كانت أُحاداً عند غيرك لا ثَنا

هذي الفتوح فصرن عندك ديدَنا

She was unique to others, not two

These conquests have become a tradition with you

لك كل يَّوم صولةٌ فعل الوفا

بالغدر فيما قد أَقرَّ الأَعينا

You have a feat of loyalty every day

With treachery regarding what has soothed the eyes

ووقائعٌ تشفي غليل صدورِنا

فيهم ويذهب ما يغيظ قلوبَنا

And events that quench the heat in our chests

Regarding them, and eliminate what angers our hearts

وغصون سمرك كل حين تجتني

لا كلَّ عام من أسنتها القنا

The branches of your swarthy sword always harvest

Not every year from their tongues, alas

كم أمهلت سطوات سفيك باغياً

رفقا به والبغي بئس المقتنى

How long have you been patient with the tyranny of an unjust transgressor

Out of kindness towards him, yet tyranny is miserable to attain

عفت سطاك فما تلم بمن أسا

حتى يكون الغدر فيها بيّنا

You sheathed your sword, so it did not touch whoever transgressed

Until treachery in them became evident

ولخير ما ظفرَت يداكَ به هوى

جمع الإله الأجر فيه والثنا

And the best your hands have seized out of love

God has combined reward and praise in it

ما كنتَ ممن كلما عرضَ الهوى

أرخى العِنان مخلياً ما أَرسنا

You were not of those whom whenever desire appeared

Loosened the reins, having released what we tied

لكن تحكّم في الهوى رأيُ الحجا

فتصيب ثغرة كل نحر مُثخنا

But the opinion of the reasonable controlled desire

So you would hit the throat of every wounded neck

ولربما أخطا حسامك مضرماً

يوماً وجانف صْدَرُ رِمحكَ مطعنا

And perhaps your burning sword misses

One day, and the chest of your lance misses the stabbed

إمّا ليذكرك الإله بصنعهِ

لك أو ليكسرَ عن عُلاك الأَعينا

Either to remind you of His making

For you, or to remove the haughtiness from your eyes

اخترت واختار الإِله لك الذي

ترضى وما تختار كان الأحسنا

You have chosen, and God has chosen for you that

Which you accept, and what He chooses is best

إنّ السعادةَ كلَّها إِن يعتني

ربُّ السما بالعبدِ هذا الاعتنا

Indeed all good fortune, if the

Lord of the skies takes care of a servant, is this care

فلقد أراك الله ضعفيْ ما أرى

أحبابَه كي تطمئَن وتسكنا

For God has shown you my weakness, which I see

He loves his loved ones so you may be reassured and calm

وإذا أحبُّ الله عبداً لم يزل

يُبدي له الآيات حتى يوقنا

And if God loves a servant, He does not cease

To show him signs until he becomes certain

ماابن الحسام وما الحبيشي مالهم

أبداً وما والله للسرى عنا

What is the son of the sword, and what do they own

Never, by God, are the Sraya among us

هم دون ذا لا عددت اسماؤهم

قدرُ البعوض اقلُّ من أن يوزنا

They are inferior to this, I did not count their names

The worth of insects, less than to be weighed

لكن اراكَ اللهُ من سُلطانِه

ما يجتني من ثمره حلواً الجنى

But God has shown you from His sultanate

What He grows of its sweetest fruits

والآيةُ الكبرى مواليك الذي

هم منك فيما شطَّ عنك ومادنَا

And the greatest sign is your succession

They are part of you, from what branched from you and leaned

أبصرت كيف أدار فيهم حكمهُ

فأضاع كلٌّ عقله وتجننا

I saw how He managed their affairs

So each lost his mind and went mad

ما قدر عباسٍ لهذا كلهِ

هوأَوهم والله ما هم هاهنا

Abbas had no control over any of this

By God they are not here

ما أقعوا في الهلك أنفسهم عمىٍ

لكن قضاء الله غطّى الأعينا

They did not fall into destruction blindly

