ألا أيها الغادي مجداً بنجداً

يؤم من الضيرين قصراً مشيداً

Lo, you who ride forth in earnest toward Najd,

making for your lofty palace between the two realms,

حنانيك قف لي ساعة وتحملا

تحيات مشتاق به الوجد أكمدا

be gentle—halt for me an hour, and bear

the greetings of a yearning man whom longing has sickened,

إلى الملك الأسما سلالة فيصل

وأوفى ملوك الناس عهداً وموعداً

to the most exalted king, a scion of Faisal,

the most faithful of mankind’s kings in covenant and promise,

وأبذلهم للجود طبعاً وعادةً

واكمل أوصاف الفتى ما تعودا

the freest-handed of them, generous by nature and habit,

the youth most perfect in all the qualities he has made his own;

إمام سمى بالمجد والجود والندى

على كل أملاك البلاد ذوي الندى

an imam who rose through glory, munificence, and largesse

above every king of the lands endowed with wisdom.

مآثر آباء له ومحامداً

تأثلها عنهم وقد كان أوحدا

Ancestral exploits are his, and praiseworthy deeds,

inherited from them—and he himself stands peerless.

فأبلغه تسليماً كأن أريحه

شذى المسك بل أندى أريجاً وأمجدا

Convey to him greetings whose fragrance

is musk-sweet—indeed, more dewy, fragrant, and pleasing.

ولا تنس مقداماً هماماً سميدعاً

سلالته من قد سمى وتفردا

Do not forget that valiant, high-hearted lion,

descended from one who rose and stood alone,

وفاق وساد الناس طراً بمجده

فابلغه تسليماً أريجاً مندداً

surpassed all and ruled mankind through his glory.

Convey to him greetings, fragrant and oft-repeated.

وناد بأعلى الصوت يا صاح قائلاً

أيا من سمى مجداً وجوداً وسؤددا

And call at the top of your voice, companion, saying:

“O brother of one who rose in glory, generosity, and lordship,

حنانيك ما أبقيت ذخراً ولم تزل

تجود علينا يا أخا المجد بالندى

be gracious! You have left no treasure unspent, and have never ceased

showering us with bounty, brother of glory,

"إلى أن بلغنا ""الدكتر"" الذي"

يرى أنه في طبه قد توحدا

until you brought us to ‘the doctor’ who

believes himself unrivaled in his medicine.

فما زادني إلاَّ عماءً وحمرة

على العين زادتها عماءً منكدا

Yet he added nothing to me but blindness and redness,

making the eye still blinder and more afflicted.

فظل يداويها لينكشف الذي

أمض بها مما أضر وأنكدا

He kept treating it so that what had

befallen it—what harmed and plagued it—might clear;

وفي كل يوم وهي لا شك تنجلي

ويزداد نور العين فيها تجددا

and every day it surely clears,

and the eye’s light within it grows renewed.

وفي تسع أيام على رغم رأيه

أرى ما يراه الناس مثنى وموحدا

After nine days, despite his opinion,

I see what others see, both double and single.

فإن صح ذا فالحمد لله وحده

وبعض الذي نهوى وشئناه قد بدا

If this is sound, then praise belongs to God alone,

and part of what we hoped and wished has appeared.

وإن عميت فالأمر لله وحده

وقد بذل الأسباب من كان أوحدا

If I go blind, the matter belongs to God alone;

he who was peerless has exhausted every means—

إمام الهدى عبد العزيز أخو الندى

ومردي العدى ممن عتى أو تمردا

the imam of guidance, Abd al-Aziz, brother of bounty,

destroyer of foes who rebelled or defied.

له في سماء المجد شمس منيرة

وفي الجود قد أربى على من تجودا

In glory’s heaven he has a radiant sun,

and in generosity he has surpassed all who ever gave.

فما كان كعباً في السماحة مثله

ولا حاتم الطائي من كان أجودا

Ka‘b, for all his liberality, was never his equal,

nor was Hatim al-Ta’i—who could be more generous?

وفي الحرب مقدام هزبر غشمشم

وفي السلم فياض بما قد تعودا

In war, he is a bold and formidable lion;

in peace, unstinting with the bounty he customarily gives.

