المجد مجدك طارفاً وتليدا

والفضل فضلك دانياً وبعيدا

Your glory is glorious, charming and lasting,

And your merit is merit, close and far,

ولك المديح الصدق أجلوه كما

قد كنت تجلو للحروب جنودا

And for you is sincere praise - make it shine as

You made armies shine for wars,

وأسير باسمك أملأ الوادي كما

قد كنت تملؤه قنا وبنودا

And I march in your name, filling valleys as

You filled them with spears and flags.

وأشرد المغرور مقهوراً كما

شرَّدتَ عن مصر العدا تشريدا

And I defeat the arrogant oppressed as

You expelled the enemies from Egypt completely.

من فاته في شيبه وشبابه

ما نلت من رتب الفخار وليدا

Whoever missed in his old age and youth

What you reached of ranks of pride and birth,

من نال دنياه شقياً باغياً

وجمعتها عف الضمير سعيدا

Whoever attained his life evilly and covetously

And you collected it with a content conscience,

ملكته فهو برقِّها مستسلم

يأتي المعاصي عامداً مشهودا

He owns it so he is its glittering prisoner,

Committing sins deliberately witnessed.

يزجى لقتل الأبرياء لصوصه

إذ كنت تفترس العصاة الصيدا

His thieves kill innocent people

While you were hunting down rebels for game.

ويشيد للذكر القبيح العار إذ

شدت المآثر مبدئاً ومعيدا

And he erects for the despicable shame, when

You tied glories, originating and repeating,

وتراه رعديداً إذاً سُئل الندى

وإذا استعين على الأذى صنديدا

You see him thundering, so if asked for help

And if aided against harm, mean,

وإذا رأى لقريبه أو جاره

حسباً غدا خصماً له وحسودا

And if he saw repute or status for his kin

Or neighbor, he becomes their enemy and envier the next day,

وإذا دعا فإلى الذنوب وإن سطا

فعلى الأرامل واليتيم مبيدا

And if he prays, then to sins, and when he rules

Then over widows and orphans, destroying,

تأبى عليه سجية الغدار أن

يرعى لموليه الجميل عهودا

The nature of the treacherous refuses

To observe for his good patron pacts,

لا يعرف الشيطان إلا صدره

بيتاً له دون الهدى مسدودا

He does not know Satan but his own chest

As a house for him, blocked off from guidance,

ما زال يغويه ويقسو قلبه

حتى غدا حجراً أصم صلودا

He still tempts him and hardens his heart

Until he becomes deaf, stubborn stone,

وجفا فما نجى غناه معسراً

يشكو إليه ولا أغاث كميدا

He disappointed so his singing did not save an insolvent

Complaining to him, nor did he relieve a suppressed one,

يصغي إلى الواشين محتفلاً بما

نقلوا ويهوى الشاتم العربيدا

He listens to slanderers, celebrating what

They conveyed, and he loves the abusive babbler,

متباهياً بالإثم معترفاً به

يستعذب التأنيب والتفنيدا

Boasting of sin, confessing it,

Sweetening rebuke and prosecution.

ومن البلية أن أراه ساكناً

قصراً يضم جوارياً وعبيدا

And of the afflictions that I see him settled

In a palace that houses concubines and slaves!

أبعلمه أم فضله وجهاده

يمسي لذي الشرف الرفيع نديدا

Do I teach him his grace and his jihad

That he spends evenings for the noble?

وهو المذمم مسلكاً ومساعياً

وهو المحقر نسبة وجدودا

He is the blamer of conduct and efforts

And he is the despiser of lineage and ancestors!

لا للعلى والدين والأوطان ما

أضحى يشيِّدُ بيننا تشييدا

There is none for sublime, religion or nation that

He built among us construction,

يمسي ويصبح لا يريد لنفسه

إلا من المال الحرام مزيدا

Spending mornings and evenings only wanting

From ill-gotten money increase,

لو كان فيه رحمة ما بات عن

إحسانه أغلى بنيه مذودا

Had there been mercy in him, he would not have spent his night away

From generosity to his own children, expelled,

حتَّامَ يأتي المخزيات مجاهراً

وإلامَ يلقى اللاعنين جليدا

To the point he shamelessly commits indecencies

And why does he meet blasphemers brazenly?

طابت له في السيئات حياته

أم ظن للطاغي الظلوم خلودا

His life was pleasant for him in evil

Or did he reckon the unjust oppressor eternity?

