على الطالع الميمون قد أسس القصر

وشيد مقروناً به الفتح والنصر

The palace was founded under an auspicious ascendant,

and raised, with conquest and victory bound to it.

وزاد بطول المد في الأفق حسنه

ومن عجب مدّ به يحسن القصر

Its beauty grew with its long reach along the horizon;

and wondrously, lengthening makes the palace more beautiful.

بنيت به الدنيا ولم تبنه بها

فما خص قطر دون قطر به الفخر

You built the world through it, not it through the world;

so no single region has exclusive pride in it.

وحسبك أن الأرض باهت به السّما

ففارق مختاراً منازله البد

And enough for you that earth vied with heaven in glory through it,

so the full moon willingly left its mansions.

وحن لافق حنت الشمس نحوه

وودت به لو تيطلع الانجم الزهر

And it yearned for a horizon toward which the sun yearned,

and the bright stars wished to rise there.

يسافر في اطرافه الطرف يجتلى

محاسن يأبا أن يلم بها الحصر

The gaze travels through its reaches, beholding

beauties that reckoning refuses to encompass.

هي الدار دارت بالسعود نجومها

واصبح فيها بعض خدامك الدهر

This is the dwelling whose stars revolve in good fortune,

and in it Time has become one of your servants.

وقيد مرآها النواظر حيرة

فما شبعت منها ولا روى الفكر

And the sight of it fettered eyes in wonder,

so they were never sated by it, nor was thought's thirst quenched.

رخامية الأركان تبريه الحلا

مدبجة الارجاء أكنافها خضر

Marble in its pillars, golden in its ornaments,

brocaded throughout its expanses, its surroundings green.

ممنعة فوق السها اسها استوى

فلا فرقد يسمو إليها ولا نسر

Impregnable, its foundation stands above al-Suhā;

so neither Farqad nor Nasr can rise to it.

وما هي إلا للقصايد موسم

ففي سوقها تغلو المدائح والشعر

And it is nothing but a fair for odes,

for in its market, praise-poems and poetry command high prices.

على قدرٍ وافي تمام بنائها

وهلك العدى فالحمد لله والشكر

By decree of fate, its construction reached completion,

and the enemies perished: praise and thanks be to God.

تظل ملوك الأرض خاضعة الطلا

بأبوابها من لثم أفواههم اثر

The kings of earth remain with necks bowed;

at its gates are marks of kisses from their mouths.

تعفر ذلا في التراب وجوهها

وتلقى بأيديها إلى من له الأمر

They rub their faces in the dust in abasement,

and surrender with their own hands to him who holds command—

إلى الاشرف الملك الممهد بالظبا

نواصي الصياصي الشامخات ولا فخر

to al-Ashraf, the king who with sword blades lays low

the forelocks of towering fortresses—and this is no boast.

إلى من لو الليل البهيم استجاره

من الصبح ما أدمى عراقيبه الفجر

To him who, if pitch-dark night sought his protection

from morning, would not let dawn bloody its hamstrings.

جواد إذا هبت بأفواهها السما

تجد ماله ذخراً لمن ماله ذخر

A generous man: when the sky blows through its mouths,

you find his wealth a reserve for whoever has none.

محتبه فرض على كل مسلم

يدين بهذا عندنا البدو والحضر

Loving him is a duty for every Muslim;

among us, nomads and townsfolk profess this belief.

مواهبه قاتت مدى كل شاكر

فما ينتهى نظم إليها ولا نثر

His gifts outstrip the reach of everyone who gives thanks;

so neither verse nor prose can reach them.

أخو فطنة يغضي عن الجهل والخنا

وذو قدرة يعفو عظم الوزر

A man of discernment, he overlooks ignorance and foul speech,

and a man of power, he pardons even grievous guilt.

تزول الرواسي خفة وهو ثابت

ويبيض وجها والظبا بالدما حمر

The firm-rooted mountains shift as though weightless, while he stands firm,

and his face shines white while sword blades are red with blood.

وكم ماكر قد رام تغيير رأيه

علي وحاشاه فما نفق المكر

And how many a schemer has sought to change his opinion

against me—far be it from him!—yet deceit found no favor.

ولا نهنهت تلك الأناة نميمة

ولا ضاق مما زوروا ذلك الصدر

Nor did tale-bearing check that forbearance,

nor did that breast grow narrow at what they fabricated.

فدعني من الاملاك واتل حديثه

فقد نسخ الانجيل مذ أنزل الذكر

So spare me talk of other kings, and recite his story:

for the Gospel has been abrogated since the Reminder was revealed.

فيا ملكا ساد الملوك بسيرة

يقوم لهم في العجز عن نيلها العذر

So, O king who surpassed the kings through your conduct,

their inability to attain it gives them an excuse.

تخلقت أخلاق النبيين شدة

ولينا فلا سهل تناوى ولا وعر

You have adopted the prophets' virtues, in sternness

and gentleness: you are neither easy to challenge nor harsh.

فصدرك قلب البحر ان ناب معضل

وقلبك صدر البحر ان عظم الأمر

So your breast is the sea's heart if a grievous problem strikes,

and your heart is the sea's breast if the matter grows grave.

جمعت من الاضداد رحمة نافع

وقسوة ضرار به النفع والضر

You have united opposites: a benefactor's mercy

and a scourge's harshness, in whom dwell benefit and harm.

بكفك باس يحرق النار وقده

وبحر ندى في موجه يغرق البحر

In your palm is might whose blaze burns fire itself,

and a sea of bounty in whose waves the sea drowns.

امولاي إني غرس جودك فاسقني

فما لك غرس ليس من تحته نهر

O my lord, I am a sapling of your generosity: water me,

for no planting of yours lacks a river beneath it.

فإنك من غمد الخمول شهرتني

صقيلا ولكن كاد يصديني الفقر

For you drew me from the sheath of obscurity,

polished bright, but poverty has nearly rusted me.

بقيت بقاء الدهر للدهر كافيا

إذا ما انقضى عمر أَتى بعده عمر

May you endure as long as Time, equal to all its demands,

whenever one lifetime ends, another lifetime comes after it.