فقل للذي قد رام شأو مرامه

تأخر فلن يجعل لك الله مصعدا

Say to the one who seeks to reach his lofty mark:

‘Stand back—God will grant you no ascent.’

فتذرك من شاءوا الإمام مآثراً

ومجداً سما فخراً به وتفردا

Let others relate the imam’s noble exploits

and a glory that towered proudly, unique.

بنى للعلى مجداً رفيعاً مشيداً

واتهم في كل الأمور وأنجدا

He built for high honor a lofty, towering glory,

and in every undertaking brought it to completion and success.

فلست بمحص بعض أوصاف مجده

ولا بعض ما ابدى وأجدى ومهدا

I cannot number even some of his glory’s attributes,

nor some of what he has produced, bestowed, and prepared.

هو البحر غص فيه إذا كان ساكناً

على الدر وأحذره إذا كان مزبدا

He is the sea: dive into him when he is calm

for pearls, but beware him when he foams.

وقد قيل هذا في أناس تخلفت

مناقبهم عما استفاد وأوفدا

This has been said of people whose

virtues fell short of all he gained and conferred;

فكان أحق الناس بالمدح التي

يراه بهن المادحون ممجدا

so he is the worthiest of all people of the praises

with which eulogists declare a man glorious.

وكيف وقد كانت مآثر مجده

مآثر آباء حواهن تلدا

How could it be otherwise, when the exploits of his glory

are ancestral exploits handed down?

هو المجد وابن المجد والمجد أصله

وما المجد إلا ما تأزر وارتد

He is glory, glory’s son, and glory is his root;

glory is only what he wears as robe and mantle.

فهذا الذي نبدي على أن مجدهم

ومقدارهم أعلى وأسنى وأصعدا

This is what we disclose, though his forebears’ glory

and stature rise higher, loftier, more exalted.

ولولا سرور الألمعي بكلما

نسربه ما قلت دراً منضدا

Were it not for the perceptive man’s joy in everything

that delights us, I would not have strung these pearls.

وليس عن المحبوب سر محجب

بما سرنا أو ضرنا أو تلددا

No secret concerning the beloved can remain veiled,

whether it gladdens us, harms us, or threatens us.

على أنه الساعي بكل فضيلة

ومنقبة يسمو بها من تمجدا

For he strives after every virtue

and distinction by which whoever seeks glory may rise.

وأبلغ هداك الله مني تحية

إلى الشيخ عبد الله من كان أوحدا

Convey—may God guide you—my greeting

to Sheikh Abd Allah, the peerless one,

إمام هدى يدعو إلى الله دهره

وينشر دين الله والعلم والهدى

an imam of guidance who calls to God throughout his life

and spreads God’s religion, knowledge, and right guidance.

له مجلس بالعلم يزهر دائماً

فكان لباغي الخير والعلم موردا

He has an assembly ever radiant with learning,

a wellspring for every seeker of goodness and knowledge.

لعمري لقد أنكرت نفسي لفقده

فأصبحت مشغوفاً به متوجدا

By my life, I scarcely knew myself when I lost him;

I awoke consumed with longing for him.

رعى الله من أحيا بدرس علومه

دوارس لولا درسه كن همدا

May God preserve the one who, by teaching his sciences, revived

disciplines that, but for his lessons, would have lain dead.

وأبلغه تسليماً على البعد والنوى

وإن كان لا يجيد لدى من توجدا

Convey to him my greetings across distance and separation,

though greetings avail little to one who burns with longing;

وإخوانه الغر الميامين كلهم

وأبناؤه الزاكين أصلاً ومحتدا

and to all his noble, blessed brothers,

and his sons, pure in root and lineage;

ومن كان ذا ودٍ محبٍ وناصح

صديق صدوق صادة الود سرمدا

and to every loving, sincere well-wisher,

a true friend, truthful, constant in affection.

وأزكى صلاة الله ثم سلامه

على السيد المعصوم من كان أمجدا

And God’s purest blessings, followed by His peace,

upon the protected Master, the most glorious,

وأصحابه والآل مع كل تابعٍ

وتابعهم ما ناح طير وغردا

and upon his Companions, his House, and every follower;

may these blessings follow them as long as any bird laments or sings.