حمد السرى من كنت وجه صباحه — Abn Qlaks

حمِدَ السُرى من كُنتَ وجه صباحِه

من بعدِ ذمِّ غُدوّه ورواحِه

He whose dawn had you for its face praised the night journey,

after condemning his morning and evening travels.

ورأى النجاحَ مؤمِّلٌ ألحقْتَهُ

من حُسنِ رأيك فيه ظلّ جناحِه

A hopeful man saw success when you brought him,

through your kindly regard for him, beneath its wing's shade.

واقتادَ شاردَ حظّه ذو همّةٍ

راضَتْ بقصدِ ذَراك صعبَ جِماحِه

A man of resolve led back his straying fortune,

his resolve taming its stubborn unruliness by seeking your shelter.

وأما وعزمِك وهو أنهضُ فاتِكٍ

لقد انْبَرى والصّفْحُ تِلْوَ صِفاحِه

Now, by your resolve, that most vigorous of assailants,

it has stepped forth, with pardon following its blades.

وبديعِ مدحِك وهو أنفَقُ متجرٍ

لقدِ اغْتدى والعزّ من أرباحه

And by the wondrous praise of you, the most profitable trade,

it has begun its day with glory among its gains.

فالدّهرُ بين فِرندِه وفريدِه

متقلّدٌ بنِجادِه ووشاحِه

Thus Time, between its watered steel and its peerless pearl,

wears its sword-belt and its sash.

بأسٌ تورّد في خدودِ شقيقهِ

وندًى تبسّم عن ثُغورِ أقاحه

Valor has blushed in the cheeks of his anemones,

and bounty has smiled through the mouths of his daisies.

وشمائلٌ للمُلْكِ حيثُ شُمولها

لا زال يكرَعُ راحَها من راحِه

And virtues for kingship, wherever their reach extends—

may it ever quaff their wine from his palm.

والكاملُ المسعود من سعدٍ لها

بدرٌ جَلا الإمساءَ عن إصباحه

And al-Kamil al-Mas‘ud, of Sa‘d, is for it

a full moon that has cleared evening from its dawn.

بمناقبٍ سمَتْ النجومُ لنبْلِها

فاستخدمَتْها في رؤوس رِماحه

With virtues whose nobility the stars rose to attain,

and which enlisted those stars upon his spearheads;

ومواهبٍ عانى السّحابُ معينَها

فاستغرَقَتْهُ في بحورِ سماحه

and gifts whose spring the cloud strove to rival,

until they drowned it in the oceans of his generosity;

وكتائبٍ خطبَ الزمانُ خطوبها

فرمَتْ جوارحَه بفتْكِ جراحِه

and battalions whose calamities Time courted,

and which struck its limbs with the havoc of its wounds;

وأغرّ مشحوذِ الغِرارِ تألُّقاً

وتألُّفاً في سِلْمِه وكِفاحه

and a radiant lord, his blade-edge whetted, resplendent

and winning hearts, in his peace and his combat.

ممنوعِ أطرافِ الفِناءِ مصونِه

ممنوع أوساطِ العطاءِ مُباحِه

Unapproachable in his courtyard's guarded bounds,

unapproachable in the heart of his bounty, yet free with it;

وفتى النوالِ لسائلٍ غطريفَه

كهل الحجى لمسائلٍ جَحْجاحه

youthful in bounty to a petitioner, its noble lord,

mature in wisdom for questions, its mighty chief.

فلمُبْهَمٍ ما رقّ من إيضاحِه

ولأدْهَمٍ ما راقَ من أوضاحه

For the obscure, the subtleties of his elucidation;

for the pitch-black, the splendor of his white blazes.

هذا وكم من مأزِقِ في مأزقٍ

ناجاهُ بالإفسادِ في إصلاحه

This—and how many a strait within a strait

whispered corruption to him amid his reform,

واعتز منهُ بعارضِ إعراضه

عنه جنى سحّ النَّكالِ بِساحه

and sought safety from him in the cloud of his turning

away from it, then reaped a downpour of punishment in its court.

فرَماه بالسّهْمِ المُعلّى سهمُه

في قدْحِه نارَ الوغى وقِداحِه

Then his arrow struck it with the highest winning lot,

in kindling war's fire and casting his lot-arrows.

وأعاد عودَ الدّين لدْناً بعدما

عبثَتْ بعِطفَيهِ سَمومُ رِياحه

He made the stem of faith supple again, after

the scorching blasts of its winds had ravaged both its flanks.

وأرى عيونَ المُلكِ صورةَ سَورةٍ

نقلتْ مآتمه الى أفراحِه

And showed the eyes of kingship a vision of an onslaught

that turned its mourning into rejoicing.

بابٌ أبو الفتح استجاشَ لفتحِه

بشجاعةٍ فأبانَ عن مفتاحِه

A gate for whose opening Abu al-Fath summoned aid

with courage, and thus revealed its key.

