أصل نما بك ربه فرعه — Abn Rumi

أصلٌ نما بك ربُّه فَرْعَهْ

من بعدما التمس العدى قَلْعَهْ

A root whose Lord made its branch flourish through you,

After the enemies had sought to uproot it.

يا من تجلت الوجوه به

بعد السواد تشوبه سُفعَهْ

O you through whom faces brightened,

After blackness tinged with a dusky stain.

ما ينقم الحساد منك سوى

أمنٍ شننت عليهم درعه

The envious resent nothing in you except

The safety whose armor you spread over them.

بل عز مثلك لا كفاء له

بنَّيت بعد حفوفه ربعه

Rather, the glory of one like you has no equal;

You rebuilt its dwelling after its desolation.

مُلكٌ شرَوه من عدوِّهمُ

سفهاً فكنت أحق بالشفعه

A sovereignty they bought from their enemy

In folly; you had the stronger right of pre-emption.

ورياسة كانت مطلَّقةً

منهم فكنت أحق بالرجعه

And a leadership that stood divorced

From them; you had the stronger right to take it back.

يا آخراً أضحى لأوله

كالسجدة اتصلت بها الركعه

O last one, who became to his first

Like a prostration joined to the bow in prayer.

قد قلتُ حين ملكت أمرهم

شمل أراد مليكهم جمعه

I said when you took charge of their affairs:

'A community their sovereign wished to unite.'

يا من إذا دعي المديح له

لبى الدعاة وجاء في سُرعه

O you for whom, whenever praise is summoned,

It answers those who call and comes swiftly.

هُنِّئتَ ما أوتيت مغتبطاً

بمزيد رب شاكراً صنعه

May you be blessed in what you received, rejoicing

In the Lord's further bounty, grateful for His work.

وفَّيتَ حق الشرطتين وما

وُفِّيتَ حقك لا ولا ربعه

You fulfilled the duties of both police forces, yet

You were not paid your due—no, not even a quarter.

لكنها باكورة بكرت

مما نؤمل فانتظر ينعه

But this is an early fruit that came early

Of what we hope for; await its ripening.

واسلم على ريب الحوادث ما

سجع الحمام مرجعاً سجعه

And remain safe amid fortune's vicissitudes as long as

Doves coo, repeating their coos.

الآن نام الخائفون وما

كانت تذوق عيونهم هجعه

Now the fearful sleep, though

Their eyes had never tasted a moment's sleep.

لم تمس عين الله راعية

أحداً يبيت وأنت لم ترعه

God's eye has never watched by night

Over anyone spending the night without your protection.

أضحى عبيد الله سيدنا

في المجد وتراً لا يرى شفعه

Our lord Ubayd Allah has become

Unpaired in glory, with no counterpart to be seen.

يغري خطوب الدهر منصلتاً

كالسيف أحمدَ ضاربٌ وقعه

He provokes Time's calamities, drawn forth

Like a sword whose wielder found its stroke praiseworthy.

يقع الربيع وجود سيدنا

فإليه تصرف دونه النجعه

Spring arrives, and our lord's bounty too;

To him, rather than spring, the quest for pasture turns.

جود يزيد الله صاحبه

وثوابه المذخور لا السمعه

Generosity whose possessor God enriches,

And whose reward is held in store, not renown.

وله إذا ما الرأي حيره

خطبٌ يشنِّع ورده قرعه

And when judgment is bewildered, he has—

By a crisis whose knocking makes its coming dreadful—

رأي كأن الدهر أطلعه

من سر كل خفيَّةٍ طلعه

A judgment as though Time had revealed to him

The secret heart of every hidden thing.

فتَّاقُ ما يعيا الدهاة به

رتاق ما لم يَرتُقوا صدعه

It opens what baffles the cunning,

And mends the breach they could not mend.

كم غبطة لمعاشر صدرت

عنه وكم لمعاشر فجعه

How much gladness has issued to some folk

From him, and how much grievous loss to others!

فالناس طراً بين مرتقب

سطواته ومؤمل نفعه

Thus all people are divided between those awaiting

His assaults and those hoping for his benefits.

كالعارض التهبت صواعقه

وسقى البلاد فلم يدع بقعه

Like a rain cloud whose thunderbolts blaze,

And which waters the lands, leaving no spot untouched.

أحذاه عبد الله شيمته

والأصل يسقي ماؤه فرعه

Abd Allah bestowed his character upon him;

A root's water nourishes its branch.

يندى ويصلب عوده فترى

لَدنَ المهزة صادق المنعه

His wood is moist yet hard, and you see it

Supple when shaken, steadfast in resistance.

كالخيزران لعاطفيه وإن

عجمته نائبة فكالنبعه

Like bamboo to those who bend him; yet if

Misfortune tests his grain, he is like nabʿ wood.

