هذا ابتداءٌ له عند العُلى خَبَرُ

يُحْكَى فيُصْغي إليْه الشُّهْبُ والبشَرُ

This is a beginning for Him in the Heights there is news

It is recounted so the shooting stars and mankind listen

كأنّه وهو من مَتْنِ الصّبا مَثَلٌ

من كلّ قُطْرٍ منَ الدنْيا له خَبَرُ

As though it, while it is from the essence of youth, is an example

From every region of the world, for Him there is news

ما اسْتُحْسنَ الدَّهرُ حَتَّى زانه حَسَنُ

وأشرقت في الورى أيامُهُ الغررُ

The days have not been beautiful until His beauty adorned it

And its splendid days shone in the lands

شهمٌ له حينَ يَرمي في مناضلةٍ

سهمٌ مواقعه الأحداقُ والثغرُ

He is valiant when He charges into battle

His arrows strike the pupils and lips

لو خُصَّ عَصْرُ شبابٍ مِنْ سعادته

بلحظةٍ لم يَنَلْهُ الشيبُ والكبرُ

If the prime of His youth were to be distinguished

By a glance, old age and senility would not reach Him

مُلْكٌ جديدُ المعالي في حمى ملك

ماضٍ كما طُبِعَ الصمصامة الذكرُ

A fresh kingdom in the protected realm of a

Past king, just as the musk's scent endures

لَقَد نَهَضتَ بِعِبءِ الملكِ مُضطلعاً

به ظهيراكَ فيه السّعْدُ والقدرُ

Indeed you have embarked on the burden of kingship

With your back to it, in it are fortune and destiny

فإن نُصِرْتَ على طاغٍ ظفرتَ به

فما حليفاك إلا النصر والظفرُ

If you defeat a tyrant you will be victorious over him

For your allies are only triumph and conquest

وإن خَفَضْتَ عُداةَ اللّه أو خُذلوا

فأنْتَ باللّهِ تستعلي وتنتصرُ

And if you subdue the enemies of God or they are abandoned

Then you by God rise up and gain victory

أصبحتَ أكبرَ تُعْطي كلّ مرتبةٍ

حقّاً وسنّكَ مقرُونٌ بها الصغرُ

You have become the greatest giver, conferring each rank

Rightfully though your years are still few

يُخْشَى حُسَامُكَ مغموداً فكيف إذا

ما سُلّ للضرب وانهدّتْ به القَصَرُ

Your sheathed sword is feared so how would it be if

It were unsheathed for striking, and the palaces collapsed

وليس يعجبُ من بأس مخايله

من مقلتيكَ عليها يشهد النظرُ

Nor is the might of its slashes surprising

From your eyes that behold it the sight attests

والشبلُ فيه طباعُ الليثِ كامنةٌ

وإنّما ينتضيها النّاب والظفرُ

The cub contains the innate traits of the lion

It only needs the fangs and claws to display them

إنّ البِلادَ إذا ما الخوْفُ أمْرَضَها

ففي أمانك من أمراضها نُشرُ

Verily when fear makes the lands ill

In your safety from its illnesses lies a cure

وما سفاقسُ إلا بَلْدَةٌ بعثَتْ

إليك عنها لسانَ الصدق تعتذرُ

The people of Sfax are but a town that sent

To you a truthful tongue making excuses

وأهلها أهلُ طَوْعٍ لا ذنوبَ لهم

إنِّي لأُقسم ما خانوا وما غَدروا

And its people are obedient, no sins to them

I swear they were neither traitorous nor betrayers

وإنّما دافعوا عن حتف أنفسهم

إذ خَذّمَتْهُمْ به الهنديّةُ البترُ

But they defended themselves from certain death

When the warships attacked and maimed them

ضرورةٌ كان منهم ما به قُرفوا

وبالضرورةَ عنهم نَكّبَ الضررُ

Dire need made them do what was held against them

And necessity drove harm away from them

وَقَد جَرى في الَّذي جاؤوا به قَدَرٌ

ولا مَرَدّ لما يجري به القَدَرُ

What they came to pass was preordained

And none can stop what destiny decrees

وما على النَّاسِ في إِحسانِ مملكةٍ

إذا تشاجرَ فيه المدّ والحَسَرُ

It is not for people when praising a kingdom

If rivalry of extension and limitation arises within it

كُلٌّ لِعَلياكَ قد كانَت حَمِيَّتُهُ

مؤكِّداً كلّ ما يأتي وما يَذرُ

Each one's zeal for you was surely

Emphasizing all that comes and goes

وهم عبيدُكَ فاصفحْ عن جميعهمُ

فالذنْبُ عند كريم الصفح مُغْتَفَرُ

They are your servants so pardon them all

For with the noble, a fault pardoned is forgiven

بَكَوْا أباك بأجفانٍ مؤَرَّقة

أمْوَاهُهُنّ مِنَ النيرانِ تَنفجرُ

They wept for your father with distressed eyelids

Their tears from the fires bursting forth

وَرَحمَةُ اللَّه تَترى منهُمُ أَبداً

عَلَيهِ ما كَرّتِ الآصالُ والبُكَرُ

