أبى اللّهُ أن تمسي همومي صواحبي

ويُجهل فضلي وهو في الأرض سائرُ

My Lord has decreed that my worries shall not be my companions,

Nor shall my merit be ignored while it spreads across the land,

وأنْ تلحظ الأعداءُ مني خصاصةً

لها من اِبائي والتَّصوُّن ساتِرُ

Nor shall my enemies notice in me any shortcoming,

Screened as I am by my fathers and by modesty as my cloak,

وبالقصر من حجْر الخلافة ضيغمٌ

نطوقٌ وبحرٌ من بني الصيد زاخرُ

In the palace of the Caliphate there is now a leader

Whose authority encompasses a sea of the Beni Said's bounty,

فما عضدُ الدين الجوادُ بحارِمٍ

ولا خاذلٍ اِن عزَّ مُجْدٍ وناصرُ

So the stalwart supporter of the religion is not devoid of sanctuary

Nor forsaken if his glory triumphs and he has partisans,

وشيك القِرى والنصر يحسد بأسه

وجدواهُ أطرافُ القَنا والمواطِرُ

Soon both settlements and victory will envy his might,

And the extremities of Qena and the Upper Region will covet it,

اذا خاض حرباً فهي سِلْمٌ لبأسه

واِن حلَّ جدباً فهو أخضرُ ناضرُ

If he wages war it will mean peace because of his valor,

And if drought befalls it remains verdant and flowering because of him,

وفي حكمه عند الرعيَّةِ عادلٌ

ولكنهُ بالجودِ في المالِ جائِرُ

And in his rule the commonalty see a just sovereign,

Though in his generosity with wealth he exceeds all bounds,

هنيءُ الندى لا يحبس العذرُ جوده

ولكنهُ تَمْري نداهُ المَعاذِرُ

Happy the dew that his munificence does not restrain,

Rather it flows freely despite any excuse for its arrest,

ولا يشفعُ الجودَ الجزيلَ بمنِّه

ولكن لباغي جود كفَّيهِ شاكرُ

Nor does abundant, copious generosity plead for his favor,

For the hand of the willful donor suffices as the only thanks,

اذا اخروَّط السير العنيف براكبٍ

دياجيرهُ عَرَّاقةٌ والهَواجِرُ

When his fierce riding beast is outfitted

Tasseled and fringed are its trappings and the saddle-cloth,

وبَزَّ الكَرى والأمن اِدمان سيره

نهاراً وليلاً فهو خشيانُ ساهِرُ

By his incessant traveling he brought safe passage and security,

Night and day – for he keeps constant vigil –

تطيرُ به الوجناءُ حتى اذا وَنَتْ

فسائقُها التَّأميلُ والعزمُ زاجِرُ

Before him wild beasts stampede until, when they are

Cornered, it is his determination and resolve that drive them away,

طوى الورد سلسالا وأصبح معرضاً

عن الثَّعْدِ جادتهُ الصبا والبواكرُ

The blossoms folded their petals and the meadows turned away

From the morning dew – the zephyr and daybreak spurned them –

فلا مَعْلقٌ اِلا أنابيشُ مِحْدَجٍ

ولا بللٌ اِلا المسيحُ الجُراجِرُ

So that nothing remains but the fifes of merry entertainments

And no moisture except what the priests sprinkle from their aspergills,

يرومُ كريماً يوسعُ البثَّ مسمعاً

ويمسي على اللأواء وهو مُظاهرُ

Through the day he acts with generosity, listening to all requests,

And in the evenings he retires to his private apartments,

فلا منْزلٌ اِلا فِناءُ مُحمَّدٍ

ولا كافلٌ بالجودِ اِلا العُراعِرُ

So that no house remains except as a lodging for Muhammad,

And none rivals him in munificence except for the water-drawers,

مقامٌ يُعيدُ الضرب بالجود حادراً

ويصبح نضو العيس عذافرُ

He resides in a place which he fills with generous gifts over and over,

And rises in the morning with his mouth still sweet from the evening's drink,

فِناءُ سَموحٍ والغَوادي بخيلَةٌ

وحامي حمى من أسلمتهُ العشائرُ

A house of hospitality whose valleys are miserly,

Though its protector is he to whom the tribes have surrendered,

وواقفُ ما تحوي يداه على الندى

يقِرُّ له بالفضل بادٍ وحاضِرُ

He who spends what his hands contain in freshets of generosity

While the remote districts and those present concede his superior merit,

نُمَتْهُ بهاليلُ العُلى ومعاقِل ال

نُّهى والسَّراةُ الماجدون العراعرُ

The glittering stars of the highest firmament determined his destiny,

As did the impregnable heights and mighty warriors of peerless valor,

حوى المجد منهم لا حقٌ بعد سابقٍ

اذا كابرٌ منهم ثوى قامَ كابِرُ

From them he garnered glory – none before him ever merited such acclaim –

That if one of them competed with him, he would retire vanquished,

فجاؤا به غمْرَ السَّجايا كأنَّهُ

على بأسه المرهوب زَوْلٌ مُعاقرُ

They brought him despite the thick squadrons surrounding him

As if by his formidable might he could rout an intoxicated army,

تطيشُ الرواسي حولهُ وهو ثابتٌ

وتكبو السواري وهو في العزم طائرُ

Ramparts topple around him while he remains steadfast,

Citadels crash down yet he is fixed in his resolve to attack,

ويكسِرُ أبْطال الخميسِ وانهُ

لكسرِ مَعاديمِ الرجالِ لَجابِرُ

He crushes the champions of the foe, and he alone

Suffices to crush the forearms of his adversary warriors,

فهُنِّيء شهر الصوم منه بناسكٍ

حليف التُّقى ما أنبت العشب ماطرُ

So welcome this month of fasting whose pious devotion he companions,

As long as the pasturage sprouts greenery from the rain,

تَودُّ القوافي لو جُلينَ بمقولي

واِن أعربتْ عن فضلهنَّ الدفاترُ

If only the verses could disclosure in full concerning him,

And if the prose writings elaborated all his merits,

فتزدادُ حُسْناً بالبيان ولم يزلْ

بحسب قوى الفرسان تجري الضوامر

Then they would gain in eloquence and stylistic grace,

And, as befits the mettle of warriors, the pens would race along,

حببتُكمُ قبل الأيادي وقبلَ ما

همى ليَ رجّافٌ من الجود هامرُ

I loved you before I had experienced your benevolence

And before any importunate man pestered me for gifts,

فكيف وأنتُم لي على الدهر نجدةٌ

أطارِدهُ من بأسكم وأغامِرُ

How not, seeing that you are my unfailing recourse forever

If I dispute with Time, attacking him and gambling on the outcome!