1. نَعَمْ ما لهذا الأمر غيرك صالحُ

    وإنْ قيل هلْ من صالحٍ قيل صالحُ

    Yes, no one but you is fit for this task.

    And if asked, 'Is there a worthy man?' the answer is 'Salih.'

  2. سَعَيْتَ إلى نيل العُلى غيرَ كادحٍ

    وغيرك يسعى للعلى وهو كادح

    You strove to attain the heights without toil,

    And another strives for the heights, laboring hard.

  3. وتاجرت للمجد الَّذي أنت أهلُه

    وأنْتَ بهاتيك التجارة رابح

    And you traded for the glory of which you are worthy,

    And in that trade you reap a profit.

  4. فَهُنِّيتَ من بين الشيوخ بخِلْعَةٍ

    شذاها بأقطار العراقين فائح

    So among the sheikhs you were congratulated on a robe of honor,

    Whose fragrance wafts through the regions of the two Iraqs.

  5. مطارُ فخار طار في الأرض صيتُه

    فأنْتَ مقيمٌ وهو في الأرض سائح

    A flight of glory, whose fame has flown across the earth;

    So you remain in place, while it roams across the earth.

  6. بعلياك قد شدّ الوزارة أزْرَها

    وزيرٌ لأبواب الأبوّة فاتح

    Through your eminence, the ministry's strength was bolstered

    By a minister who opens the gates of fatherly care.

  7. وإنَّ مشيراً قد أشار بما أرى

    مشيرٌ لعمري في الحقيقة ناصح

    Indeed, a counselor who recommended what I see

    Is, by my life, a truly sincere adviser.

  8. رأى بابن عيسى بعد عيسى صلاحها

    وفي صالح الأعمال تقضى المصالح

    He saw its well-being in Isa's son, after Isa;

    And through good deeds, interests are served.

  9. ورجح منك الجانب الضخم في العُلى

    وفي الناس مرجوح وفي الناس راجح

    And your weighty standing in high honor tipped the scales;

    And among men, some are outweighed and others outweigh.

  10. لعلّ بك النار الَّتي شبّ جمرها

    من القوم تُطفى وهو إذ ذاك لافح

    Perhaps, through you, the fire whose embers were kindled

    By the people will be quenched, though its embers were then scorching.

  11. وقد طوَّحَتْ من بعد عيسى وبندر

    وفَهْدٍ بهاتيك الديار الطوائح

    And devastation had been wrought, after Isa and Bandar

    And Fahd, upon those lands by sweeping calamities.

  12. بَكَتْها وقد تبكي المنازل أعْيَنٌ

    وناحَتْ على تلك الرسوم النوائح

    Eyes wept for them, as eyes may weep for dwellings,

    And mourners wailed over those ruins.

  13. وكانت أمورٌ قد أصابت فدمَّرت

    وما حَسْنَتْ في العين منها المقابح

    And events had struck and brought devastation;

    Nor did their ugly deeds look fair to the eye.

  14. أمورٌ قضت أنْ لا يرى الأمن قاطنٌ

    لديها ولم يفرح بما كانَ نازح

    Events decreeing that no resident should see safety

    Amid them; nor did one far away rejoice at what had happened.

  15. وجرَّت من الأرزاء كلّ جريرة

    وسالت ولكن بالدماء الأباطح

    And they brought every disastrous consequence in their wake;

    And the gravelly streambeds flowed—but with blood.

  16. وقد جرّدوها بعد آل محمد

    مثقَّفةً تدمى وبيض صفائح

    And after the house of Muhammad, they bared them:

    Straightened, blood-stained spears, and white sword-blades.

  17. وكانت حروب يعلم الله أنَّها

    سعيرٌ أهاجَتْه الرياح اللوافح

    And there were wars—God knows they were

    A blaze stirred up by scorching winds.

  18. وما نفعت فيهم نصيحة ناصح

    وهل نفعت في الجاهلين النصائح

    And no sincere adviser's advice availed them;

    And have counsels ever availed the ignorant?

  19. فذلك مقتول وذلك قاتل

    وذلك مجروح وذلك جارح

    So one was slain, and another a slayer;

    And one was wounded, and another inflicted wounds.

  20. إلى أن بَلَغْتَ اليوم ما قد بلغته

    وما هذه الأقسام إلاَّ منائح

    Until today you attained what you have attained;

    And these allotments are nothing but gifts.

  21. ولاحت لنا منك المعالي بروقها

    وبرق المعالي من محياك لائح

    And the lightning-flashes of high honors shone from you before us;

    And the lightning of high honors gleams from your face.

  22. لمحنا بك الآمال تجنى ثمارها

    كما نتمنّاها فهلْ أنتَ لامح

    Through you we glimpsed hopes, their fruits being gathered,

    Just as we wish them—do you perceive them?

  23. وما أنت عمّا تبتغيه ببارح

    وغيرك عنها لا محالة بارح

    And you do not turn away from what you seek;

    And another inevitably turns away from it.

  24. وإنْ أحجمَ المقدامُ عن طلب العُلى

    فإنَّك مقدامٌ إليها وجامح

    Even if the bold man shrinks from seeking the heights,

    Then you charge boldly toward them, unbridled.

  25. وإنَّ غُضَّ طرفٌ عن مكارم ماجد

    فلا طرف إلاَّ نحو جدواك طامح

    And if a gaze is lowered from a noble man's generous deeds,

    Yet every eye looks eagerly toward your bounty.

  26. نعم أنتم البحر الخضمُّ لوارد

    وأينَ من البحر الخضم الضحاضح

    Yes, you are the vast sea for one who seeks water;

    And where are shallow pools beside the vast sea?

  27. منحت الذين استمطروك مكارماً

    وكل كريم بالمكارم مانح

    You bestowed noble gifts on those who asked you for rain,

    And every generous man is a giver of noble gifts.

  28. ليأْمَنَ في أيّامك الغرّ خائفٌ

    ويصدَح في روض البشارة صادح

    So that the fearful may be safe in your radiant days,

    And a singer may sing out in the garden of glad tidings.

  29. فخذها لدى علياك أول مدحة

    ولي فيكم من قبل هذا مدائح

    So accept it before your eminence as a first ode of praise;

    And I have odes of praise in your honor from before this.