أبشراي عادت للديار الحبائب

وبالبدر قد جاءت تحفّ الكواكب

Good tidings, my friends have returned to the home

They came with the full moon, the adornments of the stars

وأقبل جيش النصر يتلوه ضيغم

تقاد له الآساد وهي ثعالب

And the army of victory approaches, followed by valor

The lions are driven before it, though they are foxes

كأنهم اذ يحملون اسنة

بدور بايدهم نجوم ثواقب

As if, when they carried the swords,

In their hands were stars piercing as spears

يقودهم الضرغام والبطل الذي

لسطوته تخشى الضواري الضوارب

Led by the intrepid hero and champion

At whose might wild beasts and warriors quake

هو البحر يأتينا بكل عجيبة

ولا بدع منه ان اتتنا العجائب

He is the sea who brings us every wonder

And it is no surprise that wonders come from him

هو الماجد الندب الذي حاز رتبة

بها تفخر العليا وتسمو المراتب

He is the glorious knight who attained a rank

With which the exalted boast and positions rise high

فتى لم يزل مغرى ببيض قواضب

على ان مغرى فيه بيض كواعب

A youth who was never enticed by the white ships

Though enticed by the white gazelles

فلو كنت ممن في الورى شهدوا الوغى

وقد سدت الآفاق تلك الكتائب

Had you been among those in existence who witnessed the fray

When those hordes closed off the horizons

لشاهدت ليثا حين دارت سيوفه

تدور المنايا حولها والنوائب

You’d have seen a lion when his swords whirled

And disasters circled around him

سل المشرفات البيض هل في سما الوغى

لهن سواها في العداة مضارب

Ask the white citadels if amid the clamor of war

They have any like him striking the foe

وسل في الوغى قتلاه ما عملت بهم

عوامله والمرهفات القواضب

And ask how his tools dealt with his victims in battle

The fierce and piercing blades

وكيف احاطت في فناء فنائهم

عناق المذاكي جردها والسلاهب

And how the snaring ropes encompassed their end

Bared and dragging them, without garb or cloaks

وقد احدقت تلك الاسنة نحوهم

ولم ينج منهم ذلك اليوم هارب

And how those blades stared at them

And none escaped that day as fugitives

سوار اما حمرا ترى اليوم بيضت

ومنها قد اسودت وجوه شواحب

Bangles they once saw as red, today seem white

And from them blackened the faces of the wan

فحتى عليك اخترت تقضي سيوفه

اهل كان قد ضاقت عليك المذاهب

To the point that against you, his swords were fated

To dispatch a people whose doctrines distressed you

وما منهم الا قتيل معفر

وملقى جريح او اسير وهارب

And not one remains except a blood-stained corpse

Cast aside, wounded or captive fugitive

فكم من يتامى قد تركت بواكيا

اما كان يوما خوفتك العواقب

So many orphans has it left crying

Who once feared what consequences you might reap

وكيف من العقيان نرجو تخلصا

وقد علقت منهنّ فيك المخالب

And how can we who walk with staves expect deliverance

When its claws have attached themselves to you

فيا باذلا للوفد في السلم ماله

ومن هو للاعمار في الحرب ناهب

O you who freely gave money in peace

And in war you rapaciously loot and pillage

تركت سوارا معك في دور خاتم

وعن جيشه كانت تضيق السباسب

You left Suwar behind held in your ring

And from his troops the passes were straitened

وفي تخته بالسيف ولدت نصرة

وشكلك فيه دل انك غالب

And on his throne, by the sword you birthed victory

And your image on it shows you’re the victor

وجئت به يسعى أسيرا وقد غدا

على أدهم يمشي به وهو راكب

And you brought him scrambling in shackles

While Adam trots him on a mount as captive

وكل جموح بالسلاسل قدته

إليك كما يوما تقاد الجنائب

And every unruly lion you’ve fettered

As if one day you tamed the antelopes

بسيرتك الأمثال سارت وفي غد

تحدث في الأحقاب عنك الحقائب

By your ways the examples marched, and tomorrow

Tales of you will spread through the eras

وتتلى أحاديث المكارم والندى

وتنشر آيات الثنا والمناقب

And the traditions of nobility and dew are recited

Quranic signs of praise and virtues proclaimed

ولا مادح إلا لذكرك حامد

وما لك في الأفعال حاشاك عاتب

No praiser except that remembering you he praises

And none finds fault in your deeds but the critic

وأمرك ماض مثل سيفك قاطع

ورأيك مثل السهم والسهم صائب

Your command advances like your slicing sword

Your view like an arrow—and arrows hit their mark