منازلكم للخائفين عصام — Alhees Bess

مَنازلكُم للخائفين عِصامُ

وأيديكمُ للسَّائلينَ غَمامُ

Your dwellings are a refuge for the fearful,

And your hands are rainclouds for petitioners.

وعندكم البأسُ والمَهيبُ صِيالهُ

اذا عَنَّ خطْبٌ أو ألَمَّ خِصامُ

With you is might, and fearsome is its onslaught,

Whenever calamity arises or conflict descends.

ومنكم رسولُ الله أشرف رُسْلهِ

بطاعتهِ سُبْلُ النَّجاةِ تُرامُ

From among you came God's Messenger, the noblest of His messengers;

Through obedience to him, the paths of salvation are sought.

وأبْلَجُ فَيَّاضُ النَّوالِ مُمجدٌ

يُخالُ الحيَا من وجههِ ويُشامُ

And a radiant man, overflowing with bounty, revered,

From whose face rain is divined and watched for.

أسالَ به عامَ الرَّمادةِ سَيْلَهُ

وقد طالَ بالمُستمطرين هَيامُ

Through him He loosed His torrent in the Year of Ashes,

After those seeking rain had long endured burning thirst.

وحَبْرٌ حَفيظٌ لا يُرَدُّ دليلهُ

له بفَتاوى المُشْكلاتِ قيامُ

And a learned man of sure memory, whose proof none can refute,

Ever ready with rulings on difficult questions.

وجوهُ بني العباس غُرٌّ لَطيفةٌ

وأعْراضُهمْ مُلْسُ الأديم كرام

The faces of the sons of al-Abbas are radiant and graceful,

And their honor is smooth-skinned and noble.

وأحْلامهمْ في المُجْلِباتِ رزينةٌ

وسُحْبهم في المكْرماتِ سِجامُ

Their judgment is steady amid tumultuous trials,

And in generous deeds their clouds pour down.

تروقكَ تحت السَّابِريَّاتِ منهمُ

جسامُ المّعاني والقُدود وسامُ

Beneath their Sabiri robes, you are charmed by

Handsome men, great in character and stature.

بهاليلُ اِما أظْلمَ الخطبُ أسفروا

وانْ أقشْعَ العامُ الجديبُ أغاموا

Noble lords: when calamity darkens, they shine forth;

And if the barren year turns cloudless, they bring clouds.

واِن أحجم الشُّمْس الغطاريف أقدموا

واِنْ طُوي الثَّغر المخوفُ أقاموا

And when proud, highborn lords hang back, they advance;

And if the dreaded frontier is abandoned, they stand fast.

وأرْبى أمير المؤمنين عليهمُ

عليهم صلاةٌ جَمَّةٌ وسلامُ

The Commander of the Faithful surpasses them—

Upon them be abundant blessing and peace.

أغَرُّ اذا ما سال بالبأس والنّدى

تهلَّلَ قَفْرٌ واسْتُبيحَ لُهامُ

Radiant—when he pours forth might and bounty,

A wasteland smiles, and a vast host is overrun.

فمنثورةٌ في سَلْمهِ ونِزالهِ

رَغائبُ تُغْني المُعْتفينَ وهامُ

Thus scattered in his peace and in his battle lie

Gifts that enrich petitioners, and severed heads.

على عِطفهِ عُلْويَّةٌ من سكينةٍ

أنالتْهُ سِرَّ اللّهِ وهو غُلامُ

Upon his shoulder rests an exalted serenity,

Which granted him God's secret while still a boy.

يضيءُ صخور القدس صلْتُ جبينه

فليس بأرضٍ تحتويهِ ظَلامُ

His smooth, radiant brow lights the rocks of Jerusalem,

So no darkness dwells in any land that holds him.

تَقيٌّ يَمَلُّ الزاد غير مُمرَّضٍ

له منْ تُقاهُ مَشْرَبٌ وطَعامُ

Pious, he tires of food, though he is not ill;

His piety supplies him drink and food.

تخوَّنهُ صوْمُ الهَجيرِ نَحافةً

وثَمَّ المَساعي والجدودُ ضِخامُ

Fasting in the midday heat has worn him thin,

Yet there his endeavors and fortunes are mighty.

هو المرءُ أما مالهُ لِعُفاتهِ

فحِلٌّ وأما عِرْضُه فَحرامُ

He is the man: as for his wealth, to his petitioners

It is freely available; his honor, however, is inviolate.

يطيبُ بذكراه النسيمُ مع الدُّجى

وما فُض عن مسك النجارِ ختامُ

At his mention the breeze grows sweet amid the darkness,

Though no seal is broken from the musk of his lineage.

ويُطْريهُ ذِكرُ المكارمِ والعُلى

كأنَّ المَساعي قرْقَفٌ ومُدامُ

The mention of noble deeds and eminence exalts him,

As though great deeds were wine and vintage.

لدُهْمِ الرَّزايا عن حِماهُ تفرقٌ

وللوفْدِ مِنْ حَوليْ ذراهُ زحامُ

Dark calamities scatter from his sanctuary,

While delegations throng around his shelter.

يُحيُّونَ وضَّاحَ الجبينِ كأنهُ

اذا ما انتدى يوم السَّلامِ شَمامُ

They greet the radiant-browed man, as though,

When he holds assembly on greeting day, he were Mount Shamam.

