نحمدك اللهم يا ذا المن — Aloshari

نحمدك اللَهم يا ذا المَن

وَلا نَقول قَول أَهل المن

We praise You, O God, possessor of bounty,

and do not speak like those who boast of their favors.

ثُم سَلام ضم لِلصَلاة

عَلى نَبي خص بِالصَلات

Then peace, joined to blessings,

upon a prophet singled out for gifts:

مُحَمد المُختار وَالد الحسن

ذي الفَضل وَالكَمال وَالوَجه الحَسَن

Muhammad the chosen, father of al-Hasan,

possessed of excellence, perfection, and a beautiful face;

وَآله وَصحبه سم العِدى

وَالحَق وَالتَوفيق عَنهُم ما عَدا

and upon his family and companions, poison to their foes.

Truth and right guidance never departed from them.

ثُم سَلام قَد سَما وَراقا

لأَنَّهُ قَد زين الأَوراقا

Then a greeting, exalted and delightful,

for it has adorned the pages.

روقه بنشره ريح الصبا

فانحرف القَلب إِلَيهِ وَصَبا

The east wind freshened it with its fragrance,

so the heart turned toward it and yearned.

يخجل مِنهُ الوَرد وَالنوار

وَتَجتلي مِن وَجهِهِ أَنوار

Roses and blossoms blush before it,

and lights shine forth from its face.

كَأَنَّهُ حَديقة مِن وَرد

أَو منهل عذب شَهي الوَرد

As though it were a garden of roses,

or a sweet watering place, delightful to draw from;

أَو خمرة مِن سالف الاعصار

تسكر وَهيَ في يَد العصار

or wine from ages long past,

intoxicating while still in the presser's hand;

أَو نقطة مِن عَنبر في وَجنة

أَو قبة مِن جَوهر في جَنة

or a speck of ambergris upon a cheek,

or a dome of precious stone in a garden;

أَو طرة مِن ذَهب في وَرق

أَو رَسم طل في حَواشي الوَرَق

or a border of gold upon silver,

or dew traced upon the margins of leaves;

أَو مقلة تهزأ بِالغَزالة

أَو نير تَعنو لَهُ الغَزالة

or an eye that mocks the gazelle,

or a luminary to which the sun bows;

أَو دارة مِن قَمر في هاله

بِنوره رَد الحجا وَهاله

or a moon's disk within a halo,

whose light turned reason back and awed it;

أَو نَرجس قالَ لِورد الجوري

بِاللَهِ إِن جارَ الهَوى فَجوري

or a narcissus that told the damask rose:

By God, if passion is unjust, then be unjust!

أَو غصن تاه بجلنار

فَجئته أَسعى بجل ناري

Or a branch that strutted with pomegranate blossoms.

So I came to it, hastening with most of my fire,

لِحَضرة فاقَت عَلى أم الهَوى

فَكُل مَن شاهد مَجدها سها

to a presence that surpassed the mother of passion;

so all who saw its glory forgot themselves.

جلت عَن الادراك وَالأملاك

واتصلت بِعالم الأَملاك

It rose beyond understanding and the reach of kings,

and joined the realm of angels:

حضرة مَولانا الأَمين الأَلمعي

النير العالي المضيء الألمع

the presence of our master, the trustworthy, the keen-witted,

the radiant, exalted, shining, brilliant one,

ذي العلم وَالفطنة وَالكَمال

وَمَن أعَد ماله كَمالي

possessed of knowledge, discernment, and perfection,

and whose wealth I count as my own;

مهذب الرأي كَبير العَقل

مشيد الحَزم شَديد العَقل

refined in judgment, great in intellect,

firm in resolve, strong in self-restraint;

أَمضى مِن السيف الصَقيل الماضي

حالاً وَفي الدَهر القَديم الماضي

sharper than a polished, cutting sword,

now, and in ancient days gone by;

ذي النظم وَالنَثر البَديع الفايق

بِمثله فاقَ كِتاب الفايق

master of exquisite, surpassing verse and prose,

with such work he surpassed the book Al-Fa'iq.

وَنسخه في العلم نسخ الحامدي

لِذاكَ قَد أفحم كُل حامد

And his transcription in learning superseded al-Hamidi's,

for this he left every praiser speechless.

