جنابُكَ للعُلا حِصْنٌ حصينُ

وذكرُكَ للمنى دنياً ودين

Your side is an impregnable fortress for the exalted,

And your mention is a worldly and religious bliss.

وأدْنى غايَتَيْكَ لها أَمانٌ

وكلتا راحَتَيْكَ بها يمين

The least of your goals is safe,

And both your comforts are blessed by it.

أهابَ بكَ الزمانُ إمامَ عدلٍ

فَلَبَّتْهُ بكَ الحربُ الزبون

Time stood in awe of you as the leader of justice,

So wars clung to you, yielding.

حُساماً ما انتضاهُ الدّهْرُ إلا

ليعلمَ مَنْ يَفِي مِمَّنْ يخون

A sword that fate drew only

To know who would be loyal and who would betray.

صقيلَ المتنِ رَوْنَقُهُ الأماني

وماضي الحدِّ جَوْهرُه المنون

The elegance of the blade is fanciful hopes,

And the firmness of its edge is inevitable death.

وَمَضْرِبُهُ جُهَيْنةُ كُلِّ مَجْدٍ

وسَلْهُ فعندهُ الخبرُ اليقين

Its path is the pinnacle of all glory,

And its question is certain knowledge.

إذا حَدّثْتَ في الهيجاءِ عنه

فإنَّ حديثَهُ فيها شُجون

If you speak of it during turmoil,

Indeed, its talk amidst that is melancholy.

إذا اعتمدَ النَّدى غَصّتْ جِفانٌ

وإنْ شَهِدَ الوغى صَفِرَتْ جفون

When dew relied on it, blades became unsheathed,

And if tumult witnessed it, eyelids turned yellow.

إلى مَلِكِ الملوكِ هفا بلبّي

وقد سئمتْ نواظرَها العيون

Yearning for the king of kings, my heart fluttered,

As sights grew weary of it.

هوىً لو غيرُ ذِكْراه حَبَتْهُ

لكنتُ أقولُ سُكْرٌ أوْ جنون

Had love of him mentioned anything else,

I would say it was intoxication or madness.

إلى مَلِكٍ تَعوَّدَ بَسْطَ كَفٍّ

بخالقها تُعين وتَسْتَعين

Yearning for a king accustomed to extending a palm

That assists its Creator and seeks help from Him.

شديدُ البأسِ في صَوْنِ المعالي

تكادُ تُذيله ممَّا يلين

Firm in defending the sublime,

Almost trailing what relents.

أَبيٌّ حينَ يغشاها جسورٌ

قويٌّ حينَ يَرْعاها أمين

Unyielding when the bold approach,

Strong when the safe herd it.

سطا أسداً وأشرقَ بدرَ تمٍّ

ودارتْ بالحتوفِ رحىً طحون

It flattened a lion and shone like a full moon,

As grinding stones spun around blades.

وأَحْدَقَتِ الرِّماحُ به فَأَعيْا

عليَّ أُهالةٌ حِيَ أمْ عرين

Spears stared at it until they weakened;

Is my family alive or lying still?

أطلَّ على سريرةِ كلِّ غيبٍ

بفكرٍ لا تُخَالِجُهُ الظنون

It looked into the privacy of everything

With a mind not disturbed by suspicions.

فما للماءِ في أرضٍ ركودٌ

ولا للنارِ في حَجَرٍ كمون

So water has no stillness on land,

Nor fire concealment in stone.

تَشَوَّفَتِ الملوكُ هوىً وَذُعْراً

إلى مَلِكٍ يُدان ولا يَدين

Kings craved it - fervently and fearfully -

For a king who is obeyed and does not obey.

إلى مُتَهَلّلِ القَسِمَاتِ طَلْقٍ

كأنَّ سَنَا الصبَّاحِ له جبين

For one with beaming fortunes openly displayed,

As if its brilliant dawn is a forehead.

جوادٌ بالديارِ وما حَوَتْهُ

ولو أنَّ الزمانَ بها ضنين

Generous in homelands and what they contained,

Even if time was stingy with them.

