1. بعزمك أيها الملك العظيم

    تذل لك الصعاب وتستقيم

    Through your resolve, O mighty king,

    hardships submit to you and fall into line.

  2. رآك الدهر منه أشد بأساً

    وشح بمثلك الزمن الكريم

    Time saw you more formidable in battle than itself,

    and bountiful Time was miserly with your like.

  3. إذا خطرت سيوفك في نفوسٍ

    فأول ما يفارقها الجسوم

    When your swords cross people's minds,

    the first things to leave their souls are their bodies.

  4. ولو أضمرت للأنواء حرباً

    لما طلعت لهيبتك الغيوم

    And had you secretly intended war against the rain-bearing stars,

    the clouds would not have risen, in awe of you.

  5. أيلتمس الفرنج لديك عفواً

    وأنت بقطع دابرها زعيم

    Do the Franks seek pardon from you,

    while you are pledged to cut off their last remnant?

  6. وكم جرعتها غصص المنايا

    بيومٍ فيه يكتهل الفطيم

    How often you have made them swallow death's choking pangs,

    on a day when the weaned child grows middle-aged.

  7. فسيفك في مفارقهم خضيبٌ

    وذكرك في مواطنهم عظيم

    So your sword is bloodstained on the crowns of their heads,

    and your renown is great in their homelands.

  8. وكل محصنٍ منهم أخيدٌ

    وكل محصنٍ منهم يتيم

    And every protected one among them is captive,

    and every protected one among them is an orphan.

  9. ولما أن طلبتهم تمنى ال

    منية جو سلينهم اللئيم

    And when you pursued them, he wished for

    death, that vile Joscelin of theirs.

  10. أقام يطوف الآفاق حيناً

    وأنت على معاقلهم مقيم

    He spent a while roaming the horizons,

    while you remained stationed at their strongholds.

  11. فسار وما يعادله مليكٌ

    وعاد وما يعادله سقيم

    So he set out with no king his equal,

    and returned with no sick man his equal.

  12. يحاول أن يحاربك اختلاساً

    كما رام اختلاس الليث ريم

    He tries to fight you by stealth,

    as a white gazelle sought to seize a lion unawares.

  13. ألم تر أن كلب الروم لما

    تبين أنك الملك الرحيم

    Have you not seen how the dog of the Romans, when

    he realized you were the merciful king,

  14. فجاء فطبق الفلوات خيلاً

    كأن الجحفل الليل البهيم

    came and covered the wastelands with horses,

    his host like the pitch-black night?

  15. وقد نزل الزمان على رضاه

    فكان لخطبه الخطب الجسيم

    And Time had yielded to his wishes,

    so a mighty calamity befell his undertaking.

  16. فحين رميته بك في خميسٍ

    تيقن أن ذلك لا يدوم

    Then, when you hurled yourself against him amid an army,

    he became certain that this would not last.

  17. وأبصر في المفاضة منك جيشاً

    فأحرن لا يسير ولا يقيم

    And he saw in you, clad in ample mail, an army,

    so he balked, neither marching on nor staying.

  18. كأنك في العجاج شهاب نورٍ

    توقد وهو شيطانٌ رجيم

    As though, amid the battle dust, you were a meteor of light,

    blazing, while he was an accursed devil.

  19. أراد بقاء مهجته فولى

    وليس سوى الحمام له حميم

    He wanted to preserve his life, so he turned and fled,

    and he has no close friend but death.

  20. يؤمل أن تجود بها عليه

    وأنت بها وبالدنيا كريم

    He hopes that you will grant him his life,

    and you are generous with life and with the world.

  21. رأيتك والملوك لها ازدحامٌ

    ببابك لا تزول ولا تريم

    I saw you, with kings crowding

    at your gate, neither leaving nor stirring.

  22. تقبل من ركابك كل وقتٍ

    مكاناً ليس تبلغه النجوم

    At every moment they kiss upon your stirrup

    a spot the stars cannot reach.

  23. تود الشمس لو وصلت إليه

    وأين من الغزالة ما تروم

    The sun wishes it could reach that place,

    but how far beyond the sun lies what it seeks!

  24. أردت فليس في الدنيا منيعٌ

    وجدت فليس في الدنيا عديم

    You willed it, so nothing in the world is impregnable;

    and you gave generously, so no one in the world is destitute.

  25. وما أحييت فينا العدل حتى

    أميت بسيفك الزمن الظلوم

    And you did not revive justice among us until

    the tyrannical age was slain by your sword.

  26. وصرت إلى الممالك في زمانٍ

    به وبملكك الدنيا عقيم

    And you came to rule the kingdoms in an age

    whose like, and the like of your reign, the world cannot bear.

  27. تزخرف للأمير جنان عدنٍ

    كما لعداه تستعر الجحيم

    Eden's gardens are adorned for the prince,

    just as Hell blazes for his enemies.

  28. أقر الله عينك من مليكٍ

    تخامر غب همته الهموم

    May God gladden your eye, O king,

    whom cares beset in the wake of his resolve.

  29. ولا برحت لك الدنيا فداءً

    وملكك من حوادثها سليم

    And may the world always be a ransom for you,

    and your kingdom safe from its calamities.

  30. وإن تك في سبيل الله تشقى

    فعند الله أجرك والنعيم

    And if you suffer in the path of God,

    then with God are your reward and bliss.