سمعا أبا إسحق إنك ماجد — Abn Rumi

سَمْعاً أبا إسحق إنك ماجدٌ

وعلى حقوقِ المجدِ جِدُّ أمينِ

Hear me, Abu Ishaq: you are noble,

and most faithful to the duties of nobility.

ماذا تقول إذا سُئِلْتَ مُحاسباً

والظالمونُ على شفا سجِّين

What will you say when called to account,

while wrongdoers stand upon the brink of Sijjin?

لِمْ نام جودُكَ عن ثوابِ مدائحٍ

جاءتكَ من رجلٍ مجيءَ يقين

Why has your generosity slept through the rewarding of praises

that came to you from a man as surely as certainty?

وطفقتَ تُوعدُهُ بكلِّ عظيمةٍ

لنميمةٍ جاءتْ مجيءَ ظَنين

And you began threatening him with every calamity

because of malicious gossip that came from a suspect source.

إن التثبّتَ والأناةَ على امرئٍ

عدلِ القضاءِ من السداد مكين

Surely, scrutiny and patience, for a man

just in judgment, are firmly grounded in sound counsel.

أيظلُّ مدحي في مقام مبارزٍ

وترى هجائي في مُغار كَمين

Must my praise remain in a duelist's open stance,

while you picture my satire in an ambusher's covert?

لا يُلْفِينَّك ذو الجلال مُحاولاً

تَبْيينَ مَطْموسٍ وطَمْسَ مُبين

Let not the Lord of Majesty find you attempting

to reveal what is obscured and obscure what is evident.

باللَّهِ أحلفُ أن ما حُدِّثْتَه

كذبٌ أرى حَبَلاً بغير جنين

By God, I swear that what you were told

is false: I see a pregnancy without a fetus.

أيهيجُ مثلي بأسَ مثلكَ بالخنا

كمُقارعِ الصَّمصام بالسكين

Would one like me provoke the might of one like you with obscenity,

like someone striking a keen-edged sword with a knife?

وهبِ الحقيقةَ كلَّ ما حُدِّثْتَه

أينَ السماحُ وقد أُعنْتَ بدين

Suppose everything you were told were true:

where is magnanimity, aided as you are by faith?

أقِلِ العثارَ كما أقلتَ نظيرَهُ

والمسْ خُشونَةَ ما ملكتَ بلين

Pardon the stumble, as you have pardoned its like,

and touch the roughness of what you command with gentleness.

يا صاحبَ التَّمكين أدِّ زكاته

فالصفحُ خيرُ زكاةِ ذي التمكين

O possessor of power, pay its alms:

forgiveness is the best alms of the powerful.

ومتى شجاك مُهجَّنٌ فاغفِرْ له

حتى يروحَ مكذَّبَ التهجين

Whenever a base fellow grieves you, forgive him,

so he departs with his disparagement disproved.

فتكيده كيدَ المعاتِب مُحرِزاً

أجرَ المُقيلِ وأنتَ غيرُ غبين

Thus outwit him as a reprover would, securing

the pardoner's reward without yourself losing anything.

أهدَى لك التهجينَ فانتدَبَتْ له

حِيل الكريم فصار كالتزيين

He offered you disparagement, but there rose to meet it

the noble man's arts, and it became like adornment.

أعملت حلمَكَ في السفيه وجَهلِهِ

رحْبَ الجوانح صادق التوطينِ

You put your forbearance to work on the fool and his folly,

large-hearted and steadfast in resolve.

وأبان ذلك إفكَ خصمِك فانثنى

وهو المَشينُ وأنت غير مشين

That exposed your opponent's falsehood, so he turned away,

he disgraced, and you without disgrace.

ولو انتقمتَ لكنتَ من أشهاده

ورفدتَ غَثَّ مقاله بسمين

Had you taken revenge, you would have been among his witnesses,

and supplied his flimsy words with substance.

إني لأعلمُ أن عندك نفثة

تَشفي السقيم ونفثةَ التنين

I know indeed that you possess a breath

that heals the sick, and a dragon's breath.

فعلامَ أَعرِضُ للتي فيها الرَّدى

وأروغُ عن تلك التي تَشفيني

Why, then, should I expose myself to the one bearing death,

and dodge the one that heals me?

أَأواثِبُ الوزراءَ في ملكُوتِهِمْ

إنِّي إذاً لَإِوَزَّةُ الشاهين

Would I assail ministers in their dominion?

Then I would indeed be the peregrine's goose.

ما مَنْ يُساق إلى انتجاعِكَ للندى

ممن يُساق كذا إلى التَّحْيين

One led to seek your pasture in search of bounty

is not thereby led to his death.

أغرِبْ على الكُرماءِ في أكْرومةٍ

تلقى الرواةُ بها ملوكَ الصين

Surpass the generous with a wondrous act of bounty

that narrators will bring before the kings of China.

ومن الغرائب في المكارم والعلى

صَبْرُ العزيز لسطوةِ المسكين

Among the wonders of noble deeds and eminence

is the mighty man's patience with the poor man's assault.

