1. اسْعَدْ بعيد أخي نُسْكٍ وإسلامِ

    وعيدِ لهوٍ طليق الوجهِ بسَّامِ

    Rejoice in a feast of devotion and Islam,

    And a feast of merriment, open-faced and smiling.

  2. عيدان أضحى ونوروزٌ كأنهما

    يومَا فعالِك من بؤسٍ وإنعامِ

    Two feasts, Adha and Nowruz, are like

    Your two days of deeds, of affliction and bounty:

  3. من ناصحٍ بالذي تحيى النفوسُ به

    وحائلٍ بين أرواحٍ وأجسامِ

    From one who faithfully gives what keeps souls alive,

    And one who parts souls from bodies.

  4. كذاك يوماكَ يومٌ سيْبُهُ دِيَمٌ

    على العُفاة ويومٌ سَيْفهُ دامي

    So too your two days: one whose bounty is steady rain

    Upon suppliants, and one whose sword is bloodied.

  5. لله أضحى ونيروزٌ لبستهما

    على عفافٍ وجُودٍ غيرِ إلمامِ

    How splendid the Adha and Nowruz you have donned,

    With chastity and generosity, not merely in passing!

  6. أضْحتْ يمينُك في النَوْروز فائضةً

    بالمال لا الماء فيْضاً غيرَ إرهامِ

    At Nowruz your right hand overflowed

    With money, not water—a flood, not a drizzle.

  7. لَهَوْتَ فيه بجد النَّفح واجتَنَبتْ

    دعابةَ النضح نفسٌ همُّها سامي

    You made merry there with earnest giving, and shunned

    Playful sprinkling, with a soul of lofty purpose.

  8. ثم انصرفْتَ إلى الأضحى وسُنَّته

    فأي مِطعانِ لباتٍ ومِطعامِ

    Then you turned to Adha and its observance:

    What a piercer of throats, what a generous provider of food!

  9. ألحمتنا الكُومَ فيه فألُ مارِقةٍ

    ستُلحمُ الطيرَ منها أيَّ إلحامِ

    You fed us high-humped camels there, an omen for a rebel band:

    You will give the birds their flesh—what a feeding!

  10. لازلت تنحر في أمثاله أبداً

    شتَّى نحائرِ أعداءٍ وأنعامِ

    May you forever slaughter on occasions like it

    All kinds of victims, enemies and livestock:

  11. فَمِن لحامٍ تريباتٍ بلا وضمٍ

    إلا الثرى ولحامٍ فوق أوضامِ

    Some flesh dust-covered, with no butcher's block

    Except the earth, and some flesh upon blocks.

  12. فِعْلَ امرئٍ غير ظَلَّام لمُنصِفهِ

    للظالمين وللأموالِ ظلَّامِ

    The deed of a man who wrongs not those fair to him,

    But is ruthless to oppressors and to wealth.

  13. فكفُّهُ كفُّ تقبيلٍ يُفازُ به

    ووجهُه وجهُ إجلالٍ وإكرامِ

    His hand is one whose kiss is a prize to win,

    And his face is a face of reverence and honor.

  14. كأنّه شمسُ إصحاء وحاشَ له

    من أن يُقاسَ إليه بدْرُ إعتامِ

    He is like the sun in clear skies—far be it from him

    That a full moon at nightfall be compared with him.

  15. فيه بشاشة وصّالٍ ورونقُهُ

    وفيه إن راب ريبٌ حَدُّ صرّامِ

    In him are an affectionate companion's cheerfulness and glow,

    And, should troubling doubt arise, a keen blade's edge.

  16. لا تَغْتَرر بحياء فيه من شرسٍ

    فالماءُ في كُل عَضْبِ الغرب صَمْصامِ

    Do not be deceived by the modesty in one so fierce,

    For water gleams in every keen-edged, cleaving sword.

  17. وزيرُ سِلم وحَرْبٍ لا كفاءَ له

    ما زال حَمَّال أرماحٍ وأقلامِ

    A minister of peace and war, with no equal,

    Ever a bearer of spears and pens.

  18. إذا ارتأى الرأي في خَطْبٍ أُتيحَ له

    فيه السدادُ بفكرٍ أو بإلهامِ

    When he considers a course in some grave affair, he is granted

    Sound judgment in it, through thought or inspiration.

  19. فلم يَهِمْ بين إنكارٍ ومعرفةٍ

    ولم يخِم بين إحجام وإقدامِ

    He does not wander between denial and recognition,

    Nor flinch between holding back and advancing.

  20. خبِّرهُ بالداء واسأله بحيلته

    تُخْبَرْ وتَسْلَ أخا فهمٍ وإفهامِ

    Tell him of the ailment, and ask him for his remedy;

    You will be answered, having asked a man who understands and explains.

