لا تغرض الدمع إن دمع إمرئ غرضا — Alsanubri

لا تَغْرض الدمعَ إِنْ دمعُ إمرئ غَرِضا

ووال تحريضَه حتى تُرى حَرَضا

Do not tire of tears, though a man's tears may grow weary.

Keep urging them on until you are seen wasted by grief.

لو رامَ أن يَرحَضَ الأوْصابَ ذو وَصَبٍ

بغيرِ ماءِ مآقيه لما رَحَضا

If an ailing man sought to wash away his pains

with anything but the water of his tear-ducts, he would not wash them away.

إِن يَغْدُ دمعيَ في صِبْغِ العقيق فَقُلْ

هذا العقيقُ عليه صِبْغَهُ نَفَضا

If my tears take on the color of agate, say:

This agate has scattered its dye upon them.

وإِن عدا قلبيَ الرمضاء أو كبدي

مدى حياتي فلما يَعْدُهُ الرَّمَضا

Though my heart or liver escape the burning ground

throughout my life, the burning has never left it.

كم مشتكٍ مَضَضاً لمّا تأمَّل ما

أُجِنُّ أَقْسمَ أن لا يَشتكي مَضَضا

How many a man complaining of pain, on considering what

I conceal, swore never to complain of pain.

عَرَّضْتَ بالصَّبْرِ لي جَهْلاً ببحر أَسىً

قد ظلَّ بيني وبين الصَّبْرِ معترضا

You hinted at patience to me, ignorant of a sea of sorrow

that has stood between me and patience.

يا كربلاءُ أَما لي فيك مُبْتَرَضٌ

على الثناءِ فأبغي فيك مُبْتَرضا

O Karbala, is there no occasion for me in you

for praise, that I may seek such an occasion in you?

أن يُعْقَلِ الجسمُ أو يُؤبَضْ فما عَقَل الش

وقُ المملّكُ أَحشائي ولا أبضا

Though the body be tethered or hobbled, long-

ing, enthroned within, has neither tethered nor hobbled my entrails.

مَن لي إذا هِمَمي جالتْ بمعتَزمٍ

يجيلُ تحتَ الدَّياجي الحُزْمَ والغُرُضا

Who is there for me when my ambitions range upon a resolute mount

that sets girths and saddle-straps moving beneath the darkness?

عادى فؤادي سلوِّي في مَحَبَّتِه

آل الرسول وعادى جفنيَ الغُمُضا

My heart opposed my consolation in its love for

the Messenger's family, and my eyelid opposed sleep.

ما زلت أَمْحَضُهُمْ مَحْضَ الودادِ وما

أوَدُّ وُدَّ سوى مَنْ وُدَّهم مَحضا

I have always offered them the purest affection, and

I love none but those who sincerely love them.

هوى بني هاشمٍ فرضٌ وأقْوَمُنا

على السبيلِ الأولى قاموا بما فُرِضا

Love for the sons of Hashim is an obligation, and the most upright among us

upon the path are those who fulfill what is prescribed.

الناقضين من اللأواءِ مُبرَمَها

والمبرمينَ من النعماءِ ما انتقضا

They unravel the tightly knotted strands of hardship

and bind again whatever blessings have come undone.

كان من الزمانُ فضاً حتى إِذا ملكوا

تمييزَهُ مَيزوا فانمازَ كلُّ فضا

Time lay jumbled until, when they mastered

its ordering, they distinguished its parts, and every jumble became distinct.

يا من بغاني ارتكاضاً في محبَّتِهمْ

لا زلتَ فيهم كما لا زلتُ مُرتكِضا

O you who desired that I race in love for them,

may you always race for them, as I have always raced.

كم ناغضِ الرأسِ فوقَ الرَّحْلِ من سِنَةٍ

أَقام صوتيَ منه الرأسَ إِذ نَغَضا

How many a head nodding above the saddle from drowsiness

my voice raised when it drooped!

