يا مُحْيِيَ العدل ويا مُنْشِرهُ

مِن بَينِ أَطباقِ البلى وقد هَمَدْ

O reviver of justice, O its restorer,

from amid the layers of decay, after it had lain dead;

وَركن الإِسلامِ الَّذي وَطَّدَه

طال وأرسى العزّ فيه ووطَّدْ

and pillar of Islam, which you made firm—

it towered high, while glory cast anchor there and stood secure;

وَشارِع المَعروفِ إِذ لا سَفه

يجنحُ لِلقَولِ ولا تَسمَحُ يَد

and institutor of beneficence, when no fool

inclines to beneficence, nor any hand gives freely.

محوْتَ ما أَثبتَهُ الجَور مَضى

عَلَيهِ إِخلادُ اللَيالي فخلَّد

You erased what tyranny had established, after

the succession of nights had passed over it and made it seem eternal:

مِن كُلِّ مَكّاسٍ يظلّ قاعِداً

لِما يسوءُ المسلمين بالرَّصَدْ

every tax collector who remains seated

in ambush for whatever may harm the Muslims.

كَانَت لِأَرجاسِ اليهودِ دَولَة

أَزالَها مِنكَ الهَصُور ذو اللّبدْ

The abominations of the Jews once held sway;

the fierce, shaggy-maned lion in you swept them away.

المَلكُ العادِلُ لَفظٌ طابَقَ ال

مَعنى وَفي الوَصفِ مَعاد مُستَرَدْ

“The Just King”—a phrase whose wording matches its—

meaning; in that epithet, justice is restored and won back.

خَيرُ النُّعُوت ما جَرَى الوصفُ على

صفحته جَرْيَ النَّسيم في الوَمَدْ

The finest epithet is one whose description runs across

its page as the breeze runs through sultry heat.

عَدْلٌ جَنيتُ اليَومَ حُلْوَ رَيْعِهِ

وَسَوفَ يُجنَى لَكَ أَحلى مِنهُ غَدْ

A justice whose sweet yield I reap today,

while tomorrow a sweeter yield will be reaped for you.

لا زالَ للإِسلامِ مِنك عِدَّةٌ

تُقيمُ مِنهُ كلَّ زَيغٍ وَأَوَدْ

May Islam always find in your justice

a straightening of every deviation and crookedness.

الناسُ أَنتَ وَالملوكُ شرطٌ

تُعَدُّ لَيْثاً ويُعَدُّون نَقَدْ

You are mankind; kings are merely guards:

you are reckoned a lion, while they are reckoned paltry sheep.

مِثلكَ لا يَسخو بِهِ زَمانُهُ

ومثل ما أُوتيتَ لم يؤتَ أَحَدْ

Time is never so generous as to bring forth another like you,

nor has anyone been granted the like of what you were granted.

أَيا نورَ دينٍ خَبا نورُهُ

وَمُذ شَاعَ عَدْلُكَ فيهِ اِتَّقَدْ

O light of a faith whose light had dimmed—

once your justice spread through it, it blazed anew.

رَآكَ الصَليبُ صليبَ القَنا

ةِ أَمينَ العثارِ مَتينَ العَمَدْ

The Cross saw you, unyielding as spear-shafts,

secure against stumbling and firm in support.

تَهمُّ فَتَسْلُبه ما اِقْتَنَى

وَتَدأَى فتثكلُهُ ما اِحتَشدْ

You resolve against it and strip it of all it has gained;

you strike first and bereave it of all it has mustered.

زبَنْتَهُمُ أمس عَن صَرْخَدٍ

ففضُّوا كأنّ نعاماً شَرَدْ

Yesterday you drove them back from Ṭarkhad,

and they scattered like ostriches bolting away.

وَيَومَ العُرَيْمة أقبَلْتهم

عُراماً تَثعلبَ مِنهُ الأَسَدْ

On the day of al-ʿUraymah you bore down upon them

with a fury that made lions themselves turn foxlike.

حَبَيْتَ مَليكهم في الصِّفاد

وعَفْوُكَ عنه أعمّ الصَّفدْ

You bestowed fetters upon their king,

yet your pardon of him was the greater gift.

وقبلُ أَزَرْتَهُمُ في الرُّها

مَوازِقَ مزَّقْنَ جُرْدَ الجُرَدْ

Earlier, at al-Ruhā, you hemmed them into

deadly straits that tore apart their sleek steeds.

بقيتَ تُرَقِّعُ خَرْقَ الزّما

نِ قِياماً لأَبنائِهِ إنْ قَعَدْ

May you remain, patching the rent in Time,

rising for its children whenever Time sits idle;

تُثَقِّفُ مِن زَيفِهِ ما اِلْتَوَى

وتُصْلِحُ من طَبْعِهِ ما فَسَدْ

straightening whatever its falseness has warped,

and repairing whatever its dislocation has spoiled.