بكى الغريب لفقد الدار والجار — Al Burai

بَكى الغَريب لفقد الدار وَالجار

ان الغَريب غَزير دمعه الجاري

The exile wept for the loss of home and neighbor;

indeed, the exile's flowing tears are abundant.

أَهاجه الركب اذ قالوا الرَحيل غدا

أَم شاقه لمع ذاك البارق الساري

Did the caravan stir him when they said, “Departure is tomorrow”?

Or did the gleam of that night-roving lightning awaken his longing?

أَم باتَ يرقب نارا بالحمى وَقدت

يا موقد النار لا عذبت بالنار

Or did he spend the night watching a fire kindled in the protected grounds?

O kindler of the fire, may you never be tormented by fire!

هب النَسيم بأَرواح يمانية

تهدي إِلى الشأم ذاكَ المندل الداري

The breeze blew with Yemeni fragrances,

bringing al-Sham that aloeswood of Darin.

فبت وَالقلب مَجروح جوارحه

حيران أَضرب أَخماسا بأَعشار

So I passed the night, my heart wounded in every part,

bewildered, multiplying fives by tens.

نام الخليون من حولي وَما عَلِموا

أَتى سَمير صبابات وَتذكار

The carefree slept around me, unaware

that a night-companion of yearning and remembrance had come.

ذكرت جيرة نجد يوم دارهم

دارى وَسما رذاكَ الحَي سمارى

I remembered the neighbors of Najd, when their home

was my home, and that quarter's night-companions were mine.

وَذبت وجدا لأرض لي بها وطر

هَيهات كَم بَينَ أَوطاني وأَوطاري

And I melted with longing for a land where my heart's desire lies;

alas, how far apart are my homelands and my desires!

يا ممرضي بربا نجد أَعد مَرضى

عَسى يَعودون عوادى وزوّاري

O you who make me ill on Najd's hills, renew my illness,

perhaps my sickbed callers and visitors will return.

فقد وهبت لغزلان العذيب دمي

وَلَم أطالب عيون العين بالثار

For I have given my blood to the gazelles of al-Udhayb,

nor did I seek blood-vengeance from the eyes of those wide-eyed gazelles.

لَولا فراق الفَريق النازلين عَلى

حكم الهَوى ما وشى دَمعي باسراري

Were it not for parting from the company who dwell under

love's rule, my tears would not have betrayed my secrets.

فَكَم تقسم قَلبي نية عرضت

مَقسومة بين انجاد واغوار

How often has a passing intention divided my heart,

itself divided between highlands and lowlands.

يا معمل العيس من شام الى يمن

معوّدا حمل أَهوال وأحطار

O driver of the pale camels from al-Sham to Yemen,

accustomed to shouldering terrors and dangers,

سلم عَلى الحَي من نيابَتي برع

وَقل لهم حين تنبيهم باخباري

greet the folk of Buraʿ on my behalf,

and tell them, when you bring them news of me:

رأَيته حول بيت اللَه في زمر

من طائفين وَحجاج وَعمار

I saw him around the House of God among throngs

of those circumambulating, Hajj pilgrims, and Umrah pilgrims.

وَقَد قَضى عمل النسكين محتسبا

وَنال ما نال من غفران غفار

He had completed the observance of both pilgrimages, seeking God's reward,

and gained what he gained of the All-Forgiving's pardon.

لكنه ضاقَ ذرعا أَن يحج وَلَم

يزر شَفيع البَرايا صفوة الباري

Yet he could not bear to perform Hajj and not

visit the intercessor of all creatures, the Creator's chosen one:

محمدا دعوة الحق الرَسول إِلى

عرب وَعجم وَبدو ثم حضار

Muhammad, the summons of Truth, the Messenger to

Arabs and non-Arabs, nomads and then settled folk.

سر السرارة لب اللب خير فَتى

من فتية سادة السادات اخيار

The secret of the inmost core, the essence of essence, the finest youth

among virtuous young men, masters of masters.

مستودع الحسن والاحسان ذو كرم

بالخير اجود من روح الصبا الذارى

A treasury of beauty and beneficence, endowed with generosity,

more lavish with goodness than the east wind's scattering breath.

