1. لا زِلتَ تَعلو وَإِن حُسّادُكَ إِكتَأَبوا

    أَو يَبلُغَ الحَظَّ ما يقَضي بِهِ الحَسَبُ

    May you never cease to rise, even if your enviers grow dejected,

    Until your fortune reaches what noble lineage decrees.

  2. وَإِن يَكُن ما بَلَغتَ اليَومَ مُذهِلَهُم

    فَإِنَّهُ دونَ ما تَرجو وَتَرتَقِبُ

    And if what you have attained today astonishes them,

    It is still below what you hope for and await.

  3. تُعلي المَنازِلُ قَوماً قَبلَها خَمَلوا

    وَأَنتَ مَن لَم تَزَل تَعلو بِهِ الرُتَبُ

    High stations elevate people previously obscure,

    But you are one through whom ranks themselves keep rising.

  4. إِن لَم تَكُن لِلنُجومِ النَيِّراتِ أَخاً

    فَأَنتَ غَيرَ مُناوىً جارُها الجُنُبُ

    If you are not a brother to the shining stars,

    Then, unrivalled, you are their neighbor, though no kin.

  5. إِنَّ الجَلالَةَ مِن أَفعالِكَ اِنتَقَلَت

    فَإِن خُصِصتَ بِأَوفاها فَلا عَجَبُ

    Majesty has issued from your deeds;

    If you are singled out for its fullest measure, that is no wonder.

  6. فَليَسرِ مَن ظَلَّ مَشغوفاً بِها عَلَقاً

    أَنَّ النَباهَةَ عِلقٌ لَيسَ يُغتَصَبُ

    Let whoever remains passionately attached to it journey by night:

    Distinction is a treasure that cannot be seized by force.

  7. فَإِنَّ دونَ المَعالي شُقَّةً بَعُدَت

    بِها المَشَقَّةُ دونَ الفَوزِ وَالشَجَبُ

    For before lofty honors lies a long, distant journey,

    Along which hardship and ruin stand before success.

  8. لَمّا اِصطَفاكَ لَهُ المَلكُ الأَعَزُّ حِمىً

    حَباكَ ما يَصطَفي مِنها وَيَنتَخِبُ

    When the king, mightiest in protection, chose you for himself,

    He granted you what he singles out and chooses from them,

  9. حِباءَ مَن يَهَبُ الدُنيا بِأَجمَعِها

    وَلا يُصادَفُ مَعتَدّاً بِما يَهَبُ

    The gift of one who gives the whole world

    Yet is never found making much of what he gives.

  10. وَمُذ دَعاكَ إِمامُ العَصرِ عُدَّتَهُ

    عادَت سِراعاً عَلى أَعقابِها النُوَبُ

    Since the leader of the age called you his mainstay,

    Calamities have swiftly turned back on their heels.

  11. وَقَولُهُ عُدَّتي دونَ الوَرى صِفَةٌ

    وَإِن تَظَنّى جَهولٌ أَنَّها لَقَبُ

    His saying 'My mainstay, above all mankind' is a description,

    Even if some fool supposes it merely a title.

  12. وَهَل تَحَلَّت رِياضٌ غِبَّ ماطِرَةٍ

    بِمِثلِ ما حُلِّيَت مِن وَصفِكَ الكُتُبُ

    Have gardens ever been adorned after a rainstorm

    As letters have been adorned with descriptions of you?

  13. أَعظِم بِها كُتُباً جاءَتكَ حائِزَةً

    مَناقِباً كَثَّرَت ما حازَتِ الكُتَبُ

    How magnificent the letters that came to you, bearing

    Virtues that added to all that books had contained!

  14. وَسَربَلَتكَ ثَناءً جَلَّ مَوقِعُهُ

    عَمّا كَسَتكَ ثِياباً عَمَّها الذَهَبُ

    They clothed you in praise whose worth far exceeds

    That of the garments they gave you, covered with gold.

