بنصرك يدرك الفتح المبين — Abn Hius

بِنَصرِكَ يُدرَكُ الفَتحُ المُبينُ

وَعِندَكَ يُؤمَنُ الزَمَنُ الخَؤونُ

Through your aid, manifest victory is attained.

And with you, treacherous time can be trusted.

وَجارُكَ ضِدُّ مالِكَ مُنذُ أَمّا

مَحَلَّكَ ذا تُعِزُّ وَذا تُهينُ

Your protected neighbor is the opposite of your wealth, since both sought

your abode: one you exalt, the other you abase.

لَكَ العَرَضُ المُباحُ لِمَن بَغاهُ

مِنَ العافينَ وَالعِرضُ المَصونُ

Your wealth is freely available to whoever seeks it

among petitioners, while your honor is inviolate.

وَإِقدامٌ تَبورُ بِهِ الأَعادي

وَإِنعامٌ تَقَرُّ بِهِ العُيونُ

And you have courage through which enemies perish,

and bounty through which eyes are gladdened.

تَحوزُ يَداكَ أَبكارَ المَعالي

وَيَأباها رِباؤُكَ وَهيَ عونُ

Your hands claim the virgins of lofty honor,

and your loftiness spurns them when they are matrons.

وَلَم تَطُلِ الوَرى حَتّى تَساوَت

سُهولُ المَجدِ عِندَكَ وَالحُزونُ

You did not surpass mankind until

glory's plains and rugged heights were alike to you.

بِساحَتِكَ العَطايا وَالرَزايا

فَفي يَدِكَ الأَماني وَالمَنونُ

In your courtyard are gifts and calamities;

for in your hand lie hopes and death.

عَطايا إِن تَجاهَلَها حَسودٌ

فَعِندَ وُهيبٍ الخَبَرُ اليَقينُ

Gifts—if an envious man feigns ignorance of them,

Wuhayb has the certain account.

أَيادٍ جُدنَ سَحّاً وَهيَ بيضٌ

بِما يُعيي السَحائِبَ وَهيَ جونُ

Hands that gave in torrents, though they are white,

a bounty that exhausts the clouds, though they are dark.

وَصَلتَ بِها كَريمَ النَجرِ دارَت

عَلَيهِ لِلعَدُوِّ رَحىً طَحونُ

With them you aided a man of noble stock, around whom

the enemy's grinding mill had turned.

فَكُنتَ بِرَدِّ ثَروَتِهِ جَديراً

وَأَنتَ بِعَودِ عِزَّتِهِ قَمينُ

So you were worthy to restore his wealth,

and you are fit to restore his might.

وَمِن بَعدِ الأُلوفِ مَنَحتَ كوماً

غَنِيٌّ مَن تُقِلُّ وَمَن تَمونُ

After the thousands, you bestowed high-humped she-camels;

wealthy is whoever they carry and whoever they sustain.

مُحَرَّمَةُ الغَوارِبِ ما عَلَتها ال

رِجالُ وَلا تَبَطَّنَها وَضينُ

Their withers are inviolate: never have they been mounted by

men, nor has a woven girth encircled their bellies.

وَلا حَكَّت لَها الأَقتابُ جِلداً

وَلا خَرَمَت مَناخِرَها البُرينُ

No camel saddles have chafed their hides,

nor have nose-rings pierced their nostrils.

وَلَو مِن عِندِ غَيرِكَ يَبتَغيها

لَعَزَّت عِندَهُ العَنسُ الأَمونُ

Had he sought them from someone other than you,

even a sturdy, dependable she-camel would have been hard for him to find.

مَتالٍ لَو يُعايِنُها جَريرٌ

دَرى أَنَّ اِبنَ مَروانٍ ضَنينُ

Camels with calves following—had Jarir beheld them,

he would have known Ibn Marwan was miserly,

وَلَم يَذكُر هُنَيدَتَهُ حَياءً

وَعِندَ المِسكِ يُلغى الياسَمينُ

and would not have mentioned his hundred camels, out of shame;

beside musk, jasmine is disregarded.

حَلَفتُ بِرَبِّ مَن صَلّى وَضَحّى

وَما ضَمِنَ المُحَصَّبُ وَالحَجونُ

I swore by the Lord of those who prayed and sacrificed,

and of all that al-Muhassab and al-Hajun contain.

فَمَهلاً فَالحَديثُ مِنَ التَعَدّي

سَيَخلَقُ وَالحَديثُ لَهُ شُجونُ

So gently: fresh aggression

will grow old—and tales have branching paths.

وَفي التَحكيمِ قَد رَضِيَت قُرَيشٌ

بِما لَم يَرضَ أَنزَعُها البَطينُ

In the arbitration, Quraysh accepted

what its bald-browed, stout-bellied man would not accept.

وَعِندَ أَبي سَلامَةَ ما يُداوى

بِهِ إِن أَعجَزَ الطَبَّ الجُنونُ

And Abu Salama has that which can cure

madness, should it defy medicine:

عِتاقٌ لَيسَ يَسبِقُها طَريدٌ

وَسُمرٌ لا يُبِلُّ لَها طَعينُ

thoroughbreds that no fugitive can outstrip,

and brown spears whose victims never recover.

وَلَن تَنسى ضَغائِنَها قُلوبٌ

لِنيرانِ الحُقودِ بِها كُمونُ

Hearts will never forget their grudges;

the fires of hatred lie hidden within them.