But God's decree covered the eyes

أعماهم ليبين حلماً واسعاً

لكَ عن جهالتهم وفضلاً بيّنا

He blinded them to show extensive clemency

For you, over their ignorance and clear favor

فأحمد مسيئاً قد أبان محاسِناً

لكَ لم يكن ليبينها لو أحسنا

So thank the wrongdoer who made virtues manifest for you

That would not have appeared had he done good

ولقد رأيتك والصوارم تنتضى

والموت بادٍ قد تسمى واكتنا

And I saw you unsheathe the swords

While death wanders about to be named and hid

وأتيت بالأسرى وفيهم من بغا

جهلاً ومن قد رام أن يتسلطنا

And you brought the captives, among them those who

Ignorantly transgressed and those who sought to rule

وقد استشاظ الغيظ ناراً والأسى

تذكى وجرح شبابه قد اثخنا

Fury blazed into fire, and grief

Kindled, while the wound of its youth bled

والجيشِ مضطربٌ وجأشك ساكنٌ

فيه كمن لاقى حديثاً هينّا

The army is restless while your composure in it

Is like one who has heard simple talk

فنظرتَّ فيهم ثم قلتَ لبعضهم

أَما أبوه فليس يرضى ما جنى

So you looked at them then said to one of them

His father would not be pleased with what he picked

جرمٌ عظيمٌ هان بالحلم الذي

وزن الجبال فكان منها أرسنا

A grave sin made simple by the clemency

That weighed mountains and made them like feathers

ورددت بيضك في الجفون تغاضياً

عنهم وما ظن أمرؤ أَن يحقنا

And you hid your white sword, overlooking

Them, and no man assumed it would be sheathed

وعلمتُ أَن الله ملكك الورى

لتقيل من أخطا وتجزى المحسنا

And I knew that God made you king of the world

To lighten the load of the mistaken and reward the good

فأتيت ما يرضى فلا وجلاله

ما أودع الحسنات فيك لتحزنا

So you did what pleases Him, and by His majesty

He did not place good deeds in you to grieve

أبقيت فيها عنك ذكراً باقياً

ملأ المسامع حمده والألسنا

He kept an eternal memory of you

That filled ears with praise and tongues

يرويه بعدك آخرٌ عن أولٍ

متعجبين ومن نأى عمن دنا

Another will narrate it from the first

Astonished, even those who kept away from who came close

تاريخ فخر ليس يخجل ذكره

أبناء من يبني أبوهم ذا البنا

A history of pride, mentioning it does not embarrass

The children of the one who built this structure

الناصرُ السلطان والملك الذي

يلقي الكماة إِذا تشاجرت القنا

The victorious sultan and king who

Throws back the disputing pens

فيردهم كرهاً على أَعقابهم

رد الغيور المحصنات عن الخنا

Forcing them onto their heels

As the jealous force back the impregnable

بين الملوك وبين أحمد في العلى

فرق كما بين القراءة والغنا

Between kings and Ahmad in the Highest

There is a difference like between reciting and singing

نفسي فداؤك قد خلقت كما تشا

كرماً وأفضالاً وخلقاً ليّنا

My soul is sacrificed for you, you were created

Nobly, graciously, gently

وسطاً تكفكفها وحلماً واسعاً

للمذنبين وعفةً وتدُّينا

Moderation holds it back, and extensive clemency

For the sinful, and chastity and piety

يا رب زده من الذي خولته

واحفظ بصارمه علينا ديننا

Oh Lord, increase what You have given him authority over

And protect our religion with his sharp sword

وانصر به الإِسلام واجعل ملكَهُ

للدين تعظيماً وللدنيا هَنا

And help Islam through him, and make his kingdom

Glorifying religion and worldly tranquility

حتى يحكّم سيف شرعك عدله

في رأس من قال الألوهة جعلنا

Until the sword of Your law rules, his justice

Upon the head of whoever claimed divinity, we made