عزمتَ باليُمنِ تحمي حوزة اليَمَنِ

وسرتَ والطالعَ المسعود في قرنِ

You resolved with auspiciousness to protect the territory of Yemen

And you went forth, with the stars in your favor, in this age

لم يبقَ في اليمن الميمون ذو أشرٍ

من الفراعين إلاّ خرّ للذّقنِ

No one remained in fortunate Yemen with any evil

Among the chiefs except the one with the grey beard

وأصبحتْ ألسنُ الأيام منشدةٌ

هذي المكارمُ لا قعبان من لبن

And the tongues of the days began singing

These noble deeds not lies from any breast

فاحكم بما شئتَ في الأرضين نافذةً

لك الأوامرُ في شام وفي يمنِ

So rule as you wish in the lands in full effect

For you are the commander in Syria and in Yemen

إنّ الولايةَ قد ألقت مقالدها

لم ترض غيرك كفواً من بني الحسنِ

Indeed authority has cast off its trappings

None would satisfy it as successor among the family of Hasan

تصدّ عنها وتأبَى وصلَها شرفاً

وشوقها لكَ شوق العين لِلْوسنِ

You held it back and refused it, honoring the tie

While it longed for you like the eye longs for kohl

وما الولاية من أمرٍ تُزان بهِ

فأنت زينتُها بل زينة الزّمنِ

Authority is no matter to be weighed therewith

For you are its adornment, nay, the adornment of the age

هَلْ كان يدري الأُلى وُلِّيتَ أرضهمُ

بأنّهم قد سُقوا بالعارضِ الهتن

Did the High One know, when you were given their lands

That they were led to the flowing stream after the brackish spring?

ولأهم اللهُ مَلْكاً من بني حسنٍ

نظيره في قديم الدَّهر لم يكنِ

God gave a kingdom to the family of Hasan

The like of which in bygone days did not exist

ما حِي قديم الأساطير التي رُقمتْ

في سالِف الدهر عن سيف بن ذي يزن

Where are the ancient legends that were written

In days of yore about Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan

والمبتْنَي دونَ أملاك الورى شرفاً

بناءَ عزّ على هامِ السّماك بُني

And he who built below the kingdoms of the world in nobility

A structure of glory upon the brow of al-Sammak

والصَّائِن العرض بالأموالِ يبذلها

ورُبّ عرضٍ عن الأقوال لم يُصَنِ

And the one who staked his honor on wealth and spent it

While many staked their honor on words and did not guard it

والثّابت الجأش في حُمر الهياج فما

يلقاهُ ذو البأسِ إلاّ وهو في الكفنِ

And the one firm of spirit amidst the plunging steeds, whom

No valiant man encountered except that he was in his shroud

من شنّفتْ أذُنُ الآدابِ فكرتُه

من القريض بدرٍّ جلّ عن ثمنِ

The one whose ears were hurt by the refined manners of literature

More than by the twanging of a string however valuable

مَلكٌ عَلاَ عن مداناة الملوك لَهُ

وفات حصر علاه كل ذي لسنِ

A king lofty above the pretense of kings, his loftiness

Exceeded the grasp of any fanged orator

مَنْ قاسَه بملوك الأرض قاطبةٌ

فليس يفرقُ بين الورْمِ والسِّمن

If he were compared to the kings of all the earth

He would distinguish between butter and poison

تَستَخدمُ الصارمُ الهندي سطوتُه

فلو تَبدت لِصَرف الدهرِ لم يَخُنِ

The Indian sword exerts its sway

If it appeared to turn the ages it would not fail

ولو بَدتْ لبني العبّاس عزمتُهُ

لروّعتْ كلَّ مأمونٍ ومؤتمنِ

If his resolve appeared to the Abbasids

It would terrify every Ma'mun and trustee

أنعم بها صفقةٌ مذ كان عاقدها

كفُّ العُلَى بعدتْ عن صفقةِ الغبن

You made a blessed deal when its contractor

Was the Most High, beyond the deal of loss

يهنا العدينُ شمولُ العدلِ منك بما

أقمتَهُ من فروضِ الدينِ والسُّننِ

It gratifies the servant that justice flows from you

According to what you have instituted of religious duties and norms

تاهَتْ على الأرض طُرَّاً مُنذ كنتَ بها

كالتّاج للرأس بل كالروحِ للبدنِ

Guidance was lost on earth since you were in it

Like a crown is to a head, nay like the soul to the body

يقلّ يا مَلك الدنيا إذا افتخرتْ

على المخا بك أوتاهَتْ على عَدن

Say little, O king of the world, if you boast

Over the misguided one or the arrogant one of Aden

فَلْيشكروا اللهَ إذ ولاّكَ أرضَهمُ

فإنّها مِنّةٌ من أعظم المِننِ

Let them thank God since He appointed you over their lands

It is a blessing from the greatest of favors

وحُقّ أن يشكروا ربّاً أتاح لَهُمْ

من كفّك العذبَ بعد المورد الأسنِ

And it behooves them to thank a Lord who made available to them

From your sweet palm after the brackish spring

مَا اختْاركَ الله مَلْكاً في بسيطتِهِ

إلاّ لتُخْمِدَ فيها جَمْرةَ الفتنِ

God chose you as king in His dominion

Only to extinguish therein the embers of civil strife

فَمَنْ أهنتَ مِنَ ابْناءِ البَسيطةِ لَمْ

يَعزّ قطٌ ومن أعززتَ لم يَهُن

For whom you humiliated of the sons of Basra

Will never again be honored, and whom you honored will never be disgraced

فمثل سعيك فليُحمدْ لكسْبِ عُلىً

ومثل مُلْكك بعد الله فَلْيكُن

So the like of your effort - may it be praised - gained you nobility

And the like of your rule - after God - so shall it be