اليَوم حُلّيَ عاطل العَلياء

اليَوم جرَّ الدَهر ذَيل بَهاء

Today the exalted one donned the dress of joy

Today fate drew the train of splendor

اليَوم تَوجت العُلا وَتَبَرَجت

عِندَ المُنى في حُلة السَراءِ

Today glory was crowned and displayed its beauty

When wishes were fulfilled in the dress of bliss

أَوفى الزَمان بِعَهدِهِ لِزَفافه

خَير النِساء لِسَيد الخُلَفاء

Time fulfilled its promise for the wedding

The best of women for the master of caliphs

لَم تَسمَع الآذان قَبل هِدائها

بِحَمامة زُفت إِلى فَتخاء

Ears had not heard before her dowry

Of a dove carried to a glorious opening

أَمثال حَدٍ ما تَرى أَم أَيكم

قَد بُشِرَت بِتآلف الأَهواء

The likes of which limits have not seen, who of you

Have been given good news of the harmony of passions

ما إِنَّها لِسماتُ سَعدٍ بَشَرت

أَطيارُها بِسَعادة وَنَماء

These are marks of fortune that its birds

Gave tidings of its happiness and growth

زُفت إِلى بَدر العُلا شَمس الضُحى

فَتَوَسَطا فَلَكي سَناً وَسَناء

The sun of the forenoon was carried to the full moon of glory

So they came together celestial in years and splendor

كِفآ عُلا وَسِيادة قَد أُلِّفا

وَمِن السُعود تَألف الأَكفاء

How well suited are glory and mastery that have converged

And from good fortune concords the equals

وَتَطابَقا روحاهما فَتمازَجا

مثلَ اِمتِزاج الماء بِالصَهباء

And their spirits have aligned and commingled

As water blends into pure white

بِاليُمن وَالاقبال وَالسَراء

وَسَعادَةٍ مَوصولَةٍ بِنَماء

With prosperity, favor, and bliss

And happiness associated with growth

طَلَعت بِأَفلاك السُعود نجومَها

فانجاب لَيل الحُزن وَالغماء

Its stars of fortune shone in its orbits

Begetting the night of sorrow and gloom

لِلّهِ عرساً يا خَليفَةُ إِنَّها

لَمسيرة بِمآتم الأَعداء

A wedding, O Caliph, for God

It is a march against the woes of enemies

صُنعٌ خَلَعتَ بِهِ عَلى الوَرى

حُللاً مِن السَراء وَالنَعماء

A making you have adorned the world

With dresses of bliss and bounty

لَبست بِهِ الأَيام بُردَ جَمالها

وَتَبَرَجَت في حُلة الخُيَلاء

You have worn, the days dressed in their beauty

And displayed themselves in the dress of vanity

لَما رَفعتَ مُوججاً نار القِرى

فيهِ لدانٍ وَافد وَلناء

When you ignited, billowing the fire of towns

In it visitors and settlers, and outcasts

لباك منثالين في عدد الدَبى

زُمر يَضيق بِهُنَ كُلُ فَضاء

Hordes hastening to you, their number

Crowding every space

تَسعى بِهُم قَدمُ المُنى وَتَحثهم

حثَّ الظماء إِلى ورود الماء

To you, the object of wishes hastens their steps

Thirstily as the thirsty to the watering place

حَتّى إِذا حَلّوا النَدى وَأَينَعَت

لَهُمُ رِياض البَشر وَالادناء

Until when they attain the groves and gardens ripen

For them the meadows of mankind and its plains

كَرعوا لِحَوض المُكرَمات كَأَنَّما

فازوا بَعدنٍ قَبل وَقت جَزاء

They headed to the basin of bounties as though

They had won paradise before the time of reckoning

إِن يَكثروا عَدَداً فَقَد أَوسَعتَهُم

صَدراً تَضيقُ لَهُ فَلا البَيداء

If they are many you have expanded for them

A breast that for it neither desert nor plain is too narrow

صَيرتَ عاصية المُنى منطاعَةً

تَلقاكَ بِالاذعان وَالاغضاء

You have made the word of the giver obeyed

Meeting you with acquiescence and listening

فا أَمر بِما تَهوى تُطعك فَإِنَّهُ

كادَ العَروسُ يَعد في الأمراء

So order what you desire you will be obeyed for he

Could almost be counted among the bridegrooms

فَرقتَ شَمل المال مُغتَبِطاً بِما

جَمَعتَ مِن مَجدٍ وَمِن عَلياء

You have parted with wealth, felicitous for what

You have gathered from glory and nobility

وَرَفَعتَ سَمك المُكرَمات بِهمةٍ

جَرَت مَطارِفها عَلى الجَوزاء

And raised the sky of bounties with an ambition

That flowed upon the "jawza" tree

عظمت فَلم تَحفل بِغَير عَظيمَةٍ

إِن العَظائم مِن حِلى العُظَماء

You became great and did not care but for the great

For the great are the jewelry of the great

هَل يَستَطيع جُحود فَضلك حاسِدٌ

وَعلاكَ أَشهر مِن ضِياء ذُكاء

Can an envious denier subdue your superiority?