لما حدوتُ بمدحيهمْ ركائِبَهُمْ

بسطتُّ من جأشِهِ ما كانُ منقَبضا

When I drove their mounts onward with praise of them,

I relaxed what had been constricted in his spirit.

ما زلتُ أطوي لهم بُسطَ المهامِهِ بال

حُداءِ مُرتفعاً طوراً ومُنْخَفِضاً

I kept folding up for them the expanses of the deserts with

camel-song, now rising, now falling.

حتى نضا صِبْغُ ليلٍ ما عدا شبَها

صِبْغَ الشباب إِذا صِبغُ الشباب نضا

Until the dye of a night faded, resembling nothing but

the dye of youth when youth's dye fades.

وكنتُ لا يطَّببيني مَدْحُهُمْ وهمُ

مَن لم يجدْ مادحٌ من مَدحِهِم عِوَضا

Praising them did not entice me, for they are

those from whose praise no praiser receives a reward.

أُهدي قريضي وأُهديهِ وودَّيَ لو

أَهدى القريضَ إليهم كلُّ مَن قَرَضا

I offer my poetry, and offer it again; my wish is that

everyone who composes poetry would offer it to them.

إن أعترض حبَّ أصحاب الكساءِ أجِدْ

حُبّيهُمُ جوهراً في القلب لا عَرَضا

If I examine love for the People of the Cloak, I find

my love for them a substance in the heart, not an accident.

خلِّ الرُّبى والأضا واحلُل بساحتِهمْ

تحلل بخير ربىً منهم وخير أَضا

Leave the hills and pools, and settle in their courtyard:

among them you will settle beside the finest hills and pools.

همُ زُبْدةُ الفخرعنهم في القديم وفي ال

حديثِ صَرَّحَ محضُ الفخرِ إذ مُخِضا

They are the cream of glory: from them, in ancient times and in the

present, pure glory emerged when churned.

يزدادُ فخرُ سِواهمْ عند فخرهمُ

ضيقاً وإن طال ذاك الفخرُ أو عرُضا

The glory of others grows narrow beside their glory,

however long or broad that other glory becomes.

من كان حَشْوَ حشاهُ غيرُ حبِّهِمُ

لا كان حشوَ حشاهُ غيرُ جمرِ غَضَا

Whoever fills his innermost being with anything but love for them—

may nothing fill his innermost being but embers of ghada wood!

صلاةُ ربي على أبناءِ فاطمةٍ

ما استيقظ الطرْفُ من غمْضٍ وما غَمَضا

My Lord's blessings upon the children of Fatimah,

as long as the eye awakens from sleep and closes again.

وددتُ من وَدَّ مولايَ الحسينَ كما

رفضتُ رافضَهُ جهلاً بما رفضا

I have loved whoever loved my master Husayn, just as

I rejected whoever rejected him, ignorant of what he rejected.

سلِّم على نازلٍ بالطفِّ منزلُهُ

إِنَّ السلامَ عليه كان مُفْتَرَضا

Send greetings of peace to one whose abode is at al-Taff;

greeting him with peace was indeed obligatory.

على الحسينِ على سِبْطِ الرسول على ال

مقبوض مُشْتَهياً للماءِ إذ قُبِضا

Upon Husayn, upon the Messenger's grandson, upon the

one whose soul was taken while he longed for water.

من كان في مَغرسِ الإسلام مغرسُهُ

قضى على مُهجَةِ الإسلام حين قَضى

He whose roots were planted in the planting-ground of Islam

dealt death to Islam's very heart when he died.

لئن رضيتُ له دمعاً بغير دمٍ

لقد رضيتْ له مني بغير رضا

If I accepted for him tears without blood,

they were indeed accepted for him from me without consent.

كم جدتُ بالدمع كي أشفي به مَرضي

فما أرى الدمعَ إلا زادني مرضا

How often I poured out tears to heal my sickness with them,

yet I see tears doing nothing but increasing my sickness.

وكم جريضٍ بما لاقاهُ من كمَدٍ

على الحسين وإن لم يشتك الجرَضا

And how many a man choked by the grief he suffered

for Husayn, though he never complained of choking!

