أغرتك الشهاب أم النهار — Al Sari Al Raffa

Is your brow a meteor, or daylight?

And is your palm the clouds, or the seas?

You were created as death and hope, and thus

The earth now quakes through you, or is nourished.

You adorn the faith, or guard its sanctuary;

Thus you are its rampart, or its bracelet.

Your swords are a cure for the frontier's affliction,

But for the foes, they hold destruction.

And your two palms are a bountiful raincloud, drifting by night,

And in its belly are water and fire.

A left hand whose nature is death,

And a right hand whose gift is wealth.

You swept Hatim away in generosity; he was left

With most of his celebrated deeds a disgrace.

For Tayy has testified, without favoring you,

That generosity's mine is Nizar.

The delegation gathers around you, an openhanded man,

Whom serenity and dignity surround;

And a sword among God's swords, eager

To spill the foes' blood with its cutting edge;

And a full moon: whenever the moon hides itself,

He is too exalted for moon-darkness to surround him.

We were present, while kings stood beside him,

Lowering eyes filled with submission.

And we visited him, a smiling lion of the forest;

Nor, before him, had we seen a lion one could visit.

Thus the jewels of glory were strung together,

And the jewels of praise were scattered.

You sent to the frontiers a cloud of justice

And bounty, whose downpour never ceases.

And you made serenity dwell in their two precincts;

So it settled, after rest had been unattainable.

And there you taught the call to arms to men

Whose aversion had kept them away from their foe.

And you flooded over their foe, so we said:

Has the sea overflowed, or has the rain poured down?

Noble deeds beyond the panegyrists' power;

So most of their praise of them is mere abridgment.

So may you live, free to choose among the loftiest wishes,

And may the choice in dealing with the foe be yours.

And your guest is a guest of the pouring rain,

And your neighbor is a neighbor of cheerful spring.