أمير العلا لا زلت كهفا لآمل

أمير العلا لا زلت كهفا لآمل

وخطبا على الأعداء ملقى الكلاكل

وخطبا على الأعداء ملقى الكلاكل

Prince of high glory, may you never cease to be a refuge for every hopeful soul,

Prince of lofty glory, may you ever remain a refuge for the hopeful,

and a calamity crouched with all its weight upon your enemies.

and a calamity laying its heavy breast upon your enemies.

أعاتب فيك الدهر إذ بان جهله

أعاتب فيك الدهر إذ بان جهله

ولولاك لم أهد العتاب لجاهل

ولولاك لم أهد العتاب لجاهل

I reproach Fate for your sake, now that its folly stands revealed;

I reproach Time on your account, now that its folly is plain;

were it not for you, I would never address reproach to a fool.

and but for you, I would not offer reproach to a fool.

رمى منك أبهى حلية بسهامه

رمى منك أبهى حلية بسهامه

فلو لم تطش أبدى لنا خد عاطل

فلو لم تطش أبدى لنا خد عاطل

Fate aimed its arrows at you, fairest of ornaments;

It shot its arrows at your fairest adornment;

had they not flown wide, it would have shown us a cheek stripped bare.

and had they not missed, it would have shown us an unadorned cheek.

فإن شغلت يسراك ألام سقطة

فإن شغلت يسراك ألام سقطة

لما شغلت يمناك عن فيض نائل

لما شغلت يمناك عن فيض نائل

Though the pains of a fall have occupied your left hand,

For though the pains of a fall have occupied your left hand,

they have not kept your right from pouring forth its gifts.

they have surely not diverted your right from pouring forth gifts.

فلا ذنب للجرد العتاق إذا كبت

فلا ذنب للجرد العتاق إذا كبت

وقد حملت منكم جبال الفضائل

وقد حملت منكم جبال الفضائل

No blame befalls the sleek, high-bred steeds when they stumble,

So the sleek, noble steeds are not to blame if they stumble,

for in bearing you they have borne mountains of virtue.

when, in you, they have borne mountains of virtue.

فلا زلت في ستر من اليمن مسبل

فلا زلت في ستر من اليمن مسبل

عليك وفي ظل من الأمن شامل

عليك وفي ظل من الأمن شامل

May you forever dwell beneath a trailing veil of good fortune,

So may you ever remain beneath a veil of good fortune draped

spread over you, and within security’s all-embracing shade.

over you, and beneath an all-embracing shade of safety.

فإن لم أطل مدحي فيا رب نائل

فإن لم أطل مدحي فيا رب نائل

أحل قصير السهم أخفى المقاتل

أحل قصير السهم أخفى المقاتل

If I have not drawn out my praise—how many a marksman

For if I have not prolonged my praise—ah, many a marksman

has lodged his short arrow in the most hidden vital spot!

has lodged a short arrow in the most hidden of vital spots.

وحاطب ليل في القريض زجرته

وحاطب ليل في القريض زجرته

وقلت له قول النصيح المجامل

وقلت له قول النصيح المجامل

And many an indiscriminate poetaster—a night wood-gatherer in verse—I have rebuked,

And I rebuked one who gathered verse like firewood by night,

and addressed him with words of counsel, sincere yet tactful:

and spoke to him the words of a sincere, courteous adviser:

إذا لم تفز بالدر من قعر زاخر

إذا لم تفز بالدر من قعر زاخر

يداك فلا تحفل بحصباء ساحل

يداك فلا تحفل بحصباء ساحل

If the full moon is not won from the depths of a swelling sea

If no pearls from a surging sea's depths are won

by your two hands, let them pay no heed to pebbles on the shore.

by your hands, then pay no heed to pebbles on a shore.

فإني رأيت الشعر عارا على الفتى

فإني رأيت الشعر عارا على الفتى

إذا لم يفق في الحسن زهر الخمائل

إذا لم يفق في الحسن زهر الخمائل

For I hold poetry a disgrace in a young man

For I have found poetry a disgrace to a young man

when its beauty fails to surpass the blossoms of leafy bowers.

if its beauty does not surpass the blossoms of the groves.