ملك يباشر ناره صَرَدٌ

فتظل مُدفِئةً بلا لذعه

A king whose fire a shivering man approaches:

It keeps him warm without a burn.

فإذا اصطليت حريقه بطراً

فهناك لست بآمن سفعه

But if you warm yourself at his blaze arrogantly,

Then you are not safe from its scorching.

متسربل حلماً بطانتُهُ

عزٌّ وليس بكائن فقعه

Clad in forbearance whose lining

Is might; he is no truffle.

يحيي ويردي وهو مقتدر

حلو المجاجة قاتل السبعه

He gives life and brings death, possessing power,

Sweet of spittle, a slayer of the lioness.

فعّال منقذة ومهلكة

قوّال مثلهما بلا قذعه

He performs deeds that rescue and destroy,

And speaks to both ends, without foul abuse.

لا يرأمُ العوراءَ منطقُه

كلا وليس يعيرها سمعه

His speech never embraces a shameful word;

No, nor does he lend it his ear.

يسع الجسيم من الفعال وما

يرضى نداه لقدره وُسْعه

He can undertake mighty deeds, yet

His bounty finds his capacity too small for his worth.

وأتى الأمير لقد جرى فسعى

مسعاه غير مطالعٍ طِلعه

He reached the emir, having run and pursued

His course, without fathoming his inner nature.

وجرى أبو العباس يتبعه

سعياً فقال ألا كذا فاسْعَه

And Abu al-Abbas ran, following him

In pursuit; he said, 'See—pursue it like this!'

ولدٌ أقرَّ لعين والده

طالت لوالده به المتعه

A son who brings comfort to his father's eye;

Long may his father's delight in him endure.

وزعت يداه ما يحاذره

من دهرنا فأجادتا وزعه

His two hands repelled what he fears

From our age, and excellently repelled it.

لم يرعَ سرحَ الملك رعيته

راعٍ ولا قمع العدى قمعه

Never was the kingdom's herd tended as he tended it

By any shepherd, nor the foes subdued as he subdued them.

عجباً لطائفةٍ تقيس به

من لا يوازنه ولا شِسعه

How strange a company that compares with him

One who cannot match him, nor even his sandal strap!

أنى تقاس شُعيلةٌ خمدت

بالشمس في الإشراق والرفعه

How can a little extinguished flame be compared

With the sun in radiance and height?

قوم بغوا بيقينهم بدلاً

ممن أبت سقطاتُه رفعه

People who sought to exchange their certainty

For one whose stumblings barred his elevation.

مستبطني ضغنٍ له وبه

رفعوا جنوبَهمُ من الصرعه

Harboring rancor against him, though through him

They lifted their sides from their fallen state.

وعليهم للعز أبهة

من بعد ما رهقتهم الخشعه

And the splendor of honor rests upon them

After abasement had overwhelmed them.

مالوا بودِّهمُ إلى رجلٍ

جعل البوار لأهله شرعه

They turned their affection toward a man

Who made ruin the path for his people.

طالت به عثراته فكبا

وكبوا وكلٌّ راكبٌ ردعه

His stumblings went on until he fell,

And they fell too, each sprawling in his own blood.

يهوون في أهويَّةٍ قَذَفٍ

من يمن صاحبه بها ينعه

They plunge into far-flung abysses;

Whoever tempts his friend with hopes of them proclaims his death.

حتى تداركهم فأنقذهم

صلت الجبين مبارك الطلعه

Until he came to their aid and rescued them,

Clear-browed, blessed in countenance.

لو قارع الأكفاء كلهم

عن سؤدد وقعت له القرعه

Were he to compete with all his peers

For eminence, the lot would fall to him.

فجزوه أن حفروا له حفراً

جذب المهيمن دونها ضَبعه

They repaid him by digging pits for him;

The Guardian drew him back by the upper arm, short of them.

وأبيهم ما كان ريعهمُ

لأخيهم بمشاكلٍ زرعه

By their father, their harvest

For their brother did not match his sowing.

إن المريد بمثله بدلاً

لكمن يريد بدرَّةٍ ودعه

Indeed, one who seeks a replacement for his like

Is like one seeking a cowrie in place of a pearl.

يا زينهم إذ كان أشأمهم

شيناً وليس الأنف كالسلعه

O their adornment, when their most ill-omened was

A blemish! A nose is not a tumor.

شهدوا غداة رقعت وهيَهُمُ

أن قد أجدت ولم تُسِئ رقعه

They attested, the morning you patched their rents,

That you had done well and patched them without fault.

يا بيهقيُّ دع القريض لذي

حذقٍ يعاون علمُه طبعه

O Bayhaqi, leave poetry to one

Of skill, whose learning supports his native gift.

