Sol 6

  1. لا تَشِم للمزن برقا

    إن نأى المزن فسحقا

    Do not watch the clouds for lightning;

    if the clouds are distant, let them go far away.

  2. وانتجع أفق بني حم

    مادٍ الأندين أفقا

    Seek instead the horizon of Banū Ḥam—

    —mād, the most generous of horizons,

  3. شائماً فيهم بروقاً

    من كريم صيغ طلقا

    watching among them for flashes

    from a noble man fashioned openhanded:

  4. لبقاً بالمجد طَبّاً

    خَرِقاً بالمال خِرْقا

    skilled in glory, adept,

    recklessly lavish with wealth.

  5. يشتري الحمد فيغلى

    وهو الأربح صفقا

    He buys praise, however dear its price,

    and makes the most profitable bargain.

  6. شم بروق الحسن الأح

    سن أخلاقاً وخلقا

    Watch the flashes of the fairest—

    fairest in character and form:

  7. سيد من آل حما

    دٍ مُرَعَّىً ومسقَّى

    a lord of the house of Ḥam—

    —mād, tended and given drink.

  8. عمَّ ألطافاً وبرّاً

    إذ جفا الدهر وعقّا

    His kindness and goodness spread wide

    when time was harsh and unfilial.

  9. أصلح الله وأعلى

    آل حمّادٍ وأبقى

    May God set right and exalt

    the house of Ḥammād, and preserve it;

  10. وحباهم بنماءٍ

    يمحق الحسّاد محقا

    may He grant them growth

    that utterly destroys their enviers.

  11. فقأ الله عيوناً

    نحوهم خضراً وزرقا

    May God put out eyes

    that stare at them, green and blue:

  12. من أناس أصبحوا في

    دينهم سوداً وبلقا

    the eyes of people who have become

    black and mottled in their faith.

  13. خافقي الأحشاء طارت

    تلكمُ الأحشاء خفقا

    Their trembling hearts took flight;

    those hearts fluttered wildly.

  14. حسدوا أذكى وأزكى

    أنفساً منهم وأتقى

    They envied souls more discerning, purer,

    and more devout than their own.

  15. ولشتّان لعمري

    بين من يهوي ويرقى

    How vast, by my life,

    the distance between one who falls and one who rises!

  16. ليس من يذهب علواً

    مثل من يذهب عمقا

    One who goes upward is unlike

    one who sinks into the depths.

  17. آل حماد أناس

    كرموا فرعاً وعرقا

    The house of Ḥammād are people

    noble in branch and root.

  18. جعلوا الأعراض بسلاً

    وعروض المال طلقا

    They hold honor inviolable

    and let their wealth go freely.

  19. فإذا الغايات مُدَّت

    برزوا في المجد سبقا

    When the finish lines are drawn,

    they lead the race for glory.

  20. يا ابن بيت الحكم والحك

    مة والنعمة حقا

    O son of a house of rule and wis—

    —dom and blessing, truly;

  21. يا ابن من أصبح بين ال

    حق والباطل فرقا

    O son of one who became the line between

    truth and falsehood:

  22. شهد الله يميناً

    تنتق الأجبال نتقا

    God bears witness to an oath

    that could wrench mountains from their places:

  23. أن إسماعيل يهدي

    هدي إسماعيل صدقا

    Ismāʿīl truly follows

    the guidance of Ismāʿīl.

  24. رب حكم منه قد أض

    حى لحكم الله وفقا

    Many a judgment of his has be—

    —come consonant with God's judgment.

  25. ألجم الظلم فأدمى

    حنكاً منه وشدقا

    He bridled injustice until he bloodied

    its palate and its cheek.

  26. يا علياً يتكنّى

    بعليٍّ عش موقَّى

    O ʿAlī, who bears the name

    of ʿAlī, live protected!

  27. كم فَعال لك أضحى

    لعبيد القوت عتقا

    How many deeds of yours have become

    freedom for slaves of mere subsistence!

  28. ثمّ لم تتركه حتى

    صار للأحرار رقّا

    Yet you did not leave it there until

    your bounty became a bond on free people's necks.

  29. ليس عن عمدٍ ليشقوا

    بك من دائك يُشقى

    They do not suffer through you by your intent;

    it is through your own affliction that they suffer.

  30. بل لك المن الذي أص

    بح للأعناق ربقا

    Rather, you have a favor that has be—

    —come a collar around their necks.

  31. كم نظيرلك في الثر

    وة أكدى حين أبقى

    How many of your peers in wea—

    —lth failed when they tried to hold it back!

  32. رُحت كي تجبرعظماً

    وغدا ينهش عرقا

    You set out to mend a bone,

    and ended up gnawing into a vein.

