إِليكَ من مَلَكٍ سامٍ ومن مَلِكٍ

كانَتْ لنا الفُلْكُ مَرْقَاةً إِلى الفَلَكِ

To you from an exalted angel and from a sublime king,

Our ship was a ladder to the heavens,

فُزْنا بتقبيل أَرضٍ قد وطِئْتَ بها

باتَ السِّماكُ يراها أَرْفَعَ السُّمُكِ

So we won by kissing a land you tread upon,

The fishes saw it, the highest of their kind.

واحْطُطْ سُرادِقَكَ المضروب عن قَمَرِ

فإِنَّما هو مَحْبُوكٌ منَ الحُبُكِ

And lower your tent beaten down about the moon,

Since it is but woven from webs.

واسحَبْ على السُّحْبِ إِنْ كَفَّتْ وإِنْ وَكَفَتْ

أَذيالَ منسكبٍ جارٍ بمُنْسَبِكِ

And pull over the clouds if they close in around you,

The trailing trains of your pouring robes.

ضَرَبْتَ من سِكَّكِ الحربِ المُبَادِ بها

ما صَيَّرَ اسْمَكَ مضروباً على السِّكَكِ

With your unsheathed sword you struck such battle

That it did not make your name one struck on the roads.

ما دون بأْسِكَ بالٌ غيرُ مُنْكَسِفٍ

ولا دَمٌ من عدُوٍّ غيرُ مُنْسَفِكِ

Naught is insignificant with your might save the high-sailing,

Nor blood from a foe save your own blood spilled.

يفديكَ مَنْ لَمْ يَزَلْ تعلُوهُ في دَرَجٍ

ولم يَزَلْ دُونَها ينحَطُّ في دَرَكِ

He ransoms you who was never lowered in degree,

And was never beneath it, slipping down in worth.

أَحَلَّكَ السَّعْدُ فوق البدرِ منزِلَةً

من أَجْلِهَا هُوَ لا يَنْفَكُّ في الحَلَكِ

Good fortune established you above the moon in station,

So that it cannot detach itself from its cycle.

وبات ذو التَّاجِ فيما أَنتَ تأْمُرُهُ

يا ذا الذُّؤابةِ مشفوعاً بذِي الحُبُكِ

And he of the crown remains, as you command him,

O you of piercing glances, interceded for by the beloved.

دانَتْ لَكَ الصِّيدُ خوفاً أَن تَصَيَّدَهَا

لما قَذَفْتَ بأَهْلِ الشِّرْكِ في الشَّرَكِ

The prey came near you in fear that you would hunt them

When you hurled the idolaters into the pit.

أَلْفَتْكَ والفَتْكُ حالٌ مُذْ شُغِفْتَ بها

لم يُنْسِكَ الدِّينُ فيها حُرْمَةَ النُّسُكِ

You were intimate with destruction when you were impassioned by it;

Religion did not make you forget the sanctity of devotion.

تركتَ بعد بلالٍ كُلَّ صالحةٍ

كانت له خَيْرَ ما أَبقى من التِّرَكِ

You left, after Bilal, every excellence,

That was the best that remained of your inheritance.

والمُلْكُ أَهَّلَكَ اللُّه اللطيفُ له

من بعدِ ما كادَ أَنْ يُشْفِي على الهَلَكِ

And the kingdom made you capable, O Gentle One, for it,

After it had almost despaired of ruin.

أَنْزَلْتَ دُونَ مطاهُ كُلَّ مرتكِبٍ

بناهضٍ من مُراعٍ غيرِ مُرْتَبِكِ

You laid low under its mounts every arrogant one,

The intrepid rider unseated from his mare.

لك الحصونُ فإِنْ كانت مُمَنَّعَةً

ما بين مُنْتَهِكٍ بادٍ ومُنْتَهَكِ

The fortresses are yours - and if they were inaccessible,

What lies between destroyer and destroyed.

أَلقَتْ إِليك مقاليدَ الأُمورِ بها

غاراتُ مُضْطلعٍ بالخطبِ مُحْتَنِكِ

The reins of command flung themselves to you in them,

With raids of an attacker, grappling in earnest.

رأَوْا حُسامَكَ ما أَضْحَكْتَ صَفْحَتَهُ

إِلا وأَبْكَيْتها من شِدَّةِ الضَّحِكِ

They saw your sword - it did not smile at them

Except to make them weep violently from laughing.