  21. كم اشترى بكرى عينيه من سهرٍ

    وباع في اللَّهِ لذَّاتٍ بآلامِ

    How much wakefulness he has bought with his eyes' sleep,

    And traded pleasures for pains in God's cause!

  22. للَّهِ مُطروه ما أضحَوا لأنفسهِم

    ولا له يومَ زاروه بِلُوّامِ

    God bless his praisers! Neither themselves

    Nor him did they reproach on the day they visited him.

  23. آبوا بحظٍّ بلا إثم وكم صدروا

    عن آخرين بحرمان وآثامِ

    They returned with bounty and no sin; how often had they departed

    From others with deprivation and sins!

  24. مُطَلَّبٌ بعطايا ما يُنهنهها

    عذْل العواذِل طَلّابٌ بأوغامِ

    Much sought for gifts that cannot be restrained

    By faultfinders' rebukes, and eager in pursuing blood-feuds.

  25. مُعاوِدٌ نَقْضَ أوتارٍ وآونةً

    مُعاودٌ عفوَ زلّاتٍ وأجرامِ

    Ever returning to settle blood-feuds, and at times

    Returning to pardon slips and crimes.

  26. يُعْطي فيُنطقُ ذا الإفحام نائلُه

    ويُفحم الفحلَ شِعراً أيّ إفحامِ

    He gives, and his bounty makes the tongue-tied speak,

    Yet utterly silences even a master poet.

  27. يغدو وقد حل عافوه بذي كرم

    إدْلالُ سُؤَّاله إذلالُ غُرَّامِ

    Each morn his suppliants have alighted with one so generous

    That his beggars' boldness humbles him as creditors do.

  28. لا بل ترى لهمُ فيما حوت يدُهُ

    وهو المحكَّم فيه حُكمَ حكَّامِ

    No—rather, you see them, over what his hand contains,

    Though he is its appointed arbiter, wielding judges' authority.

  29. أخو سماح يمُتُّ الأبعدونَ به

    حتى كأنّهمْ منَّوْا بأرْحامِ

    A man of bounty, through whom even strangers claim a bond,

    Until they seem to have been granted ties of blood.

  30. مستأنسين ببشرٍ منه آنسَهُم

    من قبله بشرُ حُجّابٍ وخدّامِ

    At ease with his cheerful welcome, they had been put at ease

    Before him by the smiles of doorkeepers and servants.

  31. ما استام بالحمدِ مُستامٌ فماكَسهُ

    وهل يرَدُّ جوادٌ حُكْمَ مُسْتامِ

    No bidder offered praise and found him haggling,

    And would a generous man reject a bidder's price?

  32. ترى له في المساعي جدَّ مجتهِدٍ

    لم يكْفهِ كُلُّ كُرَّام لِكُرَّامِ

    In worthy endeavors you see his striver's earnestness,

    Not satisfied with noble men sprung from noble men.

  33. ولو يشاء كفاهُ أنَّهُ رَجُلٌ

    من بين أكرم أخوالٍ وأعمامِ

    Had he wished, it would have sufficed that he was a man

    From among the noblest maternal and paternal uncles.

  34. لكنْ أبى بوفاءٍ من تُراثِهمُ

    إلا نُشوراً لهم من بعد إرمامِ

    But, faithful to their legacy, he would accept

    Only their resurrection after their decay.

  35. تلقى أبا الصقر في الجُلَّى وحُجْزتُه

    مَقْسومةٌ بين أيدٍ خيرَ إقسامِ

    You find Abu al-Saqr amid great crisis, his waistband

    Shared among grasping hands in the finest sharing:

  36. من خائفٍ وهْنَ سُلطانٍ وذي عَوَزٍ

    قد أعصما بالمرجَّى أيَّ إعصامِ

    Those fearing weakened authority and those in need,

    Both clinging to the one they hope in with the firmest grip.

  37. كلا الفريقين منه ثمَّ مُعْتصم

    بعُروة الأمنِ من خوفٍ وإعدامِ

    Both groups find refuge there in him,

    In security's firm handhold against fear and destitution.

  38. دهرٌ نهى الدهر عن جيرانِ دولتِه

    فأحرم الدهرُ فيها أيَّ إحرامِ

    An age unto himself, he barred Time from his realm's neighbors,

    And Time entered there the strictest sacred restraint.

  39. حانٍ على الناس حامٍ عُقرَ بيضتهم

    لا تعدم الطَّول من حانٍ ومن حامِ

    Tender toward people, guarding their community's heart,

    You never lack bounty from one so tender and protective.

