مالي شرِقتُ بماءِ ذي الأثْلِ

هل كدَّهُ الوُرَّادُ من قَبْلي

I have not inclined to the water of Dhi Al-Athl

Whether the rosebuds have picked it before me

أم بانَ سُكَّانٌ فأملحَ لي

ما كان قبلَ البين أستحلي

Or dwellers appeared and gestured to me

What was forbidden before seperation, I made lawful

ونَعمْ لهم تلك النَّطافُ صفتْ

وامتدّ سابغُ ذلك الظلِّ

And excellent for them is the dew described

And the ample shade stretched

وبحيِّهم يشتاق حاضرُه

بالرِّيف باديَهُ على الرملِ

And in their ruins the resident yearns

With the countryside its desertedness over the sands

لا ابيضَّ لي في الدار بعدهُمُ

يومٌ وهل دارٌ بلا أهلِ

There is no joy for me in the house after them

A day, but is there a house without people

رحلوا بأيامي الرقاقِ على

آثارهم وبعيشِيَ السهلِ

They traveled with my easy days over

Their footsteps and with my livelihood the smooth

وعكفتُ بعدهُمُ على ضَمِنٍ

عرف الهوى فبَلِي كما يُبلي

And I busied myself after them with worry

Which knew the pain of love, so I was worn out as one is worn out

جسدي ودِمنتُهُ بما نحَلا

يتشاكيان تصدُّع الشملِ

My body and my blood complained

Crying over the breaking of kinship

مغنىً وضعنا أمسِ من شعفٍ

سافي ثراه مواضعَ الكُحلِ

As a treasure we put down yesterday out of passion

Its wealth filling the places of kohl

فاليومَ نحنُ على الوفاء له

نستافه بمناسم الإبْلِ

So today we are upon fulfilling it

Bemoaning it with she-camel roaring

في الظاعنين عَلاقةٌ عَقدَتْ

عندي الحِفاظَ فلم تخف حَلّي

In the slanderers a covenant was tied

I undertook to keep it so my distraction did not diminish

أودعتُها قلبي فما قَنِعَتْ

بالقلب حتى استفضلَتْ عقلي

I placed it in my heart but it did not satisfy

With the heart until it took possession of my mind

فعلى محاسنِها وقد هلكتْ

تلك الوديعةُ قيمةُ المِثْلِ

So by its beauty that deposit perished

The guaranty of its equal

لما جلا التوديعُ صفحتَهُ

عن وقفةٍ زفراتُها تَغلي

When the farewell was exposed its gasps

Were boiling from a stance

قالت وقلبي من لواحظها

ينصاعُ بين النَّصل والنَّصلِ

It said and my heart from its glances

Splits between blade and blade

ما ذنبُ أجفاني إذا خُلقَتْ

من طينة البَلبالِ والخَبْلِ

What fault of my eyelids when created

From clay of confusion and dimness

إني لأرحمُ مَن يناضلني

نظَراً وبين محاجري نَبلي

I, verily, pity he who contends with me

A glance, while in my eyes are arrows

قد خُوِّف العشاقُ قبلَكَ مِن

فتكاتِ هذي الأعينِ النُّجلِ

The lovers were warned before you of

The killings of these deadly eyes

فلحاظُ عيني من دمٍ سَفكتْ

بعد النذير إليك في حِلِّ

So the gaze of my eye sheded blood

After warning you during dissolution

ما لمتُ طرفَكِ أختَ غاضرة

في السقم عن شكٍّ ولا جهلِ

I did not blame your tender, teary glance

Out of illness or ignorance

ما قلتُ لا تسبِ العقولَ وإنما

خوَّفته الإسرافَ في القتلِ

I did not say do not curse minds, but

I feared for it the excessiveness of murder

قد كنتُ أعلمُ أنه أجَلٌ

لكن ظننتُ زمانَه يُملي

I knew he had an appointed time

But I thought his time grants respite

ومعنِّفين وما لهم وَلَهي

لم يكترِثْ بفراغِهم شُغلي

As for the critics, I did not care

With their empty chatter to busy myself

قد نازل اللُّوامُ قبلكُمُ

سمعي فما افتتحوه بالعذل

The blamers had contended before you

My hearing, but they did not open with grace

وخُدعْتُ عن وفري وما خُدِعَتْ

عن ذمةٍ نفسي ولا إلِّ

And I was fooled about my abundance, and not fooled

About a soul’s responsibility or burden

نَسَبُ الوفاءِ الحرِّ في شِيمَي

نسبُ المكارمِ في بني عجلِ

