جزاك اللهُ مجد الدين خيراً

عن العلياء المجدِ الأثيل

May God reward you well, Majd al-Din,

for lofty honor—for glory deep-rooted.

فلم تبرح عِصاماً عند خوفٍ

وجَدْبٍ للعُفاةِ وللنَّزيلِ

You have never ceased to be a mainstay in times of fear

and drought, for supplicants and guests.

وأروعُ ما اشتريتَ به المعالي

وحُزْتَ شَواردَ الذكرِ الجميلِ

How splendid the deed with which you purchased high distinction

and captured the far-roaming strains of fair renown:

مساعدةُ ابن باكيرا عليٍّ

على ما نابَ من خطبٍ جَليلٍ

your aid to ʿAlī ibn Bākīrā

in the grave ordeal that befell him.

حويْتَ به ثناءَ الحيِّ طُرَّاً

وفُزْتَ لديهِ بالأجْر الجزيلِ

Through it you gathered the praise of the whole community

and won, in His sight, a bountiful reward.

فتىً آباءهُ السُّحْبُ الغَوادي

تجودُ بكل مُنْهمرٍ هَطولٍ

A youth whose forebears are the rain clouds of morning,

lavishing every streaming, pelting shower.

وقد حلَّتْ أثيرهُمُ سَجايا

تفوقُ لطافةَ الخمْرِ الشَّمولِ

Their virtues have come to dwell in their cherished heir,

surpassing the subtle grace of all-enfolding wine.

أعَدْتَ المجدَ مأهولاً أنيساً

وكان كدارسِ الرَّبْع المَحيلِ

You restored glory, peopled and companionable,

when it had been like the effaced remains of a desolate campsite.

وأوجبت الثناء على زمانٍ

شكى أبْناءهُ جَوْرَ البخيلِ

And you made an age deserving of praise

whose children had lamented the miser’s injustice.

وصدَّقت الرواةَ لكل ماضٍ

قديمٍ بعد تكذيبٍ طويلِ

You proved the transmitters truthful about every man

of ancient days, after long disbelief.

فعشتَ مدى الزمانِ مُطاعَ أمْرٍ

نقيَّ العرْض كالسَّيْف الصَّقيلِ

So may you live throughout all time, your command obeyed,

your honor stainless as a burnished sword.