كفَى سيفُكَ الإسلامَ عاديةَ الكُفرِ

وَصُلْتَ على العادينَ بالعزِّ والنصرِ

Your sword sufficed to defend Islam from the aggression of disbelief

And you connected with the aggressors with might and victory

وأصبَحَ قولُ المبطلين مُكذَّباً

ومَدَّ لَكَ الرّحمَنُ في أمَدِ العُمْرِ

And the words of the falsifiers became disproved

And the Most Merciful extended your lifetime

وأَينَ الَّذي حَدَّ المُنَجِّمُ كَوْنَهُ

إذا مَرّ لِلصُّوَّامِ عَشْرٌ مِنَ الشَّهرِ

And where is he who the astrologer determined his fate

When ten days passed for the fasting person from the month

وما قَرَعَ الأسماعَ بالخبرِ الَّذي

أبَى اللَّهُ إلّا أنْ يُكَذَّبَ بالخُبرِ

And the news did not reach the ears that

God refused except to disbelieve the news

غَدا الزّيجُ ريحاً في تَناقُضِ عِلمِهِ

وتعديلُهُ عُرفاً أحالَ على نُكْرِ

Tomorrow, the astrological calculations will be like wind in their contradiction

And its regulation became commonly known to be rejected

فهلّا رأى قَطْعاً عليهِ بِسَجْنِهِ

ومَشْياً بدُهْمٍ كانَ بالكَبْوِ والعَثرِ

Why then did he not see his clear imprisonment

And walking in shackles as if lame and stumbling

وإِنَّ عَليّاً يَنْتَضي القُضُبَ الَّتي

يَرُدّ بها مَدّ العُداةِ إلى قَصْرِ

And indeed Ali takes the sticks

With which he repels the extension of the enemies to the palace

لَقَد ضَلَّ عُبّادُ النُّجومِ وما اهتَدوا

بِبَعثِ رَسولٍ للأَنامِ ولا ذِكرِ

Indeed the worshipers of the stars went astray and were not guided

By the sending of a messenger to the people or by a mention

وَكَم مَرَّ في الدُّنيا لَهم مِنْ مُمَخْرِقٍ

مِنَ النَّاسِ مَطوِيِّ الضّلوع على غَمرِ

And how much in this world did the brightly shining pass by them

Of bent people cloaked in ignorance

إذا جالَ في عِلمِ الغيوبِ حَسبْتَهُ

مُسَيلِمَةَ الكذّابَ قامَ منَ القبرِ

When he wanders in the knowledge of the unseen, you would think him

Musailima the liar risen from his grave

أباطيلُ تجري بالحقائقِ بينهم

من الكِذْبِ منهم لا عنِ السبعةِ الزُّهرِ

Superstitions run between them instead of truths

Of lies from them, not from the seven oft-repeated

وميلٌ إليها بالظنونِ وإنّما

يُنَكِّبُ عنها كلُّ يَقظانَ ذو حِجْرِ

And inclination towards them while in fact

Every vigilant person of reason turns away from them

وما الشُّهْبُ إلّا كَالمصابيحِ تلتَظي

مَعَ اللّيلِ للساري وتخمدُ في الفجرِ

The meteors are but like lamps that blaze

With the night for the sleepless and fade at dawn

فَيا أَيُّها المغتَرُّ بالنَّجمِ قُلْ لَنا

أتعلمُ سرّاً فيه من ربّه يَسْري

So O you who are deceived by the star, tell us

Do you know a secret in it from its Lord made easy?

وبَينَكُما بَوْنٌ بَعيدٌ فما الَّذي

تَقَوّلَهُ الغفرُ اختِلافاً عَنِ الغفرِ

And between you two is a distant separation so what

Does the Pleiades dispute differently from the Pleiades?

