1. وجود المعالي يا وجوه المعالمِ

    بفضل عليِّ الشان أعلم عالمِ

    The existence of lofty honors, O foremost figures of distinction,

    knows best the merit of Ali, exalted in rank.

  2. وهل تجهل الأبدان معنى نفوسها

    ولا تعرف الأجفان فضل الصوارم

    And could bodies be ignorant of the meaning of their souls,

    or scabbards fail to know the worth of keen swords?

  3. بماذا يهنَّى وهو جرثومة العلى

    وفيم يهادي وهو كنز العظائم

    With what can he be congratulated, when he is the root of eminence?

    And for what should he receive gifts, when he is a treasury of great deeds?

  4. ومن مثله والفاطمين آله

    ووالده المبعوث من آل هاشم

    And who is his equal, when the Fatimids are his family,

    and his father is the one sent from the house of Hashim?

  5. سما ابنُ عبيد اللَه بالبأس والندى

    وكيد العدى والمركمات الخضارم

    The son of Ubayd Allah rose high through valor and generosity,

    and stratagems against foes, and boundless noble deeds.

  6. وساد بحب العدل والفضل والتقى

    وبغض المعاصي واجتناب المحارم

    And he became preeminent through love of justice, virtue, and piety,

    and hatred of sins and avoidance of forbidden things.

  7. فما كعلي فارس وابن فارس

    ولا كعلي حازم وابن حازم

    For no horseman, himself a horseman's son, is like Ali,

    nor any resolute man, himself a resolute man's son, like Ali.

  8. إذا كانت الدنيا أميرات لم يكن

    أمير لها إلّاه يوم التحاكم

    If the world were princesses, it would have

    no prince but him on the day of arbitration.

  9. براه كحد السيف والسيل ربُّه

    لإحياء مظلومٍ وإعدام ظالم

    His Lord fashioned him like a sword's edge and a torrent,

    to give life to the wronged and put an oppressor to death.

  10. إذا الحادثات السود ألقت ضبابها

    على الناس نحّاها ببيض الصوارم

    When black calamities cast their fog

    over the people, he drives them off with gleaming swords.

  11. وكلل هامات الأكارم بالندى

    وخرَّق لبّات العدى باللهاذم

    And he crowned the heads of noble men with generosity,

    and pierced his enemies' upper chests with sharp spears.

  12. رأيت عليّاً مثلما كان لم يته

    وهل كان إلّا حاكماً وابن حاكم

    I saw Ali as he had always been, never grown conceited;

    and had he ever been anything but a ruler and a ruler's son?

  13. بشوشَ المحيا واسعَ الصدر نائياً

    عن الكبر مهتمّاً بمحو المظالم

    Cheerful of face, broad-hearted, far removed

    from pride, intent on erasing injustices.

  14. رقيق حواشي الطبع لا يعرف الريا

    ولا يتقي في اللَه لومة لائم

    Gentle in every aspect of his nature, knowing no ostentation,

    and fearing no critic's blame in God's cause.

  15. وهل يعتري سوء الغرور سوى امرئٍ

    حديث المعالي أو حديث الدراهم

    And does the evil of conceit afflict anyone but a man

    new to high honors or new to dirhams?

  16. أقيموا لبيت العظم رايات حمدهم

    على كل طودٍ شامخٍ متعاظم

    Raise for the house of al-Azm banners proclaiming their praise

    upon every lofty, towering mountain.

  17. فما مثل بيت العظم بيتٌ معظمٌ

    أعاظمه مذخورةٌ للعظائم

    For no honored house is like the house of al-Azm;

    its great men are held in reserve for great deeds.

  18. كرامٌ إذا ما ضن بالسيل وابلٌ

    همى التبرُ من أكمامهم والبراجم

    Generous men: when a downpour begrudges its torrent,

    gold dust rains from their sleeves and knuckles.

  19. محبتهم فرضٌ على كل عاملٍ

    وبغضهم رفضٌ لدى كل عالم

    Love for them is a duty for every man of action,

    and hatred of them is repudiation in every scholar's eyes.

  20. فأنت ملثُّ الشام بل أنت غوثها

    إذا عصفت فيها رياح الملاحم

    So you are al-Sham's ceaseless rain—nay, you are its succor,

    when the winds of battle rage within it.

  21. وأنت ابن بيت الجود من قبل حاتم

    وأنت وريث المجد من بعد آدم

    And you are a son of the house of generosity, from before Hatim,

    and you are heir to glory handed down since Adam.

  22. وأنت عظيم الشان من قبل رتبةٍ

    حباك بها خير الملوك الأعاظم

    And you were exalted in standing even before the rank

    with which the finest of mighty kings favored you.

  23. وما أنت إلّا خير ناءٍ وحاضرٍ

    وما أنت إلّا خير ماضٍ وقادم

    And you are the finest of all, absent or present,

    and you are the finest of all, past or yet to come.

  24. أفي الشام إلّا مَن أبوك أميره

    وجدك واليه برغم المراغم

    Is there anyone in al-Sham but one whose prince is your father,

    and whose governor is your grandfather, despite the defiant foe?

  25. فسد وافتخر واقبل هدية شاعرٍ

    له رفق محكوم وصولة حاكم

    So rule, take pride, and accept a poet's gift,

    who has a subject's gentleness and a ruler's might.

  26. يؤرخ دم يا حيُّ نجِّح عليَّنا

    أمير أميرَيِّ العلى والمكارم

    He marks the date: “Live on! O Ever-Living, grant success to our Ali,

    the prince of the two princes of eminence and noble virtues.”