يوم أتى بنسيم الريح موسوما — Al Khubz Aruzzi

يومٌ أتى بنسيم الرِّيح موسوما

مباركٌ بزمام المُلك مزموما

A day that came marked by the breeze of the wind,

blessed, bridled with the reins of sovereignty.

المهرجان الذي كانت تبجِّله

ملوك تبجيلاً وتعظيما

Mihrjan, which was honored

by kings with reverence and exaltation.

فاليمن طائرُه والسعد طالعُه

تفاؤلاً يوجب الزلفى وتنجيما

Good fortune is its omen, and happiness its rising star,

through auspicious omens that bring favor, and through star-divination.

جاءتك عافيةٌ فاز الأنامُ بها

فوزاً عظيماً فمخصوصاً ومعموما

Recovery has come to you, and humankind has gained through it

a great triumph, particular and universal.

من بعدما شَنَّقَ الإرهاقُ أنفسَهم

وضُرِّمَت جمراتُ الخوف تضريما

After distress had strangled their souls,

and the embers of fear had been fiercely kindled,

وَعكُ الأمير وقاه اللَه كلَّ أذىً

أنشا سحاباً من الأحزان مركوما

the prince's fever—may God protect him from every harm—

had raised a cloud of sorrows, heaped high.

لم يبق في الأرض لا روحٌ ولا بدنٌ

إلا وقد كان من حُمّاك محوما

Not a soul or body remained on earth

that had not been fever-stricken by your fever.

حُمّاك نغَّصتِ اللذات فانقلبت

من التنغُّص غِسليناً وزقُّوما

Your fever spoiled pleasures, and they turned

through that embittering into ghislin and zaqqum.

حتّى حسبنا نسيمَ الريح صار لظىً

يشوي القلوب وصار الظلُّ يحموما

Until we thought the breeze of the wind had become a blaze

roasting hearts, and shade had become black smoke.

قسمتَ حُسناك بين الناس كلِّهمِ

فصار وَعكُك بين الناس مقسوما

You shared your kindness among all people,

so your fever became shared among them.

لقد أبارَت قلوبَ الناس من جزعٍ

أنفاسُ كربٍ يُفَكِّكنَ الحيازيما

People's hearts were indeed ravaged with anguish

by breaths of distress that tore their chests apart.

فقد كفى اللَه ما خافوا وما حذروا

فعاد مستبشراً مَن كان مهموما

So God has spared them what they feared and what they dreaded,

and whoever was sorrowful became joyful again.

من بعدما اصفرَّ وجهُ العيش حين رأى

خدَّ السرور بكفِّ الحزن ملطوما

After the face of life had turned pale when it saw

joy's cheek slapped by sorrow's palm,

وأقبل الجودُ كالولهان حين بدا

دمعُ المكارم والإحسانِ مسجوما

and generosity came forth like one distraught when there appeared

the flowing tears of noble virtues and kindness.

كانت لعلَّتك الدنيا على وجلٍ

خوفاً وكان لك الإسلامُ مغموما

The world trembled on account of your illness,

in fear, and Islam grieved for you.

سبحان مَن كشف البلوى وفرَّجَها

من بعدما صمَّم المكروهُ تصميما

Glory to Him who lifted the affliction and brought relief,

after calamity had stubbornly persisted.

فنحمد اللَه في تجديد نعمته

حمداً يحقِّق للتجديد تتميما

So we praise God for renewing His blessing,

with praise that ensures the renewal is complete.

هذا الأمير ابن يزدادَ الذي ملأت

آثارُه وأياديه الأقاليما

This is the prince, Ibn Yazdad, whose

deeds and benefactions have filled the provinces.

والناس قد علموا مقدارَ سيرته

منهم وزادهم الإشفاقُ تعليما

And the people already knew the worth of his dealings

with them, and anxious concern deepened their knowledge.

يا عصمة الدين والدنيا وزينتها

لا زلتَ من نكبات الدهر معصوما

O safeguard of religion and the world, and its adornment,

may you ever be protected from time's calamities.

وكيف لا يتمنّى الناسُ كلُّهم

حياةَ مَن قد أماتَ الجورَ واللُّوما

And how could all people fail to wish

for the life of one who has killed injustice and baseness?

عدلُ الأمير وإحسانُ الأمير هما

رَدّا الزمانَ عن الأحرار مخصوما

The prince's justice and the prince's kindness—these two

have driven time back, vanquished, from the noble.

لا تعد مَنَّك دنياً أنت واحدُها

إذ كان شبهُك في ذا الدهرِ معدوما

May the world, whose peerless one you are, never lose you,

since your equal in this age is nowhere to be found.

صارت بك البصرة المأوى وقد غَنِيَت

وصار معنومها في الناس معنوما

Through you, Basra has become a refuge and has prospered,

and its destitute became prosperous among the people [uncertain reading].

