ظَفِرنا من عداتِكِ بالخِداعِ

ومن عَقدِ المواثِقِ بالضياعِ

We gained victory over your enemies through deception,

And from the bond of covenants through loss,

ولو شاوَرتني في غَيرِ لُبّي

ربحتِ وفاز كفكِ بالبياعِ

If you had consulted me against your desire

You would have profited and your palm obtained the sale,

منعتينا وكلُّ هوى وجوعٍ

يُغيرُ به الجبانُ على الشُّجاعِ

You denied us while every love and passion,

Changes the coward upon the brave,

كان البرقَ ليلةَ زرتِ يَجلي

لُمامَكِ في النقاءِ وفي الشُّعَاعِ

The lightning on the night you visited,

Illuminated the turban on your head in purity and radiance,

وطيف منكِ هلل بالتلاقي

فَعانقني مُعَانَقَةَ الوَداعِ

An apparition of you called out at the meeting,

And embraced me an embrace of farewell,

هَنيْئاً أنَها سَئِمَتْ وصَالي

وأَني ما سئمتُ من النِّزَاعِ

Congratulations that she grew weary of my company,

While I did not grow weary of contention,

كما لا يسأَمُ الملكُ المُرجى

مَطالِبَ كل صَعْبٍ ذي امتِنَاعِ

Just as the hoped for king does not grow weary,

Of asking for every difficult thing of denial,

فتىً ماهِيبَ هَيبَتَهُ مليكٌ

ولا انقادتْ رعيتُه لِراعِ

A young man whom no king fears his awe,

Nor did his subjects submit to a shepherd,

سَعَى للمجدِ يطلبُ منتهاهُ

فأَدركَ فوقَ ما تَسَعُ المَسَاعي

He sought glory, asking for its end,

So he attained above what hands can attain,

اذا ما كُتْبُهُ نَفذَتْ بكيدٍ

فيا ويحَ الرماحِ من اليَراعِ

When his decree was carried out by a plot,

Then woe to the spears from the milling,

تُطاعنُ عن قناه ملطفاتٌ

وقد تُقضى الحوائجُ بالرِقَاعِ

You are obeyed concerning his canal with flatteries,

And needs can be fulfilled with parchments,

سألنا عن تشاغلِه فقالوا

معنىً بالسِّلاحِ والكُراعِ

We asked about his preoccupation, so they said,

Busy with weapons and stirrups,

وتركيبِ الأَسنةِ في العَوالي

وتجريبِ الصوارمِ في النِّطاعِ

And assembling blades at the summits,

And testing swords at the thighs,

وعرضِ المقربات مُسوَّماتٍ

وما سُوّمْنَ للقِراعِ

And presenting pages gilded,

That were not gilded for the threshing,

يُريدُ بفارسٍ احدى الدَّواهي

زحامَ الهضبِ أَو قلعَ القِلاعِ

He wants through a horseman one of the prizes,

The crowding of the plateau or taking the fortresses,

كَدَأْبِ الخيلِ يومَ طَلَبْنَ بَاداً

تُفارطُ بينَ مَلْقٍ وانِتزَاعِ

Like the manner of horses the day they sought trouble,

Going to excess between a touch and snatching,

غَداةَ هوى لِعَثْرةِ أَعوَجيٍّ

يَعَضُ التربَ منقطعَ النُّخَاعِ

The morning a crooked one stumbled,

He bites the dust, his spine severed,

وأَفني الركضُ منه كلَّ طرفٍ

وجُنَّةَ كل سابحةٍ رواعِ

And the running exhausted every limb from him,

And the beauty of each swimming flank,

تَصُدُّ عن اللجَامِ بمِلْطَمَيها

كما صَدَّ الكريمُ عن القِذاعِ

They refrain from the bridle with their jaws,

As the generous refrained from the beggar,

فلمَّا عُدْنَ يمشينَ الهُوينا

ذَرَعْنَ البيدَ بالخطوِ الوَسَاع

So when they returned walking gently,

They spanned the deserts with ample steps,

كسونَ الحَزنَ حَزنَ دُرَا بجُردٍ

معاوزَ ما نسجنَ بكلِّ قَاعِ

They covered sorrow with the sorrow of ostriches,

Beyond what is woven by every carpet,

وأَشرفَ للشواهقِ كلُّ جِيدٍ

كما هَمَّ الرَّبيَّةُ بأطلاعِ

And every neck rose to the heights,

As the doe intended with the horizons,

وهُنَّ على السياطِ مُغَاضشباتٌ

فما يُمْلَكْنَ الاَّ بالخِدَاعِ

And they are striking with the whips angrily,

So they cannot be controlled except by deception,

فلولا أَنَّها بالغربِ قالوا

سَرَى يا ليلُ فجرُكَ بانِصداعِ

For if it were not that they said in the west,

The night journeyed, so its dawn cracked,

وولي عند ذلكَ من تَولى

يَفُلُّ شَبَا الأسنَّةِ باضطجَاعِ

And whoever turned away at that point,

The youth of the swords spill out in lying down,

وما عرفَ المقاتلَ مثلُ رمحٍ

وصلتَ كعوبَه بيدٍ صَنَاعِ

And no warrior knew a spear like you did,

That attached its heel through a making hand,

أَظنُّكَ خِفتَ أَنْ يَخفى علينا

فقمتَ لنا على شَرفٍ يَفَاعِ

I think you feared it would be hidden from us,

So you stood for us atop a towering summit,

مشيتَ الى أُسامةَ وهو طاوٍ

تقولُ لهُ هلُمَّ الى الصِّراعِ

You walked to Othman while he lingered,

You say to him, come to the struggle,

وكان اذا غزا بالجيشِ قوماً

تُوَلوِلُ قبل وقعتهِ النَّواعي

And whenever he marched against a people with the army,

The swords clamored before its falling the melling,