And God's mercy upon them forever

As the nights and dawns alternated

حَتَّى إِذا قيلَ قد حازَ العُلى حَسَنٌ

مَدّوا إلى أحمَدَ الألحاظَ وانتظروا

Until when it was said Virtue gained the Heights

They extended to Ahmad their gazes, and waited

وقَبّلوا من مذاكي خيله فَرحاً

حوافراً قد علا أرساغَها العفرُ

And out of joy, kissed the hooves of his horses

Dusted with soil their fetlocks rose high

مالوا عليها ازدحاماً وهي تَرْمَحُهُمْ

فكم بها من كسيرٍ لَيسَ يَنجَبِرُ

They crowded around them and the horses stamped them

So many were trampled, their wounds unhealing

شوقاً إليهم ومحضاً من وفائهمُ

لم يَجْرِ في الصّفْوِ من أخلاقه كدرُ

Yearningly and out of their faithfulness to them

No murkiness clouded their natures’ purity

أَبوكَ مَدَّتْ عليهم كفُّ رأفتِهِ

منها جناحاً مديداً ظلّه خَصِرُ

Your father extended over them his palm of mercy

From it, a widespread wing shaded their waist

حَدَّتْ لَهُم في قَوامِ الأَمرِ طاعتُهُ

حدّاً فما وَرَدُوا عنه ولا صَدَروا

His obedience delimited their standing in command

A limit—they neither opposed nor abandoned it

وألَّفَ اللَّهُ في الأوطانِ شَملهُمُ

فنُظّموا في المغاني بعدما نُثروا

And God united their realms

So they were threaded in song after being scattered

وأَنت عَدْلٌ فسِرْ فيهم بسيرَتِهِ

فالعَدْلُ في المُلكِ عنه تُحْمد السيرُ

You are justice, so follow his path with them

For justice in rule brings praise for conduct

أنتمْ مُلوكُ بني الدُّنْيا الَّذين بهمْ

تَرْضَى المنابِرُ والتيجانُ والسررُ

You are the kings of mankind whom through them

The pulpits, crowns, and thrones are content

أعاظمٌ من قديم الدَّهر مُلْكُهُمُ

تَرَى المَفاخِرَ تَسْتَخْذي إذا افتخروا

Greats since ancient times their kingdom

You see the boastful take pride when boasting

من كلّ مقتحمٍ في الحرب مُعْتَزِم

فمن فرائسه آسادُها الهُصُرُ

From each battle-plunging, death-defying

Hero, so many lions were their prey

ذِمْرٌ له في ضمير الغِمْد ذو شطبٍ

كأنّه بارقٌ يسطو به قمرُ

A sword whose scabbard contains deadly intent

As if it were a flashing moon unsheathed

شُمْسُ العداوَةِ حَتّى يُستقادَ لهم

وأعظمُ النّاسِ أحلاماً إذا قَدَروا

The suns of enmity until subjugated for them

And the greatest of men in ambition when they decree

إِلَيكَ طَيِّبَ روض المدح نَفْحَتهُ

لمّا تَفتّحَ فيه بالنّدى زَهَرُ

To you the meadow of praise smells sweet

When its blossoms open with the dew

يَجوبُ مِنهُ ذَكِيُّ المِسكِ كُلَّ فلاً

طيباً ويعبرُ منه العنبر الذفرُ

The fragrance of fine musk pervades each bud

Sweetly, and ambergris crosses through it

كأنّ زُهْرَ الدراري فيه قد نُظِمَتْ

كما تنظّمُ في أسلاكِها الدررُ

As though the flowers of orchards were threaded in it

Like pearls arranged on necklaces

يا من تضاعفَ فيضُ الجود من يدِهِ

كأنَّما البحرُ من جَدْوَاهُ مُختَصَرُ

O you whose streaming generosity overflows from his hand

As though the sea from his palms were contained

إنّي نَأيتُ وحظِّي حُطَّ منزلةً

كأنّما طول باعي عاقَهُ قِصَرُ

I withdrew though my fortune pitched its tent degraded

As though the length of my life matured with shortness

وقد نُسيتُ وذكري لا خفاءَ به

والمِسكُ يُطْوَى ونشرٌ منه ينتشرُ

I was forgotten though my fame has no secrecy

And folded musk still spreads its scent

وقَد بَعَثتُ رِثاءً في أَبيكَ ولي

حُزْنٌ عَلَيهِ فُؤادي مِنهُ يَنفَطِرُ

I sent an elegy for your father though for me

Sorrow in my heart from it cracks

وما بدا ليَ جُودٍ أمَرْتَ به

عينٌ تفوز به عيني ولا أَثَرُ

No command of generosity you ordered reached me

An eye to gain it, nor trace of it for my eye

وكفّكَ المزنُ تسْقي من دَنَا ونأى

وليس من غيرِ مُزْنٍ يرتجى المطرُ

Your rain-heavy palm waters both far and near

And none but the heavy-rained is hoped for rain

بَقيتَ للدينِ والدّنيا وأهلَهُما

وَمُدّ في رتب العليا لك العمرُ

You remained for religion and the world and its people

And may a long life in the highest stations be extended for you