يا مليكاً به الملوك أطافوا

بُت معافاً تحفّك الألطافُ

O king around whom other kings have gathered,

May you remain in health, encircled by gracious favors.

للمنى أينَ ما أقمتَ مقامٌ

وله أينَ ما انصرفتَ انصرافُ

Wherever you abide, hopes find a dwelling;

and wherever you turn, they turn with you.

غير بدعٍ بأن تُخافَ وتُرجى

سيِّدُ القومِ يُرتجى ويُخافُ

It is no wonder that you are both feared and hoped in:

the people’s lord is both hoped in and feared.

أيُّ أرضٍ حللتها فهي روضٌ

لأُنوف الملوك فيه استيافُ

Whatever land you settle becomes a garden,

for there the king has made himself its guest.

يا نقيب الأشراف وهو نداءٌ

لك تعلو بذكره الأشرافُ

O Naqib of the Ashraf!—a title

at whose mention the Ashraf rise in honor.

نفحتْ منهم بنشرٍ ولكن

من غوالي فخاركَ الأعطافُ

A fragrance wafted from them; and yet

your very robes are among glory’s rarest perfumes.

بك طابوا ويكسبُ الماء طيباً

حين يغدو للورد وهو مضافُ

Through you they grew fragrant; even water gains fragrance

when it goes as a guest to the roses.

افرش الله أخمصيكَ خدوداً

من عداً عنك قد زواها انحرافُ

Carpet the soles of your feet with the cheeks of the base—

enemies whom their turning from you has bent aside.

ضلَّ مَن فيك قاسها حيث منها

لم تنلْ كعب رجلكَ الأكتافُ

Let whoever bears them spite measure their stature against yours:

their shoulders cannot reach even the heel of your foot.

فطأ اليوم أينما شئتَ فخراً

رغمتْ تحتَ نعلكَ الآنافُ

Stride proudly today wherever you please:

beneath your sandal, noses lie humbled.

لكَ وجهٌ لو باهلَ الشمس يوماً

لعرا وجهها المنيرَ انكسافُ

Yours is a face that, if it challenged the sun one day,

an eclipse would overtake her radiant face.

شفَّ توديعك الورى حين قالوا

مزمعٌ جوهر العُلى الشفافُ

Your farewell left all creation wasting away when they said,

“The limpid jewel of loftiness is resolved to depart.”

ودَّعتْ منكَ منصفاً فهي تدعو

سرْ على اليُمنِ أنت والإِنصافُ

In you the world bids farewell to one just, and so it prays:

“Go forth auspiciously—you and justice together.”

لا تسلْ عن قلوبنا فلعمري

كلّها في غدٍ إليك لهافُ

Do not ask about our hearts; by my life,

tomorrow they will all be yearning after you.

كلَّما جدَّ في ركابكَ سيرٌ

جدَّ للاشتياقِ فيها اعتسافُ

Whenever the pace of your caravan grows more determined,

longing’s cruelty toward them grows more severe.

بوركتْ نيةٌ دعتكَ لبيتٍ

لعلاه آباك قدماً أنافوا

Blessed is the intention that summoned you to a House

to whose height your forefathers rose long ago.

ستؤدِّي فرضَ الطواف وتأتي

لحمًى فيه للسرورِ مطافُ

You will perform the prescribed circumambulation and come

to the sanctuary, where joy itself makes its rounds.

ثمَّ أُهدي إليكَ تحفةَ بشرٍ

ما حوتْ مثلَ درِّها الأصدافُ

Then I offer you a gift of glad tidings,

the like of whose pearl no shell has ever held,

في تهانٍ لها إليك اختلافٌ

وسعودٍ لها عليكَ ائتلافُ

in congratulations that return to you again and again,

and felicities that remain in harmony with you—

كرياض الربيع تونق زهراً

راق للناظرين منها اقتطافُ

like spring gardens, splendid in bloom,

whose blossoms delight the eyes that pluck them.