الله أكبر جاء النصر والظفر — Ahmad Alkiwani

اللَهُ أَكبر جاءَ النَصر وَالظفرُ

وَالأَمن وَاليَمن لَما ساعَدَ القَدرُ

God is greatest! Victory and triumph have come,

and safety and good fortune, when destiny lent its aid.

وَاخضر رَوض الأَماني فَهِيَ حالية

كَأَنَّما جَرَّ فيها ذَيلَهُ الخضرُ

The garden of hopes grew green, and they are adorned,

as though al-Khidr had trailed his robe among them.

وَأَشرَق المَجلس المَسعود طالِعُهُ

بِطَلعة عَن سَناها الطَرف يَنحَسِرُ

The council, blessed in its rising star, shone

with a countenance from whose radiance the eye recoils.

أَعني الوَزير الَّذي أُعتابهُ وَزرٌ

بِهِ الوِزارة كَالعَلياءِ تَفتَخِرُ

I mean the minister whose thresholds are a refuge,

in whom the ministry, like loftiness itself, takes pride.

إِذ لِلوزارة ناموس بِهَيبَتِهِ

أَحياهُ لَما رَآهُ وَهُوَ مُحتضرُ

For the ministry has a dignity that, through his imposing presence,

he revived when he saw it at the point of death.

ما زالَ مُنذُ غَدا التَوفيق يَصحَبُهُ

لِبيضة الملك وَالإِسلام يَنتَصِرُ

Ever since success became his companion, he has never ceased

to defend the heart of the realm and of Islam.

العَدل يَنشُر في دِيوانِهِ أَبَداً

وَالشَرع يَأمُر وَالصَمصام يَنتَظِرُ

He ever spreads justice in his council;

religious law commands, and the keen sword waits.

وَالحَقُ يَعلو عَلى الأَخصام قاطِبة

وَالعلم مُحتَرم وَالمال مُحتَقِرُ

Right rises above all adversaries,

learning is respected, and wealth disdained.

مَن يَغرس العَدل يَجِنّ النَصر عَن ثِقَة

وَالعَدل يُثمر ما لا يُثمر الشَجَرُ

Whoever plants justice confidently reaps victory;

justice bears what trees cannot bear.

تَعظيمُهُ العلم عَن فَضل وَمَعرِفَة

ما عظم العلم إِلّا مَن بِهِ خَطَرُ

His reverence for learning springs from merit and understanding;

only someone of worth reveres learning.

كَم في السَماءِ نُجوم طالَ ما أَفلَت

وَلِلعُلوم نُجوم لَيسَ تَنكَدِرُ

How many stars in heaven have long since set,

while learning has stars that never grow dim!

صَدرٌ وَلا ضَجَرٌ فكرٌ وَلا حَصرٌ

نَطق وَلا هَذر مَجد وَلا بَطرُ

An open heart without impatience; thought without constraint;

speech without babble; glory without arrogance.

مَعارف صَدرت عَنها عَوارِفُهُ

إِذ صَدرهُ البَحر لَكن لَفظُهُ الدُرَرُ

Stores of knowledge from which his kindnesses spring,

for his breast is the sea, but his speech is pearls.

أَلفاظُهُ وَزلال الماءِ بَينَهُما

تَمازج وَنَسيم الرَوض وَالسحرُ

His words and limpid water share

a mingling, with the garden breeze and magic.

وَخَطُهُ هُوَ وَالسحر المجوَّز قَد

تَلازَما وَجُفون الغيد وَالحورُ

His handwriting and permissible magic have

become inseparable, like beauties' eyelids and their dark-eyed charm.

لا يَستَطيع اِنصِرافاً عَن تَأَمُل ما

يَملي وَيَكتُب لا سَمع وَلا بَصَرُ

Cannot turn away from contemplating what

he dictates and writes—neither ear nor eye.

يَطوي مَحاسِنَهُ وَالطَيّ يَنشُرُها

كَما تَبرج في أَكمامِهِ الزَهرُ

He folds his virtues away, yet folding unfolds them,

as blossom flaunts itself within its sheaths.