مات الطغاة دعاته وحماته

وأراه بعدهم استمر وحيدا

The tyrants died, their callers and protectors

And I see him after them persist, alone,

يا ويله ما باله لا يتقي

بأس الإله ولا يخاف وعيدا

Oh what a pity! Why does he not fear

Might of God nor dread threats?

فمتى تحل به العقوبة والردى

ويصيبه ما قد أصاب ثمودا

So when will punishment and ruin afflict him

And what has struck Thamud strike him?

لم يبغ عفو مليكه عما جنى

إلا ليدعوه الأنام عميدا

He did not seek his King’s pardon for what he stole

Except to call him patron of people,

ماذا يفيد العفو عنه بعد ما

أفنى الحياة مضللاً مرِّيدا

Of what benefit is pardoning him after

He wasted a lifetime, misguided and misguiding?

مهلاً فإني خائف أن يدعى

عرش البلاد وحكمها الممدودا

Wait! I fear he would be appointed

Throne of the country and its extended rule!

لو كنت من أهل القضاء مُحَكَّماً

صيَّرتُه عن أرض مصر طريدا

If I were among the judges, I would sentence him away

From Egypt’s land exiled,

وطرحته في السجن يبكي كابنِهِ

ويجر فيه سلاسلاً وقيودا

And I would throw him in prison crying for his son

And dragging chains and shackles in it,

وجعلت للسوط الأليم بكفِّه

وبرأسه وخدوده أخدودا

And I would make the painful whip split

His palm, head and cheeks in gulches

وأخذت بالثأر الكبير لمعشر

وردوا بغلظته الحمام ورودا

And I would take just vengeance for the group

His cruelty returned doves and roses,

وحرمته ما اغتاله حتى أرى

حق العباد إليهم مردودا

And I would deprive him of what he plundered

Until I return the people’s rights to them,

وشفيت غل الساخطين عليه بل

أطفأت من مهج الكرام وقودا

And I would heal the resent of those against him, but

Rather extinguish the zeal of the generous their firewood

وأشد ما أبدى شماتتهم به

غرض له أضحى به مجهودا

And I would make the dearest of their gloating over him

A goal he reached with effort exhausted,

يبدي الولاء تصنعاً ليناله

فيرده ويصد عنه صدودا

He shows loyalty falsely to gain it

So it is rejected and barred from him

ويقلد الأمراء في آدابهم

فتسيء شدة جهله التقليدا

And he imitates princes in their manners

So the severity of his ignorance corrupts imitation.

لم ألق عمري مادحاً متملقاً

في مصر كرَّمه وكان رشيدا

I have not met in my life a praising sycophant

In Egypt whom he honored and was rightly-guided,

أوزير مصر لك التحية والرضى

ولك الثناء مردداً ترديدا

O vizier of Egypt - to you greetings and consent

And praise to you echoing and repeating!

لو كان أرشده الإله إلى الذي

يرضى مليكك لاصطفاك ودودا

Had God guided him to one whom

Your king would be pleased with as a loving loyalist,

لم ننس عهد وزارة قضيته

يقظاً تؤيد أمرها تأييدا

We do not forget the era of your ministry which

Awake, its command you reinforce supporting,

فظفرت من مولى البلاد بنعمة

ردت قديم الأجر فيك جديدا

So you won your master’s favor - a boon

That made your old reward in you renewed!

أولى بمثلك أن يقلد صدره

لو أنصفوه من النجوم عقودا

It suits the likes of you that your chest be appointed

Garlands of stars, if they did you justice,

لا زلت تدعونا إلى النهج الذي

تبدي به إخلاصك المحمودا

You still invite us to the approach in which

You show your commended sincerity,

وتقيم فينا للمُمَلَّكِ واجباً

قد كان قبلك بيننا مفقودا

And you establish in us the ruler’s obligation

Which had before you been among us absent,

تحيي ليوم جلوسه التذكار مف

ترضاً له في كل آن عيدا

You celebrate the anniversary of his assumption

So pleasing to him always festive!

تقضي الليالي مقبلات بالمنى

بيضاً ويقضيها عدوك سودا

You spend nights advancing with wishes

White - and your enemy spends them black,

فاقبل مدائح شاعر بل طائر

أمسى بمدحك صادحاً غريدا

So accept the praises of a poet, nay flying thing,

Who spends evenings praising you, singing!