1. ولما أراد الله أن الهدى يحيى

    ثنى الملك عن هذا وقلده يحيى

    And when God willed that guidance should live again,

    He turned kingship away from this man and entrusted it to Yahya.

  2. أعان على الباري فادنى عدوه

    وصير أهل الله في عدوة قصوى

    That man lent aid against the Creator, bringing His enemy near,

    and placed God's people on the farthest shore.

  3. ولم يثن عنه الملك إلا وقد أتي

    بأمر عظيم لا تداوي به الأدوى

    Kingship was not turned away from him until there had been committed

    a grievous deed with which no ailments could be cured.

  4. أيعزل بالمرتد مفت بكفره

    ويرفع اجلالا وأهل الهدى تروى

    Is a mufti who declared him an unbeliever dismissed because of the apostate,

    while he is raised in honor and the people of guidance are bound?

  5. وليس لإسماعيل ذنب لأنه

    على يده أيد أوامرها أقوى

    Yet Ismail bears no fault, for

    above his hand are hands whose commands are stronger.

  6. وما كان إلا صورة يحملونها

    على بعض ما يهوون لا بعض ما يهوى

    He was only a figure they carried

    toward some of their desires, not any of his.

  7. فدبر أمر الملك من لم تكن له

    سجايا الملوك الغر والهمم العليا

    Thus the realm's affairs were managed by one who lacked

    the traits of illustrious kings and lofty aspirations.

  8. وما الملك إلا نائب الله في الورى

    يدبره الباري بما يشبه الوحيا

    A king is only God's deputy among humankind,

    whom the Creator guides by something akin to revelation.

  9. إذا شارك الرامي باسهمه يدٌ

    سوى يده اخطت ولم تحسن الرميا

    If a hand joins the archer in shooting his arrows,

    other than his own, it misses and shoots poorly.

  10. ايرجى صلاح الملك والأمر قد غدا

    لمن لم يكن زي الملوك له زيا

    Can the realm's soundness be hoped for when authority has passed

    to one who never wore the garb of kings?

  11. فما كنت إلا غارة الله أقبلت

    لكي تنقذ الإِسلام من هذه البلوى

    You were nothing but God's onslaught, coming

    to rescue Islam from this affliction.

  12. تخيرك الرحمن من بين خلقه

    فلما نفى الاكدار أعطاكها صفوا

    The Merciful chose you from among His creation;

    once He removed the dregs, He gave it to you pure.

  13. فأحييت يا يحيى الهدى ورجاله

    ولم تبط عنه اليوم غارتك الشعوى

    Thus, Yahya, you revived guidance and its men,

    and your sweeping raid was not slow to reach it today.

  14. فهنيته ملكا نصرت به الهدى

    على الكفر نصرا قد محى ذكره محوى

    So may you be congratulated on a kingship through which you championed guidance

    against unbelief—a victory that utterly erased its memory.

  15. وأصبح سلطان البرية واحداً

    وقد كان أمر الملك في خمسة يلوى

    And humankind's sovereign became one,

    where kingship's affairs had been twisted among five.

  16. وكل يجر النار منهم لقرصه

    فعاشوا وخلوا قرص غيرهم نيا

    Each of them drew the fire toward his own loaf,

    so they thrived, leaving everyone else's loaf raw.

  17. وامسوا بطانا أغنياء وغيرهم

    يبيت خميصاً قد طواه الطوى طيا

    By evening they were full-bellied and rich, while others

    spent the night hollow-bellied, folded double by hunger.

  18. فقم ناهضا بالملك غير مدافع

    فربك قد سوى الأمور وقد هيا

    Rise, then, to uphold the kingdom, unopposed,

    for your Lord has set affairs right and made them ready.

  19. وقد أذعن العاصي وذلت ذوو السطا

    لهيبتك العظمى وقد زالت الأسوى

    The rebel has submitted, and the mighty have been humbled

    before your supreme majesty, and the evils have vanished.

  20. ألم تر صنع الله راموك بالأذى

    فنلت بما راموه منك الذي تهوى

    Have you not seen God's work? They aimed harm at you,

    yet through what they intended for you, you gained what you desire.

  21. فلا تحمدن غير الإِله فخيره

    لك اليوم أمسى أمس في شرهم يطوى

    So praise none but God, for His goodness

    for you today lay yesterday enfolded in their evil.

