أبى الله إلا إن تعز وتكرما — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

أبى الله إلاَّ إنْ تَعُزَّ وتُكْرَما

وأنَّك لم تَبْرَحْ عزيزاً مكرّما

God wills nothing but that you be mighty and honored,

and that you remain ever mighty and esteemed.

تذلّ لك الأَبطال وهي عزيزةٌ

إذا استخدمت يمناكَ للبأس مخدما

Champions submit to you, though mighty themselves,

when your right hand employs a keen sword for battle.

ويا رُبَّ يومٍ مثل وجهك مشرقاً

لبست به ثوباً من النَّقع مظلما

And how many a day, radiant like your face,

on which you wore a dark robe of battle-dust!

وأبزغت من بيض السُّيوف أَهِلَّةً

وأطْلَعْتَ من زُرقِ الأَسنَّة أنجما

You made crescents rise from the gleaming swords,

and brought forth stars from the blue spearheads.

وقد ركبَتْ أُسْد الشّرى في عراصِه

من الخيل عُقباناً على الموت حوّما

The lions of al-Shara had mounted, in its open grounds,

eagles among the horses, circling over death.

ولمَّا رأيتُ الموتَ قَطَّبَ وجهه

وأَلفاك منه ضاحكاً متبسّما

When I saw death furrow its face,

while it found you laughing at it, smiling,

سَلَبْتَ به الأَرواح قهراً وطالما

كَسَوْتَ بقاع الأرض ثوباً معندما

you seized souls by force with it; and how often

you clothed the earth's expanses in a crimson robe!

أرى البصرة الفيحاء لولاك أصبَحَتْ

طلولاً عَفَتْ بالمفسدين وأرسما

I see that spacious Basra, but for you, would have become

ruins effaced by corrupters, and mere traces.

وقالوا وما في القول شكٌّ لسامع

وإنْ جَدَعَ الصّدقُ الأُنوفَ وأَرغما

They said—and no listener doubts these words—

even if truth cuts off noses and rubs them in the dust:

حماها سليمان الزهير بسيفه

منيع الحمى لا يستباح له حمى

Sulayman al-Zuhayr defended it with his sword,

impregnable in his domain; no sanctuary of his can be breached.

تحفّ به من أهلِ نجدٍ عصابة

يرون المنايا لا أباً لك مغنما

A band of men from Najd surrounds him,

who count deaths—may you have no father!—as spoils.

رماهم بعين العزِّ شيخٌ مُقدَّمٌ

عليهمْ وما اختاروه إلاَّ مقدّما

A chief looked on them with the eye of honor, set foremost

over them; they chose him only as their leader.

بصيرٌ بتدبير الأُمور وعارف

عليمٌ فما يحتاج أن يتَعَلَّما

Discerning in the management of affairs, and knowledgeable,

learned, he has no need to learn.

أَأَبناءُ نجدٍ أَنْتُم جمرة الوغى

إذا اضطرمت نار الحروب تضرُّما

O sons of Najd, you are the live coal of battle,

when the fire of wars blazes fiercely.

وفي العام ما شيَّدتموها مبانياً

من المجد يأبى الله أن تتهدَّما

And within the year, what you raised were edifices

of glory which God refuses to let crumble.

وما هي إلاَّ وقعةٌ طارَ صيتها

وأَنْجَدَ في شرق البلاد وأَتْهما

It was but a battle whose fame took flight,

and spread to Najd in the country's east, and to Tihama.

رفَعْتُمْ بها شأن المنيب وخضتُمُ

مع النَّقع بحراً بالصَّناديد قد طمى

You raised al-Munib's standing through it, and waded

amid the dust into a sea swollen with champions.

غداةَ دَعاكم أَمْرُهُ فأجبْتُمُ

على الفور منكم طاعةً وتكرُّما

On the morning his command summoned you, you answered

at once, in obedience and generosity on your part.

وجرَّدكم لعمري فيها صوارماً

إذا وَصَلَتْ جمع العدوِّ تصرّما

By my life, in it he unsheathed you as keen blades,

which, reaching the enemy's host, left it in pieces.

