هذا مَقامُ أبيكَ فاسْمُ بمجدِه

هذا مَقامُ أبيكَ فاسْمُ بمجدِه

فالشّهمُ يروي عن أبيه وجدِّهِ

فالشّهمُ يروي عن أبيه وجدِّهِ

This is your father's station; rise through his glory.

This is the abode of your father, so glorify him with praise

For the noble man transmits the tradition of his father and grandfather.

For the valiant one narrates of his father and grandfather

ما إن ركبْتَ مقلِّداً بحُسامِه

ما إن ركبْتَ مقلِّداً بحُسامِه

حتى مشَيْتَ موشِّحاً في بُردِه

حتى مشَيْتَ موشِّحاً في بُردِه

No sooner had you ridden, girded with his sword,

Since you have girded his sword as an imitator

than you walked draped in his mantle.

You have walked adorned in his mail coat

ولقد أشَمْتَ الثغر منك مهنّداً

ولقد أشَمْتَ الثغر منك مهنّداً

خِلناهُ ذاك العَضْبَ رُدَّ لغِمْدِه

خِلناهُ ذاك العَضْبَ رُدَّ لغِمْدِه

Indeed, you showed the frontier an Indian-forged blade in yourself;

And you have certainly sniffed the lips as if kissing them

we thought it that keen sword restored to its sheath.

We left that scabbard, returning the sword to its sheath

فكأنّ عدلَك أُقحوانةُ ثغرِه

فكأنّ عدلَك أُقحوانةُ ثغرِه

وكأن بأسكَ جُلّنارة خدّه

وكأن بأسكَ جُلّنارة خدّه

So your justice is like the daisy of its mouth,

So your justice is like the blade of his mouth

and your might like the pomegranate blossom of its cheek.

And your might is like the apple of his cheek

فاعْقُدْ عليه البدرَ تاجاً وانتظِمْ

فاعْقُدْ عليه البدرَ تاجاً وانتظِمْ

زهرَ الكواكب لؤلؤاً في عِقدِه

زهرَ الكواكب لؤلؤاً في عِقدِه

So bind the full moon upon it as a crown, and string

So set the full moon as a crown upon him and string

the radiant stars as pearls in its necklace.

The planets' flowers as pearls in his necklace

واسحَبْ بعسكرك السحابَ فبيضَهُ

واسحَبْ بعسكرك السحابَ فبيضَهُ

من برقِه وصهيلَه من رعدِه

من برقِه وصهيلَه من رعدِه

And trail the clouds with your army, for its bright swords

And unleash your armies, the clouds, so whiten them

come from their lightning, and its neighing from their thunder.

With its lightning and the rumbling of its thunder

من كلِّ مشحوذِ الظُبى كلسانه

من كلِّ مشحوذِ الظُبى كلسانه

أو كل ممتدّ اللواءِ كقدّه

أو كل ممتدّ اللواءِ كقدّه

Of every man with blade-edges whetted like his tongue,

From every daring lion with eloquent tongue

or every man with a banner stretching tall as his frame.

Or every lofty banner’s extended arm

يهدَونَ منكَ بضوءِ بدرٍ أقسمَتْ

يهدَونَ منكَ بضوءِ بدرٍ أقسمَتْ

أن لا تفارقَهُ كواكبُ سعدِه

أن لا تفارقَهُ كواكبُ سعدِه

They are guided by a full moon's light in you; sworn

They promise you by the light of a full moon they swore

never to forsake it are the stars of its good fortune.

That its planets of good fortune will not abandon it

جيشٌ تولى النصرُ حملَ لوائه

جيشٌ تولى النصرُ حملَ لوائه

واستوثَقَ الإقبالَ مُحكمُ عقدِه

واستوثَقَ الإقبالَ مُحكمُ عقدِه

An army whose banner Victory has undertaken to bear,

An army victory has assumed carrying its banners

and whose firm-knit bond has secured good fortune.

And good fortune grasped firmly its alliance

حتى إذا صرفَ الصُروفَ وردّها

حتى إذا صرفَ الصُروفَ وردّها

فجرَتْ بطاعةِ صِرفِه في ردّه

فجرَتْ بطاعةِ صِرفِه في ردّه

Until, when he turned aside calamities and repelled them,

Until when vicissitudes turned against it and returned them

they ran obedient to his turning as he drove them back.

They flowed with obedience to its workings in its defense

وأفاضَ بين مسائلٍ أو سائلٍ

وأفاضَ بين مسائلٍ أو سائلٍ

عذْباً بحارَ الأرضِ نُطفةُ ثَمْدِه

عذْباً بحارَ الأرضِ نُطفةُ ثَمْدِه

And among questioners or petitioners poured forth

And it overflowed between issues or questioners

the earth's seas, sweet, from a drop of his scant pool.

