ما لي مَقالٌ عَن فَعالِكَ يُعرِبُ

قَد ضَلَّتِ الأَفكارُ مِمّا تُغرِبُ

I have no words that can express your deeds;

Thought itself has lost its way before your marvels.

بَذلاً وَمَنعاً فَالرَجاءُ مُخَيِّمٌ

بِذَراكَ وَالنَكَباتُ عَنكَ تَنَكَّبُ

Whether giving or withholding, hope encamps

Within your remembrance, while calamities avoid you.

وَسُطاً وَصَفحاً فَالمَمالِكُ قَد عَنَت

مِن خَوفِ بَأسِكَ وَالجَرائِمُ توهَبُ

In might and pardon, kingdoms have submitted,

In fear of your valor, while offenses are forgiven.

وَتَواضُعاً سَنَّ التَواضُعَ لِلوَرى

مَعَ رُتبَةٍ يَنحَطُّ عَنها الكَوكَبُ

In humility, you taught humility to humankind,

Though yours is a rank beneath which the planets sink.

يا جامِعَ الأَضدادِ في كَسبِ العُلا

مِن أَينَ لي قَلبٌ كَقَلبِكَ قُلَّبُ

O gatherer of opposites in winning glory,

Where could I find a heart as changeful as yours?

لَو مَيَّزَتكَ سَجيَّةٌ عَن ضِدِّها

لَعَلِمتُ ما آتي وَما أَتَجَنَّبُ

Had one quality distinguished you from its contrary,

I would know what to pursue and what avoid.

ما سارَ في الآفاقِ ذِكرٌ طَيِّبٌ

عَمَّن مَضى إِلّا وَذِكرُكَ أَطيَبُ

No noble fame has traveled through the horizons

Of any bygone man but yours was sweeter.

قَعَدوا عَنِ الغِيَرِ الَّتي ناهَضتَها

وَاِستَبعدوا الأَمَدَ الَّذي تَستَقرِبُ

They shrank from the great changes you confronted

And thought remote the goal that you deemed near.

فَضَفَت عَلَيكَ مِنَ الثَناءِ مَلابِسٌ

لَم يَقدِروا مِنها عَلى ما تَسحَبُ

Praise has spread magnificent robes upon you—

Robes whose trains they were powerless to bear.

نَسَخَت فَضائِلُكَ الفَضائِلَ كُلَّها

إِنَّ الكَثيرَ عَلى القَليلِ يُغَلَّبُ

Your virtues have annulled all other virtues;

For what is greater overwhelms what is small.

فَليَعتَرِف لَكَ بِالسِيادَةِ أَهلُها

لَزِمَت مَلازِمَها وَصَرَّ الجُندُبُ

Let glory’s rightful masters acknowledge your supremacy:

It cleaves to its stations, and the locust chirrs.

لا يَدَّعِ المَجدَ المُؤَثَّلَ مُدَّعٍ

فَالمَجدُ مِن هَذي الخِلالِ مُرَكَّبُ

Let no pretender claim deep-rooted glory;

For glory is compounded of these qualities.

فَظُباكَ مُذ خَطَبَت عَلى قِمَمِ العِدى

خَطَبَت لَكَ الرُتَبَ الَّتي لا تُخطَبُ

Since your sword-blades courted the enemy’s summits,

They won for you ranks no suitor else may court.

فَفَرَعتَ مِنها كُلَّ ما لا يُرتَقى

إِنَّ النُجومَ قَلائِصٌ ما تُركَبُ

You rose through every height that none can scale—

The stars are young she-camels no one rides.

فَلِذا إِذا نُسِبَت عُلىً في مَشهَدٍ

فَإِلَيكَ ياشَرَفَ المَعالي تُنسَبُ

Thus, whenever high honors are ascribed in an assembly,

To you, O honor of all heights, they are ascribed.

بَعُدَ المَدى إِلّا عَلَيكَ فَما لِمَن

يَأتَمُّهُ إِلّا النَصيبُ المُنصِبُ

The course is long for all but you; whoever

Would follow you gains only exhausting toil.

ما اِنقادَتِ الأَملاكُ طَوعَكَ كُلَّها

حَتّى اِستَقادَ لَكَ الزَمانُ الأَصعَبُ

All kingdoms yielded willingly to you,

Until the hardest security itself submitted.

لَو غَيرُكَ المُبتَزُّ يا سَيفَ الهُدى

ما كانَتِ النَخَواتُ مِمّا تَسلُبُ

Had someone else despoiled them, Sword of Guidance,

Proud spirits would not have been yours to plunder.

تَتَجَنَّبُ الأَحداثُ ما لا تَشتَهي

وَتُسارِعُ الأَقدارُ فيما تَطلُبُ

Events avoid whatever you dislike,

And destiny hastens toward whatever you seek.

