نصرت على الأعداء فليهنك النصر — Alarjani

نُصرْتَ على الأعداء فلْيهْنِك النّصرُ

ودامتْ لك النّعماءُ فليدُمِ الشُكرُ

You have been granted victory over your enemies; may victory bring you joy.

And blessings have remained yours; may gratitude endure.

وأسمحَتِ الأيّامُ بعدَ إبائها

ولانتْ لما تَهواهُ أعناقُها الصُّعر

The days grew generous after their refusal,

and their proudly crooked necks yielded to your desire.

أدَلَّ عليه المُلكُ إدلالَ واثقٍ

فباطنُه وُدٌّ وظاهرُه هُجر

Sovereignty treated him with the familiarity of one assured:

inwardly, affection; outwardly, estrangement.

وأذنبَ كي يُهدي إليك اعتذارَهُ

ويا رُبَّ ذَنبٍ كان جالبَهُ العُذر

It offended to present you with its apology—

and how many an offense was prompted by an apology!

وكنتَ له السِّرَّ الخطيرَ فصانَه

ولا بدَّ دونَ السِّرِّ أن يُسبَلَ السِّتْر

You were its precious secret, and it kept that secret safe;

a veil must surely be drawn over a secret.

فغِبْتَ مغيبَ البدرِعندَ سِرارِه

وعُدتَ بأبهَى عَودةٍ عادَها البَدر

You vanished as the full moon vanishes at its dark phase,

and returned with the most splendid return the full moon ever made.

فعادَ إلى عَيْنِ الحسودِ بك القذَى

وعاد إلى وَجْهِ الَولِيِّ بك البِشر

Through you, grit returned to the envious man's eye,

and through you, gladness returned to the loyal friend's face.

وفاء إلى أفيائك المَجدُ والعُلا

ولاذَ بعالي رأْيِك النّهْيُ والأمر

Glory and eminence returned to your sheltering shade,

and prohibition and command sought refuge in your lofty judgment.

وماذا رأى الباغي عليك ببغْيِه

ولولاك لم يُسدَدْ لمُلْكِهمُ ثَغر

What did the aggressor gain by his aggression against you?

Without you, no breach in their kingdom would have been closed.

وأنت غَنِيٌّ عنهمُ لو تَأمَّلوا

وما أحَدٌ إلاّ إليكَ به فَقْر

You have no need of them, if only they reflected,

while there is no one who does not stand in need of you.

وما اعتَمَد الأقوامُ حَربَكَ غِرّةً

ولكنّهمْ غُرّوا بحِلْمِكَ فاغْتَرّوا

Those people did not undertake war against you unwittingly;

rather, your forbearance misled them, and they grew presumptuous.

إذا كنتَ تُغْرَي أنت بالعَفْوِ عنهمُ

فليسَ عَجيباً بالتّجنِيّ إذا أُغْروا

If you yourself are drawn to pardoning them,

it is no wonder if they are drawn to wrongdoing.

فإن هَدموا قَصْراً عَمْرتَ لزائرٍ

فلن يَهدِموا المجدَ الذي ضمَّه القَصر

If they demolished a palace you had built for a visitor,

they will never demolish the glory the palace contained.

وإن نَهَبوا وَفْراً ذخَرْتَ لسائلٍ

فما زال من كَفَّيك يُنتَهَبُ الوَفْر

And if they plundered wealth you had stored for a petitioner,

wealth has always been plundered from your hands.

وما هو إلاّ العَيْنُ كُلُّ رزيئةٍ

إذا أخطأتْ إنسانَها أَمَمٌ نَزْر

It is but an eye: every calamity,

if it misses its pupil, is slight and trifling.

كأنّي بهِ والعِزُّ مِلءَ عِراصِه

تُعفَّرُ في ساحاتِها الأوجُه الغُرّ

I seem to see it, glory filling its courtyards,

radiant faces pressed into the dust within those grounds.

وحاشاكَ دونَ المجدِ أن يَطأوا حِمىً

حَمْيتَ وأنْ يُخْشَى لساكنهِ ذُعْر

Far be it from you that, short of glory itself, they should tread a sanctuary

you protected, or that terror should threaten its dweller.

مَكانُك أعلى أن يُبِيحوا له الحِمَى

وأوسَعُ عِزّاً أن يُحِيطَ بهِ الفِكْر

Your station is too high for them to violate its sanctuary,

and too vast in grandeur for thought to encompass.

ومَن يكنِ البْدرَ المنيرَ فإنّما

مَنازِلُه إن قيست الأنجمُ الزُّهْر

And whoever is the shining full moon has only

the brilliant stars for his stations, if they be measured.

ولمّا رأوا أنّ الأمورَ مُضاعَةٌ

وأنّ الّذي أبدوْا عواقبُه الخُسر

When they saw that affairs were being neglected,

and that what they had brought forth would end in loss,

وأنّ فتىً ما أنت مَقْصودُه عَمٍ

وأنّ يداً ما أنت مالِئُها صِفر

that a man who does not make you his goal is blind,

and that a hand you do not fill is empty,

أتَوكَ فأعَطْوكَ المَقادَ بأسرِهمْ

وعَفَّى على آثارِ ما أذْنبوا عُذْر

they came to you, all of them surrendering the reins,

and an apology effaced the traces of their offenses.