  22. فلو كنت في جيش مكانك لم تكن

    ببعدك في المنوى كقربك في المثوى

    Had you been at your post with an army, you would not have fared

    as well toward your goal from afar as from your nearby dwelling.

  23. فهم غير محمودين فيما أتوا به

    لان الجزا يأتي على قدر ما ينوى

    They deserve no praise for what they did,

    for recompense comes according to the measure of what is intended.

  24. وما السعد إلا هكذا يقلب الأسا

    سروراً ويلوي عن ذويه الأذى ليا

    Good fortune is just so: it turns grief

    into joy, and bends harm far away from those it favors.

  25. فلو كنت تدري ما باحشاء من بغى

    وأفسد من خوف شويت به شيا

    If you knew what lies in the entrails of those who transgressed

    and wrought corruption—such fear—you would be thoroughly roasted by it.

  26. وقالوا احذروا ما كل بيضاء شحمة

    ولا كلما يجنيه دوايرة أريا

    They said, 'Beware: not every white thing is fat,

    nor is all that his circles [unclear reading] gather honey.'

  27. فأما الرعايا فاطمأنت نفوسهم

    وناموا وما نام الذي ألف العدوى

    As for the subjects, their souls grew tranquil,

    and they slept; but he who was accustomed to aggression did not sleep.

  28. ولم يبق إلا من تعدى بكفره

    وقال مقالا لا يقال ولا يروى

    Only he remained who overstepped through his unbelief

    and uttered words that should neither be spoken nor related.

  29. وقد كان قبل اليوم خوف بالردا

    فأظهر اسلاما يريد به البقيا

    Before today he had been threatened with death,

    so he professed Islam, seeking thereby to survive.

  30. وكان مريبا فانتفى عن ذوى الهدى

    زمانا إلى أن قيل قد قام من تهوى

    He was suspect, and withdrew from the people of guidance

    for a time, until it was said, 'The one you favor has risen.'

  31. فأقبل يستشلى علينا بكفره

    وأظهره حتى رمانا به رميا

    Then he came, goading others against us with his unbelief,

    and openly displayed it, until he hurled it at us.

  32. وحكم فيمن كان أفتى بكفره

    من العلماء الصالحين ذوى التقوى

    He passed judgment against those who had ruled him an unbeliever,

    among the righteous scholars possessed of piety.

  33. وصال على أسبابهم واستباحها

    وأخرجهم منها ومن درسهم عدوى

    He assailed their livelihoods and treated them as lawful plunder,

    and unjustly barred them from these and from their teaching.

  34. وخوفت من خوفت من شوم كفره

    فما استشعروا خوفاً ولا استمعوا نهيا

    I warned those I warned of the ill consequences of his unbelief,

    but they felt no fear and heeded no prohibition.

  35. فخذ بيد الإِسلام وأقتل عدوه

    وسل عن جواز القتل فيه ذوى الفتيا

    So take Islam by the hand and kill its enemy,

    and ask those who give rulings whether killing him is lawful.

  36. لقد أحدثوا في المسلمين حوادثا

    إِلى الله في أمثالها ترفع الشكوى

    They have brought about among the Muslims such calamities

    as call for complaints to be raised to God.

  37. تَجَرَّى على الباري رجال ببغيهم

    وسواه منهم بالبرية من سوى

    Men have dared affront the Creator through their transgression,

    and those among them who did so equated Him with creation.

  38. وقالوا اعبدوا من شئتم فهو ربكم

    من الشمس والأصنام والصخر والأهوى

    They said, 'Worship whomever you wish, for it is your lord—

    the sun, idols, stone, and desires.'

  39. وفاهت بهذا كتبهم وتناصروا

    يريدون أن يطفوا منار الهدى بغيا

    Their books gave voice to this, and they supported one another,

    seeking, in transgression, to extinguish the beacon of guidance.

  40. إلهي شيد ملك يحيى وخذ به

    رؤسا لمن يعصيك في هذه الدنيا

    My God, strengthen Yahya's reign, and through him take

    the heads of those who disobey You in this world.

  41. وأحي بيحيى من تحت حياته

    وأهلكّ به أهل الضلالة والأغوا

    And through Yahya give life to those whose lives lie beneath his,

    and through him destroy the people of error and misguidance.

  42. فما هو إلا رحمة منك أرسلت

    بلغنا بها مما نشا الغاية القصوى

    For he is only a mercy sent from You;

    through it we have reached the furthest limit of what we desire.