مَفاخر لَيسَ يَخفيها تَواضعهُ

وَلِلصَباح ظُهور لَيسَ يَستَتِرُ

Glories his humility cannot conceal;

dawn has a radiance that cannot be hidden.

ذِكري مَناقبهُ في شَرح سيرَتِهِ

مطول لَكن التَلخيص مُختَصَرُ

My recounting of his virtues in expounding his life

is lengthy, yet the summary is brief.

إِن طالَعتَ كُتبهُ أَعداؤُهُ كَسرت

فَقارَ أَظهُرِهم مِن خَوفِهِ الفُقرُ

If his enemies peruse his letters, the passages break

the vertebrae of their backs through fear of him.

مِن كُلِ مَعنىً بِديوان يَقول لَهُ

قَلب المُخاطب إِجلالاً وَيَنفَطِرُ

To every meaning in a dispatch speaks

the addressee's heart, in awe, and splits apart.

حصن العِقاب غَدا مِن خَوف سَطوَتِهِ

يَرتَج مِن قَبل أَن تَنتابُهُ النذرُ

The fortress of al-'Uqab, in dread of his might, began

to quake before warnings even reached it.

فَسَلموهُ وَأَخفى الجَرَس هاربهم

أَن صَرصر الباز أَخفى سدعهُ النغرُ

So they surrendered it, and their fugitive hushed his voice;

when the hawk shrieks, the sparrow stills its song.

وَفَرَّ قعدان وَالأَقوام تَعذرهُ

إِذ فَرَّ مِن أَسَد غَضبان يَهتَصرُ

Qa'dan fled, and the people excuse him,

for he fled a furious lion that rends.

يَهَتَزّ في جفنِهِ وَالدار نازِحَةٌ

شَوقاً إِلى وَدجيهِ الصارم الذكرُ

It quivers in its sheath, though the dwelling is far away,

yearning for his two jugular veins—the hard-tempered, keen-edged sword.

قَد كانَ في صيتِهِ لِلقَوم مَوعِظَةً

لَيتَ السَفيه بِغَير السَيف يَنزَجِرُ

His renown held a warning for those people;

would that the fool were checked without the sword!

تَخافَتوا بَينَهُم إِذ زارَ أَرضَهُمُ

بِالدارعين فَلو صَلوا لَما جَهَروا

They whispered among themselves when he visited their land

with armored men; had they prayed, they would not have prayed aloud.

إِن مَرَّ مِنهُ خَيال في خَواطرهم

ذابَت مَرارَتَهُم وَاِنحَلَت المررُ

If a vision of him crossed their minds,

their gall melted and their sinews unraveled.

تَوحشوا فَرقاً حَتّى مَواردهم

ما أَسأر البَقَر الوَحشيّ وَالحُمرُ

They took to the wilderness in terror, till their drinking water was

what wild cattle and asses left undrunk.

فَهارب بِجِوار الرال مُعتَصم

وَآخرٌ بِوجار الضَب مُنحجِرُ

One fugitive seeks refuge beside an ostrich chick,

another is holed up in a lizard's burrow.

لَولا المَفاوز وَارتهم لَما وَأَلوا

هَيهات لَم يَنجُ مِن مِيعادَهُ سقرُ

Had the deserts not concealed them, they would not have escaped.

Far from it! He whose appointed abode is Saqar has not escaped.

فَالذُل إِن صَبَروا وَالرُعب إِن نَفَروا

وَالقَتل إِن ظَهَروا وَالنار إِن قَبَروا

Humiliation if they stand firm, terror if they flee;

death if they emerge, and fire if they are buried.

أَما العصاة فَقَد ماتوا وَما دَفنوا

خَوفاً وَأَما الأولى دانوا فَقَد نَشَروا

As for the rebels, they have died, though not been buried,

of fear; but those who submitted have come back to life.

وَحارَبَتهُ بَنو حَرب فَأَورَدَهُم

مِن المنية وَرداً مالَهُ صَدرُ

The Banu Harb fought him, and he brought them

to death's watering place, from which there is no return.

فَأَصبَحَت هامهم في البيد ساقِطَة

كَما تَساقَطَ مِن أَغصانِهِ الثَمَرُ

Their heads lay fallen in the deserts,

like fruit dropping from its branches.