وأهوَتْ إلى أرضٍ وَطِئْتَ شِفاهُهمْ

وجَلّتْ عنِ التّقبيلِ أنملُكَ العَشْر

Their lips bent down toward ground you had trodden,

and your ten fingers were too exalted to be kissed.

يُحَيّونَ مَلْكاً عظّم اللّهُ قَدْرَه

وأَعلاه حتّى ليس يَعْدِ لَهُ قَدر

They salute a king whose worth God magnified,

and exalted him until his worth defies all measure.

دَعاهمْ فلَبَّوهُ إلى الحِلْفِ دَعوةً

فأَقبلَ مُختارٌ إليهِ ومُضطَرّ

He summoned them to alliance, and they answered his call;

willing and unwilling alike came to him.

ولو لم يُعَدَّ الرِّفْقُ ألْيقَ بالفتَى

لَقادَهُمُ طُرّاً إلى الطّاعةِ القَسر

Had gentleness not been deemed more fitting for a noble man,

force would have driven them all to obedience.

إذا ما أتَى التَّوفيقُ من دونِ واحدٍ

تَقاصَرَ عنه وَحْدَه العَدَدُ الكُثر

When good fortune comes to one man's defense,

vast multitudes fall short of him alone.

وهل يَضَعُ الحُسّادُ من مَجدِ ماجدٍ

وللّهِ في إعلاء رُتْبتِه سِرّ

Can the envious diminish a glorious man's glory,

when God has a secret purpose in exalting his rank?

وأمّا الرّعايا فهْي في ظِلِّ نعمةٍ

منَ الأمنِ لا يُزْري ببَهْجَتِها الكفر

As for the subjects, they live in the shade of a blessing

of safety whose splendor ingratitude cannot diminish.

نَشاوَى من الإدلاجِ حتّى كأنّما

زمانُك ساقيهمْ وأيّامُك الخَمر

Drunk with their night journeys, it is as though

your age were their cupbearer, and your days their wine.

رأَوْا منك عدْلاً فوق ما حُدِّثوا بِه

وما خَبَرٌ إلاّ ويَكْشِفُه خُبر

They have seen from you justice beyond all they had been told,

and experience lays every report bare.

وألّفْتَ بالإحسانِ بينَ قُلوبِهمْ

فأوثَقَها من سِرِّ إخلاصِها أَسْر

Through kindness you brought their hearts together,

and a bond of their inmost devotion bound them fast.

وقد كان منهم مَن يقولُ سَفاهةً

أبعدَ نظامِ المُلكِ يَنْتظِمُ الأَمر

Some among them had foolishly said,

'After Nizam al-Mulk, can affairs be put in order?'

فقد حارَتِ الأفهام فيما سنَنْتَه

من الجودِ حتّى ما لِمفقودِهمْ ذِكر

For minds are bewildered by what you have instituted

in generosity, until their lost one is no longer mentioned.

وهَوَّنَ فَقْدُ الفَجرِ أن كان بَعدَهُ

من الشَّمسِ ما يُنْسَى لمَوْضِعِه الفَجر

The loss of dawn was made light because after it

came a sun whose presence makes the dawn forgotten.

فيا مَلِكاً عاداتُ هِمّتِه عُلاً

ويا واهباً أمطارُ راحتِه غُزْر

O king whose ambition is accustomed to the heights,

O giver whose palm's rains pour abundantly!

كسَوْتَ يمينَ الدّولةِ المَلْكِ حُلّةً

فدانَتْ له الدُّنيا وعَزَّ بِه النَّصر

You clothed King Yamin al-Dawla in a robe,

and the world submitted to him, and victory grew mighty through him.

رأَوْا أنّ شِبْلاً أنت حاميهِ ضَيغَمٌ

وأنّ هِلالاً أنت صاحِبُه بَدر

They saw that a lion cub you protect is a mighty lion,

and that a crescent whose companion you are is a full moon.

إذا كنتَ أنت الدّهْرَ بل أنت فَوقَهُ

تُساعِدُه في كلِّ نائبةٍ تَعْرو

If you are Time itself—nay, above it—

aiding him in every calamity that befalls,

فلا يَكُنِ المَغرورُ مُستَصغِراً له

فليس صغيراً مَن يُساعِدُه الدَّهر

let no deluded man think little of him:

no man is small whom Time assists.

لقد نِلْتَ بالأقلامِ ما يُعجِزُ القَنا

وبالرَّأْيِ ما يَعْيا بهِ العَسكَرُ المَجْر

With pens you have attained what defeats the spears,

and with judgment what a vast army cannot accomplish.

فَمُثْنٍ على آثارِك السَيفُ والنَّدى

ووَقْفٌ على أَفعالِكَ الحمدُ والشُكر

Thus sword and generosity extol your achievements,

and praise and gratitude are reserved for your deeds.

بَقِيتَ ولا أَبقَى لك اللّهُ كاشِحاً

وعُمِّرْتَ للعلياء ما سَرَّكَ العُمر

May you endure, and may God leave no spiteful foe alive against you;

may you live long for glory, as long as life brings you joy.

وهُنِّئْتَ ذا العِيدَ السّعيدَ ومِثْلَه

أُلوفاً منَ الأعيادِ مالأْلأَ الغَفْر

May you be congratulated on this happy feast, and on its like—

thousands of feasts, as long as al-Ghafr glitters.