مطالع سعد للسعود مطالع — Abu Al Maali Al Talawi

مَطالِعُ سَعدٍ لِلسُعود مَطالِعُ

وَشهب العُلا مِن أُفقِهِنَّ طَوالِعُ

Dawnings of fortune, rising places for auspicious stars,

And the meteors of eminence rise from their horizon.

وَأَنجُمُ إِقبالٍ بِأَفلاكِ دَولَةٍ

بَدَت مِن بُروج السَعد وَالسَعدُ طالِعُ

And stars of prosperity in the spheres of sovereignty

Have appeared from fortune's zodiacal signs, while fortune rises.

وَأَقمارُ عزٍّ في مَنازلِ رفعةٍ

لَها بِاِقتِرانات السُعود تَجامُعُ

And moons of glory in stations of exaltation

Gather at the conjunctions of auspicious stars.

لَها شَرَفٌ فَوقَ الثَوابِتِ ثابِتٌ

وَنور عُلاه في البَسيطة واقِعُ

Their eminence stands firm above the fixed stars,

And the light of its loftiness falls upon the earth.

يُرى لارتِفاع المَجدِ تَحتَ مَدارِها

شُعاعٌ بِأَقطار العَوالِم لامِعُ

Beneath their orbit, through glory's elevation, one sees

A ray shining through the reaches of the worlds.

لَدى سُدَّة الأَجيال سُدَّةُ عالم

إِمامٍ لَدى أَعتابِهِ الفَخرُ خاضِعُ

At the generations' high seat is the high seat of a scholar,

An imam before whose thresholds pride bows low.

مَليك النّهى ماضٍ عَلى الحَزم أَمرُهُ

وَلَيسَ لَهُ نَحوَ المَعالي مُضارِعُ

A sovereign of intellects, whose command proceeds with resolve,

And he has no peer in aspiring to the heights.

وَلَيث مَوالي العَصر دانَت لِمَجدِهِ

وَحَسبُكَ مَجدٌ لا يُدانيه طامِعُ

And a lion to whose glory the lords of the age have submitted—

Enough for you is a glory no aspirant can approach.

إِمام تُقىً لا تَزدَهيهِ المَطامِعُ

وَطَودُ حِجىً لَم تَستَمِلهُ الزَعازِعُ

An imam of piety whom covetous desires cannot beguile,

And a mountain of reason that tempests have not swayed.

لَهُ النَسَب الوَضّاحُ في جَوهَر العُلا

نَما الفَخر مِنهُ وَهوَ كَهلٌ وَيافِعُ

His is the radiant lineage in the very substance of eminence;

Glory sprang from him, both in maturity and in youth.

وَخُلق يرى ما الرَوضُ غِبّ سَمائِهِ

بِأَنضرَ مِنهُ وَهوَ أَزهَرُ يانِعُ

And a character: one sees that the garden after its rain

Is no fresher than it, though blossoming and lush.

هُمام تظنيهِ طَليعَةُ رَأيِهِ

كَأَنَّ بِها ما في الغُيوب يُطالِعُ

A noble man—from his judgment's vanguard, you would think

That through it he surveys what lies unseen.

أَفادَ عُلومَ الأَوَّلينَ مُقَرِّراً

لَها طِبقَ ما جاءَت بِهِنَّ الشَرائِعُ

He acquired the sciences of the ancients, setting them forth

In accord with what the sacred laws have brought.

حَكيمٌ إِذا يَوماً دَقائِقُ فِكرِهِ

رَقت دَرجَ الأفلاكِ فيها المَطالِعُ

A sage: when one day the subtleties of his thought

Climb the spheres' degrees, where the ascendants lie,

وَفاضَت عَلَيها مِن مَبادي عُلومِهِ

بِحكمَةِ إِشراق سَناهُنَّ ساطِعُ

And overflow upon them from the principles of his sciences

With a wisdom of illumination, their radiance blazing,

أَفاضَت عَلى السَيّارَة السَبع سِرّ ما

بِهِ تَقبلُ التَكوينَ عَنها الطَبائِعُ

They bestow upon the seven planets the secret of that

By which the elements receive their formation from them.

