الرزء أفجع لو أطلت بكائي — Alluah

الرزءُ أَفجع لو أَطلت بكائي

والخطب أَوجع لو شققت حشائي

The loss is more grievous, even if I prolong my weeping,

and the calamity more painful, even if I tear open my entrails.

من لائمي في لوعتي وتفجعي

وتوجعي وترجعي وأَسائي

Who can blame me for my anguish and lamentation,

my suffering, my plaintive cries, and my sorrow?

بصري وسمعي والفؤاد ومهجتي

ذهب الجَميع وقد سلبت عَزائي

My sight, my hearing, my heart, and my life's blood—

all are gone, and I have been robbed of solace.

هذا هو النبأ الجليل في الث

قلين والغبراء والخضراء

This is the mighty news among the two

weighty races, the dust-gray earth, and the green sky.

ما خُصّ فيها ناعب وقبيله

من دون أدوا جملة الحمراء

It did not single out Naʿib and his tribe,

to the exclusion of Adwa and all the non-Arabs.

فالأَرض ترجف والعشار فعُطلت

فيه وتطوى منه كل سماء

The earth trembles, and pregnant she-camels are left untended

because of it; through it every heaven is folded away.

وكأن اسرافيل قام مبادراً

للصور ينفخ في فنا الأَحياء

It is as though Israfil has risen in haste,

to blow the trumpet for the extinction of the living.

لا قلب إِلا في لظاه مقلب

لا مقلة إِلا بكت بدماء

No heart but is tossed about in its blaze;

no eye but has wept blood.

وكأن أَملاك السموات العلا

قامت به في محشد العزّاء

It is as though the angels of the highest heavens

have gathered for it in an assembly of mourners.

يا ثلمة وقعت ولا جبر لها

كتجبّر الأَعضاء بالأَعضاء

O breach that has occurred, with no mending for it

such as limbs may find through other limbs!

من سره أَن المكارم والتقى

والعلم يذهب عن أَذى الدنياء

Whoever is glad that noble deeds, piety,

and learning are removed from this world's harm,

فلينعمن فهكذا إذهابه

تحت الثرى من دولة وثراء

let him rejoice: this is their removal,

beneath the earth, away from power and wealth.

عجباً لطول ثلاثة من أَذرع

قبراً وعرض الشبر في الحصباء

How wondrous—a length of three cubits

for a grave, a span's width amid the pebbles,

وسع التقى والعلم طُرّاً والحجى

والمكرمات وجوهر العلياء

has held all piety and learning, all wisdom,

all noble deeds, and the essence of eminence.

يا بقعة ضمت فضائل أحمد

في أحمد عن سائر الدقعاء

O plot that enclosed Ahmad's virtues,

in Ahmad himself, apart from all other dusty ground:

فلك الفخار على البقاع كمثله

في العجم والعرب الذري العرباء

yours is glory above other plots, like his

among non-Arabs and the loftiest, purest Arabs.

هو بيضة الاسلام بل هو حَيَّةُ ال

وادي وقطب جماهر العلماء

He is Islam's stronghold—indeed, the serpent of the

valley, and the axis of the multitudes of scholars.

أَمسى وأَصبح في الضريح وما درى

ما حل في صبح بنا ومساء

He has passed evening and morning in the tomb, unaware

of what has befallen us by morning and evening.

كان الهدى بعمان ثمت أَصبحت

من بعده في حندس الظلماء

Guidance once dwelt in Oman; then she became,

after him, plunged in deepest darkness.

وبه لقد كانت على رغم العدا

مياسة كالغارة الغيداء

Through him, despite the enemies, she was

swaying gracefully like a slender maiden,

سلابة بجمالها وخلالها

تختال في برد من العصراء

ravishing in her beauty and her qualities,

strutting in a mantle of fine cloth.

