سارت العيس يرجعن الحنينا — Al Busayri

سارَتِ العِيسَ يُرَجِّعْنَ الحَنِينا

وَيُجَاذِبْنَ مِنَ الشَّوْقِ البُرينا

The pale camels journeyed, repeating their yearning cries,

And, in longing, tugged against their nose-rings.

دامِياتٍ مِنْ حَقِّي أَخْفافُها

تَقْطَعُ البِيدُ سَهَولاً وحُزُونا

Their footpads bloodied by my claim upon them,

They crossed the deserts, level plains and rugged ground.

وَعَلَى طُولِ طَواها حُرِمَتْ

عُشْبَهَا المُخْضَرَّ والماءَ المَعِينا

And despite their prolonged hunger, they were denied

Their green grass and running water.

كلما جَدَّ بها الوَجْدُ إلَى

غايَة لَمْ تَدْرِها إلاَّ ظُنُونا

Whenever longing spurred them toward

A destination they knew only by conjecture,

قُلْتُ لِلْحَادِي أعِذْ أَشْواقَها

بالسُّرَى إنَّ مِنَ الشَّوقِ جُنُونا

I said to the camel-driver: “Give their longing refuge

Through night travel; indeed, some longing is madness.”

آهِ مِنْ يَوْمِ بهِ أَبْكِي دَماً

إنَّ لِلْعِيسِ وَلِي فيهِ شُؤُونا

Ah, for the day on which I weep blood!

Indeed, the camels and I have our own cares that day.

أَسَرَتْ ألْبَابَنا لَمَّا سَرَتْ

تَحْمِلُ الحُسْنَ بُدوراً وغُصُونا

They captivated our minds as they journeyed,

Bearing beauty as full moons and boughs.

كلُّ سَمْراءَ وما أنْصَفْتُها

فَضَحَتْ سُمْرَ القَنا لَوناً وَلِينا

Each a dusky beauty—and I have not done her justice—

Put tawny spear-shafts to shame in color and suppleness.

أعْدَتِ القَلْبَ فُتُوراً وضَنىً

لَيْتَها مِنْ وَسَنِ تُعْدِي الجُفونا

She infected the heart with languor and wasting sickness;

If only she would infect the eyelids with drowsiness.

ثَغْرُها الدُّرِّيُّ مِنْ أنْفاسِهِ

مِسْكُ دارينَ وَخَمْرُ الأَنْدرِينا

From the breath of her pearl-bright mouth come

The musk of Darin and the wine of al-Andarin.

أَخَذَتْ قَلْبي وَصَبرِي والكَرَى

يَوْمَ بَيْعي النَّفْسَ منها أَرَبُونا

She took my heart, my patience, and my sleep

As earnest money, the day I sold her my soul.

لا أقالَ اللهُ لِي مِنْ حُبِّها

بَيعَه يَوْماً وَلاَ فَكَّ رُهُونا

May God never annul for me, in my love for her,

Its bargain on any day, nor release its pledges.

صاحِبي قِفْ بي فإني لم أجِدْ

لِي عَلَى الوَجْدِ وَلا الصَّبْر مُعِينا

My companion, halt with me, for I have not found

Anyone to help me with longing or patience.

وَسَلِ الرَّيْعَ الذِي سُكَّانُهُ

رَحَلُوا عنهُ عساهُ أَنْ يُبِينا

And ask the rise whose inhabitants

Have departed from it; perhaps it will speak plainly.

نَسَخَتْ آياتِهِ أَيْدِي البَلَى

فأرَتْ عَيْنِيَ منهُ الصَّادَ شِينا

The hands of decay have effaced its signs,

So they showed my eye its ṣād as shīn.

وَجَنوبٌ وَشمالٌ جَعَلاَ

تُرْبَهُ فِي جَبهَةِ الدَّهْرِ غضوناً

The south wind and the north wind have made

Its dust wrinkles on the brow of time.

فَثَراهُ وَحَصَاهُ أبَداً

يَفْضُلانِ المِسْكَ وَالدُّرَّ الثَّمينا

So its soil and its pebbles forever

Surpass musk and precious pearls.

سَحَبَتْ فيهِ الصَّبا أذْيالَها

بِمَدِيحي لإِمامِ المُرسَلِينا

The east wind trailed its skirts there

With my praise for the leader of the messengers:

أحْمَدَ الهادِي الَّذي أُمَّتُه

رَضِيَ الله لها الإسلامَ دينا

Ahmad, the guide, for whose community

God approved Islam as a religion.