لَو كانَ ذَبُّكَ في الزَمانِ اللَذ مَضى

لَم تَفتَخِر بِحِمى كُلَيبٍ تَغلِبُ

Had your defense belonged to former times,

Taghlib would not boast of Kulayb’s sanctuary;

أَو كانَ جودُ يَدَيكَ عاصَرَ حاتِماً

لَرَأَيتَهُ مِن فِعلِهِ يتَعَجَّبُ

And had the bounty of your hands been Ḥātim’s peer,

You would have seen him marvel at his own deeds.

فَطُلِ الوَرى يا مَن لِباذِخِ فَخرِهِ

أَلقَت مَفاخِرَها نِزارُ وَيَعرُبُ

Surpass mankind, you at whose towering pride

Nizār and Yaʿrub laid their boasts aside.

فَلَئِن عَلَوتَ فَكُلُّ ما أَدرَكتَهُ

وَهُوَ التَناهي بَعضُ ما تَستَوجِبُ

Though you have risen, all the height you reached—

The utmost height—is less than what you merit.

أَضحَت بِعُدَّتِها الإِمامَةُ هَضبَةً

لَيسَت تُرامُ وَرَوضَةً لا تُجدِبُ

Through its champion, the imamate became a mountain

Beyond assault, a garden never barren:

بِأَغَرَّ يَثني الحادِثاتِ فَتَنثَني

رَهَباً وَيَقتادُ الجِبالَ فَتُصحِبُ

A radiant lord who bends events until they bend,

And leads the mountains till they go beside him.

يا بالِغَ الغَرَضِ البَعيدِ وَدونَهُ

جَيشٌ يَضيقُ بِهِ الفَضاءُ السَبسَبُ

You who attain the farthest goal, though before it

Stands an army choking the wide, level waste—

تُغني الخِلافَةُ ما عُدِدتَ ظَهيرَها

وَالجَيشُ ما لاقاكَ حَرباً رَبرَبُ

The caliphate needs nothing while you are its champion,

Nor does an army, though it meet you as a mighty host.

قَد صارَتِ الدُنيا بِعَدلِكَ مَعقِلاً

هَل في الوَرى عادٍ وَأَنتَ المُرهِبُ

Through your justice the world has become a fortress;

Who among humankind could return while you inspire dread?

أَنّى وَفي هَذي الجُفونِ بَوارِقٌ

ما أَومَضَت إِلّا تَجَلّى غَيهَبُ

How could they, when lightning flashes in these eyes—

Whenever they gleam, the blackest darkness clears?

وَعَلى عَوامِلِ ما رَكَزتَ كَواكِبٌ

مِمّا اِنتَصَيتَ لَها وَخَلَّفَ قَعدَبُ

Upon the spear-shafts you planted stand stars,

Drawn from the blades you bared for them in war.

تَجلو ظَلامَ النَقعِ عِندَ طُلوعِها

وَظَلامَ أَهلِ البَغيِ ساعَةَ تَغرُبُ

At their rising they dispel the dust-cloud’s darkness,

And at their setting, the darkness of the wicked.

تَرَكَ الزَئيرَ اللَيثُ مُذ أَشرَعتَها

فَرَقاً كَما تَرَكَ الهَديرَ المُصعَبُ

The lion abandoned roaring when you leveled them,

From fear, as the fierce stallion ceased to thunder.

بِكَ عاذَ هَذا الدينُ دُمتَ نَصيرَهُ

مِمّا يَخافُ وَنالَ ما يَتَرَقَّبُ

In you this faith has sought protection—long remain its champion—

From all it fears, and through you gained its hopes.

أَنتَ المُظَفَّرُ بِالأَعادي وَالمُنى

إِن خيفَ حَيفٌ أَو تَعَذَّزَ مَطلَبُ

You are granted victory over foes and aspirations

Whenever injustice threatens or a prize proves hard.

فَرَّقتَ شَملَ الخَوفِ وَهوَ مَجَمَّعٌ

وَجَمَعتَ شَملَ الأَمنِ وَهوَ مُشَعَّبُ

You scattered fear’s assembled host

And gathered safety though its parts were dispersed.

مازِلتَ تَبعَثُ كُلَّ يومٍ نَكبَةً

حَتّى اِستَقامَ لَكَ العَنودُ الأَنكَبُ

Each day you kept unleashing some calamity

Until the crooked rebel stood straight before you.

فَليَنتَحِ القَمقامَ عِندَ سُكونِهِ

مَن نَدَّ عَنهُ وَمَوجُهُ مُغلَولِبُ

Let him seek the mighty sea only when it is calm—

He who fled it when its waves surged overpoweringly.

