ليَهنَ ويسعد من به سعدَ الفضلُ

بدارٍ هي الدنيا وسائرهُا فضلُ

May he rejoice and be gladdened, he in whom nobility was gladdened

With an abode that is the life of this world, the rest being surplus

بها خيَّم الإقدامُ والحزمُ والنُّهى

وفيها استقر العلمُ والحلمُ والبذلُ

In it valour pitched its tents, as did wisdom, prohibition

And in it knowledge, forbearance and generosity took root

تولَّى له تقديرها رحبُ صدره

على قدرِه والشَّكلُ يُعجبه الشَّكلُ

To him its organization was entrusted, by his broad chest

Matching it and seeming beautiful to him in its form

فجاءت على وفقِ الضَّمير كأنما

تصورتِ الآمال فهي لها مثلُ

So it came out conforming to his conscience, as though

Hopes had pictured it, for it is their likeness

بَنِيَّةُ مجدٍ تشهدُ الأرضُ أنها

ستُطوى وما حاذي السماءَ لها مثلُ

A structure of glory, of which the earth testifies

It will be folded, though nothing can equal it in height

تُكلِّف أحداقَ العيونِ تخاوُصاً

إليها كأنَّ الناسَ كلَّهمُ قُبلث

Obliging eyes to vie in glancing at it

As if all mankind were amorously inclined towards it

منارٌ لأبصارِ السراة وربُّها

منالٌ لآمال العُفَاةِ إذا ضلُّوا

A beacon for the eyes of travellers, its lord

A haven for the hopes of the wandering when they are lost

سحابٌ علا فَوقَ السَّحَاب مصاعدا

وأحرِ بأن يَعلوَ وأنت له وبلُ

A cloud that rose high above the clouds

And it behoves you to rise higher still

وقد اسبلَ الخيريُّ كمَّي مفاخر

بصحن به للملك يجتمعُ الشَّملُ

The benefactor has donned his finery

In a bowl where kinsfolk are brought together

كما طلع النَّسرُ المنيرُ مُصفِّقاً

جَنَاحيه لولا أن مطلَعه غُفل

As the brilliant star has risen flashing

Its wings, had it not risen unexpectedly

بَنيتَ على هامِ العداةِ بَنيَّةً

تمكنَ منها في قلوبهمُ الغلُّ

You built over the zeal of foes a structure

Establishing mastery over their hearts

ولو كنت ترضى هامهم شرفاً لها

أتوك بها جُهدَ المقلِّ ولم يألُوا

Had you been content with their zeal as an honour,

They would have come to you with the utmost exertion and not flagged

ولكن أراها لو هَمَمتَ برفعها

أبى الله أن تَعلَوَ عليك فلم تعل

But I see that, had you thought to raise it higher

God refused to let it rise above you, so it did not rise higher

تحُجُّ لها الآمالُ من كُلَّ وجهةٍ

وينحَرُ في حافاتها البخلُ والمحلُ

Hopes make pilgrimage to it from every direction

And parsimony and blame are sacrificed on its borders

وما ضرَّها ألا تُقَابلُ دجلة

وفي حافتيها يلتقي الفيضُ والهطلُ

It matters not that it does not face the Tigris

With abundance and rainfall meeting on its banks

تَجَلَّى لأطراف العراقِ سُعودُها

فَعَادَ إليها الملكُ والأمنُ والعدلُ

Its good fortune was revealed to the extremities of Iraq

So that the kingdom, security and justice returned to it

كذا السَّعدُ قد القى عليها شعاعَه

فليس لنَحسٍ في مطارِفها فِعلُ

Thus did Fate cast its rays upon it

So that within its precincts misfortune can have no sway

وقالوا تَعدَّى خلقَه في بنائها

وكان وما غيرُ النوال به شُغلُ

And they said that in building it he had exceeded

His talent, yet he thought of nothing but the joy of completion

فقلتُ إذا لم يُلهه ذاك عن نَدىً

فماذا على العَليَاءِ إن كَانَ لا يخلو

Then said I: If that does not distract him from freshness

What matter if the lofty do not abstain?

إذا النَّصلُ لم يُذمَم نجاراً وشيمةً

تأنَّقَ في غِمدٍ يُصانُ به النَّصلُ

When the blade is not blemished by carpentry and temper

It adorns a scabbard in which the blade is preserved

تملَّ على رغم الحواسد والعدا

عُلاك وعش للجود ما قَبُحَ البُخلُ

Despite the malevolent and foes your supremacy has filled up

And dwelling for generosity, how ugly is meanness!