فادفن سُلاحاً ظلت تسلحه

من فيك لا استك دُفعةً دفعه

So bury the dung you have kept voiding

From your mouth, not your arse, burst after burst.

أخطأت في المصراع مفتتحاً

وأتيت إذ عجَّزتَه بِدعه

You erred in the hemistich at its opening,

And introduced an aberration when you supplied its ending.

سكنت ميماً غير ساكنة

وجعلت ربَّك أنجماً سبعه

You left a mīm unvoweled that should bear a vowel,

And made your lord seven stars.

حكَّمتها في من لو انتظمت

تاجاً لقل لمثله خِلعه

You made them judges over one for whom, were they strung

As a crown, it would be a paltry gift of honor for his like.

وزعمتَ سيدَنا الأمير سما

بالجود حتى صافح الهَقعه

You claimed our lord the emir rose

Through bounty until he shook hands with al-Haqʿah.

وهو الذي أدنى مواطئه

فوق الذي سميت والهنعه

Yet he is one whose lowest footholds

Lie above what you named, and al-Hanʿah.

وجعلت أقصى ما تجود به

للمستميح نواله الجُرعه

And you made the utmost that he gives

In bounty to the supplicant a mere sip.

ثَلطٌ على ثلط وضعت به

ووضعت بعد هدائل القصعه

Dung upon dung: you debased him with it,

And then set down the bowl's cooings.

من كان مثلك في جماعته

أضحى وقيمة رأسه قرعه

Whoever is like you among his company

Finds his head worth no more than a gourd.

وشكوت جوعك في ذرى ملك

فنقضت مدحك فيه بالشُّنعه

You complained of hunger under a king's shelter,

Undoing your praise of him with scandalous blame.

أقبلت تشكو في ضيافته

طول الطوى متمنِّياً نجعه

You began complaining, while his guest,

Of prolonged hunger, longing for fresh pasture.

كذباً عليه بعد زعمِكَهُ

نصب الجفان بربوة تلعه

Falsely accusing him after your claim that he

Set out great bowls on a lofty hill.

أقبح بإفك في مناقضة

كالنبذة الشمطاء في الصلعه

How hideous a lie in self-contradiction,

Like a gray-streaked tuft on a bald scalp!

وحكيت أنك مذ أطفت به

في عيشة تقتاتها لمعه

You recounted that, since you came around him,

You lived on a mere morsel.

وزعمت صرتك اغتدت عطلاً

لا درهم فيها ولا قطعه

And claimed your purse had become empty,

With no dirham in it, nor even a small coin.

وهو الذي يضحي مجاوره

من جنة الفردوس في ترعه

Yet he is one whose neighbor passes the morning

In a meadow of the Garden of Paradise.

وجعلت ذكر الصفع خاتمة

مسترزقاً من صافع صفعه

And you made mention of slapping your conclusion,

Seeking a slap from a slapper as your livelihood.

فثواب مثلك صفع أخدعه

بل بصقة في الوجه بل نخعه

The recompense for your like is a slap to his neck;

Rather, spit in the face—rather, a gob of phlegm.

ما زلت في معنى يحاك وفي

لفظ يساء كقولك الضبعه

You persisted in contrived meanings, and

Mishandled wording, like your word 'ḍabʿah.'

وذكرت رهطاً تسعةً جدعوا

أنف القتيل فأوعبوا جدعه

You mentioned a band of nine who cut off

The slain man's nose, making its mutilation complete.

فجعلت صاحبهم طويسَ وما

لاقى طويسُ أولئك التسعه

You made their companion Tuways, though

Tuways never met those nine.

أفلا قُدار جعلتَ تاسعهم

كَسْعُ استِ قاطعِ زبرِها كَسعه

Why did you not make Qudar their ninth?

A kick to the arse of the one who severs its penis—a kick!

وذكرت بالحولاء بحربة

ونعتَّها فجعلتها ربعه

And you spoke of Baḥrabah as 'the squint-eyed woman,'

And described her as of middling stature.

وجعلت تحفتها مغازلة

لك أن تقول مجيبة نزعه

You made her gift a flirtation;

You could have said, 'Responsive to a tug.'

ووصفت كأساً لا يشاكلها

فجعلتها صهباء كالدمعه

You described a cup with an ill-fitting likeness,

Making it tawny, like a tear.

لا دمعةٌ صهباء نعلمها

إلا دم استِك خاضباً فُصعه

We know no tawny tear

Except your arse's blood, staining a foreskin.

ووصفت ضوء الصبح محتفلاً

فجعلته كإضاءة الشمعه

And made a grand description of dawn's light,

Comparing it to the shining of a candle.