1. لِكُل وَفاء في الغَرام حميدِ

    نجازٌ بِوَعد ناسخٍ لِوَعيدِ

    For every praiseworthy act of faithfulness in love,

    There is fulfillment of a promise that annuls a threat.

  2. وَأنَّى لِجفني أَن يُلِمَّ بِهِ الكرى

    وَفي كَبدي الحرَّى الخدود حَديد

    And how can sleep come to my eyelid,

    While the cheeks are iron in my burning liver?

  3. وَما ذاك إلا من صُدودٍ أحاله

    إِلى سَقمٍ يَسعى لَهُ بمزيد

    And that is only from rejection, which has reduced it

    To sickness, striving to increase it further.

  4. فَلو طاف بي في النَوم وَهوَ محرّمٌ

    عَليّ خَيالٌ جاءَني بعتيد

    If I were visited in sleep—though sleep is forbidden

    To me—by an apparition, it would come bearing something prepared.

  5. على أَنّني لا أَستطيع مِن الجَوى

    نُهوضاً لذي قرب وَلا لبعيد

    Though, from passion's torment, I cannot

    Rise for someone near, or someone far away.

  6. وَعازلتي في حُب لَيلى تَلومني

    وَمثلي لا يُصغي لِلوم بليد

    And she who shuns me blames me for loving Layla,

    And one like me heeds no dullard's blame.

  7. وَتطمع في السلوان مني وَدونه

    مَواقفُ خطب للمحب شَديد

    And she hopes for my forgetting, but barring it are

    Ordeals of a calamity grievous to the lover.

  8. وَما الهَجر عِند العاشِقين بضائر

    لصبٍّ بنبل الغانيات شَهيد

    And estrangement, in lovers' eyes, brings no harm

    To a lovesick man martyred by the beauties' arrows.

  9. وَما كل ما يَبدو من الشرك باعِثاً

    عَلى سلوة في دين كُل مريد

    And not all that appears as idolatry gives rise

    To forgetting love in every devotee's creed.

  10. وَهذا حديث في الصبابة قد رُوِي

    بإسناده عن عامرٍ وَلبيد

    And this is a saying about passionate longing, transmitted

    With its chain of narration, from ʿAmir and Labid.

  11. فخلِّي ملامي عَنكِ في الحب واعدلي

    عَن النصح إِن النُصح غَيرُ مُفيد

    So leave off reproaching me for love, and turn away

    From counsel: counsel is of no use.

  12. وَإني على حُلو التقاضي ومرّه

    لراضٍ بما يرضاه كُل رَشيد

    And through the sweetness and bitterness of seeking my due,

    I am surely content with what every discerning person approves.

  13. فانِّيَ لا أَبغي وَلو سَفَكوا دَمي

    خلوَّ فؤادي مِن بنات زَبيد

    For I do not seek—even if they shed my blood—

    To empty my heart of Zabid's daughters.

  14. وَلا أَشتكي ما بي لصدّ ولا خنىً

    وَلا لسهاد قاتل ومبيد

    Nor do I complain of what ails me through rejection or abuse,

    Nor through sleeplessness that kills and destroys.

  15. وَلكنني أَخفي على الناس صبوتي

    وَأرمي بِشُهب الصَبر كُلَّ مَريد

    But I hide my longing from people,

    And pelt every rebel with patience's meteors.

  16. وَلا أنثني في كل حال عَن الثَنا

    عَلى الصَدر خَير الدين خَير عَميد

    Nor in any circumstance do I turn from praising

    The chief minister Khayr al-Din, the finest leader.

  17. هُوَ الكَوكَب الأَسنى المُضيء بدولة

    يلقِّبه سلطانُها بِوَحيد

    He is the brightest star, shining in a realm

    Whose sultan calls him "Peerless."

  18. هُوَ العالم السامي عَلى كل عاقلٍ

    برأيٍ جَليلٍ في الأُمور سَديد

    He is the scholar who rises above every intelligent person

    With lofty judgment, sound in affairs.

  19. هُوَ الحازم الشَهم الَّذي سيف عرفه

    حَمى في حِمى أَركان كُل مشيد

    He is the resolute, magnanimous man whose sword of kindness

    Has guarded, within a sanctuary, the pillars of every lofty edifice.

  20. وَجاد عَلى قاصٍ ودانٍ مِن الوَرى

    بِبحر نَوال وافر وَمديد

    And he was generous to people far and near,

    With a sea of bounty, abundant and vast.

  21. وَمَنبع هذا البَحر مِنه بتونس

    جَرى كَسحاب أَو كَخيل بريد

    And this sea's source, from him in Tunis,

    Flowed like clouds, or like the steeds of the post.

  22. فعمَّ جَميع الأَرض شَرقاً وَمَغرِباً

    بِصالح زَرع يَزدَهي بِحَصيد

    So it covered all the earth, east and west,

    With good crops, resplendent in their harvest.

  23. وَأَيد ملك الصادق الوعد بِالَّذي

    كَساه وَقاراً رَغم أَنف عَنيد

    And he strengthened the rule of al-Sadiq, true to his promise, with what

    Clothed it in dignity, despite an obstinate foe.

  24. فَيا بَطَلاً مِنهُ حَباني بِطالع

    سَعيد عَلى طُول الزَمان حَميد

    So, O hero, from whom I was granted a rising star,

    Fortunate and praiseworthy throughout all time.

  25. لَكَ السَعد إني في مَديحك أَوّلٌ

    وَلَست بثان في اِنتِقاء قَصيد

    May good fortune be yours! In praising you I am first,

    And not second in selecting verse.

  26. وَنَظمي وَنَثري قَد وَقفتهما عَلى

    ثَناك بإجماعٍ عَليك أَكيد

    And my verse and prose I have dedicated to

    Your praise, with firm resolve concerning you.

  27. وَوَصيت أَخداني بِذاك وَعترتي

    وَسائر أَولادي وَكُل حَفيد

    And I have enjoined this upon my close friends and my kin,

    And all my children and every grandchild.

  28. وَما بغيتي إِلّا رضاك وَذمة

    بِها يبلغ الأَوطارَ كُلُّ وَليد

    My aim is only your approval and a pledge of protection

    Through which every child attains his desires.

  29. وَمَن كانَ مَنسوباً إِليك وَقَد سَما

    بِحُسن اِمتِداح في علاك فَريد

    And whoever is affiliated with you and has risen

    Through fine, peerless praise of your eminence

  30. فَلا ينظم الأَشعار إِلّا تأدباً

    وَمَجداً بِهِ يَزداد قَدر عَبيد

    Composes poems only out of courtesy,

    And for glory by which servants' standing grows.

  31. كَما ازداد مَجدي بامتداحك شهرة

    وَرفعة مَغبوط بحلية جيد

    Just as my glory has grown, through praising you, in renown

    And the eminence of one envied for an ornament about his neck.

  32. فَعش حامياً لِلدين وَالملك طاوياً

    بِنَشر لِواء النَصر ذكرَ طَريد

    So live on, guarding faith and kingdom, folding away

    An outcast's memory by unfurling victory's banner.

  33. وَقابل سَفيراً مِن بِلاد بَعيدة

    يَهنّي بِعام لِلسُرور جَديد

    And receive an envoy from distant lands,

    Who offers congratulations on a new year of joy,

  34. وَبَين يَدي علياك يشدو مؤرخاً

    لِعامك خَير الدين عيد سَعيد

    And before Your Highness sings to mark the date:

    For your year, Khayr al-Din, a happy feast!