تنبه لما أن رأى شبيه فجرا

فنزَّه عن عاداته الشّعر الشّعرا

He was alerted when he saw a dawn-like vision,

So he transcended his poetic habits and became a true poet.

وأعرض عن أغزاله وغزاله

فلا قامةٌ سمرا ولا وجنةٌ حمرا

He turned away from his gazelles and his fawns,

No longer praising a dark complexion or rosy cheek.

ولا مقلةٌ نجلاءُ يحرس لحظها

لَمًى فأقول السيف قد حرس الثغرا

No longer a wide-eyed doe guarding her glance

For my sake. So I say the sword now guards the frontier.

ولا مرشفٌ ماءَ الحياةِ حسبته

ولا نبتُ خدٍّ كنت أحسبه الخضرا

No longer a stream whose water I thought was life,

Nor growth of a cheek I thought was green.

ولا قهوةٌ أستغفر الله تجتلى

ومن عجبٍ أنْ قد حلا منه ما مرا

No longer a coffee pot whose image, I beg God's forgiveness, was made clear,

And how strange that what once passed from it is now bitter.

وكانت كما لا يقتضي العقل غِرَّةً

فحنَّك ذاك الشيب ذاك الفتى الغرا

So that gray hair made that young man seem a stranger

And reminded me that I've lost my loved ones.

وذكَّرني فقدَ الأحبة مرجعي

إليهم وترحالي فلم أستطع صبرا

I can no longer return to them though I yearn to.

My dear friends who went before us to their dwellings -

أحبَّاء ساروا قبلنا لمنازلٍ

فيا صاحبي رحلى قفا نبك من ذكرى

My friend, halt my camel litter! Let us weep at the memory

As though they never mounted a sailing back

كأنَّهمُ لم يركبوا ظهرَ سابح

ولا ركبوا في يوم مكرمةٍ ظهرا

Or on an auspicious day mounted a noble steed.

Or extended a generous right hand

ولا بسطوا يمنى ببذلِ رغيبةٍ

ولا أوجدوا من بعد جائحه يسرا

Or found ease after tribulation.

Let their lesson make the doe alert

لنا عبرةٌ فيهم تنبه مقلةً

ولو أرشدت كانت له مقلة غبرا

Even if the doe were to guide it would find only dust.

The world has tricked with its treacherous war.

لقد غرَّت الدُّنيا بخدعة حربها

فما أكثر القتلى وما أرخص الأسرى

How many are the slain! How cheap the captives!

God protect us from the evil eye of time and its people!

حمى الله من عين الزمان وأهله

لنا ملكاً قد أحرز الذكر والأجرا

We have a king who has gained fame and reward.

Kings hope for his worldly grace while we

ترجَّى لدنياه الملوك وإننا

لنرجوه للدنيا ملاذاً وللأخرى

Hope for refuge in this world and the next.

A king whose eyes incline to piety and highness,

مليكٌ سمت عيناه للنسك والعلى

فكانت قليلاً من دجى الليل ما تكرى

So he scarcely enjoyed the darkness of night.

He pardoned his soul's shunning of luxury

وأعذرَ في هجر التنعم نفسه

وقال للاحيه لعلَّ لها عذرا

And told his inner self perhaps it has an excuse.

While the inclinations of youth are indulgent

على حين أعطاف الشبيبة لدنةٌ

وروضتنا في الملك أو نفسها خضرا

And our meadow under his rule becomes verdant.

His actions remained so pure that the deeds

وما زال طهر الفعل حتى تشبهت

فعال رعاياه فكان يرى طهرا

Of his subjects resembled purity.

How proud the Ayyubids must be that Muhammad

ليهن بني أيوب أن محمداً

بنى لهمُ في كل صالحةٍ ذكرا

Built for them a legacy of benevolence!

He nourished the land, his justice and gift,

وبرّ البرايا عدله ونواله

فلا عدموا من شخصه البرّ والبحرا

Never lacking in his person gentleness and sea.

Among the people are those whose paradise was a garden,

وفي الناس من حاز الممالك جنةً

ولكنْ جنان الخلد مملكةٌ أخرى

But the gardens of eternity are another kingdom.

O great king we call on you when darkness descends -

أيا ملكاً نمسي إذا الدهر مظلم

نراقب من لألاء غرّته الفجرا

We observe the one whose dawn has deceived the poetic.

You remain for us at a level above poetry,

بقيت لنا تعلو عن الشعر رتبة

نعم وعلى هامِ السماكين والشعرى

Yes, and above the pinnacle of cliffs and peaks.

And remind us of the martyr's era and its time

وتذكرنا عهدَ الشهيدِ ودهرَه

سقى الغيثُ عنا ذلك العهد والدهرا

That rain irrigated for us that epoch and time.