في مثل مدحك شرح القول مختصر

وفي طوال القوافي عنده قصر

In praise such as yours, elaboration is a summary,

and even long rhymed verses are brief beside it.

حسنت ذكر القوافي إذ مدحت بها

وما على كل جيد تحسن الدور

You enhanced the honor of rhymed verse when you were praised with it,

and pearls do not look lovely upon every neck.

وما مدحك لكني مدحت بك ال

شعر الذي بك يستعلي ويفتخر

Nor was it praise of you; rather, through you I praised the—

poetry that through you rises high and takes pride.

سما بك الدست لما نلت منزلة

أجل مجدك فيها القدر والقدر

The throne rose through you when you attained a station

where worth and destiny exalted your glory.

وبوأتك المواضي والقنا رتبا

أضعافها من ضمان الغيب منتظر

Sharp blades and spears established you in ranks

whose manyfold increase awaits, guaranteed by the unseen.

أنت الذي يعقد الإسلام خنصره

علية إن حل خطب أوطرا وطر

You are the one to whom Islam binds its little finger,

if calamity strikes or a need arises.

ما زال وجه المعالي الغر ملتفتا

شوقا إليك وعين المجد تنتظر

The face of radiant eminence has ever turned

longingly toward you, while glory's eye awaits.

تجملت بك أيام ذخرت لها

إن النفيس من الأشياء يدخر

The days for which you were reserved were adorned by you;

for precious things are kept in reserve.

كان الزمان بهيم اللون فاتضحت

له بأيامك الأوضاح والغرر

Time was dark in hue, until there appeared

through your days its bright markings and forehead blazes.

مراتب الملك أجسام أبوك لها ال

روح اللطيف وأنت السمع والبصر

The ranks of kingship are bodies; your father is their—

subtle spirit, and you their hearing and sight.

إن كان ليث الشرى العادي فإنك يا

ذخر الأئمة منه الناب والظفر

If he is the charging lion of al-Shara, then you, O

treasure of the imams, are his fang and claw.

أو كان دوحة مجد طاب منبتها ال

زاكي فأنت لها الأوراق والثمر

Or if he is a tree of glory whose rooting-ground is good—

and flourishing, you are its leaves and fruit.

أعلمتنا حين لم تخلل بسيرته

أن الأصول عليها تنبت الشجر

You taught us, by not falling short of his conduct,

that trees grow upon their roots.

لما ترفع قدرا واستطال على

عن أن يباشره للهيبة البشر

When he rose in rank and towered above

human approach, so great was the awe he inspired,

ألقى إليك مقاليد العلى ثقة

بنهضة أحكمت من أمرها المرر

he entrusted you with the keys of eminence, confident

in resolve whose strands of purpose were tightly bound.

وفوض الأمر ترفيها لهمته

إلى خبير بما يأتي وما يذر

And he delegated command, giving his energies respite,

to one well versed in what to undertake and what to leave.

غض الشبيبة كهل الرأي مقتبل ال

أيام لا صغر يزري ولا كبر

Fresh in youth, mature in judgment, in the springtime of his—

days: neither youth diminishes him nor old age.

كأن أخلاقه من حسن خلقته

صيغت فقد راقت الأفعال والصور

As though his character, from the beauty of his form,

were fashioned: his deeds and features alike delight.

قامت بعزمة محيي الدين مملكة

صفا بوالده فيها له كدر

Through Muhyi al-Din's resolve a kingdom arose,

where, through his father, murk was cleared away for him.

متوج تشرق الدنيا بطلعته

وتخجل الشمس مهما لاح والقمر

Crowned, he lights the world with his appearance,

and shames the sun and moon whenever he appears.

إذا أقامت على ثغر صوارمه

فللنوائب عن سكانها سفر

When his sharp swords take station at a frontier,

misfortunes must depart from its inhabitants.

أغاث أعمال بلبيس وأمنها

من بعد ما عالها الإشفاق والحذر

He relieved the districts of Bilbays and made them safe,

after anxiety and fear had weighed upon them.

وليس يعلو لمن رام العلى خطر

إن لم يهن عنده التغرير والخطر

No stature rises for one who seeks eminence

unless risk-taking and danger seem slight to him.

أغرت قبل أبي الغارات مقتحماً

للهول تستصغر الجلى وتحتقر

You raided before Abu al-Gharat, plunging

into terror, deeming great calamities small and contemptible.

فكان شمساً وكنت الفجر تقدمها

والفجر في الجو قبل الشمس ينتشر

He was a sun, and you the dawn that preceded it,

and dawn spreads through the sky before the sun.

بعزمة الناصر بن الصالح انكشف

الأعداء عن حوزة الإسلام وانذعروا

Through al-Nasir ibn al-Salih's resolve, withdrew

the enemies from Islam's domain, and fled in terror.

لجت به الغارة الشعواء خلفهم

والنصر يقسم لا فاتوه والظفر

Through him, the relentless raid pressed on behind them,

while victory and triumph swore they would not escape him.

فأمعنوا هرباً منه ومنذ علموا

بأنه نافر في إثرهم نفروا

So they fled far from him; from the moment they knew

that he was marching in pursuit, they bolted.