كانَ سِرّاً في ضَمِيرِ الغَيْبِ مِنْ

قَبْلِ أَنْ يُخْلَقَ كَوْنٌ أَوْ يكونا

He was a secret in the depths of the unseen, from

Before any universe was created or came to be.

تُشْرِقُ الأَكْوانُ مِنْ أَنوارِهِ

كُلَّما أوْدَعَها اللهُ جَبِينا

All worlds shine with his lights

Whenever God places them in a forehead.

أسْجَدَ اللهُ لهُ أمْلاكُهُ

يَوْمَ خَرُّوا لأَبيهِ ساجِدينا

God made His angels prostrate themselves before him

On the day they fell prostrate before his father.

ودَعَا آدَمُ باسْمِ المُصْطَفَى

دَعْوَةً قالَ لها الصِّدْقُ آمِينا

And Adam prayed in the name of the Chosen One,

A prayer to which Truth said “Amen.”

فَتَلَقَّى آدَمُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ

كلماتٍ هُنَّ كَنْزُ المُذْنِبِينا

Then Adam received from his Lord

Words that are the treasure of sinners.

وَبهِ جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ رُفِعَتْ

عَلَماً أَبْوابُها لِلْمُسْلِمِينا

And through him the gardens of Eden were raised,

Their gates a beacon for the Muslims.

ودُعُوا أَنْ تِلْكُمُ الدارُ لكمْ

فادْخُلُوها بسَلامٍ آمِنِينا

And they were called: “That abode is yours;

So enter it in peace, secure.”

وَبهِ نُوحٌ دَعا في فُلْكِهِ

فَأَغاثَ اللهُ نوحاً والسَّفِينا

And through him Noah prayed in his ark,

And God rescued Noah and the ship.

وَأَغَاثَ اللهَ ذَا النُّونِ بهِ

بَعْدَ ما أَغْرَى بهِ في البَحْرِ نُونا

And through him God rescued the Man of the Fish,

After He had set a fish upon him in the sea.

وَشَفَى أَيُّوبَ مِنْ ضُرٍّ كما

سَرَّ يَعْقُوبَ وَقد كانَ حَزِينا

And He healed Job of affliction, just as

He gladdened Jacob, who had been sorrowful.

وَخليلُ اللهِ هَمِّتْ قَومُهُ

أنْ يَكِيدُوهُ فكانوا الأخسرينا

And God's intimate friend—his people intended

To plot against him, so they became the greatest losers.

ونور المصطفى إطفاء ما

أوقدوه وتولوا مدبرينا

And the Chosen One's light quenched what

They kindled; they turned away in retreat.

وَجدَتْهُ أنبياءُ اللهِ في

كلِّ فضْلٍ واجِداً ما يَجِدُونا

The prophets of God found him, in

Every excellence, possessing what they possessed.

مَصْدَرُ الرَّحْمَةِ لِلْخَلْقِ فلا

عَجَبٌ أَنْ يَتَوَلَّى الصَّالحينا

He is the source of mercy for creation, so it is no

Wonder that he takes the righteous under his care.

خَتَمَ اللهُ النَّبِيِّينَ بهِ

قَبْلَ أنْ يجْبُلَ مِنْ آدَمَ طِينا

God sealed the prophets with him

Before He molded the clay of Adam.

فَهْوَ فِي آبائِهمْ خيرُ أبٍ

وَهْوَ في أبنائِهِمْ خيرُ البَنِينا

So among their fathers, he is the best of fathers,

And among their sons, he is the best of sons.

قد عَلاَ بالرُّوحِ والجِسْمِ عُلاً

رَجَعَتْ مِنْ دونها الرُّوحُ الأَمِينا

He ascended, in spirit and body, to heights

Short of which the Trustworthy Spirit turned back.

وَرَأَى مِنْ قابِ قَوْسَيْنِ الَّذي

رُدَّ مُوسَى دُونَه مِنْ طُورِ سِينا

And from two bow-lengths away he saw what

Moses was denied on Mount Sinai.

وَوَجِيهاً كانَ مُوسَى عِنْدَهُ

مِثْلَما قد كانَ جِبْرِيلُ مَكِينا

And Moses was honored in His sight,

Just as Gabriel held a secure station.

صَلَوَاتُ اللهِ ذِي الفَضْلِ عَلَى

رُسُلِ اللهِ إلينا أجْمَعِينا

May the blessings of God, Lord of bounty, be upon

All God's messengers sent to us.

أكْرَمُ الخُلْقِ هُمُ الرُّسْلُ لنا

وَأبو القاسِمِ خيرُ الأَكْرَمينا

The noblest of creation are the messengers to us,

And Abu al-Qasim is the best of the noblest.

