مقامك من فضل وفصل خطاب

مقام هدى من سنة وكتاب

Your station in excellence and decisive speech

is one of guidance from the Sunna and the Book.

مقام له بيت النبوة منصب

ومن مستقر الوحي خير نصاب

A station whose rank derives from the House of Prophethood,

whose noblest stock comes from revelation's dwelling.

إذا استدعنا باب رزق ورحمة

حططنا المنى منه بأوسع باب

When a gate of provision and mercy summons us,

we set our hopes down at its widest gate.

وكل دعاء لم يشيع بذكره

فليس بمرفوع ولا بمجاب

Every prayer unaccompanied by mention of him

is neither raised on high nor answered.

ومن شرف الإخلاص أن وليه

يؤوب إلى طوبى وحسن مآب

Among the honors of sincere devotion is that his follower

returns to blessedness and a fair homecoming.

محاسن مجد أعجزت كل حاسب

وفائض إحسان بغير حساب

Excellences of glory that confound every reckoner,

and overflowing bounty beyond all reckoning.

ولما تراءت للهلال بصائر

يغطي الهوا أبصارها بضباب

When discerning eyes looked out for the crescent,

the air veiling their sight with mist,

وقفنا فهنأنا الصيام بعاضد

سناه مدى الأيام ليس بخاب

we stood and congratulated the fast on al-Adid,

whose radiance never dims through all the days.

وأين سرار الدهر من ذي أسرة

نقيبته ليست بذات نقاب

How far time's moonless darkness is from one of radiant mien,

whose character wears no veil.

إذا رفعوا يوم السلام حجابه

بدا لي من الإجلال خلف حجاب

When they lift his curtain on the day of greeting,

he appears to me behind a veil of awe.

يشف وراء الستر باهر نوره

كما شف بدر من وراء سحاب

His dazzling light shines through the curtain,

as a full moon shines from behind clouds.

ويكبر عن لفظ السلام وإنما

يحيا بتعفير ولثم تراب

He is too exalted for a spoken greeting; rather,

he is saluted by faces pressed into dust and kisses on the ground.

وتتهم الأقوال فرط مهابة

وإن نحن لم ننطق بغير صواب

Words are mistrusted, so overwhelming is the awe,

even though we utter nothing but what is right.

نبوة جد أحرزتها بنوة

لكم دون أعمام ودون صحاب

A forefather's prophethood, secured by filial descent

for you, not for uncles or Companions.

فما لقصي وهي منها قصية

تمالئ في ميراثكم وتحابي

What business has Qusayy's clan, far removed from it,

colluding over your inheritance and showing favoritism?

فقل لرجال زاحموكم غباوة

على حقكم أو زاحموا بتغاب

Tell those men who, out of folly, jostled you

over your right—or did so while feigning folly:

سلوا آخر الأنفال من يستحقها

ففي آخر الأنفال خير جواب

"Ask the close of al-Anfal who deserves it;

at the close of al-Anfal lies the best reply.

أليس أولو الأرحام أولى ببعضهم

فلم تحجب القربى بغير قراب

Have blood relatives not the first claim on one another?

Why, then, is kinship barred by those who are no kin?"

ومذ طلعت من جانب الغرب شمسكم

أضاء بها في الأرض كل جناب

Since your sun rose from the western horizon,

every region of the earth has shone by its light.

وآبت إليكم دولة علوية

أقرت علاكم عينها بإياب

An Alid dynasty returned to you,

its eye gladdened by your eminence at its return.

وما هي إلا الرمح عاد سنانه

إليه وإلا السيف نحو قراب

It is only a spear whose point has returned

to it, and a sword returning toward its sheath.

وشيدت من مجد الخلافة ما وهي

بليلة محراب وليل حراب

You rebuilt what had weakened of the caliphate's glory,

with a night at the prayer niche and a night of lances,

وسجلين يأوي الأمر والنهي منهما

إلى مشرب عذب وسوط عذاب

and two decrees, whose command and prohibition lead

to a sweet draught and a scourge of torment.

وأطلعت فيه من بنيك كواكباً

جلوا من صدا الأيام كل خضاب

In it you made stars rise from among your sons,

who polished away every stain of time's rust.

وفي كل قطر منهم لك كوكب

لكل رجيم منه رجم شهاب

In every region you have a star from among them,

from which a shooting star strikes every accursed outcast.

وأيدك الرحمن بالكامل الذي

عمرت به الأيام بعد خراب

The All-Merciful strengthened you with al-Kamil,

through whom the days flourished after ruin.

