1. أَبى اللَهُ إِلّا أَن يَسوءَ بِكَ العِدى

    وَيُصبِحَ مُستَثنى البَقاءِ عَلى الرَدى

    God willed only to grieve your foes through you,

    and make your survival an exception to death.

  2. وَما كانَ هَذا الدَهرُ يَوماً بِنازِعٍ

    نِجادَ حُسامٍ مِثلَهُ ما تَقَلَّدا

    Never would this age strip off

    the baldric of a sword whose like it had never girded on.

  3. لَعا وَلَعا لا عَثرَ مِن بَعدِ هَذِهِ

    تَلَقّى العُلى وَاِستَأنَفَ العِزَّ أَغيدا

    Rise safely, safely! No stumbling after this!

    He attained eminence and renewed his glory, graceful and carefree.

  4. خَفيتَ خَفاءَ البَدرِ يُزجى ظُهورُهُ

    وما غابَ بَدرُ اللَيلِ إِلّا لِيُشهَدا

    You vanished like the full moon whose appearance is delayed;

    night's full moon vanishes only to be seen again.

  5. غُروبُ الدَراري ضامِنٌ لِطُلوعِها

    فَيا فَرقَداً باقٍ عَلى اللَيلِ فَرقَدا

    The setting of brilliant stars guarantees their rising;

    so, O Farqad, you remain a Farqad through the night!

  6. مَعاذاً لَهَذا البَحرِ مِمّا يُغيضُهُ

    مَعاذاً لِشَملِ المَجدِ أَن يَتَبَدَّدا

    May this sea be protected from whatever diminishes it;

    may glory's unity be protected from dispersal!

  7. سَلِمتَ لَنا وَاللَهُ أَرأَفُ بِالعُلى

    مِنَ اَن يَنطَوي عَنّا وَأَرحَمُ لِلنَدى

    You are safe for us; God is too compassionate toward eminence

    to let you vanish from us, and too merciful toward bounty.

  8. فَقُل لِلعِدى شَمّوا الهَوانَ بِأَجدَعٍ

    وَعَضّوا عَلى الأَيدي القِصارِ بِأَدرَدا

    Tell the foes: smell humiliation with a cropped nose,

    and bite your short hands with a toothless mouth.

  9. أَفيقوا لَها مِن سَكرَةِ الغَيِّ وَاِبتَغوا

    زِماماً إِلى ما تَكرَهونَ وَمِقوَدا

    Awaken to this from the stupor of error, and seek

    a rein toward what you hate, and a halter.

  10. حَسِبتُم بِأَنَّ المُلكَ هَيضَت جُبورُه

    وَأَنَّ سَوامَ المَجدِ أَصبَحنَ شُرَّدا

    You thought kingship's healed bones had been broken again,

    and that glory's grazing herds had become strays.

  11. لَها اليَومَ راعٍ لا يُراعُ سَوامُهُ

    أَذَلَّ لَها نَهجَ الطَريقِ وَعَبَّدا

    Today they have a shepherd whose herd is never frightened;

    he has made their road easy and paved it.

  12. إِذا طَمِعَ الأَعداءُ فيها أَجارَها

    وَأَرتَعَها بَينَ العَوالي وَأَورَدا

    When enemies covet them, he shelters them,

    and pastures them among tall spears and leads them to water.

  13. وَإِنَّ قِوامَ الدينِ قَد عَبَّ بَحرُهُ

    وَعيداً أَقامَ الخالِعينَ وَأَقعَدا

    And Qiwām al-Dīn's sea has indeed surged

    with a threat that made the rebels rise and sit down.

  14. تَقوهُ فَبَينا تَنظُرُ البَحرَ ساكِناً

    إِلى أَن تَراهُ شائِلَ اللُجِّ مُزبِدا

    Beware of him: even as you behold the sea lying still,

    you may come to see its depths heaving and foaming.

  15. أَأَطمَعَكُم أَنَّ الحُسامَ قَضى المُنى

    وَلَم يَبقَ عِندَ الدَهرِ ثَأراً فَأَغمَدا

    Did it embolden you that the sword fulfilled all wishes

    and left no blood-debt with Time, and so was sheathed?

