رَقَصَت بِكَ العَليا تجرُّ ذُيولا

وَجَلتكَ فَرداً في العِبادِ جَليلا

The High One danced for you, dragging robes,

And made you uniquely exalted among the servants.

فَطَلَعتَ في الآفاقِ بَدرَ جَلالَةٍ

صاغَ الكَواكِبَ في العُلى إِكليلا

So you rose in the horizons like a splendid full moon,

With the stars fashioning for you a crown on high.

ما لِلمَحامِدِ عَن مَقامَكَ مصرفٌ

كَلا وَلا لِلمَجدِ عَنكَ سَبيلا

Eulogies have no diversion from your station,

No, nor glory any access to you.

أَخُلاصةَ الشَرَفِ المفيض عَلى المَلا

حِلماً بِهِ يَنفي العَليلُ غَليلا

Quintessence of the overflowing nobility upon the summit,

A forbearance thereby the wretched outcasts loss of hope.

أَنتَ الَّذي خَضَعَ الزَمانُ لِعِزِهِ

بَينَ العِظام يَزيدهُ تَبجيلا

You it is before whose might time has bowed,

Magnifying you among the bones increasingly.

قالَت لَكَ الأَكوانُ وَهِيَ مُصيبَةٌ

إِني لِذاتكَ ما رائَتُ مَثيلا

The cosmos said to you, though it was right:

"For your essence I have never seen a peer."

بَشِّر شُعوبَكَ لا يَزالُ محمَّدٌ

فيما يُبشِّرُ صادِقاً وَكَفيلا

Give good tidings to your nations—Muhammad

Will remain, promising truly and warranting.

إِن فاتَ تونس نيل مصر فَأَنتَ قَد

أَجرَيتَ مِن فَيض المَكارِمِ نيلا

If Tunis lacks the Nile of Egypt, still you

Have let flow from the bounty of honors a Nile.

فَدَعَوتُها الخَضراءَ وَهِيَ نَضيرَةٌ

في ظِلكَ العالي تَبين حَجولا

So I called it the Green, and it being verdant

In your lofty shade appears gazelles.

ما كَدَّرتها فِتنَةٌ بادَرتها

في هِمَةٍ تَدعُ الأَبيَّ ذَليلا

No dissension has muddied it, but it took the initiative

In a resolve letting the unwilling be abject.

أَنّي وَفي شَفَتَيكَ أَحكام القَضا

مَن شِئت فازَ وَمَن أَردتَ أُزيلا

Behold, in your lips are judgments of destiny:

Whom you wished won, whom you wanted removed.

قَومٌ طَغوا جَهلاً فَقُمتَ مُؤَدَباً

حَتّى أَزَلتَ عَن النُفوسِ خُمولا

A people wallowed in ignorance, so you arose disciplining

Until you lifted from spirits torpor—

أَينَ الفَرارُ وَفي يَمينكَ صارِمٌ

صاغَتهُ مَقدِرَةُ الإِلَهِ صَقيلا

Where is fleeing when in your right hand is a sword

Forged by the power of God, burnished?

مِن نور رَبِكَ في صَفائِحِهِ السَنى

وَبِحَدِهِ حلَّ الحَمام نَزيلا

From the light of your Lord in its blades

And by it the dove alighted as a lodger.

فَإِذا فَتَكتَ فَعادِلٌ في حُكمِهِ

وَإِذا عَفَوتَ فَمانِحٌ مَأمولا

When it wreaks havoc, then you are equitable in your rule,

And when you pardon, then a granter of hopes.

شَمَلَت مَهابتُكَ المَلا فَخُضوعهم

طَوعاً عَن العِصيانِ كانَ بَديلا

Your awe included the summit, so their deference

To refrain from rebellion became the alternative.

هَل يُثبِتون بِهِ وَلَحظك إِن بَدا

لِلأَرض عَن سَخطٍ تَميلُ مَميلا

Can they steady it if your glance should appear

To the earth inclined after wrath to lean?

أَرائتَ صفرة وَجهِهم خَجَلاً بَدَت

أَم ذاكَ خَوفٌ هَبَّ فيهِ مَحيلا

Did you see the yellowness of their faces in shame appear,

Or was that a fear stirring in them crookedly?

أَهنى بِتَوطيد الصِيانَة لِلمَلا

وَاِسكُب لحلمك في البِلادِ سُيولا

I advise strengthening the safekeeping of the summit,

And pour your clemency in the lands copiously.

فَبِلادكَ الغَراء أَنساها الهَنا

خَطباً يَسميهِ سِواكَ ثَقيلا

So your noble lands forgot bliss—

Talk calling any but you burdensome.

وَالأُفق مِن بَعد العَواصف يَنجَلي

نوراً وَيَلبَسُ عَسجداً مَحلولا

While the horizon after the storms clears,

Light dawns and wears fine garb loosened.