1. عُمِّرتَ الشَّمسِ والبَدْر

    أبداً على الأَيامِ والدَّهْرِ

    May you live as long as the sun and full moon,

    forever, through the days and all time.

  2. وأَطاعكَ المقدارُ تصرِفُه

    في الناسِ بينَ النهي والأَمْرِ

    And may destiny obey you as you direct it

    among people, through forbidding and commanding.

  3. واذا عدوتَ لحاجةٍ سَنَحَتْ

    فعلى النجاحِ وأيمن الزَّجْرِ

    And when you hasten to a need that has arisen,

    may success and the most auspicious omen attend you.

  4. لله عندك عادةٌ عُلِمَتْ

    في العُسرِ نألفها وفي اليُسْرِ

    God has a well-known way with you,

    familiar to us in hardship and in ease.

  5. قد جربوكَ فكنتَ أَثبتَهم

    وأَحقَّهم بمواطنِ الصَّبْرِ

    They have tested you, and you proved their most steadfast,

    and the best fitted for occasions requiring patience.

  6. ووقفتَ بالأَهوازِ معترضاً

    في موقفِ أَحمى من الجَمْرِ

    And you stood at al-Ahwaz, barring the way,

    in a position hotter than embers,

  7. ما فيه اِلا البيضُ ذاكيةً

    وأَسنَّةٌ كقوادمِ النّسْرِ

    where there were only blazing white swords,

    and spearheads like a vulture's flight feathers.

  8. فكفاكَ جدُّكَ ذو السعودِ بِهِ

    شزراتُ تلكَ الأَعينِ الحُمْرِ

    So your fortune, endowed there with auspicious stars, shielded you

    from the sidelong glares of those red eyes.

  9. وغَنِيتَ عن رأَيٍ تقلبهِ

    وتُحيلُه في حلبةِ الفكْرِ

    And you had no need of a plan to turn over

    and revolve in the arena of thought:

  10. جدٌّ يَرُدُّ الخيلَ مُقْعِيَةً

    ويفُلُّ حَدَّ البِيضِ والسُّمْرِ

    a fortune that drives horses back onto their haunches

    and blunts the edge of white swords and brown spears.

  11. وأرى مخايلَ عارضٍ نَعَجَت

    فيه الجَنوبُ مزاودَ القَطْرِ

    And I see the signs of a raincloud: driven

    within it by the south wind are waterskins of rain.

  12. أَلقى بصحنِ الري كَلْكَلَهُ

    وحبا الى الماهِينَ يَستَشرِي

    It set its breast upon the plain of al-Rayy,

    and crept toward al-Mahin, gathering force.

  13. ما بعدَ أَهلكَ ينحرونَ بها

    كالبُدنِ يومَ صبيحةِ النحْرِ

    What remains after your kin are slaughtered there,

    like sacrificial camels on the morning of Sacrifice Day?

  14. احدى بناتِ الدَّهرِ كالحةً

    ثَرماء ما تفترُّ عن ثَغْرِ

    One of Time's daughters, scowling,

    gap-toothed, never opening her lips in a smile.

  15. شَمِّرْ لها تشميرَ ذي قَسَمٍ

    هَجَر النِّساءَ ولذةَ الخَمْرِ

    Gird yourself for her like one sworn to an oath,

    who has forsaken women and the pleasure of wine.

  16. واذا غَدَتْ أَفواجها عُصَباً

    فانهضْ اِليها نهضةَ الصَّقْرِ

    And when her troops advance in bands,

    rise against her with a falcon's leap.

  17. فلعلَّ ذلكَ أَنْ يكونَ الى

    ما تبتغيه ذريعة النصْرِ

    For perhaps that will be, toward

    what you seek, a means to victory,

  18. كبني المُحِبينَ بختيار وقد

    صَحبوا أَخاكَ بعسكرٍ مجرِ

    as with the sons of those devoted to Bakhtiyar, who had

    accompanied your brother with a vast army.

  19. فكفوكَ شوكته بحدهم

    وطلبتهم بجريرةِ الوِتْرِ

    So they rid you of his might with their blades,

    and you pursued them for the crime that demanded vengeance.

  20. قد كان قتلُكَ قاتليهِ بهِ

    من قتلهِ أَدنى الى الغَدْرِ

    Indeed, your killing his killers to avenge him

    was nearer to treachery than his murder.

  21. نصرٌ عزيزٌ خصَّ ناصرهُ

    مَلَكَ الملوكَ به أَبا نَصْرِ

    A mighty victory, bestowed specially on its champion

    by the King of Kings—on Abu Nasr.

  22. يا ابن الذي استقربتُ ساحله

    فَغَرِقتُ في تيارهِ الغَمْرِ

    O son of him whose shore I thought within reach,

    then drowned in his deep current;

  23. ورأَى ثَناي وما أحبِّره

    في عِرضه أَنقى من الوفْرِ

    and he judged my praise and what I embellish

    concerning his honor purer than wealth,

  24. أَيامَ يدعوني فيخذُلَه

    سمعي وما بالسمعِ من وَقْرِ

    in the days when he called me, but was let down

    by my hearing, though no deafness afflicted it.

  25. حافِظْ على الذكرِ الميل فما

    يَبقى على الأَيامِ كالذّكْرِ

    Guard your [fair] renown, for nothing

    endures through the days like remembrance.

  26. كم فيكَ لي من غزْرِ قافية

    عذراءَ قد زُفَّتْ بِلا مَهْرِ

    How many a rich rhyme I have in your praise,

    a virgin led to marriage without a dower!

  27. سيارةٍ يُضحي الحسودُ بها

    والنَّارُ بينَ جوانحِ الصَّدْرِ

    Far-traveling, it leaves the envious man

    with fire between the ribs of his breast.

  28. تُصْبِيْهِ وهي الصَّابُ من فَمِهِ

    متمثلاً في عارضِ الأَمْرِ

    It enchants him, though it is bitter sap issuing from his mouth,

    as he quotes it when some occasion arises.

  29. قد طبقت ما بينَ قُرطُبَةِ

    والصينِ من بَرٍّ ومن بَحْرِ

    It has covered the whole expanse between Córdoba

    and China, over land and sea.

  30. تَطوى المنازلَ وهي باركةٌ

    في الصدرِ بينَ السُحْرِ والنحْرِ

    It traverses the waystations while kneeling

    in the breast, between the lungs and the throat.

  31. ومخلداتٍ كلَّما نُشِرتْ

    تزدادُ حِدَّتُها على النشْرِ

    And immortal verses that, whenever unfolded,

    grow sharper with their spreading,

  32. في كل تهئنةٍ وتعزيةٍ

    ينظمن نظم قلائدِ الدُّرِ

    at every congratulation and condolence,

    are strung like necklaces of pearls.

  33. يُنْسَى كلامُ النَّاسِ كلِّهُمُ

    الاَّ كلام اللهِ أَو شِعْرِي

    The words of all people are forgotten,

    except God's words or my poetry.

  34. قد سَرَّني وصفٌ بهِ

    فشكرتُ لو أَجزيكَ بالشُّكْرِ

    A description of him has indeed delighted me,

    so I gave thanks—if thanks could repay you.