وَلا تَرضى نُمَيرٌ وَهيَ حَيٌّ

لَقاحٌ لِلنَوائِبِ لا يَلينُ

Nor will Numayr acquiesce; it is a tribe

free and independent, unyielding to calamities.

كَأَنَّهُمُ وَقَد قُهِروا صَريحٌ

كَريمُ البَيتِ رَوَّعَهُ هَجينُ

As though, now conquered, they were a man of pure descent,

from a noble house, terrified by one of mixed lineage.

وَما تُغني الصَوارِمُ وَالعَوالي

إِذا ما أَعوَزَ الرَأيُ الرَصينُ

Sharp swords and lofty spears avail nothing

when sound judgment is lacking.

وَلا تَحمي الدُروعُ وَما عَلاها

فَتىً لَم يَحمِهِ أَجَلٌ حَصينُ

Nor do coats of mail, and all that rises above them, protect

a youth not shielded by an impregnable span of life.

وَلَولا الخُلفُ ما خافَت عِداها

لِإِلباسٍ وَلا خَفَّ القَطينُ

But for discord, it would not have feared its enemies

because of confusion, nor would the camp-dwellers have fled.

وَلا زَأَرَت عُبادَةُ بَعدَ صَمتٍ

زَئيراً سَوفَ يَتبَعُهُ أَنينُ

Nor would Ubada have roared after silence

a roar that groaning will follow.

وَإِن تَبِعوا زَعيمَهُمُ وَنالوا

مَنالاً كُذِّبَت فيهِ الظُنونُ

Even if they followed their leader and attained

a gain that belied expectations,

فَما اِنعَطَفوا لَهُ إِلّا خِداعاً

كَما اِنعَطَفَت عَلى البَوِّ اللَبونُ

they turned toward him only in deceit,

as a milch she-camel turns toward a stuffed calfskin.

وَلَولا ظُلمُهُ اِشتَمَلوا عَلَيهِ

كَما اِشتَمَلَت عَلى الحَدَقِ الجُفونُ

But for his injustice, they would have enfolded him

as eyelids enfold the pupils.

وَأَعلَمُ أَن سَيَبدو ما أَسَرّوا

إِذا أَبدَت سَرائِرَها الجُفونُ

And I know that what they concealed will appear

when the scabbards reveal their secrets.

فَكَيفَ بِهِم إِذا سُلَّت سُيوفٌ

بِماضي حُكمِها تُقضى الدُيونُ

What, then, will become of them when swords are drawn,

through whose cutting judgment debts are repaid?

جَنى وَاِنصاعَ مُغتَرّاً بِفَتحٍ

أَعانَ عَلَيهِ مَن لا يَستَعينُ

He did wrong and departed, deluded by a victory

in which one who seeks no aid had aided him.

وَناقَضَ مَن يَذودُ حُماةَ حَربٍ

وَلا تَخشى جَريرَتَهُ الظُعونُ

And he opposed one who repels the champions of war,

yet whose harm the women in camel-litters never fear.

يُخافُ الحُرُّ وَالمَملوكُ فيكُم

وَيُرجى الطِفلُ مِنكُم وَالجَنينُ

Both freeman and slave among you are feared,

and your child and unborn babe inspire hope.

فَلا عَدِمَت سَماءُ المَجدِ مِنكُم

شُموساً لا تُغَيِّبُها الدُجونُ

May glory's sky never lack, from your midst,

suns no dark clouds can conceal.

فَأَنتُم دَوحَةٌ طالَت وَطابَت

سَقى أَعراقَها كَرَمٌ وَدينُ

For you are a spreading tree, grown tall and fair;

generosity and faith have watered its roots.

لَها في العامِ أَجمَعِهِ ثِمارٌ

وَفي أَعلى السَماءِ لَها غُصونُ

It bears fruit throughout the entire year,

and its branches reach the highest sky.

أَذا الشَرَفَينِ إِن أَعتَقتَ أَسري

فَشُكري بِالَّذي تولي رَهينُ

O possessor of the two honors, if you have freed me from bondage,

my gratitude remains bound by what you bestow.

لَقَد كَثَّرتَ حُسّادي فَأَربَوا

عَلى حُسّادِ آدَمَ وَهوَ طينُ

You have indeed multiplied my enviers, till they outnumber

those who envied Adam while he was clay.

دَنا فَصلُ الشِتاءِ وَلي عِداتٌ

نَداكَ المُستَفيضُ بِها قَمينُ

Winter draws near, and I have promises

which your overflowing bounty is well able to fulfill.

بِذاكَ شَهِدتُ حَتّى اِزدَدتُ مِنهُ

لِأَعلَمَ أَنَّكَ البَرُّ الأَمينُ

To that I bore witness, until I received more of it,

so I might know you are benevolent and trustworthy.

وَتَلبَسُني عَلى عَيبي فَعِندي

ثَناءٌ لا يَحولُ وَلا يَخونُ

And you accept me despite my flaws; for I have

praise that neither changes nor betrays.

يَزورُ ذَراكَ مِنهُ كُلَّ يَومٍ

غِناءٌ لَم تَدُر فيهِ اللُحونُ

Each day your court receives, from that praise,

a song in which no melodies have sounded.

وَلَو في غَيرِ بَحرِكَ غُصتُ عاماً

لَأَعوَزَ فيهِ ذا الدُرُّ الثَمينُ

Had I dived for a year in a sea other than yours,

this precious pearl would have been missing there.