1. دمعي على الخدِّ مثل الدرّ ينتثرُ

    أجاءني عنهمُ أم لم يجىْ خبرُ

    My tears scatter on my cheek like pearls,

    whether news of them has reached me or none has come.

  2. وكيف يسكن وجدي إن أتى خبرٌ

    والشوق يزداد هيجاناً إذا ذكروا

    And how could my anguish subside if news came,

    when longing grows more turbulent whenever they are mentioned?

  3. ما عاشقٌ من له دمع يطاوعهُ

    إن كفَّه ومتى يتركه ينحدرُ

    He is no lover whose tears obey him

    when he restrains them, and flow whenever he lets them go.

  4. لا تحسبوا الصبَّ سالٍ إنَّ أدمعه

    يظن كلِ مكان أنها مطرُ

    Do not think the lovesick one has forgotten love: his tears

    are mistaken everywhere for rain.

  5. والله مالىَ صبرٌ أستعين به

    على فِراقٍ جرى فينا به القدرُ

    By God, I have no patience to draw upon

    against a separation that fate has brought upon us.

  6. هجرتهَ وهو من قلبي بمنزلةٍ

    لحاسدٍ قال قولاً ما له أثرُ

    I deserted him, though he holds a place in my heart,

    because of an envier who spoke words that left no mark.

  7. ولم يشنه وهل يسعى إلى كلمٍ

    يعاب فيها بقبحِ السيرة القمرُ

    They did not blemish him; can one seek out words

    that reproach the moon for ugliness of conduct?

  8. خلق سنيٌّ وأخلاق مهذبةٌ

    يقول من يره ما هكذا البشرُ

    A radiant form and refined manners:

    whoever sees him says, "Humans are not like this."

  9. يخفى على الشمس صونا في الحجاب فما

    رآه للشمس مذكانا معاً بصرُ

    Hidden from the sun, protected behind a veil, never

    has the sun's eye seen him since both came into being.

  10. ولو رأته لظلّت وهي كاسفةٌ

    وغيّرتها بفرطِ الغيرة الغيَرُ

    Had she seen him, she would have remained eclipsed,

    and the ravages of excessive jealousy would have changed her.

  11. له التأني إذا أهل العطا عجلوا

    له الوفاء إِذا أهل الغضا غَدروا

    He is deliberate when the givers act in haste;

    he is faithful when the folk of the ghaḍā groves betray.

  12. إذا نظرت إليه قلت من عجبِ

    لمثلٍ هَذا المحيا يحسنُ النَّظرُ

    When you look at him, you say in wonder,

    "A countenance like this deserves to be beheld."

  13. وظلتَ تحلفَ أَني ما نظرت له

    خلقاً يضاهيه لا أُنثى ولا ذكرُ

    And you keep swearing, "I have never seen

    a creature to match him, neither female nor male."

  14. لا عيب فيه سوى أَني بغيبتهِ

    لا كُتب فيها توافيني ولا خبرُ

    He has no fault, except that in his absence

    no letters reach me, nor any news.

  15. فعزَّ عندي ولو شئت اعتذرتُ له

    ففي الهوى مثل هذا الذنب يغتفرُ

    Yet he was dear to me; had I wished, I could have excused him;

    for in love, a fault like this is forgiven.

  16. أَنبيت عنه وقالوا منذ فارقني

    ما فارقا مقلتيه الدمعَ والسهرُ

    I was told of him; they said that since he parted from me,

    tears and sleeplessness have never left his eyes.

  17. فيا عذولي فيه كفَّ عن عذلي

    فليس قلبيّ كما خُيلتهُ حَجرُ

    O you who reproach me about him, cease your reproaches:

    my heart is not a stone, as you imagined it.

  18. وليس عندك ما عندي بما وصفوا

    ما بعد ما قيل هذا عنه مصطبرُ

    You do not share what I feel from their descriptions;

    after this was said of him, no endurance remains.

  19. ظلمته بعقاب مالهُ سببٌ

    والظالمون بيحي اليوم قد قصروا

    I wronged him with a punishment that had no cause;

    and today, through Yahya, wrongdoers have been checked.

  20. والطاهر الملك بن الأشرف الملك

    ابن الأَفضل الملك ابن الضيغم الهذرُ

    And al-Tahir the king, son of al-Ashraf the king,

    son of al-Afdal the king, son of the roaring lion,

  21. من لا تعدُّ ولا تحصى فضائله

    وكيف يحصى الحصى أو يحصر المطرُ

    whose virtues cannot be counted or enumerated—

    how could pebbles be counted, or rain be reckoned?

  22. ما قد سمعنا ولا من قبله سمعوا

    جودا كجودك يا يحيى وإن فشروا

    We have never heard, nor did those before him hear,

    of generosity like yours, O Yahya, even if they exaggerated.