The lineage of free loyalty is my lineage

The lineage of nobility among the children of ‘Ijl

المانعين فخارَ بيتهمُ

للعزِّ والجيرانَ للذُّلِّ

There abode brings them pride

For might and the neighbors humiliation

وَيَحِلُّ للأيام كلُّ حِمىً

وسروحُهم في جانبٍ بَسلِ

And it permits every forbidden sanctuary

With their dwellings on a smooth plain

لا تطمع الغاراتُ في طرَفٍ

جمعوه في طردٍ ولا شلِّ

The raids cannot hope for a piece

They gathered in exile, not divided

والمطعمين إذا انبرت سَنةٌ

عضَّاضةٌ بنيوبها العُصْلِ

And the harbored-when a foxed year pounces

With its canines of banding

بسطوا مكانَ الغيث أيديَهُم

فيها فكنَّ قواتلَ المحَلِ

They stretched their hands in its place of rain

So they were rain escorts

من كلّ وافي الحلم معتدل ال

أخلاقِ ما لم يُلقَ بالجهلِ

He of every loyal, moderate moraled man

Not touched by ignorance

حتى إذا التُمستْ هضيمتُه

لمسَ المغرَّرِ جلدةَ الصِّلِّ

Until when his deficit was sought

It touched the cheat the hide of a shackle

يغشى الطعان بغَشْمِ منصلِتٍ

غِرٍّ ورأيِ مجرِّبٍ كهلِ

The slanderer covers with the shame of a cleaver

And the view of an experienced elder

وإذا السواعد بالقنا ارتعشت

دعمَ القناةَ بساعدٍ عَبْلِ

And when the muscles trembled with milking

The channel was supported by a mighty forearm

وإذا ارتأى النادي أو انعقدت

حلقاتُه للعَقدِ والحَلِّ

And when the club opined or its

Circles gathered for tying and loosing

كانت له والحزمُ مشتَركٌ

أمُّ الكلامِ وقولةُ الفصلِ

The resolve was shared with him

The mother of speech and the judge of decision

قوم إذا نَسبوا أبا دُلَفٍ

ذهبوا بُجلِّ البأس والبذلِ

A people, if the son of Dulaf was their lineage

They went with the sum of might and payment

وكفاهُمُ فخراً بواحدهم

فخر القبيل بكثرة النسلِ

And it sufficed them pride in one of them

The pride of a tribe with abundant progeny

سارت بهم أيّام سؤدُده

سيرَ الحديث بمعجِز الرُّسْلِ

Their days of Saud went

The way of talk with the miracle of messengers

وأتى الوزيرُ فكان بيِّنةً

كفَلتْ لهم بسلامةِ النقلِ

And the minister came so it was a proof

Who guaranteed for them safety of transport

وصفتْ شهادتُه مغيَّبَهم

والفرعُ مبنيٌّ على الأصلِ

And his testimony described their absence

With the branch built on origin

رُوِيتْ لنا قولاً فضائلُهم

ونصرتَ ذاك القولَ بالفعلِ

Their superior traits were narrated to us

And that speech was supported by deed

أدَّيت عنهم وافياً لهمُ

بأمانةِ التبليغ والحَملِ

I performed on their behalf, loyal to them, with the honesty

Of conveyance and carrying

ورأيت نفسَك تقتضي شرفاً

فضلَ المزيدِ فزدتَ بالفضلِ

And I saw your soul requires a merit

So I exceeded in merit with favor

أعطَوا على سَعة الزمان كما

تُعطي وتُضعِفُ أنت في الأزلِ

They gave in time’s breadth as you give

And redouble, you, in eternity

وكفَوا ولو قاموا مقامك في ال

أحداثِ لم يُبلُوا كما تُبلي

And they sufficed, and if they took your place in

Events, they would not be tested as you test

جذَبتْ بك الهممُ الكبارُ فقد

نلتَ السماءَ وأنتَ تستعلي

The grand ambitions pulled you, so you attained

The heaven while you climbed higher

وهدتْك آراءٌ مظفَّرةٌ

فتحتْ عليك مَغالق السُّبْلِ

And you were guided by successful opinions

Which opened to you the narrow paths

ونهضتَ بالملك الذي لُوِيتْ

منه ظهورُ الجِلَّةِ البُزْلِ

And you rose with the kingdom which wilted

From it the backs of the evasive cowards

أعيا الرجالَ أوانَ خفّتهِ

وحملتَه مُتفاوتَ الثِّقلِ

It tired the men when it softened

And you shouldered it, varied in weight

أُرسلتَ فيه بآية خرقتْ

