1. بالجدِّ أَدركتَ ما أَدركتَ لا اللّعب

    كم راحةٍ جُنيَتْ من دوحةِ التّعبِ

    Through earnest effort you attained what you attained, not through play.

    How much ease has been reaped from the spreading tree of toil!

  2. يا شيركوهُ بن شاذي الملكُ دعوةَ مَنْ

    نادى فعرَّفَ خيرَ ابنٍ بخيرِ أَبِ

    O King Shirkuh, son of Shadhi!—the call of one

    who cried out, naming the finest son by the finest father.

  3. جرى الملوكُ وما حازوا بركضهمُ

    من المدى في العُلى ما حُزْتَ بالخَبَب

    Kings raced, yet all their galloping did not gain them

    the distance toward glory that you covered at a trot.

  4. تَمَلَّ من مُلْكِ مصرٍ رتبةً قصرتْ

    عنها الملوكُ فطالتْ سائرَ الرُّتَبِ

    Long may you enjoy, in ruling Egypt, a rank beyond

    the reach of kings, surpassing every other rank.

  5. افخرْ فإنَّ ملوكَ الأرضِ قاطبةً

    أَفلاكُها منكَ قد دارتْ على قُطَبِ

    Take pride, for all the kings of the earth—

    their spheres have revolved around you as their pole.

  6. فتحتَ مصرَ وأَرجو أَن تصير بها

    مُيَسَّراً فتحَ بيت القدس عن كَثَبِ

    You conquered Egypt, and I hope that through it you will be

    enabled soon to conquer Jerusalem.

  7. قد أَمكنتْ أَسدَ الدِّين الفريسةُ من

    فتحِ البلادِ فبادرْ نحوَها وَثبِ

    The prey has offered itself to Asad al-Din—

    the conquest of lands; so hasten toward it and leap!

  8. أنتَ الذي هو فردٌ من بسالته

    والدِّينُ من عزمه في جحفلِ لجبِ

    You are the one unrivaled in his valor;

    through his resolve, the faith stands amid a clamorous host.

  9. في حَلْق ذي الشِّرك من عدوى سُطاك شَجاً

    والقلبُ في شَجنٍ والنّفسُ في شَجَبِ

    The onslaught of your might is a choking bone in the idolater's throat,

    his heart is in anguish, and his soul in grief.

  10. زارتْ بني الأَصفر البيضُ التي لقيتْ

    حُمْرَ المنايا بها مرفوعَةَ الحُجُبِ

    The white blades visited the sons of al-Asfar, encountering

    crimson deaths there, with veils lifted.

  11. وإنها نَقَدٌ من خلفها أَسَدٌ

    أرى سلامتها من أَعجب العَجَبِ

    They are but small sheep, with a lion behind them;

    I count their survival among the strangest of marvels.

  12. لقد رَفَعْنا إلى الرَّحمن أيديَنا

    في شكرِنا ما بهِ الإسلامُ منكَ حُبي

    We have indeed raised our hands to the Merciful

    in thanks for what Islam has been granted through you.

  13. شكا إليكَ بنو الإسلام يُتْمهمُ

    فقمتَ فيهم مقامَ الوالدِ الحدبِ

    The sons of Islam complained to you of their orphanhood;

    you took among them the place of a tenderhearted father.

  14. في كلِّ دارٍ من الإفرنجِ نادبةٌ

    بما دهاهم فقد بانوا على نَدَبِ

    In every house of the Franks, a woman wails

    over what befell them; they have departed amid lamentation.

  15. من شر شاور أَنقذتَ العبادَ فكم

    وكم قضيتَ لحزبِ اللّهِ من أَرَبِ

    From Shawar's evil you saved the people; how many,

    how many desires you fulfilled for God's party!

  16. هو الذي أطمعَ الإفرنجَ في بلد ال

    إسلام حتى سَعوا للقَصد والطّلَبِ

    It was he who made the Franks covet the land of

    Islam, until they set out to attack and seize it.

  17. وإنَّ ذلكَ عندَ اللّه محتسبٌ

    في الحشر من أَفضل الطاعات والقُرَبِ

    And that is credited in God's reckoning

    at the Resurrection among the finest deeds of obedience and devotion.

  18. أَذلَّه الملكُ المنصورُ منتصراً

    لما دعا الشِّركُ هذا قد تعزَّز بي

    Al-Malik al-Mansur humbled him, taking vengeance,

    when idolatry cried, 'This man has grown mighty through me.'

  19. وما غضبتَ لدين اللّه منتقماً

    إلاّ لنيلِ رضا الرَّحمنِ بالغَضَبِ

    You did not rage in vengeance for God's faith

    except to win the Merciful's pleasure through that rage.

  20. وأنتَ من وقعتْ في الكُفر هيبتُه

    وفي ذويهِ وقوعَ النّار في الحَطَبِ

    You are he whose terror fell upon unbelief

    and its adherents as fire falls upon firewood.

  21. وحينَ سرت إلى الكُفّار فانهزموا

    نُصرتَ نصرَ رسولِ اللّهِ بالرُّعبِ

    When you marched against the unbelievers and they fled,

    you were granted victory through terror, as was God's Messenger.

  22. يا محيي الأُمة الهادي بدعوته

    للرُّشْد كلَّ غوي منهمُ وغبي

    O reviver of the community, guiding through your call

    every erring and foolish one among them to the right path!

  23. لما سعيتَ لوجه اللّه مُرتقباً

    ثوابَهُ نلتَ عفواً كلَّ مُرتقبِ

    When you strove for God's sake, awaiting

    His reward, you gained effortlessly all that could be hoped for.

  24. أَعدتَ نقمةَ مصر نعمةً فغدتْ

    تقولُ كم نكتٍ للّه في النكبِ

    You turned Egypt's affliction into a blessing, and it began

    to say, 'How many subtle wonders God has in calamities!'

  25. أركبتَ رأْسَ سنان رأسَ ظالمها

    عَدْلاً وكنتَ لوزْر غيرَ مُرتكبِ

    You mounted its tyrant's head upon a spearhead,

    in justice, and were guilty of no sin.

  26. رُدَّ الخلافةَ عباسية ودع الدَّ

    عيَّ فيها يصادفْ شرَّ مُنْقَلَبِ

    Restore the caliphate to the Abbasids, and let the

    pretender to it meet the worst of fates.

  27. لا تقطعَنْ ذنبَ الأفعى وترسلها

    فالحزمُ عندي قطعُ الرأس كالذَّنبِ

    Do not cut off the viper's tail and release it;

    prudence, to my mind, is severing the head as well as the tail.