فيا أحْلَمَ الأمْلاكِ عن ذي حِبالَةٍ

وإنْ جاءَ في الأمرِ الَّذي جَدّ بالإمْرِ

O most patient of rulers over one crazed

Even if he is vehement in the matter that calls for vehemence

تدارك جهولاً ضلّ أو زلّ أوْ به

جُنونٌ فما يَرتابُ للسَّيفِ في النَّحرِ

Save an ignorant gone astray or slipped or possessed

By madness since there is no doubting the sword in the throat

فَصَيِّرْ جميلَ الصَّفحِ عنهُ عِقابَهُ

فقد جَلّ منكَ القدرُ عن ضَعَةِ القدرِ

So turn your fine pardoning into his punishment

For your status is high above baseness of status

سُعودُكَ في نيلِ المُنى لا تَوَقّفَتْ

منَ اللَّهِ تجري لا منَ الشَّمسِ وَالبدرِ

Your ease in attaining wishes did not stop

Coming from God, not from sun or moon

ملكتَ فمهّدتَ الأمورَ مُجَرِّداً

لتمهيدها رأيَ المجرِّبِ لا الغُمْرِ

You held dominion so you smoothed the way

In order to smooth it by the view of the experienced, not the shallow

وَنَظَّمتَ حبّاتِ القُلوبِ مَحَبَّةً

عَلَيكَ وقَد كانَت مباينةَ النَثرِ

And you strung together hearts in loving affection

For you after they had been heterogeneous in compassion

لأمرٍ أدَمتَ الحَصرَ في حرْبِ جَرْبةٍ

وما حَرْبُها إلا مُداوَمَةُ الحصرِ

For a matter in which you persisted in the siege in battle

And its battle is nothing but persistence in the siege

وتَرْكُكَ بالزّرقِ اللّهاذِمِ أهْلَها

وبالبيضِ صَرْعى في الجزيرَة كالجَزْرِ

And you left the God-destroying Zarqis alone

With the whites slain in the island like pebbles

وما ضُويِقُوا مَن قبلِ هذا وإنّما

بقَدرِ التهابِ النّارِ تَغْليَةُ القِدرِ

And they were not squeezed before this while in fact

The heating up of the fire produces boiling of the pot

بِسَير جُيُوشٍ في البحُورِ إليهِمُ

تُحيطُ بهم زَحْفاً مع المَدّ والجَزْرِ

With the march of armies in the seas towards them

Encircling them in assault together with the tide and ebb

إِذا انتَقَلتْ بالصَّيدِ قُلتُ تَعَجُّباً

متى انتقل الآجام بالأُسُدِ الهُصْرِ

When they transported prey I exclaimed in wonder

When did ever the ferocious ones transport the lions?

مجرِّدَةً بيضَ الحتوفِ خوافقاً

بها العَذَباتُ الحمرُ في اللُّجَجِ الخضرِ

With white-feathered birds harmonious

To which the sweet waters flow red between the green thickets

وكلّ مُديرٍ يتّقي بمَجاذِفٍ

مُشاكَلَة التَّشبيهِ في الأنمُلِ العشرِ

And every captain who fears with oars

To challenge in simile the ten-fingered hand

ترى الشحمَ فوق القارِ منه مُمَيَّعاً

فيا من رأى ليلاً تَسَرْوَلَ بالفجرِ

You see the fat above the tar from it melted

So who saw a night crawl with the dawn

سَوادُ غُرابٍ في بَياضِ حَمامَةٍ

تَطيرُ بِهِ سَبحاً على الماءِ أو تَجري

Blackness of crows amid the whiteness of doves

Flying with it gloriously on the water or running

قَطَعتَ بِهِم في العيشِ من كلِّ جانِبٍ

فَقَد أَقصروا فيها عنِ النظمِ بالنثرِ

You cut them off in life from every side

So they fell short in it from a systematic composition

وكم طائرٍ منهم قصصتَ جناحَهُ

فأصبحَ مسجوناً عنِ النَهضِ في الوكرِ

And how many a bird whose wing you clipped

And he became imprisoned from flight in the nest

لمّا رأوا أنَّ المخنَّق منهمُ

سَدَدْتَ به مجرى التنفُّسِ في الصدرِ

When they saw that the ones among them choked

You plugged with it the passage of breath in the chest

أنابوا وتابوا عن ذنوبٍ تَقَدّمَتْ

بزعمهمُ من قطعهم سُبُلَ البحرِ

They relented and repented of sins that preceded

According to their claim, from cutting off the sea routes

فَإِن نَشَرُوا ما بَينَهمْ لَكَ طاعَةً

وقد طُوِيَت مِنهُم صُدورٌ على غَمرِ

So if they spread out obedience to you between them

After breasts had been cloaked in ignorance

فَعِندَكَ نارٌ تَركَبُ الماءَ نَحوَهمْ

لَها زُنُدٌ يَقدَحنَ مِن زُنُدٍ بُتْرِ

Then in your possession is a fire that rides the water towards them

To which there are matches that are struck from struck matches

ونبلٌ كنبل الأعْيُنِ النُّجْلِ أُرْسِلَتْ

تطيرُ بريشٍ مُستعار مِنَ النَّسرِ

And arrows not unlike the arrows of spying eyes

That fly by borrowed feathers from eagles

تُنَصَّلُ للأعْداءِ في الحرب بالرّدى

إذا نُصِّلَتْ هاتيكَ في السلمِ بالسِّحرِ

Targeted for the enemies in war with destruction

When those are targeted in peace with sorcery

وَلَن يخدعوا في الحربِ وهوَ مُبيدُهُم

فتىً كان مولوداً مِنَ الحربِ في حِجْرِ

And they are not going to deceive in war while he who destroys them

Is a youth who was born amid war in the womb

وأَنتَ مِنَ الأَعداءِ أَدهى خديعةً

إذا ما صَدَمْتَ الجَّيشَ في الجَّيشِ بالمَكرِ

And you are more cunning than the enemies

When you strike the army with the army in strategy

وكُنتَ عنِ التَّحريضِ بِالحَزمِ غانِياً

وهل يَعْدَمُ الإحراقَ مُتَّقِدُ الجمرِ

And you have sufficed in not provoking with prudence

Can one who set embers aflame avoid burning?

