ماذا أحَدِّثُ في صَنيعِ خِلافَةٍ

ماذا أحَدِّثُ في صَنيعِ خِلافَةٍ

هشّتْ إلَيْهِ الشُهْبُ في آفاقِها

هشّتْ إلَيْهِ الشُهْبُ في آفاقِها

What shall I recount of a caliphate's beneficence,

What can I say of the making of a caliphate

At which the bright stars rejoiced in their horizons?

To which shooting stars incline in their orbits

فكأنّما الجَوْزاءُ حينَ تعرّضَتْ

فكأنّما الجَوْزاءُ حينَ تعرّضَتْ

شدّتْ لتَخْدِمَ فيهِ عقْدَ نِطاقِها

شدّتْ لتَخْدِمَ فيهِ عقْدَ نِطاقِها

So it was as though Orion, when she appeared,

As if the Pleiades when it presented itself

Had tightened her girdle's knot to serve therein.

Bound itself in service, to tie its belt