  15. هَذي تُعاوِدُ أَسمالاً إِذا اِبتُذِلَت

    حيناً وَتِلكَ عَلى طولِ المَدى قُشُبُ

    These become rags when they have been worn

    For a while; those remain fresh throughout the ages.

  16. لَمّا تَضايَقَ بِالجَيشِ الفَضاءُ ضُحىً

    بَثَثتَ في الجَوِّ جَيشاً مالَهُ لَجَبُ

    When the open space grew cramped with the army that morning,

    You spread through the air an army without clamor.

  17. وَما رَأَينا سَماءً قَبلَ يَومِكَ ذا

    في أُفقِها الطَيرُ وَالآسادُ تَصطَحِبُ

    Before this day of yours, we had never seen a sky

    In whose horizon birds and lions kept company:

  18. غابٌ تَلوحُ بِأَعلاهُ ضَراغِمُهُ

    فَواغِراً أَبَداً لَم تَدرِ ما السَغَبُ

    A forest whose lions appear above it,

    Forever open-mouthed, yet never knowing hunger.

  19. مُستَعلِياتٌ لَها مِن فِضَّةٍ قَصَبٌ

    يُقِلُّها وَلَها مِن عَسجَدٍ أُهُبُ

    Raised aloft, they have silver poles

    To carry them, and hides of gold.

  20. وَقَد أَظَلَّتكَ لَمّا سِرتَ أَربَعَةٌ

    قَلبُ الغَزالَةِ إِعظاماً لَها يَجِبُ

    Four shaded you as you proceeded,

    The sun's heart beating in awe of them.

  21. تَعلو بِأَقرَبِها عَهداً بِمَن شَرُفُت

    بِذِكرِهِ سُوَرُ القُرآنِ وَالخُطَبُ

    You rise with the one most recently linked to him whose

    Mention ennobled the Qur'an's chapters and the sermons.

  22. سَمَت إِلى حَيثُ قَوسُ المُزنِ فَاِعتَصَبَت

    بِبَعضِهِ وَلَها مِن بَعضِهِ عَذَبُ

    It rose to where the rainbow lies, and bound its head

    With part of it, while another part became its tassels.

  23. وَتَستَقِلُّ بِماءٍ ما لَهُ حَبَبٌ

    وَتَستَظِلُّ بِنارٍ ما لَها لَهَبُ

    It rises with water that has no bubbles,

    And is shaded by fire that has no flame.

  24. فَإِن بَدَت في سَوادِ النَقعِ طالِعَةً

    وَأَنتَ وَاِبناكَ قيلَ السَبعَةُ الشُهُبُ

    If they rise into view against the darkness of dust,

    With you and your two sons, men say: 'The seven luminaries!'

  25. كَأَنَّما التِبرُ بَحرٌ فاضَ فَاِغتَرَفَت

    مِنهُ الكُسى وَالعِتاقُ القُبُّ وَالقُبَبُ

    As though gold were a sea in flood, and drew their share

    From it the robes, the lean thoroughbreds, and the domes.

  26. وَكُلُّ ماضٍ تَدينُ المُرهَفاتُ لَهُ

    تُجنى السَلامَةُ مِن حَدَّيهِ وَالعَطَبُ

    And every keen blade to which the honed swords yield:

    From its two edges safety and destruction are reaped.

  27. إِذا عَلاهُ نَجيعٌ فَوقَ جَوهَرِهِ

    في مَأزِقٍ خيلَ خَمراً فَوقَها حَبَبُ

    When fresh blood coats its patterned steel

    Amid battle, it seems wine crowned with bubbles.

  28. قُلِّدتُموها عَلى عِلمٍ بِأَنَّكُمُ

    ذَوُو القُلوبِ الَّتي ما حَلَّها رُعُبُ

    You were girded with them in the knowledge that you are

    Possessors of hearts that fear has never entered,

  29. وَأَنَّكُم مورِدوها كُلَّ يَومِ وَغىً

    مِن قَبلِ أَن تَرِدَ الخَطِّيَةُ السُلُبُ

    And that you bring them to drink each day of battle

    Before the long, slender Khaṭṭī spears come to drink.

