لم يدر حي وقد جاء البشير به

أن الزمان لما نرجوه متسعُ

No living soul knew, though the herald had brought tidings of him,

that time has room for what we hope for.

فزارها ليث غاب تحته فرس

وبدرتم عليه التاج والخلع

Then a lion of the thickets visited her, a steed beneath him,

and a full moon, the crown and robes of honor upon him.

لما تطلع والرايات تكتمه

في ظلها وشاع الشمس مرتفع

When he rose into view, the banners concealed him

in their shade, while the sun’s radiance stood high.

أعدى بإقباله من أهلها نفراً

لم يعلموا أن در السعد يرتضع

With his coming he infected some of her people with good fortune,

who had not known that fortune’s milk could be suckled.

فليهنها منه روض زهره درر

فتن العقود ومزن قطره دفع

So may she delight in a garden from him whose blossoms are pearls,

the enchantment of necklaces—and rain clouds whose drops are torrents.

لاحظ أباك فهذي مصر معرضة

وأنت يوسف والاسباط قد جمعوا

Look upon your father: here is Egypt, laid open,

and you are Joseph, and the Tribes have been gathered.

لكنهم ما نووا غدراً ولا نقضوا

عهداً ولا اضمر واغلاو ولا ابتدعوا

Yet they intended no treachery, nor did they break

a covenant, nor [harbor malice], nor introduce innovations.

أيا أخا الجود وابن المجد لا بلد

إلا بذكرك أو بالسيف يفترع

O brother of generosity and son of glory, no land

is conquered except by your renown or by the sword.

فدى لجودك آمالي وسابقها

ومطمع من بحار الشعر ممتنع

A ransom for your generosity: my hopes and the foremost of them,

and an unattainable prize from the seas of poetry.

فالقائلون بطاء عن مداي وإن

أبدعت معنى فهم في أخذه سرع

For the poets lag behind my reach; yet if

I devise a poetic idea, they are quick to seize it.

هم إذا خلطوا شعري بشعرهم

كالطير يهذون أو يحكمون ما سمعوا

They, when they mingle my poetry with their own,

are like birds, babbling or rendering well what they have heard.