ولاؤك دين في الرقاب ودين

وودك حصن في المعاد حصين

Allegiance to you is a debt upon our necks, and a faith.

And love for you is an impregnable fortress in the hereafter.

وحبك مفروض على كل مسلم

يقول بحب المصطفى ويدين

And love for you is enjoined upon every Muslim

who professes love for the Chosen One and makes it his faith.

لمثلك والمثل الذي لك معوز

يباح من الذكر الجميل مصون

For one like you—though your equal cannot be found—

treasured words of noble praise are freely offered.

ومالك فوق غير من خلق الورى

وجملة هذا الخلق عندك دون

And you have none above you but Him who created humankind;

and all this creation ranks below you.

وكل إمام في لياليك هذه

إمامته شك وأنت يقين

And every imam in these nights of yours:

his imamate is doubt, while you are certainty.

بنيت على النص الجلي وعزهم

قياس على أصل الهوى وظنون

You are founded on clear designation; their glory is

analogy grounded in caprice, and conjecture.

أيستر ضوء الصبح والفجر ساطع

ويكتم نور الحق وهو مبين

Can morning's light be veiled while dawn shines,

and truth's light be concealed when it is manifest?

لك الأنزع الطهر البطين أب وما

لغيرك منهم أنزع وبطين

The pure, receding-haired, full-bellied one is your forefather, and

none of the others has that receding-haired, full-bellied forefather.

وعندك سر الوحي في السور التي

لهن ظهور أحكمت وبطون

And with you lies revelation's secret in the surahs, which

have firmly established outward meanings and inward depths.

وأنت الذي أحرزت ميراث عترة

يعز بها الله الورى ويهين

And you are he who secured the inheritance of the Prophet's kin,

through whom God exalts humankind and brings them low.

بهم قبل الرحمن توبة آدم

وشفعهم فيه وآدم طين

Through them the Merciful accepted Adam's repentance,

and accepted their intercession for him while Adam was still clay.

هموا شرفوا البيت الحرام فقدست

مشاعر منها أبطح وحجون

They ennobled the Sacred House, and so were consecrated

holy sites, among them Abtah and Hajun.

حبتك الليالي بيعة عاضدية

لك الله فيها عاضد ومعين

The nights bestowed on you an Adidite pledge of allegiance;

in it God is your supporter and helper.

لها عروة في راحتي كل مسلم

وحبل بأيدي المؤمنين متين

It has a handhold in the two palms of every Muslim,

and a strong rope in the hands of the believers.

لوجهك تعنو أوجه الخلق هيبة

وتطرق منهم أعين وجفون

Before your face the faces of humankind bow in awe,

and their eyes and eyelids lower.

إذا لحت في نور السكينة والهدى

غدت حركات الناس وهي سكون

When you shine in the light of serenity and guidance,

the people's movements turn to stillness.

خليلي هل في الدست بدر دجنة

وتلك ستور أم سحائب جون

My two friends, is there on the throne a full moon in the gloom,

and are those curtains, or dark clouds?

أم العاضد الهادي تبلج وجهه

وأسفر تحت التاج منه جبين

Or has the face of al-Adid the Guide shone forth,

and his brow grown radiant beneath the crown?

وهل ما أرى في تاجه من جواهر

كواكب أم در عليه ثمين

And are the jewels I see in his crown

stars, or precious pearls upon it?

زمانك طلق الوجه ما في جبينه

عبوس ولا في صفحتيه غضون

Your age is bright-faced: upon its brow there is

no frown, nor any wrinkle on its cheeks.

وأيامه تاريخ كل فضيلة

يعبر عنها فضلكم ويبين

And its days are the chronicle of every virtue,

which your excellence expresses and makes plain.

مضى رجب والحزن يحدو ركابه

وكل محب بالفراق حزين

Rajab departed, sorrow chanting his camels onward,

and every lover sorrowful at parting.

وأقبل شعبان يحن صبابة

إليك ومن شأن المحب حنين

And Sha'ban approached, yearning passionately

for you; and yearning is the lover's way.

