طلعت نجوم الدين فوق الفرقد — Alarjani

طَلعتْ نجومُ الدينِ فوق الفرقدِ

بمُحمّدٍ ومحمّدٍ ومحمّدِ

The stars of faith have risen above al-Farqad,

through Muhammad, Muhammad, and Muhammad:

بِنَبِيِّنا الهادي وسلطان الورى

ووزيره القرمِ الكريم المَحتِد

our guiding Prophet, the sovereign of mankind,

and his vizier, the noble chief of generous lineage.

سَعْدانِ للأفلاكِ يَكتْنفانِها

والدّينُ تَكنفُهُ ثلاثةُ أسْعُد

The heavens have two auspicious stars encompassing them,

while faith is encompassed by three auspicious stars.

هو قد بنى وهُما معاً قد شَيّدا

وتَمامُ كلِّ مُؤسسٍ بِمُشَيّد

He built, and the two together raised the structure;

every founded structure is completed by a builder.

بكتابِ ذا وبسيفِ ذا وبرأيِ ذا

نُظِمَتْ أمورُ الدّينِ بعد تَبَدُّد

By this one's Book, that one's sword, and the other's counsel,

the affairs of faith were ordered after disarray.

بدلائلٍ ومنَاصِلٍ وشمائل

ورَدتْ بها الآمالُ أعذبَ مَوْرِد

Through proofs, sword blades, and noble qualities,

hopes came to the sweetest watering-place.

حُجَجٌ ثلاثٌ للشّريعةِ أصبحَتْ

يُهْدَي إليها كُلُّ مَنْ لم يَهْتَد

Three proofs of sacred Law have they become,

to which all who lacked guidance are led.

فالمُعجِزاتُ لمُقْتَدٍ والباترا

تُ لمُعْتدٍ والمكرماتُ لمُجْتَد

Miracles are for the follower, and cleaving swords

for the aggressor, and generous favors for the suppliant.

جُمِعَتْ ثلاثةُ أسْمياءَ لدولةٍ

بُنَيتْ على كَبْتِ العِدا والحُسَّد

Three namesakes were brought together for a dynasty

built upon the abasement of foes and the envious.

مَن لم يكن لهَوى الثلاثةِ مُخْلصاً

لم نُسْمِه إلا بطاغٍ مُلْحِد

Whoever lacks sincere love for the three,

we call him nothing but a rebellious unbeliever.

وكفَى بهذا الاتّحادِ دِلالةً

تَقْضِي إذا وضَحتْ لكُلِّ مُوحِّدِ

This union is sufficient as a sign,

which, once clear, assures every believer in God's oneness

ببقَاءِ سلطانِ الورى ووزيرهِ

ألفَيْنِ في مُلكٍ يدومُ مُمَهَّد

of the survival of mankind's sovereign and his vizier

for two thousand years in enduring, firmly established rule,

ودوامِ بهجةِ جَمْعِ شَمْلهما الّذي

منه الهُدى في ظِلّ عِزٍّ سَرْمَد

and of lasting joy in their united fellowship,

from which comes guidance in the shade of everlasting might.

اللهِ صَدْرُ زمانِه من ماجدٍ

مَلِكٍ أغَرَّ من الأكارِم أصْيَد

By God, the foremost of his age—what a noble man,

an illustrious king, majestic among the noblest!

مَولَى الورى مأوى العُلا مُفنِي العدا

مُحيِي الهدى بَحْرُ النّدىَ بدرُ الندي

Master of mankind, refuge of eminence, destroyer of foes,

reviver of guidance, sea of bounty, full moon of the assembly.

سَهْلُ الخلائقِ للفضائلِ مَجْمَعٌ

يَحْوِي العلاء وللأفاضِلِ مقْصد

Gentle in disposition, a gathering-place of virtues,

he embraces eminence, a destination for men of merit.

يُردي عِداه بسيفِ بأسٍ مُصْلَتٍ

يُفِري الطُّلى وبسيفِ كَيْدٍ مُغْمَد

He slays his foes with a drawn sword of valor

that cleaves their necks, and with a sheathed sword of guile.

فَسلِ الوِزارةَ هل رعاها مثلة

في سالف الأيام والمتجَدِّد

Ask the vizierate whether his like has ever tended it

in bygone days and days newly dawning.

وهل للوزارة غير واحدة غدت

منه وقد نزلت بساحة أوحد

Has the vizierate become anything but unique

through him, now lodged in the court of one without peer?

دانَتْ له الدّنيا فَسدّدَ رأيُه

من أمِها ما كان غيرَ مُسَدَّد

The world submitted to him, and his judgment set right

whatever in its affairs had gone awry.

مَلِكٌ إذا بَرقَتْ أسِرّةُ وجهِه

جلَتِ الدُّجى بضيائها المُتَوقِّد

A king whose radiant features, when they flash,

dispel the darkness with their blazing light.