مذ كان ساتر بشرها بردا النهى

وجمالها بخلالها الحسناء

For the two mantles of reason had covered her skin,

and her beauty lay in her lovely qualities,

حتى قضى نحبا فها هي أَصبحت

كالحيزبون الشوهة الغبراء

until he fulfilled his mortal term: behold, she became

like an ugly, dust-covered crone,

تبكي وتعلن بالصراخ لفقده

وتقول با ويلاه بيح حمائي

weeping and crying aloud at his loss,

saying, 'Alas for me! My sanctuary is violated!'

لا مانع عني ولا ذو حشمة

من بعد أحمد ساتر عورائي

No one protects me, no one of dignity

after Ahmad veils my nakedness.

يا أحمد يا إبن مداد الرضى

هل أَنت تسمع إِن دَعوت دعائي

O Ahmad, O son of Midad, the worthy!

Can you hear my call if I call?

أَوأَنت ترثي للذي حزناً بكى

وأَسى عليك بلوعة البرحاء

Or do you pity the one who wept in grief

and sorrowed over you with tormenting anguish?

أَبكي عليك وقد بكت قبلي العلا

والمكرمات بمقلة وطفاء

I weep for you, though eminence wept before me,

and noble deeds, with a thick-lashed eye.

والكتب باكية عليك لأنها

رزئت لفقدك أَعظم الأَرزاء

Books, too, are weeping for you, for they

have suffered at your loss the greatest calamity.

وكأنها المفراق بعدك أَردفت

أَثر الزفير ترزم الثكلاء

As though, after you, they were a she-camel parted from her calf, following

each sigh with the bereaved mother's moaning.

وكأنها من طول ما ولهت أَسى

فقدت لفقدك جملة الأَكفاء

As though, from the long grief in which they had pined,

they had lost, in losing you, all their peers.

وبكى اليراع عليك وهو أحق من

يبكي عليك بخلوة وملاء

The reed pen wept for you, most entitled of those who

weep for you in solitude and in public.

فلطالما أَجريته وحررته

بمحامد الأَفعال والأَسماء

How often you set it flowing and wrote with it

the praises of deeds and names!

ولطالما أَقضيته فقضى بما

أَقضيت عنك بنائل وقضاء

And how often you made it judge, and it ruled as

you decreed, on your behalf, in bounty and judgment.

قد كانَ مثل حديد عزمك في المضا

وأَخا حسامك في قضى ومضاء

It was like your steely resolve in incisiveness,

and the brother of your sword in judgment and penetration.

كم جدل الفصحاء عند جدالها

مستغنياً طبعاً عن الاملاء

How many eloquent men it felled in debate,

naturally needing no dictation!

وبكت عليك محابر ومنابر

فقدت لفقدك منطق الخطباء

Inkwells and pulpits wept for you,

having lost, through losing you, the eloquence of orators.

وبكت عليك مساجد ومحاشد

ومدارس ومعارس النعماء

Mosques and gathering places wept for you,

schools and the dwelling places of bounty.

وبكت عليك وفود حيّ عادها

من كفك الوهاب قرض عطاء

Delegations of a tribe wept for you, to whom came

from your lavish hand a loan of bounty.

وبكت عليك ضيوف ليل أَقبلت

تزجي المطي بليلة ليلاء

Night guests wept for you, who had come

urging their mounts through a pitch-dark night.

يا كعبة الوفاد بل يا قبلة ال

عُباد بل يا مدرة الفصحاء

O Kaaba of visitors—indeed, O prayer-direction of the

worshippers—indeed, O spokesman of the eloquent!

من ذا خلافك نهتديه لديننا

ولكل محمدة من الآراء

Whom after you shall we take as our guide in religion

and in every praiseworthy opinion?

من ذا يحل مسائلاً إِن عوصت

أَو من لدفع المحنة العوصاء

Who will unravel questions when they grow knotty,

or ward off the intractable ordeal?