ما كان في العادات والعقلِ

You loosed in it a miracle that ripped

What was usual and reasonable

جُرحٌ تواكلَه الأساة على

ولْغِ المَسابرِ فيه والفُتْلِ

A wound the healers entrusted to

The insertion of razors into it and bandage

بعِلوا به مستضعفين له

فحسمتَه من جانبٍ سهلِ

The weakened fell to it

So you settled it from an easy side

عضَدَت كفايتُك السعودَ كما

عضد القِرانُ الحبل بالحبلِ

Your competence supported glory as

The Koran supports the rope with rope

وأمدك الله المعونة في

عزميك من سيرٍ ومن حِلِّ

And God granted you aid in

Your decisions whether journeying or settling

أرضاه باطنُك المخلَّصُ من

غِشٍّ يرين عليه أو غِلِّ

Your heart the sincere cleansed from

Any deceit, pure to him without taint

ولاَّك أمرَ عباده نظراً

منه فما تُدهَى من العزلِ

And he relegated command of His servants to you due

To oversight so you are not discarded

وحمتك منه أن تُنالَ يدٌ

تنجو بها من زَلَّة الرِّجلِ

And He protected you from a hand reaching you

By which you would be saved from stumbling of feet

وملكتَ أهواءَ القلوب فما

تُسْلَى على هجرٍ ولا وصلِ

And you possessed the passions of hearts so you are not

Appeased by abandonment or connection

عافيتَ أهلَ الأرض من سَقَمٍ

عرَضوا له بالمال والأهلِ

You brought safety to people of earth from an illness

They presented with money and family

وغدَوا يعدُّون البقاءَ رَدىً

والعزَّ للأوطان كالذلِّ

And they went numbering survival a loss

And the honor of homelands like humiliation

في فترةٍ عمياءَ جائرةٍ

فظهرتَ بالإحسان والعدلِ

During an unguided, oppressive interlude

So you appeared with benevolence and justice

ومزجتَ بالبِشر المهابةَ وال

إرهابَ بالإرفاقِ والمَهْلِ

And you mixed with mortals awe but not

Terror with gentleness and respite

والسيفُ يقطع عن طبيعته

ويروق بالشَّعشاعِ والصَّقلِ

And the sword cuts against its nature

And pleases with glare and sharpening

عقمتْ فلم تلد الوزارةُ مذ

ولدتك بل زُكّيتَ في الحملِ

It was infertile, so it did not give birth since

It birthed you, but you were graced in pregnancy

ما طرَّقَتْ بك وهي راجيةٌ

جَرَيَانَ مثلكِ في مطا فحلِ

What it aimed for through you while desiring

The flow of your like in erected pillar

كنتَ ابنَها البَرَّ الوصولَ فلا

ذاقت بفقدك جُرعةَ الثُّكْلِ

You were its righteous son, the reach

So it did not taste through losing you a draught of bereavement

وفَدَاك كلُّ محافزٍ حسداً

جاريتَه ففلَجت بالخَصْلِ

And every jealous adversary ransomed you

Whose equal you outdid, so it split with rage

تجري وتعقِله وراءَك أر

ساغٌ من التقصير في شُكْلِ

It runs and reasons behind you

A permitted incapacity in form

وقدمتَ أيمنَ قادم وُضعتْ

رِجلاه عن سرجٍ وعن رَحلِ

And you put forward the best newcomer placed

His legs from saddle and couch

أوبَ الغمامة بعدما انقشعت

بمفوَّف الأخلافِ منهلِّ

The clouds rained after scattering

With the replacements of its drinking places

وهنتك ضافيةٌ تعلَّقُ في

عِطفيك من ظهرٍ ومن قُبلِ

And a friendly woman clings to

Your shoulder from behind and before

شدَّ النضارُ ضعيفَ منكِبِها

حتى أقامَ بها على رِجلِ

The vigor tightened its weak shoulder

Until it stood with it on foot

لُحِمتْ على قَدَرٍ صبائغها

فالشكل موضوعٌ على الشكلِ

Admixed on a pot its dye

So the image placed over image

وعريقة في القريتين لها

بيتان من دِقٍّ ومن جِلِّ

And prominent in the two encampments it has

Two houses of subtlety and bounty

فإهابها من بيت خفَّتها

وحلِيُّها من بيتها الجثْلِ

So its fear from a house whose fear softened

And its adornment from a house of plenty

بأخي وتفضُله لقد جمعتْ

