آيات جدك لم تزل تتلى — Abn Qlaks

آياتُ جَدِّكَ لم تَزَلْ تُتْلَى

وصفاتُ مجدِكَ لم تكُنْ تَبْلَى

The verses of your good fortune are still recited,

And the attributes of your glory have never worn away.

مُلِئَتْ بمَدْحِكَ كُلُّ سامِعةٍ

والسَّعْدُ أَنْ مُلِئَتْ وما مُلاَّ

Every listening ear has been filled with your praise,

And the blessing is that they are filled, yet it never grows tiresome.

وإِذا جلاكَ حَلَتْ لمستمع

كانت على فمِ قائلٍ أَحْلَى

And when praise reveals you and is sweet to a listener,

It is sweeter still on a speaker's lips.

ولقد كَمُلْتَ فما يقالُ لقد

نلْتَ السكمالَ جميعَه إِلاَّ

Indeed, you are perfect; none can say, 'You have

Attained all perfection—except...'

وسبقْتَ قوماً جئتَ بعدهُمُ

فَدَعِ الذينَ أَتيتَهُمْ قَبْلا

And you have outstripped people after whom you came;

So leave aside those whom you preceded.

ما زِلْتَ واللَّهَواتُ جامدَةٌ

تُولِي الجزيلَ وتُنْطِقُ الجَزْلا

You have never ceased, while throats lay frozen,

To grant abundant gifts and utter stately speech.

وإِذا جَلَوْتَ الرَّأْيَ ثُرْتَ به

متوضِّحاً في مُظْلِمِ الجُلَّى

And when you bring counsel to light, you rise with it,

Shining clearly in the darkness of a great ordeal.

تَكْتَنُّ تحتَ الحِلْمِ منكَ سُطًى

تبدو القلوبُ لها على المِقْلَى

Beneath your forbearance lie hidden powers of assault;

Before them, hearts seem laid upon a frying pan.

وتخيفُ والأَلحاظُ مُطرِقَةٌ

حتى تَظُنَّكَ حَيَّةً صِلاَّ

And you inspire fear, though eyes are lowered,

Until they take you for a deadly viper.

والقوسُ تُحْذَرُ كُلَّما اجتمعَتْ

أَطرافُها أَنْ تقذِفَ النَّبْلا

And a bow is feared whenever they draw together—

Its ends—lest it shoot forth arrows.

حمَّلْتَ نهْضَتَكَ المُهِمَّ وقَدْ

أَبَتِ الجسومُ نفوسَها حملا

You charged your endeavor with the weighty task, though

Bodies refused even to bear their own souls.

ودَفَعْتَ في صدرِ الخطوبِ

وقد أَلْقَتْ كلاكِلَ صدرِها كَلاَّ

And you thrust against the breast of calamities,

Though they had cast down their heavy chests as a crushing burden.

وسَلَكْتَ وحدَكَ موطناً زَلِقاً

أَثْبَتَّ في هاماتِه الرِّجْلا

And you alone traversed a slippery place;

You planted your foot firmly on its summits.

وبَدَهْتَ فانثَنَتِ الرَّوِيَّةُ عن

من لم يَحِزَّ وطَبَّقَ الفَصْلا

And you improvised; deliberation recoiled before

One who, without sawing, struck the joint precisely.

أَخَذَتْ بكَ الأَيامُ زينَتَها

فكأَنَّما هي غادَةُ تُجْلَى

Through you the days have taken on their adornment,

As though they were a graceful maiden being unveiled.

والمُلْكُ عَضْبٌ شِمْتَهُ بيدٍ

يَدُ مَنْ تعاطَىَ شَأْوَهَا شَلاَّ

And kingship is a keen sword you have drawn with a hand;

The hand of whoever seeks to match its reach is palsied.

ووضَعْتَ كُلاًّ عند مَوْضِعِه

في حيثُ لا حاشَا ولا كَلاّ

And you have put each thing in its proper place,

Where neither 'except' nor 'no' belongs.

لا كالذي انقلبَ الزمانُ به

فأَتى يُؤَذِّنُ بَعْدَ ما صَلَّى

Not like the man whom time has overturned,

Who comes calling to prayer after he has prayed.

للِّه دَرُّكَ ما أَلَذَّ وما

أَصْفَى وما أَوْفَى وما أَحلى

God bless you! How delightful, and how

Pure, how complete, and how sweet!

مَدَ الفروع وكُلُّها ثَمَرٌ

تُبْدِي لعينِ المُجْتَلِي الأَصلا

He spread the branches, all of them fruit,

Revealing their root to the beholder's eye.

من كُلِّ أَبلجَ شَمْسُ غُرَّتِهِ

بَسَطَتْ لكلِّ مَؤمِّلٍ ظِلاَّ

From every bright-faced man, whose forehead's sun

Has spread shade for everyone who hopes.

وَأَغَرَّ يمسح وَجْهَ سؤدُدِه

مسحاً يكادُ يجاوزُ الغَسْلا

And a radiant man who wipes the face of his nobility

So thoroughly that his wiping almost surpasses washing.

يقظانَ يبصر كُلَّ مستتِرٍ

لا ينطوِي عنه وإِنْ مُلاَّ

Wakeful, he sees every hidden thing;

Nothing stays hidden from him, even if tedious.