عهدي بها وهي إقليم الشقاق فقد

صَيَّرتَها أنت للتأليف إقليما

I remember it as a province of discord; but now

you yourself have made it a province of reconciliation.

فزادك اللهُ تمكيناً ومقدرةً

وزاد أنفَ الذي عاداك ترغيما

May God therefore increase your authority and power,

and rub your enemy's nose still further into the dust.

صَيَّرتَ حُسناك حتماً منك مفتَرَضاً

فصار حبُّك مفروضاً ومحتوما

You made your kindness a binding obligation upon yourself,

so loving you became obligatory and inevitable.

صنائعٌ لك في الدنيا مشهَّرةٌ

تكاد بالشكرِ أن يفُصِحنَ تكليما

Your benefactions in this world are renowned;

they almost give voice to gratitude in clear speech.

زحزحت عن كلِّ مظلومٍ ظُلامَتَهُ

فصار مالُكَ للراجين مظلوما

You lifted injustice from everyone who suffered it,

so your wealth became wronged for the sake of hopeful petitioners.

فحين حُكِّمتَ في الدنيا وزخرفها

حَكَّمتَ دِينك في دنياك تحكيما

So when you were made ruler over the world and its finery,

you gave your faith full authority over your worldly life.

أقبلتَ تخدم تقوى اللَه مجتهداً

فصرت باليمن والإقبال مخدوما

You diligently set about serving reverence for God,

so you came to be served by good fortune and prosperity.

يستنشق الناس طِيباً إن ذكِرتَ لهم

كأنَّ أسماعهم صارت خياشيما

People breathe in perfume whenever you are mentioned to them,

as though their ears had become nostrils.

يا مَن إذا ما رأى المحرومُ طلعتَه

فلن يُرى ذلك المحروم محروما

O you whose face, when a deprived man sees it,

that deprived man will never again be seen deprived.

لا زال ركنك موطوداً تُشيِّده

ولم يزل ركنُ مَن ناواك مهدوما

May your pillar remain firmly founded as you build it up,

and may your opponent's pillar remain demolished.

من رام يبغيك لم يظفر ببغيته

حتّى يرى الزِّنج في ألوانهم رُوما

Whoever seeks to harm you will not attain his goal

until he sees the Zanj become Byzantines in their coloring.

اني لأكتم حاجاتٍ تُثَقِّلني

وأثقلُ السقمِ سقمٌ كان مكتوما

I do indeed conceal needs that weigh upon me,

and the heaviest illness is one kept hidden.

ما حيلة العبد في إذكار سيِّدِه

بعد التغافلِ عمّا كانَ معلوما

What recourse has a servant for reminding his master,

after feigned forgetfulness of what was known?

بَينا أُؤمِّل أن أزداد نافلةً

حتّى مُنِعتُ الذي قد كان مرسوما

While I hoped to receive an additional bounty,

I was denied even what had already been allotted.

والموت أجمل بالإنسان منزلةً

من أن يُرى بخِطام الذلِّ مخطوما

Death is a fairer station for a person

than to be seen haltered with the halter of humiliation.

لِم أخَّرَ الكاتبُ الإنجازَ في عِدَتي

وكيف لا يجعل التأخير تقديما

Why has the secretary delayed fulfilling the promise made to me?

And why does he not turn postponement into early fulfillment?

هذا على أنَّه المرضيُّ مذهبُه

في السرِّ والجهر تعديلاً وتقويما

This, though his conduct is well regarded

in private and in public, for setting things right and straight.

قد هذَّبَته بتقويمٍ صرامَتُه

وزاده النصح تهذيباً وتصريما

His firmness has refined him by setting him straight,

and sincere counsel has made him still more refined and resolute.

ولا يُلام فتىً يحتاط منتصحاً

ليس احتياطُ الفتى في النصح مذموما

Nor is a young man blamed for taking precautions and heeding counsel;

a young man's caution in sincere counsel is not blameworthy.

لكن أرى المطلَ داءً في تطاولِهِ

وبالعناية يُلقى الداءُ محسوما

But I regard protracted delay in payment as a disease,

and with care the disease is eradicated.

هل غير إحسانِ فعلٍ أو إساءَته

يبقى جزاؤهما في الصُّحف مرقوما

Is there anything but a deed's goodness or its evil

whose recompense remains inscribed in the pages?

لا خير في القول معسولاً مذاقَتُه

حتّى إذا اختبروه كان مسموما

There is no good in speech with a honey-sweet taste

that proves poisoned when they put it to the test.

لا بدَّ من نفثة المصدور ينفثها

لولا الكلام لكان القلب مكلوما

One with an aching chest must let out his sigh;

without speech, the heart would be wounded.