فَشرّف كيواناً بِرِفعَةِ شَأنِهِ

وَأَجزَل فَيضَ المُشتَري وَهوَ راجِعُ

Thus he exalted Kaywan through the loftiness of his station,

And made Jupiter's effluence abundant, even in retrograde.

وَأَعطى سَنا المرّيخِ شُعلَةَ نارِهِ

يَجودُ بِها في أفقه وَيمانِعُ

And granted the radiance of Mars a flame of his fire,

With which, in its horizon, it gives freely and defends.

وَخَصّ بِأَنواع السَحاب عُطارِداً

فَها هُوَ في حُسنِ الكِتابَةِ بارِعُ

And favored Mercury with the various kinds of clouds;

So behold, it excels in fine writing.

وَأَكسَبَ جِرم البَدرِ نُوراً مُقَدّراً

مَنازِلَهُ كَي تَستَعدّ طَبائِعُ

And gave the full moon's orb a light apportioned

Through its stations, so that the elements might be prepared.

وَأَلقى عَلى الشَمس الضِياء مُحبِّباً

إِلى الزُهرَة الأَلحانَ فيها تُراجِعُ

And cast radiance upon the sun, endearing

To Venus the melodies that she repeats.

فَقُل لِفَتىً ما زالَ ترشِق جِسمَه

سِهامُ النَوى عَن قَوسِها وَتدافِعُ

Then say to a youth whose body is still being pierced

By separation's arrows, shot from its bow and surging onward:

أَخي السَير في الآفاق هَيأة شَكلِهُ

تَراها اِضمَحَلَّت مِنهُ وَالجِسمُ ظالِعُ

A companion of travel through the horizons, whose form

You see has wasted away, his body limping;

لَهُ هِمّةٌ في الأَوجِ لَكنَّ حَظّهُ

حَضيضُ الثَرى مِن دُونِهِ مُتَرافِعُ

His ambition is at the zenith, yet his fortune—

The earth's nadir stands high compared with it.

تَرى الزَمَن القَطاع أَلّفَ جَفنَهُ

بِطُولِ سُهادٍ وَالدُموع هَوامِعُ

You see how cutthroat Time has joined his eyelid

To long sleeplessness, while tears pour down.

إِلى كَم تَنُصّ العِيس في طَلَب السُرى

لِنَيلِ العُلا تَسعى لَهُ وَتسارِعُ

How long will you drive the pale camels on, seeking night travel,

To attain the heights, striving and hastening toward them?

وَتُصبِحُ في أَرض وَتمسي بِغَيرِها

حَليفَ السُرى كَدّاً وَعُمرُكَ ضائِعُ

And spend the morning in one land and the evening in another,

A toiling ally of night travel, while your life goes to waste?

تُعاني اِنقِلابَ الدَهرِ عَنكَ وَمَيلَهُ

لِكُلِّ جَهولٍ في الجَهالَةِ راتِعُ

You endure time's turning away from you and its inclination

Toward every ignoramus reveling in ignorance.

يُريشُ لَهُ نسرَ الأَمانِيِّ طائِراً

وَنَسرُكَ في وكر المَذَلَّةِ واقِعُ

It feathers the eagle of his wishes for flight,

While your eagle sits in the nest of abasement.

وَتَهجُرُ داراً بِالشَآمِ حَبيبَةً

سَقاها الحَيا وَالهاطِلاتُ الهَوامِعُ

And you forsake a beloved home in al-Sham—

May life-giving rain and streaming downpours water it.

أَلج بِبَسيط الظِلِّ مِن عَرشِ مَجدِهِ

وَمِل لِزَوايا سَطحِهِ فَهوَ واسِعُ

Enter the broad shade of his throne of glory,

And turn toward the corners of its surface, for it is vast.

