قالوا لنا البدر مكسوف فقلت إذن

قالوا لنا البدر مكسوف فقلت إذن

جاء الكحيل الذي يعنو له القمر

جاء الكحيل الذي يعنو له القمر

They told us, “The full moon is eclipsed.” I said, “Then

They said the full moon is eclipsed, so I said:

al-Kahil has come, before whom the moon bows.

Then the kohl that the moon is jealous of has arrived.

فإن طلعة ميخائيل شمس ضحىً

فإن طلعة ميخائيل شمس ضحىً

والشمس من نورها الأقمار تستتر

والشمس من نورها الأقمار تستتر

For Mikhail’s countenance is a midmorning sun,

For Michael's face is a radiant sun,

and the moons hide themselves from the sun’s light.”

And the sun and the moons take cover in its light.

فقال أفصحهم صفه لتظر نو

فقال أفصحهم صفه لتظر نو

عي الحساب ببيت فيه تفتخر

عي الحساب ببيت فيه تفتخر

Then their most eloquent said, “Describe him, to [unclear verb] the two

The most eloquent among them described it to behold:

kinds of reckoning in a verse in which you take pride.

With a verse it prides itself on its beauty.

فإنه الشمس شمس العصر قلت أجل

فإنه الشمس شمس العصر قلت أجل

والبحر والقطر والصمصامة الذكر

والبحر والقطر والصمصامة الذكر

For he is the sun, the sun of the age.” I said, “Yes,

I said it's the sun of the time, indeed,

and the sea, and the rain, and the keen sword of hard steel.

The sea, the rain, the nightingale glorify it.

فأرخوه عباباً لا نظير له

فأرخوه عباباً لا نظير له

شهمٌ سخٍ سيد حساده كثروا

شهمٌ سخٍ سيد حساده كثروا

So commemorate him in a chronogram: a surging sea without equal,

So they released a peerless rain,

a noble, generous lord whose enviers have grown numerous.”

A brave, generous chief, numerous are his envious foes.