بجيد علاك مدحي كل آن — Abn Hius

بِجيدِ عُلاكَ مَدحي كُلَّ آنِ

يَلوحُ كَأَنَّهُ عِقدُ الجُمانِ

Upon the neck of your exalted rank, my praise at every moment

Gleams as though it were a necklace of pearls.

وَلَو لَم يَنظِمِ الشُعَراءُ مَدحاً

لَكُم أَغنَتكُمُ سُوَرَ القُرانِ

Even if the poets had composed no praise

For you, the chapters of the Qur'an would have sufficed you.

وَفي ضِمنِ الصَلاةِ لَكُم صَلاةٌ

فَلاحٌ في الإِقامَةِ وَالأَذانِ

And within the prayer is a blessing for you:

Salvation in the call to begin prayer and the call to prayer.

أَلَستَ اِبنَ الَّذي قَهَرَ الأَعادي

وَذادَ بِرَأيِهِ غِيَرَ الزَمانِ

Are you not the son of him who conquered the enemies

And warded off time's vicissitudes with his judgment?

وَرَوَّعَ كُلَّ صاحِبِ مَشرَفِيٍّ

مَروعٍ وَهوَ صاحِبُ طَيلَسانِ

And terrified every bearer of a Mashrafi sword,

A fearsome one, while he himself wore a shawl.

وَشاعَ إِباؤُهُ في الناسِ حَتّى

تَناذَرَهُ الأَقاصي وَالأَداني

His proud defiance spread among the people until

Those far and near warned one another against him.

إِذا الهَيجاءُ هاجَتهُ رَأَتهُ

مَلِيّاً بِالضِرابِ وَبِالطِعانِ

Whenever battle roused him, it saw him

Fully capable of swordplay and spear-thrusting.

لَهُ في الصُبحِ فَرسَةُ لَيثِ غابٍ

وَتَحتَ اللَيلِ نَهشَةُ أُفعُوانِ

By morning, he mauls like a lion of the thicket,

And beneath the night, he bites like a mighty serpent.

وَلَمّا غابَ عَنّا نُبتَ عَنهُ

كَما نابَ الحُسامُ عَنِ السِنانِ

And when he was absent from us, you took his place,

As the keen sword took the spearhead's place.

وَإِن كانَت خِلالُ الناسِ شَتّى

فَما العَلياءُ إِلّا في ثَمانِ

Though people's qualities are diverse,

Excellence lies in eight things alone:

إِقالَةِ عاثِرٍ وَغِنى فَقيرٍ

وَنَيلِ مُمَنَّعٍ وَفَكاكِ عانِ

Helping up the fallen, and enriching the poor;

Attaining the unassailable, and freeing a captive;

وَأَمنٍ لَم يُشَب بِمَذيقِ خَوفٍ

وَمَنٍّ لَم يُكَدَّر بِاِمتِنانِ

Security unmixed with any trace of fear;

And bounty unclouded by reminders of the favor;

وَبَذلِ الرُعبِ في عاصٍ وَباغٍ

وَبَسطِ العَدلِ في قاصٍ وَدانِ

Instilling terror in a rebel and an aggressor;

And spreading justice among those far and near.

صِفاتٌ كُمِّلَت لَكَ مُؤذِناتٌ

بِأَنَّكَ في الكِرامِ بِغَيرِ ثانِ

Qualities perfected in you, proclaiming

That among the noble you have no peer;

وَأَنَّ المَجدَ ما توليهِ لا ما

يُحَدِّثُهُ فُلانٌ عَن فُلانِ

And that glory is what you bestow, not what

So-and-so relates from so-and-so.

رَأَينا مِنكَ ما لَم يُروَ عَنهُم

فَأَلغَينا السَماعَ لَدى العِيانِ

We saw from you what was never related about them,

So we dismissed hearsay in the face of direct sight.

خَفوا لَمّا ظَهَرتَ كَذاكَ يَخفى

بِضَوءِ الشَمسِ نورُ الزِبرِقانِ

They faded when you appeared; likewise fades

In the sun's light, the glow of the full moon.

وَقَهرُكَ مَن أَخافَ الناسَ قِدماً

كَفاكَ تَطاوُلاً في ذا الزَمانِ

Your subjugation of one who long frightened the people

Sufficed to give you preeminence in this age.

فَما مِن عالَمِ الغَبراءِ عادٍ

وَلا في الجَمَّةِ الخَضراءِ جانِ

Thus no aggressor remains among the dusty earth's inhabitants,

Nor any wrongdoer in the vast green waters.

لِأَنَّكَ مُنذُ صِرتَ لَها قَريناً

بَدا في الأَرضِ تَأثيرُ القِرانِ

For since you became her companion,

The effect of the conjunction has appeared on earth.

وَإِن جاوَزتَ قَدرَ المَدحِ حَتّى

لَأَصبَحَ جاهِدٌ فيهِ كَوانِ

Indeed, you have surpassed the bounds of praise so far

That one striving at it has become like one who idles.