أليس بابن أتمِّ الخلق مَعرفَةً

بعلم ما استنَّ مولى الخلق وافترضا

Is he not the son of the most perfect of mankind in knowledge

of what the Lord of creation established and made obligatory?

نفسي تَقي ذا امتعاضٍ ما أطلَّ على

دُجى العجاج لغير الحقِّ ممتعضا

May my soul shield that indignant one, who never appeared amid

the darkness of battle-dust indignant for anything but truth.

دُجى العجاج الذي انجابت جوانبُه

عن نبض بَرْقِ ظُبىً لم يخبُ إذ نبضا

The darkness of battle-dust whose sides parted

to reveal the pulsing lightning of blade-edges that did not fade when it flashed.

لمّا يَرمْ مقبضَ المأثور قَبْضَتُهُ

في حين ظلَّ على المأثور قد قَبَضا

His grip had not yet left the hilt of the patterned sword

while he continued to grasp that patterned sword.

حتى نحاهُ سنانٌ غِبَّ ملحمةٍ

لم تتَّركْ حَبَضاً فيه ولا نَبَضا

Until Sinan struck him down after a battle

that left neither heartbeat nor pulse within him.

أمّا سنانُ سنانٍ عند وَخضَتِه

فلو أحسَّ من الموخوضُ ما وخضا

As for Sinan's spearhead when it pierced him—

had it known whom it pierced, it would not have pierced.

لا بل لعمري لأضحى رُمْحُه قِضةً

خوفاً وأضحَتْ به تلك الرماحُ قِضا

No, rather, by my life, his spear would have become a saltwort stalk

from fear, and those other spears would have become saltwort stalks with it.

لم أبكِ شيباً لدى الأحْفاضِ غادرني

يخالني من رآني بينها حفَضا

I did not weep for gray hair that left me among old pack-camels,

so that whoever saw me among them took me for an old pack-camel.

إن ينهض الشيبُ في رأسي فذلكمُ

نورُ النهى والحجى في الرأس قد نهضَا

If gray hair rises upon my head, that is

the light of reason and understanding rising upon my head.

لكن بكيتُ لمعروض الجنان على ال

حتوفِ جهلاً وما من ريبةٍ عُرضا

But I wept for one whose heart was exposed to

death through ignorance, not exposed because of any suspicion.

في معشرٍ من ذويه كُلُّهمْ مخَضَ ال

رَّدى له وَطبَهُ المسمومَ إذ محضَا

Among a company of his kin, for each of whom

death churned its poisoned milk-skin when it served pure milk.

حلَّت بهم أُبَضَ الأحقادِ أَفئدةٌ

لولا عماها إِذاً لم تحللِ الأبَضا

Hearts loosened upon them the hobbles of old hatreds;

but for their blindness, they would not have loosened those hobbles.

من كلِّ حاضئِ نارٍ للشقاق إذا

ما شيم إِطفاءُ نارٍ للشقاق حَضا

Every stoker of the fire of discord, whenever

quenching that fire was hoped for, stoked it.

قومٌ طويّاتُهُمُ تُطوَى على أَرَضٍ

هل عاد عَوْدٌ صحيحاً بعدما أَرضا

A people whose secret hearts are folded around decay:

has wood ever become sound again after worms consumed it?

وذا لغامض داءٍ لا دواءَ له

من يَومِ بدرٍ وأدوى الداءِ ما غمضا

This comes from a hidden disease with no cure

since the day of Badr; the deadliest disease is what remains hidden.

إذا ذكرتُ على الرمضاءِ مَصْرَعَهُمْ

بَرَّدْتُ بالدمعِ صدراً طالما رَمِضا

Whenever I recall their place of death upon the burning ground,

I cool with tears a breast that has long burned.

قومٌ بفضلهُمُ صحَّ الزمانُ لنا

حتى إذا ما عَدِمْنا فَضلَهُم مَرضا

A people through whose virtue time became sound for us,

until, when we lost their virtue, it fell ill.

