بالكتب طرا كتاب خطه ملك — Alarjani

بالكُتْبِ طُرّاً كتابٌ خَطَّهُ مَلِكٌ

بأَنمُلٍ خُلِقتْ للجُودِ والباسِ

Among all writings is a letter penned by a king,

with fingertips created for generosity and valor.

غدا وكاتبُه المَأْمولُ مُوصِلُه

حتّى تَضاعفَ تَشْريفي وإيناسي

It arrived with its hoped-for writer himself as its bearer,

so that the honor and comfort granted me were doubled.

قد غار من مَسِّ أيدي الرُّسْلِ لي فأَبى

بقَبسةِ الفَخرِ منه غيرَ إقباس

He begrudged the messengers' hands their touching me, and would accept

nothing but imparting to me a spark of his glory.

لم تَدرِ كَفّيَ مَاذا منه أَعبقَها

كافورُ طِرْسٍ له أو مِسْكُ أَنقاس

My palm knew not what from it had made it fragrant:

the camphor of its page, or the musk of inks.

بل عَرْفُ عُرْفِ الّذي أَملاهُ عَطَّرنا

لا مِسْكُ نِقْسٍ ولا كافورُ أَطْراس

Rather, the fragrance of the kindness of the one who dictated it perfumed us,

not musk of ink, nor camphor of pages.

لمّا تَناولتُه منه وقلتُ لقد

أُتيحَ للكوكبِ العُلْويّ إلماسي

When I took it from him and said, “Indeed,

I have been allowed to touch the star on high,”

وضَعْتُ مَطويَّه إعظامَ صاحبِه

منّي على الرأْسِ فيما بينَ جُلاّسي

I placed it folded, in reverence for its owner,

upon my head, among those sitting with me.

حتّى إذا نشَرتْه الكَفُّ لم تَرَ لي

إلاّ سُجوداً وإلاّ لَثْمَ قرطاس

Until, when my hand unfolded it, you saw me do nothing

but prostrate myself and kiss the paper.

كأنّني قَلَمُ المُنْشيهِ مُعتمِداً

لكُلِّ حَرفٍ قياماً لي على الرّاس

As though I were its composer's pen, intent

on standing upon my head for every letter.

أُوتيتُه بيمينِي ثُمَّ سِيقَ إلى ال

جِنانِ طَرْفي بَرغمِ الحاسِدِ الخاسي

I was given it in my right hand; then was led to the

gardens my gaze, despite the abased envier.

من بَعدِ ما طالَ من بُعْدٍ تَرقُّبُه

وأَوجَسَ القلبُ خَوفاً أَيّ إيجاس

After waiting for it from afar had dragged on,

and the heart had felt fear—what foreboding!

وسَجدةُ النُّجحِ إن فَتَّشْتَ أكثرُ ما

تَجيءُ والمرءُ يَتْلو آيةَ الياس

The prostration of success, if you examine it, most often

comes when a man is reciting the verse of despair.

في أَصفهانَ أَتى والخُوزُ مَقْصدُه

والدَّهرُ ضاربُ أخماسٍ لأَسداس

It arrived in Isfahan, though Khuz was its destination,

while Time schemed, setting fives against sixes.

سَهْمٌ تَوقَّفَ حتّى جاءه هدَفٌ

يَسعَى وما بمزيدِ العِزِّ من باس

An arrow that paused until a target came to it,

hastening—and there is no harm in added honor.

لقد تَقَدَّم قَدْري مَنْ تأَخّرَهُ

حتّى تَتناولَنيهِ أَشْرَفُ النّاس

My standing indeed advanced through its delay,

so that the noblest of men might hand it to me.

كأسٌ دِهاقٌ لآدابٍ صُبِحْتُ بها

من كَفّ موليَ ولكنْ طَرفيَ الحاسي

A brimming cup of literary grace I was served at dawn,

from my master's palm—yet my gaze was the drinker.

تَخِذْتُه عُوذةً لي من كرامتِه

تَنْفي عنِ القلبِ منّى كُلَّ وسواس

I made it my amulet through his graciousness,

banishing every whispered doubt from my heart.

فما رأيتُ كتاباً قبلَ رُؤْيَتِه

على تقادُمِ أَزْمانٍ وأَحْراس

For I had never seen such a letter before seeing it,

despite the passage of ages and long spans.

