إِلَيكَ مِنَ الصَمّانِ وَالرَملِ أَقبَلَت

تَخِبُّ وَتَخدي مِن بَعيدٍ سَباسِبُه

From the radiant sands and the yellow dunes she came to you,

Swaying gently, her trailing robes billowing in the distance,

وَكائِن وَصَلنا لَيلَةً بِنَهارِها

إِلَيكَ كِلا عَصرَيهِما أَنا دائِبُه

And we met one day and night when together they merged,

To you through both their times I made my steady way.

لِنَلقاكَ وَاللاقيكَ يَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ

إِلى خَيرِ أَهلِ الأَرضِ تُحدى رَكائِبُه

That I might meet you, and the one who meets you knows

He goes to meet the best of all the people of the earth.

أَقولُ لَها إِذ هَرَّتِ الأَرضُ وَاِشتَكَت

حِجارَةَ صَوّانٍ تَذوبُ صَياهِبُه

I say to her when the ground quaked and complained,

The rocks of Sawaan will melt, their edges crumbling away.

فَإِنَّ هِشاماً إِن تُلاقيهِ سالِماً

تَكوني كَمَن بِالغَيثِ يَنصُرُ جانِبُه

For Hisham, if you meet him safe and well,

You will be as one helped in battle by the rain on his side.

لِتَأتِيَ خَيرَ الناسِ وَالمَلِكِ الَّذي

لَهُ كُلُّ ضَوءٍ تَضمَحِلُّ كَواكِبُه

That you may come to the best of men and the king whose

Light dims the shining stars however bright they shine.

تَرى الوَحشَ تَستَحيِيهِ وَالأَرضَ إِذ غَدا

لَهُ مُشرِقاً شَرقِيُّهُ وَمَغارِبُه

You see the wild beasts abashed before him, and the earth

Rising in the east for him, setting in the west for him.

فُراتُ هِشامٍ وَالوَليدُ يَمُدُّهُ

لِآلِ أَبي العاصي فُراتٌ يُغالِبُه

Hisham’s Euphrates, and al-Walid who helps him

Against the clan of Abu l-‘Aasi, a Euphrates defeating him.

عَلَيكَ كِلا مَوجَيهِما لَكَ يَلتَقي

عُبابُهُما في مُزبِدٍ لَكَ ثائِبُه

Upon you both their waves meet and break;

The foam of both flows to you, ever returning.

إِذا اِجتَمَعا في راحَتَيكَ كِلاهُما

دُوَينَ كُبَيداتِ السَماءِ غَوارِبُه

When both are gathered in the palm of your hand

The Pleiades of the sky have lost their glittering stars.

وَمِن أَينَ أَخشى الفَقرَ بَعدِ الَّذي اِلتَقى

بِكَفَّيكَ مِن مَعروفِ ما أَنا طالِبُه

And whence should I fear poverty, after my hands

Have met with your freely-given gifts sought from you?

فَإِنَّ ذُنوباً مِن سِجالِكَ مالِىءٌ

حِياضي فَأَفرِغ لي ذُنوباً أُناهِبُه

For fields of your registering favours brim over with sins;

Empty them out for me, that I may glean them!

أُناهِبُهُ الأَدنَينَ وَالأَبعَدَ الَّذي

أَتاكَ بِهِ مِن أَبعَدِ الأَرضِ جالِبُه

Glean them, the nearest and farthest, brought to you

By him who came to you from the most distant of lands.

وَما مِنهُما إِلّا يَرى أَنَّ حَقَّهُ

عَلَيكَ لَهُ يا اِبنَ الخَلايِفِ واجِبُه

And neither of them sees that his right upon you

Is binding, O son of Caliphs, his obligation upon you.

أَبى اللَهُ إِلّا نَصرَكُم بِجُنودِهِ

وَلَيسَ بِمَغلوبٍ مِنَ اللَهِ صاحِبُه

God willed only to help you with His soldiers,

And he whose friend is God is not overcome.

وَكائِن إِلَيكُم قادَ مِن رَأسِ فِتنَةٍ

جُنوداً وَأَمثالُ الجِبالِ كَتائِبُه

And ever unto you from the head of sedition came armies

With warriors, and battalions like mountains in numbers,

فَمِنهُنَّ أَيّامٌ بِصِفّينَ قَد مَضَت

وَبِالمَرجِ وَالضَحّاكُ تَجري مَقانِبُه

Among them days gone by at Siffin, and at Marj,

The Day of Arbitration, its evil consequences still flow.

سَما لَهُما مَروانُ حَتّى أَراهُما

حِياضَ مَنايا المَوتِ حُمراً مَشارِبُه

High were their waters for them until Marwan showed them

The cisterns of death red with blood for their drinking.

فَما قامَ بَعدَ الدارِ قَوّادُ فِتنَةٍ

لِيُشعِلَها إِلّا وَمُروانُ ضارِبُه

Ever since the abode was left masterless by the mischief-stirrer,

Marwan was the kindler of its flames and its striker.

أَبى اللَهُ إِلّا أَنَّ مُلكَكُمُ الَّذي

بِهِ ثَبَتَ الدينُ الشَديدُ نَصائِبُه

God willed that your kingdom which made strong

The resolute religion should have for itself battle days.