وحين أبليت عذراً في اللحاق بهم

وصح منك السرى في الليل والسهر

And when you had spared no effort in pursuing them,

and proved your night-marching and sleepless vigil,

وقال عزمك لما أن ألح ولم

تلح له منهم عين ولا أثر

your resolve said, when it pressed on and yet

saw neither a soul nor a trace of them:

إن تنج منها أبا عمرو فعن قدر

نجاؤكم قدرة قد عاقها القدر

“If you escape it, Abu Amr, it is by fate;

your escape is from a power that destiny has checked.”

وعدت نحو مقر العز في عصب

يفنى بها الأكثران الرمل والمطر

And you returned toward honor's seat amid companies

beside which the two great multitudes—sand and rain—are as nothing.

وللصوارم في أجفانها أسف

تكاد من حره الأجفان تستعر

And sharp swords feel grief within their sheaths,

whose heat all but sets the sheaths ablaze.

جيش إذا انضم قطراه رأيت على

أرجائه شجرات الخط تشتجر

An army: when its two flanks close, you see upon

its edges trees of al-Khatt interlacing.

شاموا حياً ومحيا منك بينهما

سحائب البشر والإنعام تنهمر

They beheld rain and a countenance from you, between which

clouds of good cheer and bounty poured down.

أرضيت عسكر مصر بالنوال ولم

يزل رضى الناس باب قرعه عسر

You pleased Egypt's army with gifts; yet

people's favor has always been a door hard to knock upon.

فاشكر يداً أصبحوا شكراً لمنتها

على ولائك إن غابوا وإن حضروا

So thank a hand: grateful for its bounty, they remain

loyal to you, whether absent or present.

وسعتهم بالندى والحلم قاطبة

فالرزق متسع والذنب مغتفر

You embraced them all with generosity and forbearance;

so provision is ample and wrongdoing forgiven.

والجود إن تكشف الأيام صفحتها

سترته باذل الإحسان يستتر

And generosity, should the days bare their face,

is his shelter; the giver of kindness is sheltered.

تنزه الخلق المجدي عن عجل

يقضي به المزعجان الطيش والضجر

His beneficent character is free from haste

dictated by those two agitators, rashness and impatience.

وصان مقداره العالي وقدرته

من أن يضاف إليه الشر والأشر

And he guarded his lofty standing and his power

from having evil or insolence ascribed to him.

وأصبحت عنده الأيام نازلة

في رحب صدر إليه الورد والصدر

And the days have come to lodge with him

in a spacious breast; to him belong arrival and departure.

تفيض رحمته تغيض نقمته

والبحر تطفأ في تياره الشرر

His mercy swells, his vengeance ebbs,

and sparks are quenched in the sea's current.

ملك إذا رسمت مرآه نائله

تهلل البدر وانهلت له البدر

A king: when his countenance commands his bounty,

the full moon beams, and money-pouches pour forth for him.

ما إن سموت على جرد مسومة

إلا وظن أناس أنها سرر

Never did you mount sleek, marked steeds

without some people thinking they were couches.

ولا حملت نجاد السيد في رهج

إلا بدا ذكر يسطو به ذكر

Nor did you bear the master's sword-belt amid battle-dust

without a virile blade appearing, wielded by a virile man.

ولا اعتقلت وشيج الخط يوم وغى

إلا تمنت ثغور أنها ثغر

Nor did you couch a reed spear of al-Khatt on a day of battle

without frontiers wishing they were that frontier.

ولا علت يدك العليا على قلم

إلا جرى الرزق منه أو دم هدر

Nor did your upper hand rise over a pen

without livelihood flowing from it, or blood shed without redress.

ولا سطرت على طرس مكاتبة

إلا بدت غرر من فوقها طرر

Nor did you inscribe a letter on a sheet

without bright blazes appearing, crowned with forelocks.

ولا نطقت ونادي الجمع منتظم

إلا وظلت عقود الدر تنتثر

Nor did you speak while the gathering sat in order

without strings of pearls continually scattering.

أيقنت منذ أرحت المجد من تعب

أن سوف تتعب من أوصافك الفكر

Since you relieved glory of its toil, I have been sure

that your qualities will weary minds.

فاجعل قبولك ما أهديت من خدم

أسنى ثوابٍ له الآمال تنتظر

So make your acceptance of the services I have offered

the highest reward that hopes await.

وليس ذا لغنى بي عن ندى ملك

أغنى الملوك إلى نعماه مفتقر

This is not because I have no need of a king's bounty,

whose favor even the richest kings need.

ولكن لساني وإن طالت بلاغته

مقصر عن أداء الفضل بل حصر

But my tongue, however far its eloquence extends,

falls short of doing justice to your favor—indeed, it is tongue-tied.

في شكر نعمتك الأولى التي سلفت

شغل فكيف إذا انضافت لها أخر

In thanking you for your first favor, bestowed before,

there is work enough; how then if others are added?

إن رمت مدحاً على مقدار ما بلغت

بك المعالي فإني لست أقتدر

If I sought praise matching the heights reached

by eminence through you, I would be powerless.

إني وإن قصر الساعون عن أمدي

إليك من خجل التقصير أعتذر

Though those striving fall short of the distance I have reached,

I apologize to you, ashamed of my own shortcomings.

فاصفح وسامح وعد واعطف ولن وأقل

واسمح فأنت على ما شئت مقتدر

So pardon, forgive, promise, show kindness, be gentle, and overlook faults,

and give freely: you have power over whatever you will.