بدت لجفونك العبر

ولا فكر ولا نظر

Lessons have appeared before your eyes,

yet there is neither thought nor reflection.

وأنذرت النّهي فصمم

ت عما ألفت النّذر

And reason was warned, but you grew deaf

to what the warnings had set forth.

ولم تحفل بأحقاب

لك الأيام والعصر

You took no heed of the long spans

of days and time allotted you.

وأهملت الصّبا سفهاً

فهذا الشيب والكبر

You squandered youth in foolishness:

now here are gray hair and old age.

تطيل مناك مجتهداً

وعمرك خانه القصر

You labor to prolong your hopes,

though shortness has betrayed your lifespan.

وتعطي أيُّها المغرو

ر من عصيانها غرر

And you offer, O deluded

one, choice examples of disobeying it;

وتجحد فضل من شهدت

له الآصال والبكر

and deny the bounty of Him

to whom evenings and early mornings bear witness.

وفيه شواهد التّوحي

د بيّنةٌ ولا بصر

And in Him the proofs of divine unity

are plain, yet there is no sight.

تعالى ملك من خضعت

له الأرواحُ والصور

Exalted is the sovereignty of Him to whom

spirits and forms bow down;

ومن نطقت بفطرته

يقيناً هذه الفطر

and Him whose act of creation

these innate natures surely proclaim.

إلهُ ليس يلحق مل

كَهُ نقصٌ ولا غير

A God whose dominion is untouched

by any deficiency or change;

وربٌ لا تحوم على

سوى آياته الفكر

a Lord: thoughts do not hover

over anything but His signs.

فلم ينكر أدلَّّته

صحيح العقل مُدَّكِرُ

Thus none has denied His proofs

who is sound of mind and mindful;

ولم ينسب إلى أحد

سواه النَّفع والضَّرر

nor ascribed to anyone

but Him either benefit or harm.

له من خلقه حجج

وفي تصريفهم عبر

He has proofs in His creation,

and in His ordering of them are lessons.

غنّي لا افتقار له

ونحن إليه نفتقر

Self-sufficient, He has no need,

while we stand in need of Him.

فسبحان اللطيف بنا

وبأس الخطب منتشر

So glory be to Him who is gentle with us,

while the fury of calamity spreads;

وسبحان الذي يُعصى

فيعفو وهو مقتدر

and glory be to Him who is disobeyed,

yet pardons, though fully powerful.

له في كل شارقة

أيادٍ ليس تنحصر

At every sunrise He has

favors beyond all reckoning.

وهل تخفى وقد وَضُحَت

لها بوجوهنا غُرر

Can they be hidden, when so clear

are their bright marks upon our faces?

رياضُ المنِّ باسقةٌ

ففيها الظل والثمر

The gardens of bounty tower high,

and in them are shade and fruit.

وخير جميعها أثراً

إذا ما عدَّت الخِيَرُ

The best of all in its effects,

when good things are counted,

إمامُ يأمُرُ الدنيا

بطاعته فتأتمر

is an imam who commands the world

to obey him, and it obeys.

إلى المنصور منتسب

وبالرحمن منتصر

He traces his lineage to al-Mansur,

and wins victory through the All-Merciful.

شديد شكائم العزمات

ساعة تضعفُ المرر

Firm are the bridles of his resolves

when tightly twisted cords grow weak.

إذا ما ناظره

تكاد الأرض تنفطر

Whenever someone confronts him,

the earth all but splits apart.

هو الدُّنيا لنا والدِّين

وهو الصَّحو والمطر

He is our worldly life and our religion;

he is clear weather and rain.

له من بأسه عدد

ومن عزماته نفر

His valor furnishes his armaments,

and his resolves his troops.

فإن يصبح خليفتنا

فنعم الركن والوزر

If he becomes our caliph,

what an excellent pillar and refuge!

وإن نصبح رعيته

فسعد ساقه القدر

And if we become his subjects,

that is good fortune brought by destiny.

سمعنا ثم أبصرنا

فطاب الخُبرُ والخَبَرُ

We heard, and then we saw:

sweet were firsthand experience and report.

وردنا نحو نائله

فلذَّ الورد والصدر

We came to the waters of his bounty,

and sweet were the arrival and departure.

فقد أغنى الورى فضلاً

فأثرى البدو والحضر

He has enriched all people through bounty:

desert folk and townsfolk have grown wealthy.

وقد وسع الورى عدلاً

فلا حذر ولا ضرر

His justice has encompassed all people,

so there is neither fear nor harm.

وفاق النّاس قاطبةً

فلم يعدل به بشر

He has surpassed all people without exception:

no mortal has been reckoned his equal.

وكيف يحيف ملتزم

لما جاءت به السُّور

How could one deal unjustly who adheres

to what the surahs have brought?

يروح اللَّيث والأروى

وتعد والشاة والنَّمِرُ

The lion and mountain-goats go forth at evening,

and the sheep and leopard run.

