معالي الأمور الساميات المعالم

لأهل التقى والجود أهل المكارم

The highest pursuits, with their lofty hallmarks,

belong to the pious and generous, the people of noble deeds.

وبالحزم للأعدا وبالعزم في الوغى

تنال العلا بالمرهفات الصوارم

And with resolve against enemies and determination in battle,

you attain the heights through keen, cutting swords.

وكل معالي الخلتين أخذتها

ونلت ذراها في الخطوب العظائم

You have attained all the heights of both qualities,

and reached their summits amid mighty trials.

وقد فقت أبناء الملوك جميعهم

بجد وإقدام بكل الملاحم

You have surpassed all the sons of kings,

through earnest effort and boldness in every great battle.

يلاحظك الإسعاد أين تيممت

بنودك لا يثنيك لومات لائم

Good fortune watches over you wherever they turn—

your banners; no reproacher's rebukes deter you.

وما قصرت أعداك في الحزم والدهى

وتقليهم أفكارهم للمصادم

Your enemies spared no effort in resolve and cunning,

and their thoughts drive them toward confrontation.

وقد جمعوا جيشاً لهاماً عرمرماً

وصالوا به واستنجدوا كل ظالم

They had mustered a vast, teeming army,

and charged with it, seeking aid from every oppressor.

ولكن دهاهم من دهائك فتكة

بفتيان صدق كالأسود الضراغم

But a deadly stroke of your cunning overtook them,

through true-hearted young warriors, like fierce lions.

وحسن رجاء الله فيما ترومه

بحزم وعزم والوفاء الملازم

And good hope in God for what you seek,

with resolve, determination, and unfailing faithfulness,

وصدق وتدبير وحسن طويةٍ

حللت بها فوق السها والنعائم

and sincerity, planning, and goodness of intent—

through these you took your place above al-Suha and al-Na'a'im.

ولاحظك الإقبال والعز فاستما

لك النصر والإسعاف بين العوالم

Prosperity and honor favored you, and high rose

your victory and succor among all peoples.

وحل بهم ما حل بالناس قبلهم

قديماً من الإدبار عند الملاحم

There befell them what befell people before them,

long ago: reverses in great battles,

لأمر قضاه الله جل جلاله

وليس لأمرٍ حمه من مصادم

by a decree God ordained—exalted is His majesty.

No one can resist a decree He has determined.

فسرت إليهم بالجيوش تقودها

لتفجأهم في غرة بالضياغم

So you marched against them, leading armies,

to surprise them unawares with mighty lions.

لعمري لقد كانوا ليوثاً لدى الوغى

وليس لهم عند اللقا من مقاوم

By my life, they were indeed lions in battle,

with none to withstand them at the encounter.

أبدت بها حضراهمو فتمزقوا

أيادي سبا واستأصلت كل غاشم

You annihilated their townsfolk with them, and they scattered

like the scattered bands of Saba; you uprooted every oppressor.

وولت على الأعقاب حرب وما ارعوت

ولكنهم باءوا بشر الهزائم

Harb turned on its heels, yet did not desist,

but they came away with the worst of defeats.

وحالت على أبناء حائل وقعة

أبحت بها خضراهمو بالصوارم

A battle swept down upon the sons of Ha'il,

in which you laid their flourishing host open to cutting swords.

وقد غودرا في فيضة السر جثما

طعام سباع والنسور الحوائم

Both were left in Faydat al-Sirr, lying motionless,

food for wild beasts and circling vultures.

ووالله ما من وقعة قبلها أتت

عليهم فقد باءوا بإحدى القواصم

By God, no battle before it had ever come

upon them; they suffered one of the crushing blows.

وأخرى ستدهاهم بها في بلادهم

وتفجئهم فيها بأسدٍ ضياغم

And with another you will strike them in their own lands,

surprising them there with fierce lions.

يسومون في الهيجا نفوساً عزيزة

وترخص منهم في حضور المواسم

They offer up precious lives in the fray,

and these grow cheap to them when the gatherings come.

