وَلَقَد رَحَلتُ إِلَيكُمُ عيدِيَّةً
لا يَرعَوينَ إِلى جَنينٍ مُجهَضِ
I came to you as a feast-day visitor,
Not led to pluck unripe fruit.
أَصبَحنَ مِن نَقَوى حَفيرٍ دُلَّحاً
بِلِوى أُشَيقِرَ جائِلاتِ الأَعرُضِ
They had been bits of dry bread from a worn-out, decayed wallet
Crumbs from the table of turning-away integuments.
وَلَقَد عَلَونَ مِنَ السَماوَةِ مَعلَماً
خُلُجاً مَوارِدُهُ بَعيدَ المَركَضِ
They had set out from on high as a landmark,
Its wells far-extended in their run.
وَإِذا الإِدَلَّةُ خاطَروا مَجهولَها
مَشَقوا لَيالِيَ خِمسِها المُستَوفِضِ
When the guides tried its unknown parts,
They endured five pitch-black nights.
يَسرونَ لَيلَهُم فَلَمّا غَوَّروا
خَفَقَ الخِباءُ بِمَنزِلٍ لَم يُخفَضِ
They beguiled their night, but when it darkened
The tents fluttered with no pitched camp.
جَعَلوا القِسِيَّ مِنَ السَراءِ عِمادَهُ
وَبِكُلِّ أَبيَضَ في الغِمادِ مُفَضَّضِ
They made endurance out of ease the pillar for it
And a dangling thing its every pillar white-blazed.
وَإِذا قَرُبنَ خَوامِساً مِن صَلصَلٍ
صَبَّحنَ دومَةَ وَالحَصى لَم يَرمَضِ
When they came close to stations made of sliding sand,
They stayed over a sandhill whose pebbles were unmoved.
إِنّي لَمُعتَمِدُ الخَليفَةِ زائِراً
وَأَراهُ أَهلَ زِيارَتي وَتَعَرُّضي
I am indeed the client of the Caliph come visiting
And I see the people of my visit and presentation.
لَيسَ البَرِيُّ كَمَن يُمَرَّضُ قَلبُهُ
فَأَنا المُشايِعُ قَلبُهُ لَم يَمرَضِ
The healthy man is not like one whose heart is sickened,
I am his boon companion, his heart unsickened.
فَوَثِقتُ ما سَلِمَ الخَليفَةُ بِالغِنى
لَيسَ البُحورُ إِلى الثِمادِ البُرَّضِ
I guaranteed, so long as the Caliph was safe with wealth,
The seas are not for the briny soil made sodden.
بَحرٌ تَفيضُ لَهُ سِجالٌ بِالنَدى
وَإِلَيهِ جارِيَةُ البُحورِ الفُيَّضِ
A sea whose streams pour down freshness
And to which the seas of sweetness flow.
يَجزيكَ رَبُّكَ حُسنَ قَرضِكَ إِنَّهُ
حَسَنُ المَعونَةِ واسِعُ المُتَقَرَّضِ
May your Lord reward you for your fine loan,
He of excellent support, most open to those who borrow!
وَاللَهُ قَدَّرَ أَن تَكونَ خَليفَةً
خَيرَ البَرِيَّةِ وَاِرتَضاكَ المُرتَضي
God has ordained that you should be Caliph,
The best of mankind, and the elect one chose you!
يا اِبنَ الفَوارِعِ وَاِلتَقَت أَعياصُهُ
لُفّاً بِمُتَّسَعِ البِطاحِ الأَعرَضِ
O son of cleansing smites whose leagues
Bunched on the spreading plain came thick.
أَعطاكَ رَبُّكَ مِن جَزيلِ عَطائِهِ
مُلكاً كُعوبُ قَناتِهِ لَم تُرفَضِ
Your Lord has given you from His abounding bounty
A kingdom whose anklets were not pushed away.
هَل تَزجُرَنِّيَ أَن أَقولَ لِظالِمٍ
إِن كُنتَ صاحِبَ خُلَّةٍ فَتَحَمَّضِ
Will you forbid me to say to an unjust person,
“If you are a boon companion, then turn acid”?
وَإِذا أُمَيَّةُ حُصِّلَت أَنسابُها
كُنتَ المَجانَ مِنَ الصَريحِ الأَمخَضِ
When the genealogies of Umayya are examined,
You are the purest extract of the tribe most strong.
