راح الزمان ولا علم عن العلم — Al Burai

راحَ الزَمان وَلا علم عَن العلم

وَلا سَلام عَلى سَلمى بذي سلم

Time has passed, with no news of the landmark,

nor a greeting to Salma at Dhu Salam.

باتَت تقسم قَلبي نية وقفت

قَلبي عَلى الجيرة الغادين عَن اضم

All night a resolve divided my heart, fixing

my heart upon the neighbors departing at dawn from Iḍam.

فبت أندب وصلا غير متصل

بالمنجدين لصرم غير منصرم

So I spent the night lamenting a bond no longer joined

with those bound for Najd, through a separation without end.

رضيت حكم الهَوى العذرى لي وَلهم

فَما اِرتَضوا سفح دَمعي دون سفك دَمي

I accepted ʿUdhri love's judgment for me and for them,

but they would not accept my tears shed instead of my blood.

أَدرج القَلب من شهر إِلى سنة

عنهم وأرضيه دون الوصلبالحلم

I coax the heart onward, from month to year,

away from them, and content it with dreams instead of union.

يا نازِلا بر بانجد أعدخبرا

عَن معهد بعقيق الرمل منهدم

O you alighting on Najd's uplands, bring back news

of a ruined dwelling-site at ʿAqiq al-Raml,

وَدمنة قسمت بالبين أَربعها

بين الزَمان وبين الريح والديم

and a ruined campsite whose dwellings separation apportioned

between time, the wind, and the steady rains.

لَم يَبقَ منها سوى الاطلال خامدة

أو الجآذر والآرام في الاطم

Nothing remains of it but lifeless ruins,

or wild-ox calves and white gazelles in the strongholds.

وَما رعيت هَواها اذ مررت بها

الا بدمع عَلى الخدين منسجم

And I did not honor my love for it, when I passed by,

except with tears streaming down both cheeks.

أَطارح الدار تَسليمي وَلَو عقلت

لا خبرتني عَن عاد وعن أرم

I offer the dwelling my greetings; had it understanding,

it would surely have told me of ʿAd and Iram.

يا لائمي دع فؤادي للهموم فَلضو

لاقيت بعض الَّذي لاقيت لم تلم

O my reproacher, leave my heart to sorrows; for if

you had suffered some of what I suffered, you would not reproach me.

وَخل قَلبي لنار الوجد محرقة

وَالجفن للدمع والاعضاء للسقم

And leave my heart to longing's consuming fire,

and the eyelid to tears, and the limbs to sickness.

كَم حول الدهر حالاتي وَها أَناذا

أَلقاه حين لقاني غير مهتضم

How often has time altered my condition! And here I am,

meeting it, when it meets me, unhumbled.

وَكَم تغيرت الايام وَالتبست

فَما تغيرت اخلاقي وَلا شيَمي

And how often have the days changed and grown tangled,

yet neither my character nor my dispositions have changed.

لا أَشرب المر موثوقاً به طمعا

وَلا أَقول عَلى ما فاتَ واندمي

I do not drink bitterness, bound to it by greed,

nor say of what is lost, 'Alas, my regret!'

وَلا يخوفني دهريحول وَلا

هول يهول وَلا تهديد مصطلم

Nor does a changing age frighten me, nor

a terror that appalls, nor an annihilating threat.

وَفي قعار جناب ما نزلت به

الا أَممنت أَمان الصيد في الحرم

And in a sanctuary's depths, I have never alighted

without finding the safety of game within the Sacred Precinct.

أَلوذ بالمشهد المَحروس منتصرا

كأَنَّني منه في ركن وَملتزم

I seek refuge at the guarded shrine, asking aid,

as though there I were at the Corner and the Multazam.

حيث الجَلالَة مضروب سرادقها

وَالنور مبتسم بجلود حي الظلم

where majesty's pavilion is pitched,

and light smiles upon the skins of darkness's realm [unclear wording].

اللَه أَكبر ذا الطود المنيف ذرأ

ذا العالم العلم ابن العالم العلم

God is greatest! This is the mountain, lofty in its summits;

this is the scholar-beacon, son of a scholar-beacon.

هَذا النهارىالَّذي في ضمن تربته

حج وَمُعتَمِر للأَنيق الرسم

This is al-Nahari, within whose tomb's precinct

are pilgrims and an ʿumra visitor to its graceful outline.

ذا البدر ذا القطر ذا البحر المحيط غني

زاكي المناصب سامي القدر والهمم

This full moon, this rain, this encompassing sea is rich,

noble in station, lofty in rank and aspiration.

هَذا محمد السامي فَتى عمر

لب اللباب ابن أم الجود وَالكرم

This is Muhammad the exalted, ʿUmar's son,

the essence of essence, son of the mother of generosity and munificence.

ذا الكامل الفاضل الفياض ناثله

غوث العَشائر غيث الخير وَالنعم

This is the perfect, virtuous one, whose bounty overflows,

the succor of tribes, the rain of goodness and blessings.

ذا الابلج المتقى من أمة وسط

مخاطبينبكنتم خير في القدم

This is the radiant, God-fearing one, from a balanced community,

addressed long ago with 'You were the best.'