وتستأصل الأعدا بها وتسومهم

بها الخسف والإذلال سوم البهائم

With them you will uproot your enemies and subject them

to abasement and humiliation, driving them like beasts,

بحول الذي فوق السموات عرشه

ويسعدك الإسعاف في كل ظالم

by the power of Him whose throne is above the heavens;

succor will favor you against every oppressor.

فيا من سما مجداً وجوداً وسؤدداً

وحل على هام السها والنعائم

O you who have risen in glory, generosity, and lordship,

and taken your place upon the crowns of al-Suha and al-Na'a'im,

ليهنك يا شمس البلاد وبدرها

بلوغ المنى من كل باغ وغاشم

may you rejoice, O sun of the lands and their full moon,

at attaining your wishes against every aggressor and oppressor.

هنيئاً لك العز المؤثل والعلا

هنيئاً هنيئاً فخرها في العوالم

May your firmly rooted honor and exaltation bring you joy!

Joy, joy in its glory among all peoples!

فهذا هو الفتح الذي جل ذكره

وهذا هو العز الرفيع الدعائم

This is the conquest whose fame is great,

and this the honor with lofty pillars.

فلله من يوم عظيم عصبصب

يشيب النواصي هوله في الملاحم

By God, what a mighty, harrowing day!

Its terror in battle turns forelocks gray.

فشكراً لمن أولاك عزاً ورفعة

ونصراً واسعاً على كل ظالم

So thanks to Him who granted you honor and elevation,

and abundant victory over every oppressor.

فذي وقعة ما مثلها شاع ذكرها

ولا مثلها فيهم أتت بالعظائم

This is a battle whose equal has never won such renown,

nor has its like brought great calamities upon them.

ولا قبلها كانت عليهم فجائع

ولا سامهم من قبلها ذل سائم

Nor had disasters fallen upon them before it,

nor had any tormentor imposed humiliation on them before.

فلا زلت في عز أطيد مؤثل

وأعداك في خفض وذل ملازم

May you ever dwell in firm, deeply rooted honor,

and your enemies in abasement and unceasing humiliation.

ولا زلت وطاء على هامة العدا

لك النقض والإبرام بين العوالم

May you ever trample the heads of your foes,

yours to undo and ratify among all peoples.

ولا زلت كهفاً للعفات ومعقلاً

منيعاً منيفاً في الخطوب العظائم

May you ever be a refuge for seekers of bounty, and a stronghold,

impregnable and lofty amid mighty trials.

وصل على خير الأنام محمد

وأصحابه والآل أهل المكارم

And send blessings upon Muhammad, the best of humankind,

and his companions and family, people of noble deeds,

وأتباعه والتابعين لنهجهم

على سنة المعصوم صفوة آدم

and his followers, and those who follow their path,

in the way of the divinely protected one, the choicest of Adam's line.

طار الكراء وفاض الدمع وانسجما

من فادح حادث بالناس قد دهما

Sleep fled; tears overflowed and streamed,

at a grievous calamity that had assailed the people.

وثلمته فرجت في الدين وانثلمت

لا يستطيع امرءاً سداً لما انثلما

His loss opened a breach in the faith and rent it;

no man can mend what was rent.

بعالم عام في بحر العلوم فلم

يترك لمنتقد قولا ولا كلما

For a scholar who swam in the sea of learning and left

no critic a word or utterance of reproach.

وفاضل حمدت في الناس سيرته

بالحلم فاق على أقرانه فسما

A virtuous man whose conduct among people was praised,

who surpassed his peers in forbearance and rose high.

قد أقفرت وخلت منه الربوع فيا

للعلم فابكوا دماً بل اخضلوا ديما

The dwellings have grown desolate and empty of him—alas

for learning! Weep blood; nay, drench yourselves in steady showers.

وابكوه وارثوه إن كنتم ذوي حزن

وذوي اكتئاب على فدح بكم دهما

Weep for him and lament him, if you bear sorrow,

and grief at a calamity that has struck you.

