أأخافُ من ريبِ الزمان وصرفهِ
ومُناصرِى سيفٌ فتى سلطانِ
Should I fear fortune’s uncertainties and its vicissitudes,
while my champion is my sword, and a gallant youth my sovereign?
ملكُ تخرُّ له الجحافلُ سُجَّدا
وملوكُ أهل الرض للأُذقانِ
A king before whom the Caliphate falls prostrate,
and the kings of all earth’s peoples fall upon their chins.
قد عمَّ آفاقَ البلادِ بعدلهِ
شرفاً وغرباً ماله مِنْ ثاني
He has encompassed the horizons of the lands with his justice,
East and West—and he has no equal.
أيصيبنِي ظَمأٌ وسيبُ نوالِهِ
متتابعٌ كالوابلِ الهتّانِ
Can thirst keep me company while the torrent of his bounty
comes unceasing, like a cloudburst pouring without end?
لو كانَ في شِدْق الأسودِ طلابهُ
ظفرت يداه به بغيرِ تَوانِ
Were what he sought in the maw of lions,
his two hands would seize it without a moment’s hesitation.
حاشاهُ أن يدعَ الزمان يمسُّنى
بأسّى ويسلمُني إلى الحِدْثَانِ
Far be it from him to let fortune touch me
with sorrow, or surrender me to its calamities.
وهو الخضم الزاخرُ الفطن الفتى
الجبل الأشم الأبعَدُ المتداني
He is the vast, surging sea—the discerning, noble youth;
the lofty mountain—remote, yet drawing near;
الواهبُ البطلُ الشجاع الماجد
العَلَمُ الرضى كَهْفُ الأسيرِ العاني
the generous giver, the champion, the courageous, the glorious;
the renowned, well-beloved refuge of the suffering captive.
لم أنسَ فضلَ أبيه مُذْ أنا يافعٌ
يُسدْى علىَّ مواهب الإحْسَانِ
I have not forgotten his father’s favor since I was a youth,
lavishing upon me the gifts of benevolence.
Sol 5.6