خلتِ الدّيارُ وكان قبل خُلُوِّها

مِمّنْ تفرَّد بالعُلا والسُّؤْدَد

The dwellings were emptied; even before their emptiness,

he was one unrivaled in eminence and lordship.

اللهُ أيّده ومَن يُضْمِرْ تُقىً

للهِ في رَعْيِ العبادِ يُؤيَّد

God has supported him; whoever harbors piety

toward God in tending His servants will be supported.

ففَداهُ في الأقوامِ كلُّ مُقَصرٍ

يَسْعى إلى نَيْلِ العَلاء بمُسْعِد

May every man of scant merit among the peoples be his ransom,

who seeks to gain eminence through a helper.

كالطّيفِ حَظُّ العين فيهِ وافرٌ

لكنّه لاحَظَّ فيه لليَد

Like a phantom: the eye has an ample share in him,

but the hand has no share in him.

يُمسي ويُصبح جالساً في مُسْندٍ

وكأنّما هو صورةٌ في المَسْنَد

Evening and morning he sits in a cushioned chair,

as though he were a picture in that chair.

فَلَكَ الثرّيا رِفعةً وله الثَرى

واللهُ في قِسْمِ الورى لا يَعْتدي

Yours are the Pleiades in height, his the dust;

God is not unjust in apportioning mankind.

فلْيشكُرِ السلطانُ دام جلالُه

ما قد رَعْيتَ لمُلْكهِ وليَحْمَد

Let the sultan—may his majesty endure—give thanks

for what you have safeguarded for his realm, and praise you.

خاطَرتَ بالنفسِ النّفيسةِ دُونَه

حتّى تَمَهَّد فوق كُلِّ تَمَهُّد

You risked your precious life in his defense

until his rule was established with matchless firmness.

والأرضُ لا يَغْدو خَطيرَ ملُوكها

إلا المُخاطِرُ في المُلِمِّ المُوئد

Among the kings of the earth, none rises to eminence

but he who takes risks in crushing calamity.

بك تَسلَمُ الدُّنيا ويَسَعَدُ أهلُها

فاسلمْ لها يا ابنَ الأكارمِ واسْعَد

Through you the world is safe and its people prosper;

remain safe for it, O son of the noblest, and prosper.

أمُبَلِّغي ما قد رَجَوْتُ ولم أسَلْ

ما لو غَدوتَ مُحكِمي لم يَزدَد

O you who grant me what I hoped for without asking,

what would not increase were you to let me choose!

من قبلِ أن مَلأ السؤال به فَمي

أضحَى وقد مَلأ النّوالُ به يَدي

Before a request for it had filled my mouth,

bounty had already filled my hand with it.

بلَّغتَني مَهما قَصدتُ وَزِدتَسني

فوق المُنى فَبلغت ما لم أقصد

You brought me all I sought and gave me still more

beyond my wishes, till I attained what I had not sought.

وأنلتني ما قد عَهِدْتُ من اللهّا

وأفَدْتني منهُنَ ما لم أعهَد

You bestowed on me gifts such as I had known,

and from them granted me what I had never known.

لم يَبْقَ من نُعماكَ إلا خَصْلةٌ

هي أخلفَتْ عند القوافي مَوْعِدي

Of your favors, only one trait remains:

it has made me break my appointment with rhyme.

إنّي نَشْدتُ لدى ذُراكَ مقاصِدي

فوجَدْتها وقصيدتي لم تُنشَد

I sought my aims beneath your sheltering heights,

and found them before my poem was recited.

فلئن شَكْرتُ لتَشْكُوَنَّ لما بها

من خَجلْةِ المُتأخِّرِ المُتَبلِّد

Even if I give thanks, it will surely lament what it bears

of the shame of one left behind, slow-witted.

ومدائحي تَشْأي الرياحَ إذا جَرتْ

في كُلّ نَشْزٍ للبلادِ وفَدْفَد

My panegyrics outstrip the winds when they run

over every rise and open plain of the land.

مِمّا إذا أصغَى الأفاضلُ نحْوه

سَبقَتْ قَوافيه لسانَ المُنْشِد

They are such that, when men of merit listen to them,

their rhymes outrun the reciter's tongue.

أبداً تظَلُ قصائدي مَسبوقةً

بَمقاصِدي في شَوطِ جُودِك فاقْصِد

My poems are forever outstripped

by my aims in the race of your bounty—so be moderate!

وقصائدي الغُرُّ المُحَجّلةُ التي

أبداً تَخُبُّ بمُتْهمٍ وبمُنجد

My white-blazed, white-stockinged poems,

forever trotting with travelers through Tihamah and Najd,

جُهِدتْ وبَذَّتْها بَديهةُ خاطِرٍ

جاز المدى كَرماً ولمّا يجهد

have strained themselves, outpaced by the spontaneous thought of a mind

that surpassed the limit in generosity without yet exerting itself.

