دلفْتَ بجيشٍ ذي زُهاءٍ كأنه

غوارب يَمٍّ أو هضابُ نَقاً عُفْر

You have marched with an army whose brightness is like

Yellow tents or smooth white hills.

تضيق المُروتُ الفِيح عند نزوله

ويدجو إذا ما سار من نقعه الظُهر

The spacious valley constricts when they descend

And widens when their backs move on from the valley's clefts.

فأغنتكَ عنه نيَّةٌ وطويةٌ

ببعضهما يُستنزل الفتحُ والنَّصرُ

Your purpose and cunning spared you their need -

With some of both, triumph and victory are attained.

وكنت إذا جاولت غزو قبيلةٍ

هزمت ولا بيضٌ هُززنَ ولا سمر

Whenever you sought to raid a tribe,

You defeated them, while neither white nor dark were routed.

يُحاذَرُ منك البشرُ واليوم كالحٌ

ويرهب منك الصبر إذ نفذ الصبرُ

Humans fear you, and the day is dry,

Patience fears you when patience is depleted.

غياثٌ لدينِ اللهِ حامي عبادهِ

وغيثٌ لأرضِ الله إذ حبُس القطر

A protector of Allah's religion, guardian of His servants,

And rain for Allah's land when rain is withheld.

أغرَّ كأن الشمس منْ قسماتِه

خلائقهُ في كل مكْرُمةٍ زُهْرُ

Dazzling as if the sun were his features -

His qualities sublime in every glory.

فتى الخيل تجري بالكُماةِ كأنها

عواسلُ معطٌ مَدَّ أنفاسها القفرُ

A knight whose horses race with hooves

Like she-camels, their breath expanding the desert.

إذا ما طوتْ ماء النِّهاءِ تخمُّطاً

فموردها ما أنبعَ الهامُ والنَّحرُ

When they churn the water of desire restlessly,

Their watering place flows as freely as veins and throat.

يُغيرُ بها المنعوتُ في كل معْركٍ

إذا ما استقى العَسالُ واستطعم النسر

With them the renowned attacks in every fray

When mettle is tested and the eagle made to seek prey.

أبو الفتح ضرَّاب الجماجم بالضُحى

ومولي الندى إذ صرح الأزمُ الغبر

Father of conquest, smasher of skulls at dawn,

My protector in hardship when the dust storm raged.

على عطفه من مجدهِ أريحيَّةٌ

به نشوةٌ منها وما دارتِ الخمرُ

On his shoulder a tenderness of glory

Exhilarating as wine though no wine was poured.

تكرَّمَ منها أن يُرى غير راحِمٍ

عطوفٍ فلا ظلمٌ لديه ولا كِبْرُ

He disdained to appear other than compassionate,

Gentle, so neither wrong nor pride touched him.

فدامَ مُطاع الأمر يُرجى ويتَّقى

لأعْدائه منه الإِبادةُ والقهرُ

May obedience to his command last, to be hoped and feared,

For his enemies, only annihilation and defeat remain.

مريرُ القوى لا ينقضُ الدهر حزمه

ولكنه يجري بمأثورهِ الدهْرُ

Bitter in battle, time does not erode his resolve -

Rather time flows according to his enduring custom.