  40. تنافس الناسُ في أيام دولته

    فما يبيعون أياماً بأعوامِ

    People compete for the days of his reign,

    And will not trade its days for years.

  41. لا يبعد اللَّهُ أياماً له جمعتْ

    إلى سكونِ ليالٍ أُنسَ أيامِ

    May God never banish his days, which have joined

    The calm of nights with the fellowship of days.

  42. يفدي أبا الصقرِ قومٌ دون فديتِه

    كأن مُدَّاحَهُم عُبَّادُ أصنامِ

    Men would ransom Abu al-Saqr, though too low to be his ransom;

    Their praisers seem like worshippers of idols.

  43. ما همَّ بالدينِ والدنيا فنالَهُما

    إلا قريعُكُمُ يا آل همَّامِ

    None sought religion and the world and gained them both

    But your foremost man, O house of Hammam!

  44. رأيت أشرافَ خلقِ الله قد جُعلوا

    للناس هاماً وأنتم أعينُ الهامِ

    I have seen the noblest of God's creatures made

    Heads for the people, while you are those heads' eyes.

  45. أنتم نجومُ سماءٍ لا أُفول لها

    وتلك أشرفُ من نيرانِ أعلامِ

    You are stars of a heaven, with no setting,

    And those are nobler than beacon fires on heights.

  46. ما ينقض الدهرُ من حالٍ ويُبرمها

    إلا بنقضٍ لكم فيه وإبرامِ

    No state does Time undo or make fast

    Except through your undoing and fastening within it.

  47. كم من غرامٍ يُلاقي المالُ بينكُم

    من غارمٍ في سبيل المجد غنَّامِ

    How much loss does wealth endure among you,

    From a spender in glory's cause, a great winner of spoils!

  48. أقسمتُ بالله ما استيقظتُمُ لِخناً

    ولا وُجدتم عن العليا بنوّامِ

    I swear by God: you never awoke for indecency,

    Nor were you found sleeping through exalted aims.

  49. ضاهت صنائعُ أيديكم وقائعَها

    فأصبحتْ ذات إنجادٍ وإتهامِ

    The favors of your hands have matched their battles,

    And have ranged through Najd and Tihama.

  50. ما تفترُونَ عن التنفيسِ عن كظم

    ولا تُفيقون عن أخذٍ بأكظامِ

    You never slacken in easing choking distress,

    Nor cease to seize throats.

  51. مُسوّمين على جُردٍ مسومةٍ

    مثل القداحِ بأيدي غيرِ أبرامِ

    Marked for battle on lean, marked steeds,

    Like gaming arrows in the hands of no niggard players.

  52. خيلٌ إذا أُسرجت أو أُلجمت لكُمُ

    ذلَّ العزيزُ لإسراجٍ وإلجامِ

    Horses that, when saddled or bridled for you,

    Make the mighty humble at their saddling and bridling.

  53. حتى إذا حملتكُم في وشيجكُمُ

    سارت هناك بآسادٍ وآجامِ

    Until, when they bear you amid your massed spears,

    They travel there with lions and thickets.

  54. كأن قسطلها والزرقُ ناجمةٌ

    ليلٌ عليه سماءٌ ذاتُ إنجامِ

    Their dust cloud, with blue spearheads emerging, is like

    A night beneath a heaven studded with stars.

  55. حتى إذا الزرقُ غابت في مطاعِنها

    عادت هناك سماء ذات إثجامِ

    Then, when the blue spearheads vanish into those they pierce,

    There returns a heaven of pouring rain.

  56. وخافكُم كل شيءٍ فاكتسى نفقاً

    كأنه في حشاهُ حرف إدغامِ

    Everything fears you and wraps itself in a tunnel,

    As though within its depths it were an assimilated letter.

  57. سُدتم بخفَّةِ أقدامٍ مُسارعة

    إلى الكرائه في رُجحان أحلامِ

    You gained mastery with swift feet hastening

    Toward ordeals, and with weighty minds;

  58. وجود أيدٍ كأن الله أنشأها

    من كلِّ غيث ضَحوكِ البرق زمزامِ

    And with generous hands, as though God had formed them

    From every rain cloud, lightning-laughing and thunder-rumbling.

  59. لا تعدموا بسط أيمانٍ مضمّنةٍ

    ضرّاً ونفعاً ولا تقديمَ أقدامِ

    May you never lack outstretched right hands charged with

    Harm and benefit, nor advancing feet!

  60. تغدون والمنعمُ المِنعامُ مُنعمُكم

    ورُبَّ مُنعِم قوم غيرُ مِنعامِ

    You go forth, the lavish Benefactor your benefactor,

    And many a people's benefactor is no lavish giver.

