ما بالها تلك الظباء نراها

حارت فتاة القوم في معناها

What ails those gazelles we behold?

The tribe's maiden is bewildered by their meaning.

أرياض زهر أشرقت وتفتحت

أكمامها فتشوقت لرباها

Were they flower gardens that shone and opened

Their calyxes, so she yearned for their hills?

أم لاح غصن البان اذ هز الصبا

أعطافه متماثلا فسباها

Or did a bān-tree branch appear as the east wind shook

Its sides as it stood tall, and so captivate her?

لا بل بدا منها التفات زانه

من جيدها عقد وخط لماها

No—rather, she turned, a movement graced

By the necklace on her neck and the outline of her dusky lips.

فرأت أكف ذوي الكما مشيرة

بأصابع فاستسمعت أذناها

Then she saw the hands of men of excellence pointing

With fingers; her ears then strained to listen.

فاذا الهزار على الغصون مغنياً

بصفات من فيه الكمال تناهى

And behold, the nightingale was singing upon the branches

Of the qualities of him in whom perfection reached its utmost.

ذاك المشير المرتضى عند الورى

حاوي المكارم حائز أسماها

That is the marshal, esteemed among humankind,

Possessor of noble virtues, attaining their loftiest.

شهم له فوق الثريا منصب

بغي العدا من صيته يتناهى

A gallant man whose rank is above the Pleiades;

His renown brings the enemies' aggression to an end.

جمع الفضائل والمحامد واكتسى

ثوب المهابة والعلوم حواها

He gathered virtues and praiseworthy deeds, and donned

The robe of awe, and mastered the sciences.

جعل الكياسة والمروءة ديدنا

وبذلك الخلق اللطيف تباهى

He made discernment and noble conduct his constant habit,

And gloried in that gracious character.

ذو همة محمية ببسالة

وسياسة عرف القرين عناها

A man of resolve safeguarded by valor,

And statecraft whose rigors his rival has known,

في خوضه لج الخطوب بعزمه

عند اشباك حروبها ووغاها

As he plunges resolutely into the depths of adversity,

Amid the tangle of its wars and its battle din.

خرق العوائد لا يطاق نضاله

من كفه حسم العدا وفناها

He breaks customary bounds; none can withstand his combat.

From his hand come the overthrow and annihilation of his foes.

فاق الأولى من قبله قد عينوا

لرياسة سكن الهنا بفناها

He surpassed those appointed before him

To a leadership in whose courtyard joy has settled.

زان الولاية حاميا لحدودها

فجيوشه شبه الليوث تراها

He graced the province, guarding its borders;

And you see his armies resembling lions.

مثل السحاب اذا تشبه سيرها

في ظل رايتها المروع تاها

Their march is like clouds, if you seek a comparison;

Beneath their banner's shade, the frightened man grows proud.

لا سيما ان سل سيفا باتراً

وغدا يحف برعده طرفاها

Especially when he draws a cleaving sword

And begins to wrap their two flanks in his thunder.

فترى لسان الحال منها قائلا

ما البحر ما الامواج ما مبناها

Then you see their silent testimony proclaim:

What is the sea? What are waves? What is their substance?

ما السحب ما الرعد المدمدم ما وما

ما البرق ما النيران ما معناها

What are clouds? What is rumbling thunder? What—and what?

What is lightning? What are fires? What do they mean?

فالرعد من صدماتنا عند الوغى

والبرق من لمع السيوف نراها

For thunder springs from our clashes in battle,

And lightning from the gleam of the swords we see.

والموج من أنهارنا متكون

والسحب نقع غبارنا منشاها

And waves are formed from our rivers,

And clouds have their source in our billowing dust.

عمرت بلاد في جهات طالما

بدم العدو مشيرنا أحياها

Lands have flourished in regions that, time and again,

Our marshal revived with the enemy's blood.

لله در كماله وخصاله

وايامه لله ما أهناها

God bless his perfection and his virtues!

And his days—God be praised, how blissful they are!

بالله ما ابهى الجنود اذا بدت

بسلاحها تصطف في مأواها

By God, how splendid the troops are when they appear,

With their weapons, forming ranks in their quarters!

تدعو بأصوات يلذ سماعها

لمليكنا حصن الورى وحماها

Praying in voices delightful to hear

For our king, mankind's fortress and refuge,

قضب الخلافة ملجأ الاسلام شم

س الملة السمحاء بدر سماها

Sword of the caliphate, refuge of Islam, sun—

—of the tolerant faith, full moon of its sky,

عبد الحميد امام كل موحد

سكن البسيطة موطئاً لثراها

Abd al-Hamid, imam of every monotheist

Who dwells upon the earth, setting foot upon its soil.

غزواته مشهورة وجنوده

عند اللقاء النصر تاج لواها

His campaigns are renowned, and his troops—

At battle, victory is the crown of their banner.

بالملك قام وللاعادي سطوة

كانت أنامل من يحد ذراها

He took up rule while his enemies held might;

His fingertips were the ones to curb its heights.

ذو الظفر والنصر العزيز وكيف لا

وهو الامين على نفائس طاها

Possessed of triumph and mighty victory—and why not,

When he is the trusted guardian of Taha's treasures?

صلى عليه الهنا ما قد غزا

جند حميدي ونال ثناها

May our God bless him whenever war is waged

By a Hamidian army that wins its praise,

او ما تشوق في تغربه فتى

في السجن أضنى نفسه وأذاها

Or as often as a youth yearns far from home,

In prison, wearing out his soul and tormenting it.