1. ذا اليومُ تَحسدُ مجدَه الأيامُ

    هو سيِّدٌ وجميعُها خُدَّامُ

    This day—the days envy its glory.

    It is a lord, and all of them are servants.

  2. يومٌ أُضيفَ إلى المَليكِ محمدٍ

    تاجٌ على الأيامِ وهىَ الهامُ

    A day dedicated to King Muhammad,

    a crown upon the days, which are the heads.

  3. يومٌ تجلَّى حُبُّنا فيه لِخَي

    رِ مُتَوَّجٍ سارت به الأقدامُ

    A day when our love shone forth for the

    finest crowned ruler that feet have borne.

  4. يومٌ به نبضَت قلوبُ رعيَّةٍ

    فوُجوده هو لِلحياةِ لِزامُ

    A day on which subjects' hearts beat,

    for its existence is indispensable to life.

  5. والشَّعبُ إن يَنبِض بحُبِّ إمَامِهِ

    فالشعبُ شعبٌ والإمامُ إِمامُ

    And if the people pulse with love for their leader,

    then the people are a people, and the leader a leader.

  6. لولاهُ لم يَسمَح به تاريخُ مغ

    ربنا وعنه لا يُماطُ لِثامُ

    But for him, it would not have been granted by the history of

    our Morocco, nor would its veil be lifted.

  7. يا عًرشُ هذا عيدُك المرجُوُ أو

    يا عيدُ هذا عرشُكَ البَسَّامُ

    O throne, this is your long-awaited festival—or

    O festival, this is your smiling throne.

  8. بِكُما لقد طالَ الفِراقُ وأنتما

    لِكِليكُما بِكليكُما تِهيامُ

    Your separation has indeed been long, while you both

    are each passionately in love with the other.

  9. فتعانقَا قدرَ النَّوى طولاً وهل

    إن طال تعناقُ المُحِبِّ حرامُ

    So embrace as long as your separation lasted—and is

    a lover's embrace forbidden if prolonged?

  10. أيُّ الملوكِ له كيومِ مَليكٍِنا

    علمتَ بذا الأعرابُ والأعجامُ

    Which king has a day like our sovereign's?

    Bedouin Arabs and non-Arabs have learned of this.

  11. كلُّ القُلوبِ عُروشُه وعليه قد

    رَفَّت منَ السِنَةِ الثَّنا أعلامُ

    All hearts are his thrones, and above him

    banners have fluttered from tongues of praise.

  12. يَصبو إليه العيدُ بعدَ فِراقِهِ

    ويَودُّ لو منهُ يطولُ مُقامُ

    The festival yearns for him after its parting,

    and wishes its stay with him might last longer.

  13. يَرجو الرُّجوعَ إليه قبلَ أوانِهِ

    لكن لأَيَّامِ الزمانِ نِظامُ

    It hopes to return to him before its appointed time,

    but the days of time have an order.

  14. أوَ مَا تَراهُ سائراً مُتَلفِّتاً

    وله الوراءُ لَدى المَسيرِ أمامُ

    And do you not see it walking, looking back,

    with what lies behind before it as it travels?

  15. سَتَجُرُّ ذَيلَ الفَخرِ بعدَ ثَلاثَةٍ

    زَهواً وأيامُ الفَخام فَخَامُ

    You will trail the hem of pride after three,

    in splendor; illustrious are the days of the illustrious.

  16. يا عيدُ إن تُقبِل فإنَّكَ كامِنٌ

    بِفُؤادِنا حتى يَدورَ العامُ

    O festival, if you arrive, you lie concealed

    in our heart until the year comes round.

  17. قد شئتَ أن تلقاهُ أبلجَ طاهراً

    فَهَمى عليكَ منَ السَّماءِ غَمامُ

    You wished to meet him, radiant and pure,

    so clouds poured rain upon you from the sky.