قَد أَحسَن اللَهُ لَنا نَباته

حَتّى سَما نَجل الفَتى نَباته

God has made his growth fair for us,

until he outshone the son of the youth Nubata.

وَصارَ للآداب خَير خازن

من ذا أَبو الطيب وَابن الخازن

And he became the finest keeper of letters.

Who are Abu al-Tayyib and Ibn al-Khazin beside him?

أكرم بِه من مصقع حازَ الرضا

كَأَنَّهُ الشريف مَولانا الرضا

How noble he is, an eloquent man who has gained approval!

As though he were the sharif, our master al-Rida.

مؤلف فاقَ بِحسن السبك

كَأَنَّهُ فيهِ الإِمام السبكي

An author surpassing others in the beauty of composition,

as though in this he were Imam al-Subki;

عيسى الزمان في عِلاج البَدَن

لَكنهُ لَيسَ لعمري بدني

the Jesus of his age in treating the body,

yet, by my life, he is not base.

يَكشف عَن حَقيقة الأَمراض

بِحكمه كُل سَقيم راضي

He reveals the true nature of diseases;

every sick person is satisfied with his judgment.

وَهوَ كَجار اللَه في التَفسير

فاسمع لما أَقول مِن تفسيري

And in exegesis he is like Jar Allah;

so listen to what I say by way of my explanation.

وَفي الحَديث الحافظ العراقي

ما مثله في الشام وَالعراق

And in hadith, he is the hadith master al-Iraqi;

there is none like him in Syria or Iraq.

وَفي أُصول الفقه كابن الحاجب

وَما لهُ عَن بابهِ بحاجب

And in the principles of jurisprudence, he is like Ibn al-Hajib,

and no doorkeeper bars access to his door.

لَيسَ لَهُ في الفقه مِن أَشباه

كابن نجيم صاحب الأَشباه

He has no peers in jurisprudence,

like Ibn Nujaym, author of Al-Ashbah.

وَفي المَعاني بَل وَفي البَيان

مثل الخَطيب صاحب البَيان

And in the science of meanings—indeed, in eloquent expression too—

he is like al-Khatib, author of Al-Bayan.

وَفي الحِساب الصرف كابن الهايم

فادرِ بِهِ إِن كُنت غَير هائم

And in pure arithmetic, like Ibn al-Ha'im;

so understand him, if you are not bewildered.

وابن اللبان الشَيخ في الفَرائض

قَد راضها أكرم بِهِ مِن رائض

And in inheritance law, the shaykh Ibn al-Labban.

He has tamed it—how noble a tamer he is!

وَإِن ترد مثاله في النَحو

في سيبويه الفَرد فانظر نحوي

And if you seek his equal in grammar,

in peerless Sibawayh, then look my way.

وَحاتم في الجود وَالنَوال

لِغَيره يا صاح مِن نَوالي

And he is Hatim in generosity and bounty,

to others, my friend, from my share of bounty.

يا سَيداً عد مِن الأَشراف

زاد إِلى لقياكم إشرافي

O master counted among the noble,

my eagerness to meet you has increased.

لَولا فُؤاد في العَنا كَالراسي

شَغلته بالحبر وَالكراسي

Were it not for a heart firmly anchored in hardship,

which I have busied with ink and chairs,

لَجئتكم أَسعى عَلى جُفوني

وَأحمل النصال في الجُفون

I would have come to you, hastening upon my eyelids,

and bearing blades in their scabbards.

لَكِنَّني قيدت بِالأداهم

مِن فتية أَراقم أَداهم

But I have been bound in shackles,

by young men—dark, speckled serpents.

سرتم وَقَلبي مَعكُم يَسير

كَأَنَّهُ لحبكم أَسير

You departed, and my heart travels with you,

as though captive to its love for you.

هَلا سررتم ناظِري بخط

مِن قَلم أَزرى بسمر الخَط

Why not delight my eye with a line of writing

from a pen that shames the tawny spears of al-Khatt?

يَكون نوراً زاهِراً لِناظري

وَيَرتَوي مِن فيه كُل ناظر

It would be a radiant light for my eye,

and every beholder would drink his fill from its mouth.

