عادت عليك أهلة الأعياد

ببلوغ آمال ونيل مراد

May the festival crescents return to you

with hopes fulfilled and wishes attained.

ورأت بك الأيام ما تختار من

عز إلى يوم المعاد معاد

And may the days witness through you whatever you choose of

glory, renewed until the Day of Return.

يهني أمير المؤمنين مواسم

أوقاتهن إلى اللقاء صوادي

Festive seasons congratulate the Commander of the Faithful,

their hours thirsting for the meeting,

نظمت على جيد الزمان جواهراً

إن الجواهر حلية الأجياد

strung as jewels upon the neck of time;

for jewels are the adornment of necks.

ما العيد إلا أن تراك نواظر

لولاك ما اكتحلت بطيب رقاد

The festival is nothing but eyes beholding you;

but for you, they would never be kohled with sweet sleep.

وتنير تحت التاج غرتك التي

تجلو صدى المرتاب والمرتاد

And beneath the crown shines your radiant brow, which

polishes away the rust of the doubter and the seeker.

وتزور مجلسك المقدس بالهنا

أمم تراوح لثمه وتغادي

And your hallowed court is visited with felicitations

by nations that come to kiss it at evening and at dawn.

وتلوح في ظل المظلة طالعاً

كالبدر أو كالكوكب الوقاد

And you appear, rising in the parasol's shade,

like the full moon, or a blazing star.

وكأنها فلك ووجهك شمسه

لولا اعتماد رتاجها بعماد

It is as though it were a celestial sphere, your face its sun,

but for its great gate resting upon a pillar.

حسدت بساط الأرض فيك وما درت

أن السماء لها من الحساد

It envied the earth's carpet for having you, unaware

that heaven was among its enviers.

نشر المدير بها عليك غمامة

ذهبية ليست بذات عهاد

With it, its handler spread above you a cloud,

golden, yet bearing no recurring rains.

فغدا الورى يتعجبون وقد بدا

من تحتها الجودي فوق جواد

So people marveled, as there appeared

beneath it Mount al-Judi upon a steed.

قد قلت إذا علت المظلة فوق من

يعلو محل الأنجم الأفراد

I said, when the parasol rose above one

whose station towers above the peerless stars:

لم تعل إلا خدمة وصيانة

وكذا السيوف تصان في الأغماد

It rose only to serve and protect,

just as swords are protected in their scabbards.

والقلب أشرف والضلوع تحوطه

والعين يحجب نورها بسواد

The heart is nobler, yet the ribs surround it,

and the eye's light is screened by blackness.

لما برزت إلى المصلى لابساً

ثوب الخشوع وهيبة الآساد

When you emerged toward the prayer ground, wearing

the robe of humility and the majesty of lions,

جلت الخلافة عزها في موكب

يكسو ضياء الصبح ثوب حداد

the caliphate unveiled its glory in a procession

that clothed the morning's radiance in mourning garb.

ستر القتام جيادها فكأنها

مكنون سر في مصون فؤاد

Dust concealed its steeds, so they seemed

a hidden secret within a guarded heart.

متلاطم كالموج إلا أنه

متتابع الأمواج والأزباد

It surged like waves, save that its

waves and foam followed in unbroken succession.

حتى إذا وافيت ساحة مجمع

متضايق العرصات بالأشهاد

Then, when you reached the precinct of a gathering

whose courtyards were cramped with witnesses,

قابلت محراب الصلاة وللهدى

قبس على قسمات وجهك باد

you faced the prayer niche, while guidance had

a flame shining upon the features of your face.

وقضيت نافلة السجود ولم تزل

لله أفضل قانت سجاد

And you completed the voluntary prostrations, ever remaining

the finest worshipper devoted to God, ever prostrating.

وصعدت ذورة منبر أبقيت في

شرفاته شرفاً على الأعواد

And you ascended a pulpit's summit, leaving in

its upper tiers an honor upon its wooden beams.

ونطقت من فصل الخطاب بخطبة

عون الإله لها من الأمداد

And with decisive eloquence you delivered a sermon,

whose reinforcements included the aid of God.