With sweet oceans’ draughts, the droplets of its clouds’ burst

فاستطْعمَ العُلماءَ من أوصافِه

فاستطْعمَ العُلماءَ من أوصافِه

ما لم يبِنْ صبرُ الزمان بشهدِه

ما لم يبِنْ صبرُ الزمان بشهدِه

So he invited the learned to taste of his virtues

So the scholars sought from its attributes

something whose honey hid the bitter aloe of Time.

What the patience of time had not made clear with its honey

حتى لقد رجعوا هناك ورجّعوا

حتى لقد رجعوا هناك ورجّعوا

قُلْ كلُّ خيرٍ عندنا من عِندِه

قُلْ كلُّ خيرٍ عندنا من عِندِه

Until, indeed, they returned there and repeated in refrain:

That they went back there and turned around, saying

Say: all the good we have comes from him.

“Every good thing is with us from it”

من ندِّه ولو انّهُ متصوّر

من ندِّه ولو انّهُ متصوّر

من عنبرِ المَلكوتِ أو من ندِّه

من عنبرِ المَلكوتِ أو من ندِّه

Who is his equal, even if he were fashioned

From its benevolence, even if it is imagined

from the ambergris of the heavenly realm or its fragrant incense?

From the ambergris of the heavenly kingdom, or from its benevolence

متزيّنٌ من نفسه بمحاسِنٍ

متزيّنٌ من نفسه بمحاسِنٍ

هي في الحُسامِ العضْبِ ماءُ فِرنْدِه

هي في الحُسامِ العضْبِ ماءُ فِرنْدِه

He is adorned from his own nature with beauties

Adorned by itself with moral beauties

that, in a keen sword, are the watery sheen of its patterned steel.

Which in the gleaming sword are the water of its hilt’s silver

ليس الزمانُ لديهِ سُنْدُسُ آسِه

ليس الزمانُ لديهِ سُنْدُسُ آسِه

وتذهّبَتْ أعلامُه من وردِه

وتذهّبَتْ أعلامُه من وردِه

Time before him is not the fine silk of his myrtle,

The vicissitudes of time have no iris bloom near it

and its embroidered bands have been gilded by his roses.

And its banners have faded of their roses

كفى أميرَ المؤمنينَ مناقِباً

كفى أميرَ المؤمنينَ مناقِباً

أنّ المعظَّم واحدٌ من جُندِه

أنّ المعظَّم واحدٌ من جُندِه

It is merit enough for the Commander of the Faithful

It is enough for the Commander of the Faithful as virtues

that al-Muʿaẓẓam is one of his soldiers.

That the Most Venerated is one of its soldiers

هو واحدٌ بالعين إلا أنه

هو واحدٌ بالعين إلا أنه

يُربي على الآلافِ ساعة عدِّه

يُربي على الآلافِ ساعة عدِّه

He is one in person, except that he

He is peerless except that

surpasses thousands when he is counted.

He mentors thousands in an hour of its counting

لبسَتْ به الإسكندريةُ لأمَةً

لبسَتْ به الإسكندريةُ لأمَةً

ردّتْ على داودَ مُحكمَ سردِه

ردّتْ على داودَ مُحكمَ سردِه

Through him Alexandria put on a suit of armor

Alexandria has worn it for a nation

that outdid David's tightly linked mail.

Turning back at David the firmly knottedliness of its knitting

فحمى مسارحَها وكانتْ قبلَه

فحمى مسارحَها وكانتْ قبلَه

كالغيلِ فارقَهُ مقدَّمُ أُسْدِه

كالغيلِ فارقَهُ مقدَّمُ أُسْدِه

He guarded her pastures; before him she had been

So it protected its theaters, and before it was

like a thicket deserted by the leader of its lions.

Like darkness which its lion vanguard had left

لا تبكِ للإسكندَرِ الماضي فذا ال

لا تبكِ للإسكندَرِ الماضي فذا ال

إسكندرُ الماضي أتى من بعدِه

إسكندرُ الماضي أتى من بعدِه

Do not weep for Alexander of old, for this is the

Don’t cry for bygone Alexander, for this

resolute Alexander who has come after him.

Alexander of now has come after him

يُغنيكَ عن أعراقِه أخلاقُه

يُغنيكَ عن أعراقِه أخلاقُه

كالعضْبِ يُشبه حدَّهُ في حدِّه

كالعضْبِ يُشبه حدَّهُ في حدِّه

His character spares you inquiry into his lineage,

His character suffices you from its pillars

like a keen sword: he matches its edge in his sharpness.