تحلت يمنه الدنيا

فلم يعزب لها وطر

The world has adorned itself with his blessing,

and no desire has eluded it.

فكلُّ بلادها زهر

وكلُّ زمانها سحر

All its lands are blossoms,

and all its time is the hour before dawn.

له جودٌ كأن البحر

تطفو فوقه الدُّرر

His bounty is as though the sea

had pearls floating upon it.

وحِلمٌ هل رأيت الطَّو

د لا ريح ولا قتر

And his forbearance—have you seen the mountain

with neither wind nor dust?

وبأسٌ هل لمحت النَّار

لا تبقى ولا تذر

And his valor—have you glimpsed the fire

that spares nothing and leaves nothing?

سيكفيه العدا ظفر

بظهر الغيب مدَّخر

A victory will suffice him against his foes,

stored up in the unseen realm;

وأدعيةٌ تؤكدها

دموع العين والسهر

and prayers made firm

by tears of the eyes and sleepless nights;

وطائفةٌ موحدةٌ

لنصر الحَقِّ تبتدر

and a band professing divine unity,

hastening to champion the truth.

فقد وثقت بأنَّ الفت

ح في الأعداء منتظر

For it is confident that victory

over the enemy is in store.

فلم يعرض لها فشل

ولم يقعد بها خور

No faltering has assailed it,

and no weakness has held it back.

لها من سمرها شجر

ومن راياتها زهر

Its brown lances make its trees,

and its banners its flowers.

إذا ركبوا حسبت البح

ر فوق البحر ينهمر

When they mount, you would think the sea

was pouring down upon the sea.

وإن حملوا ظننت النَّا

ر تحت الرِّيح تستعر

And when they charge, you would think fire

was blazing beneath the wind.

كأن قتامهم سُحُبٌ

وفيها الشُّهب تنكدر

Their battle-dust is as though it were clouds,

and within them shooting stars plunge down.

كماةٌ خيرة نجب

حماةٌ ذادةٌ صُبُرُ

Armored warriors, choice and noble men,

protectors, defenders, steadfast men.

أمامَهُمُ إمامُهُمُ

وحسبكم فنقتصر

Before them stands their imam:

let that suffice you; we shall say no more.

وكيف تضل طائفةٌ

يسير أمامها القمر

How could a band go astray

when the moon travels before it?

تَقَدَّمُهُم بَسَالَتُهُ

وفيها البيض والسمر

His valor goes before them,

and in it are white swords and brown lances.

وتكنفهم سعادتهُ

فلا خوف ولا خَوَرُ

His good fortune surrounds them,

so there is neither fear nor weakness.

فلا تحذر أعاديه

فهم لسيوفه جزر

Do not fear his enemies:

they are slaughter-beasts for his swords.

ولا ترهب مناوئه

وإن أملى له البطر

Nor dread his opponent,

even if arrogance grants him respite.

إذا سيمت رقاق الهند

لم تعدل بها الإِبر

When India's slender blades are appraised,

needles are not reckoned their equals.

وإن زأرت ليوث الغيل

لم تثبت لها الحمر

And when the lions of the thickets roar,

asses cannot stand against them.

فيا من غرَّه ناظره

جهام مالها مطر

O you whom your own eye has deceived—

rainless clouds, with no rain in them!

أفق فاللَّيث مطّلع

عليك وأنت منتظر

Awake! The lion is looming

over you, while you wait.

أغرّك حلمه زمناً

ستعلم حين تختبر

Has his forbearance deceived you for a time?

You will know when you put it to the test.

يلين الغمد تلمسه

وفيه الصَّارم الذَّكر

The sheath is soft when you touch it,

yet within it is the keen, hard-tempered blade.

كذاك النار ساكنة

وتحت سكونها الشَّرر

So too the fire is still,

with sparks beneath its stillness.

كأني عن عرضت له

ولا عين ولا أثر

I seem to see you—[if] you confront him—

with neither visible presence nor trace remaining.

فبادر باب من يعفو

لمن يهفو فيعتذر

So hasten to the gate of one who pardons

whoever errs and then apologizes.

وأيقن أن أمر اللّ

ه عقد ليس ينتثر

And know for certain that God's decree

is a necklace that will not fall apart.

وسوف تنال ما يجني

عليك الغَدر يا غَدِرُ

You shall receive what treachery brings

upon you, O treacherous one!

تذكّر ما الذي انقلبت

به أشباهك الآخر

Remember what it was

your other counterparts came back with.

خليفتنا هو المنصور

فاحتفلوا أو احتضروا

Our caliph is al-Mansur;

so muster your strength, or meet your death.

سيعلو الصَّفو مرتفعاً

ويسفل تحته الكدر

The pure will rise aloft,

and the dregs will sink beneath it.

ومن كان الهدى معه

فمضمون له الظَّفر

And whoever has guidance with him

is assured of victory.