مستغرق باسمه كل المحامد من

علم وَحلم وافضال وايثار

Encompassing in his name all praiseworthy qualities of

knowledge, forbearance, bounty, and selflessness.

حياك يا طيبة الغراء صوب حيا

يهمى بمنسجم في الحي مطار

May a downpour of rain greet you, O radiant Taybah,

streaming in an unbroken flow, pouring over the quarter,

حيث النبوة مضروب سرادقها

عَلى رياض جنان ذات أَنهار

where Prophethood has its pavilion pitched

over garden meadows graced with rivers.

اللَه أَكبَر ذافرد الجَلالَة ذا ال

كاسي من الكيس وَالعاري من العاري

God is greatest! This is the peerless one in majesty; this is the one

clothed in discernment and stripped of disgrace.

ذابهجة الكون ذا سر الهداية ذا

روح الوجود المصفى خير مختار

This is the universe's splendor, this is guidance's secret, this is

the purified spirit of existence, the finest chosen one.

انجيل عيسى مَع التَوراة بشرنا

ببثه مسندا عن كعب أَحبار

Jesus' Gospel, together with the Torah, brought us glad tidings

of his being sent forth, in a report traced to Kaʿb al-Ahbar.

وَكَم له في عَلامات النبوّة من

مصنفات صَحيحات وآثار

And how many there are concerning his signs of prophethood:

authentic writings and transmitted accounts!

كبرء مرضى وَفيض الماء مزيده

وأنس نافر غزلان وأطيار

Such as healing the sick and water flowing in multiplied abundance,

and the tameness of skittish gazelles and birds;

وَنطق ضب وَنسج العَنكَبوت كَما

باض الحمام الثَاني اثنين في الغار

and a lizard's speech, and a spider's weaving, as

the doves laid eggs for the second of two in the cave.

وَالعضو كلمه وَالجذع حن وَفي

مَعناه تَسليم أَحجار وَأَشجار

The limb spoke to him, and the tree-trunk yearned; and in

the same vein, stones and trees offered greetings.

وَالغيم ظلله وَالبدر شق له

وَالثدى فاضَ بدر منه مدرارا

The clouds shaded him, and the full moon was split for him;

and the udder overflowed, milk streaming copiously from it.

وَكَم لا شرف رسل اللَه من شَرف

لَم تبلغ الخلق منه عشر معشار

And how much honor belongs to the noblest of God's messengers—

creation has not attained even a tenth of a tenth of it!

يا منقذ الخلق من نار الجَحيم وَهم

عَلى شفا جرف هار بمهنار

O rescuer of creation from Hell's fire, while they are

on the brink of a crumbling bank, on the point of collapse.

يا عدتي يا رَجائي في النَوائب يا

عزى وَكنزى وَيسرى بعد اعساري

O my support, O my hope in calamities, O

my strength and my treasure, and my ease after my hardships,

اسمع غَرائِب مدح لا أريد بها

تحصيل دار وَدينار وَقنطار

hear wondrous praises through which I do not seek

to gain a house, a dinar, or a qintar of wealth.

بَل أَرتَجي منك في الدارين مرحمة

وَفي الاقامة بين الدار وَالدار

Rather, I hope for mercy from you in both worlds,

and while dwelling between one abode and the other.

فَما مدحتك بالتَقصير معترفا

الا لتخفيف آصاري وأَوزاري

For I have not praised you—acknowledging my inadequacy—

except to lighten my burdens and my sins.

وأين ينزل مدحي فيك بعد ثنا

سبع المثاني وَما سجعي واشعاري

And where can my praise of you stand after the praise of

the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses? And what are my rhymed prose and poems?

عليك أَزكى صَلاة اللَه دائمة

تَبقى بقاء عشيات وابكار

May God's purest blessing be upon you forever,

enduring as long as evenings and mornings remain,

تندى عليك عَبير اطيبا وَعَلى

مهاجرين وآل ثم أنصار

shedding the sweetest perfume like dew upon you, and upon

the Emigrants and his family, then the Helpers.