Your ascent is brighter than the light of stars

شَهد النَدى وَالبَأس أَنك واحِدٌ

في المَجد دونَ مَساجل وَكِفاء

Witnessed by bliss and affliction that you are unique

In glory, with no peer or match

فَاِسحَب ذُيولَ المُكرَمات سَوابِقاً

وَانعم وَحيدَ الفَضل وَالآلاء

So trail the trains of bounties preceding

And delight singular in grace and gifts

وَاشكر صَنيع المُستَعين المُرتَضى

ملك المُلوك وَسَيدِ الرُؤَساء

Thank the artisan, the aided and approved

King of kings and master of chieftains

لَقَد اِنتَقاكَ لِسره وَلِجَهره

وَحَباكَ ممتناً بِخَير حِباء

He chose you for his secrets and his openness

And endowed you, grateful, with the best endowment

غَرَسَ المَكارم مِنكَ في أَرض زَكَت

غَرساً فَأَثمر غَرسَهُ بِوَفاء

He planted virtues in you, in a pure soil

A planting that bore fruit, loyal

فَلَئن نَضاكَ مهنداً لِأُمورهِ

فَلَقَد نَضا ذا هَبَّةٍ وَمَضاء

If He sculpted you as one prepared for His affairs

He sculpted one with innate gift and resolve

وَلَئن صَفَوت لَهُ فَما أَولى وَما

أَرضاه مِن كُل الوَرى بِصَفاء

If He refined you, how more fitting and pleasing

To all mankind, with clarity

أَعلاكَ قَدراً وَاِصطَفاكَ مَكارِماً

حَتّى كَأَنك واحِدُ الأَبناء

He elevated your worth and chose you noble traits

That you appear as one of the sons

وَكَفاكَ تَشريفاً وَفَخراً أن تُرى

ب الجَعفري مُؤهلاً لِبِناء

And it sufficed you pride and honor to be seen

As qualified for founding, O Jafari

قَصرٌ غَدا فيهِ السُرور مُعرسا

يَغشى العُيون بِساطع اللألاء

A palace joy resides a bride in it

Shrouding eyes with the radiance of its brilliance

تَطأ الدمقسَ بِأَرضِهِ أَقدامُنا

عَوضاً مِن الآجر وَالبوغاء

We tread its floors instead of brick and pebbles

And see the patterns of its image interlaced

وَنَرى نَمارق صورة مَصفوفة

مَوشيةَ الأَقطار وَالأَرجاء

Adorning the regions and spans

Of white and red, resembling

مِن أَبيض في أَحمَر قَد أَشبَها

صَلفَ الغواة وَخَجلة العَذراء

The temerity of the arrogant and shyness of a maiden

A land leveled beautiful from its silk brocade

أَرض دَحاها حُسنَها مِن سُندس

مُتَهللٍ كَالرَوضة الغَناء

Exuberant like a verdant garden

Its abodes built upon the land of Damqas

بُنيت عَلى أَرض الدمقسِ ستوره

في خالص العقيان خَيرَ سَماء

With essence of lofty pillars, the best heaven

Were it not for its beauty being unfathomable

لَولا تَناهي حُسنَه لَم نَختَلف

أَنا حَللنا مِنهُ في صَنعاء

We would not differ, would we? We wore from it in Sanaa

Adornments of merits and nobility were collared

قُلدت أَعباء الفَضائل وَالعُلا

فَاِنهَض بِما قُلدتَ مِن أَعباء

So carry the burdens you are collared with

And attached to you are envies anchored

وَتَعَلَقت بِكَ غَبطَةً أَسبابُها

