أظنّ البدرَ نازعك الكمالا

فباتَ يُريهِ إخمصَك الهِلالا

I think the full moon envied your perfection

So it showed you its crescent, incomplete

وقد تركتْ ذوابلَك الليالي

تدورُ على أسنّتها ذُبالا

And your dark nights have gone around

Babbling only sweet nothings

وليس الغيثُ إلا ما أراهُ

بكفّكَ سحّ وَبْلاً أو وَبالا

Rain is just what I see

In your palm, clear or unclear

لك الحسنُ البليغُ لسانَ فعلٍ

إذا طلبَ المقالَ به استقالا

Yours is the eloquent, graceful tongue

When called upon to speak, ready and able

وأين السيفُ من فتكاتِ عزْمٍ

نَهوضٍ لا كُلولَ ولا كَلالا

Where is the sword compared to your resolute valor?

Rising with no fatigue or languor

بأبيضَ خاطبٍ نثر الأعادي

وأرؤسَهُم يَميناً أو شِمالا

With a white-bladed sword that scattered the enemies

And their heads, to the right or left, did fall

الى سُمْرٍ أشاعِرُهُ أُديرَتْ

فنظمت الرجالَ لكَ ارتجالا

Until it disciplined men into lines of verse

Improvised for you on the spot

ومثلُكَ في انفرادِك بالمَعالي

تعالى أن نُصيبَ له مِثالا

And none like you in your peerless nobility

Deserves to be given a parallel

غمامٌ أطلعَ الآراءَ شمساً

وشمسٌ مدّتِ الأيدي ظلالا

A cloud that makes opinions shine like suns

And a sun that extends hands like shade

ومثلُك ملء عينِ الدهرِ حُسْناً

وملء قلوبِ أهليهِ جَلالا

And none like you fills the age’s eye with beauty

And hearts of kinsmen with awe

له عزْمٌ كنائلِه شباباً

الى حِلْمٍ كحِنْكَتِهِ اكْتِهالا

Whose will is like its downpour, ever youthful

Until, like its drizzle, it gains maturity

تقلدتِ الخلافةُ منه عَضْباً

كَفاها في الجلادِ به الجِدالا

Authority which you've grasped to tame

It sufficed, with you, to have to fight over it

تُجرِّدُه فيكْسوها جَميلاً

وتُغمِدُه فيكسوها جَمالا

Bare it and clothe it beautifully

Sheathe it and adorn it with grace

إذا ما همّ يعرفْ نُكولاً

ولمْ يُنكِرْ أعاديه نَكالا

When it neared misdeed and aberration

And ignored the crimes of enemies

بخيلٍ كلّما اندفعَتْ قِسيّاً

تفوّقَ من فوارسِها نِبالا

With a miser, whenever difficulties pressed cruelly

Your horsemen surpassed its arrows

تَرى البيضَ القصارَ مطابقاتٍ

على أرجائها السمرُ الطوالا

You see the short whites harmonious formations

Upon its reaches, the tall browns

وكفُّ النصرِ قد كتبتْ سجِلاً

بأنّ الحربَ ما خُلقَتْ سِجالا

And the hand of victory inscribed a register

That war was not created for altercation

ومعذورٌ قريعُك إذ تولّى

بجيشٍ من قِراعِك قد تَوالى

And your critic is excused for taking

An army of your shells that came in succession

بعثتَ به إليه مسوَّماتٍ

خفاقاً تحمِلُ النُوَبَ الثِقالا

You sent it poisoned weapons

To bear the heavy debts

نفَوْتَ العاصفات لها بِطاءً

إذا ما العاصفاتُ جرَتْ عِجالا

You avoided gales for them, slowly

While gales sped fast

ولم يترُكْ أبو الفتحِ المُعلّى

لبابٍ يتقيه به انقِفالا

And Abu Al-Fateh the Sublime left no door

For him behind which to cower

وظنّ النيلُ وهو أخوكَ نيلاً

عليهِ مَعقِلاً فغَدا عِقالا