  30. وَإِن تَقَلَّدتُموها وَهيَ ناصِلَةٌ

    فَإِنَّها مِن دَمِ الأَعداءِ تَختَضِبُ

    Though you gird yourselves with them unstained,

    They take their dye from enemies' blood.

  31. وَقَد فَرَعتَ بِهَذا الدَستِ مَنزِلَةً

    نَصيبُ شانيكَ مِنها الهَمُّ وَالتَعَبُ

    With this seat of honor you have attained a rank

    Of which your hater's share is anxiety and toil.

  32. إِذا المُلوكُ إِلى لَذَّاتِها جَنَحَت

    وَشارَكَ الجِدَّ في أَفعالِها اللَعِبُ

    When kings incline toward their pleasures,

    And play joins earnestness in their actions,

  33. فَلَن تَزالَ بِحَسمِ الظُلمِ في شُغُلٍ

    عَمّا دَعاكَ إِلَيهِ الظَلمُ وَالشَنَبُ

    You will remain occupied with rooting out oppression,

    Too busy for the call of gleaming teeth and their pearly freshness.

  34. لَئِن غَضِبتَ لِسَومِ الخَسفِ حينَ رَضوا

    لَقَد رَضيتَ بِحُكمِ الجودِ إِذ غَضِبوا

    If you were angered by imposed humiliation when they accepted it,

    You accepted generosity's verdict when they were angry.

  35. في دَولَةٍ بِكَ نالَت فَوقَ بُغيَتِها

    في مَن عَصى فَعَصا أَعدائِها شُعَبُ

    In a realm that through you gained beyond its desire

    Against the disobedient, its enemies' staff lies splintered.

  36. فَأَنتَ مَعتَزُّها وَاِبناكَ مُنجِبُها

    وَنَصرُها وَلَكَ العَضبُ الهُمامُ أَبُ

    You are its Muʿtazz, and your two sons its Munjib

    And its Naṣr; the valiant ʿAḍb is your father.

  37. لَئِن أَفادا عُلُوّاً في بِعادِهِما

    فَالمِسكُ يَزدادُ قَدراً حينُ يَغتَربُ

    If the two gained eminence while far away,

    Musk gains in worth when carried abroad.

  38. لا يَطمَعَنَّ نَبيهٌ في مَكانِهِما

    فَما المَجَرَّةُ مِمَّن رامَها كَثَبُ

    Let no distinguished man aspire to their station:

    The Milky Way is not near to anyone who seeks it.

  39. الجائِدانِ إِذا ما ضَنَّتِ السُحُبُ

    وَالذائِدانِ إِذا ما كَلَّتِ القُضُبُ

    The two who give when clouds withhold,

    And the two who defend when swords grow blunt.

  40. بَني أَبي صالِحٍ مازالَ عِندَكُمُ

    مُذ كُنتُمُ الرَغَبُ المَعروفُ وَالرَهَبُ

    Sons of Abū Ṣāliḥ, with you have always remained,

    Ever since you came to be, well-known hope and awe.

  41. أَلَستُمُ مَعشَراً يَنأى إِذا بَعُدوا

    حُسنُ الفِعالِ وَيَدنو كُلَّما قَرُبوا

    Are you not a people with whom there recedes, when they depart,

    The beauty of deeds, which draws near whenever they approach?

  42. إِذا وَجوهُهُمُ بِالعِثيَرِ اِنتَقَبَت

    بَدا المَضاءُ الَّذي ما دونَهُ نُقُبُ

    When their faces are veiled in dust,

    A resolve appears before which no narrow pass is an obstacle.

  43. طِبتُم فَطابَ حَديثٌ توصَفونَ بِهِ

    مُكَرَّراً ذِكرُهُ ما كَرَّتِ الحُقُبُ

    You are noble, so noble is the account that describes you,

    Its telling repeated as long as ages return.

