وأحْلاف مجدٍ موجفينَ إِلى العُلى

لهم من قُصيٍّ انتسبوا رهطُ

With oaths of glorious might ascending on high,

A folk who trace back their line to honored Qussay.

تُقِلُّمُ الجُرْدُ الجيادُ كأنها

سراحينُ ثَلاَّتٍ بمَوماتها مُعْطُ

The horses champ the bits as though they were

Mares with their young, kept apart from the herd.

يَرودونَ رأياً من لَبيبٍ مُعايرٍ

لكل عِقالٍ منْ رَويَّتهِ نَشْطُ

With reason sound they form their plan of battle

For every keen mind that unfolds its thought.

منحتهم أسطارَ طِرْسٍ ومعْركٍ

بليغينِ مما أنْبت الخطُّ والخَطُّ

I gave them, adorned in mail and armed for war,

Eloquence drawn from script and nature's law.

فعادتْ لهم صيدُ الملوكِ أذِلَّةً

لكل طليقٍ من كُماتهمُ رَبْطُ

So to them the kings' prey has become submissive,

To each stalwart whose bonds grip it in hold.

ومنْ كالوزيرِ الزَّينبيِّ مُقَرِّباً

بعيد العُلى اذا حال من دونه الشَّحط

One whose favor brings near, like Zainab's vizier,

Though aloof, as when barriers rise between.

فتىً لا يُدانيهِ رِضاهُ لِلينَةٍ

تُذِلُّ ولا يثْنيه عن كرمٍ سخط

A youth whom compliance delights not through mildness

Nor anger deters him from bounty, for all his wrath.