1. قلبي لحبِّك دون الخلقِ مخلوق

    وشكره لندى كفّيك مرقوقُ

    My heart was created to love you, to the exclusion of all others.

    And its gratitude is enslaved to the bounty of your hands.

  2. لأنك الحقّ والأملاك باطلَةٌ

    وأنك البدر والدنيا أغاسيق

    For you are truth, while other kings are falsehood,

    And you are the full moon, while the world is deep darkness.

  3. فِداك يا بن معد من غدا وبِه

    عن اتّساعك في أرض العلا ضِيق

    May he be your ransom, O son of Maʿadd, who has come to feel

    Hemmed in by your vastness in the land of glory.

  4. كَفَّاكَ لِلرزقِ مِفتاحانِ قد خُلِقا

    وهُمْ له عن بَني الدّنيا مَغاليقُ

    Your two hands have been made as two keys to sustenance,

    While they are locks that bar it from the sons of the world.

  5. لولاك لم تجِدِ العلياءُ مُنْتَصِراً

    ولم تَقُمْ للنَّدى بينَ الورى سوق

    But for you, glory would find no champion,

    Nor would a market for generosity arise among humankind.

  6. لا تزدهِيك ثيابُ الكِبرِياءِ ولا

    يعتاد حلمَك تشتيتٌ وتفريق

    The robes of grandeur do not make you vain, nor

    Do distraction and division ever beset your forbearance.

  7. تُبَلّ رِيقاً ونارُ الحرب مُسْعَرَةٌ

    فيها إذا جفّتِ الأفواه والرِيق

    Your mouth remains moist while the fire of war is blazing,

    As mouths and saliva run dry in its midst.

  8. في البَأْسِ أنت من المنصورِ مخترَع

    وفي العلا من معز الدين مشقوق

    In valor, you are fashioned from al-Mansur,

    And in glory, cleft from Muʿizz al-Din.

  9. فالفخر عندك موروث ومُكْتَسَب

    وعند غيرك مكذوب ومسروق

    Thus your glory is both inherited and earned,

    While in others it is fabricated and stolen.

  10. ومدحُك الصِدقُ لازورٌ ولا خُدَعٌ

    وعند غيرِك تلفيق وتمليق

    And praise of you is truth, neither falsehood nor deceit,

    While for others it is fabrication and flattery.

  11. لم يعطِك الله إذ أعطاك حِكمته

    إلا وأنت بما أعطاك محقوق

    When God gave you His wisdom, He did not bestow it on you

    Without your being worthy of what He gave you.

  12. فانظر قصائد من أعلاه مجدُك هل

    في مدحِهِ لك عيب أو تفاريق

    So examine the poems of one whom your glory has exalted: is there

    Any flaw or incoherence in his praise of you?