  44. وَالمادِحونَ عَلى أَبوابِكُم حِزَقاً

    لِقَولِ حُسّادِكُم لِلمادِحِ السَلَبُ

    Praisers gather in bands at your gates

    Because your enviers say: 'The spoils belong to the praiser.'

  45. تَسمو الإِمارَةُ إِذ تُعذى إِلَيكَ كَما

    تَسمو تَميمُ بنُ مُرٍّ حينَ تَنتَسِبُ

    The emirate rises when ascribed to you, just as

    Tamīm ibn Murr rises when you trace your descent.

  46. وَبَعدَ بَيتِ رَسولِ اللَهِ ما فَخَرَت

    بِمِثلِ بَيتِكَ لا عُجمٌ وَلا عَرَبُ

    After the house of God's Messenger, none has boasted

    Of a house like yours—neither non-Arabs nor Arabs.

  47. بَيتٌ لَهُ العِزُّ أَرضٌ وَالإِباءُ سَماً

    وَالباتِراتُ عِمادٌ وَالنَدى طُنُبُ

    A house whose ground is glory and whose sky is proud refusal,

    Its pillars cleaving swords, its tent ropes generosity.

  48. حَماهُ مِن دارِمٍ في كُلِّ مُعتَرَكٍ

    غُلبٌ عَلى المَجدِ وَالعَلياءِ قَد غَلَبوا

    From Dārim, at every clash, it was protected by

    Mighty warriors who have mastered glory and loftiness.

  49. لَمّا أَبوا دَرَّ أَخلافِ اللِقاحِ قِرىً

    باتَت لَدَيهِم مِنَ الأَوداجِ تُحتَلَبُ

    When they refused the milk of milch-camels' teats as hospitality,

    They were milked among them from jugular veins.

  50. وَإِن غَنيتَ بِما أَثَّلتَ مِن شَرَفٍ

    عَن ذِكرِ ما أَثَّلَت آباؤُكَ النُجُبُ

    Though the honor you have established suffices you

    Without recalling what your noble fathers established,

  51. فَالمَرءُ إِن لَم تُقَدِّمهُ مَآثِرُهُ

    لَم يُعلِهِ نَسَبٌ زاكٍ وَلا نَشَبُ

    A man, if his achievements do not advance him,

    Is not raised by pure lineage or wealth.

  52. أَمّا دِمَشقُ فَقَد أَسلَفتَ نُصرَتَها

    في سالِفِ الدَهرِ إِذ أَنصارُها غَيَبُ

    As for Damascus, you had already come to its aid

    In former times, when its defenders were absent.

  53. غابوا بِأَسرٍ وَقَتلٍ وَاِنتِجاعِ عِدىً

    وَأَنتَ وَحدَكَ فيها جَحفَلٌ لَجِبُ

    Gone through captivity, death, or seeking sustenance among foes,

    While you alone within it were a clamorous army.

  54. حامَيتَ عَنها مُحاماةَ المَليكِ لَها

    فَهَل زَمانَكَ هَذا كُنتَ تَرتَقِبُ

    You defended it as a king defends it:

    Were you then awaiting this present time of yours?

  55. فَكُنتَ أَبعَدَ خَلقِ اللَهِ مِن فَرَقٍ

    إِذا تَفارَقَتِ الأَسيافُ وَالقُرُبُ

    You were the furthest of God's creatures from fear

    When swords parted from their scabbards.

  56. كَم خُضتَ مِن دونها ناراً مُضَرَّمَةً

    ما خاضَها مَن لَهُ في نَفسِهِ أَرَبُ

    How often you plunged, defending it, into a blazing fire

    That no man concerned for his own life would enter!

  57. وَكَم نَطَقتَ بِفَصلِ القَولِ مُرتَجِلاً

    وَالبيضُ في قِمَمِ الأَبطالِ تَصطَحِبُ

    How often you uttered decisive words extempore,

    While bright swords met upon the heroes' crowns!