  33. والفتى الأوسع صدراً

    يفضل الأوسع خلقا

    The young man with the broader heart

    surpasses the one with the broader frame.

  34. يا ابن إسماعيل فوزاً

    سدت من أفصح نطقا

    O son of Ismāʿīl, triumphantly

    you prevailed over the most eloquent speaker.

  35. حسبنا بشرك برقاً

    وندى كفيك ودقا

    Your glad tidings are lightning enough for us,

    and the dew of your hands is pouring rain.

  36. بخبخٍ أيَّ سحاب

    بخبخ ودقاً وبرقاً

    How splendid! What a cloud—

    how splendid its rain and lightning!

  37. آل حماد غدوتم

    أخصل الرامين وشقا

    House of Ḥammād, you have become

    the surest shots and the most fortunate.

  38. هنَّأ الله وليَّ ال

    عهد منكم ما تلقّى

    May God bless the heir to the

    covenant for what he received from you.

  39. فلقد لُقِّيَ نصحاً

    منكم لم يك مذقا

    For he received sincere counsel

    from you, with no deceit mixed in.

  40. أنتمُ أصلحتم الشر

    ق وقد كان مُلَقّى

    You set right the ea—

    —st, though it had been thrown into turmoil.

  41. كادت الأرض تُشَقّى

    من دماء وتُسَقّى

    The earth was almost split open

    by blood and drenched with it.

  42. فسعيتُم لصلاح ال

    أمر سعياً سدَّ بثقا

    You strove to set the

    matter right, a striving that closed a breach.

  43. ورفأتم فيه للمل

    كة والدولة خرقا

    And in it you mended a tear

    in kingship and the state.

  44. ورقيتم حيَّة السل

    طان والحيات تُرقى

    You charmed the ser—

    —pent of sovereignty, as serpents are charmed.

  45. فرتقتم منه فتقاً

    وفتقتم منه رتقا

    You closed one rupture in it

    and opened what had been sealed.

  46. وكشفتم ظلمات

    لم تدع للناس شرقا

    You dispelled darkness

    that left people no dawn.

  47. لا عدمتم عند أمر

    معضل رتقاً وفتقا

    May you never lack, in a

    difficult matter, the power to bind and unbind.

  48. تلك مسعاة أناس

    جمعوا حزماً ورفقا

    Such is the work of people

    who join resolve with gentleness.

  49. قرمطت في المجد أيدٍ

    ومشقتم فيه مشقا

    Other hands wrote cramped lines in glory;

    you wrote there with a sweeping hand.

  50. لست أختارعلى شق

    ق أراكم فيه شقّا

    I would never choose, amid hard—

    —ships, to see you suffer hardship.

  51. ما أرى مدحي لمجد

    غير ذاك المجد لفقا

    I do not see my praise of any glory

    but that glory as anything but contrived.

  52. أنتم الحكام والأع

    لام والأعلون مرقى

    You are rulers and bea—

    —cons, and highest in rank.

  53. وبكم يَستفتح الرز

    ق من استفتح رزقا

    Through you, whoever seeks a living

    begins to find provision.

  54. لو خلا الأبرار منكم

    أصبح المشرب رَنقا

    If the upright were deprived of you,

    their drinking water would turn muddy.

  55. أو خلا الفجّار منكم

    ملأوا الآفاق فسقا

    Or if the wicked were free of you,

    they would fill the horizons with vice.

  56. فبقيتم لصلاح

    بكمُ لا شك يبقى

    So may you remain for the good

    that, through you, surely endures.

  57. تفلقون الهام والأف

    هام بالأحكام فلقا

    You split heads and under—

    —standings wide open with your judgments.

  58. توسعون الناس تنفي

    ساً وأهل الظلم خنقا

    You give people room to brea—

    —the, while choking those who do wrong.

  59. ما يسيء الرأي فيكم

    رجل يحمل طِرقا

    No one with any discernment

    thinks ill of you.

  60. لا تَعُدّوا حذق مطري

    كم وإن برَّز حذقا

    Do not count the skill of your prai—

    —ser, though he excels in skill.

  61. إنما صادف درّاً

    في بحور فتنقّى

    He merely found pearls

    in seas and selected the finest.

  62. منكمُ حلّاكمُ الما

    دح ما جلّ ودقّا

    From among you, the prai—

    —ser has adorned you in great and small things.

  63. وجد المجرى دميثاً

    فجرى لا يتوقّى

    He found the course smooth

    and ran without fear.

  64. لو تعدّاكم لأعيا

    ما تأتّى أو لشقّا

    Had he gone beyond you, he would have struggled

    to find his way, or suffered.