أَضحت محاسنُ دنيانا وقد قَبُحَتْ

من بعدهم والمذاقُ الحلو قد حمضا

The beauties of our world have turned ugly

after them, and its sweet taste has turned sour.

وأَبغضَ العيشَ ذو اللبِّ الأصيل وما

إِن أبغض العيشَ إِلاّ بعدما بغُضا

The man of sound reason came to hate life, and

he hated life only after it had become hateful.

مضى لهم إذ مضى بين العدى زمنٌ

كانت سيوفُ المنايا فيهم وُمُضا

A time passed for them, spent among their enemies,

when the swords of death flashed among them.

في عصْرِ جَوْرٍ أقاموا فيه ترشقُهُمْ

سهامُ جَوْرٍ أقامتهم لها غَرَضَا

They lived in an age of oppression, where they were pelted

by arrows of oppression that made them their target.

تزدادُ أَشخاصُهُمْ خوفَ العدى قضَفاً

من حيثُ يزداد أَشخاصُ العدى عرضا

Their bodies grow frailer from fear of their enemies,

while the bodies of their enemies grow broader.

جرى القضاءُ لهمْ أَنْ يَسْعَدُوا بشقا

سواهمُ جلَّ قاضي الخلقِ حين قضى

Destiny decreed that they should attain bliss through the misery

of others—exalted is creation's Judge when He judges.

فما لأرْضِ يزيدٍ كيف ما أرِضَتْ

ممّا عرا أرْضَهُ منه ولا أرِضا

What is with Yazid's land—how has it not rotted

from what his land suffered through him, and how has he not rotted?

وكيف ما نَفَضَ المخذولَ مِنْبرُهُ

ولو درى نَفَض المخذولَ وانتفضا

And how has his pulpit not shaken off the forsaken man?

Had it known, it would have shaken him off and shuddered.

يزيدُ مهما اقترضتَ اليومَ من تِرَةٍ

فالمرءُ مُسْتَرْجَعٌ منه الذي اقترضا

Yazid, whatever blood-debt you borrow today,

a man is made to repay what he borrowed.

ربضتَ ممَّا يلي الدنيا لتحميَها

كالكلبِ من حيثُ لاقى جيفةً ربضا

You crouched beside this world to guard it,

like a dog crouching wherever it finds a carcass.

فملَّ منكَ غريضُ الملكِ معتدياً

ما ملَّ من لعنةٍ يوماً ولا غَرِضا

The fresh bloom of kingship wearied of you, transgressor,

yet it never wearied of a curse, nor tired of one.

وابنُ اللعينِ عبيدُ الله قد قرض ال

مختارُ مُدَّتَهُ بالسَّيفِ فانقرضا

And the accursed man's son, Ubayd Allah—al-

Mukhtar cut short his span with the sword, and he perished.

بعد اعتراضِ عبيدِ الله سادَتَنا

بالخيلِ وهو يراها للرَّدى غرَضا

After Ubayd Allah's assault upon our lords

with cavalry, while he saw them as a target for death.

بخيلِ إِبليسَ هاتيكَ التي رَكَضَتْ

لما تراءَى لها إِبليسُ قد ركضا

With the cavalry of Iblis, those that galloped

when Iblis appeared before them, already galloping.

مَن كلِّ متَّفضٍ للحربِ وَفْضَة ذي

عَمايةٍ وعمىً عمَّا له اتَّفضا

Every man rushing to war with the rush of one possessed of

blindness, ignorant of what he was rushing toward.

يا ناقضاً عهدَ مولانا وسيدِنا

غداً يُطَوَّقُ طوقَ النقض من نقضا

O breaker of the covenant of our master and lord,

tomorrow whoever broke it will wear the collar of betrayal.

ليس الرزايا رزايا بعدما اعترض الز

مانُ فيه علينا بالذي اعترضا

Calamities are no calamities after time

assailed us in his case with what it brought.