Like the gleaming sword, its sharpness matches its sharpness

شرفاً لدهرٍ قد أتى بك مالكاً

شرفاً لدهرٍ قد أتى بك مالكاً

ودّ الزمانُ الحرُّ رتبةَ عبدِه

ودّ الزمانُ الحرُّ رتبةَ عبدِه

Glory to an age that has brought you forth as master!

An honor for an age that has come, making you its ruler

Freeborn Time longed for the rank of his slave.

Time adored the free one, raising the status of its servant

أصبحتَ تاجاً يستنيرُ برأسه

أصبحتَ تاجاً يستنيرُ برأسه

وغدوْتَ حُلياً تستبينُ بزَندِه

وغدوْتَ حُلياً تستبينُ بزَندِه

You became a crown shining upon his head,

You have become a crown illuminated by the head it adorns

and became adornments gleaming on his wrist.

And you have become a necklace made clear by its pendant

وخلُصْتَ كالذهبِ الخلاصَ ولم يزَلْ

وخلُصْتَ كالذهبِ الخلاصَ ولم يزَلْ

أبداً يَزيدُ بسَبْكِه في نقْدِه

أبداً يَزيدُ بسَبْكِه في نقْدِه

And you grew pure as refined gold, which never ceases

And you have been refined like pure gold, and it has not ceased

to rise in assayed worth through its smelting.

To always increase in its purity by its refining

مرضُ الأسودِ الاجتمامُ ورعدةُ الصم

مرضُ الأسودِ الاجتمامُ ورعدةُ الصم

صامِ تُطربُ قدّهُ في قدِّه

صامِ تُطربُ قدّهُ في قدِّه

Lions are sickened by idleness; the trembling of the

The gathering of warriors and the shiver of the resolute

keen sword gladdens its form in the act of cleaving.

Throb its forearm in its forearm

والروضُ أفوحُ بالنسيم وطالما

والروضُ أفوحُ بالنسيم وطالما

نفحَتْ بطيبِ العودِ لفحةُ وتْدِه

نفحَتْ بطيبِ العودِ لفحةُ وتْدِه

And the garden is more fragrant with the breeze; how often

And the garden is fragrant with breeze, and often

has the scorching breath of its peg wafted aloeswood's perfume!

The wafting with the incense of aloes has perfumed its fervor

فلكَ الهناءُ وللعُلا بسلامةٍ

فلكَ الهناءُ وللعُلا بسلامةٍ

لا ينتهي فهْي الهناءُ لحدّه

لا ينتهي فهْي الهناءُ لحدّه

So, for you and for Glory, rejoicing in sound health,

So joy is yours and to elevation in safety

without end—for sound health is joy in its fullest measure.

With no end, for it is endless joy in its limit

وإليكَ من حوكِ البديعِ قصيدةً

وإليكَ من حوكِ البديعِ قصيدةً

صمِتَتْ ولكنْ ترجمَتْ عن قصدِه

صمِتَتْ ولكنْ ترجمَتْ عن قصدِه

And here for you is an ode from al-Badiʿ's weaving,

And to you from the talented poet a poem

silent, yet giving voice to his intent.

That fell silent but translated its intention

جاءَتْكَ كالترَفِ الشمائلُ واعِداً

جاءَتْكَ كالترَفِ الشمائلُ واعِداً

بوصالِه متحفِّزاً من صدّه

بوصالِه متحفِّزاً من صدّه

It came to you like one of delicate manners, promising

It has come to you like gentle beauty, promising

union with him, braced against his rebuff.

Its arrival, motivated from its dissuasion

دأبَ البديعُ بها فسلسلَ لفظُها

دأبَ البديعُ بها فسلسلَ لفظُها

راحاً تؤمّنُ شارباً من حدِّه

راحاً تؤمّنُ شارباً من حدِّه

Al-Badiʿ labored over it, and its wording flowed smoothly

The talented one has persisted in it, so its wording flows

as wine that spares a drinker his prescribed punishment.

At ease, securing a drinker from its sharpness

فاسلَمْ فذكرُك عارضٌ متعرِّضٌ

فاسلَمْ فذكرُك عارضٌ متعرِّضٌ

ينهلُّ في غورِ المديحِ ونجدِه

ينهلُّ في غورِ المديحِ ونجدِه

So fare well: your renown is a rain cloud spread wide,

So be safe, for your mention is a tangent, digressing

pouring upon the lowlands and uplands of praise.

To plunge into praise’s ravine and its generosity