يمينك إن طرا جدب سحاب

وعزمك إن دجى خطب شهابُ

Your right hand, if the clouds are sparse,

And your determination, if the darkness of affairs becomes illuminated,

وحلمك إن هفت أحلام قوم

رزين لا توازنه الهضابُ

And your patience, if the dreams of a nation have vanished,

Are steadfast and cannot be matched by the hills.

لقد أضحت مغرِّبة وطورا

مشرقة عطاياك الرغابُ

You have become one who sets in the west and rises in the east,

With your plentiful gifts rising.

لك الخلقان ذا شهد وهذا

إذا صابت سماء الحرب صابُ

You possess the two realms of this and that,

Whenever the sky of war pours forth rain.

وهبت تكرما وقتلت حزما

فما يرجى سواك ولا يهابُ

You grant generously and kill prudently,

So none but you is hoped for or feared.

بجود ابن المظفر المرجى

تسهلت المنى وحلا الطلابُ

Through the generosity of Ibn al-Muzaffar the hoped-for,

Wishes were granted and yearnings fulfilled.

رفيلي المناسب كسروي

عتاداه الصوارم والعرابُ

My friend suited to occasions, like my sword,

Whose equipment is swords and bedouin Arabs.

هو الملك الذي بندي يديه

ومدحي فيه قد سرت الركابُ

He is the king whom I extended my hands to

And whom my praise has delighted caravans about.

ومشغوف ببذل الرفد صب

فليس لقلبه عنه إنقلابُ

Passionate in bestowing sustenance from his rain-clouds,

So his heart cannot turn away from it.

إذا احتقب البخيل الغمر وفرا

فليس له سوى الحمد احتقابُ

When the miser sulks over abundant rain,

He has none but praise while frowning.

وردت بحاره والظمْ ملق

علي جرانه فطمى عبابُ

His seas overflow and the signs of rain on his cheeks

Drown his neighbors, quenching their thirst.

وشمت بروقه فهمي غمام

أرب على العفاة له ربابُ

Its lightning bolts kindled my clouds’ desire,

With a Lord over the weak ones, for it bridled mounts.

له عزم طرير الحد ماض

تلين لبأسه النوب الصعابُ

It has the determination to continue travelling nights,

Its might makes the towering mountains submissive.

وجار لا تقاربه الرزايا

وفعل لا يفارقه الصوابُ

An intimate neighbor whom misfortunes do not draw near,

And deeds from which propriety is never absent.

ومال لا يرد له مرج

أتاه ولا يرد عليه بابُ

Wealth which has no slick terrain to make it slide back from him

And which no door can bar against reaching him.

فما مثعنجر بالودق هام

له سح ملث وانسكابُ

So glorifying wealth did not distract him

With diverting conversations and escapism.

صدوق الوعد للبرق ابتسام

بحضنيه وللرعد اصطخابُ

Truthful to his promise, smiling to the lightning,

Embracing it, responsive to the thunder.

بأندى منه أندية ووجها

وصوب يدلديمتها إنصبابُ

With fresher and more delicate cheeks and a face

From which drink its everpouring splendor.

أيا عضد الهدى والدين يا من

يجد ثوابه وبني العقابُ

O pillar of guidance and religion, O you from whom

The devout find reward and the sinful, punishment.

بربعك تغمر العافي نوالا

وعندك يعمر الأمل الخرابُ

In your territory, bounty floods;

In your presence, hope restores ruins.

لقد هز الخليفة منك عضبا

نفوس الخالعين له قرابُ

The Caliph was enraged at those

Who renounced allegiance to him, kinsmen.

تفل كتائب الاعداء منه

مراسلة تزعزع أو كتابُ

The enemy battalions flee from him.

No correspondence shakes him, nor books.

وما هو عنك معتاض بشخص

وهل يغني عن الماء السرابُ

He is not too weak to stand before you,

Can a mirage avail over water?

فنصحك لا يخالطه ارتياب

وودك ود صدق لا يشابُ

Your advice is free of any doubt,

Your love, the love of sincere brotherhood.

فدام ودمت للعلياء حتى

يؤوب القارظان ولا إيابُ

So last and endure, giving shade to the exalted, until

The Pleiades sets and does not return.

وعاد عليك عيدك ما توارى

جبين الشمس وأنهل السحابُ

And may your feast day return to you, for as long

As the sun’s brow hides itself and the clouds pour down.

ولا ضاقت على القصاد يوما

من الدنيا مغانيك الرحابُ

And may the vast plains of life never constrict

The generous man on the day he seeks you.