أَراعَ كَذا كُلَّ المُلوكِ هُمامُ
وَسَحَّ لَهُ رُسلَ المُلوكِ غَمامُ
Has ever a hero struck such terror into every king, / While clouds poured down their messengers like rain before you?
The world has submitted to him, and so he sits enthroned, / While all its days stand ready to serve his will.
وَدانَت لَهُ الدُنيا فَأَصبَحَ جالِساً
وَأَيّامُها فيما يُريدُ قِيامُ
When Sayf al-Dawla visits the Byzantines as a conqueror, / A fleeting touch would suffice them, were a fleeting touch enough for him.
A hero whose footsteps the ages follow among mankind; / For every era, he holds the guiding reins in his hands.
إِذا زارَ سَيفُ الدَولَةِ الرومَ غازِياً
كَفاها لِمامٌ لَو كَفاهُ لِمامُ
The envoys sleep in your presence, safe and content, / While the eyelids of the envoys' lord find no sleep.
In dread of one who mounts his steeds with sudden force, / Charging headlong to the strike, needing no bridle to guide them.
فَتىً تَتبَعُ الأَزمانُ في الناسِ خَطوَهُ
لِكُلِّ زَمانٍ في يَدَيهِ زِمامُ
They turn in the fray with only their flowing manes for reins, / And are struck into speed with only commands for whips.
Neither noble steeds nor spears avail a thing, / If above the noble beasts there sit no noble men.
تَنامُ لَدَيكَ الرُسلُ أَمناً وَغِبطَةً
وَأَجفانُ رَبِّ الرُسلِ لَيسَ تَنامُ
How long will you turn envoys back from their desire? / As if their very presence were a reproach to your bounty.
If you do not grant safety out of mere compliance, / Yet the enemy’s refuge in a noble soul is itself a bond.
حِذاراً لِمُعرَوري الجِيادِ فَجاءَةً
إِلى الطَعنِ قُبلاً ما لَهُنَّ لِجامُ
For truly, the souls that seek your shelter are invincible, / And the blood that places hope in you is sacred.
If a king fears another king, you grant him asylum, / Yet it is your sword they dread, and your protection they implore.
تُعَطَّفُ فيهِ وَالأَعِنَّةُ شَعرُها
وَتُضرَبُ فيهِ وَالسِياطُ كَلامُ
They scatter from you before the flashing light of blades, / Only to crowd around you with their courteous missives.
The sweet desire for life deceives their hearts, / Choosing a mere scrap of existence that is truly death.
وَما تَنفَعُ الخَيلُ الكِرامُ وَلا القَنا
إِذا لَم يَكُن فَوقَ الكِرامِ كِرامُ
And the worse of the two bitter deaths is a life / Wherein the chooser suffers abasement and wrong.
Were this true peace, it would not come by pleading; / Nay, it is their humiliation and a heavy penalty.
إِلى كَم تَرُدُّ الرُسلَ عَمّا أَتَوا لَهُ
كَأَنَّهُمُ فيما وَهَبتَ مَلامُ
And a favor is owed by them to the knights of the frontiers, / For granting them a reprieve that was scarcely to be hoped for.
Battalions that came in submission, and so advanced; / Had they not come yielding, they would have turned in fear.
وَإِن كُنتَ لا تُعطي الذِمامَ طَواعَةً
فَعَوذُ الأَعادي بِالكَريمِ ذِمامُ
Of old, their horses grew mighty within your shelter, / As did they, swimming in the ocean of your bounty.
Upon your auspicious face, in the thick of every raid, / Fall their successive prayers and salutations.
وَإِنَّ نُفوساً أَمَّمَتكَ مَنيعَةٌ
وَإِنَّ دِماءً أَمَّلَتكَ حَرامُ
While every people follows its own leader, / You are the Imam for all who cherish noble deeds.
Many a reply you have sent to a challenge, / Whose title-page, to the beholder, is but rising dust.
إِذا خافَ مَلكٌ مِن مَليكٍ أَجَرتَهُ
وَسَيفَكَ خافوا وَالجِوارَ تُسامُ
The desert grows narrow to hold it before it is unfolded, / Before its seal is even broken upon the sands.
