تبين حق للعباد وباطل — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

تَبَيَّنَ حقٌ للعباد وباطلُ

ونِلْتَ بحمد الله ما أَنْتَ نائلُ

Truth and falsehood have become clear to humankind.

And, God be praised, you have attained what you were to attain.

وما حاق مكر السَّوء إلا بأهله

وبعد فما يدريك ما الله فاعل

Evil plotting has ensnared none but its own authors.

And beyond that, how can you know what God will do?

لقد نقلوا عنك الَّذي هو لم يكن

فأدحِضَ منقولٌ وكُذِّب ناقل

They reported about you what never was;

The report was refuted, and its reporter declared a liar.

وجاؤوا بما لم يَقْبَلِ العقلُ مثلَه

ولا يرتضيه في الحقيقة عاقل

They brought something whose like reason has never accepted,

Nor does any rational person truly approve it.

شهودٌ كأسنان الحمار فبعضهم

لبعض وإن يأبَ الغبيُّ أماثل

Witnesses like a donkey's teeth: some of them

Are the equals of others, though the fool deny it.

أراذلُ قومٍ ساءَ ما شهدوا به

وما ضَرَّتِ الأشرافَ تلك الأراذل

A people's lowest sort—evil was their testimony;

Those lowly men did no harm to the noble.

أتَوكَ بتزوير على حين غفلة

وأَنْتََ عن التزوير إذ ذاك غافل

They came at you with falsification in an unguarded hour,

When you were unaware of the falsification.

وقُلتَ وقال الخصم ما قال وادَّعى

وهل يستوي يا قوم قسُّ وباقل

You spoke, and your opponent said what he said and made his claim;

But are Quss and Baqil equal, O people?

أقام على بطلانه بدليله

دليلاً وللحقّ الصريح دلائل

Through his own evidence he furnished, of his claim's falsity,

A proof; and manifest truth has proofs of its own.

ولو كانَ يستجديك فوق ادّعائه

لَجُدْت به فضلاً وما أَنْتَ باخل

Had he begged from you more than he claimed,

You would have granted it generously; you are no miser.

ولو أنَّه يبغي إليك وسيلةً

لما خيَّبَتْه في الرِّجال الوسائل

And had he sought a means of drawing near to you,

The means of approach among men would not have failed him.

ولكن بسوء الحظْ يثني عنانه

إلى حيث يشقى عنده من يحاول

But, through ill fortune, he turns his reins

Toward where whoever strives meets misery.

وإلاّ لما أمسى يعضّ بنانه

يعنّفه لاحٍ ويخزيه عاذل

Otherwise he would not have ended up biting his fingers,

Rebuked by a reproacher and shamed by a censurer.

ولا لاح محروماً مناهل فضلكم

وكيف وأنتم في النوال مناهل

Nor appeared deprived of the springs of your bounty—

How could he, when you are springs of generosity?

لقد نزع الأشهاد من كل فرقة

ولا بأس فالقرن المنازع باسل

He mustered witnesses from every faction;

No matter: the contending opponent is valiant.

وقد زَيَّنَ الشيطانُ أعمالَه له

على أنهه لم يَدْرِ ما الله عامل

Satan made his deeds seem fair to him,

Though he did not know what God would do.

وأعْمَلَتِ الأهواء فيه كما اشتَهَتْ

فلا دَخَلَتْه بعد هذا العوامل

Passions worked upon him as they pleased;

So may no further forces act upon him after this.

ومن جهله ألقى إلى الزور نفسه

وجاء بما لم يأته اليوم جاهل

In his ignorance he cast himself into falsehood,

And did what no ignorant man today would do.

وأنَّى له بالشاهد العدل يُرتضى

ويقدم في إشهاده ويجادل

How could he find an upright witness worthy of acceptance,

Yet venture to call witnesses and dispute?

أيَشْهَدُ ديُّوثٌ ويُقبلُ قَوْلُه

وهل قال في هذا من النَّاس قائل

Does a complacent cuckold testify, and is his word accepted?