  16. وَإِنّي ضَمينٌ إِن تَجَرَّدَ مازِقٌ

    لَغاوٍ مِنَ الأَيّامِ أَن يَتَجَرَّدا

    I guarantee, if a ravager bares himself

    for some wayward day, that the sword will be drawn.

  17. أَما يُرهَبُ القَطّاعُ إِلّا مُجَرَّدا

    أَما يُتَّقى العَسّالُ إِلّا مُسَدَّدا

    Must the cleaving blade be drawn before it is feared?

    Must the quivering spear be leveled before it is guarded against?

  18. لِيَهنِ اللَيالي وَالمَعالِيَ أَنَّها

    إِثابَةُ بُرءٍ عَدَّها المَجدُ مَولِدا

    May the nights and lofty honors rejoice that this

    is a gift of recovery that glory has counted as a birth.

  19. عَلى حينَ طارَت بِالقُلوبِ مَخافَةً

    أُطيرَ فَريصُ المُلكِ مِنها وَأَرعِدا

    At a time when fear sent hearts flying,

    kingship's flanks were made to flutter and tremble from it.

  20. وَأَصبَحَتِ الآمالُ غَرثى ظَميَّةً

    يُواعِدنَ مِن نُعماكَ مَرعى وَمَورِدا

    And hopes had grown hungry and thirsty,

    promising themselves pasture and a watering-place from your favors.

  21. فَلَو يَستَطيعُ الدَهرُ مِن بَعدِ هَذِهِ

    لَأَلبَسَكَ اليَومَ التَميمَ المُعَقَّدا

    If Time could, after this,

    it would clothe you today in knotted amulets.

  22. بِأَيِّ مَنالٍ أَم بِأَيَّةِ أَذرُعٍ

    تَعاطَيتُمُ اليَومَ البِناءَ العَطوَّدا

    With what reach, or with what arms,

    did you reach today for the towering edifice?

  23. بِناءٌ أَقامَ المَجدَ فيهِ عِمادَهُ

    وَقَرَّرَهُ تَحتَ العَوالي وَوَطَّدا

    An edifice in which glory set up its pillar,

    fixing it beneath the tall spears and making it firm.

  24. كَدَأبِكُمُ مِنهُ غَداةَ حَداكُمُ

    تُشاغِلُهُ الأَذانُ عَن طَرَبِ الحُدا

    As was your wont with him the morning he drove you on,

    the call distracting him from the delight of camel-song,

  25. وَكَبِّكُم كَبَّ الحَجيجِ هَدِيَّهُ

    يُحَثحِثُها نَخَسُ النِصالِ إِلى المَدى

    and how he cast you down as pilgrims cast down their sacrificial beasts,

    the pricking of blade-points urging them toward their end.

  26. كَأَيّامِ حَنوَي دارَزينَ وَأَربِقٍ

    مَواقِفُ أَخبى الطَعنُ فيها وَأَوقَدا

    Like the days at Dārazīn's two bends and Arbiq,

    battlefields where spear-thrusting extinguished and kindled.

  27. أُطيلُ اِختِراطَ البيضِ فيها فَلو خَفا

    بِها لَمَعانُ البَرقِ ظُنَّ المُهَنَّدا

    I keep bright swords drawn there; were it to flash,

    lightning's gleam there would be taken for an Indian-forged blade.

  28. وَتَخفى بِها الأَمطارُ مِن طولِ ما جَرى

    عَليها نَجيعُ الطَعنِ وَالضَربِ سَرمَدا

    Rain is obscured there, so long has flowed

    over them the gore of thrust and stroke, unceasingly.

  29. شُلِلتُم بِها شَلَّ الطَرائِدِ بِالقَنا

    تَبَرَّأَ مَن وَلّى وَضَلَّ الَّذي هَدى

    You were driven off there as quarry is driven with spears;

    whoever turned away disavowed you, and whoever guided went astray.

  30. وَما زادَكُم مِنهُنَّ غَيرُ جَوائِفٍ

    هَوادِرَ يَردُدنَ المَسابِرَ وَاليَدا

    You gained from those battles nothing but deep wounds,

    gushing, repelling the probes and the hand.