ومن لم يجرِّد سيوفاً على العدى

نبا سيفُه في كفِّه وتثلَّما

Whoever does not unsheathe swords against the foes,

his sword fails in his hand and grows notched.

وإنَّ الَّذي يختار للحرب غيركم

وقد ظنَّ أنْ يُغنيه عنكم توهّما

Whoever chooses others instead of you for war,

thinking, in delusion, they will suffice him without you,

كمن راحَ يختار الضَّلال على الهُدى

وعُوِّض عن عين البصيرة بالعمى

is like one who goes choosing error over guidance,

and receives blindness in exchange for the eye of insight.

ومن قالَ تعليلاً لعلَّ وربَّما

فماذا عسى تغني لهلَّ وربَّما

Whoever says, making excuses, 'perhaps' and 'maybe'—

what good can 'perhaps' and 'maybe' possibly do?

عليكم إذا طاش الرِّجال سكينة

تُزَلْزِلُ رَضوى أو تبيد يَلَمْلَما

Upon you rests a calm when men lose their composure,

a calm that shakes Radwa or annihilates Yalamlam.

ولمَّا لَقِيتُم من أَرَدْتُم لقاءهُ

رَمَيْتم به الأَهوال أبْعَدَ مُرتمى

When you met the one you had sought to meet,

you hurled him into terrors, to the farthest reach.

صبرتم لها صبر الكرام ضراغماً

وأَقْحَمْتموها المرهفات تقحّما

You endured them with noble patience, like lions,

and drove them headlong onto the keen blades.

وأُوْرَدْتموها شرعةَ الموت منهلاً

تذيقُهمُ طعمَ المنيَّة علقما

You brought them to death's watering-place to drink,

making them taste the bitter colocynth of death.

وما خابَ راجيكم ليومٍ عَصَبْصَبٍ

يريه الرَّدى يوماً من الروع أَيْوما

Nor was he disappointed who looked to you for a grievous day,

when death showed him a day of utmost dread,

وجرَّدكُم للضَّرب سيفاً مهنَّداً

وهزَّكم للطعنِ رمحاً مقوّما

and unsheathed you for striking as an Indian-steel sword,

and brandished you for thrusting as a straightened spear.

ومن ظنَّ أنَّ العزَّ في غير بأسكم

وهي عِزُّه في زعمه وتندّما

Whoever thought honor lay elsewhere than in your valor,

his honor weakened through that belief, and he regretted it.

وما العزّ إلاَّ فيكم وعليكم

وما ينتمي إلاَّ إليكم إذا انتمى

Honor is only in you and upon you,

and traces its lineage only to you, whenever it claims a lineage.

إذا ما قَعَدْتُم في الأُمور وقُمْتُمْ

عليها حُمِدْتُم قاعدين وقوّما

When you sit in affairs and rise

to attend to them, you are praised, seated and standing.

وما سُمِعت منكم قديماً وحادثاً

رواية من يروي الحديث تَوَهُّما

Never has there been heard from you, in days past or present,

the account of one who tells a tale on mere conjecture.

وإنْ قلتُمْ قولاً صدقتم وما انثنى

بكم عزمكم إنْ رام شيئاً وصمَّما

When you speak, you speak truly; never has

your resolve faltered in you when it sought something with firm intent.

ولما أتاكم بالأَمان عدوّكم

وعاهدتموه أنْ يَعودَ ويَسْلَما

When your enemy came to you under safe conduct,

and you pledged to him that he would return and be safe,

وَفَيْتم له بالعهد لم تعبَأُوا بمن

أشارَ إلى الغدر الكمين مجمجما

you kept your pledge to him, heedless of whoever

hinted, in muttered words, at hidden treachery.

ولو مدّ من نأيَته عنكم يداً

لعاد بحدّ السَّيف أَجْدَعَ أجْذما

Had he stretched out a hand from his distance from you,

he would have returned with nose and hand severed by the sword's edge.

وفيما مضى يا قوم أكبر عبرة

ومن حقِّه إذ ذاك أن يتَرَسَّما

In what has passed, O people, lies the greatest lesson,

and it rightly deserves then to be followed as a model.