Has anyone among people ever said such a thing?

وإقرارُ حربيٍّ على غير نفسه

فلا هو مقبول ولا أَنْتَ قابل

And a belligerent non-Muslim's admission against someone other than himself—

It is not admissible, nor would you accept it,

لدى حَكَمِ عدلٍ بدين محمد

وإنْ لم يكنْ عدلٌ فربُّك عادل

Before a just judge under Muhammad's religion;

And if there is no just judge, your Lord is just.

ومن ذا قضى بالظنّ يوماً على امرئٍ

وحسبُك حكمُ الله قاضٍ وفاصل

Who has ever judged a man on mere conjecture?

God's judgment is judge and arbiter enough for you.

وعارٍ من التدبير والعقل والحجى

وإن كانَ قد زُرَّت عليه الغلائل

And one stripped of prudence, reason, and understanding,

Though fine robes have been buttoned around him,

رأى الرأيَ بعد المال قتلاُ لنفسه

على المال حرصاً فهو لا شك قاتل

After the money, he saw his chosen course as self-destruction,

Out of greed for wealth—he is, without doubt, a killer.

كما كانَ ما قد كانَ منه وغَرَّهُ

نصيحُ مداجٍ أو عدوٌّ مناضل

Thus happened what happened through him; he was deceived by

A dissembling adviser or a combative enemy.

ووافق رأياً فاسداً فأماله

وكلٌّ عن الإقبال بالصلْح مائل

He assented to a corrupt opinion that led him astray,

And all turned away from coming to a settlement.

إذا لم يكن عونٌ من الله للفتى

فكلُّ معينٍ ما عدا الله خاذل

If a young man has no help from God,

Every helper apart from God will fail him.

ضلالاً لقوم يكنِزون كنوزَهم

لأبنائهم والله بالرّزق كافل

How misguided are those who hoard their treasures

For their sons, while God guarantees sustenance!

لقد شَقِيَتْ منهم على سوءِ ظنِهم

أواخرهم فيما جَنَتْه الأوائل

Surely, through their ill suspicions, suffering befell

Their later generations, for what the earlier ones had wrought.

ولم يَدْر مالٌ أودعَ الأرض طالعٌ

لعمرك أمْ حتفٌ من الله نازل

He knew not whether wealth buried in the earth would emerge,

By your life, or death descend from God.

ستهلِكُ قومٌ حسرةً وتأسُّفاً

عليه وأطماع النفوس قواتل

A people will perish in grief and regret

Over it; the soul's cravings are deadly.

تعجّل في الدنيا عقوبة طامع

ومن نكبات المرء ما هو آجل

A greedy man's punishment comes quickly in this world;

Some of a person's misfortunes come later.

إذا شام برقاً خلباً ظنَّ أنَّه

مخايل لا بل كذّبته المخايل

If he sights a flash of rainless lightning, he thinks it

Signs of rain—no, the signs of rain have proved him wrong.

وما كلُّ برقٍ لاح في الجو ممطرٌ

ولا كلُّ قَطْرٍ لو تأمَّلت وابل

Not every lightning flash in the sky brings rain,

Nor is every rainfall, if you reflect, a downpour.

وكم غرَّ ظمآناً سرابٌ بقيعَةٍ

وأغناه طيفٌ في الكرى وهو زائل

How often a mirage on a plain has deceived a thirsty man,

And a dream-vision in sleep has enriched him, though it vanishes.

تَناوَلَ بالآمال منك مرامَه

وأنّى له منك المُنى والتناوُل

In his hopes he attained from you his desired goal;

But how could he obtain from you his wishes and their fulfillment?

وقد شَنَّ غارات الدَّعاوى جميعها

إليكَ ولم تُشْغِله عنك الشواغل

He launched all his raids of legal claims

Against you, and no distractions diverted him from you.

