بقيتَ مُطاعاً ما تغَنَّتْ حَمامَةٌ

وما رقَصَ الآلُ الخفوقُ براكبِ

You remained obeyed as long as a dove cooed,

And as long as the roaring stallion danced with its rider,

وما اعْترفَ الحُرُّ الفصيح لمحْسنٍ

فجازاهُ حمداً خالداً في العَواقِب

And as long as the eloquent free man acknowledged the beauty,

So he rewarded him with eternal praise in the aftermath.

فأنت مُشار الدهر في البأس والندى

وهازِمُ جيْشَيْ أزْمَةٍ ونَوائب

You are the pointer of fate in might and generosity,

And the defeater of the armies of distress and tribulations,

ومُبْتسمٌ والبيض تبكي غُروبُها

بأحْمَرَ من ماءِ المَفارقِ ساكِب

Smiling while the whites (swords) cry over their sunset,

With what flows from the red water of separation.

وباعثُ جيش الرأي في كلِّ مُجْلبٍ

يُحطِّمُ أطْرافَ القَنا والقواضب

You are the mobilizer of the army of opinion in every turmoil,

It shatters the edges of the spear and the bows.

إذا ما بنى في الطِّرْس صفَّ بلاغةٍ

غَدا هادِماً منها صُفوفَ المَواكب

When it builds a row of eloquence in armor,

It starts demolishing from it the rows of processions.

ففي كلِّ سطرٍ من وجيزٍ ومُسهبٍ

كتائبُ يمْطو بأسُها بالكَتائب

So in every line, concise or prolix,

Are battalions whose might defeats battalions.

مَزابرُه سُمْرُ القَنا وصَريرها

الغَماغم والقرطاس مُجرى السَّلاهِب

Their tombs are the red soil of spears and their hissing,

The skulls and the parchment, the course of the pouring rains.

وزيرٌ حَوى العَلْياءَ بين مناسبٍ

مكرَّمَةٍ مشْهورةٍ ومكاسِبِ

A minister who comprised glory between apt occasions,

Honored and famous acquisitions and gains.

فلم تُعْطِهِ أيَّامُهُ غيرَ حَقِّهِ

ولا رفَعتْ منهُ ضِخامُ المَراتِب

So his days did not give him but his right,

Nor did the loftiness of positions raise him.

رزينٌ يُطيل الصَّمت لا عن تكبُّرٍ

يشينُ ولا إِهْوانِ قدْرٍ بصاحِب

Serious, he prolongs silence not out of arrogance,

That would discredit, nor out of weakness towards a companion.

ولا حَصَرٍ إذ لم يزل خيرَ قائلٍ

وأفْصحَ مِنْطيقٍ وأبلغَ كاتِبِ

And not out of limitation, for he has not ceased being the best speaker,

And the most eloquent orator and the most eloquent writer.

ولكن حياءٌ لم يزلْ ملءَ طَرْفِه

من الناس في آمالهِمْ والمَطالِبِ

Rather, it is a shyness that has always filled his eye

From people in their hopes and demands.

فيستصغرُ الرِّفْدَ الجزيل وقدرهُ

كبيرٌ ويخشى العَتب من غير عاتب

So he underestimates abundant generosity and deems it small,

While he is great, and fears reproach from one who does not reproach.

ويكْبُر عن إِضْمارِ غِشٍّ لخائنٍ

فأعداؤه نهبُ الرَّدى والمَعاطِبِ

And he disdains concealing deceit for a traitor,

So his enemies are the prey of villainy and slanderers.

أغرُّ يحُلُّ الجارُ منْ عَرصاتِه

بأرْوع قَتَّالِ العِدى والمَساغِب

The most clement, the neighbor settles on his yards

With the most terrifying killer of enemies and violent people.

جَمالُ الوى مُولي النَّدى فارع العُلى

وشيكُ الحمى والنصر جمُّ الرغائب

The beauty of the beloved, the giver of generosity, the towering sublime,

And the impending protector and victory, the fulfiller of hopes.

وجيفُ جياد الخيل في الخير دائبٌ

وفي الشَّرِّ رَسْفُ العاصيات المصاعب

And the corpses of the steeds of generosity are constantly laboring,

And in evil, the firmness of the defiant calamities.

فهُنِّيَ شهر الصوم والدهر كلُّهُ

بدولتهِ ما ساغَ ماءٌ لشارِبِ

So the month of fasting and the whole world

Were congratulated for its state, as long as water flows for a drinker.