لله در إمام زاهد ورع

وعالم بنعوت العلم قد وسما

What an excellent imam, ascetic and devout,

a scholar marked by the attributes of knowledge,

ومن فقيه غدا من فقهه علماً

ومنهلاً سلسبيلاً مفعما حكما

and a jurist whose understanding made him a beacon,

and a sweet-flowing spring, brimming with wisdom.

قد زانه الله بالتقوى وسربله

وخصه الله من وحييه فاعتصما

God adorned him with piety and clothed him in it,

and favored him with His two revelations, to which he held fast.

أعني بذلك من طابت أرومته

بقية العلماء السادة القدما

I mean the man of noble stock,

a remnant of the scholars, the masters of old.

ذاك ابن سلطان من شاعت فضائله

محمداً من بفضل العلم قد وسما

That is Ibn Sultan, whose virtues spread far,

Muhammad, distinguished by the excellence of learning.

إني لأرجو له فوزاً ومغفرة

ومنزلاً بجوار الله منتعما

I hope for him triumph and forgiveness,

and a dwelling beside God, amid bliss.

فالله يعليه من فردوسه درجاً

والله يجزيه رضوانه كرما

May God raise him through the ranks of His Firdaws,

and may God generously reward him with His pleasure.

والله يجزيه من حبر برحمته

وفضله خير ما يجزي به العلما

May God reward him, a learned scholar, with His mercy

and grace—the best reward He grants the learned.

حبر تقضت به الأيام وانصرمت

حتى اغتدى رمس بالثرى أرما

A learned scholar whose days passed and ended,

until he became a crumbling grave beneath the soil.

لما نعى موته الناعون أن به

ريب المنون أناخ الرحل فاخترما

When the mourners announced his death—that upon him

death's calamity had laid down its saddle and cut him off—

طاشت حلوم ذوي الألباب وانصدعت

منا القلوب لهذا الخطب إذ عظما

the minds of the wise reeled, and shattered

were our hearts at this calamity, so great it was.

وضافنا بعده هم فأرقنا

وليس عما قضاه الله منهزما

After him, sorrow visited us and kept us sleepless,

and there is no escape from what God has decreed.

إني وقد أظلمت كل البلاد وقد

عم البلاء فأبد القلب مالتما

For me, all the lands have darkened, and

affliction has spread; the heart remains forever unhealed [uncertain wording].

وفاض في الناس هذا الجهل واندرست

معالم العلم حتى غاض وانصرما

This ignorance flooded the people, and effaced were

the landmarks of learning, until it ebbed away and ended,

من فقد كل إمام جهبذ ثقة

قد اعتنى بحماء الشرع فانتضما

through the loss of every discerning, trustworthy imam,

who tended the sanctuary of sacred law, so it stood in order.

كالفاضل الثقة الموهوب تكرمة

فضلاً على الناس بالعلم الذي علما

Like the virtuous, trustworthy man who was granted distinction,

preeminence over people through the knowledge he possessed,

يكنى أبا حسن من طاب محتده

من كان للفضلا في علمهم علما

known as Abu Hasan, of noble lineage,

who was a beacon for the virtuous in their learning.

ونجله الفرد سارت فضائله

مسير ذا الشمس في الأقطار حين سما

And his peerless son, whose virtues traveled

like this sun across the lands when it rose high.

من رام شأو العلا حتى علاه وقد

أعيت مناقبه نثراً ومنتظما

He sought glory's farthest reach until he surpassed it, and

his virtues defied description in prose and ordered verse.

فأظلمت بعدهم أجراؤه وعفت

واستحكم الجهل في الأقطار حين طما

After them, its reaches grew dark and faded [uncertain reading],

and ignorance took firm hold throughout the lands as it overflowed.

ثم الصلاة على المعصوم سيدنا

أزكى البرية بل أزكاهمو ذمما

Then blessings upon the divinely protected one, our master,

the purest of creation—indeed, the purest in fidelity,

والآل والصحب ما هب النسيم وما

طار الكراء وفاض الدمع وانسجما

and his family and companions, as long as the breeze blows and

sleep flees, tears overflow, and stream.