Sol 5.6

  1. O Tunis, rejoice in the most auspicious reign,

    beneath an ascendant auspicious to the faithful—

  2. the ascendant of al-Sadiq, the king who

    within you is the world's most exalted pillar:

  3. Sultan of Ifriqiya, rising toward

    the pinnacle of glory, both newly won and ancestral;

  4. reviver of his house's noble achievements in a dynasty

    that has surpassed all its peers in excellence;

  5. one who calls forth Antarah's courage through a valor

    renowned for crushing every stubborn rebel;

  6. builder, to safeguard his land and his men,

    of a solid, lofty work that none can withstand;

  7. guardian of the homeland's sanctuary with a keen blade of his

    that, even in its sheath, destroys aggressors;

  8. slaking all humanity from the overflowing bounty of his right hand,

    forever an abundant, far-extending sea;

  9. guiding, by the light of his brow, toward a progress

    of which he is the pioneer and finest renewer.

  10. O king who has mastered all the people

    through lofty judgment, unerring and sound,

  11. and whose banner of justice throughout his realms

    now flutters unfurled above the heads of his subjects.

  12. Abundance has pervaded the land, from plain to

    mountain, through a prudent, beneficent ruler's resolve.

  13. Through your resolve, the faith spread its shade

    from Tunis and crossed the sea under happy auspices;

  14. and in the kingdom of the Maghreb it gained a strength

    by which Berber cavalry galloped through the East.

  15. Glad tidings to you on the Lesser Feast—may its return

    be the sign of a fresh victory for the Imam.

  16. Accept the praises of one devoted to your service,

    with a heart whose love for you is sure;

  17. and reward his devotion by accepting them,

    through your favor toward him when his poem is presented.

  18. For he is a young man devoted to your high glory, in

    a land that loves you, though distant from your protected realm.

  19. And he is the one honored with the decorations that

    reached him through the offices of the agent Sa'id.

  20. May your promise remain forever true, O divinely aided one—

    as is fittingly true of you—while a threat may indeed go unfulfilled;

  21. and whenever the festivals come hurrying with hopes,

    bringing you congratulations, to every banished foe's chagrin;

  22. or whenever what I offer in your praise rings sweet,

    recited in measured chant by every noble voice;

  23. and may you attain all you have hoped for and desire:

    long life and the choosing of an heir;

  24. or whenever Eid al-Fitr returns to kiss your palm,

    whose kissing is among a devotee's duties;

  25. or whenever Majdi says, in praise and as a chronogram:

    “For al-Sadiq the Munificent, the finest feast.”

Sol 5.6