  58. فَمِن بَيانِكَ ماءُ الفَضلِ مُنهَمِرٌ

    وَمِن بَنانِكَ ماءُ الجودِ مُنسَكِبُ

    From your eloquence the water of excellence pours,

    And from your fingers the water of generosity flows.

  59. وَالمَجدُ إِن كانَ في الأَقوامِ مُكتَسَباً

    فَإِنَّهُ فيكَ مَولودٌ وَمُكتَسَبُ

    If glory among other peoples is acquired,

    In you it is both inborn and acquired.

  60. سَطَوتَ فَاِستَصغَرَ الأَنجادُ ما قَهَروا

    وَجُدتَ فَاِستَنزَرَ الأَجوادُ ما وَهَبوا

    You struck, and champions thought little of what they had conquered;

    You gave, and generous men deemed their gifts scant.

  61. مَكارِمٌ بَزَّتِ الرُكبانَ رَأفَتَها

    بِاليَعمَلاتِ فَما تُثنى لَها رُكَبُ

    Generous deeds that robbed riders of their compassion

    For hardy she-camels, whose knees are never bent to rest.

  62. وَصَيَّرَت قَصرَكَ العافونَ مَوطِنَهُم

    إِذا مَضَت عُصَبٌ مِنها أَتَت عُصَبُ

    Those seeking gifts have made your palace their home;

    As one band leaves it, another band arrives.

  63. إِذا الوَسائِلُ عيفَت عِندَ مَن قَصَدوا

    شَرِبتَ ما صَرَّفوا مِنها وَما قَطَبوا

    When appeals are spurned by those whom petitioners approach,

    You drink whatever they serve of them, unmixed or blended.

  64. وَإِن أَتَتكَ كُؤوسُ الحَمدِ مُترَعَةً

    لَم تَأتِهِم نُخَبٌ مِنها وَلا نُغَبُ

    Though cups of praise come brimming to you,

    Not even draughts or sips from them reach the others.

  65. شَرُفتَ نَفساً فَأَحسَنتَ الخَيارَ لَها

    فَالمالُ مُحتَقَرٌ وَالحَمدُ مُحتَقَبُ

    Noble in spirit, you chose well for your soul:

    Wealth is despised, and praise is stored up.

  66. وَلَستَ تَذخَرُ مِمّا أَنتَ كاسِبُهُ

    إِلّا كَما ذَخَرَت مِن مائِها السُحُبُ

    You hoard nothing of what you earn

    Except as clouds hoard some of their water.

  67. لَقَد أَتاحَ غِياثُ المُسلِمينَ لَهُم

    مِنكَ الشِفاءَ الَّذي ما بَعدَهُ وَصَبُ

    Ghiyāth al-Muslimīn has indeed provided them

    Through you a cure followed by no sickness.

  68. فَدامَ سُلطانُ تاجِ الأَصفِياءِ وَلا

    زالَت عَنِ الخَلقِ ما خافوا وَما رَغِبوا

    May the sovereignty of Tāj al-Aṣfiyāʾ endure, and never

    Depart from mankind, while they fear and hope,

  69. يَدٌ لِمُعتَزِّها مِن مَنعِها حَرَمٌ

    كَما لِمُعتَرِّها مِن بَذلِها نَخَبُ

    A hand whose protection shelters those who seek refuge in it,

    Just as its giving offers choice gifts to its needy visitor.

  70. نَوالُها كَهَتونِ الغَيثِ مُنتَجَعٌ

    وَما حَمَت كَعَرينِ اللَيثِ مُجتَنَبُ

    Its bounty, like pouring rain, is sought for sustenance;

    What it protects, like a lion's lair, is avoided.

  71. فَلا غَدَت نائِباتُ الدَهرِ رائِعَةً

    رَعِيَّةً كُشِفَت عَنها بِكَ الكُرَبُ

    May the calamities of time never come to terrify

    A people whose troubles you have dispelled.

