عداك الحادثات إلى عداكا — Alarjani

عَداكَ الحادثاتُ إلى عِداكا

فما للنّاسِ مَعنىً ما عَداكا

May calamities pass you by and fall upon your foes.

For no one has worth except you.

ولا بَرَحَ المُصادِقُ والمُعادي

إذا ما نابَ نائبةٌ فِداكا

And may friend and foe never cease,

whenever calamity strikes, to be your ransom.

فأنتَ سنَنْتَ للنّاسِ المَعالي

وإن لم يَبلُغوا فيهما مَداكا

For you established the paths of excellence for mankind,

though in both they have not reached your heights.

إذا نظَر الملوكُ إليكَ يَوماً

رأَوْك لأمْرِ مُلكِهمُ مِلاكا

When kings look upon you one day,

they see you as the mainstay of their rule.

فإن يَكُ مُلكُهمْ أمسَى سَماءً

فَرَأْيُكَ لم يَزْل فيها سِماكا

And if their kingdom has become a sky,

then your counsel has always been its Simak star.

خُلقْتَ منَ العُلا والمجدِ حتّى

تَضمّنتِ الفضائلَ بُرْدَتاكا

You were fashioned from eminence and glory, until

your two mantles encompassed all the virtues.

فلو كان العُلا والمجدُ شَخصاً

يَراهُ النّاظرونَ لكنتَ ذاكا

If eminence and glory were a person

whom beholders could see, you would be that person.

نَصُدُّ عنِ الغمائمِ هاطلاتٍ

إذا مطَر الوفودَ غَمامتاكا

We turn away from clouds pouring rain,

when your two clouds shower the delegations.

ونَسمَعُ عن كرامِ النّاسِ ذكْراً

ونَنظرُ ما نَرَى أحداً سِواكا

We hear mention of generous people,

and look, yet see no one but you.

فلا نَعْبا بأنْ سَخِطَ اللّيالي

وأهلُوها إذا حُزنا رِضاكا

So we care not if the nights take offense,

or their people, when we have won your favor.

لقد مَرِضتْ لنا الآمالُ حتّى

شَفاها اللهُ لمّا أن شَفاكا

Our hopes indeed fell ill, until

God healed them when He healed you.

فلا حُرِمَ السَّناءَ بكَ المعالي

ولا خلَتِ المَمالكُ من سَناك

May high honors never be denied splendor through you,

and may kingdoms never lack your radiance.

فما اكتحلَتْ بوَجهِ السَّعْدِ يَوماً

من الدُّنيا سوى عَينٍ تَراكا

For none has ever worn good fortune's face as kohl

in this world, save an eye that sees you.

تَقسَّمتِ الوُفودُ غداةَ سارَتْ

وخَيلُ الدَّهرِ تَعترِكُ اعْتراكا

The delegations parted ways the morning they set out,

while Time's horses clashed in fierce combat.

فسار الطّارقاتُ إلى الأعادي

وسار الطّارِقونَ إلى ذُراكا

So night-coming calamities went to the enemies,

and night-coming visitors went to your heights.

بنو الدّهرِ العُفاةُ لديكَ لكنْ

بَناتُ الدّهرِ تَقصِدُ مَن قَلاكا

Time's sons—the seekers of bounty—are with you; but

Time's daughters seek out whoever hates you.

مَنِ استَكْفاكَ أمرَهمُ كفيلٌ

إذا راب الزّمانُ بما كَفاكا

He who entrusted their affairs to you stands surety,

if Time brings unease, for what he has provided you.

لك المَعروفُ دونَ النّاسِ مُلْكٌ

يَداكَ بصِدقِ ذلكَ شاهِداكا

Benevolence belongs to you alone among all mankind;

your two hands are your witnesses to that truth.

ولمّا صارَ حَمدُ النّاسِ وحْشاً

نَصبتَ من الجميلِ له شِباكا

When people's praise became a wild creature,

you laid nets of kindness to catch it.

أرى الإمساكَ من عاداتِ قَومٍ

وما اعتادَتْ سوى بَسْطٍ يَداكا

I see that withholding is some people's habit,

but your two hands are accustomed only to opening wide.

فأعجَبُ كيف مَعْ تلك السَّجايا

أطاقَ بكفِّك القلَمُ امتِساكا

So I marvel how, with such traits,

the pen could endure being held within your palm.

لدِيوانَيْ حسابِكُمُ وشِعْري

أرَى في الرَّعْيِ للذِّمَمِ اشْتِراكا

Between your account book and my book of verse,

I see a shared concern for honoring obligations.

مَعاشيَ هاهُنا ما زالَ يُجْرَى

ومَدحُكَ هكذا يُتْلَى هُناكا

My stipend continues to be paid here,

and praise of you is likewise recited there.

فما في أمرِ إدراري مَعابٌ

ولا دُرَري إذا جُعِلَتْ حُلاكا

So there is no reproach in paying my stipend,

nor in my pearls when made your adornment.

