من حسن عهد للخليط المنجد — Alarjani

من حُسنِ عهدٍ للخليطِ المُنْجد

ألا يَضُنَّ بوقْفةٍ في المَعْهَدِ

Among the duties of fidelity toward the companions bound for Najd

is not to begrudge a pause at the familiar dwelling.

ناشَدْتكمْ إلا قَصْرتمُ ساعةً

فَضْلَ الأزمّةِ عند بُرْقةِ مُنْشِد

I adjure you to draw in, for one hour,

the slack of the reins at Burqat Munshid.

أما مُسعِدٌ فيكم فهل من مُغْرمٍ

أو مُغْرَمٌ فيكم فهل من مُسْعِد

Is there no comforter among you—then is there a lover?

Or a lover among you—then is there a comforter?

ربْعٌ وقَفْتُ أرى وجوهَ أحِبّتي

فيه بعَيْنَيْ ذِكْريَ المُتَجَدّد

A dwelling where I stood, seeing my beloveds' faces

there through the two eyes of my renewed remembrance.

رفَع الهوى للعينِ فيه شُخوصَهم

سَقْياً له من آهِلٍ مُتأبِّد

Love raised their figures before my eyes there.

Rain bless it, once peopled and now wilderness!

من كلِّ ظاعنةٍ أقامَ خيالُها

ومضَتْ تَروحُ بها الرِكابُ وتغتَدي

Of every departing woman whose image stayed,

while she went, the mounts bearing her at dusk and dawn.

بَعُدتْ وخيَّم طيفُها في ناظري

من بعدها فكأنّها لم تَبْعُد

She went far away, yet her phantom camped within my gaze

after her departure, as though she had never gone.

لمّا سَبقْتُ إلى الحمى وتَلاحَقُوا

صَحْبِي وهل لأسيرِ حُبٍّ مُفْتد

When I reached the sanctuary first, and they caught up—

my companions—who can ransom a captive of love?

وقَفوا فكُلٌّ حَطّ فيه لثامَه

للصّبِ عن فَمِ عاذِلٍ ومُفَنّد

They stopped, and each lowered his face-veil there

to show the lover a reproaching, fault-finding mouth,

لِمَعاجِ نِضْوٍ في مَحل داثرٍ

ومَجلِّ طَرْفٍ في رسومٍ هُمّد

for turning a worn mount aside at an effaced abode

and letting an eye roam over lifeless traces.

عَطِرٌ ثَراهُ على تَطاوُل عَهْده

بَمَجّرِ أذيالِ الحِسانِ الخُرَد

Its soil is fragrant, despite the length of time,

where the skirts of beautiful, modest maidens trailed.

فلأتْرُكَنّ الجفْنَ فيه ماطراً

ما بين مُبرِقِ عُذّلِي والمُرعِد

I shall surely leave my eyelid raining there,

amid my reprovers' lightning and thunder.

ومُسهَّدٍ قال النّجومُ لطَرْفِه

هي عُقْبةٌ بيني وبينَك فارصُد

And a sleepless one—the stars said to his eye:

“It is a turn between me and you; keep watch.

كم قد سَهِرْتُ وقَد رَقَدْتَ ليالياً

والآنَ قد أَعيَيْتُ فاسهر أرقُد

How often I have watched while you slept through nights!

Now I am exhausted: stay awake, and I shall sleep.”

وعَدُوا الرّحيل غداً وليس بقاتلي

إلا وَفاؤهمُ بذاكَ المَوعِد

They promised departure tomorrow; nothing will kill me

except their keeping that appointment.

ونَوى الصّباحُ نوىً فقلتُ لقد دنا

يا ليلُ إسفارُ الصّباح فأمدِد

Morning intended separation, so I said: drawing near

is morning's brightness, O night—stretch yourself out!

كم طُلْتِ لي فَذُمِمِت في زمنِ النّوى

يا ليلتي فالآن طُولي تُحْمَدي

How often you were long for me and blamed in times of separation;

O my night, now be long, and you will be praised.

تَدْري المليحةُ كم لنا في جِيدِها

بينَ القلائدِ من دَمٍ مُتَقلَّد

The beautiful woman knows how much of our blood she wears

upon her neck among the necklaces.