أيَحْسَبُ أنَّ الحال تُكْتَمُ دونكم

وهيهات أَنَّ الأَمرَ قد كانَ مبهما

Does he think the situation can be hidden from you?

Far-fetched indeed, that the matter should have been obscure!

فأَظْهَرَ مستوراً وأَبْرَزَ خافياً

وأَعرَب عمَّا في الضمير وتَرْجَما

So he disclosed what was concealed and brought hidden things to light,

and expressed what lay within his heart, giving it voice.

أَمتَّخِذَ البيض الصَّوارم للعلى

طريقاً وسُمر الخطّ للمجد سلّما

O you who make the white, keen swords, for exaltation,

a road, and al-Khatt's brown spears a ladder to glory,

نصرت بها هذا المنيب تَفَضُّلاً

وأَجرَيْتَ ما أَجرَيْتَ منك تكرما

with them you aided this al-Munib as a gracious favor,

and carried out what you carried out through your own generosity,

على غلمة في النَّاس لله درُّه

تصرَّف فيها همَّة وتقدّما

against a band of youths among men—God bless him!

He acted in it with resolve and took the lead.

تأثَّل في أبطاله ورجاله

فلم يُغْنِ سِحْرٌ غابَ عنه مكتما

He established himself among his champions and his men,

and no sorcery hidden from him, kept secret, availed.

وقلَّبَها ظهراً لبطن فلم يجد

نظيرك من قاد الخميس العرمرما

He turned it over, back to belly, but found no

equal to you among those who led the vast army.

هنالك ولى الأَمر من كانَ أهلَهُ

فبُجِّلَ في كلِّ النُّفوس وعُظِّما

There he entrusted command to the one worthy of it,

so he was honored in every soul and held in reverence.

وطال على تلك البغاة ببأسه

وحكَّم فيهم سيفه فتحكما

He towered over those rebels through his valor,

and made his sword their judge, and it passed judgment.

وقد يُدركُ الباغي النجاة إذا مضى

ولكن رأى التسليم للأَمر أسْلَما

The rebel might find deliverance by departing,

but he deemed submission to the command the safer course.

وما سبق الوالي المنيب بمثلها

وفاقَ ولاة الأَمْر ممَّن تقدّما

No one before the governor al-Munib had done the like,

and he surpassed the rulers who went before.

سليمان ما أبقيت في القوس منزعاً

ولا تركت يُمناك للبذل درهما

Sulayman, you have left no further draw in the bow,

nor has your right hand left a single dirham ungiven.

كشفت دجاها بالصَّوارم والقنا

وقد كانَ يُلْفى حالك اللَّون أسحما

You dispelled its darkness with keen blades and spears,

when it had been seen black in hue, utterly dark.

فأَصْبَحْتَ في تاج الفخار متوَّجاً

وفي عِمَّة المجد الأَثيل معمّما

Thus you became crowned with the crown of distinction,

and turbaned with the turban of deep-rooted glory.

إليك أبا داود نزجي ركائباً

ضَوامِرَ قد غُودرن جلداً وأَعظما

To you, Abu Dawud, we drive riding-camels,

gaunt, reduced to skin and bones.

رمتنا فكنَّا بالسّرى عن قسيّها

وقد بريت من شدَّة السَّير أسهما

They shot us forth; through night-travel, from their bows, we became

arrows, already whittled by the rigors of the journey.

فأكرمْتَ مثوانا ولم ترَ أعينٌ

من النَّاس أندى منك كفًّا وأكرما

You honored our lodging, and no eyes have seen

among mankind one more bountiful of hand or more generous than you.

لأحظى إذا شاهدت وجهك بالمنى

وأَشكر لله من نعماك أنعما

So I may attain my wishes when I behold your face,

and give thanks to God for blessings from your bounty,

وأُهدي إلى علياك ما أَستَقِلُّهُ

ولو أَنَّني أَهْدَيْتُ دُرًّا منظما

and offer to your eminence what I deem too little,

even if I were to offer strung pearls.

فحبُّك في قلبي وذكراك في فمي

أَلذُّ من الماء الزُّلال على الظَّما

For love of you in my heart and remembrance of you on my lips

are sweeter than pure, limpid water in thirst.