سادت بأول سادة العربِ

تركيةٌ من أول الرتبِ

You were the first of the Arab leaders,

A Turk, yet foremost in rank,

تياهةٌ إلا على قمرٍ

يعلو على السيارة الشهب

Radiant, except for a moon

That outshines the orbiting stars.

من آل أيوب الذين لهم

فصل الخطاب وجودة الحسب

From the house of Ayyub, whose progeny

Excel in discourse and noble lineage,

والطاعة الغراء للملك ال

وضاء خير العجم والعرب

And perfect obedience to the faultless king

Who illuminated the best of Arabs and non-Arabs alike.

ملك على كل الملوك له

فضل الحيا الهامي على التُرَب

A king over all kings, his superiority

Distinguished him like a towering minaret.

لو صافح الديجور ما افتخرت

شمس النهار عليه بالشهب

If the brightest star were to shake his hand,

It would not boast against his brilliance.

لما رآه بسلك طاعته

أبهى من الياقوت والذهب

When it saw him obeying God,

More magnificent than ruby and gold,

ورأى يراعته التي فتكت

بالموبقات سمت على القضب

And saw his reverence that had undone

Corruption, aiming arrows at every offender,

أعطاه ما لم يعطه ملكٌ

من قبله لسميذع عربي

It granted him what no king before

Had given an eloquent Arab lord -

فتنفس الصعداء حاسده

حتى حسبناه أبا لهب

So the jealous gloated over him

Until we thought them to be flames of hate.

يا خير من تمَّ الرهان له

في حومة التبيان والأدب

O best of those the covenant favored,

In the battleground of proof and literature!

ماذا يضرك أن قضى كمداً

أو عاش فيصوراً بلا ذنب

What harm has befallen you from one rendered helpless,

Or from one who lived in Saif al-Dawlah's reign, though innocent?

ما دمت أقصى الناس في حرج

وأرقهم في ساحة الطرب

As long as you remain the most strained of men

And most wakeful in the field of joy,

واسم الخليل عليه سابغةٌ

وأبوك منسوب لخير نبي

While the name of your bosom friend is fixed upon you,

And your father associated with the best of prophets!