أَفاضَ سَماحُكَ بَحرَ النَدى

وَأَقبَسَ هَديُكَ نورَ الهُدى

Your generosity pours the sea of dew,

And your guidance kindles the light of true guidance.

وَرَدَّ الشَبابَ اِعتِلاقُكَ بَعدَ

مُفارَقَتي ظِلَّهُ الأَبرَدا

Your embrace restored my youth after

Its chilling separation from me.

وَما زالَ رَأيُكَ فِيَّ الجَميلَ

يُفَتِّحُ لي الأَمَلَ الموصَدا

Your good opinion of me still

Opens for me the bolted hope.

وَحَسبِيَ مِن خالِدِ الفَخرِ أَن

رَضيتَ قُبوليَ مُستَعبَدا

It suffices me, from glorious Khālid, that

You accepted me, enslaved.

وَيا فَرطَ بَأوي إِذا ما طَلَعتَ

فَقُمتُ أُقَبِّلُ تِلكَ اليَدا

Oh loss of my shelter, when you appear

I stand to kiss that hand,

وَرَدَّدتُ لَحظِيَ في غُرَّةٍ

إِذا اِجتُلِيَت شَفَتِ الأَرمَدا

And I repeat my glance in a glimpse

When the red lips are bared.

وَطاعَةُ أَمرِكَ فَرضٌ أَرا

هُ مِن كُلِّ مُفتَرَضٍ أَوكَدا

Obeying your command is a duty I see

As more compelling than any duty.

هِيَ الشَرعُ أَصبَحَ دينَ الضَميرِ

فَلَو قَد عَصاكَ فَقَد أَلحَدا

It has become the law of conscience’s faith.

If I disobeyed you I would have lapsed.

وَحاشايَ مِن أَن أَضِلَّ الصِراطَ

فَيَعدونِيَ الكُفرُ عَمّا بَدا

Far be it from me to stray from the path

So they reckon me an unbeliever for what appeared.

وَأُخلِفَ مَوعِدَ مِن لا أَرى

لِدَهرِيَ إِلّا بِهِ مَوعِدا

And to break the promise of one I do not see

In my life any promise but his.

أَتاني عِتابٌ مَتى أَدَّكِر

هُ في نَشَواتِ الكَرى أَسهَدا

Reproach came whenever I recalled it

In the pleasures of life more biting even than myrrh,

وَإِن كانَ أَعقَبَهُ ما اِقتَضى

شِفاءَ السِقامِ وَنَقعَ الصَدى

And even if ensued what required,

To heal the malady and sweeten the taste,

ثَناءٌ ثَنى في سَناءِ المَحَ

لِّ زُهرَ الكَواكِبِ لي حُسَّدا

Praise that bent in the towers of the scene

The blossoms of the stars envied me.

قَريضٌ مَتى أَبغِ لِلقَرضِ مِنهُ

أَداءً أَجِد شَأوَهُ أَبعَدا

A poem whose repayment, if I desire repayment,

I find its requital much harder.

لَوِ الشَمسُ مِن نَظمِهِ حُلِّيَت

أَوِ البَدرُ قامَ لَهُ مُنشِدا

If the sun were adorned with its prosody

Or the full moon stood reciting it,

لَضاعَفَ مِن شَرَفِ النَيِّرَي

نِ حَظّاً بِهِ قارَنَ الأَسعُدا

It would redouble the Ever-Shining Bride’s

Share of honor, pairing the most fortunate.

فَدَيتُكَ مَولىً إِذا ما عَثَرتُ

أَقالَ وَمَهما أَزِغ أُرشَدا

I ransom you, my Master, whenever I stumble;

You decrease while whatever slips you correct.

رَكَنتُ إِلى كَرَمِ الصَفحِ مِنهُ

فَآمَنَني ذاكَ أَن يَحقِدا

I have leaned upon the charity of your pardon;

That has secured me that you will not resent.

