1. هُوَ الدَهرُ مُغرىً بِالكَريمِ وَسَلبِهِ

    فَإِن كُنتَ في شَكٍّ بِذاكَ فَسَل بِهِ

    It is Time, bent on the noble man and robbing him.

    If you doubt that, then ask about him.

  2. أَرانا المَعالي كَيفَ يَنهَدُّ رُكنُها

    وَكَيفَ يَغورُ البَدرُ مِن بَينِ شُهبِهِ

    It showed us how the pillar of glory collapses,

    and how the full moon vanishes from among its shooting stars.

  3. أَبَعدَ غِياثِ الدينِ يَطمَعُ صَرفُهُ

    بِصَرفِ خِطابِ الناسِ عَن ذَمِّ خَطبِهِ

    After Ghiyath al-Din, do Time's vicissitudes hope

    to turn people's talk away from condemning its calamity?

  4. وَتَخطو إِلى عَبدِ الكَريمِ خُطوبُهُ

    وَيُطلَبُ مِنّا اليَومَ غُفرانُ ذَنبِهِ

    And its calamities stride toward Abd al-Karim,

    yet today we are asked to forgive its sin.

  5. سَليلُ النَبِيِّ المُصطَفى وَاِبنُ عَمِّهِ

    وَنَجلُ الوَصِيِّ الهاشِمِيِّ لِصُلبِهِ

    A scion of the chosen Prophet and of his cousin,

    and flesh-and-blood offspring of the Hashimite legatee.

  6. فَتىً كانَ مِثلَ الغَيثِ يُخشى وَبالُهُ

    وَيُرجى لِطُلّابِ النَدى وَبلُ سُحبِهِ

    A young man who was like rain, whose havoc was feared,

    and whose clouds' downpour was hoped for by seekers of bounty.

  7. رَقيقُ حَواشي العَيشِ في يَومِ سِلمِهِ

    كَثيفُ حَواشي الجَيشِ في يَومِ حَربِهِ

    Soft were life's fringes on his day of peace,

    dense were the army's flanks on his day of war.

  8. فَلا يَتَّقي الأَسيافَ إِلّا بِوَجهِهِ

    وَلا يَلتَقي الأَضيافَ إِلّا بِقَلبِهِ

    So he warded off swords with his face alone,

    and received guests with his heart alone.

  9. وَلا يَنظُرُ الأَشياءَ إِلّا بِعَقلِهِ

    وَلا يَسمَعُ الأَنباءَ إِلّا بِلُبِّهِ

    He considered things with his reason alone,

    and heard news with his discerning mind alone.

  10. إِذا جالَ في يومِ الرَدى قيلَ مَن لَهُ

    وَإِن جادَ في يَومِ النَدى قيلَ مَن بِهِ

    When he charged on a day of death, they said, 'Who can face him?'

    and when he gave on a day of bounty, they said, 'Who can match him?'

  11. أَمِن بَعدِ ما تَمَّت مَحاسِنُ بَدرِهِ

    وَدارَت عَلى كُلِّ الوَرى كاسُ حُزنِهِ

    Was it after his full moon's beauties had reached perfection,

    and the cup of grief for him had passed round all mankind,

  12. دَهَتهُ المَنايا وَهيَ في حَدِّ سَيفِهِ

    وَصَرفُ اللَيالي وَهوَ مِن بَعضِ حُبِّهِ

    that death struck him, though it dwelt in his sword's edge,

    and the nights' vicissitudes, though they were among his loves?

  13. كَأَن لَم يَقُدها كَالأَجادِلِ سُرَّباً

    وَيَرفَعُ قُبَّ اللَيلِ مِن نَقعِ قُبِّهِ

    As though he had never led them in flocks like falcons,

    and raised night's dome from the dust of his lean steeds;

  14. وَلَم يَقرَعِ الأَسماعَ وَقعُ خِطابِهِ

    وَلَم يَطرُقِ الهَيجاءَ مَوقِعُ خَطبِهِ

    and the sound of his speech had never struck ears,

    and the impact of his onslaught had never struck the battlefield;

  15. وَلا كانَ يَومَ الدَستِ صاحِبَ صَدرِهِ

    وَلِلجَيشِ يَومَ الحَربِ مَركَزُ قُطبِهِ

    nor held the foremost seat on a day of council,

    or been the army's central pivot on a day of war.

  16. أَتَعتَزُّهُ الأَعداءُ في يَومِ لَهوِهِ

    فَهَلّا أَتوهُ جَحفَلاً يَومَ حَربِهِ

    Do enemies overpower him on his day of leisure?

    Why, then, did they not confront him as a mighty army on his day of war?

  17. وَلَم أَرَ قَبلَ اليَومِ لَيثَ عَريكَةٍ

    أَذاقَتهُ طَعمَ المَوتِ عَضَّةُ كَلبِهِ

    Never before today had I seen a lion of fierce mettle

    whom his own dog's bite had made taste death.