  31. دَعوا لَقَمَ العَلياءِ لِلمُهتَدي بِهِ

    وَخَلّوا طَريقاً غارَ فيهِ وَأَنجَدا

    Leave the broad road of eminence to him who knows its way,

    and clear the path where he has traversed lowland and highland,

  32. لِأَطوَلِكُم طَولاً إِذا المُزنُ أَصبَحَت

    غَوارِزَ لا يُعدَمنَ خَلفاً مُجَدَّدا

    for the most bountiful among you, when the rain-clouds become

    dry-uddered, yet never lack a fresh replacement.

  33. نَهَيتُكُمُ عَن ذي هُماهِمَ مُشبَلٍ

    حِمى بِجُنوبِ السَيءِ ضالاً وَغَرقَدا

    I forbade you to approach a growling lion with cubs,

    who guarded wild lote-trees and boxthorns along al-Sayʾ's sides,

  34. فَضافِضَ غيلٍ في الدِماءِ عَيِيَّةً

    كَأَنَّ عَلى لَيتَيهِ سِبّاً مُوَرِّدا

    a massive thicket-lion amid stagnant blood,

    as though a rose-red cloth lay upon both sides of his neck.

  35. يُفَرِّقُ بَينَ الجَحفَلينِ زَئيرُهُ

    كَما أَطَّ نَجدِيُّ الغَمامِ وَأَرعَدا

    His roar parts the two great armies,

    as Najd's cloud groans and thunders.

  36. يَجُرُّ سَآبيَّ الدِماءِ وَراءَهُ

    مَجَرَّ الخَليعِ الشَرعَبيَّ المُعَضَّدا

    He drags streaming sheets of blood behind him,

    as a libertine drags a patterned Shaʿrabī cloth.

  37. وَحَذَّرتُكُم مُغلَولِباً ذا غُطامِطٍ

    إِذا كَبَّ بوصِيَّ السَفينِ وَأَزبَدا

    And I warned you of a swelling sea with deep rumblings,

    when it overturns the fleet's boats and foams.

  38. لَهُ زَجَلٌ كَالفَحلِ يَقرَعُ شَولَهُ

    أَلَظَّ بِقَرقارِ الهَديرِ وَرَدَّدا

    Its clamor is like a camel-stallion covering his dry she-camels,

    persisting in the rumble of his bellow and repeating it.

  39. إِلا أُخرِس الغاوي وَلا فاهَ قائِلٌ

    بِأَمثالِها ما بَلَّلَ القَطرُ جَلمَدا

    May the misguided one be struck dumb, and may no speaker utter

    such words, so long as rain wets hard rock.

  40. وَلا وَجَدَ الراجونَ أُفقَكَ مُظلِماً

    وَزَندُ النَدى يَوماً بِكَفِّكَ مُصلِدا

    May those who hope never find your horizon dark,

    or bounty's firestick ever sparkless in your palm.

  41. وَلا سَمِعَ الأَعداءُ إِلّا بِأَصلَمٍ

    وَلا نَظَرَ الحُسّادُ إِلّا بِأَرمَدا

    May enemies hear only with a cropped ear,

    and may the envious see only with an inflamed eye.

  42. فَليسَ المُنى ما عِشتَ قالَصَةَ الجَنى

    عَلينا وَلا النُعمى بِناقِصَةِ الجَدّا

    So while you live, wishes shall not bear scant fruit

    for us, nor blessings be diminished in bounty.

  43. بَقيتَ بَقاءَ القَولِ فيكَ فَإِنَّهُ

    إِذا بَلَغَ الباقي المَدى جاوَزَ المَدى

    May you endure as words about you endure; for they,

    when what lasts reaches its limit, pass beyond that limit.

  44. وَلا بَعُدَ المَأمولُ مِن أَن تَنالَهُ

    فَإِن فاتَ في ذا اليَومِ أَدرَكتَهُ غَدا

    May what you hope for never be beyond your reach;

    if it eludes you today, you will reach it tomorrow.

  45. وَمُلّيتَ حَتّى تَسأَمَ العَيشَ مَلَّةً

    فَلو خُلِّدَ الأَقوامُ كُنتَ المُخَلَّدا

    May you be given long life until you utterly weary of living;

    for if peoples were made immortal, you would be the immortal one.