أَحُلماً نَرى أَم زَماناً جَديداً

أَمِ الخَلقُ في شَخصِ حَيٍّ أُعيدا

Dreams we see or a new era,

Do we witness a dream, or a time renewed?

Or all creation in one living being repeated,

Or has all creation been restored within a living soul?

تَجَلّى لَنا فَأَضَأنا بِهِ

كَأَنّا نُجومٌ لَقينا سُعودا

He was revealed to us so he illuminated us,

He revealed himself to us, and by his light we shone,

As if we were stars who found good fortune,

As though we were wandering stars that found their auspicious signs.

رَأَينا بِبَدرِ وَآبائِهِ

لِبَدرٍ وَلوداً وَبَدراً وَليدا

We saw the full moon and its fathers,

In Badr and his forebears, we beheld a sight—

A new moon, full moon, and crescent born,

A full moon giving birth, and a full moon newly born.

طَلَبنا رِضاهُ بِتَركِ الَّذي

رَضينا لَهُ فَتَرَكنا السُجودا

We sought his pleasure by leaving what

We sought his favor by abandoning the very act

We were pleased by so we left prostration,

We deemed fit for him, and thus we ceased our prostration.

أَميرٌ أَميرٌ عَلَيهِ النَدى

جَوادٌ بَخيلٌ بِأَن لا يَجودا

A prince, a prince with fresh dew upon him,

A prince over whom generosity itself holds sway,

A generous one, stingy about not giving,

Lavish in giving, yet miserly lest he fail to give.

يُحَدَّثُ عَن فَضلِهِ مُكرَهاً

كَأَنَّ لَهُ مِنهُ قَلباً حَسودا

He is spoken of about his virtues reluctantly,

When forced to speak of his own virtue, he is reluctant,

As if he has a jealous heart about them,

As if he bore toward his own merit a jealous heart.

وَيُقدِمُ إِلّا عَلى أَن يَفِرَّ

وَيَقدِرُ إِلّا عَلى أَن يَزيدا

And he only prefers to flee,

He charges forward against all things, save flight,

And only estimates he will increase,

And holds power over all, save his drive to exceed all bounds.

كَأَنَّ نَوالَكَ بَعضُ القَضاءِ

فَما تُعطِ مِنهُ نَجِدهُ جُدودا

As if your gifts are some predestination,

It is as though your bounty were a decree of Fate;

So whatever you give of it we find renewed,

Whatever you bestow, we receive as destined fortune.

وَرُبَّتَما حَملَةٍ في الوَغى

رَدَدتَ بِها الذُبَّلَ السُمرَ سودا

And sometimes a brave band in turmoil,

How often, in the heat of battle, have you led a charge,

You returned with it the faded dark swords black,

Returning the slender brown spears stained a deep, dark hue.

وَهَولٍ كَشَفتَ وَنَصلٍ قَصَفتَ

وَرُمحٍ تَرَكتَ مُباداً مُبيدا

And terrors you exposed, and blades you broke,

Many a terror have you dispelled, and many a blade shattered,

And spears you left inactive, destroying,

Leaving the lance both destroyed and the destroyer.

وَمالٍ وَهَبتِ بِلا مَوعِدٍ

وَقِرنٍ سَبَقتَ إِلَيهِ الوَعيدا

And money you gave without appointment,

And wealth you have bestowed without a prior promise,

And spears you preceded with threats,

And the foe you struck down before the threat could reach him.

بِهَجرِ سُيوفِكَ أَغمادَها

تَمَنّى الطُلى أَن تَكونَ الغُمودا

By sheathing your swords, their scabbards,

Because your swords have so long forsaken their sheaths,

The blades wished they could become cradled,

The necks of enemies yearn to serve as their scabbards.

إِلى الهامِ تَصدُرُ عَن مِثلِهِ

تَرى صَدَراً عَن وُرودٍ وُروداش

To ambitions they set out from their like,

They strike at skulls, returning from a similar feast,

You see a heart set out from blossoms and flowers,

You see their quenching only as a prelude to a fresh thirst.

قَتَلتَ نُفوسَ العِدا بِالحَديدِ

حَتّى قَتَلتَ بِهِنَّ الحَديدا

You killed the souls of the enemies with iron,

You have slain the souls of foes with cold steel,

Until you killed the iron with them,

Until, with those very souls, you slew the steel itself.

فَأَنفَدتَ مِن عَيشِهِنَّ البَقاءَ

وَأَبقَيتَ مِمّا مَلَكتَ النُفودا

So you exhausted the remainder of their lives,

You drained the last endurance from their lives,

And left what you possessed of blame eternal,

And from your vast possessions, you retained only their depletion.

كَأَنَّكَ بِالفَقرِ تَبغي الغِنى

وَبِالمَوتِ في الحَربِ تَبغي الخُلودا

As if with poverty you seek wealth,

It is as if you seek riches through your own impoverishment,

And with death in war you seek eternity,

And chase eternal life by courting death in war.

خَلائِقُ تَهدي إِلى رَبِّها

وَآيَةُ مَجدٍ أَراها العَبيدا

Creatures guided to their Lord,

These are traits that guide one to their master,

And I saw a sign of glory the servants saw,

A miracle of glory he has revealed to all mankind.

مُهَذَّبَةٌ حُلوَةٌ مُرَّةٌ

حَقَرنا البِحارَ بِها وَالأُسودا

Well-mannered, sweet, and bitter,

Refined qualities—at once sweet and bitter,

We belittled the seas with it and the lions,

Through which we learned to scorn the vast seas and the lions.

بَعيدٌ عَلى قُربِها وَصفُها

تَغولُ الظُنونَ وَتَنضى القَصيدا

Far in its nearness describing it,

Though their presence is near, their description remains distant,

Extravagant assumptions and the poem flows,

Confounding all surmise and exhausting every rhyme.

فَأَنتَ وَحيدُ بَني آدَمٍ

وَلَستَ لِفَقدِ نَظيرٍ وَحيدا

So you are alone among the sons of Adam,

For you are the sole unique one among the sons of Adam,

And are not without peer, alone.

Yet it is not for lack of peers that you stand alone.