سعدتْ بطول بقائِكَ الحِقَبُ

وعدتْ مقرَّ علائك النُوَبُ

The ages rejoiced at your lasting reign,

And the vicissitudes of time returned obedient.

أنت الذي انقادَ الزمانُ له

طوعاً ودانَ العُجْمُ والعَرَبُ

You are the one whom time itself obeyed,

The non-Arabs and Arabs submitted willingly.

أنتَ الذي قسمَ القضاءُ له

فوقَ الرجاءِ ودونَ ما يجبُ

You are the one whom destiny allotted

Beyond hope and beneath obligation.

أنت الذي لولا مكارمُه

غاضَ الزُّلالُ وصَوَّحَ العُشُبُ

You are the one were it not for your nobility

The new grass would have withered and the brooks run dry.

ما زالَ عن قومٍ نعيمهُمُ

إلا وأنتَ لردِّهِ سَبَبُ

No people's blessings have ever departed

Except through your will in bringing them back.

فالمجدُ في حِضنيكَ معتقلٌ

والمالُ من كفَّيكَ منتهَبُ

Thus glory rests in your embrace preserved,

And wealth from your hands is generously dispensed.

كالدَّهرِ كلُّ صروفِه عِبَرٌ

والبحرِ كلُّ أمورِهِ عَجَبُ

All the twists of fate are lessons to learn

And the seas in all their ways hold wonders to discern.

حَنِقٌ على الأعداءِ مضطغِنٌ

وعلى الرعايَا مُشفِقٌ حَدِبُ

Burning with wrath against enemies, yet gentle

And compassionate towards your subjects.

عَرفٌ نَمومٌ عُرْفُهُ شَمِلٌ

وحمىً منيعٌ عِيصُه أَشِبُ

Noble, high-minded, encompassing in your nobility,

A staunch, towering protector.

بكَ عَزَّ دينُ اللّهِ واتَّضَحَتْ

آياتُه وتكشَّفَ الحُجُب

Through you the religion of God became mighty

And His signs clear, the veils lifted.

فاللّهُ شاكر ما رفدت بهِ

دينَ الهدى والرُسْلُ والكُتُبُ

So God is thankful for what you have bestowed

On the true religion, the prophets and the holy books.

لولا انقطاعُ الوحْي قامَ بما

قامتْ به في مدحكَ الخُطَبُ

If not for the ending of revelation, the sermons

Would have continued praising you as they began.

ما بينَ مشرقِها ومغرِبهَا

تُحدَى إليك الأينقُ النُّجُبُ

From east to west the most eloquent orators

Stand challenged to praise you, their finest prose outdone

فتُنَاخُ مِلءُ جلودِها نصبٌ

وتثار ملءُ متونِها نَشَبُ

And the skins of their faces cringe in frustration

As their innermost thoughts take wing and fly away.

ووراءَ سطوكَ إنْ هَممْتَ به

حِلمٌ يلوذ بحِقْوِهِ الغَضبُ

Beyond your might, if you considered something

Forbearance in its mightiest forms would flee away.

وعزيمةٌ هجماتُها دُفعٌ

كالسَّيل طامنَ عنقه الصَّبَبُ

And a resolve whose onslaughts are irresistible

As a torrent whose neck the dykes cannot restrain.

خطَّارةٌ في كلِّ معركةٍ

قلبُ الحِمام لهولها يَجِبُ

In every battle terrifying as fate,

At its horror the brave hearts quake.

وإِذا تحدّبت الكُماةُ على

صُمِّ القَنا وتطاردَ العُصَبُ

And when the vultures circle above

The valley's deafening roar and pursuing fate,

في موقفٍ جحدَ الرؤوسُ بهِ

أعناقَها فوشتْ بها القُضُبُ

At that point where all bow down their heads

And their necks are laid bare to the blade,

فهناكَ أنتَ وعزمةٌ عصفَتْ

وانجابَ عنها الجَحفلُ اللَّجِبُ

There you are, and a will that storms

Sending the hordes in panicked flight colliding.

