1. يا مَن جَلا بِقُدومِهِ ال

    مَيمونِ عَن عَيني قَذاها

    O you who cleared, by your arrival—

    auspicious—the grit from my eye,

  2. وَأَعادَ لَمّا عادَ أَي

    يامَ السُرورِ كَما بَداها

    and, when you returned, restored the

    days of joy as you first began them.

  3. ظَمِئَت إِلى إِشراقِ وَج

    هِكِ مُقلَتي فَاِنقَع صَداها

    My eye has thirsted for the radiance

    of your face; quench its thirst.

  4. مُذ غِبتَ ما أَنِسَت إِلى

    غُمضٍ وَلا عَمِعَت كَراها

    Since you went away, it has found no comfort in

    closed lids, nor [tasted] its slumber.

  5. وَتَوَحَّشَت بَغدادُ لي

    لَمّا بَعِدتَ وَجانِباها

    Baghdad grew desolate to me

    when you went away, and so did both its sides.

  6. ذَهَبَت بِشاشَتُها وَصَو

    وَحَ نَبتُها وَدَجى ضُحاها

    Its cheerfulness departed, and

    its plants withered; its morning light grew dark.

  7. حَتّى غَدَت لا يَستَبي

    نُ صَباحُها لِيَ مِن مَساها

    Until it became impossible to distinguish

    its morning, for me, from its evening.

  8. أَمسَت وَقَد وَدَّعتَها

    عُطلاً فَلا عَدِمَت حُلاها

    It became, after you had bid it farewell,

    unadorned—may it never lack its jewels.

  9. عَمِيَت مَطالِعُها فَعُد

    تَ وَنورُ وَجهِكَ قَد جَلاها

    Its horizons went blind; then you returned,

    and the light of your face illuminated them.

  10. كَاللَيلَةِ اللَيلاءِ يَن

    هالُ النَهارُ عَلى دُجاها

    Like a pitch-black night when

    daylight pours over its darkness.

  11. اليَومَ أَصبَحَ مُؤنِقاً

    بِكَ جَوُّها عَبِقاً ثَراها

    Today its air has become delightful

    through you, and fragrant its soil.

  12. وَاِمتَدَّ في نُعماكَ سا

    بِغُ ظِلِّها وَحَلا جَناها

    And within your bounty stretched

    its ample shade, and sweet grew its fruit.

  13. وَاِخضَرَّ يابِسُ عُودِها

    بِنَداكَ وَاِخضَلَّت رُباها

    Its dry wood grew green

    through your dew, and its hills were drenched.

  14. كادَت تَمورُ وَقَد عَرا

    ها مِن فِراقِكَ ما عَراها

    It nearly reeled, having suffered

    what it suffered from parting with you.

  15. لَكِن تَدارَكَها بَها

    ءُ الدينِ فَاِشتَدَّت قُواها

    But it was rescued by Baha

    al-Din, and its strength grew firm.

  16. ذادَ الرَدى عَن ذَودِها

    وَحَمى بِسَطوَتِهِ حِماها

    He drove death away from its herd

    and guarded its protected pasture with his might.

  17. أَعطى السِياسَةَ لِلرَعِي

    يَةِ حَقَّها لَمّا رَعاها

    He gave the governance of the subjects

    its due when he tended them.

  18. كَفُؤٌ إِذا نيطَت مُلِمّا

    تُ الأُمورِ بِهِ كَفاها

    Capable—when pressing difficulties

    in affairs are entrusted to him, he resolves them.

  19. قَلَّدتَهُ عَضباً إِذا

    مَسَّ الخُطوبَ بِهِ بَراها

    You girded him with a keen sword; when

    he touched calamities with it, he cut them down.

  20. وَاِستَنَّ مِنكَ بِما سَنَن

    تَ مِنَ المَكارِمِ وَاِقتَفاها

    He took his model from what you established

    of noble deeds, and followed their trail.

  21. بِعَزيمَةٍ كَالنَجمِ لَم

    تَتَعَدَّ في شَبَهٍ أَباها

    With a resolve like a star, which never

    strayed in likeness from its father,

  22. مُتَقَيِّلاً لَكَ لا يَزا

    لُ بِوَجهِهِ لَكَ الاِتِّجاها

    emulating you, he never ceases

    to turn his face toward you.

  23. ما حادَ عَن نَهجِ السَبي

    لِ إِلى عُلاك وَلا عَداها

    He never swerved from the course of the path

    to your high station, nor overstepped it.

  24. يا دَوحَةَ المَجدِ الَّذي

    شَرَفُ المُظَفَّرِ مُنتَهاها

    O great tree of glory, whose

    highest reach is al-Muzaffar's nobility,

  25. وَعِصابَةَ المُلكِ الَّتي اِخ

    تارَ الخَليفَةُ وَاِرتَضاها

    and O band of kingship, whom

    the caliph chose and approved,

  26. الطاعِنو ثَغرِ العِدى

    وَالحَربُ قَد دارَت رَحاها

    who pierce the enemy's frontier

    while war's millstone turns:

  27. تَشكو السُيوفُ إِلَيهِمِ

    قِصَراً فَيُشكيها خُطاها

    swords complain to them

    of short reach; their strides redress that complaint.

  28. بِمُحَمَّدٍ شادَت قَوا

    عِدُ مَجدِها وَعَلا بِناها

    Through Muhammad rose the foundations

    of its glory, and its edifice soared.

  29. مَلِكٌ إِذا الأَيّامُ رَث

    ثَ جَديدُ رَونَقِها كَساها

    A king who, when the days' fresh splendor

    grows threadbare, clothes them anew.

  30. أَفنى خَزائِنَ مالِهِ

    وَشَرى المَحامِدَ فَاِقتَناها

    He exhausted the treasuries of his wealth

    and bought praiseworthy deeds, making them his own.

  31. راضَ الأُمورَ فَأَصبَحَت

    طَوعَ الأَزِمَّةِ وَاِمطَطاها

    He tamed affairs until they became

    obedient to the reins, and he rode them.

  32. ما اِستَصعَبَت يَوماً عَلَي

    هِ قَضِيَةٌ إِلّا لَواها

    No matter ever proved difficult

    for him without his bending it to his will.

  33. يُفني المَدى جَرياً إِذا

    ما الخَيلُ أَفناها مَداها

    He exhausts the course by running, when

    horses are exhausted by their course.

  34. يا مَن لَهُ كَفٌّ تَعَل

    لَمَتِ السَحائِبُ مِن سَخاها

    O you who have a hand—the clouds have learned

    from its generosity.

  35. تَنهَلُّ مُغدِقَةً عَلى ال

    عافينَ مُنبَجِساً حَياها

    It pours down lavishly upon

    those seeking bounty, its rain gushing forth.

  36. لَكَ في القُلوبِ مَحَبَّةٌ

    ثَبَتَت فَلَم تُنكَث قُواها

    For you, within hearts, there is a love

    made firm, its strands never unraveled.

  37. حَتّى كَأَنَّكَ مِن ضَما

    ئِرِها خُلِقتَ وَمِن هَواها

    Until it seems that from their innermost

    depths you were created, and from their love.

  38. وَكَأَنَّما جَبَلَ القُلو

    بَ عَلى وِدادِكَ مَن بَراها

    And as though hearts were molded

    to love you by the one who created them.