تفاءلت في شعبان فألاً أظنه

بسعد أمير المؤمنين يكون

In Sha'ban I read an omen that I think

will come to pass through the Commander of the Faithful's good fortune:

ستلتئم الشعبان فيه فتلتقي

شمال على نصر الهدى ويمين

the two branches will unite within it, and meet,

a left hand and a right, to give guidance victory.

ويعضد بالهادي الكفيل خلافة

لها كافل من عزمه وضمين

And a caliphate shall be upheld by the guiding guardian,

with a protector and guarantor in his resolve.

ينوط نجاديها بعاتق أروع

عزيز له النصر العزيز قرين

He hangs its two sword-belts on the shoulder of an awe-inspiring man,

mighty, with mighty victory as his companion.

تحمل أعباء الوزارة بعدما

وهي عاتق عن حملها ووتين

He shouldered the burdens of the vizierate after

shoulder and heart-vein had grown too weak to bear it.

وقام بها من بعدما قعد الورى

قوي إذا خان الكفاة أمين

And he upheld it after all others had sat back,

strong, and trustworthy when the capable betrayed.

أخو الحزم لا تنبو مضارب عزمه

وذو الحزم يقسو تارة ويلين

A man of resolve, whose will's blades never fail;

and the resolute man is stern at times, and gentle.

تسهل حزن النائبات بعزمه

وأمست سهول المجد وهي حزون

The rugged ground of calamities grew smooth through his resolve,

while the plains of glory became rugged tracts.

وفي صدر كل من سطاه مهابة

لها بين أحناء الصدور كمين

In every breast there is awe of his might,

lying in ambush within the breast's folds.

تخبرنا عن بأسه ونواله

وإن نحن لم نجهل منى ومنون

Of his prowess and bounty we are told—

though we were not unaware—by fulfilled hopes and death.

قرى وقراع يفرح المجد كلما

أضاءت جفان عنهما وجفون

Hospitality and combat: glory rejoices whenever

through them, serving-bowls and scabbards shine.

سرت همم الأملاك خلف طلائع

لواغب منها حاسر وحرون

Kings' ambitions journeyed behind the vanguards,

weary—some spent, and some balking.

تحدثنا عن رتبة الناصر ابنه

مساعي أبيه والحديث شجون

Of his son al-Nasir's standing we are told

by his father's deeds—and the tale has many branches.

نمت عصبة الميمون دوحة سؤدد

سقاهم غمام للعلى ومعين

A great tree of nobility brought forth al-Maymun's clan;

a cloud and spring of high glory watered them.

ورشح منه الليث شبل عرينه

له أجمات السمهري عرين

And from it the lion put forward the cub of his den;

for him, thickets of stiff-shafted spears are a den.

إذا شهد الحرب الزبون عدت له

فوارسها الأبطال وهي زبون

When he enters fierce battle, he finds

its heroic horsemen helpless before him.

يدير على الأعداء في كل مأزق

رحى ثقلها للناكثين طحون

He turns against his enemies in every strait

a mill whose weight grinds down oath-breakers.

يزين أباه حين تتلى صفاته

وما كل أبناء الملوك يزين

He adorns his father when his qualities are recited,

and not all the sons of kings adorn their fathers.

فتى فتن الألباب خلقاً وخلقة

وجنت به العلياء وهو جنين

A youth who bewitched minds in character and form,

and high glory went mad for him while he was still in the womb.

وقالت علاه أمهلاه فإنه

خليق بما لا تنكراه قمين

His eminence said: "You two, give him time, for he is

worthy and deserving of what you two must not deny him.

ألم تريا عنوانها في جبينه

يلوح على أعطافه ويبين

Have you two not seen its sign upon his brow,

gleaming along his frame and standing clear?"

أفاض عليه الحب من كل خاطر

مكان له عند الإمام مكين

Love has been poured upon him from every heart

by the firm place he holds with the Imam.

أسادة أهل الأرض لا مثنوية

وإن سخنت مما أقول عيون

O masters of the earth's people, without exception,

even if eyes burn at what I say,

تغاضوا عن التقصير فيما نقوله

ففي القول غث كالورى وسمين

overlook the shortcomings in what we say,

for speech, like humankind, has its lean and its fat.

فمن ظن أن المدح قام بحقكم

فذاك غبي في الرجال غبين

Whoever thinks that praise has paid you your due

is a fool among men, a dupe.