ولو حكموا من قبلها في جنونه

وعاقَتْه عما كانَ منه السلاسل

Had they judged his madness before those claims,

And chains restrained him from what he did,

لما ذهبت أمْوالُه وتَقَلّبَتْ

به الحال فيما يبتغي ويحاول

His wealth would not have vanished, nor would change have come

To his circumstances, amid what he sought and attempted.

ولا دَنَّسَ العرضَ النقيَّ بشاهدٍ

من العار لم يغسله من بعد غاسل

Nor would he have sullied pure honor with a mark

Of shame that no later washer could wash away.

لقد خاب مسعاه وطال وقوفه

على مطلب ما تحته اليوم طائل

His endeavor failed, and long he remained

At a demand that offers no benefit today.

وما حصل المعتوهُ ظنًّا يظنُّه

ومن فعله فيها وما هو فاعل

The half-wit did not realize the fancy he entertained;

And from his deeds in it, and what he will yet do,

وتكذيب دعواه وتخجيله بها

ألا ثكلت أُمَّ الكذوب الثواكل

Come his claim's refutation and his humiliation through it.

Ah, may bereaving calamities strike the liar's mother!

تحمَّلْتَ أعباءَ المشقّة للسُّرى

وكلُّ نجيب للمشقّة حامل

You bore the burdens of hardship in night travel,

And every noble mount is a bearer of hardship.

وأقْبَلْتَ إقبالَ السَّعادة كلَّها

عَلَينا كما وافى من الغيث هاطل

You came as all good fortune comes

To us, like a pouring shower of rain.

يشيرون بالأيدي إليك وإنما

تشير إلى هذا الجناب الأنامل

They point with their hands toward you; it is only

Toward this honored presence that fingers point.

ليهنك حكم الله يمضي غراره

مضاء حسام أرْهَفَتْه الصياقل

May God's judgment gladden you; its edge cuts through

Like a sharp sword honed by polishers.

تبرّأتَ مما قيل فيك براءةً

من الله إشهادٌ عليه الأفاضل

You were cleared of what was said against you, with an acquittal

From God, with honorable men bearing witness to it.

تبرّأتَ من تلك الرذائل نائياً

وحاشاك أن يدنو إليك الرذائل

You were cleared of those vices, keeping far away;

Far be it from you that vices should draw near.

وما تسلُك الأوهام فيها حقيقة

ولا حملت يوماً عليها المحامل

No conjecture about them leads to any truth,

Nor have interpretations ever been brought to bear on them.

نعمنا بك الأيام وهي قليلة

لديك وأيام السرور قلائل

We lived happily with you through days that were few

At your side; days of joy are few.

وأمْسَتْ دمشق الشام تشتاق طلعةً

لوجهك مثل البدر والبدر كامل

Damascus of al-Sham has come to long for a glimpse

Of your face, like the full moon in all its fullness.

وإنَّك منها بالسرور لقادم

وإنك عنَّا بالفخار لراحل

Indeed, you come from her in gladness,

And depart from us in honor,

لأمر يريد الله كشف عَمائه

تُجابُ له بيدٌ وتُطوى مراحل

For a matter whose obscurity God wills to dispel,

For which deserts are crossed and stages folded away.

فمن مبلغٌ عنِّي دمشقَ وأهْلَها

بشارة ما قد ضَمَّنتها الرسائل

Who will convey from me to Damascus and her people

The glad tidings the letters have contained?

عَدَتْ منكم فينا عوادٍ عوادلٌ

وسارت لنا فيكم قوافٍ قوافل

Assailing, estranging forces from you swept through us,

And our rhymes about you traveled as caravans.

وأصبحَ من ناواكُمُ بعدَ صيته

كئيباً وأمَّا ذكرُه فهو خامل

He who opposed you, after his renown, has become

Dejected, and his name has fallen into obscurity.

تناهى إلى عَيٍّ فقصّر دونه

وعند التناهي يقصر المتطاول

He came to speechlessness and fell short there;

At the utmost limit, the overreacher falls short.