قدمتَ قدوم البدر بيتَ سُعُودِهِ

وأمرُك عالٍ صاعدٌ كصعودِهِ

You came like the full moon rising to its zenith

And your status is high, ever ascending like it

لبستَ سناه واعتليتَ اعتلاءه

ونأمل أن تحظى بمثل خلودِهِ

You donned its brightness and rose to its height

And we hope you enjoy its eternal permanence

وأقبَلت بحراً زاخراً في مُدُوده

على متنِ بحرٍ زاخرٍ في مدودِهِ

You came like a bountiful sea in its surging waves

Atop an abundant sea surging in its tides

وأُقسمُ بالمُعْلِيكَ قدراً ورتبةً

لجَودُكَ بالمعروف أضعافُ جودِهِ

I swear by the One who raised you in status and rank

Your generosity with goodness is manifold that of others

وما رفدُك المحمودُ من رفْد رافدٍ

تُعَدُّ عيوبٌ جمَّةٌ في رفُودِهِ

The commendable support you provide is not from any supporter

Whose flaws altogether would taint its purity

تذوبُ رفودُ البحر بعد جمودها

ومالَكَ رفدٌ ذاب بعد جمودِهِ

The sea’s bounties melt after freezing

While yours is a bounty melted after its solidity

وأنت متى جُزْتَ الحدود نفعتنا

وكم ضرَّ بحرٌ جاز أدنى حُدودِهِ

And when you surpass limits, you bring us benefit

While the sea, having crossed its lowest depths, brings harm

وما زلت في كل الأمور تبزُّهُ

بما يعجز الحُسَّابَ ضبطُ عقودِهِ

You have never ceased in all matters to demonstrate

What the wise cannot reckon, nor bounds comprehend

وقد عرفَ البحرُ الذي أنا عارفٌ

فطأطأ من طغْيانه ومُرُوده

The sea I know well recognized you

And bowed its towering waves and surge

وأضحى ذَلولاً ظهرُه إذ ركبته

لمجدٍ يبيد الدهْرُ قبل بُيُودِهِ

Its back has become submissive as you rode it

For glory that will destroy time before its ruin

ومن أجلك استكسى الشَّمَال برودَهُ

وأقبل مزفُوفاً بها في بُرُودِهِ

For you the north has donned its coolness

Approaching softly cloaked in its chill

ولولاك لاستكسى الجنوبَ سلاحَهُ

فكان ورودُ الحرب دون ورودِهِ

Had it not been for you, the south would have readied its weapons

And the blossoms of war would have bloomed before their season

ولكن رأى سعدَ الكواكب فوقه

فسار وديعاً سيرُه كركُودِهِ

But it saw your stars shining above it

So it went gently, its pace like its calm

فهنَّأك اللّه السلامةَ قادماً

برغم مُعادِي حَظِّكم وحَسُودِهِ

May God grant you wellness upon your arrival

Despite the resentment of your envious enemies

فهنَّأك اللّه الكرامةَ خافضاً

وفي كلِّ حالٍ يا ابن مجدٍ وعودِهِ

May God honor you by vanquishing

And in every state, O son of glory and his promise

وبعد فإنِّي المرءُ أجديتُ قاعداً

ولم يجدِ قبلي قاعدٌ بقعودِهِ

As for me, though able, I remained seated

None before me remained seated in their place

وما ذاك إلا أنَّ أرْوَعَ ما جداً

وَفَى لي بعهدٍ من كريم عهودِهِ

That is only because the best support altogether

Sufficed me from one noble to his pact

على أنَّ عَتْبا منه حَوَّلَ حالتي

لبعض عُنُودي لا لبعض عُنُودِهِ

Though his reproach changed my state

For some of my obstinacy, not his own

وكان مَحَلِّي في النجود بفضله

فبدَّلني أغوارَهُ من نجودِهِ

My place in generosity was by his grace

So he changed me from its depths to its summit

فهل قائل عني له متوسّلٌ

بلين سجاياه ومجد جُدُودِهِ

Is there no speaker to him, kind and humble

With gentle temperament and majestic resolve

لعبدك حقٌّ بالتَّحَرُّم واجبٌ

أبى لك طيبُ الخِيم لؤمَ جحودِهِ

