1. إِن ثَنَت عَنكُمُ الخُطوبُ عِناني

    فَفُؤادي لَدَيكُمُ وَجَناني

    If calamities have turned my reins away from you,

    then my heart and soul remain with you.

  2. وَاِشتِياقي لِرَبعِكُم لا بِوَجدي

    بِغَوانٍ بِهِ وَلا بِأَغاني

    And my longing for your dwelling is not born of my passion

    for beauties there, nor for songs.

  3. ما هَوينا مَغنى الدِيارِ وَلَكِن

    بِالمَعاني نَهيمُ لا بِالمَغاني

    We did not love the site of the dwellings; rather,

    we are enraptured by meanings, not by dwelling-places.

  4. مَن مُعينُ الصُبَّ الكَئيبِ عَلى الشَو

    قِ إِذا باتَ لِلهُمومِ يُعاني

    Who will help the sorrowful lover bear

    his longing, when he spends the night struggling with cares?

  5. وَمَنِ المُبلِغُ الأَحِبَّةِ أَنّي

    طيبُ عَيشي مِن بَعدِهِم ما هَناني

    And who will tell the beloved ones that

    the sweetness of my life has brought me no joy since their departure?

  6. يا نَسيمَ الشِمالِ إِن جُزتَ بِالشَه

    باءِ قَبِّل عَنّي ثَرى السُلطانِ

    O north wind, if you pass through

    al-Shahba, kiss the sultan's soil on my behalf.

  7. وَأَبلِغِ المَلكَ ناصِرَ الدينِ شَوقي

    ثُمَّ قَبِّل ثَراهُ بِالأَجفانِ

    And convey my longing to King Nasir al-Din,

    then kiss his soil with your eyelids.

  8. عُمَرَ المالِكَ الَّذي عَمَرَ المَج

    دَ وَقَد كانَ دائِرَ البُنيانِ

    Umar, the sovereign who rebuilt

    glory, though its structure had lain in ruins;

  9. وَالمَليكُ الَّذي يَرى المَنَّ إِشراَ

    كاً بِوَصفِ المُهَيمِنِ المَنّانِ

    and the sovereign who considers reminders of his favors

    a sharing in the attribute of the Guardian, the Bestower;

  10. وَالجَوادُ السَمِحُ الَّذي مَرَجَ ال

    بَحرَينِ مِن راحَتَيهِ يَلتَقِيانِ

    and the generous, open-handed one who let loose the

    two seas from his palms, meeting together;

  11. مَلِكٌ يَعتِقُ العَبيدَ مِنَ الرِقِّ

    وَيَشرِيَ الأَحَرارَ بِالإِحساِن

    a king who frees slaves from bondage

    and buys free men with his kindness,

  12. بِسَجايا رَضِعنَ دَرَّ المَعالي

    وَمَزايا رَضِعنَ دَرَّ المَعاني

    through qualities that suckled the milk of lofty deeds,

    and virtues that suckled the milk of meanings.

  13. فَلِباغي عَصاهُ حُمرُ المَنايا

    وَلِباغي عَطاهُ بيضُ الأَماني

    So for the seeker of his rod, crimson deaths;

    and for the seeker of his bounty, white hopes.

  14. يَأَخا الجودِ لَيسَ مِثلُكَ مَوجو

    داً وَإِن كانَ بادِياً لِلعِيانِ

    O brother of generosity, none like you exists,

    even if one appears plainly to the eye.

  15. أَنتَ بَينَ الأَنامِ لَفظَةُ إِجما

    عٍ عَلَيها اِتِّفاقُ قاصٍ وَدانِ

    Among mankind, you are a word of consensus,

    on which those far and near agree.

  16. ذَلِكَ الرَتبَةُ الَّتي قَصَّرَت دو

    نَ عُلاها النِسرانِ وَالفَرقَدانِ

    That is the rank whose lofty heights

    the two Eagle stars and the two Farqad stars cannot reach.

  17. وَالحُسامُ الَّذي إِذا صَلَّتِ البيضِ

    وَصَلَت في البيضِ وَالأَبدانِ

    And the keen sword that, when the bright blades ring

    and pierce helmets and bodies,

  18. قامَ في حَومَةِ الهِياجِ خَطيباً

    قائِلاً كُلُّ مَن عَليها فانِ

    stands in the thick of battle as an orator,

    declaring, 'All who are upon it perish.'

  19. وَاليَراعُ الَّذي يَزيدُ بِقَطعِ الرا

    سِ نُطقاً مِن بَعدِ شَقِّ اللِسانِ

    And the reed pen whose speech grows through the cutting of its

    head, after its tongue has been split.

  20. لَم تَمَسَّ التُرابَ نَعلاكَ إِلّا

    حَسَدَتهُ مَعاقِدُ التيجانِ

    Your sandals never touched the dust without

    the heads that bear crowns envying it.

  21. شِيَمٌ لَم تَكُن لِغَيرِكَ إِلّا

    لِمَعالي شَقيقِكَ السُلطانِ

    Virtues found in none other than you,

    save in the lofty virtues of your brother, the sultan.

  22. جَمَعَ اللَهُ فيكُما الحُسنَ وَالإِح

    سانَ إِذ كُنتُما رَضيعَي لِبانِ

    God united in you both beauty and

    beneficence, when you were sucklings of the same milk.

  23. وَتَجارَيتُما إِلى حَلبَةِ المَجدِ

    فَوافَيتُما كَمُهرَي رِهانِ

    And you raced each other toward glory's racecourse,

    then arrived like two colts in a race.

  24. ثُمَّ عاضَدتَهُ فَكُنتَ لَديهِ

    مِثلَ هارونَ في فَتى عِمرانِ

    Then you supported him, and stood beside him

    as Aaron stood beside the son of Imran.

  25. فَتَهَنِّ العيدَ السَعيدَ وَإِن كا

    نَ لِكُلِّ الأَعيادِ مِنكَ التَهاني

    So enjoy the joyous feast, although

    every feast receives its felicitations from you.

  26. وَاِقضِ عُمرَ الزَمانِ صَوماً وَفِطراً

    خالِداً في مَسَرَّةٍ وَأَمانِ

    And spend time's whole lifespan fasting and breaking the fast,

    everlasting in joy and safety.

  27. لَيسَ لي في صِفاتِ مَجدِكَ فَخرٌ

    هِيَ أَبدَت لَنا بَديعَ المَعاني

    I claim no credit for describing your glory;

    those qualities revealed wondrous meanings to us.

  28. كُلَّما أَبدَعَت سَجاياكَ مَعنىً

    نَظَمَت فِكرَتي وَخَطَّ بَنانِ

    Whenever your qualities created a meaning,

    my thought shaped it into verse, and my fingers wrote it.

  29. لا تَسُمني بِالشِعرِ شُكرَ أَيادي

    كَ فَما لي بِشُكرِهِنَّ يَدانِ

    Do not task me with thanking your favors in verse,

    for my two hands cannot give them due thanks.

  30. لَو نَظَمتُ النجومَ شِعراً كَما كا

    فيتُ عَنِ بَعضِ ذَلِكَ الإِحسانِ

    If I strung the stars into verse,

    I would [not] repay even part of that beneficence.