اتتكَ القوافي ما لها عنكَ مذهبُ

فأنتَ بها برٌوأنت لها أبُ

The rhymes came to you though they had no path to you

Yet you are righteous with them and a father to them

وما وجدتْ مثلي لها اليومَ شاعراً

أياديكَ تمليها عليَّ فأكتبُ

I have not found anyone like me today who is a poet for it

Your hands dictate it to me so I can write

وهل كلساني إن مدحتُكَ مبدعٌ

وهل كبياني ساحراً حين أنسبُ

Can my tongue be creative if I praise you?

Can my rhetoric be magic when I compose poetry?

دع الشعرَ تقذفهُ من البحرِ لجةٌ

إليكَ ويلقيهِ من البر سبسبُ

Leave poetry, the sea throws it as jetsam

And the land casts it as flotsam

فإن يممَ الغرُّ الميامين مكةً

حجيجاً فهذي كعبة الشعرِ يثربُ

When pilgrims turn to Mecca from all lands

This is the Kaaba of poetry in Yathrib

طلعتْ عليها طلعة البدرِ بعد ما

تجللها من ظلمةِ الظلمِ غيهَبُ

The full moon rose over it after

The darkness of darkness veiled it

بوجهٍ لو أن الشمس تنظرُ مرةً

إليه لكانت ضحوةُ الصبحِ تغربُ

With a face, if the sun saw it once

The glow of dawn would set

فجليتَ عنها ما أدلهمَّ وأبرقتْ

أسارير كانتْ قبلَ ذلكَ تقطبُ

You uncovered from it what had darkened them

And the platforms that were folded before that opened

وهل كنتَ إلا ابن الذي فاضَ برُهُ

عليها كما انهلَّ الغمام وأعذبُ

Were you not the son of him whose righteousness overflowed

Upon it as the clouds poured and freshened?

فكنْ مثلُهُ عدلاً وكُن مثلهُ تقىً

وصن لبنيهِ ما يد الدهرِ تنهبُ

So be like him in justice and be like him in piety

And guard for his sons what the hand of fate would usurp

سما بكَ أصلٌ طبقَ الأفقَ ذكرهُ

وسارتْ بهِ الأمثالُ في الأرضِ تضربُ

A lineage named after you covered the horizon

And parables about it spread in the land

وقومٌ همُ الغرُّ الكواكب كلما

تغيبَ منهم كوكبٌ لاح كوكبُ

A people who were stars whenever

A star set, a star rose

وهم معشر الفاروقِ من كل أغلبٍ

نماهُ إلى ليث العرينةِ أغلبُ

They were the company of the Farooq from every conquest

Nurtured into the lion of the thicket, Al-Ghlib

حفظتَ لهم مجداً وكانَ مضيعاً

وأبقيتَ فخراً كانَ لولاكَ يذهبُ

You preserved glory for them though it was lost

And kept pride that without you would vanish

ونالكَ فضلُ الله والملكِ الذي

أرى كل ملكٍ دونهُ يتهيبُ

The grace of God and kingship came to you

Which I see every king but him fears

إذا ذكروهُ كبرَ الشرقُ بهجةً

وإن لقبوهُ أكبرَ الشرقِ مغربُ

If they mention him, the East exults in joy

And when they title him, the West of the East exalts

يصدعُ قلبَ الحاسدينَ وإنهُ

إلى كل قلبٍ في الورى لمحببُ

It rives the hearts of enviers yet it

Is beloved to every heart in existence

ويرضي رعاياهُ فيردي عدوهُ

وما زالَ في الحالينِ يُرجى ويُرهبُ

It satisfies his subjects so he subdues his foe

And he has not ceased being hoped for and feared

حباكَ بها غراءَ يفترُ ثغرها

وكنتَ لها بعلاً وغيركَ يخطبُ

You have bound it with a firm pact whose lips

Tremble, and you were its husband while others sought it

وكم أمَّلتها أنفسٌ فتحجبتْ

وبنتُ العلا إلى عن الكفءِ تحجبُ

How many souls desired it but it veiled itself

The daughter of glory veils herself from the unfit

سموتَ إليها وما ونيتَ وقد أرى

ذوائبَ قومٍ دونها تتذبذبُ

You ascended to it though you did not hanker, and I see

The train of a people below it wavering

فطر فوقها ما العزّ عنكَ بمبعدٍ

وفضلُ أمير المؤمنينَ مقربُ

So soar above what is too high for you in might

And the favor of the Commander of the Faithful brings near

كأني بربِّ الروضةِ اليومَ باسماً

وصدِّيقهُ يزهى وجدكَ يعجبُ

It is as if the Lord of the garden were named today

And his companion exults and your presence amazes him

ويثربُ مما أدركتْ من رجائها

بمقدمكَ الميمون باتتْ ترحبُ

And Yathrib for what it attained of its hopes through

Your blessed arrival has come to welcome you