أَيَقدَحُ في الخَيمَةِ العُذَّلُ
وَتَشمَلُ مَن دَهرَها يَشمَلُ
Do the critics find fault with the royal tent?
Does it seek to encompass him who encompasses the age?
وَتَعلو الَّذي زُحَلٌ تَحتَهُ
مُحالٌ لَعَمرُكَ ما تُسأَلُ
Can it tower over one beneath whom Saturn sits?
Impossible, by your life, is the task asked of it.
فَلِم لا تُلومُ الَّذي لامَها
وَما فَصُّ خاتَمِهِ يَذبُلُ
Why do you not blame the one who cast blame upon it,
When the very stone of his ring is Mount Yadhbul?
تَضيقُ بِشَخصِكَ أَرجاؤُها
وَيَركُضُ في الواحِدِ الجَحفَلُ
Its vast corners grow narrow holding your presence,
For within a single man, a whole army gallops.
وَتَقصُرُ ما كُنتَ في جَوفِها
وَتُركَزُ فيها القَنا الذُبَّلُ
It falls short so long as you remain within its belly,
Even when slender spears are planted to prop it up.
وَكَيفَ تَقومُ عَلى راحَةٍ
كَأَنَّ البِحارَ لَها أَنمُلُ
How can it stand stable upon a palm,
To which the seven seas are merely fingertips?
فَلَيتَ وَقارَكَ فَرَّقتَهُ
وَحَمَّلتَ أَرضَكَ ما تَحمِلُ
Would that you had distributed your immense gravity,
And burdened your land with the weight you bear.
فَصارَ الأَنامُ بِهِ سادَةً
وَسُدتَهُمُ بِالَّذي يَفضُلُ
Then all mankind would have become masters through it,
While you still ruled them with the virtue that remains.
رَأَت لَونَ نورِكَ في لَونِها
كَلَونِ الغَزالَةِ لا يُغسَلُ
It saw the hue of your light reflect within its own,
Like the indelible brilliance of the rising sun.
وَأَنَّ لَها شَرَفاً باذِخاً
وَأَنَّ الخِيامَ بِها تَخجَلُ
It realized it possessed a lofty honor,
Making all other tents feel shame before it.
فَلا تُنكِرَنَّ لَها صَرعَةً
فَمِن فَرَحِ النَفسِ ما يَقتُلُ
So do not look strangely upon its collapse;
For there is an excess of joy that kills the soul.
وَلَو بُلِّغَ الناسُ ما بُلِّغَت
لَخانَتهُمُ حَولَكَ الأَرجُلُ
And had people attained the proximity it attained,
Their legs would have failed them in your presence.
وَلَمّا أَمَرتَ بِتَطنيبِها
أُشيعُ بِأَنَّكَ لا تَرحَلُ
And when you commanded its ropes be fastened,
The news spread that you would not depart.
فَما اِعتَمَدَ اللَهُ تَقويضَها
وَلَكِن أَشارَ بِما تَفعَلُ
God did not intend its dismantling,
But rather signaled what your next move should be.
وَعَرَّفَ أَنَّكَ مِن هَمِّهِ
وَأَنَّكَ في نَصرِهِ تَرفُلُ
He made it known that you are His divine concern,
And that you walk proudly in the robes of His victory.
فَما العانِدونَ وَما أَثَّلوا
وَما الحاسِدونَ وَما قَوَّلوا
What are the stubborn foes and what they have established?
And what are the enviers and the lies they have spun?
هُم يَطلُبونَ فَمَن أَدرَكوا
وَهُم يَكذِبونَ فَمَن يَقبَلُ
They seek a goal, but whom have they ever overtaken?
They speak falsehoods, but who would accept them?
وَهُم يَتَمَنَّونَ ما يَشتَهونَ
وَمِن دونِهِ جَدُّكَ المُقبِلُ
They merely wish for what they crave,
But blocking their path stands your rising fortune.
وَمَلمومَةٌ زَرَدٌ ثَوبُها
وَلَكِنَّهُ بِالقَنا مُخمَلُ
A dense battalion dressed in coats of mail,
Yet fringed like velvet with the points of spears.
يُفاجِئُ جَيشاً بِها حَينُهُ
وَيُنذِرُ جَيشاً بِها القَسطَلُ
Death surprises an opposing army through it,
While the rising dust serves as a warning to others.
جَعَلتُكَ بِالقَلبِ لي عُدَّةً
لِأَنَّكَ بِاليَدِ لا تُجعَلُ
I have made you, within my heart, my shield and store,
For you are too vast to be held within a hand.
لَقَد رَفَعَ اللَهُ مِن دَولَةٍ
لَها مِنكَ يا سَيفَها مُنصُلُ
God has indeed exalted a dynasty,
Which draws its edge from you, O Sword of the State.
فَإِن طُبِعَت قَبلَكَ المُرهَفاتُ
فَإِنَّكَ مِن قَبلِها المِقصَلُ
For even if sharp blades were forged before your time,
You were the quintessential cutter before they existed.
وَإِن جادَ قَبلَكَ قَومٌ مَضَوا
فَإِنَّكَ في الكَرَمِ الأَوَّلُ
And if men of the past showed great generosity,
You remain the foremost in nobility and giving.
وَكَيفَ تُقَصِّرُ عَن غايَةٍ
وَأُمُّكَ مِن لَيثِها مُشبِلُ
How could you ever fall short of glory's peak,
When your mother nursed the cub of a lion?
وَقَد وَلَدَتكَ فَقالَ الوَرى
أَلَم تَكُنِ الشَمسُ لا تُنجَلُ
When she bore you, all of mankind exclaimed:
"Was not the sun thought to be barren of offspring?"
فَتَبّاً لِدينِ عَبيدِ النُجومِ
وَمَن يَدَّعي أَنَّها تَعقِلُ
So ruin be upon the faith of those who worship stars,
And anyone who claims that the heavens possess reason.
وَقَد عَرَفَتكَ فَما بالُها
تَراكَ تَراها وَلا تَنزِلُ
For if the sun truly knew you, why would it
See you gazing upon it, yet refuse to descend?
وَلَو بِتُّما عِندَ قَدرَيكُما
لَبِتَّ وَأَعلاكُما الأَسفَلُ
If you both were placed according to true worth,
You would remain high, while the sun would sit below.
أَنَلتَ عِبادَكَ ما أَمَّلوا
أَنالَكَ رَبُّكَ ما تَأمُلُ
You have granted your subjects all they hoped for;
May your Lord grant you all that you desire.
