1. تأرَّج عُرضُ الدهر من نشر منطقي

    وسَرَّ تَميماً أنَّ سَعْداً أميرُها

    Time's expanse grew fragrant with the perfume of my speech.

    And Tamim rejoiced that Sa'd was its emir.

  2. ولاذت بصيفيِّ الفخارِ فأنْشرتْ

    مفاخر أحسابٍ طويلٍ دُثُورُها

    And it sought refuge with Sayfi of glory and revived

    ancestral glories long buried in oblivion.

  3. لفضلٍ سرى مسرى الرياح بنجدةٍ

    تَدُقُّ صدورَ الذَّابلات صدورها

    For merit that swept along the winds' course, with valor

    whose breasts crush the breasts of slender spears.

  4. حَبا المجدَ أعراضَ الملوك وعَلَّم

    الأسِنَّة تدْمى بالطِّعانِ نُحورُها

    He bestowed glory on the honor of kings and taught

    the spearheads to have their throats bloodied by thrusts.

  5. ورَدَّ جبانَ الحَيِّ فارسَ بُهْمةٍ

    إذا الحربُ دارت واشرأبَّت سورها

    And turned the tribe's coward into a knight of a formidable host,

    when war raged and its surges reared high.

  6. وأذْعن من عُلْيا كُلَيبٍ ودارمٍ

    فرزْدَقُها حامي الحمى وجريرها

    And the noblest of Kulayb and Darim bowed—

    its Farazdaq, defender of the protected domain, and its Jarir.

  7. يضوعُ بأرْجاءِ البلادِ كأنهُ

    مَجالُ غوانٍ أثْقَلَتْها عُطورُها

    It wafts fragrance through the reaches of the land, as though it were

    a haunt of beauties weighed down by their perfumes,

  8. أو الطيِّبُ من ذكر الوزير وحمده

    إذا اندياتُ الحيِّ عُدَّتْ صُدورها

    or the sweet fragrance of mentioning the minister and praising him,

    when the leading men of the tribe's councils are counted.

  9. أبي جعفرٍ مِطْعامُ كلِّ عَشيَّةٍ

    إذا النَّارُ لم يرفعْ سَناها مُنيرُها

    Abu Ja'far, a lavish giver of food each evening,

    when the fire's kindler has not raised its glow.

  10. تكونُ رياضاً أرضُه ذاتَ بهجةٍ

    إذا السَّنَةُ الشَّهْباء جفَّ غميرها

    His land becomes gardens full of beauty,

    when the ashen year's green undergrowth has dried up.

  11. على أنها عند التَّنكّرِ حَرَّةٌ

    تشُجُّ الحوامي والخفاف صخورها

    Yet in times of hostility it is a lava-field,

    whose rocks split hoof-rims and camel footpads.

  12. تميسُ تميمٌ في مَطا كُلِّ سابحٍ

    وقد عَلِمتْ أنَّ الوزير عَشيرُها

    Tamim sways proudly on the back of every swift-gliding steed,

    and it has learned that the minister is its kinsman,

  13. فخاراً بمرفوع العمادِ كأنما

    مُحيَّاه شمسٌ طبَّق الأرض نورُها

    proud of him whose tent-pole stands high, as though

    his countenance were a sun whose light covered the earth.

  14. تُطيعُ ملوكُ الأرض نافذَ أمْرِهِ

    وتَطْرُدها أحْداثُها فيُجيرُها

    The kings of the earth obey his binding command,

    and their calamities drive them out, so he shelters them.

  15. فأيَّامُه في كلِّ خطْبٍ وأزْمَةٍ

    يُنَوَّلُ عافيها ويُفْدى أسِيرُها

    Thus in his days, amid every ordeal and crisis,

    their petitioner is granted bounty, and their captive is ransomed.

  16. قِراهُ بديعاتُ النَّعيمِ وَشيكَةً

    إذا ما الطَّواهي أرْجأتْها قُدُورها

    His guest-fare is wondrous delights, promptly served,

    when the cooks are held back by their pots.

  17. ويُفْهقُ أسماع الضيوف بعُذره

    إذا ما المَقاري نَشَّ عنها قَديرُها

    And he floods the guests' ears with his apology,

    when the cooked fare in the serving bowls has run out.

  18. وتُثْني عِتاقُ الطير صبحاً بفضله

    إذا جُثَثُ الأبطال أضحتْ تميرُها

    And noble birds praise his bounty at dawn,

    when the corpses of heroes become their provisions.

  19. فدامَ مُطاعاً ما تغنَّتْ حمامةٌ

    وما حانَ من شمس النهار ذُرورُها

    So may he remain obeyed as long as a dove sings,

    and as long as the time comes for the day's sun to rise.