The Nile, your brother, thought it

A refuge, but it became a trap

ولما قرّ لم يعهَدْ نُزولاً

ولما فرّ لم يحْمِدْ نِزالا

When it approached, it never expected descent

When it fled, it never praised its halt

ولم يكُ يا شُجاعُ فتًى جباناً

ولكنّ القتالَ كفى القِتالا

And O gallant one, no coward was the warrior

Rather, fighting, enough, was the fighting

فإنْ تَنب الجيادُ الجردُ عنهُ

فإنّ الليثَ يحتقِرُ النِمالا

If the steeds refrain from it

Then the lion scorns ostriches

وإن طلت لقومك مُسرعات

فذاك لأنهم ركِبوا الضَلالا

If you ask for volunteers for your people

It is because they rode misguidance

رعيتَ رعيّةَ ظنو احتماءً

غداةَ رأوا من الحِلْمِ احتِمالا

You shepherded a flock who thought taking cover

Tomorrow, after seeing your forbearance

ومثلُك مَنْ رأى لهمُ اعتداءً

فقابلَهُ برحمَتِه اعتِدالا

And none like you who saw their transgression

Met it with temperate, measured justice

ولولا رأفةٌ لا نلكَ فيهمْ

أعادَ صخورَ ثغرِهم رِمالا

Had it not been for your kindness, you would have returned

Their rocky strongholds to sands

ولم تعدِلْ قبائلُه على ما

تبيّن من شجاعتِهم قِتالا

Nor did its tribes, despite their proven courage in combat

Deviate from what was made clear

وسوف يكون شعرُ العبدِ نصراً

لنصرٍ عاجلٍ يأتيك فَالا

Soon your servant's verse will be a victory song

For a imminent, redeeming victory

فداكَ معاشرٌ سمِعوا سُؤالاً

لقاصِدِهمْ فما عرَفوا سوى لا

Those who heard the questioner's call

And knew no answer but 'nay'

صرفتُ إليكَ آمالي اعتزاءً

كما صرّفْتَهم عني اعتِزالا

Your servant turned to you his hopes

As you turned them away from me, distanced

وقلت لمن توثقها عُراةُ

وقد خانوا انفِصاماً وانفِصالا

And I said, to those whose pledge was barren

They betrayed, split and separated

وقفتَ مسائلاً طَلَلاً مَحيلاً

ورحتَ مطالباً أملاً مُحالا

You asked about a remote, vanished ruin

And went seeking an impossible dream

ليَهْنكَ بل ليَهْنِ الناسَ عيدٌ

رأوا فيه جبينَك والهِلالا

Let a feast gladden you - or rather, people -

When they saw your brow and the new crescent

رأوْا فيه جبينَك والهِلالا

فحازَ النقصَ إذ حُزْتَ الكَمالا

They saw your brow and the new crescent

So the incomplete won when you gained perfection

وربّ مشبّهِ بكَ بدرَ تَمٍّ

تلألأ إذ سفرت لهُ تلالا

And like you, many likened to a full moon

Shining when hills were illuminated for it

رأى منكَ الخليفةُ ما رآه

فأبْشِرْ إذ أنالَكَ ما أنالا

The Caliph saw in you what he saw

So congratulations, when he gave you what he gave

ورحتَ موشّحاً حُلَلاً فقُلْنا

حلالاً قد خُصِصْتَ به حَلالا

You walked adorned in pure robes, so we said

"How pure!” – when you were graced with the pure

وأمرُ المُلْكِ آلَ إليك طوعاً

أقسمَ لا يفارقُه وآلى

And authority came to you willingly

He swore it would never leave you and fulfilled

فدُمْ كالسُحْبِ إن بعُدَتْ مَنالاً

فقد قرُبَتْ لمُسْتَسْقٍ نَوالا

So blood, like clouds, if distant from the watering place

Was brought near to the seeker of water