رأَى خَوَرَ الأَسِنَّةِ في التَّنادي

فعدَّك قسمةَ الضَّرْبِ المثَاعِ

He saw the green of the blades in the calling out,

So he counted you apportioner of the successive striking,

أَاِن بانتْ سريرتُكم وكانَت

فَضيحَتُكُم قناعاً للقِنَاعِ

Is it not your secret was revealed and became,

Your disgrace a mask for the mask,

جعلتُم ذَنبنا أَنّا سَمِعْنَا

وما الآذان الا للسَّماعِ

You made our sin that we heard,

And the ears are not but for hearing,

وانَّ السفحَ من هضباتِ جُورٍ

وجارٌ كان قبلكَ للضياعِ

And that the lower slope from the plateaus of oppression,

And an oppressor that was before you for loss,

بهاءَ الملكِ انكَ غبتَ يوماً

فطاولَ أَقصرُ الأقْوامِ باعي

The brilliance of the king, you were absent a day,

So the shortest of people lengthened in life,

أَضاع الناسُ ما راعيتَ مني

ولا تُخشى الاضاعةُ من تراعي

The people lost what you shepherded from me,

And loss is not feared from one who shepherds,

ولما أَنْ دعوتُكَ من بعيدٍ

أَجبتَ كأَنَّما المدعوُّ داعِ

And when I called you from afar,

You answered as if the called one summoned,

كتبتَ الى الشريفِ فكان برءاً

شفيتَ به الرؤوسَ من الصُّداعِ

You wrote to the noble one so he was innocent,

You healed with it the heads from headache,

وَمَنْ مثلُ الشريفِ لكلِّ أَمر

يبذ الناس ليس بمستطاعِ

And who is like the noble one for every matter,

The people squander he cannot perform,

تَراه كأَنه في القومِ غُفلٌ

وقد وَرَدَ المياهَ مع السباعِ

You see him as if he is a fool among the people,

And he has attained the waters with the predators,

يثيبُ على البلاءِ ولا يُحابى

بايثارٍ أَخاه من الرَّضاعِ

He rewards for the affliction and does not favor,

By preferring his brother from nursing,

اذا ما هم أَزمعَ مستمراً

وليس الأمرُ الا بالزَّمَاعِ

When he intends continuously and the matter,

Is nothing but with pegging,

وما تُغني التَّجَاربُ عنكَ مالم

تُعاوِنْها برأيٍ واخْتِراعِ

And trials do not benefit you unless,

You support them with opinion and invention,

يخافُ به المسارقُ راحتيهِ

ويأمنُ عازبَ النعمَ الرِّتاعِ

Which the thieves fear for their comfort,

And the single person of blessing fears the wretched multitude,

وما استبقى له في الرفقِ جُهداً

ولا في الذَّبِ عنه والدِّفاعِ

And no effort remains for him in gentleness,

Nor in protecting him and defense,

فَلِمْ عبدُ العزيزِ بكم خَصيصٌ

أَلا يا قومُ للثأر المضاعِ

So why is Abdul Aziz distinguished amongst you,

Will you not, O people, for the neglected revenge,

وكنتم اِخوةً في الملكِ شَتى

ففرقَ بينكم بَعدَ اجتمَاعِ

And you were brothers in the kingdom diverse,

So it separated you after gathering,

وسنَّ قطيعةَ الأرحامِ فيكم

أَخبُّ كَرَىً من الطُّلسِ الجِيَاعِ

And legislated the cutting off of relations between you,

More sinister than a hyena's bone-cracking,

وخانَ أَخاكَ وهو له وزيرٌ

مكانَ السرِ والرأْي المطاعِ

And he betrayed your brother while he was vizier to him,

The position of secret and obeyed opinion,

فلم تك أَنت بُغيتَه ولكن

وقى بك نفسَه عند المِصَاعِ

So you were not his seeker but,

He protected himself with you at the time of reaping,

أقامك تحتَ أَطرافِ العوالي

وفر يَشُوبُ غَدراً بارتَياعِ

He appointed you beneath the heights of power,

So he escaped while treachery spread in terror,

فآلى اذْ نجا منها جريضاً

نجا بكَ أَو وقاكَ من الوِقَاعِ

So when he was saved from it gashing,

He was saved by you or you protected from falling,

ولا يَرعى الأَمانةَ يوسفيٌ

مَوَدَّتَهُ على حبلِ الذرَاعِ

And a Josephite does not observe,

His affection upon the arm's rope,

اذا محيت ضَغَائِنُه بعذرٍ

نبتنَ نباتَ أَنيابِ الأفاعي

If you erase his grudges with an excuse,

They sprout like the sprouting of viper's fangs,

صنعتَ الذنبَ ثم أَردتَ منه

بأَنْ يَرعى حقوقَ الاصْطِنَاعِ

You committed the sin then wanted,

For him to observe the rights of favor,

وأَيُّ الناسِ أَكرمُ منك عفواً

وقد أَقطعتَه غُررَ الضِّيَاعِ

And which of the people is more generous than you in pardon,

When you provided him treasures of loss,

رأَيتُ التركَ ترجمُ من رماها

بمثلِ قوادمِ الطيرِ السِّراعِ

I saw the Turks interpret who cast them,

Like the racing of birds, the swift,

وما غلبوا بحدِّهم ولكنْ

بجَدِّك والأمورُ لها دَواعِ

And they did not overcome by their sharpness but,

By your seriousness and matters have causes,

أَصابَ الزجرَ مَنْ سَمَّكَ غيثاً

ومن كنَّى أَباكَ أَبا شُجَاعِ

Who warned attained rebuke,

And who named your father, father of the brave,