1. إليكَ بِالإذْنِ صارَ الناسُ والجُودُ

    فَلا عَدِمْنا فَقِيداً فِيكَ مَوجُودُ

    With permission, people and generosity have come to you.

    So may we never lack what is absent elsewhere but found in you.

  2. وَلِلرَّبِيعِ لِسانٌ ظَلَّ يُنشِدُنا

    النَّبتُ أَغيَدُ والسُّلطانُ مَحمودُ

    And spring has a tongue that kept reciting to us:

    The plants are supple, and the sultan is praised.

  3. وأَقبلَ الغَيثُ منهُ حَاجِباً مَلِكاً

    كَمْ شاعَ يَوماً لهُ بالنَّصرِ مَشهودُ

    And rain came forth from him—a chamberlain, himself a king.

    How many a day of his, marked by victory, became renowned!

  4. والنِّيلُ كَمْ حَسَدَ القاضِي على مَلِكٍ

    تَصوَّرَ الجُودُ فيهِ بَلْ هُوَ الجُودُ

    And how often the Nile envied the judge over a king

    In whom generosity took form—indeed, he is generosity itself.

  5. مَلْكٌ يَصدُّ بِنُعماهُ القلوبَ على

    ماهَذَّبتْهُ بهِ آباؤهُ الصِّيدُ

    A king who turns hearts aside with his bounty, in accordance with

    That with which his noble forefathers refined him.

  6. فَيَا لَجُدودِ العَوالي والجدودِ معاً

    لِواؤُهُ حَيثُ حَلَّ النَّجْمُ مَعْقُودُ

    So marvel at the fortunes of the lofty lances and the forefathers alike!

    His banner is fastened where the star alights.

  7. لَهُ شَرِيعةُ عَدْلٍ عِنْدَها شَرَعٌ

    أُسْدُ الفَلا والمَها والشّاءُ والسِّيدُ

    His is a watering place of justice, where all are equal:

    The lions of the wilderness, the oryx, the sheep, and the wolf.

  8. يَا نَاظِمَ الطَّعْن في لَبَّاتِ حُسَّدِهِ

    كَصَنعةٍ ما خَلا مِن نَظْمهِ جِيدُ

    O you who string spear-thrusts in his enviers’ throat-hollows,

    As in a craft, no neck is bare of his stringing.

  9. لَقَد أَتيْتُ بها جُهْدَ المُقِلِّ ولل

    سّارِى بها ومُقِيمُ الدَّارِ تَغْرِيدُ

    I have brought it—the best one of scant means can offer—and for the

    Night traveler with it and the one who stays at home, there is song.