باليمن ركبك يغتدي ويروح — أحمد الكاشف

باليمن ركبُك يغتدي ويروحُ

ويغيب محمودَ الثرى ويلوحُ

With good fortune your cavalcade travels morning and evening,

And disappears and reappears, its soil praised.

نعمت بقربك أنفس ذهبت بها

في بُعدك الأشواق والتبريح

Souls delighted in your nearness, having been swept away

In your absence by yearning and torment.

لك وحدك الوادي الخصيب ونيله

ولربك التقديس والتسبيح

Yours alone are the fertile valley and its Nile,

And to your Lord belong sanctification and glorification.

فمجاهد لك في البلاد تعينه

بمؤذن لك في العباد يصيح

Thus you aid a warrior for you throughout the lands

With a muezzin calling out for you among the people.

شهدت بنجدتك الممالك واقتدى

بك في المشارق أعجم وفصيح

The kingdoms attested your valor, and an example was taken

From you in eastern lands, by the foreign-tongued and the eloquent alike.

يا خير أركان الخلافة إن ما

تبديه برهانٌ لمصرَ صحيح

O finest pillar of the Caliphate, indeed what

You reveal is sound proof for Egypt.

وأبرَّ أعوان الخليفة حسبُهُ

في الأمر والتدبير منك نصيح

And most dutiful of the Caliph's aides, it is enough for him

To have in you a faithful adviser in affairs and governance.

أرضاك منه ثناؤُهُ الغالي كما

أرضاه منك ولاؤك المشروح

His high praise pleased you, just as

Your openly expressed loyalty pleased him.

وأجبت دعوته وأنت موفق

والدهر سلم والمجاز فسيح

You answered his invitation, favored with success,

While the times were peaceful and the passage wide.

ودخلت عاصمة الخلافة شيقاً

والصلحُ مَرْضِيُّ الشروطِ مليح

You entered the capital of the Caliphate, full of longing,

And the peace accord was fair, with agreeable terms.

حيَّى جلالك عسكر وسفائن

ومدائن ومعاقل وصروح

Troops and ships saluted your majesty,

And cities, strongholds, and lofty edifices.

مشهودة فيها شمائلُك التي

أجملتها ونضارُك الممنوح

Seen in them are your virtues, which

Have adorned them, and the gold you bestowed.

كم شد مغوارٌ عزائمه بها

ونجا أسير واستطبَّ جريح

How many a valiant warrior strengthened his resolve through them,

And a captive escaped, and a wounded man sought treatment.

ذكروا بعهدك عهد جدك والتقت

آثاره وصنيعك الممدوح

In your reign they recalled your grandfather's reign; and together came

His legacy and your lauded deeds.

أنسوا بنجواك التي أخفيتها

حيناً وجئت بها لمصر تبوح

They took comfort in your private counsel, which you concealed

For a time, then came to disclose to Egypt.

عقبى التجارب وهي غُرٌّ سمحة

وثمار ذاك الرأي وهو صريح

The outcome of trials, themselves bright and generous,

And the fruits of that judgment, which is candid.

حَدِّثْ عن الشرق الذي مكنته

هذا الحديث الحلو فهو صريح

Speak of the East that you have strengthened,

With this sweet account, for it is candid.

واشرح لنا سبل السلامة بعدما

أعيى العدى التجنيد والتسليح

And explain to us the paths of safety, after

Recruitment and armament had exhausted the foes.

ماذا جنى جار عليهم مشفق

كم بات وهو العائل المفدوح

What wrong did a neighbor concerned for them commit?

How often he passed the night, needy and heavily burdened!

غفل الحماة عن الذمار وأدبروا

حتى أبيح ذمارهم وأبيحوا

The defenders neglected their inviolable charge and turned away,

Until their charge was violated, and they themselves became fair game.

وتخاذلوا حتى إذا دفعوا الأذى

عنهم عصاهم موجهم والريح

They failed one another, until, when they drove harm

Away from themselves, their waves and the wind defied them.

وتفرقوا شيعاً وتلك جناية

لم يمحها إلا الدم المسفوح

They split into factions; that was a crime

Which nothing erased but spilled blood.

خلت المدائن والقرى فلأهلها

ولِنَبْتِها التطويح والتصويح

The cities and villages emptied; their people

And their plants faced dispersal and withering.

فمجال كل مرابطٍ مستهدفٌ

وفؤاد كل موحد مقروح

So every frontier guard's field lay exposed to attack,

And the heart of every believer in God's oneness was wounded.