فَتَعَالَى مَنْ بَرَا صُورَتَهُ

مِنْ جَمَالٍ أُودِعَ الماءَ المَهينا

So exalted is He who fashioned his form

From beauty placed within lowly water.

وَاصْطَفَى مَحْتِدَهُ مِنْ دَوْحَةٍ

أنْبَتَتْ أَفْنانُها عِلماً ودِينا

And chose his lineage from a great tree

Whose branches brought forth knowledge and faith.

مِنْ أُنسٍ جانَبَتْ أَحْسَابُهُمْ

طُرُقَ الذَّمِّ شِمالاً ويَمِينا

Of people whose noble pedigrees avoided

The paths of blame, to left and right.

ما رأَينا كَرَمَ الأخْلاقِ في

غَيرِ ما تَأْتُونَهُ أَوْ يَدَّعُونا

We have not seen nobility of character in

Anything other than what you practice or they claim.

يَغْضَبُ المَوْتُ إذا ما غَضِبُوا

وَإذا ما غَضِبُوا هُمُ يَغْفِرُونا

Death rages when they grow angry,

Yet when they grow angry, they themselves forgive.

مَعْشَرٌ صَانَهُمُ اللهُ لأَنْ

يُودَعُوا مِنْ أحْمَدَ السِّرِّ المَصُونا

A people whom God protected, so that

They might be entrusted with Ahmad's guarded secret.

هَذبَ السُّؤْدُدُ أَخْلاقَهُم

فَلَهُمْ مِنْ شَرَفٍ ما يَدَّعُونا

Nobility refined their character,

So theirs is all the honor they claim.

عَجَباً والمُصْطَفَى الشَّمْسُ الذَّي

ظَهَرَتْ أنْوَارُهُ لْلْمُبْصِرِينا

How strange, when the Chosen One is the sun whose

Lights have appeared to those with sight!

شَهِدَ الكُفَّارَ بالغَيْبِ لَهُ

وَأَتاهُمْ فَإذا هُمْ مُبْلِسونا

The unbelievers bore witness to him in his absence,

Yet he came to them, and behold, they were confounded.

أغْلَقُوا بابَ الهُدَى مِنْ دُونِهِمْ

بَعْدَ ما كانُوا بهِ يَسْتَفْتِحُونا

They shut the gate of guidance against themselves

After they had sought victory through him.

وَعَمُوا عنه فلا وَاللهِ ما

تَنْفَعُ الشِّمْسُ لَدَى القَوْمِ العَمِينا

They were blind to him; no, by God,

The sun is of no use to a blind people.

وَأَتاهُمْ بِكِتابٍ أُحْكِمَتْ

منه آياتٌ لقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلونا

And he brought them a Book, perfected

In its verses for people who understand.

سَمِعَتْهُ الإِنْسُ وَالجِنُّ فما

أنْكَرُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ الحقَّ المُبِينا

Humans and jinn heard it, and did not

Deny the clear truth of its excellence.

عَجَزُوا عَنْ سُورَةٍ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ

فَهُمُ اليَوْمَ له مُسْتَسْلِمُونا

They could not produce a surah like it,

And today they submit to it.

قال لِلْكُفَّارِ إذْ أَفْحَمَهُمْ

بالتَّحَدِّي مالكمْ لا تَنْطِقُونا

It said to the unbelievers, when it silenced them

With its challenge: “What ails you, that you do not speak?”

قَصَّ ما يَأتي عليهمْ مِثْلَما

قَصَّ أَخْبارَ القُرونِ الأَوَّلِينا

It told what would befall them, just as

It told the histories of the earliest generations.

وأَتَتْ أَخْبارُهُ في حِكَمٍ

فَتَأملْها ثِماراً وَفُنُونا

And its accounts came in wise teachings,

So contemplate them as fruits and branches.

قَسَّمَ الرَّحْمَة فِي قُرَّائِهِ

وَعَذابَ الخِزْيِ في المُسْتَقْسِمِينا

It apportioned mercy among its reciters,

And the torment of shame among those who divine by lots.

ما لَهُ مثْلٌ وَفي أمْثالِهِ

أَبداً مَوْعَظَةٌ لِلْمُتَّقِينا

It has no equal, and in its parables

There is always an admonition for the God-fearing.

رَحِمَ اللهُ بهِ الخَلْقَ وَكَمْ

أَهْلَكَ اللهُ بآياتٍ قُرُونا

Through it God showed mercy to creation; how many

Generations God destroyed through signs!