طاهَرْتِ بينَ طوائلٍ وطوائلٍ

وظَهرْتِ منها في حُلىً لم تُعْهَد

You have kept yourself pure amid blood-debts upon blood-debts,

and emerged from them in ornaments never known before.

أفذاكِ جيدٌ من هِزَبْرٍ أغلب

يُجْليَ لنا أم من غَزالٍ أغيد

Is that the neck of a thick-necked lion,

revealed to us, or of a supple gazelle?

ودليلُ فَرسِكِ أن أشَرتِ بأنمُلٍ

مَخْضوبةٍ أظفارُها من أكْبُد

The proof of your predation is that you gestured with fingers

whose nails were stained with livers.

والحِبُّ إنْ يَغدِرْ بجارٍ لا يَخَفْ

عاراً وإن يقُتلْ قتيلاً لا يَد

The beloved, if he betrays a neighbor, fears no

disgrace, and if he kills a victim, pays no blood-money.

ومَنِ امتطى ظَهْرَ الزّمانِ جَرَتْ به

غُلوَاءُ طاغٍ للعنانِ مُقلَّد

Whoever mounts the back of Time is swept along

by the headlong rush of a bridled rebel.

فارْبطْ له جأْشَ الصَبور لرَيْبه

ثَبْتاً وأمْهِلْ كُلَّ ريحٍ تَرْكُد

Brace a patient heart against its treachery,

standing firm, and give every wind time to settle.

فالطّودُ يَهزأُ بالعواصف كلمّا

لَعِبتْ بخُوطِ البانةِ المُتأود

The mountain mocks the tempests whenever

they play with the bān-tree's bending shoot.

فانْهَدْ لقاصيةِ المَرامِ ولا تَقُلْ

حَصِراً إذا قامَ الحوادثُ فاقْعُد

Rise toward the farthest goal, and do not say,

helplessly, when calamities arise, “Sit down.”

واكنِزْ مَودّاتِ الكرامِ ذخيرةً

ولربّما طَنّتْ زُيوفٌ فانْقُد

Store the friendships of noble people as a reserve;

false coins may ring, so assay them.

وإذا أُتيحَ وللجُدودِ مَواهبٌ

لكَ من خلالِ الدّهر صُحبةُ أمجَد

And if there is granted—for fortune has gifts—

to you, through time, the friendship of one most noble,

فَرْدٍ يَسُدُّ مكانَ ألفٍ نَجْدةً

فبِخِنْصِرَيْكَ معاً عليه فاعْقِد

unique, who fills the place of a thousand in courage,

then reckon him upon both your little fingers together.

ولأرْيحيّات الشّبابِ وعَصْرِه

فُرَصٌ إذا هي أقبلَتْ فكأنْ قد

For youth's generous impulses and its season

there are chances: once they arrive, they seem already past.

فأصِخْ لداعيةِ التّصابي عندَها

وعنِ النّصيحِ لخَرْقِ سَمْعكَ فاسْدُد

So heed the call to youthful dalliance then,

and stop your ear's opening against the counselor.

واقْرِ الهمومَ إذا طَرقْنك طَرْدها

لم يُقْرَ ضَيفُ الهمّ إن لم يُطْرَد

When cares visit you, offer them dismissal as hospitality;

the guest of sorrow is not entertained unless expelled.

أما الزّمانُ فقد تَجدّدَ آنفاً

فإنِ استطعْتَ تَشبُّهاً فَتجَدّد

As for the age, it has just renewed itself;

if you can imitate it, renew yourself.

أهدَى الرّبيعُ لكلِّ قلبٍ طَرْبةً

وصبَا بِكلِّ صَرورةٍ مُتعبّد

Spring gave every heart a thrill

and stirred youthful passion in every devout ascetic.

فالروضُ مُفتَرُّ المباسمِ ما بِه

شَكْوى سوى نَفَسِ الصَّبا المُتَردِّد

The garden smiles with parted lips; it has

no complaint save the recurring breath of the east breeze.

