فرض على الشعر أن يبدا بما يجب

من الهناء الذي وافى له رجب

Poetry is obliged to begin with the praise

That reached him in the month of Rajab

وأن تنافسه الأيام منزلة

كل المواسم ترجوها وترتقب

And let the days compete in status

Like all the seasons wish and await

فاسعد به ألف عام واقتبل عمراً

تملا حقائبهما من ذكره الحقب

So congratulate him a thousand years and welcome an age

Whose bags are filled with the mention of epochs

فإنما الدين والدنيا وأهلهما

رحى وأنت إذا دارت لها القطب

Indeed, religion and world and its people

Are a mill, and when its axis turns for it the poles

بالعاضد اشتد عضد الحق وامتسكت

عرى الهدى وهو في إمساكها السبب

With the supporter, the truth's forearm was strengthened

And the reins of guidance, and he is the reason for its holding

خليفة لو تراخى عقد بيعته

لسابقتنا إليها السبعة الشهب

The Caliph, if his allegiance loosened

The seven stars would have preceded us to it

تدارك الله شمل المؤمنين به

في حيث كادت عصا الإيمان تتشعب

God salvaged the unity of the believers through him

Where the rod of faith almost branched out

وألف الله شتات القلوب على ولائه

فهي عنه ليس تنقلب

And God united the hearts' disunity over his loyalty

So they do not turn away from him

عمت رعايته أقصى رعيته

حتى استوى نازح فيها ومقترب

His care spread to the furthest of his subjects

Until the emigrant among them became equal to the neighbor

وأصبح الناس إخواناً بنعمته

كأن نعمته أم لهم وأب

And people became brothers by his blessing

As if his blessing was their mother and father

قرت عيون الليالي من خلافته

بمن أقر حشاها وهي تضطرب

The eyes of the nights settled from his caliphate

With the one who settled them while they were disturbed

أغر تشهد لي أنوار غرته

بصدق ما أودعت من ذكره الكتب

Witness for me the lights of his virtue

With the truth I deposited in the mention of books

إذا رأته عيون الأمة استبقت

إلى السجود له الأذقان والركب

When the eyes of the nation see him they race

To the prostration to him the chins and the knees

لا تنظرن مجازاً حين ترمقه

فللحقيقة سر عنك محتجب

Do not look figuratively when you glance upon him

For the reality has a secret from you concealed

وكعبة الله لولا قدرها حجر

ومندل الهند لولا عرفه حطب

And the Kaaba of God, were it not for its sanctity a stone

And the Indian fabric, were it not for its tailoring, firewood

من دوحة المصطفى الهادي التي كرمت

فيها المنابت والأغصان والشعب

From the orchard of the Guiding Mustafa which honored

In it the shoots, and the branches, and the cliffs

أحييتم ذكره فيها وسنته

ولم يمت سلف أنتم له عقب

You revived his mention in it and his way

And no ancestor died without you as descendants

يهدى بكم كل جيل تطلعون به

كأنكم في سماوات العلى الشهب

You guide with it every generation you rise in

As if you are in the heavens of the Most High, the stars

مازال منصبكم هذا يقوم به

من نسلكم قائم في الله محتسب

Your position here continues to be held

By your progeny established in God, seeking reward

يا طالب الشرف الأقصى ولو عدمت

بنو أبي طالب ما أنجح الطلب

O seeker of the highest honor, even if

The clan of Abu Talib ceased to be, the seeking would not be fruitful

لا تخدعن فإن القوم اشرف من

يسمو به المجد أو تعلو به الرتب

Do not be fooled, for the people are nobler than

That glory makes them high or positions raise them

ما الأجر والفخر إلا في محبتهم

فلا يتم عليك الزور والكذب

Merit and pride are only in loving them

So lies and falsehood do not become complete upon you

لولا اتباع قريش دين جدهم

طوعاً وكرهاً لما دانت لها العرب

Were it not for Quraish following the religion of their grandfather

Willingly and unwillingly, the Arabs would not have submitted to it

وليت أن نفوس الناس إذ قعدت

عن القيام بنعماهم بما يجب

I wish the souls of the people, when they desisted

From standing with their favors as deserved

تجنبتهم بسجليها متاركة

فلا نصيب أنالتهم ولانصب

Avoided them, leaving their register

Attaining no share of them or position

ولو تولت بنو رزيك نصرتهم

في سالف الدهر ما نابتهم النوب

Had the clan of Udhra aided them

In bygone days, regrets would not have afflicted them

المضمرون من الإخلاص ما عجزت

عن حل عقدته الأوهام والريب

Those sincere in loyalty, no illusions or doubts

Failed to undo its knot

خضارم تنزل الأرزاق إن نزلوا