لم يبق إلا أعزلٌ متخلِّفٌ

وكأنه بين الذئاب ذبيح

None remained but an unarmed straggler,

As though a slaughtered victim among wolves,

ومتوج بالسيئات موشح

لم يغنه التتويج والتوشيح

And a crowned man, adorned with evil deeds,

Whom neither coronation nor decoration availed.

يمشي على طلل القلاع تشفِّياً

بدماء حارسهن وهو طريح

He walks upon the ruined fortresses, gloating

Over their guardian's blood, as he lies fallen.

كم ضج فيها مسجد مما جنى

أجناده وكم استغاث ضريح

How many a mosque within them cried out at what

His troops had perpetrated, and how many a tomb cried for help!

ما اجتازها جذلان حتى هاله

جيش مبيد للطغاة مجيح

He had scarcely crossed them exultant before he was appalled

By an army, annihilating tyrants and laying waste.

وكأنه مما توقد طائر

وكأنه فيما أسيل سبوح

And as though a bird from what had blazed,

And as though a strong swimmer in what was made to flow.

وتدارك الصدر ابن عمك أمة

وهنت عزائمها وضاق الروح

And the Grand Vizier, your cousin, rescued a nation

Whose resolve had weakened and whose spirit was stifled.

وطغت عليها الحادثات فلو أتى

لنجاتها نوح لأخفق نوح

And calamities overwhelmed it; had there come

Noah to rescue it, even Noah would have failed.

نصرت سعيد الدولة ابن حليمها

فُرَصٌ يقدرها لها ويتيح

Sa'id of the state, son of its Halim, was aided

By opportunities he assesses for it and makes available.

وتنازع الملك الأعادي بعد ما

جمع العدى بغيٌ عليه قبيح

And the enemies fought over the kingdom after

Vile aggression against it had united the foes.

سلبوه ثم تقاتلوا فأزاحهم

عن ذلك السلب الثمين مزيح

They plundered it, then fought one another, and were driven

From that precious spoil by one who drove them away.

عن أخت أندلسٍ جلاهم جحفلٌ

متربص للباقيات طموح

A mighty host expelled them from a sister of Andalusia,

Lying in wait for the rest, full of ambition.

غضبانُ جبار العقاب إذا رأى

متنمراً وعن المنيب صفوح

Wrathful, formidable in punishment at the sight

Of a tigerish aggressor, yet forgiving toward the penitent.

أخلاق مقتدر مراحم ظافر

فكأنها بعد الفتوح فتوح

The virtues of one with power, the mercies of a victor—

So after conquests they seem like further conquests.

ذل العدى ووفى الغريم وأنصفت

صحف وطاب شجٍ وجاد شحيح

The foes were humbled, the debtor paid, and fairness marked

The papers; the grieving found relief, and the miser gave.

إن سرحوا تلك الجيوش ضئيلةً

فإلى معاد ذلك التسريح

If they demobilize those feeble armies,

Then that demobilization leads to a return.

وتدوم أضغان الطغاة ولو أتى

لعلاجها بعد المسيح مسيح

And the rancors of tyrants endure, even if there came

To cure them, after the Messiah, another Messiah.

تعدو الشعوب على الشعوب وفي غد

تهوى عروش ملوكهم وتطيح

Peoples assail peoples, and tomorrow

Their kings' thrones will fall and topple.

قد كان يفصل بينهم ذو قوة

كم هان جبار له وجموح

A man of power once arbitrated between them;

How many tyrants and rebels were humbled before him!

يقظان في البلقان يطفئُ نارَه

ومثيرُها بلهيبها ملفوح

Vigilant in the Balkans, he quenches its fire,

And its instigator is scorched by its blaze.

لو حكَّموه كما تعوَّد لم يكن

في الأرض إلا طاعة وجنوح

Had they made him arbiter as usual, there would have been

On earth only obedience and submission.

مولاي شاقنيَ الجنابُ وراقني

أمل لشعبك في الجناب صبيح

My lord, your presence stirred my longing, and I was delighted

By a bright hope for your people in that presence.

غنَّيتُ أبطالَ الخلافة بعد ما

كادت تنوح عليهمُ وأنوح

I sang of the Caliphate's heroes, after

It had nearly wailed for them, and I with it.

لك أنعم عندي وعند علاك لي

شعر يضيء بذكرها ويفوح

You have bestowed favors on me; and before Your Highness I have

Verse that shines at their mention and gives off fragrance.