تحمونه فُرْضةَ الورَّادِ ويحكُم

ولم تكونوا لتحموا غَيرهُ الفُرَضا

You bar him from the watering-place of those who come to drink—woe to you!

Yet you would not bar anyone else from the watering-places.

فانظرْ إلى نُطَفٍ ما جاورتْ ظُهُراً

لكنَّها نُطَفٌ قد جاورتْ حُيُضا

Look, then, at semen-drops that never lay beside loins,

but were semen-drops that lay beside menstrual flows.

لقد رعى مَنْ رعى من سوءِ فعلهمُ

ما لو رعاه أريضُ الروضِ ما أرِضا

Whoever attended to their evil deeds observed

what, had a lush meadow borne it, would have stopped it flourishing.

فكم أَقَضَّتْ علينا من مضاجعَ ما

تضمَّنتْ غيرَ لوعاتِ الأسى قضَضا

How many beds they made gritty for us, beds that

held no grit but the burning pangs of grief!

وكم أمرَّتْ علينا من مطاعمَ لا

يعَافُ طاعمها صاباً ولا حُضَضا

And how many foods they made bitter for us, so that

one who tasted them would reject neither spurge nor bitter boxthorn!

فيا أسَى ما لما سدَّى وأَلحم ما

بينَ الجوانح نَفْضٌ إِن أسىً نُقِضا

O grief! For what you warped and wefted

between my ribs there is no unravelling, even if other grief is undone.

هذي نجومُ المعالي الزُّهْرِ قد طُمِسَتْ

وذا لواءُ العلى المرفوعُ قد خُفِضا

These bright stars of high virtue have been obliterated,

and this raised banner of glory has been lowered.

لله بارضَةُ الأنوارِ مخجلةٌ

نَوْرَ الرَّبيعِ إذا ما نوْرُهُ برَضا

How wondrous a woman blossoming with flowers, putting to shame

spring's blossoms when they first bud!

ضَبِّيَّةٌ غضِبَتْ للحقِّ وامتعضتْ

له لدنْ غضِبَ الضبيُّ وامتعضا

A woman of Dabbah grew angry for truth and indignant

for it, when the man of Dabbah grew angry and indignant.

في موطنِ الورد والنسرينِ موطنُها

وليس تشتاقُ إلا الرِّمْثَ والحُرُضا

Her home is in the home of roses and eglantine,

yet she longs only for saltbush and saltwort.

تودُّ لو عُوِّضَتْ كوفانَ من حلبٍ

وحبَّذا عِوَضاً للمبتغي عِوَضا

She wishes she were given Kufan in exchange for Aleppo—

what a fine exchange for one who seeks an exchange!

أظِباءُ وَجْرَةَ أم مها ساباطِ

تختال بين عواطفٍ وعَواطِ

Are they Wajrah's gazelles or Sabat's oryxes,

strutting among those that bend and those that reach?

ألْقَتْ قَباطِيها على البشَرِ الذي

تُلْقى القَباطي منه فوقَ قباطي

They cast their fine linens over skin

that makes the linens seem laid upon yet more linen.

منهوكةُ الأوساطِ تُحْسَبُ أنّها

خُلِقَتْ لدنْ خُلقَتْ بلا أوساط

Wasted at the waists, you would think they

were created, when created, without waists.

تطوى نبيلَ الطيِّ يتْعبُ فكرُها

تَعبَ الواشطِ فيه والأمشاط

Their ample coils are wound; contemplating them wearies one

as the hairdresser and combs are wearied by them.

نَقَطَ الشبابُ لها دُوَيْنَ نحورِها

فلَكاً أقمْنَ قيامةَ الخرَّاط

Youth dotted for them, just beneath their necks,

rounded globes that set the wood-turner in an uproar.

لا تنكرِ الإِفراطَ في كَلَفي بها

ما ذلك الإفراطُ بالإِفراط

Do not condemn the excess of my infatuation with them:

that excess is no excess.

