لا زلتَ أبيضَ غُرَّةٍ وأَيادِ
تبدو لنا في سُؤدد وسوادِ
You are still as white as a flower bud
You appear to us in misery and gloom
خِلَعٌ عليك جمالُها وجلالُها
أيامُها للناس كالأعيادِ
A robe adorns you, its beauty and majesty
Its days are like feasts for all people
قسماً لقد رضيْتك أعينُ معشر
من وامقين وشانئين أعادي
I swear you have pleased the eyes of a group
Of loyalists and spiteful enemies
أقبلتَ في جيشٍ يُظلُّك ليْلُه
وإليكَ منكَ لكل عيْنٍ هادي
You came in an army whose night shades you
And to you from you every eye is a guide
متدرِّعاً خِلعاً أنسْتَ بِلُبْسِها
أنْس المعَوَّد لُبْسَها المعتادِ
Wearing armor, a robe that made you forget
The familiarity of its usual attire
طُرفاً علت شرفاً تليداً لم تزل
مُتعهِّداً من مثلها بتِلادِ
You have upheld a longstanding nobility
That you were always duty-bound to protect
خَلَعَ الإله عليك يوم لبستها
هَدْيَ الشَّكور وبهجة المُزدادِ
The God adorned you the day you wore it
With the gift of gratitude and the joy of newborns
وكساك من خِلَعِ القلوبِ محبّةٍ
كمحبةِ الآباءِ للأولادِ
And clothed you in the robe of hearts' love
Like fathers' love for their children
فظللت في خلع تفاوتَ نَجْرُها
خافٍ تلاحظه العقول وبادِ
So you remained in a robe whose value surpassed
What minds can grasp and hands can touch
عُمِّرْتَ تنهض في مَراقٍ عَفْوُها
عفوُ الحُدور وأنت في إصعادِ
You lived and rose through pardons its forgiveness
The forgiveness of virtuous ones as you climbed
تغدو وأنت جوىً لأكباد العِدا
وقلوبهم وندىً على أكبادِ
Going forth while being a salve for your enemies' livers
And their hearts, and dew upon their livers
وإخال أن عِداك قد عَطَفَتْهُم
كفَّاك بالإرفاد فالإِرفادِ
As if your enemies have been softened by it
It sufficed you to treat gently, so treat gently
ولقد أردت جزاءهم بفعالهم
فعلمت أن العُرف بالمرصاد
And I wanted to repay them for their deeds
But learned that custom lies in ambush
يا من أرى حسادَه استحقاقه
للحظّ فاستدعى هوى الحسّادِ
O you whom I see your enviers deserving
Of the moment that evoked the envy of enviers
حُسنٌ وإحسان إذا ما عُويِنا
ردّا عليك ولاء كل معادي
Goodness and benevolence, when we are wronged
Repel you, and every enemy's loyalty
من ذا يعادي البدر أمسى منعِماً
نُعمَى عَفُوٍّ للذِّنوب جوادِ
Who can be hostile to the full moon that has become
Generous with a pardon for sins, open-handed
كم من يدٍ بيضاء قد أوليتَها
تَثني إليك عنان كل وداد
How many white hands you have befriended
That now restrain any will from affection
شكر الإِلهُ صنائعاً أسديتَها
سُلِكتْ مع الأرواح في الأجسادِ
God thanks the good deeds you have done
Taken with souls in bodies they were guided
وعفا نُبوُّك عن وَلِّيك إنه
أحدوثةٌ في جانبيْ بغدادِ
And your prophecy pardoned your successor's mistake
He is but a youth in the flank of Baghdad
ومن الزيادة في البلية أنني
أصبحت في البلوى من الأفرادِ
And it adds to the misery that I
Have become isolated among individuals
أرني سواي من الذين صنعتهم
رَجُلاً نسخَت صلاحه بفسادِ
Show me apart from those whom you have made
Men whose righteousness was marred by corruption
إني أعوذ بيُمن جدَّك أن أُرى
بعد الدنوِّ رهينةَ الإِبعادِ
I seek refuge in your grandfather's auspices
Lest after the lowliness I see exile