Your servant has the right to self-respect, it being necessary

That the best tents refused the blemish of ingratitude

وفي جيده طوقٌ لنعماك لازِبٌ

أبى ربُّه إلا قيامَ شهودِهِ

On his neck is a collar of your blessings, adhered

His Lord refused but to stand by his testimony

وأنت الذي يأبى انحلال عقوده

وإن كان لا يأبى انحلال حُقُودِهِ

You who refuses the dissolution of his pacts

Although he does not refuse the untying of his braids

فَجَدِّدْ له نعمى بعفوٍ ونائلٍ

فما زلتَ أعْنَى سَيِّدٍ بمسودِهِ

So renew your blessings upon him with pardon and hopes fulfilled

For you have never ceased to favor a master through his aims

وبشرى من البِشْرِ الجميل فلم يزل

يبشّر بالصبْح انبلاجُ عمودِهِ

And glad tidings of beautiful heralding, it has not stopped

Heralding the dawn with the rising of its pillars

خَصصتُ وأَثنى بالعموم ولم أكن

كصاحب نومٍ هبَّ بعد هجودِهِ

I singled out and praised inclusively, I was not

Like a sleeping companion roused after slumber

ولكنَّني بدَّأتُ أبلَجَ لم أزل

أقاتل أسباب الردى بجنودِهِ

Rather I began to shine and have not ceased

Combatting the causes of evil with its soldiers

بقيتم بني وهبٍ برغم عدوكم

وشدة بلواه وطول سهودِهِ

You remained, O Banu Wahb, despite your enemy

And the intensity of his tribulation and prostration's length

ولا برحت بيضُ الأيادي عليكُمُ

ومنكمْ مدى بيض الزمان وسودِهِ

The white of hands did not leave you

And the days of time have extended from you white and black

دُفِعْتُمْ إلى مُلكٍ كثيرٍ سدُودُه

فعادت فُتوح الملك ضِعْفَيْ سُدودِهِ

You were pushed to abundant empire, firm its pillars

So the openings of the kingdom doubled its pillars

بكيْدٍ لكم قد زايلته غُمُوده

يؤيِّدُهُ كيْدٌ لكم في غمودِهِ

With a plot against you I have made its gloom depart

Supporting you is a plot against them in their gloom

وألفيتُمُ المرْعى كثيراً أُسُودُهُ

فأَنصفتُمُ خِرْفانه من أسودِهِ

You found the pasture greatly jet-black

So you exemplified amongst its sheep the blackest

ولم يركم أمرٌ طلبتُمْ صلاحه

تَكأَّدَكم ما دونه من كَئُودِهِ

No matter you sought to set right but burdened you

Beyond it of worries grasp

فأعرض عنّا كلُّ شرٍ بوجهه

وأقبل وجه الخير بعد صدودِهِ

So turn from us every evil with its face

And make the aspect of good approach after its avoidance

فزاد مُصَلِّينا بكم في رُكُوعه

زاد مصلينا بكم في سجودِهِ

Increase those who bow to you in its bowing

Increase those who prostrate to you in its prostration

ألا لا عدمنا طِبَّكُمْ وشفاءه

فقد بردت أحشاؤنا بِبَرُودِهِ

May we never be devoid of your greeting and its healing

For it has cooled our entrails with its chill

ولا عدم العرفُ الذي تصنعونه

مِداداً نُفُودُ البحر قبل نفودِهِ

Nor devoid of the custom you exemplify

An inkwell, the sea's springs before their springing

إليكُمْ رأى الراجي مَشَدَّ قُتُودِهِ

وفيكم رأى الساري محطَّ قُتُودِهِ

To you the hopeful saw the tightening of his bonds

And in you the protected saw the rest of his bonds

أتاكم ولم يشفعْ فلقَّاه طَوْلُكُمْ

نسيئاتِ ما رَجَّاه قبل نُقُودِهِ

He came to you without mediation so your duration accepted him

Slow fulfillments of what he hoped before its time

وقد كان تأميلُ النفوس مُقَيَّداً

فأطلقتُمُ تأميلَها من قيودِهِ

The imagining of souls had been constrained

But you released their imagining from their bonds