محلك سام والعلاء به اعتكف — Alarjani

مَحلُّكَ سامٍ والعلاءُ به اعتكَفْ

وفَضْلُكَ بادٍ والحسود به اعْتَرَفْ

Your station is lofty, and eminence abides there.

Your excellence is manifest, and the envious acknowledge it.

وأنت سديدٌ من يدِ اللهِ مُرسَلٌ

وإصلاحُ أحوالِ العبادِ له هَدَف

You are upright, sent forth from God's hand,

and setting His servants' affairs aright is your aim.

وكم سارَ لي من لَفْظةٍ هيَ دُرّةٌ

عُلاكَ لها تاجٌ وفكْري لها صَدَف

How many a word of mine has traveled, itself a pearl,

your eminence its crown, my thought its shell.

وذو شَغَفٍ منّي بمدحِكَ خاطِرٌ

بتَبليغِه أقصى المُنَى أنت ذو شَغَف

A thought of mine is passionately devoted to praising you;

you are devoted to bringing it to its utmost desires.

وقالوا عُلاكَ النّجمُ إذ ليس يُمتطَى

وقالوا نَداكَ البحرُ إذا ليس يُنتزَف

They called your eminence a star, for none can mount it,

and your bounty the sea, for it cannot be drained.

وما كان يُبْقي الخَلْقُ بِلّةَ إصبَعٍ

منَ البحرِ لو أمسَى كَجودِك يُغْتَرَف

Yet people would not leave even a finger's wetness

of the sea, if it could be drawn upon like your bounty;

ولا ما تُعيرُ الشّمسُ ظُفْرَ مُنجّمٍ

من الضّوءِ لو أضحَى كجاهِك يُلْتَحَف

nor what the sun lends an astrologer's fingernail

of light, if it could be worn like your prestige.

ولا سَرَفٌ في الجُودِ قولُك دائماً

إذا قالَ بعضُ النّاسِ لا خيرَ في السَّرَف

“No extravagance lies in generosity” is your constant saying,

when some people say, “There is no good in extravagance.”

وأنت الّذي مذْ جَدَّ في المَجْدِ ما ونَى

ومُذْ سار في إثْرِ المَحامدِ ما وَقَف

You are the one who, since striving for glory, has never flagged,

and since pursuing praiseworthy deeds, has never stopped.

يُصَمّم حيثُ السّيلُ لو مَرَّ لانثنَى

ويُشرِقُ حيثُ البدرُ لو لاح لانْكَسَف

He presses onward where a torrent would turn back if it passed,

and shines where the full moon, appearing, would be eclipsed.

ويَشرُفُ أفعالاً ويَعلَمُ أنّه

تَواضعُه للنّاسِ أزْيَدُ للشّرَف

He is noble in his deeds, and knows that

his humility toward people adds still more to his honor.

وتَبعُدٌ منّا الشّمسُ جِدّاً إذا بدَتْ

ولكنّنا من ضَوئها الدَّهَر في كَنَف

The sun is very far from us when it appears,

yet all our days we shelter in its light.

وكم لائمٍ في فَضْلِ مَسْعاهُ لامَه

فقال له مَهْلاً وأقوالُه نُتَف

How many a critic has reproached him for his surpassing endeavors,

and he replied, “Gently now,” with only a few brief words.

وكم حاجةٍ للحُرِّ لمّا قضَيْتَها

حَسِبتَ غطاءً عن فؤادٍ قدِ انكَشَف

How many a noble man's need, when you fulfilled it,

made you think a veil had been lifted from a heart.

ألا يا هُماماً سَدَّد الحَقُّ رأْيَه

فليس له عن مَنْهَجِ الخَيرِ مُنْحَرَف

O resolute man whose judgment the Truth has guided,

there is no turning him from the path of good.

وصادفَ من دونِ الّذي رامَ من عُلاً

مَجاهِلَ لم تُسلَكْ إلى المجدِ فاعْتَسف

Before the heights he sought, he encountered

untraveled wilds on the road to glory, and crossed them pathlessly.

تَوسّطَ أعلَى قُنّةِ المُلْكِ طالعاً

وحَلَّ من السّفْحِ الحَسودُ على الطّرَف

Ascending, he reached the heart of sovereignty's highest peak,

while the envious man settled at the edge of its foot.

وعَفَّ عنِ الخُلُقِ الدَّنيءِ وعافَه

وقاك الرَّدى مَنْ لم يَعِفَّ ولم يَعَفْ

He shunned base conduct and held it in disgust;

may those who neither shun nor loathe it shield you from death.

تأملْ بعَينَيكَ العشيّةَ ناظِراً

إلى جَحفل الفِطْرِ الجديدِ الّذي زَحَف

Look closely this evening with your own two eyes

at the advancing host of the new Feast of Breaking Fast.

