سعود سنيكما كملت سناء — Abn Qlaks

سُعُودُ سِنِيكما كَمُلَتْ سَنَاءَ

فعادَ الإِنتهاءُ والإِبتداءَ

The good fortunes of your years reached fullness in splendor;

so ending and beginning came round again.

وعند الدَّهْرِ عَبْدِ كُمَا رُواءٌ

بنُورِكما اكتسى ذاكَ الرُّواءَ

And Time, your servant, has a fair appearance;

your light clothed it in that beauty.

قضى لكما البقاءَ بهِ إلهٌ

رأَى بكما لِمِلَّتِهِ الْبَقَاءَ

God decreed that you both endure within it,

seeing His faith endure through you.

فلا عدم الهَناءَ بكم زمانٌ

مواضِعَ نَقْبِه وَضَعَ الهِناءَ

So may Time never lack happiness through you,

having laid healing tar upon the sites of its sores.

غدت أَيَّامُه لكمُ عبيداً

كما راحتْ ليالِيه إِماءَ

Its days have become your slaves,

just as its nights have become maidservants.

أَعدتُمْ ميلَ جانبه اعتدالاً

فما أَحدٌ به يشكو اعْتِداءَ

You restored its leaning side to uprightness,

so no one complains of injustice in it.

وفُتُّمْ نَيِّرَيْهِ إِلى المعالي

سناً ملأَ النواظِرَ أَو سَنَاءَ

You outstripped its two luminaries toward the heights,

in radiance filling all eyes, or in glory.

فما سمّاكُما البدرَيْنِ إِلا

سُمُوٌّ فيكما بَلَغَ السَّماءَ

Nothing called you the two full moons except

the loftiness in you that reached the sky.

يَحُلُّ لكمْ حُبَى الأَملاكِ فضلٌ

حَلَلْتُمْ من معاقِدِهِ الحِباءَ

An excellence loosens the kings' knee-bands for you;

you have released gifts from its binding knots,

بأَيمانٍ قد إمتلأَت حياةً

إِلى غُرَرٍ قد امتلأَت حَيَاءَ

with right hands brimming with life,

to radiant brows brimming with modesty.

أَمِنَّا في فنائِكُمُ الليالي

فلا طَرَقَ الفَنَاءُ لكم فِناءَ

In your courtyard we felt safe from the nights;

so may destruction never visit your courtyard by night.

وقبَّلْنَا الثَّرى حمداً وشكراً

فما كان الثَّرى إِلاَّ ثَراءَ

We kissed the earth in praise and gratitude,

for that earth was nothing but wealth.

وأَحْرَزْنَا الغِنَى بِنَدَى أَكُفٍّ

كَفَتْ رامَ سُقْيَاها العَنَاءَ

And we gained riches through the dew of hands

that spared whoever sought their watering all hardship.

سحائِبُها إِذا نَشَأَتْ بجَوٍّ

جَرَتْ دِيَمًا تَدَفَّقُ أَو دِماءَ

When their clouds arose in the sky,

they flowed as steady, gushing rains, or as blood.

فطوراً في العَدُوِّ تشُبُّ ناراً

وطوراً في الوَلِيِّ تسيلُ ماءَ

So at times they kindle fire against the enemy,

and at times flow as water for the ally.

وخيلٍ كالقِداحِ جَرَتْ ظِماءً

وجرَّت خلفها الأَسَلَ الظِّمَاءَ

And horses, like arrow-shafts, ran thirsty,

dragging thirsty spears behind them.

نُقَيِّدُ بالظُّبَا مَنْ يَمْتَطِيها

على صَهَواتِها الأُدْمَ الظِّباءَ

With blade-edges we bind whoever mounts them—

the white gazelles upon their backs.

ويطلبُها الهواءُ إِذا تراخَتْ

فيُقْسِمُ ما يَشُمُّ لها هواءَ

The wind pursues them even when they slacken,

then swears it catches not a breath of them.

إِذا دُعِيَتْ نَزالِ عَدَتْ عليها

فوارسُ تستجيبُ لها الدُّعاءَ

Whenever 'To battle!' is called, on them charge

horsemen who answer its summons.