ملكان بل ملَكانِ بل فلَكان في اس

تِغلاقِ مُلكِ الأرضِ واستِفتاحه

Two kings—rather, two angels; rather, two celestial spheres—in

the closing and opening of earthly dominion.

مَسحا البلادَ بعدْلِ سيرٍ ودِّ لو

عادَ المسيحُ فعاد في أمْساحه

They traversed the lands with just conduct; one wished

the Messiah would return, returning in his sackcloth.

وتقدّما بالجيشِ يُلهِبُ عزمُه

نيرانِها تُذكى بماءِ سِلاحه

The two advanced with an army whose resolve kindled

its fires, stoked with the water of its weapons.

كالعارضِ اضطرَمَت لواقحُ برقِه

في مستهلِّ الويلِ من نضّاحِه

Like a cloud whose rain-bearing lightning flashes blazed

as woe first poured from its drenching showers.

كم أنشرَا مستَرْهناً بضريحِه

واستَنزَلا مستَعصِماً بصِراحه

How many a man captive in his grave they revived,

and brought down one sheltering in his palaces,

بالمنشآتِ تَسيرُ فوق عِبابه

والمُقرَباتِ تسيلُ بين بِطاحه

with tall ships sailing over its surging waves,

and favored steeds streaming through its broad flats.

من كلِّ طائرةٍ تشفُّ فتغتدي

في اليمّ ظاميةً بعبِّ قَراحه

Each a flying craft, so light that it becomes

thirsty upon the sea from gulping its pure water.

غِربانُ بل عِقبانُ نصرٍ فوقَها

خفقَتْ قوادمُ من جَناح نَجاحه

Ravens—rather, eagles of victory—above which

fluttered the foremost feathers from the wing of his success.

أو كُلّ ملتهِبِ الإهابِ تخالهُ

نَشوانُ خَمرةُ لونِه لمِراحه

Or every fiery-coated steed you would imagine

drunk on its color's wine, so high its spirits.

وكأنه والنّقعُ عنه سافِرٌ

داجي دُخانٍ شقّ عن مصباحه

As the dust unveils it, it is as though

dark smoke had split open to reveal its lamp.

يا آل شاورَ أنتمُ دون الورى

للمُلكِ كالأرواحِ في أشباحه

O house of Shawar, you alone of all humankind

are to kingship as souls are to its bodies.

والمُلكُ لولا غيثكُم أو غوثكم

لم يعترِفْ بدمائه وفساحه

And kingship, but for your rain or your rescue,

would not have acknowledged its blood and its broad domains.

فيكم سَرى الإخصابُ في أجدابِه

وبكم سَطا الأفراحُ في أتراحه

Through you fertility spread into its barren lands,

and through you joys stormed into its sorrows.

والى معاليكُم إشارةُ خُرْسِه

والى أياديكُم ثناء فِصاحه

Toward your high achievements point its mute ones' gestures,

and toward your generous hands, its eloquent ones' praise.

والمِسْكُ فيه طِيبُه لكنه

يحتاجُ عوناً من يديْ جرّاحه

Musk has its fragrance within it, but

it needs help from its surgeon's hands.

أربيعةُ الحالي مقلِّدَ هضبِه

ونسيمَه العالي شَذا أرواحه

O present-day Rabi‘a, garlanding its hills,

and its breeze, whose airs' fragrance rises high!

لم لا يكون الشكْرُ عندك مُنتِجاً

ويداكَ قد قاما بأمرِ لقاحه

Why should gratitude not bear fruit with you,

when your two hands have undertaken its pollination?

فأصِخْ لتسمعَ منه كلَّ محبَّرٍ

يَلقى حُبوراً منك في استِملاحِه

Then listen to hear from it every adorned verse

that meets with your delight as you find it charming:

سيّاحِه سبّاحِه وضّاحه

سحّاحه سجّاحِه فوّاحه

far-roaming, far-swimming, brightly shining;

copiously pouring, smoothly flowing, sweetly fragrant.

كالأثْرِ مسُّ صِفاحه والروح بي

ن رياحِه والدّرِّ فوق نِصاحه

Like watered steel is the touch of its blades; and spirit

is amid its breezes, and pearls upon its strings.

ممن رَماه إليك سعدُ جدوده

فاستقبلِ الإقبالَ في استنجاحه

From one whom his ancestors' good fortune cast toward you—

so welcome good fortune in his seeking success—

ورآكَ في ذا الدّهرِ معنى جِدّه

وسواك معنى هولِه ومِزاحه

and who saw you, in this age, as the embodiment of its earnestness,

and others as the embodiment of its terror and its jest.

فاسْلَمْ وسلِّمْه لتبلُغَ غاية ال

مَنثورِ والمنظومِ من أمداحه

So be safe and keep him safe, that you may attain the utmost

of his praises in prose and verse.