1. انهض فطائر سعدك الميمون

    في ذمة الرحمن حيث يكون

    Arise, for the auspicious bird of your fortune

    is in the Merciful's care wherever it may be.

  2. في حفظ ربك يا خليفة ربه

    ما حَمَّلَتهُ ركائب وظعون

    In your Lord's keeping, O His vicegerent,

    as long as mounts and journeys bear him.

  3. يرضى ويسخط كل قطر زرته

    في يوم تلقاه ويوم تبين

    Every land you have visited feels joy and displeasure

    on the day you reach it and the day you depart.

  4. فإذا قدمت قدمت وهو بفرحة

    وإذا رحلت رحلت وهو حزين

    So when you arrive, you arrive while it rejoices,

    and when you depart, you depart while it grieves.

  5. تمضى وتترك في الرقاب صنائعا

    والشكر منها في الرقاب ديون

    You go, leaving favors bound about their necks,

    and thanks for them are debts upon those necks.

  6. أما زبيد فكلما حدثته

    عنها اليقين وغيره المظنون

    As for Zabid, all you have been told

    about it is certainty; all else is conjecture.

  7. فارقت أهليها وكم لك بالدعا

    أيد تمد إلى السما وعيون

    You left its people—how many, in prayer for you,

    are the hands and eyes raised toward heaven!

  8. منهم دعا في الأرض يا ملك الورى

    ومن الملائك في السما تأمين

    From them comes prayer on earth, O king of humankind,

    and from the angels in heaven comes 'Amen.'

  9. سألوا المهيمن وهو قبل سؤالهم

    لك بالإِجابة كافل وضمين

    They entreated the Guardian, who, even before their plea,

    is guarantor and surety of an answer for you.

  10. قلدتهم مننا تضاعف شكرها

    أمهلتهم وتخفف التثمين

    You hung favors about their necks, for which thanks multiply:

    you granted them respite and lighten the assessment.

  11. فبأى السنة يوفي شكرها

    يسدي وألسنة الثناء تخون

    With what tongues can their thanks be paid in full?

    He gives, while the tongues of praise prove faithless.

  12. يا من له خلق خلقن كما يشا

    لا ضيق يغشاها ولا تلوين

    O you whose virtues were fashioned as you wish,

    unclouded by narrowness or fickleness.

  13. سست الأنام سياسة وملكتهم

    فالحر عبد والعزيز مهين

    You governed humankind with statesmanship and mastered them:

    so the free man is a slave, and the mighty is humbled.

  14. وضبطت ملكك فالبعيد كمن دنا

    في الأرض والمال المضاع مصون

    And you secured your realm, so the distant is like the near

    throughout the land, and once-squandered wealth is safeguarded.

  15. وأعدت للدين الحنيف جماله

    فله محيا مشرق وجبين

    And you restored the upright faith's beauty,

    so it has a radiant face and brow.

  16. أحييت رسما للهدى عهدي به

    وسط المدارس ميت مدفون

    You revived a vestige of guidance I had known

    as dead and buried amid the schools.

  17. ورددت أسلاب المساجد نحوها

    فلبسن ما يبقى بها ويزين

    And you restored to the mosques what had been stripped away,

    so they wore what endures within them and adorns them.

  18. والصحف تتلى والصلاة مقامة

    والذكر والتكبير والتأذين

    And the scriptures are recited, and prayer is established,

    and remembrance of God, cries of 'God is greatest,' and the call to prayer.

  19. والكتب تنشر والمدارس قد زهت

    بالعلم فيها والعلوم فنون

    And books are opened, and the schools have flourished

    with knowledge within them; the sciences have many branches.

  20. ونهضت بالإسلام نهضة ثائر

    حتى تطاول واستقام الدين

    And you rose to uphold Islam like one rising in revolt,

    until the faith rose tall and stood upright.

  21. وأمرت بالصدقات في أربابها

    فوضعن فيهم والحديث شجون

    And you ordered alms to go to their rightful recipients,

    so they were bestowed upon them; the tale has many branches.

  22. يافرحة الخلفاء وسط قبورهم

    بك أيها المستخلف المأمون

    What joy the caliphs feel within their graves

    because of you, O trusted successor!

  23. أدررت بعد الانقطاع عليهم

    ثدى الثواب اليوم فهو لبون

    You made flow for them, after it had run dry,

    the breast of reward today; now it gives milk.

  24. لابر بالاباء إلا هكذا

    لكن عطاؤك غيره الممنون

    There is no devotion to fathers except in this way;

    but gifts other than yours come with reproach.

  25. عادت كما كانت لهم صدقاتهم

    قدما وعاش بفضله المسكين

    Their charitable gifts were restored to them as they had been

    of old, and the poor man lived through his bounty.

  26. كانت تضيع فيما يؤدى عنهم

    من حقها فرض ولا مسنون

    They were being squandered, while nothing was paid on their behalf

    of their rightful due, neither obligatory nor recommended.

  27. فلك الهنا ولهم بها من فعلة

    قرت بها منهم ومنك عيون

    So joy to you and to them through it—what a deed,

    bringing cool delight to their eyes and yours!

  28. ما أنت إلا كل يوم هكذا

    الصنع يزكو والثناء يدين

    You are never other than this, day after day:

    beneficence flourishes, and praise stands indebted.

  29. والبيض تنضى والرماح مظلة

    والحق يعلو والضلال يهون

    And white blades are drawn, and spears form a canopy,

    and truth rises high, while error is brought low.

  30. لازلت ما شاء المهيمن شئته

    حتى يقول الله كن فيكون

    May you ever will what the Guardian wills,

    so that God says, 'Be,' and it comes to be.