ثُم سَلام قَد حكى صوب الحَيا

يهدي لأَولادك أَرباب الحَيا

Then a greeting like the pouring rain,

offered to your children, masters of modesty.

لِلّه يا ابن الأَكرَمين درهم

لَقَد زَكا مغرسهم وَدرهم

How excellent they are, by God, O son of the noblest!

Their planting-ground and their milk-flow have indeed flourished.

سَمط لئال قَد سَما نِظامهم

وَقَد حَلا لسمعنا نِظامهم

A string of pearls whose arrangement has risen high,

and their verse has delighted our ears.

وَكُل شَخص مِنهُم مَجيد

وَمصقع لشعره مجيد

And each one of them is glorious,

and eloquent, accomplished in his poetry.

كَيفَ وَهُم مِنكَ وَأَنتَ مِنهُم

فَمن بَنو شيبان قل لي مَن هُم

How could it be otherwise, when they are of you and you of them?

So who are Banu Shayban? Tell me who they are!

صَحايف التَقريض عَنهُم وَصلت

فَأَحرَقت كُل حَسود وَصلت

Sheets of commendatory verse arrived from them,

and so burned every envious man and scorched him.

لَم أَنسَ إِذ سرحت طَرفي فيها

وَقَد رَشَفت قرقفاً من فيها

I have not forgotten when I let my gaze roam through it,

and sipped wine from its mouth.

كَالسحر لَكن صفه بِالحَلال

فَمثلها في الشعر ما حَلا لي

Like magic—but call it lawful;

nothing in poetry has pleased me like it.

حَديقة ما قطفت أَورادها

وَكررت ما بَينها أَورادها

A garden whose roses I have not plucked,

and I repeated what lay within it: its litanies.

غناء قَد غَنت بِها البَلابل

وَهَيجت مِن صوتِها البَلابل

Lush, where nightingales have sung,

and stirred turmoil with their voice.

عَذراء قَد جاءَت بِأَلف حلة

تَميس ما بَينَ عذارى الحلة

A maiden who came in a thousand robes,

swaying among the maidens of the settlement.

شاهدتها مَذعورة كَريمة

فَقُلت مِمَن أَنت يا كَريمة

I saw her, frightened and noble,

and said: From whom are you descended, noble lady?

قالَت أَنا الغَريبة الفَريدة

لعقدكم كَالدرة الفَريدة

She said: I am the stranger, the matchless one,

like a unique pearl for your necklace;

بنت كرام نَزَلوا في الموصل

إِلى بَني الفَخر الكِرام موصلي

daughter of noble men who settled in Mosul,

my destination is the noble sons of glory.

أَعني الألى قَد شيدوا فخارهم

أَكرمهم رَب العلى فخارهم

I mean those who have built up their renown;

the Lord of heights honored them and chose them.

جئت إِلى زِيارة الشريف

وَمَن غَدا كَالسيد الشَريف

I came to visit the sharif,

and him who became like al-Sayyid al-Sharif,

مَولاي عَبد اللَه نَجل فَخري

فَفيه بان سُؤددي وَفَخري

my master Abd Allah, son of Fakhri,

in whom my eminence and pride were revealed.

فَقُلت أَهلاً بِكُم وَسَهلا

صادفتم بَراً وَبَحراً سَهلا

I said: A hearty welcome to you!

You have found land and sea easy of passage.

نَزَلتُم هُنا سَواد العَين

وَفَضلكُم أزري بِكُل عَين

You have settled here, in the pupil of the eye,

and your excellence has put every notable to shame.

فَلا يَزال الفَضل مِنا وَلَكُم

وَلَيسَ ذا في ثَوبِكُم أَول كم

May bounty always come from us and be yours,

and this is not the first sleeve in your robe.

بِحفظه رَب السَما حماكُم

وَلا يَزال المَجد في حِماكُم

May the Lord of heaven shelter you in His keeping,

and may glory ever dwell within your domain.

وَخَصك اللَه بلطف وَهنا

يَأتي إِلَيك مِن هُنا وَمِن هُنا

And may God favor you with kindness and bliss,

coming to you from this side and that.

وَالحَمد للّهِ عَلى ما منا

قَد أَنزَل الغَيث لَنا وَالمَنا

And praise be to God for what He has bestowed:

He has sent down rain and manna for us.