والعفُو عن جانٍ ملكتَ عقابَهُ

طرفٌ من الإنشاءِ والتَّكْوِينِ

And pardoning an offender whose punishment you command

is a share in creation and bringing into being.

أَوَ ما يسرُّك أن تُشبَّهَ بالذي

يُحيي العظامَ وأنت غيرُ لعين

Does it not please you to be likened to Him

who revives bones, without yourself being accursed?

بل أنت في هذا التشبُّه فائزٌ

وبأن تُثاب عليه جدُّ قَمين

Indeed, in this resemblance you are a winner,

and most worthy of being rewarded for it.

فاعفُ التي عرف الإله براءتي

منها وتلك شهادةٌ تكفيني

So pardon the charge: God knows my innocence

of it, and that testimony suffices me.

وحلفت لا أرضى بعفوك وحده

حتى يُلَذَّ منَ اللُّهى بقَرين

And I have sworn not to be content with your pardon alone

until it is sweetened by a companion from your gifts.

وحلفتُ لا أرضى قريناً واحداً

وليثنينَّ وأنت غير ضنين

And I have sworn not to be content with a single companion:

it must be doubled, for you are not stingy.

وحلفتُ لا أرضى بذلك كلِّه

حتى يدومَ فلا زوال لحين

And I have sworn not to be content with all of that

unless it lasts, with no cessation for any interval.

ولئن حلفتُ لمَا حلفتُ مغَرَّراً

ضَمَنْتَ يمينُك برَّ كلِّ يمينِ

And if I have sworn, I have not sworn recklessly:

your right hand has guaranteed the fulfillment of every oath.

ولئن وثِقْتُ لما وثقتُ مُخاطراً

ما استمسكت كَفِّي بغير متين

And if I have trusted, I have not trusted rashly:

my hand has grasped nothing that was not firm.

وضَمينُ نفسي طيبُ خيمك وحده

حَسبي به من دون كل ضمين

The guarantor of my life is your good nature alone;

it suffices me without any other guarantor.

سيكون لي متنفَّساً لا كربة

ولذاكَ كنت بموضع العِرنين

It will be a breathing-space for me, not anguish,

and that is why you occupy the nose's foremost place.

لا لا أخافُكَ إن عدلَكَ مَأْمني

مما أخاف وضامنٌ تحصيني

No, no, I do not fear you: your justice is my refuge

from what I fear, and the guarantor of my protection.

قد كان بشْرٌ نال أوْساً بالأذَى

فعفا له وصغا إلى التهوين

Bishr once inflicted harm upon Aws,

yet he pardoned him and inclined toward making light of it.

وحباه خير حبائِهِ فغدتْ به

وَجْناء تَغْشَى حدَّ كلِّ وجين

And gave him his finest gift; bearing him, there set out

a sturdy she-camel, crossing the crest of every rocky slope.

من بعدِ ما احتدَمَتْ عليه عصبةٌ

حَرَّى تفورُ على ذَوِي التسكين

This was after a faction had blazed with anger against him,

burning hot, boiling against those who sought to calm them.

فذكتْ له نارانِ نارُ مطمطمٍ

قَذَفٍ ونار مجمجم سجِّين

So two fires flared for him: the fire of a roaring

far-flung one, and the fire of a muttering, pent-up one.

ولأنت أولى بالتجاوُزِ والندى

يا ابنَ الملوكِ وساسة الآيين

You are more worthy of forgiveness and bounty,

O son of kings and stewards of the law.

لا يستفزُّكَ بالمكارمِ سُوقةً

وأبوك أكرمُ دائنٍ ومَدين

Let commoners not goad you with noble deeds,

when your father is the noblest creditor and debtor.

دعْ ما أُريكَ من المحاسنِ واستشِرْ

عينيكَ في التقبيحِ والتحسين

Set aside the beauties I show you, and consult

your own eyes in judging ugliness and beauty.

أقِم العقوبةَ والمثوبةَ جانباً

وتخيَّر الحسناءَ في التدوين

Set punishment and reward aside,

and choose the fairest deed for the record.

لا يَسبقن إليَّ يا من لا يرى

شأواً له في المجد غير بطين

Let no one precede you in reaching me, O you who see

no course for yourself in glory but a far-ranging one.

ومتى غدوتَ لديكَ شَرُّ صنيعةٍ

فاعلم بأن الطَّول خير خَدين

Should I become the worst of your beneficiaries,

know that bounty is the best companion.

بوّأْتني من حوت يونُسَ منزلاً

فمتى أنوءُ بمنْبت اليقطين

You have made Jonah's fish my dwelling:

when shall I struggle up to the place where the gourd grows?

دنيايَ ضيقٌ مذ سَخِطْتَ وَظُلْمَةٌ

والموتُ يتبَعُ ذاك أو تُحييني

My world has been confinement and darkness since your anger,

and death follows that, unless you revive me.

ولديك للمكروب أوسعُ همّةٍ

عَطْفاً وأنورُ غُرَّةٍ وجبين

For the distressed, you have the broadest resolve

in compassion, and the brightest brow and forehead.

فأفِئْ عليَّ ظلالَ عطفِكَ إنني

في مظلم الأرجاء غير كنين

So spread over me the shadows of your compassion; I am

in darkness on every side, without shelter.

