حديث غرامي فيك أضحى مقيدا

وعنك حديث الجود أرويه مسندا

The tale of my love for you has now been recorded,

and on your authority I transmit generosity's tale with its chain of transmission.

ومذ أنت والنصر اجتمعت تولدت

سعود فخلنا باجتماع تولدا

And since you and victory came together, there were born

good fortunes; we thought them born of that conjunction.

وقلدت سيف العدل في الحكم فاقتدت

بك الناس اذ صرت الامام المقلدا

You were girded with justice's sword in judgment, and thus were followed

by the people, when you became the leader whose example they accepted.

وانسيتنا اخبار من قد تقدموا

باسمى فعال منك والامر مبتدا

And you made us forget the stories of those who came before,

through your loftiest deeds, though your work was only beginning.

وعطفك تأكيد لبرك نحونا

فلله ما احلاه عطفا مؤكدا

Your kindness confirms your goodness toward us;

by God, how sweet it is, this reaffirmed kindness!

نشرت بساط العدل من بعد طيه

فيا لك منشورا قديما تجدّدا

You spread the carpet of justice after it had been folded away;

what a wondrous spread—ancient, yet renewed!

ونحو حماة حين اضحيت مرسلا

اطعنا وحقا ان نطيع محمدا

And when you were sent toward Hama,

we obeyed—and rightly do we obey Muhammad.

ومستوطنا لما حللت بارضها

تجمع شمل كان فيه مبددا

And when you settled as a resident in her land,

a company once scattered there was reunited.

لقد فتحت فتحا جديدا مباركا

فلا غرو ان ابديت رأيا مسددا

You have indeed won a new and blessed victory;

no wonder that you have shown sound judgment.

فبشراك يا ارضا علاك بنعله

اذا ما اقام اليوم عندك او غدا

So rejoice, O land he has trodden with his sandal,

when he stays with you today or tomorrow.

وشقراء وادي الشام تبكي تأسفا

عليك بدمع فوق صدر تنهدا

And the fair-haired beauty of Syria's valley weeps in sorrow

for you, with tears upon a breast that heaves with sighs.

واعينها مما بكت قد تفجرت

ولا عجب والله ان تتشهدا

And her eyes have burst into streams from all her weeping;

and, by God, no wonder if she utters the testimony of faith.

وجبهتها الغراء حالت كأنها

تغازلها لونا من الليل اسودا

And her radiant brow has changed, as though

a black hue of night were flirting with her.

وعهدك للأقمار كانت منازلا

فما بقيت الا رسولا ومعهدا

And as you remember, she once housed the moons;

now she remains only a messenger and a remembered abode.

ومذ في سما الهيجا سيوفك ابرقت

فامطر منها الجفن والقلب ارعدا

And when your swords flashed like lightning in battle's sky,

the eyelid rained because of them, and the heart thundered.

وفرّ اسي من نار عزمك من رأى

وذاب جوى من حرها من تجلدا

And whoever saw the fire of your resolve fled in sorrow,

and whoever steeled himself melted with anguish in its heat.

وسيفك منه كم ترهب سيد

وصار فقيرا مذ رآه مجرّدا

And how many a lord has turned monk in terror of your sword,

and become a pauper upon seeing it unsheathed.

وجمع العنا لما اثنيت لنحوهم

فصيرت ذاك الجمع بالسيف مفردا

And when you turned toward the host of hardship,

you made that multitude singular with your sword.

فان اوغلوا في السير خوفا وابعدوا

فبالعزم قد ادركت افضى وابعدا

And if fear drove them far on their journey and farther away,

your resolve overtook them farther afield and farther still.

وكم قبضت كفاك رمحا وصارما

وكم بسطت يوما لجينا وعسجدا

And how often your two hands have grasped a spear and a keen sword,

and on how many a day they have dispensed silver and gold!

اياديك جلت ان تقاس بغيرها

وتالله غيث لا يقايس بالندى

Your favors are too great to be compared with others;

and by God, rain cannot be compared with dew.