حَتّى إِذا اِحمَرَت الصَفراء مِن دَمِهم

وَسالَ في كُل وادٍ جَدوَلُ كَدرُ

Until, when al-Safra reddened with their blood

and a turbid stream ran through every valley,

زارَتهُمُ النار في الدُنيا معاجلة

تِلكَ الرُبوع بِما خانوا وَما فَجَروا

fire visited them in this world, hastening to

those dwellings for their treachery and wickedness.

تَحصنوا بِجِبال الشامِخات فَما

أَغنَت مَعاقلهم عَنهُم وَلا الحَذَرُ

They fortified themselves in towering mountains, but

neither their strongholds nor caution availed them.

أَخفاهُمُ الرُعب وَالتَأمين أَظهرهم

لَما اِستَغاثوا فَما غابوا وَلا حَضَروا

Terror hid them; assurances of safety brought them out

when they cried for help, so they neither vanished nor appeared.

كان السَبيل إِلى البَيت الحَرام وَقَد

تَفاقَمَ الأَمر صَعباً كُلُهُ خَطَرُ

The road to the Sacred House had become,

as the crisis worsened, difficult and wholly perilous.

حَتّى الطَواف عَلى طَيف الخَيال بِما

ظَنوا مَحالاً فَخابَ الظَن بَل خَسِروا

Even circling it in a fleeting fancy was, as

they thought, impossible; their supposition failed—indeed, they lost.

وَوكل اللَه بِالحَجاج متكلاً

عَلَيهِ لا الخَوف يَثنيهِ وَلا الحَذَرُ

God appointed over the pilgrims one relying

on Him, whom neither fear nor caution deters.

يَرعاهُم بِجِنان ملؤهُ هِمَمُ

بِلا فُتور وَطَرف كحلُهُ السَهَرُّ

He watches over them with a heart filled with high resolve,

without weariness, and an eye whose kohl is sleeplessness.

يَهنيهِ زادٍ بِبَحر الآل تَحملها

سُفُنٌ وَما ثمذَ الواحٌ وَلا دسرُ

Provisions gladden him, borne across the sea of mirage

by ships where there are neither planks nor nails.

وَبالروايا مياه في المَفاوز مِن

أَفواهِها كَالسَحاب الجون تَنهَمِرُ

And in the waterskins is water in the deserts, from

their mouths pouring like dark rain clouds.

قُل لِأَعاريب كَم روم وَكَم عَجَمٍ

راموا الثَبات لَهُ يَوماً فَما قَدَروا

Tell the Bedouins: how many Romans and how many non-Arabs

once sought to stand against him, but could not!

فَلا يَغُرَنَّكُم بُعد الدِيار فَما

عَلى الأَجادل بَعد الحين تَبتدرُ

Let not the remoteness of your lands deceive you; for

distance is nothing to falcons racing toward doom.

لا غُروُ فَالأَكرَم المِغوار يذكر في

أَلقابِهِ الغُر وَالأَلقاب تَعتَبِرُ

No wonder: 'Most Generous, Bold Warrior' appears among

his illustrious titles—and titles count.

وَخَيلُهُ لا تَزال الدَهر ملجمةً

لا الوَهم يَلحق مَسراها وَلا النَظَرُ

His horses remain bridled for all time;

neither imagination nor sight can catch their night-march.

تَسيل كَالبَحر إِلّا أَنَّها أَبَداً

نيران حَرب عَلى الأَعداءِ تَستَعِرُ

They surge like the sea, except that they are always

fires of war blazing against the enemy.

سِياطَها العَتب في الغارات إِن فَتَرَت

وَالخَيل تَعتب فيما قَرر الأَثَرُ

Their whips are reproach in raids, if they flag,

and horses heed reproach, as tradition affirms.

عَزت لَدَيهِ نَواصيها فَقَد غبطت

جِباههنَّ خُدود الغيد وَالطُررُ

Their forelocks are honored by him; envied are

their foreheads by the cheeks and fringes of graceful women.

مِن كُل طَرف إِذا ما الطَرف عايَنهُ

تَقَسمَت لُبهُ الأَوضاح وَالغُرُرُ

Each noble steed, when the eye beholds it,

has its white markings and blazes divide the beholder's heart.