ما بينَ ضَمٍّ وفَتْحٍ منه قد سَعِدَتْ

بكَ الوزراةُ إرْغاماً لأنكاس

Between its folding and opening, good fortune came

to the vizierate through you, humiliating the base.

كالجفْنِ أُطبِقَ ليلاً ثُمَّ فُتِّقَ في

صُبْحٍ أَضاءَ لأبصارٍ وأَحساس

Like an eyelid closed at night, then opened in

a morning that shone for eyes and senses.

فَفُض عن كرمٍ غَمْرٍ وعن كَلِمٍ

غُرٍّ لجُرْحِ فؤادي كُلُّها آس

It was unsealed to reveal abundant generosity and words

radiant, each a healer of my heart's wound.

وفيه بَعضُ بِضاعاتي التّي سلَفتْ

أضحَتْ إليّ وقد رُدّتْ لإفلاس

And in it were some of my earlier wares,

now come back to me, returned because of insolvency.

وذِكْرُ عهدٍ مضَى ما كنتُ قَطُّ له

يا أَكرَم النّاسِ لولا أنت بالنّاس

And mention of a bygone age, in which I would never have counted,

O most generous of men, but for you, as one of mankind.

أيّامَ تُصبِحُ دَلْوي غيرَ واصلةٍ

على إطالةِ اشطاني وأَمْراسي

In days when my bucket never reached its goal,

despite the lengthening of my well-ropes and cords.

فاليومَ تَجديدُ نُعمَى اللهِ فيكَ لنا

أَنسَى الورَى دِرّةٌ تَمرِي بإبساس

Today, the renewal of God's favor in you, for us,

has made mankind forget a milk-flow won by coaxing calls.

وِزارةٌ خُتِمَتْ خَتْماً بذي كرَمٍ

لم يَعْتَلِقْ عِرضُه يوماً بأَدْناس

A vizierate sealed with the seal of a generous man,

whose honor was never once touched by stains.

بصاحبٍ عادلٍ في عَقْدِ حُبْوتِه

بَحرُ العطايا وطَودُ السُّؤْدَدِ الرّاسي

With a just lord, within the knot of his knee-wrap:

a sea of gifts and the firmly rooted mountain of nobility.

رَقيقُ وَجهٍ وأَلفاظٍ لسائلهِ

والقلبُ منه على أَموالهِ قاس

His face and words are gentle to his petitioner,

but his heart is merciless toward his wealth.

سَمْحٌ على الدّينِ بالدّنيا أناملُهُ

سُحْبُ النّدى وسِواهُ الطّاعمُ الكاسي

Generous with worldly goods for the faith; his fingertips

are clouds of bounty; the rest are merely fed and clothed.

إليك يا شرفَ الدّينِ انتهَتْ رُتَبٌ

من العُلا لم تُقَسْ يَوماً بمِقْياس

In you, O Sharaf al-Din, culminate ranks

of eminence never measured by any measure.

للدَّسْتِ أصبحْتَ مثلَ الرُّوحِ في جَسَدٍ

منه فعاش ومثْلَ الرّاحِ في كاس

For the throne, you became like the soul within a body,

bringing it to life, and like wine within a cup.

يَرَى ويَسمَعُ مَن يَلْقاهُ من أَحدٍ

وكان من قَبْلُ جِسماً غيرَ حَسّاس

It sees and hears whoever encounters it,

though before it was a body devoid of sensation.

فلْيَهْنِه شَرَفٌ في جُودِه سَرَفٌ

وبأْسُه الدَّهْرَ مَوزونٌ بقِسْطاس

Let it rejoice in Sharaf, whose generosity is lavish,

while his might is always weighed in a just balance.

لا فارقَ العِزُّ غاباً أنت ساكِنُه

من ضَيْغَمٍ لطُلَى الفُرْسانِ فَرّاس

May glory never leave the thicket where you dwell,

a lion that rends the throats of knights.

أعمارُ أعدائه في عَصْرِه قِصَراً

مِقْدارُ لَبْثِ سهامٍ فوقَ أَعجاس

His enemies' lives in his age are as brief

as the time arrows rest upon bow-grips.

قُلْ للَّذي هو في ذا العَصْرِ إن نظَروا

أكفَى كُفاةٍ لمُلْكِ الأرضِ سُوّاس

Say to him who, in this age, if men consider,

is the ablest of able governors of the kingdom of earth:

ما للوِزارةِ قد جاءَتْكَ خاطِبةً

والخاطبونَ لها من كُلِّ أجناس

Why has the vizierate come courting you,

while her suitors are of every kind?

