Sol 6.1

  1. مدحتكمُ والمادحون بني العُلى

    فريقانِ مرفوعُ اللواء وخاملُ

    I praised you, sons of glory; those who praise

    Are of two kinds: one with banner raised, the other obscure.

  2. فسار مسارَ الشمس قولي فيكمُ

    وصيتي وأفْواهُ الرُّواةِ الرواحل

    So my words about you traveled the sun’s course,

    And my renown, with reciters’ mouths for mounts.

  3. ولم أرضَ حتى أسجلته اِجازتي

    وخطَّت به بعد السَّماع الأناملُ

    Nor was I content until my authorization had certified it,

    And fingers wrote it down after hearing it.

  4. فسيانِ مصْرٌ في ازدحام رواتهِ

    وبلْخٌ واِن طال السُّرى والمراحل

    So Egypt is matched, in the crowds who recite it,

    By Balkh, though long are the night journeys and stages.

  5. خصصت به المأمول في كل أزمةٍ

    جمال الورى والعام أغْبرُ ماحِلُ

    I dedicated it to the one looked to in every crisis,

    The adornment of mankind, when the year is dust-gray and barren:

  6. أبا الفرجِ الخِرق المُقِرَّ بجوده

    ونجْدتهِ سُحب الحيا والجحافل

    Abu al-Faraj, the noble, who compels acknowledgment of his bounty

    And valor from rainclouds and massed armies.

  7. فتى كل خيرٍ بعضه البأس والندى

    فكل مساعيه عُلاً وفضائلُ

    A youth all goodness, with valor and bounty but a part;

    Thus all his endeavors are lofty deeds and virtues.

  8. وواهبها مكتومَةً مُستريحةً

    إذا كدَّرت صفو النوالِ المواطلُ

    And he bestows them discreetly and with ease,

    When delays muddy the purity of giving.

  9. يُقللها استيحاؤه وهي جَمَّةٌ

    فأخجلُ ما تلْقاه اذ هو باذلُ

    His modesty deems them little, though they are abundant;

    So you find him most abashed when he is giving.

  10. ويُغضي وقد أعطى الجزيل كأنهُ

    لا شِفاقهِ من عتب عافيهِ باخِلُ

    And, having given lavishly, he lowers his gaze as though he were

    A miser, afraid of his petitioner’s reproach.

  11. ويجلو ظَلام الخطب ثاقبُ رأيهِ

    وقد أحجمت عنه الظبُّي والذوابل

    And his piercing judgment dispels calamity’s darkness,

    Though sword-edges and slender spears have recoiled before it.

  12. ويُردي الأعادي والمُهنَّد مُغمدٌ

    وما جُرَّ خَطِيٌّ ولا جالَ صاهل

    And he lays enemies low while the Indian blade stays sheathed,

    And no Khattian spear has been trailed, nor has a neighing steed wheeled.

  13. على أنه الحامي حقيقةَ صحبْهِ

    إِذا عصفت بالدارعين الأفاكِلُ

    Yet he is the defender of his companions’ honor,

    When shudders buffet men clad in armor.

  14. تمرُّ سجايا نفسه في حفاظهِ

    وتعْذُب منه في الوداد الشَّمائلُ

    His natural traits turn bitter in defense of honor,

    Yet in affection his ways are sweet.

  15. بني عضدُ الدين الجواد بسعيْهِ

    معالي لا يسْطيعُها مَن يُطاولُ

    The generous ʿAdud al-Din built through his efforts

    Heights of honor no rival can attain.

  16. ففاقَ عُلا آبائه وعُلاهُمُ

    تٌقِرُّ بها يومَ الفخارِ القبائلُ

    Thus he surpassed his forefathers’ glories, though their glories

    Are acknowledged by the tribes on the day of boasting.

  17. كأنَّ مِجَنَّ الشمس من قسماتهِ

    اذا ما ادلهمَّت في الوجوه النوازل

    As though the sun’s shield were fashioned from his features,

    Whenever calamities cast gloom over faces.

  18. فهُنِّيءَ بالشهر الحرام وغيره

    مدى الدهر ما جاد الخميلة حافلُ

    So may he be congratulated on the sacred month and every other,

    Throughout time, as long as a brimming cloud waters the grove.

  19. يخافُ ويرجو بأسهُ ونوالهُ

    ضريكُ المشاتي والعدوُّ المُباسلُ

    His might is feared and his bounty hoped for

    By the winter-stricken pauper and the fierce-fighting foe.