خُلِقْتَ لنا من جَوهَرِ الفضلِ سَيِّداً

وَيُمناكَ من يُمْنٍ وَيُسْراكَ من يُسْرِ

You were created for us from the essence of virtue, O leader

Your good fortune is from good fortune and your ease is from ease

وَعَوّلَ في العسرِ الفَقيرُ على نَدى

يَدَيكَ وَهَل يَغْنى الكسيرُ عَنِ الجبرِ

And the meek have depended in hardship upon the dew

Of your hands and can one shattered ever do without splinting?

زَمانُكَ لا يَنفَكُّ يَفتَرِسُ العدى

كذي لِبْدَةٍ مُسْتَعْظَمِ النابِ وَالظفرِ

Your time never ceases to descend upon prey

Like a lion immense of fangs and claws

وطَعْماكَ من شَهدٍ وطابَ لأَهلِهِ

وخُلقاكَ من سَهلٍ عَلَيهِم وَمِن وَعرِ

And your taste is of honey and so delights his people

While your manner is of ease upon them and of war

حَياةَ ابنَ يَحيى للأَعادي مَنِيَّةٌ

وأَعمارُهمْ مَبتُورةٌ مِنهُ بِالعمرِ

The lives of the son of Yahya are demise

For the enemies and their lifespans are truncated in lifespan

لَقَد فَخَرت مِنهُ العلى بِسَمَيْذَعٍ

لإحسانه وَجْهٌ تَبَرْقَعَ بالبِشرِ

Indeed from him the lofty ones have prided

With a fraying mottled face shining with good news

بأكبرَ يستخذي له كلّ أكبرٍ

فيُطرِقُ إطراقَ البُغاثَةِ للصَّقرِ

With greatest who entreats any greatest

And he bows, bowing of humility to the hawk

إذا مُدِحَ الأملاك قام بمدحِهِ

لهُ قَدَمُ الدنيا على قَدَمِ الفخرِ

When kings are praised he stands in praise of him

The world stands by his virtues in pride

إِلَيكَ امتَطَينا كُلَّ راغٍ بِمَوجِهِ

كَما جَرجَرَ القَرْمُ الحقودُ على المكري

Towards you we have ridden every riding horse with its surge

As the stubborn donkey stubbornly dragged itself

إذا ما طما وامتدّ بالرّيح مدُّهُ

ذَكرنا به فيَّاضَ نائِلك الغمرِ

When it swells and extends in the wind, its extension

We liken it to your abundant, flooding beneficence

ولولاك لم نركب غواربَ زاخرٍ

مسنَّمَةً في اللَّحمِ مِنهُ إلى العمرِ

And if not for you, we would not ride ample ships

Flecked with meat therein to the age

وَإِن فاتَني إِعذارُ شِبليكَ بِالغنى

فإنَّ بترك العزم مُتّضِحَ العُذرِ

And if articulating your glory with wealth eluded me

Then leaving the resolve clears the excuse

ضَعُفتُ عن النّهْضِ القوي زَمَانَةً

وَنُقّلَ بعد الباع خَطوي إِلى شِبرِ

I have weakened from the strong resolve over time

And my stride was transferred after length to a span

وَإِنّي لأهدي في سُلوكِ غَرائِبي

ومُعجِزِ نَظمي كُلَّ جَوهَرَة بِكرِ

And I guide in navigating the marvels of my wanderings

And the miracle of my composition every pristine gem

إِذا ما بَنى بَيتاً مِنَ الشِّعرِ مِقوَلي

ثنى نابياً عن هَدْمِهِ معولَ الدَّهرِ

That whenever one builds a house of poetry from my utterances

Fate's pick turns away from demolishing it

وَما الشِّعرُ ما يخلو من الكَسْرِ وَزْنُهُ

ولكنَّهُ سحرٌ وبابِلُهُ فكري

And poetry is not devoid of metrical defects

But it is magic and its builder is my mind

وَإِنِّي بما فَوقَ المُنى مُوقِنٌ

وكم شَرَقٍ لِلَّيثٍ مِن وابِل القطرِ

And indeed I am certain beyond wishes

And how much sunrise has the lion had of downpour clouds?