أُنَظَمُهنَّ أشعاراً رِقاقاً

إذا ما غَيرُها أضحَى رِكاكا

I string them into delicate verses,

when other verses have become feeble.

وما شُكري لمِا أَولَيْتَ إلاَّ

رَهينٌ ما أُطيقُ له فَكاكا

My gratitude for what you have bestowed is but

a captive I have no power to ransom.

إذا طلَب الحسودُ لدَيكَ شَأْوي

نهَتْه عن مُطاولتي نُهاكا

When an envious man seeks my standing with you,

your judgment deters him from vying with me.

وكيف أخافُ للواشي مَقالاً

وقد عُقدَتْ على طَوْدٍ حُباكا

How could I fear a slanderer's words,

when your knee-binding bands are fastened round a mountain?

إلى المَولَى الصِّفيّ سَرتْ رِكابي

وحَسْبُك بالصَّفيِّ إذا اصْطَفاكا

My riding camels journeyed to the lord al-Safi,

and al-Safi suffices you once he has chosen you.

وَليُّ الدَّولةِ الحاكي نَداهُ

وَليَّ المُزْنِ والقَطْرَ الدَّراكا

Wali al-Dawla, whose bounty mirrors

the clouds' follow-up rain and showers in swift succession.

لتَهنِكَ كَعبةٌ زارتْكَ شَوقاً

إليك ورَّفهَتْ كَرماً خُطاكا

May you rejoice in a Kaaba that visited you, longing

for you, and graciously spared your footsteps,

ودَوحةُ سُؤْدَدٍ تَدعوكَ فَرْعاً

فَزادَ اللهُ مَفْخَرَ مَن نَماكا

and in a great tree of nobility that calls you its branch;

so may God increase the glory of the one who raised you.

أتَتْ بك أوّلاً وأتتْ أخيراً

تَزورُكَ بعدَ ما شَطَّتْ نَواكا

She first brought you forth, and later came

to visit you after your abode had grown distant.

بمَقْدَمكَ اعْتراها من سُرورٍ

مُشابِهُ ما بمَقْدَمها اعْترَاكا

At your arrival a joy came over her

like that which came over you at her arrival.

لكَ البُشرَى بها ولَها قديماً

لقد عَظُمَتْ وجَلّتْ بُشرَياكا

You have glad tidings in her, as she had long ago;

indeed, great and glorious are your two glad tidings!

طَرِبتُ لجَمْع شَملك بَعْدَ لأْيٍ

لَعلّك جامعٌ شَمْلي كَذاكا

I rejoiced at your reunion after hardship;

perhaps you will likewise bring about my reunion.

أرى لي طِيّةً عَرُضَتْ وطالَتْ

وليسَ مَطيّتي إلاّ نَداكا

I see before me a journey grown broad and long,

and my only mount is your bounty.

ولي وَطَنٌ ولي وَطَرٌ جَميعاً

سَيُدْني لي بَعيدَهُما جَداكا

I have both a homeland and a wish;

your bounty will bring both, though distant, near to me.

وسَوقُ الرّاحتَيْنِ إليّ سَهْلٌ

عليكَ إذا استَهلتْ راحتاكا

And bringing me both comforts is easy

for you, when your two palms rain down.

أَحِنُّ إلى السُّرَى وَعلَيَّ قَيْدٌ

منَ التَّعويقِ يَمنَعُني الحَراكا

I yearn for night travel, but upon me lies a fetter

of hindrance that keeps me from moving.

فحُلَّ عِقالَ نِضْوٍ من رَجائي

يَسِرْ بي من ديارِكمُ ابْتِراكا

So loose the hobble of a worn-out mount of my hope;

let it carry me at full speed from your lands.

وأيّاً ما حلَلْتُ فلي لسانٌ

مَلئٌ بالثّناء على عُلاكا

And wherever I settle, I have a tongue

full of praise for your eminence.

فحيثُ نزلْتُهُ يَأْتيكَ شُكْري

على بُعْدٍ وتَأْتيني لُهاكا

Wherever I lodge, my thanks will reach you

across the distance, and your gifts will reach me.

وما مَدْحي وإنْ خطبَتْه قَومٌ

سوى عَبَقٍ بثَوبِ عُلاكَ صاكا

My praise, though people have sought it, is nothing

but a fragrance clinging to the robe of your eminence.

فلا يَزلِ الزّمانُ بكُلِّ حال

يُطيعُك صَرْفُهُ في مَن عَصاكا

May Time, in every circumstance, never cease

to obey you in its turns against whoever defies you.

رأيتُك في يَدِ الإقبالِ سَيْفاً

فلا شامَتْكَ كَفُّ من انْتَضاكا

I saw you as a sword in prosperity's hand;

may the hand that drew you never sheathe you.

ولا لَقّاكَ مَن تَرجوهُ يأساً

فإنّكَ لستَ تُؤْيسُ مَن رَجاكا

And may whoever you hope in never bring you despair,

for you never make those who hope in you despair.