واعمُرْ بقصرِ المُلْك ناديكَ الذي

أضحى بمجدك بيته معمورا

And inhabit your royal palace, your court which

Has become populated through your glory,

قصرٌ لوَ انَّكَ قد كحلتَ بنوره

أعمى لعادَ إلى المقام بصيرا

A palace which even if you adorned with its light

A blind man, he would return seeing,

واشتقّ من معنى الحياة نسيمه

فيكادُ يُحْدِثُ للعظام نُشورا

And derive from the meaning of life its breeze

Which almost revives bones back to life,

نُسيَ الصبيحُ مع المليح بذكره

وسما ففاقَ خورنقاً وسديرا

Morning forgot, with the beautiful, to mention it

And soared, surpassing peaks and Sadir,

ولوَ اَنَّ بالألوان قوبلَ حسنُهُ

ما كان شيءٌ عنده مذكورا

And if its beauty was faced with colors

Nothing would be mentioned next to it,

أعيت مصانعه على الفُرْسِ الألى

رفعوا البناء وأحكموا التدبيرا

Its manufacturers failed, for the noble horses

They built and perfected management,

ومضَتْ على الرّومْ الدهورُ وما بنوْا

لملوكهم شَبَهاً له ونظيرا

And time passed on Rome, and they did not build

For their kings anything similar or comparable to it,

أذكرْتَنَا الفرْدوْس حينَ أرَيْتَنَا

غُرَفاً رفعتَ بناءَها وقصورا

You reminded us of Paradise when we saw

Chambers you built, erecting its structures,

فالمحسنون تَزَيّدوا أعمالهمْ

وَرَجَوْا بذلك جَنّةً وحريرا

So the benefactors increased their deeds

And hoped through that for Paradise and silk,

والمذنبون هُدوا الصراطَ وَكفّرَتْ

حسناتُهُمْ لذنوبهم تكفيرا

And the sinners were guided to the path - and forgiven

Their sins by its good deeds abundantly,

فَلَكٌ من الأفلاكِ إلّا أنّهُ

حَقَرَ البدورَ فأطلعَ المنصورا

It is a planet, except it disdained

The orbits, so the Mansour appeared,

أبصرتُهُ فرأيتُ أبدعَ منظرٍ

ثم انثنيتُ بناظري محسورا

I saw it and I saw the most amazing view

Then I glanced away, dazzled,

وظننتُ أني حالمٌ في جَنّةٍ

لمّا رأيتُ الملكَ فيه كبيرا

And I thought I was dreaming in a Paradise

When I saw the great king in it,

وإذا الولائدُ فَتّحَتْ أبوابَهُ

جَعَلَتْ ترحّبُ بالعُفاةِ صريرا

And if its gates opened

They would welcome guests with creaking,

عَضّتْ على حلقاتهنّ ضراغمٌ

فَغَرَتْ بها أفواهَها تكسيرا

Biting on their rings, scabbards

Opening their mouths with a crashing,

فكأنّها لَبَدَتْ لتهصرَ عندها

من لم يكنْ بدخوله مأمورا

As if they growled to deter

Anyone not ordered to enter,

تجري الخواطرُ مطلقاتِ أعنةٍ

فيه فتكبو عن مداه قصورا

Thoughts flow, released,

In it, thus exceeding its palaces,

بمرخَّم الساحاتِ تحسبُ أنّهُ

فُرِشَ المَها وتَوَشّحَ الكافورا

With its paved courtyards, you'd think

It was carpeted with silk and sprinkled with camphor,

ومحصَّبٍ بالدرّ تحسبُ تربَهُ

مسكاً تَضَوّعَ نشره وعبيرا

And supported by pearls you'd think its soil

Was musk whose fragrance spread and aroma wafted,

يستخلفُ الإصباحُ منه إذا انقضى

صبحاً على غَسَقِ الظلام منيرا

Morning derives from it, when it's over

A morning illuminating the darkness of night,

وضراغمٌ سَكَنَتْ عرينَ رئاسةٍ

تركتْ خريرَ الماء فيه زئيرا

And scabbards settled in the lair of leadership

Leaving the murmur of water in it growling,

فكأنّما غَشّى النّضارُ جُسومَهَا

وأذابَ في أفواهِها البلّورا

As if liveliness covered their bodies

And melted in their mouths the crystal,

أُسْدٌ كأنّ سكونَها متحرّكٌ

في النفس لو وجدتْ هناك مثيرا

A lion, as if its stillness was moving

In the soul if it found a motivator there,

وتذكّرَتْ فتكاتها فكأنّما

أقعتْ على أدبارها لتثورا

And it recalled its victories, as if

It fell on its heels to revolt,