طويلُ نجادِ السيفِ أما ضِرابهُ

ففَذٌّ وأما جودهُ فَتُؤامُ

Long is his sword-baldric; as for his blow,

It is single; his generosity, though, comes doubled.

تذودُ الكرى عن جفنه لوذَعيَّةٌ

رَعاياهُ منها وادعون نيامُ

Keen intelligence drives sleep from his eyelid;

Through it his subjects rest secure, asleep.

تحاسَد أعْوادُ المَنابرِ تحْتهُ

وجُرْدٌ اذا جَدَّ الصَريخُ صيام

Pulpits' timbers envy one another beneath him,

As do sleek steeds, fasting when the cry for aid grows urgent.

فروْعاءُ فيها للفصيحِ تَبَلُّدٌ

وشعءواءُ فيها للمُشيحِ حِمامُ

Thus a fearsome sermon leaves the eloquent bewildered,

And a raging battle brings death to the resolute warrior.

فيُجري دماء الصيد في السلم والوغى

كلامٌ مَهيبٌ لفْظهُ وكِلامُ

Thus proud lords' blood is shed, in peace and battle, by

Speech whose wording inspires awe, and by wounds.

ومْجرٍ سحيق القطر جَمٍّ رماحهُ

اذا عُدَّ نَعْتُ الجيش فهو لُهامُ

And many a host, far-stretching, thick with spears—

When the army's qualities are reckoned, it is a mighty host—

بعيدِ المدى يخْفى ابتْداءً وغايةً

فليس وراءٌ عندهُ وأمامُ

So far-reaching that its beginning and end are hidden,

With neither rear nor front discernible within it.

أطارتْ حوامي الخيل مَدْحوَّ أرضه

فلا أرْضَ اِلا عِثْيَرٌ وقتامُ

The horses' hooves have flung its level earth aloft,

Till no earth remains, only rising dust and murk.

له منْ قِراعِ الدَّارعينَ توَقُّدٌ

ومنْ سَطواتِ المَشْرَفيِّ ضِرام

It blazes from the clash of armored warriors,

And flames from the assaults of Mashrafi swords.

تُخيِّرتِ الأبطالُ والخيلُ عنده

فلا جيش اِلا سابِقٌ وهُمامُ

Its warriors and horses have been handpicked,

So its host is nothing but swift steeds and heroes.

رماهُ أميرُ المؤمنين ببأسهِ

فسِيَّانِ شَفٌّ اذْ رَماهُ ولامُ

The Commander of the Faithful struck it with his might,

And when he struck, gauze and armor were alike.

ذِماماً أميرَ المؤمنينَ وعَطْفَةً

فسُخطك موتٌ للنفوسِ زُؤامُ

Protection, Commander of the Faithful, and compassion!

For your wrath is sudden death to souls.

واِنْ لم تكن لي منك سالف ذِمْةٍ

فانَّ مَديحي حُرْمةٌ وذِمامُ

Though I have no prior pledge of protection from you,

My praise is a sacred claim and a pledge of protection.

وبي رَهَبٌ من فرط خوفك مُرعب

نَبا بيَ منهُ مَرْقَدٌ ومَنامُ

A terrifying dread grips me from excessive fear of you;

Because of it, bed and sleep have shunned me.

يُرَنِّحُني فَرْطُ الحِذار فانني

كما هَزَّ مَخْلوعَ الفُؤادِ لَمامُ

Excessive wariness makes me reel, so that I am

Like a panic-stricken man shaken by a fit of madness.

وضاقتْ عليَّ الأرضُ حتى كأنني

ربيطٌ بأعْجازِ البُيوتِ يُسامُ

The earth has narrowed around me, until I seem

A captive tethered behind houses, being bargained for.

ولا ذنبِ اِلا أنْ تلوتُ ابْن مزْيدٍ

وأصبحَ حبْلي منه وهو رِمامُ

I have no fault except that I followed Ibn Mazyad,

And now the cord that bound me to him is rotten.

حلفتُ بربِّ الوخِداتِ كأنما

جَوافلَها تحتَ الرجالِ نَعامُ

I swore by the Lord of the swift-striding she-camels, as though

Their rushing forms beneath the riders were ostriches.

حنَايا قِسيٍّ في المِثالِ وانها

اذا سمعتْ زجْرَ الحُداةِ سِهامُ

Curved bows in form, yet they,

When they hear the camel-drivers' cries, are arrows.

غوانٍ بطيب القول عن مُحكم البُرى

فكلُّ فصيحٍ نِسْعةٌ وزِمامُ

Gentle words suffice them instead of firmly fixed nose-rings;

Thus every eloquent speaker is a girth and a rein.

تجّدُّ اذا جَدَّ الهُزالُ كأنما

على كل مِيلٍ غاربٌ وسَنامُ

They press on when emaciation grows severe, as though

At every mile stood withers and a hump.

حملن نشاوى خمرهم نصب السُّرى

اذا لَعِبتْ بالشَّاربينَ مُدامُ

They bore men drunk, their wine the toil of night travel,

As when aged wine toys with its drinkers.

بأني ابْتغيْتُ الرزقَ غير مُعاندٍ

وليس على منْ يَبْتَغيهِ مَلامُ

That I sought a livelihood, without defiance,

And no blame falls on one who seeks it.