وإِذا استشارَ سِوى عزائمِهِ

فالطِّرْفَ والخَطِّيِّ والنَّصْلا

And if he consults anything besides his own resolves,

It is his thoroughbred, his Khatti spear, and his blade,

وخفيفَ أُنبوبِ اليراعِ وإِنْ

كان الذي يَجْرِي به ثِقْلا

And the light shaft of the reed pen, though

What flows through it is weighty.

بَذَلَ النوالَ فصانه كَرَماً

فعجِبْتُ كيف يصونُهُ بَذْلا

He gave bounty away, preserving it through generosity;

And I marveled: how does he preserve it by giving?

لا مِثْلَ سُؤْدُدِهِ فإِنْ طَلَبوا

فأَبو السَّدَادِ ولم نَجِدْ مِثْلا

No nobility equals his; should they seek an equal,

Then Abu al-Sadad—yet we have found no equal.

نَجْلا أَبٍ سامٍ يُقِرُّ له

سامٌ ويُغْمِضُ أَعْيُناً نُجْلا

The two sons of a lofty father, to whom

Shem yields and closes wide eyes.

خَلَقَا لعينَيْ دهرِهِمْ كَحَلاً

واستَحْدَثَا من عنبَرٍ كُحْلا

They gave the two eyes of their age a natural dark lining,

And fashioned new kohl out of ambergris.

وأَبوهما غيثٌ فلا عَجَبٌ

إِذ يَغْدُوَانِ الطَّلَّ والوَبْلا

Their father is rain, so it is no wonder

That the two become dew and a downpour.

وإِليهما قذفَتْ بنا نُوَبٌ

أَغرَتْ بنا أَنيابَها العُصْلا

To them the vicissitudes hurled us,

Setting their crooked fangs against us.

فأَحلَّنا من عَقْدِها كَرَمٌ

ليسَتْ تُسامُ عقودُهُ حَلاَّ

But generosity freed us from their bonds,

Whose own bonds are never asked to be undone.

فلْيَهْنِ أَهليِ إِذ عَدِمْتُهُمُ

أَنِّي وجدتُ بِدَهْلَكٍ أَهلا

Let my family rejoice, while I am without them,

That in Dahlak I have found a family.

وليشكروا عنِّي الشَّمالَ فقد

جَمَعَتْ بأَلْطَفَ منهمُ الشَّمْلا

And let them thank the north wind on my behalf, for it

Has brought me together with folk gentler than they.

ولتعلموا أَنِّي لَدَى ملِكٍ

فاتَ المولكَ بأَسرِهِمْ فضلا

And know that I am with a king

Who surpasses all kings in excellence.

كالبدرِ وجهاً ما استهلَّ وكال

غيثِ الرُّكامِ الجَوْدِ ما أَملى

Like the full moon in face whenever he appears, and like

The copious rain of massed clouds whenever he dictates.

مذ فاخَرَتْهُ الشمسُ ما طَلَعَتْ

إِلا بصفحةِ وجَنَةٍ خَجْلَى

Ever since the sun vied with him, it has never risen

Except with a cheek flushed with shame.

والبحرُ يعلمُ فضلَ نائِلهِ

فتراهُ ينضُبُ بعدَ ما يُمْلا

And the sea knows the superiority of his bounty;

So you see it recede after being filled.

والمشرَفِيُّ تقولُ شَفْرَتُه

لو شاءَ كنتُ بأَجْمَعِي فَلاَّ

And the Mashrafi sword—its cutting edge says:

'If he wished, I would be notched all over.'

فسقَى الجزيرةَ كُلَّ مُرْتَكِمٍ

لم يَأْلُها نَهْلاً ولا عَلاَّ

May every piled-up cloud water the island,

Stinting it neither a first draught nor a second.

مُزْنٌ إِذا سُلَّتْ بوارِقُه

أَرْدَتْ بصارِمٍ خِصْبِها المَحْلا

Rain clouds whose flashes, when unsheathed,

Slay drought with the keen sword of their fertility.

من كُلِّ مُثْقَلَةٍ تَحُطُّ على

عَرَصَاتِها عن مَتْنِها الحِمْلا

From every heavy-laden cloud that sets down upon

The island's open grounds the burden from its back.

طَلَبَتْ لراحةِ مَالِكٍ شَبَهاً

وتجاسَرَتْ فأَجَبْتُها مَهْلا

It sought a likeness to Malik's palm,

And grew bold; I answered it, 'Not so fast!'

خُذْهَا فقد أَعلَيْتُ قائِلَها

وإِن اسْتَدَمْتَ فَرَأْيُكَ الأَعلى

Take it, for I have exalted its speaker;

And if you seek its continuance, your judgment is supreme.

فلديهِ كُلُّ عقيلَةٍ لَطُفَتْ

حِلاًّ فمازَجَ نُورُها العَقْلا

For he has every noble maiden, delicate

In adornment, so that her light mingles with the intellect.

ما صانَها بِكراً بخاتَمَها

إِلا لِيَطْلُبَ مِثْلَها بَعْلا

He did not guard her as a virgin beneath her seal

Except to seek her equal as a husband.

فَلْيَهْنِكَ الصَّوْمُ الشريفُ وإِنْ

كنت المُهنَّأَ لم تَزَلْ قَبْلا

May the noble fast bring you joy, although

You were always congratulated even before.

هل مَرَّ شهرٌ قَطُّ عنك وما

لَكَ أَجْرُ مَنْ قد صامَ أَو صَلَّى

Has any month ever passed over you without

Your having the reward of one who has fasted or prayed?