وَقائِعُ مثلُ ما بدأَتْ تعودُ

وخيلٌ ما تُحطُّ لها لُبودُ

The course of events is the same as when it began

And the horses that do not settle down

وفتيانٌ تَقِيَّتُهم دُروعٌ

مُضاعفةٌ وصَبرُهمُ عَتيدُ

And the young men whose armor is piety

Layered, and their patience is ready

وتعرين أسفار الأعادي

تمائمه إذا ارتاعَ الحديدُ

Revealing the paths of enemies

When iron shudders, so does its amulet

وأيامٌ على الإسلامِ بِيضٌ

وهنّ على العِدا حُمْرٌ وسُودُ

And days that are white for Islam

While humiliation for the enemies is red and black

تُثفِّتحُ زَهْرَةَ الآمالِ فيها

فُتوحٌ لا يُقَدُّ لها بَريدُ

It blossoms the flower of hopes in it

Victories that no mail can keep up with

يُخِّبرُ عن طِرادٍ يتَّقيهِ

كَرى الاعداءِ فهو له طَريدُ

It tells of prey that fears it

The enemy camps, so it chases them

ومُبرِقةُ الحُتوفِ إذا أسالَتْ

دماءَ الشَّيبِ شابَ لها الوليدُ

And the flashing swords when they are unsheathed

Spill the blood of old age, so the infant turns grey

يَبيتُ جِلادُها شَرقاً وغَرباً

حديثاً تَقشَعِرُّ لخ الجُلودُ

Its torture spends the night east and west

A talk that makes skin shiver

ولا إحجامَ إلاَّ أن تُكفِّي

عنِ البِيضِ الحياةُ أو الخدودُ

And no restraint unless life

Or cheeks suffice from the white

خطا الَّذربُ الأصَمُّ إلى سَمَنْدُو

وقَعقَعَةُ الحديدِ لها حديدُ

The deaf, blind sword went straight to Samandu

And the clanging of iron has its iron

أيرهَبُ جانبَ الأعداءِ ميلاً

وسيفُ الدَّولةِ الرُّكنُ الشَّديدُ

It awes the side of enemies as it leans

And the sword of the state is the sturdy pillar

وقادَ الخيلَ قُبّاً يَقتضيها

ذخيرةَ جُهْدِها أو يستزيدُ

And it led the horses driven

By the capacity of their effort or it asks for more

فأرسلَها على الصَّفصافِ يُخفي

سَنا أوضاحِها عنه الكَديدُ

So it sent them to the whinnying horses

The thickets hide its brightness from it

وزارَت أرضَ خَرْشَنَةٍ رِعالاً

فكادتْ أرضُ خَرْشَنةٍ تَميدُ

And they toured the land of Khorasan stomping

Almost making the land of Khorasan collapse

وجُزْنَ على الصعيدِ مُبَرقَعاتٍ

بَراقِعُهُنَّ ما نَسَجَ الصَّعيدُ

And Juzan scattered on the plain

Scattered, not what the plain weaved

وخَرَّتْ في قُرى جَيجانَ تَردي

بجائجةٍ عليها أو تَرودُ

And it collapsed on Jurjan's villages

With calamity or will collapse

وباتَت تُوقدُ النِّيرانَ فيها

وسِيَّانِ الكواكبُ والوَقودُ

And it spent the night igniting fires in it

While the stars and the firewood ignited

وسِحْنَ بجانِبَيْ سَيحانَ حتى

رَجَعْنَ وفجُّه المعمورُ بِيدُ

And Sihin, by the two sides of Sayhan

Until they returned and its populated crevasse overflowed

فأصبحَ وهو وِردُ المَوجِ مما

يَفيضُ عليه نَحْرٌ أو وَريدُ

So it woke while the wave was a flower

Overflowing on it, an artery or a vein

إذا خرَّت عليه رأيتَ بحراً

تَخُرُّ عليه من بحرٍ مُدودُ

When it collapsed over it, you'd see a sea

Collapse over it from an extended sea

وأورَدَها الخليجَ وقد تساوَتْ

بجُمَّتِها التَّهائمُ والنُّجودُ

And it took them to the gulf until they equaled

The reserves and the generous there

وفوَّقَ للحُصونِ سِهامَ نارٍ

يُصابُ بلَفْحِها الغَرَضُ البعيدُ

And it guided the fiery arrows to the citadels

Its sparks reach the distant target

إذا انتشرَتْ على الجُدرانِ راقَتْ

كما راقَتْ من العَصْبِ البُرودُ

When they spread on the walls, they glistened

As the hail glistened from the icy clouds

إذا ركعَ القَنا الخَطِّيُّ صلُّوا

صلاةً جُلُّ واجِبها السُّجودُ

When the war priests kneel, pray

A prayer whose essence is prostration

طلعت على الديار وهم نبات

وأغمدت السيوف وهم حصيد

They appeared to the lands while they were plants

And sheathed the swords while they were harvest

فما أبقيتَ إلا مُخْطَفَاتٍ

حَمَاها الخَصْرُ منها والنُّهودُ

So you did not leave behind but snatches

The waist protected from it and breasts

