قم ودع الغرب أن الشرق ناداكا

والملك ألقى أمانتهِ لعليا كا

Rise and leave the West, for the East has called you.

The king has entrusted his charge to your eminence.

يا كوكباً أفق دار الملك مطلعه

وكل أفق سواه غير مثوا كا

O star whose rising-place is the horizon of the royal abode,

No other horizon is your dwelling.

دعاك عبد العزيز اليوم مؤتمنا

علاك لم يأتمن في الكون إلا كا

Abd al-Aziz summoned you today, placing his trust

In your eminence; in all creation he trusted none but you.

رآك شهماً حكيماً فاضلاً فطناً

في معرك الخطب مقداماً وفتا كا

He saw you noble-hearted, wise, virtuous, and astute,

Bold and formidable in the fray of grave events.

لذاك ألقى لعلياكم سياستهُ

ما راق في عينيهِ هذا ولا ذا كا

Therefore he entrusted his statecraft to your eminence;

Neither this one nor that found favor in his eyes.

دعاك تسقي رياض الخارجية من

تلك البحور التي مولاك أولا كا

He summoned you to water the gardens of foreign affairs from

Those seas your lord bestowed upon you.

بشرى أتتنا بسلك البرق باسمةً

كأنَّ مصدرها باهي محيا كا

Smiling glad tidings reached us by telegraph wire,

As though their source were your radiant countenance.

تهنيك يا سيدي بشرى لقد خفقت

بها قلوب محبيكم واعدا كا

Glad tidings congratulate you, my master; they have stirred

The hearts of your admirers and your enemies.

مالي أهنيك فيما دون قدركمُ

تهنا العروس التي فازت لقيا كم

Why congratulate you on something beneath your worth?

Let the bride who won a meeting with you be congratulated.

كسوتها المجد إذ شرفت مسندها

واللّه واقيك والأملاك ترعا كا

You clothed her in glory when you honored her seat;

God protects you, and the angels watch over you.

رفعت أجلالها الأسمى لذاك غدت

أعلى العُلا إذ علت نجماً وأفلا كا

You raised her loftiest dignity, so she became

The highest of heights, surpassing stars and celestial spheres.

مولاي كل الأنام اليوم في طرب

لم يلهجوا بسوى بشراكَ بشرا كا

My lord, all humankind rejoices today;

They speak of nothing but your glad tidings—your glad tidings.

وكل عين إلى علياك شاخصةٌ

تراقب الخبر من أبحار جدوا كا

Every eye is fixed upon your eminence,

Watching for news from the seas of your bounty.

أفق السياسة قد مُدَت دجنتهُ

فوق الأنام فعجل صبح أضوا كا

The darkness of the political horizon has spread

Over humankind: hasten the dawn of your radiance.

العسر حل على أيسار خزنتها

فارفع إذن عسرها في يسر يمنا كا

Hardship has fallen on the riches of her treasury;

Then lift her hardship with the ease of your right hand.

ما العصر غير أسير طوع حكمتكم

تنهى وتأمر أنَّى شئت لبا كا

The age is but a captive, subject to your wisdom;

You forbid and command as you wish; it answers you.

سياسة الكون أنَّى ملت مائلةٌ

لذاك كل سماع راقب فا كا

The world's politics incline wherever you incline;

Therefore every listener watches your mouth.

ماضي يرعاك فتاك بدولتها

فأرفق إذن إذ غدت من بعض العصر عزا كا

Your keen [pen?] is deadly in her realm.

So be gentle: she has become your strength 'from part of the age' [wording unclear].

طاعتهُ حتى لوان الروح عادلها

وجاءَ يطلبه قالت لهُ ها كا

Such obedience to him—even if a soul equaled her worth,

And he came seeking it, she would say to him, 'Take it.'

ذكاك ولاَّك قلب المشكلات كما

على قلوب الأنام اللطف ولا كا

Your intelligence gave you mastery of the heart of difficulties, just as

Gentleness gave you mastery over human hearts.

يصيب رأيك في الآتي وتدركهُ

كأنما اللّه بالأقدار أنبا كا

Your judgment hits the mark in what is to come, and you grasp it,

As though God had told you the decrees of fate.

صغَّرت كل كبيرٍ في نواظرنا

عجماً وعرباً ولولا قلت أتركا

You made every great man small in our eyes,

Non-Arabs and Arabs—and, were it not for ..., I would have said Turks.

أبديت في تخت ملك ألنمسا همماً

جاءت وفاقاً لمولاهُ ومولا كا

At the Austrian king's throne, you displayed high resolve,

Bringing accord to its lord and yours.