وتخالُها والشمسُ تجلو لونَها

ناراً وألسُنَها اللواحسَ نورا

You imagine it and the sun revealing its color

Fire and its tongues flames,

فكأنّما سُلّتْ سيوفُ جداولٍ

ذابتْ بلا نارٍ فَعُدْنَ غديرا

As if the swords of streams melted

Without fire, so they became a pond,

وكأنما نسج النسيم لمائه

درعاً فقدر سردها تقديرا

And as if the breeze wove its water

A coat, measuring to detail its shearing,

وبديعةِ الثّمَرَاتِ تعبُرُ نحوها

عينايَ بحرَ عجائبٍ مسجورا

And the amazing fruits pass towards it -

My eyes see a boiling sea of wonders,

شجريةٍ ذهبيةٍ نزعتْ إلى

سحر يؤثّر في النهى تأثيرا

A golden tree, it pulled towards

Magic influencing the forbidden alluringly,

قد صَوْلَجَتْ أغصانَها فكأنّما

قَنَصَتْ لهنّ من الفضاء طيورا

Its branches seemed to have hunted

Birds for them from the sky's expanse,

وكأنّما تأبى لواقع طيرها

أن تستقلّ بنهضها وتطيرا

And as if, defying the landing of its birds

Insisting on straightening up and flying,

من كلّ واقعةٍ ترَى منقارها

ماءً كسلسال اللجين نميرا

From every scene you see its beak

Water like pouring smooth pearls,

خُرْسٌ تُعدّ من الفصَاح فإن شدَتْ

جعلتْ تغرّدُ بالمياه صفيرا

Mutes that count eloquence - if they chirp

They make the water warble with tweeting,

وكأنّما في كلّ غصنٍ فضةٌ

لانتْ فأُرسِلَ خيطها مجرورا

And as if each branch was silver

Which melted, sending its threads trailing,

وتريكَ في الصّهريج موقعَ قَطْرِهَا

فوْقَ الزّبَرْجَدِ لؤلؤاً منثورا

You see in the pond where its drops fall

Above the turquoise scattered pearls,

ضحكتْ محاسنُهُ إليك كأنّما

جُعلتْ لها زُهرُ النجوم ثغورا

Its beautiful features smiled at you as if

The blossoms of stars were made their mouths,

ومصَفَّحِ الأبوابِ تبراً نَظّروا

بالنقش بين شكوله تنظيرا

And the studded doors, the soil glanced

At the carvings amid its corners attentively,

تبدو مساميرُ النضارِ كما عَلَت

فلك النهود من الحسان صدورا

The nails of its decor seem to have risen

Above the celestial orbit of beauty chests,

خَلَعَتْ عليه غلائلاً ورسيَّةً

شمسٌ تردّ الطرفَ عنه حسيرا

It bestowed on it necklaces and bracelets -

A sun whose glance turns away from it dazzled,

وإذا نَظَرْتَ إلى غرائبِ سَقفهِ

أبصرتَ روضاً في السماء نضيرا

And when you look at the wonders of its ceiling

You see a garden in the sky as its peer,

وعجبتَ من خطّافِ عسجده الّتي

حامتْ لتبني في ذراه وكورا

And you wonder at the arcs of its courtyard which

Flew to build peaks into its radius,

وضعتْ به صنّاعُهُ أقلامَها

فأرَتْكَ كلّ طريدةٍ تصويرا

With it, its makers placed their pens

Thus showing you every detailed painting,

وكأنّما للشمس فيه ليقةٌ

مَشَقوا بها التّزْويقَ والتشجيرا

And as if the sun has in it a veil

With which they adorned, beautifying and decorating,

وكَأنّما للأزَوَرْد مُخَرِّمٌ

بالخطّ في وَرَقِ السماءِ سطورا

And as if for turquoise a lined paper

With lines written in the sky's leaves,

وكأنّما وَشّوْا عَلَيه ملاءَةً

تركوا مكان وشاحِها مقصورا

And as if they clad it with a garment

Leaving a place for its train confined,

يا مالكَ الأرض الّذي أضحى له

مَلِكُ السماءِ على العداة نصيرا

O owner of the earth who has become

The king of the sky as a supporter against enemies,

كم من قصورٍ للملوك تَقَدّمَتْ

واستوْجَبَتْ لقصورك التّأخيرا

How many palaces for kings preceded

And your palaces deemed them delayed,

فعمرتها وَملَكتَ كلّ رئاسةٍ

منها ودمّرْتَ العدا تدميرا

You built them and you owned every leadership

From them and destroyed enemies entirely,