فَدَيْنَاكَ سَيْفاً لَمْ تَخُنْهُ مَضَارِبُهْ

وبحرَ عَطَاءٍ مَا تَغِيضُ مواهِبُهْ

We ransomed you with a sword whose strikes never failed,

And an ocean of generosity whose gifts never ebbed,

وبدراً تجَلَّى فِي سماءٍ رياسةٍ

كواكبُها آثارُهُ وَمَنَاقِبُهْ

And a full moon that shone in a leadership sky,

Its stars are its traces and virtues.

تقلَّدَ سيفَ اللهِ وَالتَحَفَ النَّدى

فَسَدَّدَ رَاجيهِ وَأعْذَرَ هائِبُهْ

You took up the sword of Allah and donned the dew,

Securing those who hoped in you and excusing those who fled from you.

فها هو ذا في كلِّ قلبٍ ممثَّلٌ

وهاتيك عند الفرقدين مراتبُهْ

So here he is, embodied in every heart,

And there his ranks are at the two lofty abodes.

فَمَا عَرَّجَتْ عنه سبيلٌ لِطَالِبٍ

ولا رَحُبَتْ أرضٌ بِمَنْ هو طَالِبُهْ

No path has swerved from it for one who seeks it,

Nor has any land been spacious for one who seeks it.

خلائِقُ مِنْ مَاءِ الحياةِ وطَالَمَا

يَغَصُّ بِهِ يوم الكريهةِ شارِبُهْ

Creatures are from the water of life, and it often

Chokes on a day of hatred its drinker.

أَمُلْبِسَنَا النُّعْمى أَلاَ رُبَّ مَلْبَسٍ

سَنِيٍّ وتاجٍ لِلْعُلا أَنت سَالِبُهْ

Shall we be clothed in bliss? Nay, many a garment,

Aged crown for the eminent, you have stripped.

وَلَيْلٍ كريعانِ الشباب قَذَفْتَهُ

بِهَوْلِ السُّرى حَتَّى أُشِيبَتْ ذَوَائِبُهْ

And a night, like the prime of youth, you have cast

Into the tumult of fates, until its pleasures have grayed.

وَصَلْتَ بِهِ يوماً أَغَرَّ صَحِبْتَهُ

غُلاماً إِلَى أَنْ طَرَّ باللَّيْلِ شَارِبُهْ

And you have linked him one day, seducing his company

As a lad, until his drinking mate roams at night.

بِكُلِّ مُذَلٍّ كَرَّمَتْهُ جُدُودُهُ

وَكُلِّ كمِيٍّ أَحْكَمَتْهُ تَجَارِبُهْ

With every disgrace his ancestors have honored him

And every paucity has proven his experiences.

وَعَضْبٍ يَمَانٍ قَدْ تَعَرَّفْتَ يُمْنَهُ

وإِنْ يَنْتَسِبْ تَعْطِفْ عَلَيْكَ مَنَاسِبُهْ

And Yemeni ginger you have recognized its right

Even if its claimant appeals to you as a relative.

وسُمْرٍ لِدَانٍ كالكواكب سُقْتَهَا

ليومٍ من الأَعداءِ بَادٍ كَواكِبُهْ

And stallions for mares you have led them

As stars for a day with the enemies wandering astray.

صليتَ ونارُ الحربِ يَذْكُو سَعِيرُهَا

وَخَضْتَ وَمَوْجُ الموتِ تَطْفُو غَوَارِبُهْ

You have prayed and the fire of war kindles its blaze

And you have plunged while the wave of death foams its ships.

ولا مثلَ يومٍ نحو لُونَةَ سِرْتَهُ

وقد قَنَّعَت شَمْسَ النهارِ غَيَاهِبُهْ

And there is no day like the day of Lunah you have famed,

When the sun of day has masked its clouds.

رَفَعْتَ لَهَا فِي عارِضِ النَّقْعِ بَارِقاً

تَسِحُّ شآبيبَ المنايا سَحَائِبُهْ

You have raised for it in the cheek of firmness a flashing

Whose drippings wipe away the clouds of death.