العِرْسُ تُخطَبُ ما زالتْ وإن صَغُرَتْ

وجَّل بَعْلٌ غدا مخْطوبَ أَعراس

A bride is always courted, however lowly;

and great is a husband whom brides come courting.

أمّا القوافي فأحياها ندَى ملكٍ

أَضحَى مُثيراً لها من تحتِ أَرماس

As for rhymes, a king's generosity has revived them,

rousing them from beneath their graves.

زمانُه كربيعٍ عاد مُستَمِعاً

نُطْقَ الطُّيورِ به من بَعْدِ إخْراس

His age is like a spring, listening once again

to the speech of birds within it, after they were silenced.

بالصّاحبِ العادلِ المأمولِ أَمطَر لي

أُفْقي وأَثمرَ بالأغراضِ أغراسي

Through the just lord in whom I hope, rain fell for me

from my horizon, and my plantings bore the fruits I sought.

لا تَرقُبِي يا ركابي بعدَها سفَراً

ففي ذُراه نَفَضتُ اليومَ أَحلاسي

Expect no journey after this, O my riding beasts,

for in his shelter I shook off my saddlecloths today.

نَفْضَ الحُطَيئةِ لمّا حَطّ أَرحُلَه

بعدَ ابنِ بَدْرٍ إلى النّدْبِ ابنِ شَمّاس

As al-Hutay'a did when he set down his saddles,

on leaving Ibn Badr for the gallant Ibn Shammas.

حَقرْتُ كُلَّ الورىَ لمّا اكتحلْتُ به

والشمسُ تُغني ضُحىً عن ضَوء نِبْراس

I held all mankind cheap when I made him my eyes' kohl,

and the sun at midmorning makes a lamp's light needless.

يَا شمسُ إن شِئتِ بعدَ اليوم فانتَقِبي

فمِن مُحيّاهُ إقماري وإشماسي

O sun, if you wish, put on your veil from this day on;

for from his face come my moonlight and sunlight.

ويا سحابُ كَفاني فَضلُ نائلهِ

فأمطُرْ على دِمَنٍ بالبيدِ أَدْراس

And O cloud, the abundance of his gifts suffices me,

so rain on effaced campsites in the deserts.

يا أَعدلَ النّاسِ حَكِّمْ في الورى نظَراً

عَدْلاً وأَحكِمْ بناءً فوقَ آساس

O most just of men, govern mankind with a judgment

that is just, and make your building firm upon foundations.

لا تَترُكَنّ وَليّاً ذا مُخالَصةٍ

فيهمْ لَقىً بينَ أنيابٍ وأَضراس

Never abandon an ally of sincere devotion

as a castaway among them, between fangs and molars.

فاليومَ لا رافعٌ مَن أنت واضِعُه

فاذكُرْ مقالةَ عبّاسِ بنِ مِرداس

Today no one can raise whomever you cast down,

so remember the saying of Abbas ibn Mirdas.

لقد نثَرتُ سهامي من كِنانتِها

أَرمِي عِداكَ وقد وَتّرْتُ أقواسي

I have scattered my arrows from their quiver,

I shoot at your foes, and I have strung my bows.

وقد شَهرتُ لساني وهْو ذو شُطَبٍ

وقد قَصْرتُ على مَدْحِيكَ أنفاسي

And I have unsheathed my tongue, a grooved blade,

and confined my breaths to praising you.

فادْلُلْ على حُسْنِ رأْيٍ منك تُضمِرُه

بحُسْنِ زِيٍّ بعِطْفِ المَرء مَيّاس

So reveal the favorable opinion you harbor

through fine attire that sways gracefully at a man's side.

ما حِليةُ السَّيفِ إلاّ حَلْيُ لابسِه

فَخْراً فما شئْتَ فالْبَسْهُ بإلْباسي

A sword's adornment is only the adornment of its wearer,

for glory—so wear what you wish by clothing me.

اللهُ حارسُ ما أَولاكَ من نِعَمٍ

إذا الملوكُ اتَّقَوا يَوماً بحُرّاس

God guards the blessings He has bestowed on you,

when kings one day seek protection with guards,

مُبقيكَ في المُلْكِ ما غَنّتْ مُطوَّقةٌ

وفاخَر الرَّوضُ بين الوَرْدِ والآس

keeping you in sovereignty as long as a collared dove sings

and the garden boasts among roses and myrtle.