وقد صرت معتادا ببذل وانما

لكل امرىءٍ من دهره ما تعودا

You have made giving your habit; and, indeed,

each man has from life only what he has made his habit.

وقد نلت يا حلو المواهب رفعة

وفخرا على مر الزمان وسؤددا

And you have attained, O you whose gifts are sweet, high rank,

and glory and lordship throughout the passage of time.

وانك من قوم كرم اعزّة

بهم يهتدي في المكرمات ويقتدي

And you are of a people generous and mighty,

by whom one is guided in noble deeds, whose example one follows.

صديقهم ثوب السرور له ردا

عدوهم يختال في حلل الردى

Their friend wears the garment of joy as his cloak;

their enemy struts in the robes of death.

بايديهم سمر وقاح بألسن

تفوه بطعن عند اجوبة العدا

In their hands are hard, brown spears with tongues

that speak in thrusts when answering the enemy.

اقاموا عمود الملك عمدا بسيفهم

فهم خير بيت في الانام تعمدا

They deliberately raised kingship's pillar with their sword;

so theirs is the finest house among mankind to seek.

ولا عيب فيهم غير اني قصدتهم

فالفيت اهلا للنوال ومقصدا

And they have no fault, save that I sought them,

and found them people of bounty, worthy to be sought.

فكم من عطاء حدثتنا اكفهم

حديثا رواه ابن المبارك مسندا

How many gifts their palms have told us of,

in a report Ibn al-Mubarak transmitted with its chain of authority.

امام له من نحو منطقهم هدى

بديع بتصريف المعاني تفردا

An imam, with guidance from the manner of their speech,

a marvel, unrivaled in the shaping of meanings.

له قلم لو لم يكن ذا بلاغة

لما خلته واله الا مهندا

He has a pen which, were it not endowed with eloquence,

I would, by God, have taken for nothing but an Indian sword.

يقابل بالاحسان من كان محسنا

بشاكل بالعدوان حقا من اعتدى

He meets with kindness anyone who acts kindly,

and rightly answers the aggressor with aggression in kind.

طويل نجاد السيف عنه تقاصرت

حماة الوغى عنى لقد كفتوا اليدا

His sword-baldric is long; far short of him fall

the champions of battle, who have indeed held their hands back from me.

وكم اسدا من بأسه صار خرنقا

وكم رشأ يعزى اليه تأسدا

And how many a lion has become a young hare through fear of his might,

and how many a fawn, through association with him, has turned lion!

فيا معنوي اللفظ مذ حل في فمي

بتكراره يحلو اذا ما ترددا

O you of the meaning-laden name—since it settled in my mouth,

it sweetens on repetition, each time it returns.

اليك التفاتي يا بديع زمانه

فكن مستعفا لي بالعطاء ومسعداً

To you I turn, O marvel of the age;

so bring me relief through gifts, and make me happy.

وجد لي واجعل لي عليك حواسدا

فلا عيش الا ان ارى لي حسدا

And be generous to me, and through you make others envy me;

for life is no life unless I find myself envied.

فخذها عروسا بنت فكر يتيمة

فريدة عقد بالمعاني تنضدا

So take her as a bride, an orphan daughter of thought,

the peerless pearl of a necklace strung with meanings.

شريفة معنى انت والله كفؤها

بكونك يا رب المكارم سيدا

Noble in meaning, she has in you, by God, her worthy match,

since you, O lord of noble deeds, are a master.

يريك ضياء الشمع سحر بيانها

فصلها وقاطع من اتاك مفتدا

The candlelight reveals to you the magic of her eloquence;

so unite with her, and cut off whoever comes to you seeking ransom.

فلا زلتم حسن ابتداء ويومكم

يقابله حسن اختتامكم غدا

May you never cease to be a beautiful beginning, and may your day

be matched tomorrow by the beauty of your ending.