1. يا لقومي من تيميٍ دعْوةً

    لكثير الوتْرِ موفور الأحَنْ

    O my people—a cry for help against a Taymi,

    for one with many wrongs to avenge and abundant grudges.

  2. جَرِّدوها شُزَّباً سابِقةً

    تمْلأ الأرضَ سِلاحاً وجُننْ

    Send them forth—lean, fleet steeds—

    filling the earth with weapons and shields,

  3. لمغارٍ تَحسَبُ الصُّبْحَ به

    جُنْحَ ليلٍ من مُثارِ النَّقْعِ جَنْ

    for a raid in which you would take the dawn

    for night's gloom, veiled by the dust raised up.

  4. كلَّما عَفِّرَ طِرْفٌ فارساً

    عكفَ الطِّرْفُ عليه وصَفَنْ

    Whenever a steed casts a horseman into the dust,

    the steed stays over him, one hoof poised.

  5. وَلج الضَّيْمُ إلى مَنْ عِزُّكمْ

    بين فَتْكٍ من يديه ولَسَنْ

    Injustice has reached the man in whom your glory rests,

    between his hands' deadly blows and his eloquence.

  6. فكلامي نَهبُ مَنْ يَجْهلُهُ

    مِدَحٌ تُزْجى ومنْزورٌ يُمْنْ

    So my words are plunder for those who do not understand them:

    praises proffered, with scant blessing.

  7. مُطْمعي في مدْحهمْ زينتُهم

    تلْكُمُ الزينةُ خضراءُ الدِّمَنْ

    Their finery tempted me to praise them;

    that finery is greenery on dung heaps.

  8. كلُّ حِلِّ العِرْضِ محمي الثَّرا

    لا ينالُ المجدَ ما عاشَ ولَنْ

    Anyone whose honor is fair game but whose wealth is guarded

    will never attain glory while he lives—never.

  9. طيَّبَ الذمَّ لهُ حُبُّ الغِنى

    فاستمرَّ العِرْضُ منهُ ومَرَنْ

    Love of riches made blame sweet to him,

    so his honor grew hardened and inured.

  10. صبِّحوا المُدْنَ بها مَبْثوثةً

    فتكةً تبقى حديثاً في الزمنْ

    Strike the cities at dawn with them spread abroad,

    in a deadly assault that time will keep recounting.

  11. وخُراسان فَصَوْناً ضافياً

    أنها أرضُ علي بن الحسن

    And Khurasan—give it ample protection,

    for it is the land of Ali ibn al-Hasan.

  12. أرضُ خِرْقٍ مُتْلفٍ ما يحتوي

    جعلَ الأموالَ للحمدِ ثَمَنْ

    The land of a generous man who spends all he possesses,

    who made his wealth the price of praise.

  13. ساكبُ الجودِ إذا عَزَّ الحَيا

    ببنانٍ كلما سيلَ هَتَنْ

    He pours out bounty when rain is scarce,

    through fingertips that rain whenever he is asked.

  14. أبْلَجُ الوجه نقيٌّ عِرْضُهُ

    طاهِرُ البُرْدةِ عن مسِّ الدَّرنْ

    Radiant of face, unsullied in honor,

    his mantle pure, untouched by grime.

  15. عاقِرُ الكُومِ على ضِيفانهِ

    عامَ لا يُنْقَعُ عَيْمانُ اللبنْ

    He slaughters high-humped she-camels for his guests

    in a year when one craving milk cannot slake his thirst.

  16. مُستريح الرِفْدِ ما في جُودهِ

    كدَرُ المَطْلِ ولا شَوْبُ المِنن

    He gives with ease; his generosity is free

    of delay's bitterness and the taint of reminders of favors.

  17. في ابتذال المال بحرٌ زاخرٌ

    يقتلُ الجدبَ وفي النادي حَضَنْ

    In lavishing wealth, he is a swelling sea

    that slays drought—and in the assembly he is Mount Hadan.

  18. شرفُ الدين الذي إحسانُه

    في الورى أحيا كريماتِ السُّننْ

    Sharaf al-Din, whose kindness

    has revived noble traditions among humankind.

  19. همَّة مالكةٌ أوقاتهُ

    منعت مُقْلتهُ طيبَ الوسَنْ

    A lofty resolve that governs his hours

    has denied his eye the sweetness of slumber.

  20. لوذعيُّ القلبِ لا تخدعهُ

    رِيبُ الشك ولا رجْمُ الظنن

    Keen-hearted, he is not deceived

    by doubt's misgivings or blind conjecture.

  21. ينطقُ الغيبُ على مقْولهِ

    بالذي كان من السرِّ كَمَنْ

    The unseen speaks upon his tongue

    of what had lain hidden in secrecy.

  22. قاطنٌ ما سَدِكَ العزُّ به

    فإذا ما آنسَ الضَّيْمَ ضَعنْ

    He stays as long as honor clings to him;

    but when he senses humiliation, he departs.

  23. نعمَ مُعلي النارِ في ديمومةٍ

    وأخو الجودِ إذا شحَّ الزمن

    How fine a raiser of fire in the desert waste,

    and a brother to bounty when the times turn miserly.

  24. أبداً يفديكَ من كل رَدىً

    ألْكَنُ المِقْوَلِ إنْ قال لَحنْ

    May you forever be ransomed from every mortal peril by

    the inarticulate man who errs in grammar when he speaks,

  25. باخلُ الخاطِرِ والكفِّ معاً

    يحسبُ البذل عن العِرض غَبنْ

    miserly alike in mind and hand,

    who counts spending to defend honor as a loss.

  26. شرفتْ نفسكَ حتى عظمتْ

    عن حلول الجسم أو سكنى البدن

    Your soul has become so noble, so exalted,

    as to be above inhabiting a frame or dwelling in a body.

  27. واحْتواكَ الوجدُ بالمجد فما

    قادكَ الشوقُ إلى الظَبي الأغَنْ

    And passion for glory has possessed you; no

    longing has led you to the sweet-voiced gazelle.

  28. أيها النَّدْبُ الذي إحسانُه

    طَيَّبَ الغُربة لي بعد الوطن

    O noble man, whose kindness

    made exile sweet for me after I left home.

  29. كل عامٍ للورى عيدٌ به

    يُقْتلُ الهَمُّ ويُغْتالُ الحَزَنْ

    Each year, humankind has a feast in which

    care is slain and sorrow struck down.

  30. ولنا من كل يومٍ ينقضي

    بك أعْيادٌ من الفِعْل الحسن

    And for us, with every day that passes,

    there are feasts through you, born of good deeds.

  31. فهناكَ الصَّومُ والإفطارُ ما

    قرْقرَ القُمْرُ على رأسِ فَنَنْ

    So may fasting and breaking the fast gladden you, as long as

    turtle-doves coo at the tip of a bough.