من مبلغٌ يَحيى وَدونَ لِقائِهِ
زبراتُ كُلِّ خَنابِس همهامِ
I am a messenger who revives the memory of his meeting
Who will convey to Yahya, when barring the way to him lie
The claws of every ambitious vulture provoke him
The massive shoulders of every roaring, formidable lion?
يا راعيَ السُلطان غَيرَ مفرّط
في لين مختبط وَطيب شمام
O shepherd of the Sultan, never neglectful
O shepherd of the Sultan, never negligent
In gentle, interwoven, and fragrant pasture
In gentleness to the petitioner, and fragrant in character,
تَعذى مسارحه وَيَصفى شربه
وَيَبيتُ بالرَبوات وَالأَعلام
His dwellings prosper and his drink is filtered
His pastures are made wholesome, his waters run clear,
He spends the night in the highlands and flags
And he spends the night vigilant upon the highlands and peaks,
حَتّى تَنخنَخ ضارِباً بِجرانه
وَرست مَراسيهِ بدار سَلام
Until you coo, striking with your anklets
Until he settled firmly, striking the earth with his weight,
And his pole rests in the abode of peace
And his anchors held fast in the Abode of Peace.
في كُلِّ ثغر حارِسٌ من قبله
وَشُعاع طرف لا يفتّر سام
In every valley a guard appointed by him
At every frontier stands a sentinel of his command,
And a beam of light that does not fade aiming
With a piercing beam of vision that never slackens nor tires.
يَومَ خلجتَ عَلى الخَليج نُفوسَهُم
غضباً وَأَنتَ بمثلها مستهام
The day you roiled their souls on the gulf
On the day you wrenched away their souls at the Canal,
Angry while they were similarly inclined
In wrath, though you are passionately driven by such deeds,
كانوا بَني امّ ففرّق شملَهم
عدمُ العُقول وَخفّة الأَحلامِ
They were sons of a mother, but lack of reason
They were children of one mother, yet their unity was shattered
And frivolity of dreams divided them
By the absence of reason and the frivolity of their wits.
