يا مَن يُبادِلُني عِشقاً بِسُلوانِ

أَم مَن يُصَيِّرُ لي شُغلاً بِإِنسانِ

O you who reciprocates love with tranquility

O you who exchanges my passion for indifference,

Or makes a human my sole preoccupation

Or assigns me the preoccupation of a single soul,

كَيما أَكونَ لَهُ عَبداً يُقارِضُني

وَصلاً بِوَصلٍ وَهُجراناً بِهُجرانِ

So I may be his slave, lending and borrowing

That I might become a slave to one who repays me—

Affection for affection, estrangement for estrangement

Union for union, and abandonment for abandonment.

إِذا اِلتَقَينا بِصُلحٍ بَعدَ مَعتَبَةٍ

لَم نَفتَرِق بَعدَ مَوعودٍ لِلُقيانِ

If we are reconciled after discord

If we meet in peace after mutual reproach,

We will not part again after promising reunion

We part not after a promise to meet again.

أَقولُ وَالعيسُ تَعرَوري الفَلاةَ بِنا

صُعرَ الأَزِمَّةِ مِن مَثنىً وَوُحدانِ

I say while al-ʿAys wanders the wilderness with us

I speak while white camels traverse the wilderness with us,

The hardy pair terrified by the crisis

Their necks twisted aside by the reins, in pairs and alone,

لِذاتِ لَوثٍ عَفَرناةٍ عُذافِرَةٍ

كَأَنَّ تَضبيرَها تَضبيرُ بُنيانِ

For an unkempt, dusty, filthy creature

Mounted on a sturdy beast, strong-necked and robust,

As if her saddle pads are the bricks of a building

Whose compacted form is like the solidity of a fortress wall.

يا ناقُ لا تَسأَمي أَو تَبلُغي مَلِكاً

تَقبيلُ راحَتِهِ وَالرُكنِ سِيّانِ

O she-camel, do not tire or reach a king

O she-camel, do not weary until you reach a king,

Kissing his palm is equal to the corner [of the Kaaba]

Whose palm is kissed with reverence equal to the Holy Stone.

مَتى تَحُطّي إِلَيهِ الرَحلَ سالِمَةً

تَستَجمِعي الخَلقَ في تِمثالِ إِنسانِ

When will you arrive there in peace

When you safely cast down your saddle before him,

And gather all people into the image of a human

You shall find all of creation gathered in the form of one man.

مُقابَلٌ بَينَ أَملاكٍ تُفَضِّلُهُ

وِلادَتانِ مِنَ المَنصورِ ثِنتانِ

A counterpart among dominions he prefers

Esteemed on both sides, favored above other kings,

Two births from al-Manṣūr are two

Descending twice from the lineage of Al-Mansur.

مَدَّ الإِلَهُ عَلَيهِ ظِلَّ مَملَكَةٍ

يَلقى القَصِيُّ بِها وَالأَقرَبَ الداني

God spread over him the shade of a kingdom

God has extended over him the shadow of sovereignty,

The distant and the near bask in it

Within which the distant stranger meets the closest kin.

إِن يُمسِكِ القَطرُ لا تُمسِك مَواهِبُهُ

وَلِيُّ عَهدٍ يَداهُ تَستَهِلّانِ

If the rain stops, his gifts do not stop

Though the rain may withhold its fall, his gifts never cease,

The heir apparent, his hands giving generously

A Crown Prince whose hands pour forth generosity like rain.

هُوَ الَّذي قَدَرَ اللَهُ القَضاءَ لَهُ

أَلّا يَكونَ لَهُ في فَضلِهِ ثانِ

He whom God decreed supremacy

It is he for whom God has ordained the decree,

None can match his superiority

That in his virtue, he shall have no equal.

هُوَ الَّذي اِمتَحَنَ اللَهُ القُلوبَ بِهِ

عَمّا تُجَمجِمُ مِن كُفرٍ وَإيمانِ

He whom God tested the hearts with

He is the one by whom God has tested the hearts of men,

Of what they secretly harbor of faith or disbelief

Revealing what they conceal of infidelity and faith.

وَإِنَّ قَوماً رَجَوا إِبطالَ حَقَّكُمُ

أَمسَوا مِنَ اللَهِ في سُخطٍ وَعِصيانِ

Though some hope to nullify your rights

There are those who hoped to nullify your right,

They earned God's wrath and defiance

But they ended in God's wrath and disobedience.

لَن يَدفَعوا حَقَّكُم إِلّا بِدَفعِهُمُ

ما أَنزَلَ اللَهُ مِن آيٍ وَبُرهانِ

They will not repel your rights unless they repel

They cannot deny your right without denying

What God revealed of signs and proofs

What God has revealed of holy verses and clear proofs.

فَقَلِّدوها بَني العَبّاسِ إِنَّهُمُ

صِنوُ النَبِيِّ وَأَنتُم غَيرُ صِنوانِ

So grant it, O Abbasids, they are

So entrust the rule to the Sons of Abbas, for they are

The Prophet's clan, while you are not

The Prophet's own branch, while you are but strangers.

وَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ سَيفاً فَوقَ هامِهِمُ

بِكَفِّ أَبلَجَ لا ضَرعٍ وَلا وانِ

God has a sword over their necks

For God holds a sword poised above their heads,

In the grip of a fierce, unrelenting hand

Wielded by a noble hand, neither feeble nor slack.

يَستَيقِظُ المَوتُ مِنهُ عِندَ هِزَّتِهِ

فَالمَوتُ مِن نائِمٍ فيهِ وَيَقظانِ

Death awakens startled by its brandishing

Death awakens from the blade when he brandishes it,

Death sleeps within it, and wakefulness

For within it, death lies both sleeping and awake.

مُحَمَّدٌ خَيرُ مَن يَمشي عَلى قَدَمِ

مِمَّن بَرا اللَهُ مِن إِنسٍ وَمِن جانِ

Muḥammad is the best of those who walk

Muhammad is the best of all who walk upon the earth,

Of humans or jinn God created

Of all that God created, among mankind and Jinn.