تَعِزُّ به الركائبُ والقوافي

إذا كانتْ بأقوامٍ تهون

With it, mounts and rhymes become dear

When they are insignificant to some people.

أبا حَسضنٍ ومولى كلِّ حُسْنٍ

دعاءً لا يَميلُ ولا يَمين

Father of goodness and master of all beauty,

A prayer that does not waver or lean.

قد اهتزَّتْ بأنْعُمِكَ الليالي

كما تهتزُّ بالثَّمَرِ الغصون

The nights shook with your bounties,

As branches shake with fruit.

أدَرْتَ على البسيطةِ كأسَ طيبٍ

تَعَاطَتْهُ السُّهولةُ والحزون

You brought around the simple cup of joy,

Taken by the easygoing and the gloomy.

فكلُّ قرارةٍ مِسْكٌ فتيقُ

وكلُّ مُنيفةٍ عِلْقٌ ثَمين

So every toast is precious musk,

And every melody is excellent ambergris.

طليعةُ جيشك الظَّفَرُ المواتي

وظلُّ لوائكَ الفتحُ المبين

The vanguard of your army is obvious victory,

And the shade of your banner is clear triumph.

عُقابٌ كلَّما أمْسَتْ بأَرضٍ

فليسَ سوى الصدورِ لها وكون

A hawk that whenever it alights on land,

Nothing remains except the chests as abode.

رفعتَ على التُّخومِ مَنَارَ عَدْلٍ

أنارَ وهذه الأيامُ جون

You raised over the borders a minaret of justice

That illuminated while these days are unjust.

إذا وَعَدَ الزمانُ سرورَ شيءٍ

فمنكَ عليه نَذْرٌ أو يمين

If time promises the joy of something,

It is your vow or oath over it.

أَحِنُّ إليكَ واسألْ بي وسلني

وغايةُ كلِّ مَنْ نَزَعَ الحنين

I yearn for you - ask about me and inquire of me,

For yearning’s peak is what the heartsick endure.

ودونكَ كلُّ مَوْمَاةٍ فَيَاحٍ

كأنَّ نهارها قَلْبٌ حزين

Without you, every slight downpour is devastating,

As if its daylight is a saddened heart.

وَنَتْ فيها الرِّياحُ الهوجُ حتَّى

كأنَّ ظهورَها العُليا بُطُون

The violent winds blew in it until

Its summits seemed like exposed bellies.

إذا سرَّحْتَ طَرفَكَ قلتَ بحرٌ

يذلُّ الطَّرفُ فيه ويستكين

When you unleashed your gaze you said: A sea,

Where sight is humiliated and surrenders.

وقد لمعَ السرابُ فقلتَ ماءٌ

وجالَ الضبُّ فيه فقلتَ نون

A mirage gleamed, so you said: Water,

With floating creatures swirling in it.

كأنَّ هِضَابِها والآلُ يَنْزُو

بها مَوْجٌ تَرَاقصَ أوْسَفِين

As if its slopes and dunes appear

In it a wave dances with two vessels.

وأُخْرَى مِثْلُها إلا غَوَاشٍ

كأنَّ قعيدَها مَيْتٌ دفين

While another like it except for ponds

As if its stillness is a buried corpse.

كأنَّ عمادَها كُثْبَانُ رَمْلٍ

إليكَ وقد تكونُ لها شئون

As if its pillars are sand dunes

Subservient to you, though it may have meteors.

وليَّ العهدِ لي بهواكَ عَهْدٌ

كأنَّ مدائحي منه يمين

My heir, your love is a pact with me,

As if my praises of it are an oath.

سددتَ مَفَاقري وَأشَدْتَ باسْمي

فذلَّ الصَّعْبُ وَانقادَ الحرون

You aimed my words and fortified my name,

So the mighty submitted and the wolves obeyed.

وَخُيّلَ لِيْ الغِنَى فنطقتُ عَنْهُ

لِعِلْمي أنَّهُ مما يكون

Wealth was imagined for me, so I spoke of it,

Knowing it is among what may exist.