  61. طالتْ على الناسِ أيديكم وما ظلمتْ

    ببارعِ الطول قمقامٍ لقمقامِ

    Your hands have stretched high above the people, yet never wronged them,

    With surpassing bounty—mighty lord sprung from mighty lord.

  62. فما اشتكى الفضلُ منكم لؤمَ مقدرةٍ

    ولا شكى العدلُ منكم جور أحكامِ

    Excellence has never complained of mean-spirited power in you,

    Nor justice of your judgments' tyranny.

  63. لكم لدى الحُكم إلزامٌ بحُجَّتكم

    على الخصومِ وصفحٌ بعد إلزامِ

    In judgment, your proof imposes a binding verdict

    On opponents, and pardon follows that verdict.

  64. أضحى الكرامُ وإسماعيل بينهمُ

    في كل حالٍ مُعلّىً بين أزلامِ

    The nobles stand, with Isma'il among them,

    He the highest-valued arrow among the lots in every circumstance.

  65. غاب الموفَّقُ واستكفاه غيبتَهُ

    فلم يصادفه بين الذمِّ والذامِ

    Al-Muwaffaq went away and entrusted him with affairs in his absence,

    And found in him neither blame nor blemish.

  66. ما زال مذ سُدَّ ثغر الحادثات به

    يرمي الفرائصَ منه أيُّما رامي

    Ever since he was set to close the breach of calamities,

    He has shot from it at the trembling vitals, a matchless marksman.

  67. إذ لا تقحُّم في حين الأناة لهم

    ولا أناةَ له في حين إقحامِ

    For they make no rash assault when patience is called for,

    Nor does he delay when assault is called for.

  68. ولا تهوُّرَ فيه عند ملتزمٍ

    ولا تهيّبَ فيه عند إحجامِ

    There is no recklessness in him at an undertaking,

    Nor timidity in him when others hold back.

  69. شادَ الأمورَ التي ولاه بنيتها

    على قواعد إتقان وإحكامِ

    He raised the structures of the affairs entrusted to him

    Upon foundations of mastery and sound construction,

  70. برحب ذرعٍ وصدرٍ لم يزل بلداً

    فيه ينابيعُ رأي غيرُ أسدامِ

    With ample capacity and a breast that has ever been a land

    Of springs of counsel that are never choked.

  71. تلك الينابيعُ ما زالت موارِدُها

    فيها سقامٌ وفيها برءُ أسقامِ

    Those springs have ever had watering places

    With sickness in them, and with cures for sicknesses.

  72. ونائم قال قد أدركتُ غايته

    عفواً فقلت له أضغاث أحلامِ

    A sleeper said, 'I have reached his utmost height

    Effortlessly'; I told him, 'Tangled dreams!'

  73. دع عنك ما تتمنى لن ترى أبداً

    سِفلاً كعُلوٍ ولا خَلفاً كقُدَّامِ

    Put aside your wishes: you will never see

    Lowliness match loftiness, nor behind match ahead.

  74. تلقى أبا الصقرِ ضرغاماً بشِكَّتِه

    إذا تبسَّل ضِرغامٌ لضرغامِ

    You find Abu al-Saqr a lion in his war-gear,

    When one lion fiercely confronts another.

  75. واجتبى الناس إلا أنه رجل

    لا يعرفُ الخاء بين الباء واللامِ

    And he chose the people; yet he is a man

    Who knows no kha between ba and lam—no stinginess.

  76. واسلمْ أبا الصقرِ للإسلام تمنعهُ

    منعَ امرئٍ لا يرى إسلامَ إسلامِ

    Remain safe, Abu al-Saqr, for Islam, defending it

    As a man who will never countenance surrendering Islam.

  77. ما زال معدنَ معروفٍ ومعرفةٍ

    له فوائدُ وهَّابٍ وعلّامِ

    He has ever been a mine of kindness and knowledge,

    With the gifts of a lavish giver and a learned master.

  78. أنت الذي غدهُ في اليوم منتظرٌ

    وخيرُ قابله المنظورُ في العامِ

    You are the one whose morrow is awaited today,

    And whose next year's bounty is awaited this year.

  79. قد كاد يحميكَ حمدَ الناسِ علمَهُمُ

    بأن جُودك عن وجدٍ وإغرامِ

    People's knowledge has almost denied you their praise:

    That your generosity springs from passion and infatuation.

  80. يا مُعمِلَ الجود قد أنضيت مركبه

    نضاً فأعقبه منه يومَ أجمامِ

    O driver of generosity, you have worn out its mount,

    Worn it thin—then grant it a day of rest from that.

  81. وليُبقِ جودك من جَدواك باقيةً

    لخادم لك محقوقٍ بإخدامِ

    Let your generosity leave some of your bounty

    For a servant of yours who deserves servants himself.