  72. وَلا أَلَمَّ بِكَ المَكرُوهُ في قَمَرٍ

    زالَت بِمَطلَعِهِ عَن قَلبِكَ الرِيَبُ

    May no misfortune strike you through a moon

    Whose rising banished doubts from your heart.

  73. أَنّى وَأَوبَتُهُ لِلصَومِ موجِبَةٌ

    وَوَجهُهُ كَهِلالِ الفِطرِ مُرتَقَبُ

    How could it, when his return calls for fasting,

    And his face is awaited like the crescent of breaking the fast?

  74. وَما تَحايَدتُ عَن ظِلِّ نَشَأتُ بِهِ

    وَلا اِنقَطَعتُ لِأَنّي عَنكَ مُنجَذِبُ

    I have not shunned a shade beneath which I grew,

    Nor stayed away because I am estranged from you.

  75. بَل شِئتُ إِعلامَ مَن تَندى بِمَسأَلَةٍ

    يَداهُ أَنَّ نَداكَ الغَمرَ يَقتَضِبُ

    Rather, I wished to tell him in whom a request moistens

    Both hands, that your overflowing bounty gives unasked.

  76. جودٌ هَرَبتُ بِآمالي فَأَدرَكَها

    فَالحَمدُ لِلَّهِ إِذ لَم يُنجِني الهَرَبُ

    A generosity from which I fled with my hopes, yet it overtook them:

    Praise be to God that flight did not save me!

  77. وَلَو أَفَضتُ حَياتي لِلثَناءِ بِهِ

    لَما نَهَضتُ بِمِعشارِ الَّذي يَجِبُ

    Though I poured out my life in praising it,

    I would not fulfill one tenth of what is due.

  78. فَكُلُّ رَبِّ جَميلٍ جَرَّهُ سَبَبٌ

    فِداءُ بادٍ بِنُعمى مالَها سَبَبُ

    Let every benefactor whose kindness was prompted by a cause

    Be ransom for one who begins a favor without any cause.

  79. لِيَثنِ عَنّي صُروفَ الدَهرِ راغِمَةً

    أَنّي عَلِقتُ بِحَبلٍ لَيسَ يَنقَضِبُ

    Let this turn time's vicissitudes from me, against their will:

    That I have clung to a cord that never snaps.

  80. وَقَد تَحَقَّقتُ قِدماً أَنَّ مَأرُبَتي

    تُقضى وَما عَضَّ فيها غارِباً قَتَبُ

    I have long been certain that my desire

    Is fulfilled without a pack-saddle biting a camel's withers.

  81. فَاُنظُر لِمَن ما لَهُ في الحِرصِ مُضطَرَبٌ

    نَزاهَةً وَلَهُ في الأَرضُ مُضطَرَبُ

    Consider one who finds no scope for greed,

    Out of integrity, though the earth offers him ample scope:

  82. لِمُصعَبٍ يَطَّبيهِ العِزُّ يُحرِزُهُ

    وَالخَصمُ يُعجِزُهُ لا الماءَ وَالعُشبُ

    An unbroken camel enticed by the glory he wins,

    And a foe he defeats—not by water and grass.

  83. إِنّي إِذا شِئتُ أَن يَرتاحَ ذو كَرَمٍ

    أَدَرتُ راحاً أَبوها الفِكرُ لا العِنَبُ

    When I wish a generous man to be delighted,

    I pass round wine fathered by thought, not grapes.

  84. وَلا اِعتِدادَ بِما أَهدَيتُ مِن مِدَحٍ

    وَإِن تَخَيَّرَها حُبّيكَ وَالأَدَبُ

    I make no boast of the praises I have offered,

    Though my love for you and refinement chose them.

  85. إِنَّ الفَعالَ الَّذي ما شابَهُ كَدَرٌ

    شادَ المَقالَ الَّذي ما شابَهُ كَذِبُ

    Conduct untainted by any impurity

    Has raised speech untainted by any falsehood.