مكّنت بينهما حبل الوداد وكم

من الخطوب لقد زالت بمسعا كا

You strengthened the cord of friendship between them; how many

Troubles have vanished through your efforts!

مولاي يا راشداً يا نجل خير فتى

سقتهُ مزن الرضا إذ فيهِ سما كا

My lord, O Rashid, O son of the finest young man,

Clouds of favor watered him, for through him you were exalted.

أنَّى نعد مزاياكم ونحصرها

فهل ترى صُحُفاً تحصي مزايا كا

How can we count your merits and encompass them?

Can you find pages that could reckon your merits?

رايتكم فوق هذا المدح مرتفعاً

حتى توهمته كالهجو حاشا كا

I saw you towering above this praise,

Until I imagined it like satire—far be that from you!

كل المعارف إذ تحتاج غرستها

ري المعاني ارتوت من بحر أندا كا

All branches of learning, when their plantings need

The watering of meanings, drink their fill from the sea of your bounty.

سواك كلً أديم الأرض جبلته

سبحان مَن منْ أديم اللطف سوَّاكا

Everyone but you has the substance of earth for his nature;

Glory to Him who fashioned you from the substance of grace!

وبحر جودك مد غير منجزرٍ

قد طاف حتى غدت تقواك ننها كا

The sea of your generosity is a tide that never ebbs;

It has overflowed until your piety began to [restrain] you.

لَّما المهيمن أواه براحتهِ

قالت لهُ أجر فبسم اللّه مجرا كا

When the Guardian sheltered it in his palm,

The palm told it, 'Flow! In God's name be your course.'

اللّه يا سائلاً من جوده نعما

خذ ما رجوت ودع ما زاد عن ذا كا

By God, O seeker of blessings from his generosity,

Take what you hoped for, and leave what exceeds that.

يعطيك أكثر ما أملت معتذراً

كأنه آخذٌ ما كان أعطا كا

He gives you more than you hoped, apologetically,

As though he were taking back what he had given you.

أراشدٌ ذي صفات منك ترشدني

للمدح سجانهُ أعطى فأغنا كا

O Rashid, these qualities of yours guide me

To praise—[glory be to Him?] He gave and enriched you.

كان طير المعالي فيك وكنتها

وفكرتي نصبت للصيد أشرا كا

The birds of lofty virtues had their nests in you,

And my thought laid snares for the hunt.

لما رأيت المعاني فيك هائمة

أيقنت أن بنات الفكر تهوا كا

When I saw meanings wandering in love within you,

I knew the daughters of thought loved you.

أبرزتها سافراتٍ عن مدائحكم

تضوع من مرطها ريا سجايا كا

I brought them forth unveiled, revealing your praises;

From their mantle wafts the fragrance of your virtues.

من أفق بيروت طارت نحو سدتكم

ترجو القبول إذا فازت بلقيا كا

They flew from Beirut's horizon toward your threshold,

Hoping for acceptance if they gained a meeting with you.

مولاي بيروت لا تنسى مآثركم

هل يا ترى بعدُها حاشاك أنسا كا

My lord, Beirut does not forget your noble deeds;

Has her distance, I wonder, made you forget her? Far be it from you!

لولاك ما توجت بالمجد هامتها

كلا ولا أفتر منها الثغر لولاك كا

Without you, her head would not have been crowned with glory;

No, nor would her mouth have smiled without you.

ولا تمايل عالي حرشها طرباً

وما جرى نهرها إلا باروا كا

Nor would the tops of her woodland sway with delight,

Nor would her river flow except through your watering.

ولا تباهت بعزٍ أشرفيتها

إلاَّ بتشريفها في مجدِ مثوا كا

Nor would her Ashrafieh boast of glory,

Except through the honor of your glorious dwelling there.

ورملها أن دروا حباتهِ عدداً

يحصوا هباتٍ أتتها من عطايا كا

And her sand—if they knew the number of its grains,

They would count the gifts that reached her from your bounty.

هي التي كلّما طال البعاد ترى

في ثغرها قد تحالى حسن ذكرا كا

Whenever separation lengthens, it is she in whom you see

The beauty of your remembrance grow sweeter upon her lips.

نكلف الريح أن مرت بكم سحراً

أن تلثم الترب في أبواب عليا كا

We charge the wind, if it passes you before dawn,

To kiss the dust at the gates of your exalted dwelling.

على فروض دعاءِ الخير ثابتةٌ

نقاشها يسال الرحمن يرعاكا

She is steadfast in the duties of prayer for well-being;

Her Naqqash asks the Merciful to watch over you.