رَوعاءُ لم يثبُتْ لها بَدَنٌ

إلا يروح وهمُّها الهَرَبُ

No body stood except it went lifeless,

Its only thought to flee in haste away.

يا سائسَ الدنيا بمختلفِ ال

حالينِ فيها الرَّغْبُ والرَهَبُ

O guide the world with its changing

Fortunes, hope and fear each a role to play.

ومدبَّراً ضمنتْ أَيالَتُهُ

ألّا يُراعَ لصقرِها الحَزَبُ

Your wisdom’s veil ensures your hawk will never

Be opposed lest the rabble block its way.

ومؤلِّفَ الأضدادِ مجتمعاً

في راحتيهِ الماءُ واللَّهَبُ

You who bring together all opposites

In your peace, fire and water as one.

بالشرق غيبتُهُ وهيبتُه

بالغربِ حيثُ الشمسُ تُحْتَجَبُ

In the east your absence yet still your awe

Where the sun disappears from view.

فالبيضُ لولا رأيُهُ زُبَرٌ

والسُّمْرُ لولا عَزْمُه قَصَبُ

Without your wisdom the whites would be foolhardy

And the browns like reeds if not for your resolve.

إنْ لَجَّ كفُّكَ في سماحتِها

فُقِدَ الرجاءُ وأقصَرَ الطَّلَبُ

If you clench your noble hands in anger

Hope is lost and all pleas denied.

أو دامَ بالأعداء وقعتُها

ضَجرَ الردى وتبرَّم العَطَبُ

Or if you constantly bait your enemies

Striving vexes and ambition rebels.

كم ذمةٍ لك غيرُ مُخْفَرَةٍ

قد شُدَّ فوق عِنَاجِها الكَرَبُ

How many under your protection still faithless

With anguish laid upon their necks like harps.

ومواربٍ أخفَى عَداوتَه

فبدَتْ كما تتفرَّقُ الجُلَبُ

How often traitors hid their malice

Seeming as scattered as a herd untied.

أوسعتَهُ حِلْماً فأهلكَهُ

ولربما يُستوخَمُ الضَّرَبُ

You suffered them gently so they perished

When sometimes a blow strikes more rightly.

وتركتَهُ تمكُو فرائصُهُ

للموتِ في حَوبائِه أَرَبُ

You left them provisions swelling

For death in its coils more fittingly.

وغدتْ ملاعبُه متاعِبَه

يسفي ثَراها البارحُ التَّرِبُ

Their playgrounds became their undoings

As their riches the dust inherited.

أينَ المفرُّ لمن طلبت ولو

عصمتْهُ في أفلاكِها الشُّهُبُ

Where can he escape who is sought when

The shooting stars in their orbit must obey?

لو كانَ ينجو منك معتصمٌ

لنجا إِذاً في المعدِن الذَّهبُ

If one you pursue in the mines took refuge

Would the gold there protect him from your sway?

زوَّدْتَنِي كُتُباً بموعِدها

قَرُبَ الغِنى وتمهَّدَ الرُّتَبُ

You endowed me with gifts in your wisdom

Drawing near, rank bestowed, worries allayed.

بمؤيدِ المُلْكِ انجلتْ غُمَمٌ

أنْحَت عليَّ وأقلعتْ كُرَبُ

With the supporter of the kingdom my clouds cleared

And my sorrows lifted away.

أثنِي عليه بفضلِ أنْعُمِهِ

شكرَ الرياضِ لما سقَى السُّحُبُ

I praise him for the plenty of his blessings

Like the meadows praise the rain from the clouds.

فبقِيت للإسلام تنصُرُهُ

والمُلكِ تأخذُ منه ما تَهَبُ

Thus I remained to defend Islam

And the kingdom, taking what you gift.

ورمى القضاء إليك طاعتَهُ

تختارُ ما تهوى وتنتَخِبُ

And providence cast obedience to you

To choose what you love, the noblest way.