لو كنت في ديني من الأبطال — أبو إسحاق الإلبيري

لَو كُنتُ في ديني مِنَ الأَبطالِ

ما كُنتُ بِأَلواني وَلا البَطَّالِ

If I were among the heroes in my faith,

I would be neither slack nor idle.

وَلَبِستُ مِنهُ لَأمَةً فَضفاضَةً

مَسرودَةً مِن صالِحِ الأَعمالِ

And I would have donned from it an ample coat of armor,

Woven from righteous deeds.

لَكِنَّني عَطَّلتُ أَقواسَ التُقى

مِن نَبلِها فَرَمَت بِغَيرِ نِبالِ

But I stripped the bows of piety

Of their arrows, so they shot without shafts.

وَرَمى العَدوُ بِسَهمِهِ فَأَصابَني

إِذ لَم أُحَصِّن جُنَّةً لِنِضالِ

And the enemy shot his arrow and struck me,

Since I had not fortified a shield for combat.

فَأَنا كَمَن يَلقى الكَتيبَةَ أَعزَلاً

في مَأزِقٍ مُتَعَرِّضاً لِنِزالِ

So I am like one who meets a battalion unarmed,

In a narrow pass, exposed to battle.

لَولا رَجاءُ العَفوِ كُنتُ كَناقِعٍ

بَرحَ الغَليلِ بِرَشفِ لَمعِ الآلِ

Were it not for hope of pardon, I would be like one quenching

The agony of thirst by sipping a shimmering mirage.

شابَ القُذالُ فَآنَ لي أَن أَرعَوي

لَو كُنتُ مُتَّعِظاً بِشَيبِ قَذالِ

The back of my head has grayed; it is time I mended my ways,

If I were to heed the gray at the back of my head.

وَلَو أَنَّني مُستَبصِرٌ إِذ حَلَّ بي

لَعَلِمتُ أَنَّ حُلولَهُ تَرحالي

And had I been clear-sighted when it came upon me,

I would have known its arrival meant my departure.

فَنَظَرتُ في زادٍ لِدارِ إِقامَتي

وَسَأَلتُ رَبّي أَن يَحُلَّ عِقالي

Then I would have looked to provisions for my abiding home,

And asked my Lord to loosen my fetter.

فَلَكَم هَمَمتُ بِتَوبَةٍ فَمُنِعتُها

إِذ لَم أَكُن أَهلاً لَها وَبَدا لي

For how often I resolved to repent, only to be denied it,

Since I was unworthy of it, and changed my mind.

وَيَعِزُّ ذاكَ عَلَيَّ إِلّا أَنَّني

مُتَقَلِّبٌ في قَبضَةِ المُتَعالي

And that pains me, yet I

Am turned about in the grasp of the Most High.

وَوَصَلتُ دُنيا سَوفَ تَقطَعُ شَأفَتي

بِأُفولِ أَنجُمِها وَخَسفِ هِلالي

And I have joined myself to a world that will uproot me,

With the setting of its stars and the eclipse of my crescent.

شَغَلَت مُفَتَّنَ أَهلِها بِفُتونِها

وَمِنَ المُحالِ تَشاغُلٌ بِمُحالِ

It has engrossed the beguiled among its people with its temptations,

And it is absurd to be engrossed in absurdity.

لا شَيءَ أَخسَرُ صَفقَةً مِن عالِمٍ

لَعِبَت بِهِ الدُنيا مَعَ الجُهالِ

No one loses more in a bargain than a scholar

Whom the world has toyed with alongside the ignorant.

فَغَدا يُفَرِّقُ دينَهُ أَيدي سَبا

وَيُزيلُهُ حِرصاً لِجَمعِ المالِ

So he scatters his faith like Saba's scattered people,

And casts it off in his zeal to amass wealth.

لا خَيرَ في كَسبِ الحَرامِ وَقَلَّما

يُرجى الخَلاصُ لِكاسِبٍ لِحَلالِ

There is no good in unlawful gain, and seldom

Can one who earns lawful wealth hope for deliverance.