أمير الجيوش الحاسم الداء بعدما

مشى من أديم الملك تحت إهاب

Commander of the armies, who eradicated the malady after

it had crept through sovereignty's hide, beneath its skin.

أبي الفتح هادي كل داع إلى الهدى

بفيصل خطب أو بفضل خطاب

Abu al-Fath, guiding every supplicant to guidance,

by decisively resolving a crisis or by excellence of speech.

تضاحكه من كل ثغر فتوحه

كما أضحك الأحباب كأس حباب

His conquests smile back at him from every frontier,

as a cup of sparkling wine makes dear friends smile.

وزير تمنته النوزارة أولاً

وثانية عفواً بغير طلاب

A vizier whom the vizierate desired the first time,

and again, unbidden, without his seeking it.

فخانته في الأولى بطانة وده

ورب حبيب في قميص حباب

On the first occasion his trusted intimates betrayed him—

and many a dear friend wears a serpent's shirt.

وجاءته تبغي الصلح ثاني مرة

فلم يرض إلا بعد رب رقاب

She came to him seeking reconciliation a second time,

but he consented only after subduing necks.

وأنقذت مصراً من عدو بمثله

فلله من ظفر فللت وناب

You rescued Egypt from an enemy by means of his equal;

God be praised for the claw and fang you blunted!

صدمت جموع الشام والشام صدمة

أقمت بها للقوم سوق ضراب

You struck the hosts of al-Sham, and al-Sham itself, a blow

that opened for those men a market of sword-strokes.

وجندت في أجناد مصر عزائماً

مضاربها في الصخر غير نواب

You mustered among Egypt's troops firm resolves

whose striking edges do not glance off rock.

تولوا عن الإفرنج فادح ثقلها

ودارت رحاهم منهم بهضاب

They took on its crushing weight in place of the Franks,

and their millstone turned upon hills of men.

أقامت دروع الجند تسعين ليلة

ثياباً لهم ما بدلت بثياب

For ninety nights the soldiers' coats of mail remained

their clothes, never exchanged for other clothes.

وهم بين مطروح هناك وطارح

وبين مصيب خصمه ومصاب

They were divided between those thrown down there and those throwing,

between those striking their foe and those struck.

ومنك استفاد الجيش كل فضيلة

لأنك بحر مدهم بثغاب

From you the army gained every excellence,

for you are a sea refreshing them with pools of water.

ومنك لهم في كل هم ومطلب

تحمل أعباء وفيض عباب

From you, in every care and every quest, they receive

the bearing of burdens and a surge of billowing waters.

ولما طرا كسر العمود جبرتهم

فيا طيب شهد بعد مطعم صاب

When the pillar broke, you made them whole again;

how sweet the honey after a taste of bitter sap!

وف ينصرهم سارت بنوك مواكباً

إلى عرب الريفين فوق عراب

And [in their support] your sons marched in squadrons,

toward the Arabs of the two rural districts, on Arabian steeds.

فوارس من آل المجير ترى لهم

سريرة غيب في ضراغم غاب

Horsemen of al-Mujir's house: you glimpse their

hidden inner nature in the lions of the thickets.

وسارت إليهم عزمة كاملية

ترد صعاب الدهر غير صعاب

A resolve of al-Kamil advanced against them,

making time's hardships hard no more.

فطاروا حذاراً من شجاع بن شاور

مطار عقاب لا مطار عُقاب

They fled in fear of Shuja ibn Shawar,

a flight from punishment, not the flight of an eagle.

وغادرهم إما طريد تنوفة

سحوق وإما مغنماً لنهاب

He left them either outcasts in a wilderness

far distant, or booty for plunderers.

فتى أصبحت أعمال مصر مضافة

إلى معقلي قب له وقباب

A young man: Egypt's provinces have now been annexed

to his twin strongholds, [his saddle-frame] and his pavilions.

رديفك في متن الوزارة والعلى

وتاليك في صفر لها ولباب

Your companion rider on the back of the vizierate and high rank,

following you in its brass and its purest substance.

وما لحتما في الدست إلا بدا لنا

وقار مشيب واعتزام شباب

Whenever you both appear upon the seat of state, we see

the dignity of gray hair and the resolve of youth.

وأحسنتما عون الإمام ونبتما

له في أمور الملك خير مناب

You have both aided the Imam well, and acted

for him in affairs of kingship as the finest deputies.

بقيتم فإني لا أريد زيادة

على حالتي من رفعة وثواب

May you endure; I desire no increase

beyond my present elevation and reward.