والطّيرُ تَنطِقُ وَسْطَه بلُغاتِها

من كلِّ مِطْرابِ العَشِّي مُغَرِّد

The birds speak within it in their own tongues,

every sweet evening singer warbling.

يَدْعون والقُمْرِى يَخطُب بينها

غَلقاً بسَجْعٍ لا يَمَلُّ مُردَّد

They call, while the turtle-dove preaches among them,

impassioned, in rhyming coos whose repetition never tires.

يَعلو ذُؤابةَ منْبرٍ أَعوادُه

لِسوى خطابةِ ذاكَ لم تَتَعَوّد

It mounts the crown of a pulpit whose wooden boughs

have known no preaching but its own.

ويُريكَ أعْلى الكِتْفِ وهْو مُزَيَّنٌ

منه بلَفّةِ طيلسانٍ أسْود

It shows you its upper shoulder, adorned

with its own fold of a black shawl.

وكأنّما سادَ الطيورَ بأنْ غَدا

يَدعو لعَصْرِ القائمِ المُستَرشِد

As though it became lord of the birds because it now

invokes blessings on the age of the reigning al-Mustarshid.

وإذا نَظْرتَ إلى الحقائقِ لم تَجِدْ

ذا مَنْطقٍ لزمانه لم يَحْمَد

And if you look into realities, you will not find

a speaking being that has not praised its age.

ما نِيطَ بعدَ الراشِدينَ خلافةٌ

يوماً بأهْدى منه قَطٌ وأرْشَد

Never, since the Rightly Guided, has the caliphate been entrusted

to anyone more rightly guided or wiser than he.

مُستَرشدٌ باللهِ يُرشِدُ خَلْقَهُ

بضياء رأى في الخطوبِ مُسدَّد

Al-Mustarshid, guided by God, guides His creation

with the radiance of judgment sound amid calamities.

ملأ الزّمانَ عُلا سوى ما حازَهُ

إرْثاً من المُستَظهِرِ بْنِ المُقْتَدى

He filled the age with glory beyond what he gained

as an inheritance from al-Mustazhir, son of al-Muqtadi.

فاقَ الجُدودَ وزانَهم فطريفُه

غُرَرٌ بها انتَقَبتْ جِباهُ المُتْلَد

He surpassed his ancestors and adorned them; his new attainments are

bright blazes veiling the brows of inherited glory.

مَلِكٌ رَبوبِيُّ الجَلالِ تَحفُّه

أنوارُ عُلْوِيِّ الخِلالِ مُؤَيَّد

A king of lordly majesty, surrounded

by lights of lofty virtues, upheld.

ولذاكَ لمّا أن تَجلّى للعِدا

صَعِقوا بأوّلِ لَمْعةٍ لمُهَنّد

Thus, when he revealed himself to the foes,

they fell stunned at the first flash of an Indian sword.

فأعادَ كلَّ شهابِ رُمْح واقِدٍ

أرْدَى شياطيناً ولمّا يَخْمُد

He made every blazing spear a meteor

that struck down devils and has not yet gone out.

ما كان مَتْنُ الأرضِ يَثْبُتُ عندَها

لو قال ثانيةً لوَطْأتِه اشْدُدِي

The earth's back would not have held firm beneath it,

had he again told his tread, “Press harder!”

إحدى عظيماتِ الزّمانِ مُلِمّةٌ

ذِيدَتْ عنِ الإسلام بعدَ تَوَرُّد

One of Time's mighty calamities came upon us

and was driven from Islam after descending upon it.

رفَع الحِجابَ لها الخليفةُ رفْعةً

والسّيفُ لولا سَلُّه لم يُغْمَد

The caliph lifted the curtain to meet it once,

and had the sword not been drawn, it would not have been sheathed.

سيفٌ يَدُ اللهِ انتضَتْهُ لدينه

غصباً على عنق العدو المعتدى

A sword God's hand unsheathed for His religion,

by force against the neck of the aggressing foe.

إلى الحسام نظرت حين عصبته

تعساً لرأيك أم إلى المتقلد

Did you look at the blade when you fastened it on,

—ruin on your judgment!—or at its wearer?