ليس الصبابةُ من سِقاطي إِنّما

ترْكُ الصبابةِ منْ أجلِّ سِقاطي

Passionate longing is not among my failings; rather,

abandoning passionate longing is among my gravest failings.

كم عارضٍ للّهوِ عارضناهْ مِنْ

طرَبٍ إلى خُلَطائنا الأخْلاط

How many a passing cloud of pleasure we greeted with

delight, drawn toward our companions of many kinds!

ما إِنْ يقهقهُ فيه رَعْدُ برابِطٍ

إلاَّ تبسَّمَ فيه برْقُ بواطي

The thunder of lutes never laughed aloud there

without the lightning of wine-bowls smiling there.

أمنازلي اللائي كأني أُرعِشَتْ

في خَطِّهنَّ أناملُ الخطَّاط

O my dwellings, which seem to me as though

the calligrapher's fingertips had trembled while tracing them!

شَرْطُ المنازلِ أنْ تقولَ إذا خَلَتْ

جادتْ خلالَكِ أدْمعُ الأشراط

The due of dwellings is that, when deserted, you say:

May the tears of the rain-stars pour through you.

لي وقفةُ المشتاقِ فيك فإن بدا

أثرُ العفاءِ فوقفةُ المُشْتَاط

I stand within you as a longing lover; but if there appears

the mark of obliteration, I stand as one burning with anger.

دِمَنُ تظلُّ الريحُ تُهْبِطُ ما سما

للعينِ منها أعنفَ الإهباط

Ruined sites where the wind keeps bringing down whatever rises

from them before the eye, with the harshest bringing-down.

ما بين زمزمةِ المجوسِ حفيفُها

فيها وبين تراطُنِ الأنباط

Its rustling lies somewhere between the murmuring of the Magians

among them and the foreign speech of the Nabataeans.

حلَّتْ رباطَ الدمعِ ليلةَ بالسٍ

ذِكرٌ حَلَنْنَ منَ العزاءِ رباطي

The bond of tears was loosened on a night in Balis

by memories that untied my bond to consolation.

هيهاتِ أَرْضُ الرقَّتَينِ ودونها

أَعلامُ زغْرَيّا وكَفْرُ بلاطِ

Far away is the land of the two Raqqas, and before it lie

the landmarks of Zaghriyya and Kafr Balat.

لم تحتلبْ حلبٌ شؤونَ مدامعي

إِلا وقد نيط الأسى بنياطي

Aleppo never milked the ducts of my tears

without sorrow already being tied to my heartstrings.

وإذا الفتى وَقَذَتْهُ أُمُّ حَبَوْكَرٍ

فالحزمُ أن يَتَوسَّدَ ابنَ ملاطِ

When Mother Habawkar strikes a young man senseless,

wisdom is to pillow his head upon his arm.

النُّجْحُ من تلقاءِ هيدِ هيدِ إِن

حاولتَ نُجحاً أو يعاطِ يعاطِ

Success comes from the cry ‘Hid! Hid!’ if

you seek success—or ‘Ya'at! Ya'at!’

يَصلُ السُّرى مني زميلُ صبابةٍ

وَصلَ الكلالَ لدى السُّرى بنشاطِ

A companion of longing continues my night travel,

joining weariness during night travel with vigor.

بصوادقٍ مرِّ الحفاظِ ممثَّلٍ

من وَخدِهِ في مثل سَمِّ خِياطِ

With true, bitter tenacity, he is portrayed

by his brisk pacing as passing through a needle's eye.

تلقاهُ كالربعِ الطَّليح وقبلُ ما

لاقيتَ أروعَ كالفنيقِ الطاطي

You meet him like an exhausted yearling camel, though before

you met a splendid creature like a stooping breeding-camel.

من بعدِ كلِّ هياطٍ انصابتْ له

شَرْخُ الزِّماعِ وبعد كلِّ مياط

After every clamor, there poured forth for him

fresh resolve, and after every bustle.

