لشمس مجدك في الآفاق أضواء

وللمقلين من جدواك إثراء

The sun of your glory casts lights across the horizons.

And your bounty enriches those of little means.

وللكرم إذا تتلى فضائلكم

في كل محفلٍ إطراق وإصغاء

And Generosity, when your virtues are recited,

bows its head and listens in every gathering.

خلقت والجود من أصل به اعترفت

لك البرية أعجام وعرباء

You and generosity were created from one stock—a kinship acknowledged

in you by all humankind, non-Arab and Arab.

الجود جود ابن عيسى ذي العلا حمد

واغلب الجود بين الناس إرشاء

Generosity is the generosity of Hamad, son of Isa, lord of eminence;

and most generosity among people is bribery.

تجسم الجود حتى خلته بشراً

وذاك أنت وذي علياك علياء

Generosity took bodily form, until I thought it a man—

and that is you; this exalted height is your own.

تخالف الناس أديانا وما اتفقت

إلا عليك لهم بالجود آراء

People have differed in faith, and no agreement is found

in their judgments of generosity except about you.

والمجد من وائل تاج تداوله

آل الخليفة آباء فأبناء

And glory from Wa'il is a crown passed down

in the House of Khalifa, from fathers to sons.

هم الملوك عليهم فاض نائلهم

كل عليه لهم بالفضل سيماء

They are kings whose bounty has overflowed upon the people;

each bears a mark of their beneficence.

وقد سمى بك فخراً كل ما افتخرت

به ملوك وإقبال وولاء

Through you has risen in glory all that was a boast

of kings, along with good fortune and allegiance.

فالمجد تاج معاليكم جواهره

والعصر داج وانتم فيه أضواء

For glory is a crown whose jewels are your lofty merits;

the age is dark, and you are lights within it.

بالعدل سدتم وساويتم رعيتكم

والعدل عند ذوي التيجان عنقاء

Through justice you have ruled and treated your subjects equally;

yet justice among crowned heads is the fabled anqa bird.

من ساس بالجور والإرهاب مملكة

فالناس طرا له ما دام أعداء

Whoever governs a kingdom through injustice and terror

has all people as enemies for as long as he rules.

لن يسلم الملك من فوضى ومن فتنٍ

ما دام للجور في مرساه إرساء

Kingship will not be safe from chaos and strife

while injustice remains anchored at its mooring.

والملك يفسده دغل يروس به

ويحفظ الملك من للملك أكفاء

And kingship is ruined by a deceitful man holding sway within it;

those fit for kingship preserve it.

لو لا أبو مسلم ما زال ملك بني

مروان والدغل للإحسان نساء

Were it not for Abu Muslim, the rule of the sons

of Marwan would not have ended; the deceitful forget kindness.

لا ينكر الفضل إلا كل زعنفة

يأبى النجيب وان مسته ضراء

Only worthless people deny beneficence;

the noble-hearted refuses to do so, even if hardship afflicts him.

والجود ما يأتي عفواً فهو فضلة

والجود قسمان تسأل وإيلاء

And generosity that comes unasked is an added gift;

generosity has two kinds: solicited and freely bestowed.

يا من يحاذر من دنياه غائلة

أقصد أوالاً فتلك الدار عصماء

O you who fear calamity from your earthly life,

make for Awal; that abode is an inviolable refuge.

قل يا ابن عيسى أبا سلمان يا حمد

بك المعاذ فدنيانا أرباء

Say: O son of Isa, Abu Salman, O Hamad,

in you is refuge, for our world is full of watchers lying in wait.

لا غير الله ملكاً أنت صاحبه

ولا دهته من الأيام دهماء

May God never alter a kingdom of which you are master,

nor may a dark calamity of time descend upon it.

أنبئت ان يا ذا الفضل تذكرني

ولي بذلك تشريف وإعلاء

I was told, O possessor of bounty, that you remember me;

and in that lies honor and elevation for me.

وكنت تسأل عني سيدي كرماً

وفي السؤال لميت الذكر إحياء

And you would ask after me, my lord, out of generosity;

such inquiry brings one whose remembrance is dead back to life.

زال الشباب وما زالت مآثره

والشيب للمرء إن يكرمه لألاء

Youth has passed, but its noble deeds remain;

gray hair is radiance for a man, if he honors it.

إن شاب رأسي فقلبي في فتوته

كأنه صخرة صماء ملساء

Though my head has turned gray, my heart remains in its youth,

like a solid, smooth rock.

فكري صحيح وعقلي في رزانته

والذهن واع وما بالنطق إعياء

My thought is sound, and my mind retains its steadiness;

my intellect is alert, and my speech knows no weariness.

والربع أخضر والأنهار جارية

والنفس راضية والكف ملاء

The homestead is green, and the rivers are flowing;

the soul is content, and the hand is full.

وانتم الذخر فضل الله أحسبكم

لكل من مسه في العصر بأساء

You are the treasure; I deem you God's grace

for everyone whom hardship has touched in this age.

كأن راحاً لذكراكم تخامرني

فالذكرى سكري ومالي منه إصحاء

It is as though wine intoxicates me at the mention of you;

remembrance is my drunkenness, and I never sober from it.

وانتشي كلما عدت فضائلكم

وما لها أبداً بالعد إحصاء

And I grow intoxicated whenever your virtues are recounted,

yet no count can ever encompass them.

كأنني كنت من انس ومن طربٍ

أبو نواس ما بالعقل إخواء

In delight and rapture, it is as though I were

Abu Nuwas, yet with no loss of reason.

أهوى الكرام وفي أخبارهم طربي

ويطرب الفدم أوتار وصهباء

I love the generous, and their stories are my rapture;

the dullard is delighted by strings and tawny wine.

يا لائمي باشتهاري في محبتهم

دع عنك لومي فان اللوم إغراء

O you who blame me for my renowned love of them,

leave off blaming me, for blame is enticement.

هوى الأعالي عن اللذات يصرفني

وللبرية أطوار وأهواء

Love of the exalted turns me away from pleasures;

humankind has diverse temperaments and desires.

يا أيها الملك المقصود ساحته

من كل فج بها للفلك إرساء

O king, whose court is sought

from every road, where ships find anchorage,

أنت الرشيد وذي دار السلام بها

طاب المقام وعين السوء عمياء

you are al-Rashid, and this is the Abode of Peace, where

dwelling is pleasant, and the evil eye is blind.

حقا أقول بلا رغبٍ ولا رهب

والحق كالصبح إسفار فإضواء

I speak truthfully, without desire or fear;

truth is like dawn: first light, then radiance.

شهادة الحق إعلاناً أقدمها

إلى التواريخ والكتمان إزراء

This testimony to truth I offer openly

to the chronicles; concealment is disparagement.

ما جاد مثلك بالمعروف مبتسماً

ولا تناهت إلى علياك علياء

None has bestowed kindness with a smile like you,

nor has any eminence reached your exalted height.