فَالعِزُّ أَقعَسُ وَالمَجازُ مُساهِمٌ

وَالرَوضُ أَحوى وَالحَيا مُتَصَوِّبُ

Might stands firm; the storm clouds cast their lots;

The meadow darkens green, and rain pours down.

غَيرُ الَّذي عاداكَ يَظفَرُ بِالمُنى

وَبِغَيرِ آمِلِكَ الظُنونُ تُخَيَّبُ

All but those who oppose you win their hopes;

All but those who trust in you find expectation thwarted.

تُسدي الكِرامُ مَكارِماً مَبتولَةً

وَلِكُلِّ نَيلٍ مِن يَدَيكَ مُعَقِّبُ

The noble weave their solitary acts of generosity,

But every gift your hands bestow is followed by another.

فَمِنَ العُفاةِ مُقَوِّضٌ وَمُطَنِّبٌ

وَمِنَ الثَناءِ مُشَرِّقٌ وَمُغَرِّبُ

Among your petitioners are those who strike camp and those who pitch it;

Among your praises are voices of east and west.

وَلَقَد أَجَرتَ الخائِفينَ وَما لَهُم

في الأَرضِ عَن حُجُراتِ مُلكِكَ مَذهَبُ

You have indeed sheltered those who were afraid,

Though nowhere on earth leads beyond your kingdom’s courts.

وَغَمَرتَهُم صَفحاً يُقَرِّبُ مِنهُمُ

مَن مالَهُ عَمَلٌ إِلَيكَ يُقَرِّبُ

You engulfed them in a pardon that draws near

Even one who has no plea by which to approach you.

حَتّى لَقالَ الناسُ مِمّا عَمَّهُم

ما ثَمَّ ذَنبٌ لِلعُقوبَةِ موجِبُ

So sweeping was your mercy that the people nearly said:

No sin remains that could require a punishment.

فَالعَفوُ فيكَ فَضيلَةٌ مَكنونَةٌ

حَتّى يُبَيِّنَ فَضلَهُ مَن يُذنِبُ

Forgiveness in you is a virtue lying hidden

Until a sinner makes its excellence appear.

وَأَراكَ تَكرَهُ طَيَّها فَلِأَجلِ ذا

كُلٌّ إِلَيكَ بِنَشرِها يَتَقَرَّبُ

I see you hate to keep that virtue folded; therefore

All draw close to you by spreading it abroad.

لَتَخِذتِ إِعجازَ الأَنامِ خَليقَةً

فَغَريبُ ما تَأتيهِ لا يُستَغرَبُ

You have made mankind’s astonishment your nature,

So nothing wondrous that you do is wondered at.

وَعَمَمتَ كُلَّ العالَمينَ بِنائِلٍ

ما اِمتازَ فيهِ عَنِ البَعيدِ الأَقرَبُ

You encompassed all the worlds with largesse

In which the nearest has no preference over the farthest.

أَنشَأتَ مِنهُ بِكُلِّ أُفقٍ ديمَةً

لِسَحابِها في كُلِّ أَرضٍ هَيدَبُ

From it you raised a rain cloud in every horizon,

Its streaming skirts above each tract of earth.

فَالغَيمُ إِلّا مِن سَمائِكَ زِبرِجٌ

وَالبَرقُ إِلّا مِن سَحابِكَ خُلَّبُ

Every cloud not born from your sky is mere gilding,

And every lightning flash not from your clouds deceives.

فَلتَعلُ أَرضُ التُركِ أَنَّ تُرابَها

ما حازَ أَصلاً فَرعُهُ لا يُنجِبُ

Let the land of the Turks learn that its soil

Held no sound root whose branch could prosper.

وَلَقَد أَبَنتَ لَنا بِضَربِكَ في الطُلى

يَومَ الوَغى في أَيِّ عِرقٍ تَضرِبُ

By striking necks, you made plain to us

Upon the battle-day what stock you spring from.

لِلمَشرِقِ الأَقصى بِبَيتِكَ مَفخَرٌ

قَد ظَلَّ يَحسُدُهُ عَلَيهِ المَغرِبُ

The farthest East takes pride in your illustrious house,

A pride for which the West has long envied it.

وَدِمَشقُ فَهيَ لهُ الغَداةَ قَسيمَةٌ

إِنَّ المَعالِيَ مِن جِوارِكَ تُكسَبُ

Damascus now shares equally in that honor,

For lofty qualities are gained by dwelling near you.

لَولا اِنتِقالُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَن قَومِهِ

ما شارَكَت في الفَخرِ مَكَّةَ يَثرِبُ

Had Muḥammad not departed from his people,

Mecca would not share its glory with Yathrib.