فقد مَدَّ كَفُّ الغَربِ زَنْداً مُخضَّباً

عليه هِلالٌ كالسِّوارِ إذا انْعطَف

The hand of the west has stretched out a dyed forearm,

bearing a crescent like a bracelet when it curves.

فأومَى بتَسليمٍ عليكَ مُهنِّئاً

بِعيدٍوفي كفّيْهِ من يُمْنِه تُحَف

It gestured a greeting to you, offering congratulations

on the feast, and in its hands were gifts of its good fortune.

فعادَ إليك العِيدُ ما هبّتِ الصَبا

وما انتابَ من بَعدِ الدُّجى الصُّبحُ وارْتدَف

May the feast return to you as long as the east wind blows,

and morning returns after darkness, following close behind.

وعادَ إليكَ الصّومُ في ظِلِّ دَولةٍ

بأَلْفِ افتِتاحِ واخْتتامٍ ومُنْتصَف

May the fast return to you beneath the shelter of sovereign rule,

with a thousand beginnings, endings, and midpoints.

فصَومُك صَومٌ عن تُقىً وهو الّذي

لدَى اللهِ يَزداد المُطيعُ به زُلَف

Your fasting springs from piety, and it is the kind

through which the obedient gain degrees of nearness to God.

وفي النّاسِ مَن حُكْمُ البَهيمةِ حُكْمُه

إذا صامَ حاشا الأكرمينَ أوِ اعتكَف

Among people is one whose condition is a beast's,

when he fasts—noble men excepted—or keeps retreat:

فيُقذَفُ في فيهِ اللّجامُ إذا بَدا الصْ

صَباحُ ويُلْقَى عنه باللّيْلِ للعَلَف

a bridle is thrust into his mouth when

morning breaks, and removed from him at night for fodder.

وهاتفةٍ هاجَتْ حَنيني بشَجْوِها

ولو أنّ ما بي بالحَمامِ لَما هَتَف

A calling dove has stirred my yearning with her plaint,

yet if doves felt what I feel, they would not call.

وقَلبي إلى وَكْري شَبيهُ جَناحها

إلى وكْرِها ليلاً إذا جَنّها السَّدَف

My heart, bound for my nest, is like her wing,

bound for her nest by night, when darkness enfolds her.

دنا العِيدُ من ناءٍ عن الأهلِ نازحٍ

فَسَرَّ الوَرى طُرّاً وضاعَف لي أَسَف

The feast drew near to one exiled far from his family;

it gladdened all mankind, but doubled my grief.

ولي كَبِدٌ منها على النّأي فِلْذَةٌ

إذا ما جرى ذكْرٌ لها عندَه ارتَجَف

A piece of my liver lies far away from me;

whenever that piece is mentioned, my liver trembles.

فيا ليتَ عَيْني حيث تُبصِرُ وَجْهَه

قريباً ومَن يَطْوِي ليَ النّيّةَ القَذَف

If only my eye were where it could see his face

near at hand! Who will fold up that far-flung distance for me?

صبيحَةَ يومِ العِيدِ والأنْس ُمُثْمِرٌ

فَمنْ مَدَّ كَفَّيْ فارغٍ مَدّةً قَطَف

On the morning of the feast, when companionship bears fruit,

any carefree man need only stretch out his hands a moment to pluck it.

إذِ النّاسُ مَسرورونَ كُلٌّ بصَحبِه

وكُلُّ مغيث كُلّما أَبَصَرَ الْتَهَف

When people are joyful, each with his companions,

and every helper laments whenever he looks.

وخلفَ النّوى قَومٌ عليَّ أَعِزّةٌ

كرامٌ يَزجّونَ اللّيالي على شَظَف

Beyond separation are people dear to me,

noble souls who drag their nights along in hardship.

أُرَجّي لهمْ عَطْفَ الزّمانِ بصالح

ولولاهمُ لم أَرْجُ شيئاً ولم أَخَف

I hope that time will turn toward them with some good;

but for them, I would neither hope for anything nor fear.

فجَدِّدْ إلى أمري لك الخَيرُ نظْرةً

فكم شَمْلِ أَحرارٍ بنِعْمَتِك ائْتَلف

So look anew upon my affairs—may good be yours;

how many noble men's scattered companies your favor has reunited!

كما أنّ صُنْعَ اللهِ عندك لم يَزَلْ

يُجَدِّدُ عزّاً باهراً لك مُؤْتنَف

Just as God's beneficence toward you has never ceased

renewing for you a dazzling glory, ever fresh.

برَغْمِ العِدا أن قد سمَوْتَ منَ العُلا

إلى رُتَبٍ منها طَريفٌ ومُطَّرف

To your enemies' chagrin, you have risen from high estate

to ranks of honor, novel and newly won,

وأن زارَك السُّلطانُ ضَيفاً مُسلِّماً

وما فَوقَ هذا للبريّةِ من شَرَف

and the sultan has visited you as a guest, offering greetings:

for humankind, no honor stands above this.