تُساقُ إليه مَثنىً أو فُرادى

كما يَهوي من السِّلكِ الفَريدُ

They are brought to you two by two or one by one

As the threads fall from the single strand

وبيضُكَ يا ابْنَ عبدِ الله تَلقَى

سَباياها الحسانَ كما تُريدُ

And your white, O son of Abdullah, receive

Its fair spoils of war as you wish

تقُدُّ البَيْضَ في الهَيْجاءِ قَدّاً

وتَثنيها السَّوالفُ والقُدودُ

Bringing the white mares whose lead ropes

Swirl from the whitish camels and the flanks

أفاءت لاونا فيما أفاءت

فجدت بنفسه فيما تجود

They have afforded us with what they have afforded

I gained with myself what it grants

أتاكَ وفي حَشاه رياحُ رَوْعٍ

عواصفُ ما لِهَبَّتِهَا رُكودُ

It came to you while in its belly are gales of panic

Gales that have no end to their blowing

بوجهٍ غاضَ ماءُ الأرضِ عنه

فليس بعائدٍ ما اخضرَّ عودُ

With a face that spoils the earth's water for him

So no uprooted wood shall return green

وربَّ مُمَنَّعٍ حاوَلْتَ منه

فلم يَمنعْه مَعقِلُه المَشيدُ

And many a fortified you have stormed

Whose settlement was not protected by its firm fortress

ومُشرِفَةٍ لقاصدِها صُبُوبٌ

على قِمَمِ السَّحائبِ أو صُعودُ

And an overlooking that its climber has winds

On the peaks of clouds or ladder climbs

تَحُفُّ بها شَواهِقُ شامخاتٌ

كما حفَّتْ بسيِّدِها الجنودُ

Around it are lofty towering palaces

As the soldiers had crowded around its master

كأنَّ فوارعَ الشَّرَفاتِ منها

نساءٌ في مَلاحِفِها قُعودُ

It is as if the expanses of its galleries are

Women sitting in their wraps

أَحطْتَ بها الأسنَّةَ لامعاتٍ

فهنَّ على ترائِبها عُقودُ

You have besieged them with glittering swords

They are necklaces on their necks

فأولدَها قِراعُكَ وهيَ بِكْرٌ

ولم تُرَ قبلَها بِكرٌ وَلودُ

So your battering has born it while being a virgin

No virgin had been born and given birth before it

رأتْ أمثالَ صورتِها حديداً

فكادَتْ وهي راسيةٌ تَميدُ

It saw the likes of its shape in iron

As solid as it stands it almost swayed

وما زالَت جيادُكَ طاوياتٍ

تُقادُ إلى العدوِّ فتستقيدُ

Your steeds have continued covering ground

Driven to the enemy, robbing what they passed

ضربْتَ بها الثَّغْرَينِ سَدّاً

يُؤيِّدُ رُكْنَه رأيٌ سَديدُ

You have struck with it the two frontiers, a dam

Supported by solid opinion

وأُبْتَ بها وقد أحرزْتَ مجداً

قَناكَ عليه والبِيضُ الشُّهودُ

And you were granted with glory

So your spear was appointed over it and the white witnesses

طوالعُ بينَ إيماضٍ وخُرسٍ

تَمائمُها البوارقُ والرُّعودُ

Stars between lightning and eclipse

Its omens are fair fortunes and thunder

تلقَّيْنَ الثَّرى صُمّاً تَساوى

بهِنَّ الرَّملُ والحجرُ الصَّلودُ

Meeting earth silently equaling

With their sands and stubborn rocks

فطَوراً بالأُرُنْدِ لها طِرادٌ

وطَوراً بالخليجِ لها ورودُ

So sometimes with eagle they have prey

And sometimes with the gulf they have roses

ولَمَّا قابَلَتْ طَرسوسُ غُرّاً

مُحجَّلةً تُقابِلُها السُّعودُ

And when Tarousus met the attack

The attack met it with Saud hosts

كفَفْتَ شَذاتَها فارتدَّ بأسٌ

كدُفَّاعِ الحريقِ وفاضَ جودُ

You have curtailed its insolence so a might was repelled

Like extinguishing a fire, so generosity overflowed

لقد شَرُفَت بِسُؤْدُدِكَ القَوافي

وفاز المجدُ والحسَبُ التَّليدُ

Indeed, rhyming lines have become noble with your help

And glory and ancestral dignity have been won

فيومَ الحربِ تُطرِبُكَ المذاكي

ويومَ السِّلمِ يُطرِبُكَ النَّشيدُ

So the battles thrill you on the war days

While poems thrill you on the peaceful days

تحاسَدَتِ الملوكُ فليسَ تَخبو

ضَغائُنها ولا تَفنى الحُقودُ

Kings have envied each other, no wonder

As their resentments are hidden but do not vanish

وأنتَ الدَّهرُ إنعاماً وبؤساً

وما للدَّهرِ نَعَلمُه حَسودُ

You are, for eternity, favors and misery

And we don't know time to be jealous