وَبِفَضلِ قَومِكَ مِن إِبائِكَ شاهِدٌ

إِنَّ الإِباءَ عَنِ الأُبُوَّةِ يُعرِبُ

The excellence of your ancestral people bears witness;

Their pride speaks plainly of its paternity.

وَلَوَ اِنَّهُم لَم يُشهَروا بِفَضيلَةٍ

لَاِزدانَ بِالفَرعِ الزَكِيِّ المَنصِبُ

Even had none of them been famed for excellence,

Your noble branch would only magnify the rooted tree.

فَليَهنِ بَيتاً أَنتَ مِنهُ أَنَّهُ

أَبَداً عَلى ظَهرِ السِماكِ مُطَنَّبُ

Congratulations to the house from which you come:

Its tent stands always on the back of the high star Simāk.

فَنواظِرُ الأَفلاكِ شاهِدَةٌ لَهُ

بِالمَجدِ وَهوَ عَنِ العَيونِ مَحَجَّبُ

The eyes of the celestial spheres bear witness to its glory,

Though in majesty it is veiled from mortal eyes.

وَإِذا السَحابُ رَأَيتَهُ مَتَراكِماً

فَاِحكُم بِأَنَّ الغَيثَ فيهِ صَيِّبُ

Whenever a cloud sees it stretching high above,

Judge that the rain within that cloud will pour.

شَغَفَ الوَرى حُبّاً فَعالُكَ كُلُّهُ

إِنَّ الجَميلَ إِلى النُفوسِ مَحَبَّبُ

Mankind is enamored of all your deeds,

For beauty is beloved by every soul.

تَتَطَلَّبُ الأَهواءَ أَفئِدَةُ الوَرى

وَعَنِ المَناقِبِ ماتَزالُ تُنَقِّبُ

The hearts of humankind aspire toward their desires,

While ever searching through your noble qualities.

فَليَطلُبِ الصَبواتِ غَيرُكَ صاحِباً

ماذا العَزوفُ لِصَبوَةٍ مُستَصحِبُ

Let another seek a patron for coveted gifts—

What lasting kindness could accompany his companionship?

وَلَقَد شُغِلتَ بِمَنعِ ثَغرٍ طارِقٍ

عَمّا دَعاكَ إِلَيهِ ثَغرٌ أَشنَبُ

You entered even the impregnable den of a thief,

Answering the summons of a gleaming-toothed frontier.

قُل لِلمَساعي بَعضَ ما تُملينَهُ

قَد مَلَّتِ الأَقلامُ مِمّا تَكتُبُ

Tell noble endeavors to ease what they dictate:

The pens are weary from all that they have written.

يَرجوكَ مِنّا خائِفٌ وَمُؤَمِّلٌ

وَمِنَ المُلوكِ مُتَوَّجٌ وَمُعَصَّبُ

Among us, the fearful and the hopeful look to you,

As do crowned kings and turbaned sovereigns.

لا أَدَّعي بِالقَولِ فيكَ فَضيلَةً

باغي مَديحِكَ رائِدٌ لا يَتعَبُ

I claim no virtue merely by speaking praise of you;

Whoever seeks your praise has a guide that never tires.

بِكَ عادَ دَهري ضاحِكاً مِن بَعدِما

أَلوى بِسَدرِ العُمرِ وَهوَ مُقَطِّبُ

Through you my age returned to me smiling, after

It had bent life’s lote tree beneath a frowning face.

هَل غالَني زَمَنٌ وَظِلُّكَ عاصِمي

أَو فاتَني طَلَبٌ وَأَنتَ المَطلَبُ

Has any age oppressed me while you were my protector?

Has any wish escaped me while you were the one I sought?

فَلَأَشكُرَنَّ نَداكَ مَبلَغَ طاقَتي

أَنا إِن رَجَوتُ لَهُ جَزاءً أَشعَبُ

I shall thank your bounty to the utmost of my power,

Though, if I hope to repay it, repayment is hardest of all.

أُثني عَلَيكَ وَلَستُ أَبلِغُ شَأوَهُ

مَعَ أَنَّني في وَصفِ مَجدِكَ مُطنِبُ

I praise you, though I cannot reach praise’s full extent,

Even while I dwell at length upon your glory.

زينَت بِهَذا المُلكِ أَعيادُ الورى

فَبَقيتَ ما دامَت تَجيءُ وَتَذهَبُ

You have adorned the people’s festivals with this dominion;

Remain while festivals keep coming and departing.

لِلخَطبِ تَنفيهِ فَلَيسَ بِعائِدٍ

وَالأَمرِ تُمضيهِ فَلا يُتَعَقَّبُ

You banish calamity, and it does not return;

You issue a command, and none may challenge it.