سَلامٌ عَلى السَيِّدِ المُجتَبى

كَقَطرِ الغمام وَنَشرِ الكَبا

Greetings to the Chosen Master

Peace be upon the chosen Master,

Like drops of cloud rain and spread of dusk

Copious as rain from the clouds and the wafting of incense.

وَيا مَرحَباً بِأَميرِ السَلامِ

وَقَلَّ لَهُ قَولُنا مَرحَبا

And welcome O Prince of Peace

And welcome, indeed, to the Prince of Peace,

Our words bid him welcome

Though our saying "Welcome" is far too little for him.

قُدومُكَ بَدَّدَ عَنّا الأَسى

كَما يَكشِفُ القَمَرُ الغَيهَبا

Your arrival has dispelled our sorrows

Your arrival has dispelled sorrow from us,

As the moon unveils the horizon

Just as the moon unveils the pitch-black night.

وَأَحيا المُنى في فُؤادِ الفَتى

وَرَدَّ إِلى الشَيخِ عَهدَ الصِبى

And revived desires in the heart of the young man

It revived hopes within the heart of the youth,

And returned to the elder days of youth

And restored the days of boyhood to the elder.

كَأَنّي بِأَيّارَ خَيرَ الشُهورِ

أَتاهُ البَشيرُ بِذاكَ النَبا

As if the harbinger of the best of months

It is as if May, the finest of months,

Brought him that good news

Has received the herald bearing this news,

فَوَشّى الرِياض وَحَلّى الحُقولَ

وَزانَ الوِهاد وَزانَ الرُبى

So he adorned the gardens and sweetened the fields

So it embroidered the gardens and adorned the fields,

And the valleys became lush and the meadows fertile

And beautified the lowlands and the hills alike.

وَقالَ لِأَغصانِهِ صَفِّقي

وَلِلطَيرِ في الأَرضِ أَن تَخطُبا

And he said to its branches clap

And it told its branches to clap in joy,

And to the birds on earth sing lyrics

And the birds upon the earth to sing their orations,

وَلِلنَسَماتِ تَجوبُ البِلادَ

وَتَملَءُها أَرَجاً طَيِّبا

And to the breezes roaming the countries

And the breezes to traverse the lands,

And filling them with fragrant scent

Filling them with a pleasant fragrance.

وَرَنَّت بِأُذني أَغاريدُها

فَقُلتُ لِكَفِّيَ أَن تَكتُبا

And their tunes rang in my ears

Their songs rang clearly in my ears,

So I told my palm to write

So I commanded my hand to write.

فَهَذا القَريضُ حَفيفُ الغُصونِ

وَشَدوُ الطُيور وَنَفحُ الصِبا

This is the rhyme of swaying branches

For this poetry is but the rustling of boughs,

And singing of birds and blow of youth

The chanting of birds, and the breath of the zephyr.

طَلَعتَ نَطالَ حُقوقُ الفُؤادِ

كَأَنَّ بِهِ هِزَّةَ الكَهرَبا

You have risen, hopes of my heart emerged

You appeared, and the heart claimed its rights,

As if shaken by electric current

As if struck by a tremor of electricity.

وَلَيسَ بِهِ هِزَّةُ الكَهرُباءِ

وَلَكِن رَأى التائِهُ الكَوكَبا

Yet not shaken by electricity

Yet it is not an electric shock within it,

But the lost has seen the star

But rather, the wanderer has sighted the guiding star.

وَأَلقَت إِلَيكَ مَقاليدَها

نُفوسٌ تَخَيَّرَتِ الأَنسُبا

And handed you their reins

And souls have cast their reins to you,

Souls who chose the finest lineage

Souls that have chosen the most noble lineage.

فَيا صاحِبَ الشِيَمِ الباهِراتِ

وَيا مَن تُحِلُّ لَدَيهِ الحُبا

O you of brilliant morals

O possessor of dazzling virtues,

O you in whose presence love is befitting

O you in whose presence knots are unraveled,

تَقَوَّلَ عَنكَ صِغارُ النُفوسِ

لِأَمرٍ فَما أَدرَكوا مَأرَبا

The small-minded spoke ill of you

Small-minded souls have spread falsehoods about you,

For something they never fathomed

For some hidden end, yet they attained no goal.

وَمَن يَسلُبُ الشَمسَ أَنوارَهصا

وَمَن ذا الَّذي يُمسِكُ الصَيِّبا

Who can rob the sun of its lights

For who can rob the sun of its radiance?

And who can restrain the downpour

And who is the one that can hold back the pouring rain?

فَأَحسِن إِلَيهِم وَإِن أَخطَأوا

وَكُن كَالحَيا يُمطِرُ السَبسَبا

So be good to them even if they erred

So be kind to them, even if they have erred,

Be like the serpent that pours heavy rain

And be like the rain that showers the barren desert.

إِذا لَم تُسامِح وَأَنتَ الكَريمُ

فَمَن ذا الَّذي يَرحَمُ المُذنِبا

If you don’t forgive when you are so noble

If you do not forgive—you, the generous one—

Then who will have mercy on the sinner

Who then will have mercy upon the sinner?

لَقَد طَرِبَ التاج وَالصَولَجانُ

وَحُقَّ لِهَذَينِ أَن يَطرَبا

The crown and scepter have been stirred

The Crown and the Scepter have thrilled with joy,

And rightly so they are elated

And it is fitting for them both to rejoice.

فَإِن هَنَّأوكَ بِما نِلتَهُ

فَإِنّي أُهَنّي بِكَ المَنصِبا

So if they congratulate you on what you obtained

So if they congratulate you on what you have achieved,

Then I congratulate you on this position

Then I congratulate the high office for having you.