أرضاً وتركبها الآجال إن ركبوا

Swords, sustenance descends if they descend

A land, and lifespans embark them if they embark

صيد يقوم مقام الألف واحدهم

غلب إذا وقفوا في حيز غلبوا

Game that takes the place of a thousand, and one of them

Overcomes if they stand in the space of victory

أندى الملوك وجوهاً غير أنهم

ترضى المواضي بأيدهم إذا غضبوا

More radiant faced than kings, except that they

Please the meadows if they get angry

لا تنكر الدولة الغراء إذ كسرت

كسر الزجاج ما من كسرها شعبوا

Do not deny the outstanding state when it broke

Like breaking glass—from its breaking they did not shatter

هم قواعدها السفلى وذروتها ال

عليا وأوتادها المرساة والطنب

They are its lower pillars and its highest summit

And its anchored pegs and tent poles

إن فاتهم حرب صفين فقد بلغوا

في مصر من نصركم أضعاف ما طلبوا

If the Battle of Siffin escaped them, then they reached

In your victory in Egypt multiples of what they sought

ثاروا لثأر أبي المنصور فانكشفت

بكاشف الغمة الأهوال والكرب

They rose to avenge Abu al-Mansur so the horrors and sorrows

Were exposed by the revelator of gloom

الصالح المبتغى من صهركم نسباً

بعصمة وهو في دين الهدى سبب

The righteous aspiration from your in-law

In lineage, in the religion of guidance a cause

وكل حبل ولاء لا يناط إلى

ولائكم فهو عند الله منقضب

And every pact of loyalty not tied

To your loyalty is ruined with God

إنا إلى الله في الدنيا على مهج

لها مصير إلى الأخرى ومنقلب

We in the world are inclined on passions

Whose destiny is the next and the return

شكت فراق أبي الغارات أربعة

الملك والنسك والمعروف والأدب

The absence of the father of raids was lamented

By the kingdom, creed, benevolence, and propriety

في مثل ذا اليوم إجلالاً وتهنئة

كانت تزف له الأشعار والخطب

On the like of this day, honoring and congratulating

Poems and sermons used to be presented to him

فنافستا المنايا منه في ملك

لنفسه في سبيل الله يحتسب

So the fates competed with him over a kingdom

For himself, in God's way a martyr

مضى وأعقب من ذخر الأئمة من

يزهو به الأشرفان المجد والحسب

He passed away, leaving as treasure from the imams someone

Who gleams with the two nobles, glory and lineage

متوج ناب فينا بعد والده

نيابة البحر لما غابت السحب

Crowned, shining among us after his father

Acting for the sea when the clouds are absent

فكل معتصب بالتاج غير أبي ال

شجاع فهو لهذا الحق مغتصب

For anyone who assumes the crown other than Abu

Al-Shaja’ is a usurper of this right

وهل أحق بصدر الدست من ملك

له من الملك موروث ومكتسب

And who is more deserving to hold power than a king

Whose kingdom is inherited and gained?

عالي المحلين من مجد ومن همم

أذياله فوق وجه السحب تنسحب

Lofty in two abodes of glory and resolve

His train above the face of the clouds draws

لا يستوي وملوك الأرض في شرف

إلا كما يتساوى الجد واللعب

He is not equal with the kings of earth in nobility

Except as equals the serious and the play

يبدو تحجبه عنا مهابته

فوجهه الطلق باد وهو محتجب

His veiling from us shows his awe

His cheerful face shines though he is veiled

ما أن تبسم عنه وجه مجلسه

فقام إلا وفي ثغر الندى شنب

No sooner does his council’s face smile

Than it stands with dew in the mouth of pleasure

ولا غزونا أياديه بمسألة

إلا سلبناه ما يقنى القنا السلب

And we never asked his hands for something

Except we deprived him what would please a palm thief

تهل نعمته طوراً ونقمته

من راحة شأنها الإعطاء والعطب

His favor comes in phases, and his wrath

From the comfort of his condition is giving and withholding

في كل حبة قلب من محبته

عقيدة باعثاها الرعب والرغب

In every heart seed from love of him

A conviction aroused by awe and longing

قد استرقت قلوب العالمين له

مهابة يتلافاها بما يهب

He has captivated the hearts of both worlds

With awe tempered by what he gives

وراحة لم تزل تهمي ندى وردى

مثل الغمامة فيها الماء واللهب

And comfort that did not cease to whisper cool moisture

Like a cloud in it water and flame

لا يعدمنك أمير المؤمنين فما

في نفسه غير أن تبقى له أرب

Do not lack, O Commander of the Faithful, for what

In yourself other than that you remain for him a shelter

لأنه مقلة الدنيا وناظرها

وأنت حاجبها والجفن والهدب

Because he is the caretaker of the world and its observer

While you are its chamberlain, the eyelid and the eyebrow