كم في الأكابرِ لي لوِ اعتَرفوا لها

بالفَضْلِ حُبّاً للثّناءِ المُخْلِدِ

How many panegyrics I have for the great—if only they acknowledged their

merit, for love of praise that grants immortality—

من مِدْحةٍ للفَخْرِ مُورِثةٍ إذا

نَفِدَ الّذي أسنَوا بها لم تَنْفَد

verses bequeathing glory, which, when

their lavish rewards are spent, remain unspent!

فِقَرٌ تَظَلُّ حُداءَ كلِّ مَطيّةٍ

لمُعرِّضٍ وغناءُ كُلِّ مُغَرِّد

Verses that remain the camel-song for every mount

of a wayfarer, and the song of every singer.

هم أكرموني فانتحلتُ مديحَهم

مَن يَحتَبِلْني بالكرامةِ يَصطَد

They honored me, so I took up praising them;

whoever snares me with honor makes his catch.

يا أشرف الوزراء دعْوةَ جامعٍ

في الوُدِّ بينَ طريفِهِ والمُتْلد

O noblest of viziers, hear the call of one who joins

newly gained affection with love long inherited.

أفدِيكَ من صَرْفِ الرَّدى يا مَنْ به

وبجُوده من صَرْفِ دَهْرِيَ أفتَدي

I would ransom you from death's assaults, O you through whom

and through whose bounty I ransom myself from my age's assaults.

مِن باسطٍ يَدَهُ إليَّ بسَيْبه

يَغْدو على حَربِ الحوادثِ مُنْجِدي

A giver stretching his hand toward me with largesse,

who comes to my aid in battle against misfortunes.

إن جِئْتُ قاصِدَه حُبِيتُ وإنْ أُقِمْ

عنه لعُذْرٍ فالمواهبُ قُصَّدي

If I come seeking him, I am gifted; if I stay

away for some excuse, his gifts come seeking me.

وإذا بَعُدْتُ دنَتْ إليّ هِباتُه

وصِلاتُه فكأنني لم أبْعُد

When I am far away, his gifts draw near to me,

and so do his benefactions, as though I had never gone far.

دُمْ دِيمةً لبني الرّجاء مُقميةً

يا ذا الأيادي البادياتِ العُوَّد

Remain a lasting, gentle rain for the children of hope,

O master of favors, first bestowed and then renewed.

واقْسِمْ زمانَك بين مُلْكٍ قاهِرٍ

تَرْعَى الأنامَ به وعَيْشٍ أرغَد

Divide your time between overpowering rule,

with which you tend mankind, and a most comfortable life.

فكِفايةُ اللهِ التي عُوِّدْتَها

تُفْنِي العَدُوَّ بها وإن لم تَقْصِد

As for God's protection, to which you are accustomed,

through it you destroy the enemy, even without intent.

أمّا الحسودُ فحيثُ يَسمَعُ مِدْحتي

يَلْقَى الرُّواةَ لها بوجْهٍ أربَد

As for the envious man, wherever he hears my panegyric,

he meets its reciters with a face darkened in anger.

فِلمِقوْلي في قلبِ كُل مُعانِد

تأثيرُ مصْقولِ الغِرارِ مهند

My tongue has, within every opponent's heart,

the effect of a polished-edged Indian sword.

أنا سيفُك الماضي لإرغامِ العِدا

يومَ الفَخارِ فحَلِّني وتَقلد

I am your keen sword for humbling foes

on the day of boasting—adorn me and gird me on.

زرعتْ مُنايَ لدى عُلاك مَطالباً

شتّى فأمِدِدْني برأيْك أحصُد

My wishes have sown, beside your eminence, desires

of many kinds; aid me with your counsel, and I shall reap.

والدّهرُ أرجَفَ بارتِجاعِكَ مِنْحةً

بدأتْ فَكذِبهُ بعَودٍ أحمَد

Time has spread rumors of your taking back a gift

you first bestowed; belie it with a finer renewal.

ولقد فعلْتَ فَدُمْ كذلك مُنْعماً

أبداً تُعيدُ صنيعةً أو تَبْتَدي

You have indeed done so; keep bestowing favors thus,

forever renewing a kindness or beginning one.

وتَجدَّد العامُ الذي وافَى وقد

أبلَيْتَ ملبوسَ الزّمانِ فَجَدِّد

The year that has arrived is renewed, while you have

worn out time's garment—so renew it.

صُمْ ألفَ عامٍ في ظلالِ سعادةٍ

ولأَلْفِ عيدٍ بالميامِنِ عَيِّد

Fast a thousand years in the shade of happiness,

and celebrate a thousand Eids with auspicious blessings.