خَطّافُ هامِ عِداهُ قِدْماً مُغمَداً

فاليوم كيف تراه بعد تجرد

Long ago, even sheathed, it snatched his enemies' heads;

how do you see it today, now laid bare?

قد سار في جندين جند قبائل

صُبُرٍ وجند للسماء مجنَّد

He marched amid two armies: an army of tribes,

steadfast, and an army mustered from heaven.

من حيثُ زارَتْ سودُ أعلامٍ له

دارَتْ ببِيضٍ في الكَريهة حُشَّد

Wherever his black banners came,

they wheeled among white blades massed for battle.

كالعَينِ كيف رَمتْ بطَرْفٍ إنّما

يَعْتادُ أبيضُها اتِّباع الأسْود

Like the eye, whichever way it casts its glance:

its white habitually follows the black.

مَجْرٍ يَشُدُّ نِقابَهُ وجْهُ الضُّحى

إن جَرَّ فاضِلَ ذيلِه في الفَدْفَد

An army before which morning's face draws its veil tight,

if it drags its trailing skirt across the open waste.

تبدِي شعارَ الحق فيه سُيوفُهم

من كلِّ أبيضَ بالقِرابِ مُسَوّد

Their swords display the emblem of truth within it,

each white blade blackened by its scabbard.

فإذا نَضا عن مَتْنتَيهِ سَوادَهُ

لِيُجِيبَ دَعْوةَ صارخٍ مُستَنْجِد

When it strips the blackness from its two broad sides

to answer the cry of one seeking help,

يَعْتاده خَجَلٌ لذاكَ فما يُرَى

في الرَوْعِ منه الخَدُّ غيرَ مُوَرَّد

it is overcome with shame at that, and its cheek appears

in battle never anything but rose-red.

ولوِ استَطاعَتْ بِيضُهُ لتَسرْبلَتْ

بِدَمِ العِدا من قَبْلِ خَلْعِ الأغْمد

If his bright blades could, they would clothe themselves

in foes' blood before shedding their scabbards.

ومنَ الأعاجيبِ اللّواتي مِثْلُها

من قبلِ عَهْدِ جِلادِه لم يَعْهَد

Among the marvels whose like

was unknown before the age of his swordplay:

بِيضٌ منَ الأحداقِ في سودٍ من ال

أجفانِ إنْ تَلْمَحْ رؤوساً تَرْمَد

white eyeballs set within black

eyelids—when they glimpse heads, they grow inflamed.

ملأتْ له الآفاقَ نوراً غُرّةٌ

كالبدر وهْو بجنْحِ لَيلٍ مُرتَد

His radiant brow filled the horizons with light,

like the full moon, though clothed in a wing of night.

وغدا الظُّبىَ والهامَ حين عَرفْنَه

مِن رُكّعٍ صَلَتْ إليه وسُجَّد

Sword-edges and heads, once they recognized him, became

bowing worshipers praying toward him, and prostrate ones.

والشمسُ فرْطُ سَناهُ أرمَدَ عَينَها

فكحَلْنَها أيدي الجيادِ بإثْمِد

The sun: his excessive radiance inflamed its eye,

so the horses' forelegs kohled it with antimony.

غُرٌّ فَوارسُها وأوْجُهها معاً

من كُلِّ مُنْجَردٍ وطِرْفٍ أجْرَد

Their riders and their faces alike are bright-blazed,

on every sleek mount and smooth-coated thoroughbred.

سَهِرَ العِدا من خَوْفهم فتجَشَّموا

تَصبيحَ أعيُنهم برَشْقٍ مُرْقِد

The foes lay sleepless in fear of them, so his warriors undertook

to greet their eyes at dawn with a sleep-bringing volley.

فكأنّ أسهُمَهم طوائفُ من كرىً

غَشِيَتْ معَ الإصباحِ كُلَّ مُسهَّد

Their arrows seemed like passing visitations of slumber

that covered every sleepless one at daybreak.

فَهناكَ فَتْحٌ عاجِلٌ قَسَم العِدا

قِسمَيْنِ بينَ مُصَرَّعٍ ومُشَرَّد

Then came a swift victory that split the foes

into two ranks: the fallen and the scattered.