أَغر كالشمس لا يَخفى عَلى أَحد

الاعلى أَحدعما يَراه عمى

Radiant as the sun, he is hidden from no one,

except one who is blind to seeing him.

لَو صور الخلق من قول ومن كلم

لكان معنى لمعنى القول وَالكلم

Were creation fashioned from speech and words,

he would be the meaning of the meaning of speech and words.

وان يكن بشرا من قوم اِشتَبَهوا

خلقا فَما صفر كالاشهر الحرم

And though he is a human among people alike

in form, Safar is not like the sacred months.

لَم تلهه بهجة الدنيا وَزخرفها

وَلا التفاخر بالاتباعوَالخدم

The world's splendor and ornament have not distracted him,

nor boasting of followers and servants.

له الكَرامات والاحوال ظاهرة

في الشرق وَالغرب بين العرب وَالعجم

His miraculous gifts and spiritual states are manifest

in East and West, among Arabs and non-Arabs.

فالكائنات لديه غير غائبة

والارض بين يديه خطوة القدم

For created things are never absent from him,

and the earth before him is a single footstep.

وَالحجب وَالعرش وَالكرسي بارزة

في عينه في رموز اللوح وَالقَلَم

And the veils, the Throne, and the Footstool stand revealed

to his sight, in the symbols of the Tablet and the Pen.

يَدعو الفَتى باسمه حقا وَينسبه

صدقا عَلى بعده وَالبعد كالامم

He calls a young man by his true name and names his lineage

truthfully, despite his distance—for distance is like nearness.

مكاشف بخفيات الامور فَما

غيب بخاف ولا سر بمكتتم

Hidden matters are unveiled to him, so

no unseen thing is hidden, nor any secret concealed.

تبدي فراسته أَنوار حكمته

وَما أَمين عَلى غيب بمتهم

His discernment reveals the lights of his wisdom;

and one entrusted with the unseen is not suspect.

مَولاي مَولاي كَم أَدعوك مفتقرا

وَكَم اشافهك الشكوى فَما لفم

My master, my master, how often I call on you in need,

and how often I speak my complaint to you, mouth to mouth!

فاسمع ولب ندائي بالاجابة يا

منزه السمع عَن وقر وَعَن صمم

So hear and answer my call with a response, O

you whose hearing is free of heaviness and deafness.

ان الفَقير الحرازي صاحبي عثرت

به كَبائرهفضلا عَن اللمم

Indeed, my companion, the needy al-Harazi, has been tripped

by his grave sins, in addition to his lesser lapses.

وَقَد وصلت إِلى هذا الجناب وَلي

فيك الظنونومن وافى حماك حمى

And I have reached this sanctuary, and I hold

hopes in you; and whoever comes to your sanctuary is protected,

مستنجدا بك من هول المعاد فخذ

بذمة منك لي يا وافي الذمم

seeking your aid against the terror of the Return; so take

me under your pledge of protection, O keeper of pledges.

ان لم تقم بي نهوضا كلما اِعترضت

لي الحَوادث لم أَنهض وَلَم أقم

If you do not lift me up whenever

calamities confront me, I shall neither rise nor stand.

وَكَيفَ حيلة من عسى وَيصبح في

بحر محيط من الاوزار ملتطم

And what recourse has one who [passes the evening] and wakes in

a surging ocean of sins?

فانظر إِلى بعين اللطف منك لكي

يَلقاني الخطب نحوي ملقى السلم

So look upon me with your eye of kindness, so that

adversity may meet me offering peace toward me.

واكف السناجي عليا طول غربته

وَصنعه من جور دهر خائن خصم

And spare ʿAli al-Sanaji the length of his exile,

and protect him from the injustice of a treacherous, hostile age.

وَكن لقائلها عَبد الرَحيم اذا

ضاق الخناق له من أَمنع العصم

And be for its speaker, ʿAbd al-Rahim, when

the noose tightens around him, among the surest safeguards.

فَلَم يَزَل بك في أمن وَفي دعة

وَفي جناب عَزيز القدر محترم

For through you he has remained in safety and ease,

and in a sanctuary of exalted worth, held in honor.

فأَنتَ يا موسم الزوّار ملجؤنا

عما نحاذر في الدارين من نقم

For you, O visitors' gathering place, are our refuge

from the punishments we fear in the two abodes.

قل أَنتما من اصيحاني وَحاشيَتي

وَمن خصائص اتباعي وَمن حشمي

Say: 'You two are among my dear companions and my retinue,

and among the select of my followers, and among my attendants.'

وَعم بالخير أَهلينا وَجيرتنا

ومن يَلينا من الاصحاب وَالرحم

And encompass our families and our neighbors with goodness,

and whoever is near us among friends and kin.

مني السَلام عَلى أَنوار قبرك ما

تحاوبت ساجعات الايك بالنغم

From me, peace upon the lights of your grave, so long as

the cooing birds of the thicket answer one another in song.

وَجاد مشهدك المَيمون منسجم

بخص مستودع الاحكام وَالحكم

And may your blessed shrine be watered by a flowing rain,

singling out the repository of judgments and wisdom.