ما زلن في طاعاتك الأقدار

مأمورة تجرى لما تختار

The decrees of fate have never ceased obeying you,

under orders, running as you choose.

فإذا هممت بمستحيل لم يكن

من كونه بد ولا أعذار

And when you resolve upon the impossible, there is

no escaping its coming to be, nor any excuse.

كلفت طبع الماء الصعود فاصبحت

تجرى العيون بأرضك الأمطار

You charged water's nature with ascent, and so

the springs in your land began to pour forth rain.

قد صار بطن الأرض يسقى ظهرها

فلمن يرجى الديمة المدرار

The earth's belly has come to water its back;

for whom, then, is steady, abundant rain hoped for?

فخر السماء على البسيطة كلها

في القطر ليس لها سواه فخار

The sky's pride over all the earth

lies in rain; it has no other boast.

فإذا شققت عيون أرضك صنتها

من جل منتها وزال العار

And when you opened your land's springs, you shielded it

from the weight of the sky's favor, and shame was lifted.

فغدا وهذا القطر حولك جنة

خضراء تجرى تحتها الأنهار

And so this region around you became a garden,

green, with rivers flowing beneath it.

يا خارق العادات أمرك معجز

في كله تتحير الأفكار

O breaker of custom, your work is miraculous;

in every aspect of it, thought is bewildered.

مسعاك في العلياء لا تقفو به

أثرا ولا تعفى له آثار

In your quest for eminence, you do not follow

a footprint, nor are your own traces ever erased.

أنت الجواد فلا تقاس بماجد

خطو الخيول مع السيول قصار

You are the generous one; no nobleman can compare with you:

horses' strides are short beside torrents.

لو كان مطلب بعض وفدك في السما

ما حال جون بلوغه المقدار

If what some of your visitors sought lay in the sky,

fate would not stand in the way of attaining it.

وأقل جدواك الأماني كلها

وأقل أمنية هي الاكثار

And the least of your bounty is all that can be wished,

and the smallest wish is for abundance.

نفس الذي تعطيه يجبن هيبة

عن أخذ ما أعطيته وتحار

The soul of the one you give to shrinks in awe

from taking what you have given him, and is bewildered.

ملأت أشعتك الخلافة بهجة

وضياً فانت الشمس وهي نهار

Your rays have filled the caliphate with splendor

and light; for you are the sun, and it is day.

يا أيها الملك الممهد من به

يرجى ويخشى النفع والأضرار

O king who establishes order, through whom

benefit is hoped for and harm is feared,

مادار شكرك بين ألسنة الورى

إلا وجودك بينهم مدرار

never does gratitude to you circulate on people's tongues

without your bounty pouring abundantly among them.

ما راع سيفك كل ناكث بيعة

وبحدِّه كم قطعت به أَعمار

As long as your sword terrifies every breaker of allegiance—

and how many lives have been cut short by its edge!—

فالله جارك حيث أنت لخلقه

وبلاده من كل سوءٍ جار

may God be your protector, since you are for His creatures

and His lands a protector against every evil.