لا تُسْمِ حَيَّ عِداكَ حَيّاً خائفاً

بل مُلْحِداً من ثَوْبِه في مُلْحَد

Do not call your living enemy a frightened living man,

but one entombed in a grave made of his clothes,

مَيْتاً يُعذَّبُ واللّظَى في قَلْبهِ

إن أنت لم تَرْحَمْ ولم تَتَغمَّد

a dead man tormented, with flames in his heart,

if you neither show mercy nor enfold him in pardon.

إن كان غاب الدِّينِ أصحَرَ لَيْثُه

وتَكلَّفَ الأيّامَ ما لم تَعْتَد

If the lion of religion's forest has come onto open ground

and undertaken what the days were not accustomed to,

فأبانَ عن نابٍ لأكْلُبِ فتنة

لولا مِطالُ الحِلْمِ لم تَستأسِد

baring a fang at the curs of sedition,

who would not have played lions but for forbearance's long delay,

وكفىَ خيالٌ في الكرى من خَيلِه

رَمْياً لشَمْلِ لَفيفِهم بتَبَدُّد

even a dream-image of his horses sufficed

to strike their gathered multitude into dispersal.

فلقد سَنَنْتَ الغَزْو سُنّةَ مَنْ مَضَى

لبنى الهُدَى فشَهِدْتَ أوّلَ مَشْهَد

You established warfare as the practice of those who passed before,

for the sons of guidance, and witnessed the first battlefield.

والأرضُ مُحترقٌ تضاءَل شَخْصُه

لِيُعادَ بَدْرٌ في قُراه كما بُدى

The earth is a scorched thing whose form has dwindled,

so that a full moon may be restored in its villages as it first appeared.

والدّهرُ مُجتازٌ ولا بُدَّ له

في كُلِّ يومٍ من جديد تَزَوُّد

Time is a traveler and must

take fresh provisions every day.

والكُفْرُ كُفْرانُ الإمامِ وسَلّةٌ

بخِلافِه للسّيفِ من مُتَمَرّد

Unbelief is ingratitude toward the imam, and the drawing

of a sword against him by a rebel.

فجزاكَ رَبُكَ يا خليفةَ أحمدٍ

عَمَّا نظَمْتَ به خِلافةَ أحمَدِ

May your Lord reward you, O successor of Ahmad,

for what you have done to set Ahmad's succession in order.

أصبحتَ بالقُرآن فيهم حاكماً

والقومُ أمَسوا بالقُرآنِ بمَرْصَد

You have become their ruler by the Qur'an,

while the people keep watch with the Qur'an.

وأبَى جَلالُك أن تُؤامِرَ أنجُماً

من غيرِ صُنْعِكَ في مُلمٍّ مُوئد

Your majesty refused to consult stars

not of your making amid a crushing calamity.

فبنَيْتَ من نَقْعٍ سماءً مِلْؤها

شُهُبُ الأسنّةِ كالذُّبالِ المُوقَد

So you built from dust a sky filled

with meteors of spearpoints, like burning wicks,

شُهُبٌ طَلعْنَ على العَدّوِّ بأنْحُسٍ

قَتّالةٍ وعلى الولِيّ بأسْعُد

meteors rising over the enemy with ill omens,

deadly, and over the ally with auspicious ones.

أسبَغْتَ ظِلَّ العَدْلِ غيرَ مُقَلَّصٍ

وسقَيْتَ ماءَ الخَفْضِ غيرَ مُصرَّد

You spread the shade of justice, never shrinking,

and gave the water of ease, never rationed.

وأسَلتْ أوديةَ النّوالِ فلم تَدعْ

لِسوى حَسودِكَ غُلّةً لم تَبْرُد

You made the valleys of bounty flow, leaving

no burning thirst uncooled except your envier's.