من ذا نسائل بعد موتك عن أصو

ل الدين في توحيد ذي الآلاء

Whom shall we question after your death about the

principles of religion, concerning the oneness of the Lord of bounties,

أَو في الفُروع وفي أَصول الفرع أَو

أَصل الفروع وَأَصلها المتناء

or its branches, and the principles of a branch, or

the root of the branches and their firm foundation?

قد كان في الفتياء دونك هاشم

وأَبو المهاجر أَو أَبو الشعثاء

In issuing rulings, Hashim was beneath you,

and Abu al-Muhajir or Abu al-Shaʿthaʾ.

فإِذا سئلت عن المسائل لم تكن

ذا حيرة عن ردها لكاء

When asked about questions, you were not

bewildered or hesitant in answering them.

تفتي عن الباري وعن جبريله

وعن النبي وصحبه النجباء

You gave rulings on the authority of the Creator and His Gabriel,

and of the Prophet and his noble companions,

نصا كأنك كنت فيه مشاهدا

للوحي عند تنزل الأَنباء

by explicit texts, as though you had been an eyewitness

to revelation when the tidings descended.

كنت الحبا ولكل مستفت وكل

ل مؤمل راج جزيل حباء

You were bounty, and for every seeker of a ruling and every

hopeful petitioner, an abundant gift.

ناديك روضات الجنان ومنزل

فيه نزلت بجنة المأواء

Your assembly was paradise's gardens, and the dwelling

you have entered is in the Garden of Refuge.

ولأنت في يوم المعاد مشفع

مذ كنت حيا سيد البدلاء

Your intercession will be accepted on the Day of Return,

since in life you were master of the Abdal saints.

ولو أن بالفعل الجميل لفاعل

يقع البقاء بقيت طول بقاء

If beautiful deeds could grant their doer

enduring life, you would endure as long as endurance lasts.

لكنما اختار البقاء لنفسه ال

مولى وكل الخلق خلق بلاء

But everlasting life was chosen for Himself by the

Lord; all creation is a creation of decay.

لو يعرف الإنسان قيمة قدره

لم يفخر المولى على المولاء

If man knew the true worth of his station,

no patron would boast over his clients.

ها نحن والدُنيا كركب أَيغلت

في منهج منها إِلى الاحراء

Here we are, with the world, like riders who have ventured deep

along a path through it toward open country.

ما عرست بالظل إِلا ريثما

تقضي لبانتها من الأَفياء

They halt in the shade only long enough

to satisfy their need for its sheltering shadows.

تبا لذي الدنيا ومفتخر بها

وبآمل منها منال مناء

Perdition to this world and whoever boasts of it,

and to one hoping to attain his desires from it!

فيها النعيم ببؤسها متكدر

ولقد تعاقب راحة بشقاء

In it, bliss is clouded by its misery,

and ease is followed by suffering.

ما أَوهبت إِلا وقد سلبت وما

إِن أَضحكت إِلا ثنت ببكاء

It has never given without taking away, and never,

if it has made one laugh, failed to follow with tears.

ولنحن فيها كالبهائم رُتعا

نرعى وهن كروضة غناء

In it we are like beasts at pasture,

grazing, while they are like a luxuriant meadow.

والموت والآمال هذا قانص

وهي الحبال ونحن مثل الشاء

Death and hopes: this one is the hunter,

and they the snares; we are like sheep.

وأراه باباً كلنا ولاجه

أَشرافنا في الموت كالضعفاء

I see it as a gate that all of us must enter;

our nobles are like the weak in death.

فأَجل قدراً عندنا من أَسرعوا

في دفنه ولغسله بالماء

Thus the highest in rank among us is one they hurry

to bury and wash with water.

والفقد ليس على الجَميع من الوَرى

لكنه في حرف الاستثناء

Yet the loss does not fall upon everyone among mankind;

rather, it falls under the particle of exception.

يا عامراً للقاسطين نواديا

خربت بهن نوادي الأحياء

O you who populate assemblies for the unjust,

through which the assemblies of the living are laid waste!