  18. أم تلكمُ مُراكشٌ ذَكرت عُهو

    دَكَ فالدُّمُوعُ على العُهودِ سِجامُ

    Or is that Marrakesh recalling

    your former days, with tears streaming over days gone by?

  19. ما السِّرُّ في ذا اليومِ ظَلَّ مُحَجَّباً

    ضَنَّت به الأحقابُ والأَعوامُ

    What secret in this day remained veiled,

    jealously withheld by ages and years?

  20. ألسرُّ أنه مِثلما لِخَفائِهِ

    بَدءٌ ظُهورُه ما إليهِ تَمامُ

    The secret is that, just as its concealment

    has a beginning, its revelation has no end.

  21. فيهِ تصَافحتِ الأكُفُّ ولِلقُلو

    بِ تَصافحٌ من قَبِلها وسَلامُ

    On it, hands clasped one another, and hearts

    had clasped before them and exchanged greetings.

  22. ومَنِ الذي لا يَزدهي ولوَ أنَّهُ

    جيمٌ وباءٌ بعدَه واللاَّمُ

    And who would not exult, even if he were

    jīm, followed by bāʾ, then lām—a mountain?

  23. ومَواكبٌ منها تَغارُ كواكبٌ

    إذ ليس في ليلٍ لهُنَّ ظَلامُ

    And processions of which the stars grow jealous,

    for their night contains no darkness.

  24. فيه الأميرُ أبو عليَّ قد صَبَا

    من تونُسَ الخَضرا إليه وِسامُ

    On it, Prince Abu Ali was yearned for

    by a medal from green Tunis.

  25. ألمجدُ مثلُ الحُسنِ يَعشَقُ بَعضَهُ

    وكذاكَ تَصبو لِلكرامِ كِرامُ

    Glory, like beauty, loves its own kind,

    and the noble likewise yearn for the noble.

  26. فيه منَ المَلكِ المُفَدَّى قد تَجَل

    لَى الجُودُ والإِحسانُ والإنعامُ

    On it, from the cherished king there shone

    generosity, benevolence, and bounty.

  27. إن ضاءَ منهُ فِرِندُهُ فاحذَر غِرا

    رَهُ غاضِباً لِلدِّينِ فَهوَ حُسامُ

    If his blade's damask gleams, beware his

    edge when angry for the faith: he is a keen sword.

  28. لا تَأخُذَنهُ فيه لومةٌ لائمٍ

    وكذلك الإيمانُ والإسلامُ

    No critic's censure must deter him in it,

    and such are faith and Islam.

  29. فخرُ الأشاوسِ من مُلوكٍ سُبَّقٍ

    إن يُرخَ في ساحِ الفَخارِ زِمامُ

    The pride of the valiant among foremost kings,

    when a rein is loosened in the arena of glory.

  30. خلَّدتَ مجدَ جدُودِكَ الصِّيدِ الأُلى

    نامُوا بلى وكَأنَّهم ما ناموا

    You have immortalized the glory of your noble forefathers, who

    slept—yes, yet as though they had never slept.

  31. ذِكرى يُردِّدُها الخلودُ عليهمُ

    مِن سَيِّدٍ سادت بهِ الأيامُ

    A remembrance eternity repeats over them,

    from a lord through whom the days became sovereign.

  32. دُم للتَّهاني يا مليكُ يَزُفُّها ال

    خُطباءُ والشعراءُ والنُّظَّامُ

    Live on for congratulations, O king, brought by the

    orators, poets, and versifiers,

  33. وبعودةٍ مِن رِحلَةٍ مَيمونةٍ

    قد حَفَّها الإجلالُ والإعظامُ

    and on your return from a blessed journey

    enveloped in reverence and veneration.

  34. فاهنأ أيا مولاي وابشِر إنَّه

    عينُ العِنايةِ عنكَ ليس تَنامُ

    So be happy, my lord, and rejoice, for indeed

    the eye of providence never sleeps in its watch over you.