والأرضُ تَذْكرُ ظَمأتَيْنِ شَكتْهما

في سالفٍ من عَهْدِها ومُجَدِّد

The earth recalls two thirsts of which it complained,

one in its former days and one renewed:

ظّمِئَتْ إلى ماءِ السّماءِ جديبةً

أيامَ أصبَحتِ الخلافةُ في عَدِي

it thirsted, barren, for heaven's water

when the caliphate rested with Adi;

وإلى صَبيبِ دماءِ أعداءِ الهُدى

في عَصْرِكَ التاحَتْ فقلتَ لها رِدي

and for the pouring blood of guidance's enemies

it thirsted in your age, so you told it, “Come drink.”

فمطَرْتَها هاماً متى ماتُحصِها

معَ قَطْرِ ذاك اليومِ تُوفِ وتَزددَ

You rained heads upon it; whenever you count them

against that day's raindrops, you match them and exceed.

فَسلِ البسيطةَ أيُّ يَومَيْ سَقْيها

أشفَى إذنْ لِغَليلِها المُتَوقّد

Ask the earth which of its two days of watering

better cured its burning thirst,

وعلى مناكِبها إذا هي قايَستْ

لأبيكَ أو لكَ حَمْلُ شُكْرٍ أزْيد

and, upon its shoulders, when it compares,

whether your father or you has the heavier burden of thanks.

يا وارثَ البُرْدِ المُجَرَّرِ ذَيْلُه

في ليلة المِعراجِ فوقَ الفَرقَد

O heir of the mantle whose hem was trailed

on the night of the Ascension above al-Farqad,

ومُعوِدّاً يَدَهُ التَخَصُّرَ بالّذي

أمسى قَطيعَ مَنِ البُراقُ به حُدي

who accustoms his hand to resting at his waist upon that

which was the blade of him with whom al-Buraq was urged onward:

سَلَبا هُدىُ عَبَقُ النُبوةِ فيهما

من كَفّ خيرِ الأنبياء مُحَمّد

two spoils of guidance, holding prophethood's fragrance,

from the hand of the best of prophets, Muhammad.

فإذا ادّرَعْتَ بذاكَ ثُمّ هَززْتَ ذا

قَطعْتَ جانحةَ الغَويّ المُلْحد

When you don that one and then brandish this,

you cut through the rib of the misguided unbeliever.

فافْخَرْ فأيُّ مُدَجَّج من عِصْمةٍ

أصَبحْتَ في حَرْبِ الزّمانِ الأنكد

Boast, then: how heavily armed with protection

you have become in battle with baleful Time!

أبني شَفيع القَطْرِ صِنْوِ أبي شَفي

عِ الحَشْرِ لا زلتُم عِمادَ السؤدَد

O sons of the rain-intercessor, brother of the father of the interces-

sor at the Resurrection—may you ever remain the pillar of nobility.

مِن أهلِ بيتِ شفاعتَينِ أُعدّتا

لليومِ واحدةٌ وأُخرَى للغَد

From a household of two intercessions prepared:

one for today and another for tomorrow.

هذا ابنُ عَمِّكمُ الذي أضحَتْ له

فُرَجُ الأناملِ مَنْهلاً للوُرَّد

This is your cousin, for whom

the spaces between his fingers became a watering-place for thirsty visitors.

وكذا كَليمُ اللهِ ضربةُ كَفّهِ

بعَصاهُ شَقّتْ أعيُناً في الجَلْمَد

Likewise, God's interlocutor: the stroke of his hand

with his staff split springs in hard rock.

وأبوكُمُ رفَع اليَدينِ بدَعْوةٍ

فجَرى لها الوادي بسَيْلٍ مُزْبد

Your father raised both hands in prayer,

and the valley flowed in answer with a foaming torrent.

فَتناسبَ الغاياتُ من آياتهم

كلٌّ غدا ماءً يُصوِّبُ من يد

Thus the outcomes of their signs resemble one another:

each became water pouring from a hand.

يا ماجِداً قَرَن الكمالَ بمَجْده

كَرَمَ التُقَى بكريمِ ذاكَ المَحْتِد

O noble one who joined perfection to his glory,

the nobility of piety to that noble lineage,

المُلك قد أضحى حمىً لك فارْعَه

والأرضُ عادَتْ جَنّةٌ بكَ فاخْلُد

kingship has become your preserve: tend it,

and earth a paradise through you: live forever.