إِذا جَرى الماء مِن أَعطافِهِ عَرَقاً

يَكادُ يَقدح مِن أَحداقِهِ الشَررُ

When water runs from its flanks as sweat,

it almost strikes sparks from its eyes.

أَعدَّ لِلحَرب قَلباً ما بِهِ وَجَلٌ

وَمدَّ لِلمَجد باعاً ما بِهِ قصرُ

He has readied for war a heart in which no fear dwells,

and stretched toward glory an arm that never falls short.

قرعُ القَنا وَزَئير الأَسَد يُطربهُ

عِندَ المَلاحم لا كَأس وَلا وَتَرُ

The clash of spears and the roar of lions delight him

amid great battles—not the cup or the plucked string.

إِن كَرَّ يَوماً رَأَيت الهَام طائِرة

كَما تَدَحرج في مَيدانِها الأَكرُ

When he charges, you see heads flying,

as balls tumble across their playing field.

مِن تَحتِهِ البَرق إِلّا أَنَّهُ فَرَسٌ

في سَرجِهِ اللَيث إِلّا أَنَّهُ بَشَرُ

Beneath him is lightning, except that it is a horse;

in its saddle is a lion, except that he is human.

لا يُشهر السَيف في خطب يُحاولهُ

إِلّا عَلى وَقعة تَزهو بِها السَيرُ

He never draws the sword in an undertaking he pursues

except for a battle in which the chronicles take pride.

سَيفٌ تَبَسم لَما أَن بَكوا جَزعاً

كَأَنَّما دَمَهُم في خَدِهِ خَفرُ

A sword that smiled when they wept in panic,

as though their blood upon its cheek were a blush of modesty.

لَو لَم يَكُن في الطِباع البَغي ما طَبعت

زرق الأَسنة وَالهِندية البترُ

Were aggression not in human nature, there would not have been forged

blue spearheads and keen Indian blades.

فَاِستَقَر أيةَ أَنَزلنا الحَديد تَجد

في طَيِها حُكماً فيهنَّ مُعتَبِرُ

Read the verse 'We sent down iron,' and you will find

within it a judgment concerning them, worthy of heed.

وَكَم أَساءَ ذوو جَهل فَعاملهم

بِالحلم وَالحلم يَستَبقى بِهِ الظَفر

How often the ignorant have wronged him, yet he dealt with them

with forbearance; through forbearance victory is preserved.

بَحرٌ مِن الحلم عَن علم يُسدده

وَالبَحرُ يَعلو وَما مِن طَبعِهِ الكَدر

A sea of forbearance, from knowledge that guides him;

the sea rises, yet muddiness is not its nature.

قَد عمنا صَفداً مِن قَبل مدحتِهِ

مِن بَعد إِن كانَت الأَصفاد تَنتَظِرُ

He embraced us with gifts before we praised him,

even if gifts were to be awaited afterward.

وَاِمتازَ رَسمي بِهِ وَالشَمس تَرفع عَن

أَرض المَذَلة ظلّاً خَطُهُ السحر

Through him my allotment gained distinction; the sun lifts from

the earth of abasement a shadow whose outline is magic.

صَنعت لِلشُكر عقداً الَ ما وَأَدت

أَبكاره قلة الأَفكار وَالغَير

I fashioned a necklace of thanks—[unclear word]—whose

virgin gems scant thought and changing fortune did not bury alive.

وَلَستُ أَمدح إِلّا عَن مُشاهَدة

وَالخَبَر يُثبت ما لا يُثبت الخَبَر

I praise only from what I have witnessed;

experience establishes what mere report cannot establish.

ما الفَخر في المَلبس المَنسوج مِن ذَهَب

لِباس أَهل العُلا ما تنسج الفكر

Pride lies not in garments woven from gold;

the clothing of the lofty is what thoughts weave.

لا زالَ مُنتَشِراً بَعدَ الدُعاءِ لَهُ

في كُل قُطر ثَناء نَشرَهُ عُطر

May there ever spread, after prayer for him,

through every land, praise whose fragrance is perfume.