سَلْ ركابَ الحِمى غَداةَ استَقلَّتْ

مَنْ حَوتْ في رِحالِها وأقَلّتْ

Ask the riders of fever at dawn when they departed,

Whom their litters bore and transported,

وثنَتْ للسُرَى هواديَ لوْلا

أنْ هداها برْقُ الثّنايا لضلّتْ

And turned towards the plains, were it not

For the lightning of the dunes that guided them, else they would have strayed.

أهِيَ السُّفْنُ في بِحارِ سرابٍ

أمْ مَطايا لدَى الكثيبِ أطَلّتْ

Are they ships on seas of mirage,

Or camels by the sand dune that appeared?

غرُبَتْ في خدورِهِنّ بُدورٌ

أفَلَتْ لا بَلْ غرْبَ صَبْريَ فلّتْ

Full moons set in their chambers,

Did they escape or rather my patience strayed?

كمْ بُدور لها الهوادِجُ أفْقٌ

نورُها قد جَلا الدُجى إذ تجلّتْ

How many full moons the valleys are horizons for,

Their light dispelled the darkness when they appeared.

جَدّدَتْ حالَة الهَوى حينَ جدّتْ

وتوالَى الغرامُ حينَ تولّتْ

The state of passion renewed when they renewed,

And love followed suit when they followed suit.

حالَ ما بينَنا الزّمانُ ولكنْ

لمْ تزَلْ طيَّ أضْلُعي حيثُ حلّتْ

Time passed between us but

They still reside in my ribs where they resided.

لم يهُلْنا المَغيبُ لو هيَ وافَتْ

لمواقِيتِ عوْدِها وأهَلّتْ

Absence would not make us desist had they

Kept to the time of their return and greeted.

أيُحيلُ البعادُ عهْدَ فَتاةٍ

حالَة الوجْدِ بالفؤادِ أحلّتْ

Does separation render void a maiden's vow

That made passion reside in the heart they resided?

سلْ عنِ الأنْفُسِ الكَريمَة هَلّا

بعْدَ حِفْظِ العُهودِ عنْها تسلّتْ

Ask the noble souls - have they

Forgotten their vows after they made them?

وعنِ الناصر بْنِ نَصرٍ أجَدْوى

راحتَيْهِ أمِ الغُيوثُ استَهَلّتْ

And ask Nasser bin Nasser, my solace,

Did the mother of aid let his comfort subside?

هوَ مولَى المُلوكِ شرْقاً وغرْباً

فحُلاهُ على مَزاياهُ دلّتْ

He is the master of kings east and west,

So his virtues made his ornaments manifest.

حفِظَ اللهُ منهُ للمُلْكِ ذاتاً

بحُلَى الفضْلِ والكَمالِ تحلّتْ

May God preserve for the kingdom his being,

Adorned with the jewel of perfection manifest.

أيُها الناصِرُ الإمامُ المُرَجّى

فئَةُ العزِّ للمُناوِي أذلّتْ

O Nasser the Imam hoped for,

The party of might made the enemy abase.

جبَلُ الفتحِ قد حَللتَ لديْهِ

ذِرْوةً قد علَتْ مَكاناً وجلّتْ

You have smoothed on the mountain of triumph,

A peak elevated in rank manifest.

ولأهْلِيهِ في الخِلافِ نُفوسٌ

بشياطينَ للضّلالِ اسْتُزِلّتْ

And for his kin in the caliphate are souls

Seduced by devils to stray manifest.

فَترامَتْ لهمْ كتائِبُ عِزٍّ

لو رمَتْها يدُ الزّمانِ لشُلَّتْ

So battalions of might pounced upon them

Had the hand of time pushed them they would have stumbled.

لو تُجاري الرّياحُ منها جياداً

لانثَنَتْ عنْ مَدى السّباقِ وكلّتْ

Were the winds to race their steeds,

They would have veered from the track of the race manifest.

بِهوادٍ غُرّ الفُتوحاتِ أهْدَتْ

إذْ أطلّتْ جُموعُهُمْ وأضلّتْ

With conquests they gifted the valleys that appeared,

When their troops thronged and strayed.

أرِياضٌ أنْهارُهُ فيهِ سالَتْ

أمْ سُيوفٌ في مُلْتَقَى الحرْبِ سُلَّتْ

Are they orchards whose streams flowed in them,

Or swords in the battlegrounds unsheathed?

وعَوالٍ يجْلو الظّلامَ سَناها

أمْ نجومٌ من السّماءِ تدلّتْ

And meteors dispelling the darkness their sharp blades,

Or stars from the heavens that dangled?

ولقدْ جاءَتِ البشائِرُ حتّى

أعْذَبَتْ موْرِدَ السُّرورِ وأحْلَتْ

And good tidings came until

They made the font of joy sweet and poured forth.

بعُلاكَ السّعيدُ مُلّكَ أرْضاً

لكَ ألْقَتْ ما عِندَها وتخلّتْ

Your blessed empowerment made you king over a land

That resigned to you what it possessed manifest.

فتهنّا صَنائِعاً حينَ وافَتْ

شيّدَتْ مصْنَعَ القَبولِ وأعْلَتْ

So we rejoiced when they arrived,

Having erected the edifice of acceptance lofty.