1. شدت سحراً بالسنة فصاح

    حمائم إيك معتلج البطاح

    They sang before dawn with eloquent tongues—

    doves of tangled groves in the broad valleys.

  2. فقرطت المسامع بالتهاني

    هواتف بالغدو وبالرواح

    So the ears were adorned with congratulations,

    by voices calling in the morning and the evening.

  3. فغنِّ ما صفالك أن تغنّي

    فدىً لك كل فتخاء الجناح

    So sing as long as singing is sweet to you;

    may every supple-winged bird be your ransom.

  4. شدت بحمى الغري مبشرات

    ببرء فتى المكارم والسماح

    They sang in al-Ghari's sanctuary, bringing glad tidings

    of the recovery of the youth of noble deeds and generosity.

  5. لقد شاء الاله بأن يراه

    زعيم ذوي المفاخر والنجاح

    Indeed, God willed to see him

    as leader of those possessed of glories and success.

  6. فخوَّلهُ السلامة وارتضاه

    أمام هدى لنهي واقتراح

    So He granted him safety and chose him

    as a leader of guidance, to forbid and offer counsel.

  7. وقدَّر أن يدوم فردَّ عنه

    سهام حوادث القدر المتاح

    And He decreed that he endure, warding from him

    the arrows of the misfortunes of allotted fate.

  8. غداة جلى لنا الأفراح يوم

    وسيم الوجه جوال الوشاح

    On the morning when a day unveiled joys to us,

    fair of face, its sash loosely swaying,

  9. وعاطتنا المسرة فيه راحاً

    كما عاطى النديم كؤوس راح

    and joy served us wine upon that day,

    as a boon companion serves cups of wine.

  10. فقمنا فيه نبتدر الأماني

    بدار الخمس للماء القراح

    So that day we rose, racing toward our wishes,

    as fifth-day-thirsty camels rush to pure water.

  11. فيا ابن المجتني ثمر المعالي

    ولو من بين مشتبك الرماح

    So, O son of him who plucks the fruits of high honors,

    even from amid entangled spears,

  12. ويا ابن النازلين هضاب عز

    على الجوزاء مشرفة النواحي

    and O son of those who dwell on heights of honor,

    their reaches towering over al-Jawza',

  13. وكل منيفة الطرفين أرخت

    ذوائبها على هام الضراح

    and on every eminence lofty at both ends, that let down

    its tresses upon the crowns of al-Durah,

  14. تركت نواظر الحساد تهمي

    بفيض دم كأفواه الجراح

    you left the eyes of the envious streaming

    with a flood of blood, like the mouths of wounds.

  15. لئن مرضت بصحتك الأعادي

    فجودك طب أنفسها الشحاح

    If your good health has sickened your foes,

    your generosity is a cure for their miserly souls.

  16. حملت على المنايا السود عضباً

    تفلُّ صفاحه بيض الصفاح

    You charged against black deaths with a keen sword,

    whose broad sides blunt the gleaming blades.

  17. فلا أعطى الزمان لها مناها

    فرب فساد قومٍ من صلاح

    So may time never grant them their wish,

    for many a people's ruin springs from another's well-being.

  18. وكم لبنانِ مجدك من يراع

    لما حطَّته كف الدهر ماحي

    And many a pen in the fingers of your glory

    effaces what the hand of time has laid down.

  19. وحيث غدالك القِدحُ المعلى

    فلم تقمر لعمر أبي قداحي

    And since the highest-valued lot-arrow has become yours,

    my lot-arrows, by my father's life, have not been outplayed.

  20. ونلتُ من المسرَّة منك مالو

    اردتُ به لطرتُ بلا جناح

    And from you I gained such joy that, if

    I wished, I could fly by it without a wing.

  21. فخذ بيدي وفضل قياد رقّي

    فما لسواك منقادٌ جماحي

    So take my hand and the loose end of my bondage's rein,

    for my unruliness yields to none but you.

  22. أعزَّ وأنني الرقُّ المفدّى

    فلا تقبل بذلّي قول لاح

    Honor me, for I am the slave held dear;

    so heed no censurer's call to abase me.

  23. قصرتُ على مديحك نظم شعري

    فطال نظام شعري وامتداحي

    I confined the composition of my verse to your praise,

    so the string of my verse and my praise grew long.

  24. فيا ترب العلوم ومن إذا ما

    دُعي للعلم بادر بارتياح

    So, O companion of the sciences, and you who, whenever

    called to learning, hasten gladly,

  25. لقد قلدتَ جيد العلم عقداً

    يروق نضارة المقل الصحاح

    you have indeed placed a necklace upon knowledge's neck,

    whose fresh beauty delights sound eyes.

  26. إذا العلماء اقعدها كفاح

    لنيل العلم قمتَ بلا كفاح

    When struggle laid the scholars low,

    you rose to attain knowledge without a struggle.

  27. فحزتَ الجل منه بلا سلاحٍ

    فكيف وأنت شاكٍ بالسلاح

    So you won the greater part of it without a weapon;

    how much more, then, when you are fully armed!

  28. وعاد العيد فيك قريرَ عين

    يرنِّح عطفه نشوان صاحي

    And the festival returned, glad-eyed through you,

    swaying its side, drunken yet sober,

  29. بِوجه يستهل البشر منه

    تبلج مثل شارقة الصباح

    with a face from which gladness shines forth,

    radiant like the rising light of morning.

  30. أعاد به الهوى ايام لهوٍ

    اعدن عليَّ أيام الملاح

    Through it, love restored days of pleasure,

    which brought back to me the days with beauties.

  31. ولا برحت بناديه الأماني

    تنادي الركب حيَّ على الفلاح

    And may hopes never cease within his assembly

    to call the caravan: 'Come to success!'

  32. توءم رباعك الوفاد غرنى

    غداة الجدب بالأبل الطلاح

    Visitors head toward your dwellings, hungry,

    on the morning of drought, upon exhausted camels,

  33. قواصد خير من ركب المطايا

    وأندى العالمين بطون راح

    seeking the best of those who ever rode mounts,

    and the most bountiful of all people in the hollows of his palms.

  34. تحيي منه ذا وجهٍ حيي

    إذا ما صدَّ ذو الوجه الوقاح

    In him you greet a man of modest face,

    when the brazen-faced man turns away.