  18. وَلَو كانَ مابَينَ الصَوارِمِ وَالقَنا

    وَفَوقَ مُتونِ الخَيلِ إِدراكُ نَحبِهِ

    Had it been amid keen swords and spears,

    and atop horses' backs that his death overtook him,

  19. لَكانَ جَميلَ الذِكرِ عَن حُسنِ فِعلِهِ

    يُنَفِّسُ عَن قَلبِ الفَتى بَعضَ كَربِهِ

    he would have been nobly remembered for his worthy deed,

    easing some of the anguish in a young man's heart.

  20. أَبِيُّ قِيادِ النَفسِ آثَرَ حَنفَهُ

    وَلَم يُبدِ يَوماً لِلعِدى لَينَ جَنبِهِ

    Unyielding in spirit, he chose his death,

    and never showed his enemies a yielding side.

  21. كَأَنَّ بَني عَبدِ الحَميدِ لِفَقدِهِ

    ذُرى جَبَلٍ هُدَّت جَلامِدُ هَضبِهِ

    As though the Banu Abd al-Hamid, through losing him,

    were mountain peaks whose plateau's boulders had been shattered.

  22. أَتَسلُبُهُ الأَعداءُ مِن بَينَ رَهطِهِ

    وَتَغتالُهُ الأَيّامُ مِن دونِ صَحبِهِ

    Do enemies snatch him from among his kinsmen,

    and the days treacherously slay him, passing over his companions,

  23. وَتَفقُدُهُ في دَولَةٍ ظاهِرِيَّةٍ

    بِها الذِئبُ يَعدو رائِعاً بَينَ سِربِهِ

    and you lose him under a Zahirite rule,

    where the wolf runs frightened among its pack?

  24. بِدَولَةِ مَلكٍ يَغصِبُ اللَيثَ قُوتَهُ

    وَيَقتُلُ مَن يَلقاهُ شِدَّةُ رُعبِهِ

    Under the rule of a king who wrests away the lion's food,

    and whose sheer terror kills whoever meets him.

  25. فَلَو كانَ شَمسُ الحَقِّ وَالدينِ شاهِداً

    لِمَصرَعِ ذاكَ النَدبِ ساعَةَ نَدبِهِ

    Had Shams al-Haqq wa-l-Din been witness

    to that gallant man's death at the hour he was mourned,

  26. بَكاهُ بِأَطرافِ الأَسِنَّةِ وَالظُبى

    بِدَمعٍ مِنَ اللَبّاتِ مَسقِطُ سَكبِهِ

    he would have wept for him with spearpoints and sword-edges,

    with tears shed from the hollows of throats,

  27. وَشَنَّ عَلى عُربِ العَذارينَ غارَةً

    يَضيقُ بِها في البَرِّ واسِعُ رَحبِهِ

    and launched a raid upon the Arabs of al-'Adharin,

    that would make the land's broad expanse grow narrow.

  28. فَتَعجَبُ لَبّاتُ الكُماةِ بِطَعنِهِ

    وَيُعرِبُ هاماتِ الحُماةِ بِضَربِهِ

    Then the throats of armored warriors would marvel at his thrusts,

    and he would inflect the defenders' heads with his blows:

  29. فَلا نَقطَ إِلّا مِن سِنانِ قَناتِهِ

    وَلا شَكلَ إِلّا مِن مَضارِبِ عَضبِهِ

    no dots except from his lance's point,

    and no vowel-marks except from the striking edges of his keen sword.

  30. أَبا الحَربِ بادِر وَاِتَّخِذها صَنيعَةً

    تُبَدِّلُ مُرَّ القَولِ فيكُم بِعَذبِهِ

    Abu al-Harb, hasten and make this a benefaction,

    replacing bitter words about you with sweet ones.

  31. فَكَم لِغِياثِ الدينِ مِن حَقِّ مِنَّةٍ

    تُطَوِّقُ بِالأَنعامِ أَعناقَ صَحبِهِ

    For how many claims to gratitude belong to Ghiyath al-Din,

    encircling his companions' necks through his favors.

  32. قَضى نَحبَهُ وَالذِكرُ مِنهُ مُخَلَّدٌ

    بِأَفواهِنا لَم يَقضِ يَوماً لِنَحبِهِ

    He met his death, yet his remembrance is immortal

    on our lips; it has never ended with his death.

  33. وَمُذ رَجَعَت أَترابُهُ مِن وَداعِهِ

    تَلَقّاهُ في أَكفانِهِ عَفوُ رَبِّهِ

    And when his peers returned from bidding him farewell,

    his Lord's pardon received him in his shrouds.

  34. سَقى قَبرَهُ مِن صَيِّبِ المُزنِ وابِلٌ

    يَجُرُّ عَلى أَرجائِهِ ذَيلَ خَصبِهِ

    May a heavy shower of cloud-borne rain water his grave,

    trailing the hem of its fertility over the grave's edges.

  35. وَمِن عَجَبٍ أَنَّ السَحابَ بِقَبرِهِ

    وَأَسأَلُ مِن صَوبِ الحَيا رَيَّ رَبِّهِ

    And it is strange that the clouds lie in his grave,

    while I ask the falling rain to slake its lord's thirst.