خاضتْ بأرحلنا الغُطاطَ نجائبٌ

تَهْوي بأرحلنا هُوِيَّ غَطاط

Fine camels plunged through darkness with our saddles,

swooping with our saddles like sandgrouse.

شَرْبٌ ثَناهمْ شُرْبُ كاساتِ السُّرى

لمَّا تعاطَوْها أَحثَّ تعاطي

A company of drinkers, bowed by drinking cups of night travel

when they took them in the most eager draughts.

عبروا بحارَ البيدِ فوق قناطرٍ

مطويّة من مَرمر وبلاط

They crossed the seas of the deserts over bridges

folded from marble and paving-stone.

تُدْني إلى الشَّوطِ البعيدِ مناسماً

يُدنين كلَّ بعيدةِ الأشواطِ

They bring footpads near to a far-off course,

footpads that bring every distant course near.

بتواصلِ الدأيات والأثباج بل

بتهاجُر الأعضاد والآباط

Through the joining of back vertebrae and broad backs—rather,

through the separation of upper arms and armpits.

متطايراتٍ مثل ما طار السُّرى

من بين سَرغٍ مُحْصَد وَحَماط

Flying swiftly, like the night-fliers that flew

from among dense sargh growth and wild fig trees.

تحمي نواجيها سياطي أنَّها

قامت لها هممي مقامَ سياطي

Their swift runners spare my whips, for

my ambitions served them in place of my whips.

حتى وطئن لدن وطئن حمى فتىً

من هاشمٍ فوق الكواكب واطي

Until they trod, when they trod, the sanctuary of a young man

of Hashim, who treads above the stars.

أعلى بني الإسلام ذروةَ قبَّةٍ

أبداً وأبعدُهمْ مدى فُسطاط

The highest of Islam's sons in the summit of his dome,

ever, and the farthest in the reach of his pavilion.

لا تبعدنَّ خلالُ إِبراهيم كم

نُشِرَتْ على الأذهان نَشْرَ رياط

May Ibrahim's virtues never depart! How often

they have been spread upon minds like fine cloths!

سيفٌ متى ما يسطُ يُعْلَمْ أنه

أجَلٌ على مُهَجِ الحوادثِ ساط

A sword which, whenever it strikes, is known to be

death pouncing upon the hearts of misfortunes.

من حيثُ رِيمَ فَعِرْضُهُ متطاولٌ

ما إِن يرامُ ومالُهُ مُتطاطي

Wherever he is sought, his honor stands lofty,

unreachable, while his wealth lies low and accessible.

هَوْلٌ عِلاطُ الفعلِ فيه إِذا غدا

قولُ امرئٍ عُطْلاً بغير عِلاط

An awe adorned with deeds, when

another man's speech becomes bare, without ornament.

فمتى اتَّقيتَ به اتَّقيتَ بنَثرَةٍ

ومتى استعنتَ به تُعَنْ بإِباطي

Whenever you shield yourself with him, you shield yourself with a coat of mail;

whenever you seek his help, you are helped by a powerful camel.

بأَدقَّ من رسطالسٍ نَظَراً إذا

ناظَرْتَهُ وأَشفَّ من بُقْراط

By one subtler in reasoning than Aristotle, when

you debate him, and finer than Hippocrates.

أَما القلوبُ فكلُّها متقلِّبُ

من زهرِ ذاك الرَّوض فوقَ بِساط

As for hearts, each finds a place to wander

upon a carpet of that garden's flowers.

نَظَمَتْ له آدابَهُ الفِكَرُ التي

نُظِمَتْ نظامَ الدرِّ في الأخياط

Thoughts arranged his accomplishments for him, thoughts that

were strung like pearls upon threads.

فِكَرٌ غَدَتْ أقفالَ فكرٍ كلُّها

لكنَّهنَّ مفاتحُ استنباط

Thoughts that became locks upon every thought,

yet they are keys to discovery.

هو ذلك الجبلُ المنيفُ المرتقَى

في العِلمِ والبحرُ البعيدُ الشاطي

He is that mountain, lofty in its ascent

in knowledge, and the sea whose shore is far away.

