the stringing of pearls.

  17. ودُونَكَها من مُعْولِيٍّ قَوافياً

    حساناً يروقُ السامعين نشيدُها

    And take from a Muʿwali these rhyming verses,

    Lovely verses, whose chanting delights the listeners.

  18. فكم لك عِندي من جواهرَ جمةٍ

    أؤلّفها نظماً وأنتَ مُجيدُها

    For how many jewels I hold in abundance for you!

    I string them into verse, and you perfect them.

  19. ولِي فيك أنصارٌ عريضٌ طويلُها

    بعيدٌ كآمالي بسيطٌ مديدُها

    And in you I have supporters, broad in their long reach,

    Far as my hopes, expansive in their extent.

  20. إذا شئتُ مدحاً فيك جَاشَتْ قريحةٌ

    كآذيٍّ بحرٍ ليس يُحْصَى عديدُها

    When I wish to praise you, poetic inspiration surges,

    Like a sea’s waves, whose number cannot be counted.