وَإِنَّ حَديثَكَ السَيّارَ أَشهى

إِلى سَمعِ الطَروبِ مِنَ الأَغاني

And the far-traveling tale of you is sweeter

To the music-lover's ear than songs.

فِداؤُكَ كُلُّ ذي عَرَضٍ عَزيزٍ

عَلى الراجي وَذي عِرضٍ مُهانِ

May your ransom be all whose wealth is inaccessible

To the hopeful, and all whose honor is debased;

وَأَملاكٌ أَبادوا ما أَبادوا

مُضاعاً في القَناني وَالقِيانِ

And kings who squandered all they squandered,

Wasting it on wine-flasks and singing slave-girls.

وَعَزَّ الخَيرُ مِنهُم فَالتَعازي

إِذا بَطَشَ الزَمانُ بِهِم تَهاني

And good was scarce from them, so condolences

When time struck them were congratulations.

لَقَد رَوّى وَهادِيَ وَالرَوابي

حَياً قَبلَ اِنتِجاعيهِ سَقاني

Indeed, my valleys and the hills were drenched

By rain that watered me before I sought it.

وَأَغنى بِالسَواري وَالغَوادي

رِياضَ الحَمدِ عَن سُقيا السَواني

And with night and morning showers it spared

The gardens of praise the watering of well-drawing camels.

هَدايا واصَلَت فَظَنَنتُ كِسرى

وَأَيّاماً كَيَومِ المِهرَجانِ

Gifts kept arriving, so I imagined Kisra,

And days like the day of Mihrijan.

وَما شينَت بِمَطلٍ وَاِقتِضاءٍ

وَلا سُبِقَت بِوَعدٍ أَو ضَمانِ

They were not marred by delay or demands for fulfillment,

Nor were they preceded by a promise or pledge.

وَإِن أَغنى نَداكَ فَقَد تَغَنّى

بِما حَبَّرتُ فيكَ الخافِقانِ

And if your bounty has enriched me, there has been singing

Of what I finely composed about you, by East and West.

فَأَقصاهُ بِأَرضِ النَهرَوانِ

وَأَدناهُ بِأَقصى القَيرُوانِ

Its farthest reach is in the land of Nahrawan,

And its nearest, at the farthest edge of Qayrawan.

غَرائِبُ لا يُرَدُّ لَها شَفيعٌ

إِذا حَلَّت ذُرى مَلِكٍ هِجانِ

Rare marvels whose intercessor is never turned away

When they alight on the heights of a king of pure lineage.

أَوانِسُ عَن سِواكَ لَها نِفارٌ

كَما نَفَرَت مِنَ الشَيبِ الغَواني

Companionable maidens, recoiling from all but you,

As beautiful women recoil from gray hair.

زَفَفتُ إِلَيكَ فيها كُلَّ بَكرٍ

وَلَم أَسمَح لِغَيرِكَ بِالعَوانِ

In them I brought you every virgin as a bride,

And granted no other even a woman once wed.

أَأَمدَحُ مَن أُرَجِّمُ فيهِ ظَنّي

وَأَترُكُ مَن بِأَنعُمِهِ اِبتَداني

Should I praise one about whom I hazard guesses,

And leave one who first approached me with his favors?

وَأَدعو مَن بِهِ صَمَمٌ وَعِيٌّ

وَأَقعُدُ عَن إِجابَةِ مَن دَعاني

And call upon one who is deaf and inarticulate,

And refrain from answering one who called me?

وَلَستُ أَرى إِراقَةَ ماءِ وَجهي

نَوالُكَ عَن إِراقَتِهِ نَهاني

Nor do I contemplate spilling the water of my face;

Your bounty has kept me from spilling it.

شَرُفتَ مَناقِباً وَشَرَفتُ قَولاً

فَأَيقَنَ مَن رَآكَ وَمَن رَآني

You are distinguished in virtues, and I in speech;

So whoever saw you, and whoever saw me, knew for certain

بِأَنَّكَ رَبُّ أَبكارِ المَعالي

وَأَنّي رَبُّ أَبكارِ المَعاني

That you are lord of virgin deeds of greatness,

And I am lord of virgin meanings.

فَلا بَرِحَت تَدينُ لَكَ اللَيالي

وَتَخضَعُ ما تَدانى الفَرقَدانِ

May the nights never cease to obey you,

And bow as long as the two Farqad stars stay close.

وَلا دَجَتِ البَسيطَةُ بَل أَضاءَت

بِمَجدِكَ ما أَضاءَ النَيِّرانِ

May the earth never darken, but shine

With your glory as long as the two luminaries shine.

تُقَضّي الدَهرَ عاماً بَعدَ عامٍ

وَتُفنيهِ بِعُمرٍ غَيرِ فانِ

May you pass through time, year after year,

And exhaust it with a life that never ends.