1. اِسعَد سَعِدتَ بساعة التّحويلِ

    وبقاءِ ملكٍ في الأنامِ طويلِ

    Rejoice—may you be blessed at the hour of transition,

    And with a reign long enduring among humankind.

  2. وإذا قدمتَ على المسرّةِ فليكنْ

    ذاك القدوم لنا بغير رحيلِ

    And when you arrive in joy, let

    That arrival be ours without departure.

  3. وإذا دخلتَ إلى رباعك كان ذي

    ياك الدّخولُ لديك خيرَ دخولِ

    And when you enter your dwellings, may that

    Entry be for you the finest of entries.

  4. قد آن أن تحظى الأسرّةُ منك بالس

    سكنى كما حَظِيَتْ ظهورُ خيولِ

    The time has come for couches to be favored with your

    Stay, as the backs of steeds have been.

  5. دعْ منزلاً لا أهلَ فيه ولا به

    وأقمْ لنا بالمنزل المأهولِ

    Leave a dwelling with no folk within it or about it,

    And stay for us in the inhabited home.

  6. لو تستطيع منازلٌ فارقتها

    وحللتَ فيها اليومَ أيَّ حلولِ

    If the dwellings you left were able—

    And today you have settled in them, and what a settling!—

  7. لَسَعتْ إليك تشوّقاً ولأوْسَعَت

    يُمناك من ضمٍّ ومن تقبيلِ

    They would hasten toward you in longing and lavish

    Embraces and kisses upon your right hand.

  8. ولقد رأيتُ بخاطري وبناظري

    في غابك المرهوب خيرَ شبولِ

    And indeed, in my mind and with my eye, I have seen

    In your dreaded thicket the finest lion cubs.

  9. الشمسُ أنتَ وهمْ نجومٌ حولَها

    أقسمن أن لا رُعْننا بأُفولِ

    You are the sun, and they are stars around it;

    They have sworn not to frighten us by setting.

  10. لولا شهادتُهمْ عليك لكنتَ في

    ما بيننا حقّاً بغير دليلِ

    Were it not for their testimony to you, you would be

    A truth among us without proof.

  11. إنْ ينحفوا لصباً فقد جثموا عُلىً

    ولهمْ بفضل الأصل كلُّ عَبولِ

    Though youth makes them slender, they have already crouched upon heights,

    And by virtue of their stock, all robustness is theirs.

  12. أيُّ البدور وقد تبدّى طالعاً

    من قبلِ تَمٍّ ليس بالمهزولِ

    Which full moon, appearing as it rises

    Before its fullness, is not slender?

  13. زِينَتْ علاك بنور أوْجههمْ كما

    زين الجواد بغُرّةٍ وحُجولِ

    Your eminence is adorned with the radiance of their faces, as

    A noble steed is adorned with a blaze and white stockings.

  14. لهمُ القبول من المحاسن كلِّها

    والحسنُ مطرُوحٌ بغير قبولِ

    Among all fair qualities, charm is theirs,

    And beauty without charm is cast aside.

  15. ما فيهمُ إلّا الّذي هو صارمٌ

    ماضي الشَّبا ذو رَوْنَقٍ مصقولِ

    None among them is other than a cutting sword,

    Keen-edged, bearing a polished luster.

  16. إنْ كان أُغْمِدَ برهةً فَلِسَلِّهِ

    والمغمدُ المرجوّ كالمسلولِ

    If it has been sheathed awhile, it is meant to be drawn;

    And the sheathed sword on which hopes rest is like one drawn.

  17. عبقوا بِنَشر الملك وسط مهودهمْ

    وبغايةِ التّعظيم والتّبجيلِ

    They were fragrant with kingship's scent in their cradles,

    And with the utmost veneration and honor.

  18. فهمُ غصونٌ لا ذَوَيْن على مدَى

    مرّ الزّمان ولا دنتْ لذبولِ

    For they are boughs—may they never wither through

    Time's passage, nor ever draw near to wilting.

  19. لا تختشِ ما عشتَ بادرةَ العِدى

    فكثيرهمْ من مكرهمْ كقليلِ

    Do not fear, as long as you live, the enemies' sudden attack;

    For their multitude, for all their cunning, is like a handful.

  20. وَاِبعثْ إلى معطيك كلَّ إدراةٍ

    من دعوةٍ مسموعةٍ برسولِ

    And send to Him who grants you every bounty

    A messenger: a prayer that will be heard.

  21. إنّ الّذي أعطى المُنى فيما مَضى

    يُعطيك في آتيك فوقَ السُّولِ

    Indeed, He who granted wishes in the past

    Will give you in your future more than you ask.

  22. لك من مَعوناتِ الإلهِ ونصرهِ

    في الرَّوعِ أيُّ أسِنَّةٍ ونصولِ

    From God's help and His support you have,

    In terror, such spearheads and blades!

  23. ولقد أقول لمن أراه يخيفني

    ويسدّ عن طرقِ الرّجاء سبيلي

    And indeed I say to him I see frightening me

    And barring my way to the paths of hope:

  24. دعني وعاداتِ الإله فإنّني

    لا أترك المعلومَ للمجهولِ

    Leave me with God's accustomed ways, for I

    Do not abandon the known for the unknown.

  25. أوَ ما رأيتَ اللّهَ لما ضاقتِ ال

    أرجاءُ كيف أتى بكلّ جميلِ

    Have you not seen how God, when the

    Confines tightened, brought every good thing?

  26. وأنَا الّذي أهوى هواك ولا أُرى

    إلّا بحيثُ تقيل فيه مَقيلي

    And I am he who cherishes your love; I am seen

    Only where you rest at noon—there is my resting place.

  27. وأنا الجوادُ فإنْ سئلتُ تحوّلاً

    عن دار ودّك كنتُ جِدَّ بخيلِ

    And I am generous; yet if I were asked to move

    From the abode of your love, I would be utterly miserly.

  28. حوشيتَ أن يُعنى سواك بخاطري

    أو أنْ أجرّر في ذراه ذيولي

    May you be spared my giving thought to anyone else,

    Or my trailing my hems within his shelter.

  29. وإذا بقيتَ مملَّكاً ومسلَّماً

    فقد اِرتقيتَ إلى ذُرا مأمولي

    And if you remain enthroned and safe,

    Then you have ascended to the heights of my hopes.

  30. خذها على عجلٍ فإنْ قصّرتُها

    فبقدرِ ما أسلفتَ من تطويلي

    Take it in haste; if I have shortened it,

    It is in proportion to my lengthy praise already offered.

  31. لي في الثّناءِ على علاك قصائدٌ

    كالشّمس تدخل دارَ كلّ قبيلِ

    I have odes in praise of your eminence,

    Like the sun, entering every tribe's dwelling.

  32. طبّقن شرقاً في البلاد ومغرباً

    ولهنّ في القِيعان كلُّ ذميلِ

    They have overspread the lands, east and west,

    And theirs, across the plains, is every swift, smooth trot.

  33. وسكنّ ألْبابَ الرّجال وحيثما

    كان القريض إليه غيرَ وَصولِ

    And they have dwelt in men's minds, and wherever

    Verse could not reach.