ما إِن سَمِعتُ بِعائِلٍ تُكوى غَداً

بِالنارِ جَبهَتُهُ عَلى الإِقلالِ

Never have I heard of a pauper to be branded tomorrow,

With fire on his forehead for his poverty.

وَإِن أَرَدتَ صَحيحَ مَن يُكوى بِها

فَاِقرَأ عَقيبَةَ سورَةِ الأَنفالِ

And if you want a true account of who is branded by it,

Then read the surah that follows al-Anfal.

ما يَثقُلُ الميزانُ إِلّا بِاِمرِئٍ

قَد خَفَّ كاهِلُهُ مِنَ الأَثقالِ

The scales grow heavy only for a man

Whose shoulders have grown light of burdens.

فَخُذِ الكَفافَ وَلا تَكُن ذا فَضلَةٍ

فَالفَضلُ تُسأَلُ عَنهُ أَيَّ سُؤالِ

So take what suffices, and possess no surplus;

For the surplus—you will be questioned about it, and how!

وَدَعِ المَطارِفَ وَالمَطِيَّ لِأَهلِها

وَاِقنَع بِأَطمارٍ وَلُبسِ نِعالِ

And leave fine cloaks and mounts to their owners,

And be content with rags and wearing sandals.

فَهُمُ وَأَنتَ وَفَقرُنا وَغِناهُم

لا يَستَقِرُّ وَلا يَدومُ بِحالِ

For they and you, our poverty and their wealth,

Do not remain fixed or endure in any state.

وَطُفِ البِلادَ لِكَي تَرى آثارَ مَن

قَد كانَ يَملِكُها مِنَ الأَقيالِ

And roam the lands to see the traces of those

Princes who once ruled them.

عَصَفَت بِهِم ريحُ الرَدى فَذَرَتهُمُ

ذَروَ الرِياحِ الهَوجِ حِقفَ رِمالِ

The wind of death swept upon them and scattered them,

As raging winds scatter a curved dune of sand.

وَتَزَلزَلَت بِهُمُ المَنابِرُ بَعدَ ما

ثَبَتَت وَكانوا فَوقَها كَجِبالِ

And the pulpits shook beneath them after

They had stood firm, their occupants above them like mountains.

وَاِحبِس قَلوصَكَ ساعَةً بِطُلولِهِم

وَاِحذَر عَلَيكَ بِها مِنَ الأَغوالِ

And halt your young she-camel a while at their ruins,

And beware of ghouls there, for your own sake.

فَلَكَم بِها مِن أَرقَمٍ صِلٍّ وَكَم

قَد كانَ فيها مِن مَهاً وَغَزالِ

For how many a speckled, deadly viper is there, and how many

Oryxes and gazelles were once there!

وَلَكَم غَدَت مِنها وَراحَت حَلَبَةً

لِلحَربِ يَقدُمُها أَبو الأَشبالِ

And how many a troop went out from there, morning and evening,

For war, led by the father of lion cubs!

فَتَقَطَّعَت أَسبابُهُم وَتَمَزَّقَت

وَلَقَبلَ ما كانوا كَنَظمِ لَآَلِ

So their bonds were severed and torn apart,

Yet formerly they had been like a string of pearls.

وَإِذا أَتَيتَ قُبورَهُم فَاِسأَلهُم

عَما لَقوا فيها مِنَ الأَهوالِ

And when you reach their graves, ask them

About the terrors they encountered within them.

فَسَيُخبِرونَكَ إِن فَهِمتَ بِحالِهِم

بِعِبارَةٍ كَالوَحيِ لا بِمَقالِ

Then they will tell you, if you understand, through their condition,

By a message like revelation, not by speech:

إِنّا بِها رَهنٌ إِلى يَومِ الجَزا

بِجَرائِمِ الأَقوالِ وَالأَفعالِ

Indeed, we are held here in pledge until the Day of Recompense,

For the crimes of words and deeds.

مَن لا يُراقِبُ رَبَّهُ وَيَخافُهُ

تَبَّت يَداهُ وَما لَهُ مِن والِ

Whoever neither heeds his Lord nor fears Him—

May his hands perish; he has no protector.