وأَكرمْتَ مَثْواهُ فما مَرَّ طِرْفُه

على الأرضِ إلاّ فوقَ ما جُدْتَ من طُرَف

You honored his stay; his noble steed never passed

over the earth except upon the rarities you bestowed.

وجُودُكَ بالدّارِ الّتي قد بذَلْتَها

بَشيرٌ بأمْرٍ مَن تأمَّلَه عَرَف

Your generosity in giving away the house you offered

heralds a matter anyone who ponders it will understand.

ألم تَرَ أنّ البَدْرَ مَبدأُ نُورِه

إذا هو خَلّى البُرْجَ للشّمسِ وانْصَرَف

Do you not see that the full moon's light begins

when it leaves its zodiacal house to the sun and moves away?

أيا مَن إذا ما جاوزَ الحَدَّ واصِفٌ

فأدْنَى عُلاه فوقَ أكبَرِ ما وَصَف

O you, even when a describer exceeds all bounds,

your least eminence is beyond the greatest he describes.

ومَن وجَهُه بِشْرٌ ومَن كفُّه نَدىً

ومَن خُلْقُه لطفٌ ومَن خَلْقُه لُطَف

You whose face is cheerfulness, whose palm is bounty,

whose character is kindness, whose form is delicate charms:

هلَ أنْتَ مُعيني حينَ أَبغي مَعونةً

على نَيْلِ حَظ من يَدِ الدَّهرِ يُختَطَف

will you be my helper when I seek assistance

in gaining a share snatched from Time's hand?

فعِندي زمانٌ لا يَزيدُ سوى أذىً

وعندي فؤادٌ لا يَزيدُ سوى أَنَف

I have a time that only grows more hurtful,

and a heart that only grows more proudly defiant.

ولي نَفْسُ حُرٍّ صَبْرُهُ يَقتُلُ الصَّدَى

إذا هو لم يُورَدْ بعِزٍّ على النُّطَف

Mine is a free man's spirit, whose endurance kills thirst

if he cannot be brought with honor to the waters.

إذا هو ألقَى بين عَينَيْه مَطْلَباً

مشَى فوقَ حَرْفِ السّيفِ فيه وما انْحَرَف

When he sets a goal before his eyes,

he walks the sword's edge to reach it, never turning aside.

وما هِمَمي كالطَّيْرِ إن جُعْنَ جَوْعةً

يُحَلِّقْنَ جِدّاً ثُمّ يُسْفِفْنَ للجِيَف

My ambitions are not like birds that, once hunger strikes,

soar very high, then swoop low for carrion.

تُفَوِّتُنا الأعراضُ ظُلْماً جَهالةً

بقومٍ وفي الأعراضِ لو شِئْتَ مُنتَصَف

Honor makes us lose out through injustice and ignorance

with some people; yet their reputations offer redress, if you wished.

إذا كُلَفي لم يَرفَعِ القومَ ثِقْلَها

فذاك عليهمْ لو درَوْا أكبرُ الكُلَف

If these people do not lift the weight of my burdens,

that, if they knew, is their greatest burden.

فخُذْها كمَصْقولِ الثُّغورِ قَوافياً

تَلَذُّ بأفواهِ الرُّواةِ وتُرتَشَف

Take it, then: rhymes like polished teeth,

sweet in reciters' mouths, and sipped.

وشِعْري إذا ما لم يكُنْ فيك لم أُبَلْ

وإن لَجَّ طَبْعٌ كيفما جاءَ وارْتَصَف

When my poetry is not about you, I care nothing—

though inspiration presses me—how it comes or falls into place.

لو أنّهمْ جادوا أَجَدْنا مَديحَهمْ

ولكنْ لِذاكَ الكَيْلِ يَصْلُحُ ذا الحَشَف

Had they given generously, we would have perfected their praise;

but these shriveled dates suit that measure.

أَعدْتَ إلى فَرْعِ الزّمانِ شبَابَه

وقد شابَ حتّى دَبَّ في عَقْلِه الخَرَف

You have restored youth to Time's locks,

though he had grown gray till senility crept into his mind.

فَدُمْ للعُلا ما افتَرَّ للرَّوضِ مَبْسِمٌ

وجادَ له مُزْنٌ بأجفانِه وَطَف

Endure for glory as long as the garden's smile unfolds,

and clouds, their eyelids heavy-lashed, pour bounty upon it.

جَنابُك للدُّنيا وللدّينِ كَعبةٌ

ودارُك للجَدْوَى وللحَمْدِ مُعتَكَف

Your court is a Kaaba for the world and the faith,

and your house a sanctuary for bounty and praise.