وَعَذْرَاءَ لَمْ يأَتِ الزمانُ بِكُفْئِهَا

ولا رامها بَعْلٌ وإِنْ عَزَّ جانِبُهْ

And a maiden time has not brought her equal

Nor has a husband coveted her, though her aspect is dear.

معوَّذةٍ لَمْ يَسْرِ خطبٌ بِأَرْضِهَا

ولا عَرَفَتْ بالدَّهْرِ كَيْفَ نوائِبُهْ

Protected, no suitors have asked for her land

Nor has she known through time how his calamities twist and turn.

ثَوَتْ بَيْنَ أَحْشَاءِ الضَّلالِ وَأُشْرِعتْ

أَسِنَّتُهُ مِنْ دُونِهَا وَقَواضِبُهْ

She has set firm between the entrails of misguidance

And its tongues, apart from her, chatter and prate.

وأَصْبَحْتَ يَا عبد المليكِ مَليكَهَا

وَأَنْجَحَ سَاعٍ جَاءَ والسَّيفُ خاطِبُهْ

And you have become, O servant of King al-Mu'ayyad her king,

And most successful of men came asking her hand in marriage with sword as matchmaker.

وَسُقْتَ لَهَا صِدْقَ اللقاءِ مُعَجَّلاً

صَدَاقاً إِذَا مَا هَلْهَلَ الضَّرْبَ كاذِبُهْ

And you have presented to her the truth of meeting hastily

As a dowry if the striking of the blades speaks falsely.

وجيشٍ أَضاءَ الخافِقَيْنِ رِمَاحُهُ

وفاضت عَلَى رَحْبِ البِلادِ كتائِبُهْ

And an army whose spears have illuminated the horizons

And its battalions have overflowed the land in width.

وقد ضَمَّهَا فِي نَفْنَفِ الجوِّ مَعْقِلٌ

عَسِيرٌ عَلَى عُصْمِ الوُعُولِ مَرَاقِبُهْ

And it has fortified her in the blowing wind's stronghold,

Impregnable to the eyes of spies are its watchers.

بَعَثْتَ عليها منكَ دَعْوَةَ واثقٍ

صَفَا شاهِدُ الإِخْلاصِ منه وغَائِبُهْ

You have sent to it from you the call of the confident,

Pure in loyalty to him present and absent.

فسَرْعَانَ مَا أَقْوى الشّرى من أُسودِهِ

وأُبرِزَ من حُرِّ الحِجَالِ كواعِبُهْ

So swiftly the fairest of them brought out its lions,

And the freest of them released from the heat of battle its beauties.

ثَلاثَةُ آلافٍ حِسَاباً وَمِثْلُهَا

وَقَدْ غَلَّ عَازِيهِ وأَسَأَرَ حَاسِبُهْ

Three thousand in number and the like of them

When companies retreat and the counter flees.

فيا لَيْتَ قُوطاً حين شادَ بِناءَهُ

رآه وَقَدْ خَرَّتْ إِلَيْكَ جَوانِبُهْ

Would that Qutuz had seen when he built his structure,

Its sides have crumbled before you.

ويا ليت إِذْ سَمَّاهُ بَدْراً مُعَظَّماً

رآه وَفِي كِسْفِ العَجَاجِ مَغَارِبُهْ

Would that when he named it Badr, revered,

He had seen it and in the darkness of dust its setting.

فَيَعْلَمَ أَن الحقَّ دَافِعُ كَيْدِهِ

وَأَنَّكَ حِزْبَ اللهِ لا شَكَّ غَالِبُهْ

He would know that truth repels his plot,

And you are God's party; no doubt you are its victor.

فلا خُذِلَ الدِّينُ الَّذِي أَنت سَيْفُهُ

ولا أَوْحَشَ المُلْكُ الَّذِي أَنت حَاجِبُهْ

So neither has the religion you are its sword been abandoned,

Nor the kingdom you are its chamberlain been frightened.