موت البلار وموت من فيها ولا

موت امرئ فرد من الفقهاء

The death of the lands and of those in them, rather than

the death of a single man among the jurists!

هذا الفراق فهل تلاق بعده

إِني لقى منه خلاف لقاء

This is separation; is there reunion after it?

I am cast away by it—the opposite of reunion.

وأعز لو قبل الردى فيك الفدا

بنفوسنا نفديك والأَبناء

And, dearest, had death accepted a ransom for you,

we would ransom you with our lives and children.

عجباً لحامل نعشه ولنعشه

كبنات نعش في سمو سماء

How wondrous the bearer of his bier, and his bier,

like the Daughters of the Bier high in heaven!

وهو العظيم بأن يناقل منكب

عن منكب في آلة حدباء

He, the great one, is passed from shoulder

to shoulder in a curved conveyance.

يا قابريه إِن لحد ضريحه

حمل العزالة منزل الجوزاء

O you who buried him, the niche of his tomb

has borne the sun to al-Jawzaʾ's abode.

بل ليت كان ضريحه في مقلتي

ومكفنا بجفونها الجفناء

Rather, would that his tomb were in my eye,

and he were shrouded in its broad eyelids!

ولرحمة الرحمن راحت روحه

في عليين معانق الحوراء

His soul has departed to the mercy of the Merciful,

in ʿIlliyyin, embracing the houri.

وسرت وراحت أَو غدت أَو هجرت

بثراه كل سحابة وطفاء

May it pass by night, at evening, at morning, or at noon—

every rain-heavy cloud over his dust.

كنواله هتانها بضريحه

يتعاقب الأَنواء كالأَنواء

May its downpour upon his tomb be like his bounty,

one rain season succeeding another.

وسقت قبوراً حوله بجواره

أَحيا به النوار صوت حياء

And may it water the graves around him, beside him;

may the sound of rain revive the blossoms through it.

ولنا بمداد الرضى وصنوه

عبد الاله الحبر حسن رجاء

In Midad the worthy and his brother we have

fair hope—ʿAbd al-Ilah, the learned scholar.

ما مات من كانا له خلفا على

ما كانَ فيه لموضع الخلفاء

He has not died for whom those two were successors in

what he once upheld, fit for the place of successors.

فهما هما جيلا حجىً وهما هما

بحران في كرم وفي فتياء

They, indeed, are two generations of wisdom; they, indeed, are

two seas in generosity and legal judgment,

متحملين من الخلافة ثقلها

ومن المكارم أَشرف الأَعباء

bearing the burden of succession

and the noblest burdens of noble deeds.

مداد عبداللَه إِبني أَحمد

سروات ناعب ذروة العلياء

Midad, ʿAbd Allah, sons of Ahmad,

lords of Naʿib, the pinnacle of eminence:

قوما مقام أَبيكما في كل ما

قد كانَ قام به من الأَشياء

stand in your father's place in everything

that he once undertook.

وَمآثر الآباء لا تعدوكما

فالحمد نهج مآثر الآباء

Let your fathers' glorious deeds not pass you by,

for praise lies in following the path of your fathers' deeds.

أَنتُم بنو مداد سر كامن

لِلّه في السراء والضراء

You, sons of Midad, are a hidden secret

of God in ease and hardship.

واللَه أَلبسكم لباس مكارم

إرثاً لآباء على الأَبناء

God has clothed you in a garment of noble virtues,

an inheritance passed from fathers to sons.

إِن ماتَ منكم قدوة بمكانه

قد قامَ قدوة قادة قدماء

If an exemplar among you dies, in his place

an exemplar of the leaders of old has already arisen.

مثل الكواكب إِن تغيب كوكب

إِلا وَأَوضح كوكب للراء

Like the stars: if one star disappears,

another star shines forth for the beholder.

عقل الزمان وسمعه وعيونه

أَنتم وباقي الناس كالأَعضاء

The mind of the age, its hearing, and its eyes

are you; all other people are like its limbs.