1. نيطَتْ حمائلُ سَيفِهِ

    بالفارسِ الشَّهْمِ الزَّمِيعِ

    His sword's straps were hung

    upon the valiant, resolute horseman,

  2. بمُعَفرِ الغُلْبِ الكُما

    ة وقاتل المَحْلِ الشَّنيعِ

    the one who casts mighty warriors into dust

    and slays hideous drought.

  3. في سَلْمِهِ وَنَدِيِّهِ

    للَحْلِ والخَطْبِ الفَظيعِ

    In his peace and in his council,

    for settling matters and facing dreadful crises,

  4. يَمٌّ يَجيشُ عُبابُهُ

    وقَعائِدُ الطَّوْدِ الرَّفيعِ

    he is a sea whose billows surge,

    and the foundations of a lofty mountain.

  5. لو حَلَّ قَيْظَ تَنوفَةٍ

    عادَتْ عَذاةً منْ رَبيعِ

    Were he to settle in a wasteland's summer heat,

    it would turn to pleasant, springtime land.

  6. تاجُ المُلوكِ فتى المَسا

    عي الغُرِّ والمَجْدِ البَديعِ

    Crown of kings, champion of endeavors

    illustrious, and of wondrous glory,

  7. والعِزَّةِ القَعْساءِ عند ال

    خوْفِ والصَّدْرِ الوَسِيعِ

    and of unyielding might in times of

    fear, and of a spacious breast.

  8. يجْلُو الدُّجى والهَمَّ عنْ

    عَوَّامِ هَمٍّ أوْ هَزيعِ

    He dispels darkness and sorrow from

    one swimming through grief or a stretch of night,

  9. بالواضِحِ البَسَّام للْعا

    فِينَ والكَفِّ النَّفوعِ

    with a radiant face that smiles on those

    seeking aid, and a beneficent hand.

  10. رأيُ الوزيرِ منَ القَنا

    الخَطِيِّ أنْفَذُ في الدُّروعِ

    The minister's counsel, more than the spears

    of al-Khatt, pierces coats of mail.

  11. وَغِرارُ عَزْمَتِهِ يُبِرُّ

    على شَبا السَّيْفِ القَطُوعِ

    And the edge of his resolve surpasses

    the edges of the keen-cutting sword.

  12. أقْلامُهُ كَجيادِهِ

    في الحُضْرِ والشَّدِّ السَّريعِ

    His pens are like his steeds

    in galloping and swift racing.

  13. فالطِّرْسُ كالهَيْجاءِ يُعْ

    رِبُ عن أسيرٍ أو صَريعِ

    So the page, like battle, tells

    of a captive or one struck down.

  14. نَدُسٌ إذا تُلِيَتْ عُلا

    هُ على الرَّكائبِ في النُّسوعِ

    Astute: when his lofty merits are recited

    on riding-camels girded with saddle-straps,

  15. وَوَرَدْنَ وَهيَ خَوامِسٌ

    أغْنى الثَّناءُ عن الشُّروعِ

    and they arrive for their fifth-day watering,

    that praise makes drinking needless.

  16. ذُو صَبْوَةٍ بهَوَى المَعالي

    لا هَوَى الخَوْدِ الشَّمُوعِ

    His passion is the love of lofty honors,

    not love of a playful young beauty.

  17. لكنْ يَنامُ العاشِقونَ

    وشَأنُهُ هَجْر الهُجوعِ

    Yet lovers sleep,

    while his way is to forsake slumber.

  18. مَدْحي لَهُ السَّيَّارُ يَط

    وِي كُلَّ غامِضَةٍ وَرِيعِ

    My far-ranging praise of him traverses

    every hidden hollow and height.

  19. مَدْحٌ تَوَلَّدَ فَضْلُهُ

    بينَ المَوَدَّةِ والصَّنيعِ

    Praise whose excellence was born

    between affection and benefaction.