زِنةَ الوقارِ وخِفّةَ الحمْلِ

By my brother and his preference, it gathered

The weight of dignity and the lightness of carrying

ألقى عليك الملكُ تكرِمةً

لم تُلقَ عن كَتِفيْه من ثِقْلِ

The rule cast onto you a honor

That was not cast from shoulders due to heaviness

فلبستَها للصون تسحبُها

ومساحبُ الأذيال للبذلِ

So you wore it for protection, dragging it

And the train bearers are for bestowal

بك عزَّت الآدابُ واثَّأرتْ

من بعد ما نامت على الذحلِ

Through you codes of conduct became valued and avenged

After sleeping on the prone

رخُصتْ على قومٍ فقام لها

منك المنافسُ دونها المُغلي

It became cheap to a people so the competitor rose for it

Below it the boiling

وردَدتَ عن لحمي أراقمَه

دوداً وهنَّ يدٌ على أكلي

And you deflected from my flesh its vermin

Worms, while a hand was set to eat me

أنهضتني بالدهر أحملهُ

وصروفُه كَلٌّ على كَلِّ

You resurrected me to carry time

And its circumstances are burdens upon burdens

وفعَمتَ لي بحراً وقد قَنطتْ

شفَتي من الأوشال والضَّحلِ

And you created for me an ocean after I despaired

My lips from marshes and shallows

وفسحتَ فانفسحت مضيَّقةٌ

مجموعةُ الطرَفين في عَقْلِ

And you gave relief so a narrowed

Pair of horizons expanded in mind

قبضَتْ خُطاي فلم تكن قدَمي

فيها لتملأَ حافتَيْ نعلي

My sins contracted so my feet

Could not fill the two edges of my slipper

ولقد أنِستُ بها على مَضض

أُنسَ الأسير بحَلْقةِ الكبلِ

And I had grown accustomed to it bitterly

I accustomed the captive to shackles

فوصلتَ في المقطوع ممتثلاً

أمرَ العلا ووسمتَ في الغُفْلِ

So you connected in the cut, imitating

The command of Highness and marked wakefulness

ونسختَ لي بالجود كلَّ يد

وُضعت شريعتُها على البخلِ

And you transcribed for me in generosity each hand

Whose law was placed upon stinginess

نَقْدُ المكارمِ عندها عِدَةٌ

حتى يموتَ الوعدُ بالمطلِ

The ready money of favors is, for it

Equipment until the promise dies with procrastination

فلئن جزى جزلَ العطاء فتىً

حُرُّ اللسانِ بمنطقٍ جَزلِ

So if plentiful reward pays a youth

Of free tongue with weighty speech

فَلأُصفينَّك كلَّ سائرةٍ

في الريح سائلةٍ مع الوبلِ

Then I will describe you as every traveling

In the wind, questioning with resolve

رفّاعةٍ في الأرض خافضةٍ

بالشكر من حَزْنٍ إلى سهلِ

High minded in the land, humbled

In thanks from sorrow to smooth

لا ترهبُ الشِّقَّ المخوفَ ولا

تظما إلى نَهَلٍ ولا عَلِّ

Does not dread frightening formidable things or

Gathers to palms and heights

ووراء أبواب الملوك لها

رفعُ الحجاب ورتبةُ القَبْلِ

And behind doors of kings it has

Lifting of veil and rank of kiss

ومتى نَكَلْتُ عن الجزاءِ فلم

يَنهض بكُثْرك في العلا قُلِّي

And when I fell short of reward and was not

Moved by your abundant heights

علّمتني ووصفتَ نفسك لي

فطفِقتُ أكتبُ عنك ما تُملي

You taught me and described yourself to me

So I came to write about you as you dictate

تلقاك أيامُ السعود بها

وصّالةً محبوبةَ الوصلِ

The days of your fortune received you in them

As a beloved guest of connection

يتخايل النيروزُ إن جُعلتْ

حَلْياً على أعضائه العُطْلِ

The Nirooz puts on jewelry if made

Adornment over its bare limbs

فتملَّها وتملَّه أبداً

ما خُولف الإحرامُ بالحِلِّ

So enjoy it and enjoy it forever

As the pilgrim’s sacral state is not violated

وأعِنْ وتمّمْ ما ابتدأتَ به

فالبعض مرتَهَنٌ على الكُلِّ

And aid and complete what you began

For the parts are collateral to the whole

واعرِفْ لهذي الأرض أن ولَدتْ

أزمانَ ملكك مادحاً مِثلي

And make this land recognize it birthed

Eras of your rule, praised by the likes of me