شهدت بحزمك في الأمور مساجدُ

شهدت بحزمك في الأمور مساجدُ

ونفوذ همتك الزكية شاهد

ونفوذ همتك الزكية شاهد

Mosques have borne witness to your resolve in affairs,

Your resolve in matters witnessed by mosques

And the force of your pure ambition bears witness.

And your blessed ambition is witness

وسعود سعيك في الولاية أسفرت

وسعود سعيك في الولاية أسفرت

بين الأنام فما يقول الجاحد

بين الأنام فما يقول الجاحد

And the good fortune of your efforts in governance has shone forth

The success of your efforts in governance bore fruit

Among humankind—what, then, can the denier say?

Among the people, so what can the denier say?

ماذا يروم الحاسدون وما عسى

ماذا يروم الحاسدون وما عسى

أن يكتموه وحسن ذكرك شايد

أن يكتموه وحسن ذكرك شايد

What do the envious seek, and what could they possibly

What do the envious plot, and what might

Conceal, when your fair renown rises high?

They conceal, yet your good name remains evident

تغفى جفون سواك عن رتب العلا

تغفى جفون سواك عن رتب العلا

جهلاً بها ويبيت جفنك ساهد

جهلاً بها ويبيت جفنك ساهد

Others’ eyelids slumber, heedless of the ranks of eminence,

The eyelids of others sleep, ignorant

Ignorant of them, while your eyelid stays awake all night,

Of high ranks, while your eyelid remains awake

حتى جمعت من الفخار مراتباً

حتى جمعت من الفخار مراتباً

تقضي بأنك في المفاخر واحد

تقضي بأنك في المفاخر واحد

Until you amassed ranks of glory

Until you gathered from the pottery ranks

That proclaim you peerless in noble achievements.

Proving you as one of highest honors

شاهدتم فعل الزمان بمسجد

شاهدتم فعل الزمان بمسجد

نزل الخراب به وفرّ العابد

نزل الخراب به وفرّ العابد

You witnessed what time had done to a mosque:

You witnessed what time did to a mosque

Ruin had descended upon it, and the worshipper had fled.

Ruin befell it as the worshipper fled

فكأنما فيه الغراب مؤذن

فكأنما فيه الغراب مؤذن

وارمل معتكف لديه وساجد

وارمل معتكف لديه وساجد

So it was as though the crow within it were a muezzin,

As if a raven were its caller to prayer

And the sands beside it were in devotional retreat and prostration.

And a widow its prostrating worshipper

يشكو تصدّع قلبه من هجره

يشكو تصدّع قلبه من هجره

ويقول ما للهاجرين تباعدوا

ويقول ما للهاجرين تباعدوا

It laments its heart’s cracking from abandonment,

Lamenting the cracking of his heart from its abandonment

And says, “Why have those who forsook me drawn away?”

Saying "Why have the emigrants grown distant?"

فأجبتموه وقد جبرتم قلبه

فأجبتموه وقد جبرتم قلبه

ودعا كثيراً قبلكم فتزاهدوا

ودعا كثيراً قبلكم فتزاهدوا

So you answered it and mended its heart;

You answered him and mended his heart

And it had called often before you, but they showed no interest.

While many before you were aloof

وجمعتم في كل وقت شمله

وجمعتم في كل وقت شمله

بالعابدين وأجره لك عايد

بالعابدين وأجره لك عايد

And at every hour you reunited its congregation

And you gathered its congregation at all times

With worshippers, and its reward returns to you.

With worshippers, and its reward is yours

ونسبتموه إلى الحميد فيا لها

ونسبتموه إلى الحميد فيا لها

من نسبة شهدت بأنك حامد

من نسبة شهدت بأنك حامد

And you dedicated it to al-Hamid—what a

You attributed it to the Praiseworthy, what an

Dedication, testifying that you are one who praises!

Attribution bearing witness you are one who praises

وتمامه وافى بألطف مسجد

وتمامه وافى بألطف مسجد

يفنى الزمان وفيه ذكرك خالد

يفنى الزمان وفيه ذكرك خالد

And its completion brought forth a most charming mosque;

Its completion restored the finest mosque

Time will perish, yet within it your memory is eternal.

Time passes, yet your name in it remains eternal