حمدتك باللسان وبالجنان

وحمدك غرة النعم الحسان

I praised You with my tongue and soul

I have praised You with my tongue and with my heart,

And praised Your abundant gifts of grace

And Your praise is the crown jewel of all beautiful blessings.

وباسمك أبتدي وعليك أثني

بما أثنيت في السبع المثاني

With Your name I begin and extol You

In Your name I begin, and upon You I heap laudation,

With what extolled the seven oft repeated

Using the praise You bestowed within the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses.

بك استعصمت من فتن الأعادي

كما استحصنت من محن الزمان

With You I took refuge from enemies' strife

Through You I sought refuge from the trials of enemies,

As I fortified against the woes of time

Just as I sought a fortress against the tribulations of time.

على عملي استعنتك يا الاهي

وليس سواك لي من مستعان

For my work I implored You, my God

I sought Your aid in my endeavors, O my God,

None but You is my aide and sustainer

For I have no one to turn to for help but You.

فأنت موفقي للخير فضلا

وأنت معلمي قول البيان

You who graced me with success and virtue

You are the One who graciously guides me to goodness,

And taught me the words of eloquence

And You are the One who taught me the speech of eloquence.

فألهمني السداد ولا تزغني

وجنبني بليات اللسان

Inspire in me integrity, let me not stray

So inspire me with rectitude and let me not go astray,

And spare me the evils of the tongue

And spare me from the calamities of the tongue.

جعلت الشعر في الدنيا نجيي

فكان لخاطري كالترجمان

Poetry made my life blissful

I made poetry my intimate confidant in this world,

Becoming the interpreter of my thoughts

And it became the interpreter of my innermost thoughts.

ولم أكفف عن استنهاض شعبي

به لأراه فى أعلى مكان

I never ceased rousing my people

I never ceased striving to rouse my people,

With it to see them in the highest place

Through verse, that I might see them in the highest station.

لذاك رجوت أن يبقى كذخر

لشعبي رافع للذكر باني

Therefore I hoped it would remain a treasure

Thus, I hoped it would endure as a lasting treasure,

For my people, extolling and building

Uplifting the renown of my people, building them up.

ويجلب لي رضاك وأنت أهل

لبذل رضاك لي دون امتحان

And bring me Your pleasure, You who are worthy

And that it might bring me Your pleasure—for You are worthy

To bestow Your pleasure on me without trial

Of granting Your pleasure to me without trial.

ويجلب لي رضى أزكى نبي

إلى مرضاتك المثلى دعاني

And bring me the pleasure of the purest Prophet

And that it might bring me the acceptance of the purest Prophet,

Who called me to Your most sublime delight

Who called me towards Your supreme contentment.

إذا روي القريض إليه أصغى

وردد منه حكمي المعاني

When the ode was recited to him he listened

If poetry was recited to him, he would listen,

And from it derived for me counsel and meaning

And repeat those verses filled with wise meanings.

لقد أصغى إلى إنشاد (كعب)

ومن عليه بالبرد اليماني

He listened to Ka'b's recital

He indeed listened to the recitation of Ka'b,

And rewarded him with the Yemini cloak

And graciously bestowed upon him the Yemeni cloak.

كما أغرى به (حسان) حربا

فكان به المبرز في الطعان

Just as Hassaan enticed him to war

Just as he urged Hassan to wield poetry in spiritual warfare,

And with it became the ace of champions

So he became, through it, the champion in the fray.

فصل عليه أزكى ما تصلي

عليه وأدنه عن كل داني

Bestow upon him the finest You pray

So send blessings upon him, the purest blessings You can send,

And draw him close, away from all who owe

And draw him nearer to You than any other who is near.

وجاز الأهل والأصحاب عنا

بأوفى الأجر منك والامتنان

And exceed the family and companions

And reward his Family and Companions on our behalf,

With the fullest reward from You and favor

With the fullest recompense and grace from You.

لقد نشروا هدى الإسلام قدما

بما بذلوه من روح التفاني

They spread the guidance of Islam forever

They spread the guidance of Islam in days of old,

With the selfless spirit they expended

Through the spirit of devotion they so freely gave.

وأبقوه لنا أغلى تراث

له في العالمين أجل شان

And left it to us, most precious heritage

And they preserved it for us as the most precious heritage,

Of lofty status in both worlds

Possessing the most exalted status in all the worlds.

إلاهي إننا بحماك لذنا

وعذنا من جناية كل جاني

My God, we by Your protection sinned

O my God, we have sought sanctuary in Your protection,

So pardon us from each offender's crime

And sought refuge from the transgression of every aggressor.

لقد آتيتنا التحرير حكما

فألهمنا الحفاظ على الكيان

You gave us freedom to rule

You have granted us liberation by Your decree,

So inspire us to guard the entity

So inspire us to safeguard our existence.

بدأنا الأمر باسمك واختتمنا

فجد بالعون واختم بالأمان

We began by Your name and conclude

We began this endeavor in Your name, and so we conclude,

So grace us and end with safety

So grant us Your aid, and seal our end with safety.