وَآنَستُ سوقَ اِحتِمالٍ أَبى

لِمُستَبضِعِ العُذرِ أَن يُكسِدا

And I sensed the market of tolerance refuse

To the apologetic excuse that it close down.

شَفيعي إِلَيهِ هَوى مُخلِصٍ

كَما أَخلَصَ السابِكُ العَسجَدا

My intercessor with Him is a sincere passion

As the bladesmith tempered the steel sincere.

وَمِن وُصَلي هِجرَةٌ لا أَعُدُّ

لِحالي سِوى يَومِها مَولِدا

And my connection with Him has an estrangement I do not count,

In my state, any day but its birthday.

وَنُعمى تَفَيَّأتُها أَيكَةً

فَشُكري حَمامٌ بِها غَرَّدا

And boons I have enjoyed sheltering

So my thankfulness is a pigeon that sang.

تَبارَكَ مَن جَمَعَ الخَيرَ فيكَ

وَأَشعَرَكَ الخُلُقَ الأَمجَدا

Blessed is He who gathered all good in you

And dispositioned you the most glorious nature,

مَضاءُ الجَنانِ وَظَرفُ اللِسانِ

وَجودُ البَنانِ بِسَكبِ الجَدا

Radiance of heavens and eloquence of tongue,

Generosity of the youthful in shedding wealth.

رَأى شيمَتَيكَ لِما تَستَحِقُّ

وَقَفّى فَأَظفَرَ إِذ أَيَّدا

He saw your quality for what it merits

And He sufficed and so triumphed when He supported.

لِيَهنِكَ أَنَّكَ أَزكى المُلوكِ

بِفَيءٍ وَأَشرَفُهُم سودَدا

To gladden you that you are the purest of kings

In plunder and the noblest in lineage.

سِوى ناجِلٍ لَكَ سامي الهُمو

مِ داني الفَواضِلِ نائي المَدى

Beyond a smooth ground for you, sublime of ambition,

Brought near in superior merit, far-reaching.

هُمامٌ أَغَرُّ رَوَيتَ الفَخارَ

حَديثاً إِلى سَروِهِ مُسنَدا

Ambitions whose nobility the decoration recounted

As talk to its cypresses, propped.

سَلَكتَ إِلى المَجدِ مِنهاجَهُ

فَقَد طابَقَ الأَطرَفُ الأَتلَدا

You have threaded its path to glory

So the horoscope matched the auspicious decree.

هُوَ اللَيثُ قَلَّدَ مِنكَ النِجادَ

لِيَومِ الوَغى شِبلَهُ الأَنجَدا

He is the lion who girded the swordbelt upon you

For the day of battle, its whelps unsheathed.

يُعِدُّكَ صارِمَ عَزمٍ وَرَأيٍ

فَتُرضيهِ جُرِّدَ أَو أُغمِدا

He counts you as one firm of purpose and thought

So you satisfy Him polished or still sheathed.

وَما اِستَبهَمَ القُفلُ في الحادِثا

تِ إِلّا رَآكَ لَهُ مِقلَدا

And nothing was ambiguous in events

But He saw you as key-holder for it.

فَأَمطاكَ مِنكَبَ طَرفِ النُجومِ

وَأَوطَأَ أَخمَصَكَ الفَرقَدا

So He extended to you the shoulder of the stars

And set your steps upon the Pleiades.

فَلا زِلتُما يَرفَعُ الأَولِيا

أَ مُلكُكُما وَيَحُطُّ العِدا

Thus both of you the loyalists raise up

The kingdom of you two and debase the enemies.

وَنَفسي لِنَفسَيكُما البِرَّتَي

نِ مِن كُلِّ ما يُتَوَقّى الفِدا

And my soul for the souls of you two

The devoted from all that is to be ransomed.

فَمَن قالَ أَن لَستُما أَوحَدَي

نِ في الصالِحاتِ فَما وَحَّدا

So whoever said you two are not unique

In righteous deeds, he has not professed God’s unity.