1. Ah, who will carry my greetings from me

    to a leader in Iraq, guardian of order?

  2. A sincere man’s salutation, revealing through affection

    the ardor of one with an enamored heart;

  3. and convey to him, across the distance, a longing

    from the supplicant to that gallant, intrepid hero.

  4. His auspicious presence has dawned upon us

    like the full moon rising in the depths of darkness.

  5. We shall thank him for what has come from him

    as the meadow thanks the raincloud’s traces.

  6. And what his noble character bestowed

    was faithfulness to affection and the bond of honor.

  7. Verses of poetry about Nasir shone splendidly;

    they came—for praise springs from noble speech.

  8. Through them, the President indeed extolled him

    with praise full of respect and reverence.

  9. By my life, his friends rejoice in them,

    while adversaries’ tongues are tied against him.

  10. Indeed, merit is recognized by those who possess it;

    through it the noble are distinguished from the base.

  11. Midhat of the World regarded him as a sword,

    and he may thereby spare him from carrying a sword.

  12. So the marshal sent him forward for a day of calamity,

    to cleave every head among the rebels.

  13. By God, what a governor, what a marshal—

    great in stature, lofty in rank, sublime!

  14. If Baghdad boasts of him, it has surpassed,

    through his resolve, Aleppo and Damascus.

  15. For through him Iraq was set in order, and so came

    to vie proudly with all others in orderliness.

  16. With swords he destroyed its corrupters

    and, with those blades, brought them to death’s watering place.

  17. He stretched out a hand to al-Hasa, and it reached far,

    and by its long reach attained the difficult aim.

  18. He struck those in Iraq—the rebels of Najd—

    a vizier whose mark no marksman ever matched.

  19. And he rendered a service mighty and exalted,

    through his resolve, to the Sultan of humankind.

Sol 5.6