ذرفت دموع الخلق عند سماعها

واستنجدت بمدامع الأكباد

The people's tears flowed as they heard it,

and sought aid from the tear-springs of their livers.

ذكرت ناسية القلوب وإنما

نادى رشادك أهل ذاك النادي

You reminded forgetful hearts; it was only

your guidance calling to the people of that assembly.

ونحوت متبعاً لسنة من مضى

من سالف الآباء والأجداد

And you followed the path, observing the tradition of those gone before,

of bygone fathers and forefathers.

وعلى شريعة جدكم ووصيه

صلى وضحى أهل كل بلاد

And according to the law of your forefather and his appointed successor,

the people of every land prayed and offered sacrifice.

وتخاير الوفد الحجيج ضيافة

أعددتموها للقرى والزاد

And the pilgrim delegation chose the finest hospitality

you had prepared for welcoming guests and providing sustenance.

فاسلم وقل للمشرفية والقنا

ينحرن كل مخالف ومعاد

So may you be safe; command the Mashrafi swords and spears

to slaughter every dissenter and foe.

واحكم على جور الزمان بعادل

ورث الكفالة عن كفيل هادر

And rule against the tyranny of time through a just man

who inherited guardianship from a roaring guardian.

فاستوهب النصر العزيز بناصر

صلحت به الأيام بعد فساد

Seek mighty victory as a gift through a champion

by whom the days were set right after corruption:

ملك يصرف كل صرف نازل

بأعنة الإصدار والإيراد

a king who turns aside every descending calamity

with the reins of sending away and bringing in.

لولا عزائمه وشد رأسه

أضحت قوى الإسلام غير شداد

Were it not for his resolves and his head held firm,

Islam's forces would have grown weak.

شمخت أنوف عداته واقتادها

صعب الإباء على يد المقتاد

His enemies' noses rose in pride, but he led them captive,

unyielding in his pride, with the captor's hand.

لما تجاوز غاية الأمد الذي

فات الملوك وفت في الأعضاد

When he surpassed the furthest reach that

had outstripped kings and weakened their arms,

قالت مناقبه لحاسد مجده

هون عليك فلست من أضدادي

his virtues said to the envier of his glory:

Be easy on yourself: you are not among my rivals.

وانظر لنفسك من يليق بشكلها

واعرف إذا عاديت كيف تعادي

And seek someone who suits your own kind,

and learn, when you make enemies, how to oppose them.

وامنع قناتك أن تميل فإنني

أخشى عليك مثقف المياد

And keep your spear from bending, for I

fear for you the straightener of wavering shafts.

واصدق فما تخفى طوية صادق

ممن أسر الجمر تحت رماد

And be sincere: a sincere man's inner nature can be distinguished

from that of one who hides live coals beneath ashes.

فإذا وفى لك صاحب وغدرته

فاعلم بأن الله في المرصاد

So if a companion is loyal to you and you betray him,

know that God lies in wait.

وحذار من نهشات صل أرقط

ظام ومن بطشات ليث عاد

And beware the bites of a speckled viper,

a thirsty one—and the onslaughts of a charging lion.

فبأسفل الهضبات شبل عرينة

وبملتقى العقدات حية واد

For at the foot of the hills is a lion-cub of the den,

and where the thickets meet, a serpent of the valley.

منعت بنو رزيك ساحة عزهم

إلا على الرواد والوراد

The sons of Ruzzik have barred the precinct of their glory

except to seekers and those who come to drink.

قوم تخيرت الورى فوجدتهم

أندى الملوك يداً وأكرم ناد

A people—I sought the best among mankind, and found them

the most generous-handed kings, with the noblest assembly.

شرفت مناقب مجدهم فكأنني

أتلو بها القرآن بالإنشاد

The virtues of their glory are so exalted that I seem

to recite the Qur'an when chanting them.

من كان يسند عن سماع فضيلة

فعن العيان لفضلهم إسنادي

If one traces a report of virtue to hearsay,

my testimony to their excellence rests on eyewitness sight.

وأبو الشجاع إذا أردت مديحهم

بيت القصيد وقبلة القصاد

And Abu al-Shuja', when you wish to praise them,

is the poem's crowning verse and the qibla of all seekers.