1. دَعاك أمير المؤمنين وإنَّما

    دعا مسرعاً فيما يروم مسابقا

    The Commander of the Faithful summoned you, and only

    in haste did he summon, racing toward what he seeks.

  2. فلَبيْتَه لمَّا دعاك ولم تجد

    عن السَّير في تلك الإجابة عائقا

    So you answered him when he summoned you, and found no

    obstacle to setting forth in that response.

  3. وقدمت للترحال عَزْمَتك الَّتي

    تحثّ إلى المجد الجياد السوابقا

    And for departure you readied that resolve of yours

    that spurs the foremost steeds toward glory.

  4. على ثقة منه بما أنتَ أهلهُ

    وما كانَ إلاَّ في جنابك واثقا

    With his confidence in what you are worthy of,

    and his trust was in your person alone.

  5. فكان إذا ما اعتلَّ أمرٌ بملكه

    رآك طبيباً للممالك حاذقا

    So whenever an affair in his kingdom fell ill,

    he saw you as a skilled physician to the realms.

  6. برأيٍ إذا هزَّ الأسنَّة واخز

    وعزم إذا استلّ الظبا كانَ فالقا

    With judgment that pierces when it brandishes spearheads,

    and resolve that cleaves when it draws the blades.

  7. نظرت بنور الله في كل غامض

    بعيد المدى حتَّى عرفت الحقائقا

    You looked by God's light into every obscure matter,

    far-reaching, until you discerned the truths.

  8. وفيك مع الإقدام واليأس في الوغى

    خلائق ما زالت تَسُرُّ الخلائقا

    And in you, alongside daring and despair in battle,

    are qualities that never cease to delight all creatures.

  9. صلابة دين ترغم الشرك أنفه

    وتخذل أعلاجاً له وبطارقا

    Firmness of faith that rubs polytheism's nose in the dust,

    and thwarts its foreign unbelievers and patricians.

  10. يسرّ بها من كانَ بالله مؤمناً

    ويكبت فيها ملحداً ومنافقا

    By it, whoever believes in God is gladdened,

    and through it a heretic and a hypocrite are subdued.

  11. ولا غرو من كانَ الفتوح بوجهه

    إذا استفتح الإسلام فيه المغالقا

    And no wonder, since victories attend his countenance,

    when Islam seeks through him to unlock closed gates.

  12. إذا النقع وأمسى عارضاً متراكماً

    وأرسلتِ الشهبُ المنايا صواعقا

    When the battle-dust becomes a densely piled cloud,

    and meteors send deaths forth as thunderbolts,

  13. تحيل نهار الحرب أسْود حالكاً

    وسوسن أوراق الحديث شقائقا

    turning war's daylight pitch-black,

    and the lilies of the pages of discourse into red anemones.

  14. فكم ناطق بالكفر أصبح أخرساً

    وكم أخرسٍ بالشعر أصبح ناطقا

    How many a speaker of unbelief has become mute,

    and how many a mute has found a voice through poetry.

  15. جزيت جزاء الخير عن أهل بلدةٍ

    ببأسك تكفيها الخطوب الطوارقا

    May you be rewarded with goodness on behalf of a city's people;

    by your might you shield it from calamities that strike by night.

  16. غَرَسْت من الإحسان فينا أيادياً

    فأنْبَتْنَ بالذكر الجميل حدائقا

    You planted favors of kindness among us,

    so through fair remembrance they brought forth gardens.

  17. أجَدْتَ نظام الملك حتَّى كأنَّه

    من الحسن أضحى لؤلؤاً متناسقا

    You perfected the ordering of the realm, until it seemed

    in its beauty to have become harmoniously arranged pearls.

  18. وفارقتنا بالكرة منا ولم تزل

    حميد السجايا مقبلاً ومفارقا

    And you left us on your return from our midst, and never ceased

    to be praiseworthy in character, arriving and departing.

  19. فحقَّ لبغداد البكاء وكيف لا

    وقد فارقت فخر الوزارة نامقا

    So Baghdad has every right to weep—and how could it not,

    when it has parted from Namiq, the pride of the ministry?

  20. وكنت بنا بَرًّا رؤوفاً ووالياً

    عطوفاً وبحراً بالمكارم دافقا

    And you were kind and compassionate toward us, and a governor

    tenderhearted, and a sea overflowing with noble deeds.

  21. وعوّدنا منك الجميل عوايداً

    إذا عَدَّتْ العادات كن خوارقا

    And your kindness accustomed us to practices

    that, in the reckoning of customs, were wonders.

  22. فدبَّرت منا رقعة ما تدبرت

    وكم فرزنت أيديك فينا بيادقا

    So you managed our chessboard, which had not been thought through,

    and how many pawns among us your hands promoted to viziers!

  23. وفيما أراك الله إصلاح شأنها

    سَدَدْتَ على أهل الفساد الطرائقا

    And in what God showed you of setting its affairs right,

    you barred the paths to the corrupt.

  24. تروق وتصفو إنْ كدرت سريرة

    فلو كنت ماءً كنت إذ ذاك رائقا

    You are pleasing and clear if an inner nature grows turbid;

    so, were you water, you would then be limpid.

  25. فسرْ في أمانِ الله من كلّ طارق

    مهمٍ فلا تخشى مع الأمن طارقا

    So travel in God's protection from every night visitor

    who brings distress; in safety, you fear no night visitor.

  26. إلى ملك تخطى لديه بحظوة

    بنيت بها فوق النجوم سرادقا

    To a king before whom you advance in favor,

    with which you built a pavilion above the stars.

  27. تكون بمرآى من علاه ومسمع

    فتتخذ البشرى رفيقاً موافقا

    You will be within sight and hearing of his exalted majesty,

    so you will take glad tidings as a congenial companion.

  28. إذا كنت كنت من سلطاننا بمكانة

    فقد أمِنَ السلطان فيك البوائقا

    When you are—as you are—held in esteem by our sultan,

    then in you the sultan is secure against calamities.

  29. عليك ولا ريب بذاك اعتماده

    كما اعتمد المرءُ الجبالَ الشواهقا

    On you—of that there is no doubt—rests his reliance,

    as a person relies upon towering mountains.

  30. عزمت إليه بالرحيل وطالما

    قطعت إلى الأمر المهم العوائقا

    You resolved to depart for him, and many a time

    you cut through obstacles to reach an urgent task.

  31. وشاقك منه حضرة ملكية

    وما كنتما إلاَّ مشوقاً وشائقا

    And his royal presence stirred your longing,

    and you two were but one yearning and one inspiring yearning.

  32. ستُرزق من ثمَّ السعادة كلَّها

    فَتَحْمد رزاقاً وتشكر خالقا

    From there you will be granted happiness in full,

    so you will praise the Provider and thank the Creator.

  33. وفيك مع الإقدام والبأس سطوة

    تعيدُ فؤادَ الدهر بالرعب خافقا

    And in you, alongside daring and valor, is a might

    that makes Time's heart throb with terror again.

  34. فما وجدا السلطان مثلك ناصحاً

    ولا وجد السلطان مثلك صادقا

    For the sultan has found no counselor like you,

    nor has the sultan found anyone as truthful as you.