كَتَعلق الأَفعال بِالأَسماء

As actions are anchored to their essence

You who laid the affairs with insight

أَنتَ الَّذي سستَ الأُمور بِفطنَةٍ

نَظَرت بِعَيني حنكة وَدَهاء

Looking with the eye of wisdom and cleverness

Sometimes appearing soft, others firm

طَوراً تُرى ليناً وَطَوراً قَسوة

كَالدَهر يمزجُ شَدَةً بِرَخاء

As fate mixes severity with ease

It is as if The Merciful minted you pure

فَكَأَنَّما الرَحمَنُ صاغَكَ خالِصاً

مِن ماء أَحكامٍ وَنار ذَكاء

From waters of wisdoms and fire of intellect

How many nights of resolve you illuminated their darkness

كَم لَيلِ خَطبٍ قَد جَلَوت ظَلامه

بِسِهام فهمٍ ساطع الآراء

With arrows of understanding, luminous insight

Calm was created in you to check behaviors

لَكَ راحة خُلِقَت لَضَبط أَعنة

وَلِهَز مرهفةٍ وِبَذل حِباء

And soften discerning and generosity’s gift

If a deaf stone were to touch its suppleness

لَو لامَسَ الحَجَرُ الأَصَمَّ بنانها

لِأَذابَ قَلب الصَخرة الصَماء

It would melt the heart of a barren rock

The world blossomed by the face of Zuheir

زَهرت بِوَجهِ زُهيرٍ الدُنيا كَما

راقَت بِحِليٍ لَبةُ الحَسناء

As cheeks bloom by the beauty of a maiden

What is time but dark deeds

ما الدَهرُ إِلّا أَدهَمٌ أَفعالَهُ

بجبينه كَالغُرَّة الغَرّاء

With a forehead like an intense black storm

Dews of pleasure and his right hand glisten

تَندى أَسرةُ وَجهِهِ وَيَمينه

في حالة السَراء وَالضَراء

In conditions of ease and of distress

Circling in their surfaces for the hopeful

وَيَجولُ في سَطحيهِما للمُرتَجي

ماءان ماء نَدىً وَماء حَياء

Waters - of pleasure's dew and decency’s water

O delight of the world and its finest flower

يا بَهجَةَ الدُنيا وَزَهرَة أَهلِها

وَسَواد مُقلَةِ عَينِها الحَوراء

And mole of the eye of its maiden

Command is an amulet you have been collared with

إِن القِيادة خُطَةٌ قَد قَلَدَت

بعلاك عِقدي سُؤددٍ وَبَهاء

My necklaces of felicity and brilliance

So trail the trains of leadership and rule

فَاِسَحب ذُيولَ قِيادة وَسِيادَةٍ

كسياك بُردي هَيبَةٍ وَعلاء

Dressing you in my cloak of awe and loftiness

You who have given me life with virtues

أَنتَ الَّذي أَنعثتني بِمَكارمٍ

جَلَت فَواضلها عَن الأحصاء

That their merits are too many to be counted

And clothed me in dresses of grace when

وَكَسَوتَني حُلَلَ المبرة عِندَما

كَشَفتَني الدُنيا فَكُنتُ غِطائي

The world had exposed me, so you were my cover

So I will clothe you with the best of my words

فَلأكسوَنَّكَ مِن بَدائع مَنطِقي

حُلَلاً مُطَرَزَةً بتبر ثَناء

Dresses embroidered with thanks and praise

And thank you for as long as I breathe

وَلأَشكرنَّكَ ما تَراخَت مُدَتي

شُكر الرِياض لِواكف الأَنواء

Gratitude of meadows to the sender of showers