قسماً بغصن قوامه المتمايل

إنِّي لتعجبني عليه بلابلي

I swear by its swaying branch,

How much I love the nightingale upon it!

ويطيب أفواه العواذل ذكره

حتَّى أهمّ بلثم ثغر العاذل

And the mouths of maidens are sweetened by the mention of it,

Until I am inclined to kiss the mouth of the enamored one.

رشأٌ سرفت مدامعي في حبِّه

يا للقتيل بكى لحبِّ القاتل

A meadow upon which I have spilled my tears in its love,

Oh, for the slain who wept for the love of the killer!

ما ضرَّ عامل قدّه لو كانَ ذا

عطف فليس يضيع أجر العامل

No harm to the worker if he has

Compassion, for the reward of the worker is not lost.

نزلت على جفنيه فينا آيةٌ

نزلت على الملكين قبلُ ببابل

Signs descended upon his eyelids, likewise

Signs descended upon the two kings before Babylon.

وتناهت الأهوا إليه كما انْتهى

معنى السيادة للمليك الكامل

And passions stretched out to him, as

The meaning of sovereignty reached the perfect king.

ملك رأيت الشهب ثمَّ رأيته

فوجدته أعيى على المتطاول

I saw meteors, then I saw him

And found him blind to the ambitions.

وقصدت عذبَ البحر ثمَّ قصدته

فوجدته أدنى إلى المتناول

And I sought the sweetness of the sea, then sought it

And found it nearer to the attainable.

نقلت شمائله صفات جدوده

نقل الرياض عن الغمامِ الهاطل

His attributes conveyed the traits of his ancestors

As the raincloud conveys from the garden.

وتحدَّثت في الروعِ ألسن بيضه

بين المقاصد بالحديثِ الفاصل

And the tongues of his courtyards conversed

Among the goals with the decisive conversation.

وسقى البنان يراعه حتَّى ارْتوى

فلذاك يهزأ بالوشيحِ الدابل

And he watered creation until it was sated,

So for that he mocks the importunate pleader.

يا ابن الملوك الشائدين حمى الهدى

والرافعين قبابهُ بعامل

O son of departed kings, protector of the path of guidance,

And builder of its domes with the worker,

والحاصدين عداته بقواضبٍ

صارت لطولِ ضرابها كمناجل

And reaper of its crops with ships

That became like sickles from the length of their voyage,

أيديهمُ في الأرضِ نبع زلازلها

ومحطُّ أرجلهم أمان زلازل

Their hands in the earth are the fount of its tremors,

And the place of their feet is the safety from tremors.

من مبلغ الأهلين عنيَ أنني

في الشامِ فزت بفوق ظنّ الآمل

Inform the family that I

In Damascus have surpassed the hopeful expectation.

وأخذت من ريب الزمان أمانه

وقبضت حقّ مآربي بالكامل

And I have taken security from the vicissitudes of time,

And grasped my full desire.

لا جور في دهرٍ وفيهِ ممدَّحٌ

وشحت منابته بنبتِ العادل

No injustice in an era wherein is one who is praised,

And its roots are irrigated by the growth of the just.