لا تَغْلُظَنَّ على امرئٍ لم يَجْتَرمْ

جُرماً وأنت أرقُّ مِن تشرين

Do not be harsh toward a man who has committed

no crime, when you are gentler than Tishrin.

لا يُفْسدَنّ ثناكَ زورُ مُزَوِّرٍ

وثناكَ نَشْرُ الوردِ والنَّسرين

Let no fabricator's falsehood corrupt your praise:

your praise is the fragrance of roses and wild roses.

لا تجعلنَّك عصبةٌ عن ظِنَّةٍ

حُزْني وأنت سرُورُ كل حزين

Let no faction, on a mere suspicion, make you

my sorrow, when you are every sorrowing heart's delight.

خذل الإلهُ لديك خاذل حجّتي

وأعان كلَّ معاضدٍ ومُعين

May God forsake before you whoever undermines my plea,

and aid every supporter and helper.

يا ليتَ شعْري كيف يصْنعُ كائدي

غَلِّي عليْهِ يَدَيْهِ بالتَّوهينِ

Would that I knew how my schemer can act,

with my weakening of him shackling his hands.

أيثيرُ من شعري دفين عيوبه

ولكل شعر مستثارُ دفين

Will he stir from my verse his buried faults?

Every poem has a buried thing to be unearthed.

أم يرتجي ألا يثيب خسيستي

عند النشيد بضعف ما يغنيني

Or does he hope my humble offering will not be rewarded

at recitation with twice what would enrich me?

فذرِ المُقَدَّر أن يهونك نظرةٌ

فترى رصين القول غير رصين

So leave the man who thinks he can belittle you a moment,

and you will see solid speech prove unsound.

أوَ ما درَى أن السماحة في الفتى

إغلاؤه ثمناً لغيرِ ثمين

Does he not know that a man's generosity

is his paying a high price for what is not precious?

خاب المؤمِّل فيك ظلمَ مؤمّلٍ

وإن استماح بهَيِّنٍ ومُهينِ

He who hopes you will wrong a hopeful petitioner is disappointed,

even if he begs a paltry and degrading favor.

أغْنته ترجيةُ المُحال ولم يكن

بمسيِّرٍ في البرِّ ركْبَ سفين

Hope of the impossible has sufficed him; he is not

one who can drive a fleet of ships across dry land.

من رام سَكْر البحرِ عن طُرقاتِهِ

أرهنته بالعجز ألفَ رهين

Whoever seeks to dam the sea away from its courses

is bound to helplessness by a thousand pledges.

ما لِلَّذِي قطعَ الشهادةَ كاذباً

مُنعَ الشهادةَ ساعةَ التلقين

What ails the man who gave false testimony?

May he be denied the testimony of faith when prompted!

ولكَ التفَطُّن قبلَ كُل مُفَطَّنٍ

ولك التبَيُّن دونَ ذي التبيين

Yours is discernment before every enlightened man,

and clarity without someone to make things clear.

لا تزبرنَّ على الضعيفِ فربما

ظلم الزَّبيرُ فعاد رَجْعَ أنين

Do not rebuke the weak harshly, for sometimes

a rebuke does wrong and returns as an echo of groaning.

ولقد ترى الشعراء في عثراتهم

فتليهُمُ بإقالةٍ تُرْضيني

You see poets amid their stumbles,

then tend them with pardons that would satisfy me.

وترى أُجاجَتَهُمْ مَعيناً سائغاً

لِطباع صِدْقٍ ساخَ فيه معيني

You see their brine as flowing, drinkable water,

through a true nature in which my spring has sunk.

حُورُ المكارِم يَتَّمتْك وعِينُها

لا الشعرُ محفوفاً بحورٍ عين

The fair, wide-eyed maidens of noble deeds have enthralled you,

not poetry surrounded by fair, wide-eyed maidens.

لو كنتُ من مُتَحَنِّنيكَ وددتني

وقرنْتَ ذكر مَعاهدي بحنيني

Had I been among those who seek your tenderness, you would have loved me,

and coupled remembrance of my old haunts with my longing.

لكن أَراني إذ حفتْك مسائلي

خشَّنْتَ صدرَكَ أيَّما تخشين

But I find that, when my requests surrounded you,

you hardened your breast with utter hardness.

وكأنني بك شاكرٌ لك قائلٌ

إنَّ الكريمَ يلين للتليين

Yet I can almost see myself, through you, thanking you and saying:

The noble man grows gentle under gentle treatment.

لاقيتُ إبراهيمَ يرجحُ في الندى

والحلم والتقوى بكل وَزين

I met Ibrahim, outweighing in generosity,

forbearance and piety every man of weight.

خفَّت مَناهضهُ فخفَّ إلى العلا

ورسا بحلم كالجبالِ رزين

His rivals proved light, so he rose lightly to the heights,

and stood firm with forbearance, steadfast as the mountains.

أعفى بحاجاتي وقد حمَّلتُه

ما لا تُحمَّلُ خِلْقَةٌ من طين

He more than met my needs, though I had burdened him with

what no creature of clay is made to bear.