يلقى الجعادَ من الأمور إذا دَحَتْ

بخلائقٍ بيض الوجوهِ سِباط

He faces affairs grown tangled, when they spread,

with virtues white-faced and smooth.

كالدرِّ منثوراً من الأصداف بل

كالدرِّ منشوراً من الأسْفاط

Like pearls scattered from shells—rather,

like pearls laid out from caskets.

غاطي الفروع وإِنما يجني العلى

جاني العلى من كلِّ فرعٍ غاطي

Lofty-branched; and the gatherer of high glory gathers it

from every lofty branch.

ينمى إِلى سِبطٍ من الكرمِ الذي

أَسباطُهُ من أكرمِ الأسباط

He traces his line to a branch of nobility whose

branches are among the noblest branches.

للهِ آباءٌ جَروا من مجدِهمْ

مجري شنوفِ المجدِ والأقراطِ

How wondrous the fathers, who in their glory ran

the course of glory's ear-pendants and earrings!

نيطَ الهدى فيهمْ وما كان الهدى

لِيُناطَ إِلاّ في أَجلِّ مُناط

Guidance was fastened among them, and guidance was not

to be fastened except at the noblest place of attachment.

في سَرْحَةٍ ردَّ الشَّطاطُ غصونَها

فأتت تهادَى في أجلّ شطاط

In a great tree whose stature bent back its branches,

so it came swaying in the noblest stature.

وَفَّرتَ قسطَكَ يا أبا اسحقَ من

شَرَفٍ فَقِسطُكَ أوفرُ الأقْساط

You made ample your share, O Abu Ishaq, of

honor; your share is the fullest of shares.

واحتطْتَ للعلياءِ علماً أَنَّها

ما إِن تَني تحتاطُ للمحتاط

You safeguarded high glory, knowing that it

never ceases to safeguard those who safeguard it.

هممٌ قَفَتْ آثارَها هممٌ فقد

قامتْ سماطاً من وراءِ سماط

Ambitions followed the footsteps of ambitions, until

they stood rank behind rank.

الأغلبُ الجحجاحُ جين يرمُّ في

طُرُقاتها كالضَّيْطرِ الوطواط

The mighty, magnanimous lord, when he ventures along

their paths, is like a weak, lumbering fool.

تقفُ النباهةُ حيث ظلُّك واقفٌ

أبداً وتخطو حيث ظلُّك خاطي

Renown stands wherever your shadow stands,

always, and steps wherever your shadow steps.

كم غادرتْ لكَ من ودودٍ شامخٍ

لا يُسْتَطاعُ ومن عدوٍّ لاطي

How many loving friends they have left lofty for you,

beyond overcoming, and how many enemies cowering!

خُذْ حُلَّةً إِمّا عراها النشرُ لم

تحتج إلى الرفَّاء والخيَّاط

Take a robe: even if it is spread out, it will not

need the mender or tailor.

وتصحفنْ كَلمِي فإن أَسْقَطتُ في

كلمي فلا تصفحْ عن الإِسقاط

Read my words carefully; if I have erred in

my words, do not overlook the error.

هي حكمةٌ تُهْدى إليك وإِنما

هي حكمةٌ تُهْدَى إلى سقراط

It is wisdom offered to you, and indeed

it is wisdom offered to Socrates.

ديباجُ مدحٍ لو غدا ديباجُهُ

نمطاً غدا من مُذْهبِ الأنماط

A brocade of praise whose brocade, if it became

a carpet, would be among the gold-worked carpets.

مَلَكتْ عُلاكَ ضمائري فتَوزَّعَتْ

خطراتها بالقِسْطِ لا الإِقساط

Your eminence possessed my inner thoughts, and

their passing notions were apportioned unjustly, not with equity.

فإذا بَعَثتُ إلى مديحكَ هاجسي

قَعدَ المديحُ له بكلِّ سِراط

Whenever I send my inspiration toward praising you,

praise lies in wait for it along every road.