تقدّمَ ياسِرٌ بِهِمُ أَماماً

ولولاهُ لَمَا رَكِبُوا وراءَ

Yasir led them forward,

and without him they would not have ridden behind.

فما أَبْقَى الإِباءَ لغيرِ مَلْكٍ

حوى الشَّرَفَ المُمَنَّعَ والإِباءَ

He left proud defiance to none but a king

who possessed unassailable nobility and proud defiance.

بنى آل الزُّرَيْعِ له أَساساً

فأَعْلَى فوقَهُ ذاكَ النِاءَ

The house of al-Zurayʿ built him a foundation,

and he raised that edifice above it.

وأَولاهُمْ نصيحةَ ذى ولاءٍ

يوالي طاعةً لهُمُ الولاءَ

He bestowed on them a loyal man's counsel,

continually renewing allegiance in obedience to them.

تتبّع حاسِمًا داءَ الإِعادِي

وقد جعلَ الحُسامَ له دواءَ

He tracked down his enemies' disease, cutting it away,

having made the sharp sword its cure.

وهَدَّ ذُرَى النِّفاقِ فلَيْسَ يَبْنِي

ولا اليربوعُ منه نافِقَاءَ

He razed hypocrisy's heights, so none can build—

not even the jerboa—a hidden escape-hole from him.

مطاعُ الأَمْرِ يقضي مُرْهَفَاهُ

فهلْ أَبصَرْتَ مَنْ رَدَّ القضاءَ

His command is obeyed; his two keen blades pronounce judgment:

have you seen anyone overturn the decree?

تقيَّلَ من أَبيه صفاتِ مجدٍ

تزيدُ لعَيْنِ شائِمِها صفاءَ

He took after his father in glorious traits

that grow more radiant to the eye that beholds them.

وأَلوى السّاعِدَيْنِ يكادُ طُولاً

يكون أَمامَ عسكَرِهِ لِواءَ

And strong in both forearms, he is so tall he almost

stands as a banner before his army.

تواضَعَ والجلالَةُ قد كسَتْهُ

لأَعين ناظرَيْهِ الكبرياءَ

He humbled himself, though majesty had clothed him

in grandeur before the eyes of his two beholders.

ولمَّا أَنْ وَرَدْنَا منه بحراً

غَنِينا أَن نُطيلَ له الرِّشاءَ

And when we came to a sea in him,

we had no need to lengthen the bucket-rope to reach it.

وكم زُرْنا من الأَملاكِ لكِنْ

تَلَتْ أَفْعالُهُم لَيْسوا سَواء

And how many kings we have visited! Yet

their deeds recited: 'They are not alike.'

ومَنْ ينظُرُ أَميرَيْ آلِ يامٍ

يُزِلْ عنه اليَفِينُ الإمْتِراءَ

Whoever looks upon the two emirs of the house of Yam,

certainty will dispel his doubt.

أَميرا دولةٍ بَنَتِ العوالي

لها سُوراً تصونُ به العلاءَ

Two emirs of a realm: the lofty lances built

a wall for it, by which it guards its eminence.

وبدراها اللَّذانِ إِذا أَلَمَّت

من الأَيام مُظْلِمَةٌ أَضاءَا

And its two full moons, who, whenever there comes

a dark calamity among the days, shine forth.

وليثاها اللَّذانِ ترى الأَعادي

متى شَاءَا لَهُمْ إِبلاً وشاءَ

And its two lions, whose enemies you see,

whenever they wish, as camels and sheep at their disposal.

حدونا من مكارِمِهِمْ مطِيًّا

بإِذن الفضلِ تستمتع الحُداءَ

We urged on mounts fashioned from their noble deeds,

which, with excellence's leave, enjoy the camel-driver's song.

وأَثنَيْنَا على مَجْدٍ أصيلٍ

عَجَزْنَا أَن نُوَفِّيَهُ الثَّناءَ

We praised a deep-rooted glory,

but could not give it its full due in praise.

فلو قلنا الأَنامُ لهم فِداءٌ

لأَقلَلْنَا لحَقِّهِمُ الفِداءَ

If we said, 'All humankind is their ransom,'

we would still make the ransom too small for their worth.