فَفيها يُرى القُطبُ الجُنوبِيّ مُنزَوٍ

وَفي جانِبٍ مِنها الشَماليُّ طالِعُ

There the southern pole is seen withdrawn,

While on one side of it the northern pole rises.

وَلا تَرَ مَيلاً عَن مُعَدَّلِ بابِهِ

تَصل لِلمُنى فَالمَيلُ فيهِ تَقاطعُ

And consider no deviation from the equator of his gate;

You will attain your wishes, for deviation there means estrangement.

فَما مَركَز الآمالِ إِلا جَنابُهُ

وَيَكفيكَ بُرهانٌ عَلى ذَلِكَ قاطِعُ

For the center of hopes is nothing but his court,

And a conclusive proof of that suffices you:

إِقامَةُ أَرباب الكَمال بِبابِهِ

عَلى قَدم الإِجلال وَهيَ خَواضِعُ

The masters of perfection standing at his gate,

In reverent attendance, bowed in humility.

كَأَنَّ عَلى هاماتِها الطَيرُ هَيبَةً

وَلا قَول إِلّا ما تُشيرُ الأَصابِعُ

As though birds perched on their heads, so great their awe,

And no speech except what their fingers indicate.

فيا أَيُّها المَولى الَّذي سارَ ذِكرُهُ

مَسيرَ الصَبا حَيثُ البِلادُ شَواسِعُ

O master whose renown has traveled

Like the east wind, where the lands stretch wide;

وَمَن أَجمَعَت آراء كُلٍّ بِأَنَّهُ

وَحيدٌ لِأَشتاتِ الفَضائل جامِعُ

And you whom all opinions unanimously declare

Peerless, gathering the scattered virtues;

وَصَدرُ هذا العَصر وَالفاضِل الَّذي

بِآرائِهِ تُهدى النُجوم الطَوالِعُ

The foremost of this age, and the excellent man whose

Counsels guide the rising stars;

وَمن باب مَأوى العُفاةِ وَرُكنُهُ

لَدى حادِثاتِ الدَهرِ ركنٌ مُدافِعُ

And whose gate is the refuge of supplicants, whose pillar

Is a pillar of defense against the calamities of time:

لِسَدَّتِهِ العُليا رَفعتُ ظُلامَةً

عَليّ جَناها صَرفُهُ المُتَتابِعُ

To his exalted threshold I have raised a grievance,

Inflicted upon me by time's unceasing vicissitudes.

يُبيحُ المُنى أَهل الجَهالة مِثل ما

يُبيحُ المَنايا دونَ ما أَنا طامِعُ

It grants wishes to the ignorant, just as

It grants death rather than what I desire.

وَأَعلَمُ ذَنبي عِندَهُ وَهوَ جاهِلٌ

بِأَنَّ مَديحي بابكم لِيَ شافِعُ

And I know my offense in its eyes, while it is unaware

That my praise of your gate is an intercessor for me.

عَسى نَظرة مَولاي نحوي فَإِنَّني

مَحَلٌّ لِما تُسدي وَأَنّك صانِعُ

May my lord cast a glance toward me, for I am

A fitting recipient of what you bestow, and you are a benefactor.

فَعبدُكَ هَذا الدَهرُ أَصبَحَ عامِلاً

لِخَفضي وَما لي غَيرَ فِعلِكَ رافِعُ

For this age, your servant, has set to work

To abase me, and nothing but your action can raise me.

بَقيتَ بَقاءَ الفَرقَدَينِ بِنِعمَةٍ

جَنابُكَ مَأمولٌ وَفَضلُكَ واسِعُ

May you endure as long as the two Farqad stars, in blessing,

Your court sought in hope, your bounty vast,

مَدى الدَهر ما حَنَّ الغَريبُ وَما شَدَت

عَلى مِنبر الأَغصان وُرقٌ سَواجِعُ

For all time, as long as the exile yearns and there sing

On the pulpit of branches the cooing gray doves.