The alphabet of men therein consists of only three: / The war-horse, the slender lance, and the severing sword.
لَهُم عَنكَ بِالبيضِ الخِفافِ تَفَرُّقٌ
وَحَولَكَ بِالكُتبِ اللِطافِ زِحامُ
O Master of War, you have exhausted her; rest now a while, / That a blade may be sheathed, or a warrior’s belt untied.
If a truce prolongs the lifespan of the spears, / The time they survive in your hands is but a fleeting year.
تَغُرُّ حَلاواتُ النُفوسِ قُلوبَها
فَتَختارُ بَعضَ العَيشِ وَهُوَ حِمامُ
You cease not to shatter the brown lances, though they be many, / And with them annihilate the army, though it be vast.
Whenever the exiles return, you return to their lands, / Where necks and heads await the harvest of the sword.
وَشَرُّ الحِمامَينِ الزُؤامَينِ عيشَةٌ
يَذِلُّ الَّذي يَختارُها وَيُضامُ
They raise their children for you, until you strike them down / When the girl has blossomed and the boy has grown to strength.
The contenders raced beside you, but when they reached / Their utmost limit, you raced on while they stood still.
فَلَو كانَ صُلحاً لَم يَكُن بِشَفاعَةٍ
وَلَكِنَّهُ ذُلٌّ لَهُم وَغَرامُ
No sun has shone with true light since you beamed forth, / Nor has the full moon been perfect since you reached your height.
وَمَنٌّ لِفُرسانِ الثُغورِ عَلَيهِمِ
بِتَبليغِهِم ما لا يَكادُ يُرامُ
كَتائِبُ جاؤوا خاضِعينَ فَأَقدَموا
وَلَو لَم يَكونوا خاضِعينَ لَخاموا
وَعَزَّت قَديماً في ذَراكَ خُيولُهُم
وَعَزّوا وَعامَت في نَداكَ وَعاموا
عَلى وَجهِكَ المَيمونِ في كُلِّ غارَةٍ
صَلاةٌ تَوالى مِنهُمُ وَسَلامُ
وَكُلُّ أُناسٍ يَتبَعونَ إِمامَهُم
وَأَنتَ لِأَهلِ المَكرُماتِ إِمامُ
وَرُبَّ جَوابٍ عَن كِتابٍ بَعَثتَهُ
وَعُنوانُهُ لِلناظِرينَ قَتامُ
تَضيقُ بِهِ البَيداءُ مِن قَبلِ نَشرِهِ
وَما فُضَّ بِالبَيداءِ عَنهُ خِتامُ
حُروفُ هِجاءِ الناسِ فيهِ ثَلاثَةٌ
جَوادٌ وَرُمحٌ ذابِلٌ وَحُسامُ
أَذا الحَربِ قَد أَتعَبتَها فَاِلهُ ساعَةً
لِيُغمَدَ نَصلٌ أَو يُحَلَّ حِزامُ
وَإِن طالَ أَعمارُ الرِماحِ بِهُدنَةٍ
فَإِنَّ الَّذي يَعمَرنَ عِندَكَ عامُ
وَما زِلتَ تُفني السُمرَ وَهيَ كَثيرَةٌ
وَتُفني بِهِنَّ الجَيشَ وَهُوَ لُهامُ
مَتى عاوَدَ الجالونَ عاوَدتَ أَرضُهُم
وَفيها رِقابٌ لِلسُيوفِ وَهامُ
وَرَبّوا لَكَ الأَولادَ حَتّى تُصيبَها
وَقَد كَعَبَت بِنتٌ وَشَبَّ غُلامُ
جَرى مَعَكَ الجارونَ حَتّى إِذا اِنتَهَوا
إِلى الغايَةِ القُصوى جَرَيتَ وَقاموا
فَلَيسَ لِشَمسٍ مُذ أَنَرتَ إِنارَةٌ
وَلَيسَ لِبَدرٍ مُذ تَمَمتَ تَمامُ