  23. فأَنت أول ملك سنَّ مكرمةً

    عن أَخذ موهوبها الأَيدي لها قصرُ

    You are the first king to institute a bounty

    whose gifts hands are too short to receive.

  24. فمن يقال له خذْها يقل غلطوا

    هذا جزيلٌ وقدري عنه محتقرُ

    Whoever is told, "Take it," says, "They are mistaken:

    this is lavish, and my worth is negligible beside it."

  25. كم بدعةً في العلا والجودُ أحدثها

    ما سنّها في الورى من قبله بَشرُ

    How many innovations in eminence and generosity he has introduced,

    which no human before him established among mankind!

  26. عادَ الزمانُ بيحيى كالقناة فتى

    من بعد ما قد حناه الشِيبُ والكبرُ

    Through Yahya, Time became a youth again, like a lance,

    after gray hair and old age had bent it.

  27. كم حي من عدلهِ قوَّم وقد بلغوا

    حدّ الهلاكِ فخلنا أَنهم نشروا

    How many a tribe he set right through his justice, though they had reached

    the brink of destruction—so we thought them resurrected!

  28. ما هذه السيرة المثلى التي انتشرت

    في الأرض عنك وما هذا الثنا العَطِرُ

    What is this exemplary conduct of yours that has spread

    throughout the earth, and what is this fragrant praise?

  29. ملك تأتت ليحيى فيه معجزةٌ

    رام الملوك تأتيّها فيما قدروا

    A reign in which a miracle came to pass for Yahya,

    which kings sought to achieve as far as they were able:

  30. حبَّ الورى لك بالإِجماع ما أحد

    إِلا وأنت لديه السمعُ والبصرُ

    mankind's unanimous love for you—there is no one

    for whom you are not hearing and sight.

  31. حبٌّ يمازجه خوفٌ يعدله

    فكلهم لورود الأمر يبتدروا

    A love mingled with fear that keeps it in balance,

    so all of them hasten when a command arrives.

  32. ما لذةُ الملك إلا الحبُّ يكسبه

    من قلب كل امرئ للأمر يأتمرُ

    Kingship's only pleasure is the love one wins

    from the heart of every person who obeys the command.

  33. لم يبدُ للناس عتبٌ مذ ملكُتهُمُ

    على الزمانِ ولا ما عنه يعتذرُ

    Since you ruled them, no reproach has arisen among the people

    against Time, nor anything for which it must offer an excuse.

  34. كانوا يلومونه والذنبُ ليس له

    إِذ ليس في وجهه نفعٌ ولا ضررٌ

    They used to blame it, though the fault was not its own,

    since its face holds neither benefit nor harm,

  35. حتى ملكتَ وزال الشرُّ وانقطعت

    عنه الملامةُ والذنب الذي ذكروا

    until you became king: evil vanished, and there ceased

    the blame against it and the fault they had spoken of.

  36. فليهنكَ العيد والخيراتُ تتبعهُ

    وافي بشيرٌ بها والنصرُ والظفرُ

    May the festival gladden you, with good things following it;

    it arrives heralding them, and victory and triumph.

  37. وإنه بك أولى أن تهنيهُ

    يا غيثُ ياليثُ في الهيجاء يا قمرُ

    Indeed, it is more fitting that you congratulate it,

    O rain, O lion in battle, O moon!

  38. قالوا سواىَ يطيلُ الشِعر قلت لهم

    علي في مثل يحيى إن أطل نكرُ

    They said, "Others draw out their verse." I told them,

    "To write at length of one like Yahya would be blameworthy for me.

  39. إِذا دنا المستقى والدلو تبلغه

    بما تشاء فتطويل الرشا حورُ

    When the water-source is near and the bucket reaches it

    as you wish, lengthening the rope is a waste.

  40. ما طولوا في الرشا إلا لما حسبوا

    لو قدروا فيه قرب المستقى قصروا

    They lengthened the rope only because of what they supposed;

    had they reckoned the water-source nearby, they would have shortened it."

  41. يا رب لا تدخّر مجداً ولا شرفاً

    إلاَّ وكان ليحيى منهما الخِيَرُ

    O Lord, reserve no glory or honor

    without granting Yahya the choicest share of both.

  42. فإِن يحيى وأنت الله خالقهُ

    جعلته آيةً في الجود يعتبرُ

    For Yahya—You are God, his Creator—

    You made him a sign of generosity from which to take heed.

  43. فلا تمد إِلى فضلٍ لديك رجا

    إِلا وعاد لما يقضي به الوطرُ

    So may no hope reach toward bounty in Your keeping

    without returning with what fulfills desire.