فَسَلَّمُوها وتَهْنيِهِمْ مُسَالَمَةٌ

رَمَتْ بِمُعْتَكَرٍ عنهم ومُعْتَرَكِ

So they surrendered to peaceful coexistence with you

Aiming their army away from you and battle.

ما أدركوا سَعْيَكَ العالي وما بَلَغُوا

فهَلْ عليهم إِذا خافوك من دَرَكِ

They could not attain your lofty ambition nor gain your heights -

So what fault lies with them if they fear you and your might?

يهنى الأَميرَيْنِ أَنَّ الملكَ مُتَّصِلٌ

حتى تقومَ ملوكُ الأرْضِ للمَلِكِ

It gives the two rulers joy that the kingdom continues unbroken

Until the kings of earth rise for the King.

بدرانِ جاءَا منَ العَلْيَا بمُشْتَبِهٍ

منَ العوالي عليه كُلُّ مُشْتَبِكِ

Two moons came from the Highest with something in common -

From the heights over them is each partaker.

فكُلَّما استركا فيما به انفردا

جِئْنَا بمنفردٍ منهم ومُشْتَرِكِ

So whenever they alone partake in what distinguishes them,

We come with one distinguished among them and partaking.

يا من يُحَدِّثُ عن يامٍ بمُؤْتَنِفٍ

من مَجْدِها قُلْ وبالِغْ غَيْرَ مُؤْتَفِكِ

O you who brings renewed news of days gone by,

Say - and do not stint - from their glory, other than your own.

أَوصافُ آلِ زُرَيْعٍ رَفَّ مَنْبِتُها

فبات حاسِدُها الأَشقى على الحَسَكِ

The attributes of Zurei's house raised up their growth,

And so their envious enemies spent the night in misery.

والمُلْكُ شمسٌ ولولا ياسِرٌ أُخِذَتْ

كما أُدُلكت تلكَ الشمسُ في الدَّلَكِ

The kingdom is a sun - and were it not for the helping hand

It would have been eclipsed like that sun in its decline.

ذو الحِلْمِ يُرْمَى حِراكٌ بالسُّكونِ له

والكيدِ يُرْمَى سكونٌ منه بالحَرَكِ

The forbearing are assailed with stillness for its sake,

And malice is assailed with stillness from it, by its motion.

في آلةِ البأْسِ والأَيامُ باسِمَةٌ

فإِنْ شَكَكْتَ فَسَلْ مَسْرُودَةَ الشِّكَكِ

In the implement of might - and days are mighty -

If you doubt, then ask the outspread earth.

وقُلْ لمَنْ ورِثَتْ أَعمارَهُمْ يَدُهُ

أَفناكُمُ السَّعْيُ في السَّمُّورِ والفَنَكِ

And say to those who inherited that their lifetimes' work

Did effort in exultation and zeal exhaust you?

هذا هُوَ العُرْوَةُ الوُثْقَى لمُمْسِكِها

عزًّا فلا انفصَمَتْ في كفِّ مُمْتَسِكِ

This is the firm handhold for whoever grasps it,

Glory - so it did not snap in the hand of one who held to it.

هذا هُوَ البَحْرُ لم تُتْرَكْ مواهِبُهُ

والبحرُ من آخِذٍ منه ومُتَّركِ

This is the sea - its gifts were not neglected,

And it is a sea, whether one draws from it or leaves it.

لم يَحْكِ جُودَ يَدَيْهِ الغيثُ منهمِراً

ومثلَ ما حِكْتَ فيه الرَّوْضُ لَمْ يَحِكِ

The rain did not scratch its pouring generosity,

And the meadow did not scratch the like of what you scratched in it.

شِعْرٌ هُوَ المِسْكُ مفتونًا لنا شِقِهِ

تَضُوعُ من رَبَّةِ الخَلْخَالِ والمَسَكِ

Poetry - it is musk intoxicating us, a rending of its pods,

Flowing without reserve in the cheeks when

يَجْرِي بغيرِ حجابٍ في اللَّهَاةِ إِذا

ما غَيْرُهُ كان منشوباً على الحَنَكِ

Nothing else is pure, mixed on the palette.