1. ضاقت بلاغة أشعاري بما رحُبتْ

    عن كنه وصفك حتى رحت ذا لكن

    For all its breadth, the eloquence of my verses fell short

    Of truly describing you, until I became tongue-tied.

  2. فجئتُ أسألُ مَنْ نُعماه تغمرني

    رحيبَ حلمٍ على التقصير يشملُني

    So I came to ask the one whose bounty overwhelms me

    For ample forbearance to embrace me despite my shortcomings.

  3. يا محرز الفخر عن سعي وعن نسب

    وفاعل الخير في سِرٍّ وفي عَلَنِ

    O winner of glory through striving and through lineage,

    And doer of good in secret and in public,

  4. ومُنشر الهامدَ العافي وقد كتمتْ

    عُلاهُ عاديةُ الأيامِ والزَّمنِ

    And reviver of the lifeless, forgotten one, when

    The ravages of days and time had concealed his glory.

  5. من دارمٍ حيث يربوعٌ واِن قربت

    معدودةٌ لتنافي الوصف في اليمنِ

    Of Darim, beside whom Yarbu, though closely related,

    Is reckoned in Yemen, so contrary are their qualities.

  6. باهى جَريرٌ بيربوعٍ وما ثبتتْ

    بالقول دعواهُ لولا شِرَّةُ اللَّسن

    Jarir boasted of Yarbu; his claim would not have stood

    Through speech, but for his fierce eloquence.

  7. وأثبت الحق والدهماءُ شاهدةٌ

    قولُ الفرزدق عند البدو والمُدنِ

    And the truth was confirmed, with the multitude bearing witness,

    By al-Farazdaq's words, among nomads and townsfolk.

  8. فأُيِّدتْ بالوزير الصدر حُجَّته

    اِذا مثلهُ في عصورِ الدهر لم يكن

    Thus his argument was upheld by the foremost vizier,

    Since through all the ages of time there had been none like him.

  9. هل فيهم مَنْ ملوكُ الأرض لاثمةٌ

    بساطهُ من حديث القوم واليفَنِ

    Is there among them one, with the kings of earth kissing

    His carpet—the young among their people and the aged?

  10. أم فيهمُ من لواءُ الحمدِ رايتهُ

    ومجلسُ السلمِ للتشريع والسنن

    Or is there among them one whose banner is the standard of praise,

    And whose council of peace serves lawgiving and tradition?

  11. هيْهاتَ فاز بها أبناءُ حنْظَلةٍ

    والمالِكانِ بلا خُسْرٍ ولا غَبَنِ

    Far from it! The sons of Hanzala have won it,

    And the two Maliks, with neither loss nor shortchanging,

  12. بأبيض الوجه مجبولٍ على كَرمٍ

    يودُّ جدواه صوب العارض الهتنِ

    Through one bright of face, molded for generosity,

    Whose bounty the downpour of the streaming cloud covets.

  13. تُناطُ حبْوته في يوم ندوتهِ

    إِلى غواربِ بحر أو ذُرى حضن

    His knee-clasping wrap, on the day of his assembly, is fastened

    To the crests of a sea or the summits of Hadan.

  14. فلا عدا شرف الدين الثناءُ اذا

    طابَ النَّديُّ بذكر المحسن الحسن

    So may praise never pass over Sharaf al-Din when

    The gathering grows sweet with mention of the beneficent al-Hasan.

  15. صدرٌ اذا سهرتْ عيني لمدحتهِ

    كان السُّهادُ لها أحلى من الوسنِ

    A foremost dignitary—whenever my eye stayed awake to praise him,

    Sleeplessness was sweeter to it than drowsiness.