حماك حِمى الرحمن من كل حادثٍ

يُخاف ومن خطبٍ تَروع نوائبُهْ

May God protect you from every feared accident,

And from calamities whose afflictions are dreadful.

ولا فارقتْ تلك المناقبَ صِحَّةٌ

مهنَّأةٌ ما الْتَذَّ بالماءِ شارِبُهْ

And never parted from those virtues is wellness,

Delighted, as long as its drinker drinks water.

فإنَّ العُلى من أحمد بن مُحمَّدٍ

عقيلةُ غيْرانٍ تُخافُ مَشاغِبُهْ

For the most high of Ahmad bin Muhammad

Is the beloved of Ghairan, whose machinations are feared,

وزيرٌ يفُرُّ المحْلُ من جوِّ أرضه

ويحسدُه صَوبُ الغَمام وساكبُه

A minister whom the abode flees from the atmosphere of his land,

And the sides of clouds envy him and its pourer.

وينجاب طَخْيُ الليل من قسماتِه

إذا ما دَجتْ ظلْماؤهُ وغَياهبُهْ

The darkness of night is pierced by his divisions,

When its darkness and obscurities grow dense.

إذا ما تبارى فاخِرانِ بمَفْخرٍ

كريمٍ تبارتْ كُتْبُهُ وكَتائِبُهْ

When two boastful ones compete in generosity,

His books and writings compete.

فعند قَصيرٍ في المَجالِ ولاحِقٍ

طِعانٌ كولْغ الذيب وشْكٌ معاطبه

So for one short in space and overtaking,

There are piercing strikes like the fang of a wolf and probable hits.

فسيَّانِ ما تُخفي معاني سُطورِه

وما أظْهَرتهُ بالطِّرادِ مواكِبُه

The lines of his poetry conceal their meanings,

As do their caravans openly manifest them.

فتى الحَيِّ أما جارُهُ فهو مانِعٌ

حِماهُ وأمَّا مالُهُ فهو واهِبُهْ

A living man, while his neighbor forbids him,

Protects him, and his money, he grants it.

فمنْثورةٌ في سَلْمِه ونِزالِهِ

جماجمُ أبطالِ الوَغى ورَغائبُهْ

Scattered in his peace and fighting

Are the skulls of heroes of strife and its floods.

خضارمُ جودٍ أو معاقِلُ نجْدةٍ

إذا الدهر أكْدى نصرهُ وسحائبُه

Verdant in generosity or fortified in help,

When fate insists on aiding him and its clouds.

إذا مُضَرُ الحمراءِ مَدَّ أتِيُّها

فخِنْدِفُها آذِيُّهُ وغَوارِبُهْ

When the red hyena extends its neck

Its injuries and biting wounds pierce it.

فجاؤا بماضي العَزْم سامٍ إلى العُلى

تُكاثِرُ رَمْلَ الأنْعُمَيْن مناقبه

So they came with determination and composure to the most high,

His virtues multiplying the sands of An’amayn.

أبي جعفرٍ تاجِ الملوكِ الذي بهِ

يعُزُّ مُواليه ويَخْزى مُحاربُهْ

Of my father Ja’far, crown of kings, by which

His loyalists are honored and his adversaries humiliated.