أحظى الملوك من الأيام والدول — Alsharif Alradi

أَحظى المُلوكِ مِنَ الأَيّامِ وَالدُوَلِ

مَن لا يُنادِمُ غَيرَ البيضِ وَالأَسَلِ

The king most favored by the days and turns of fortune

Is he who drinks with none but bright swords and spears.

وَأَشرَفُ الناسِ مَشغولٌ بِهِمَّتِهِ

مُدَفَّعٌ بَينَ أَطرافِ القَنا الذُبُلِ

The noblest of men is absorbed in his ambition,

Buffeted between the points of slender spears.

تَطغى عَلى قَصَبِ الأَبطالِ نَخوَتُهُ

وَقائِمُ السَيفِ مَندوبٌ إِلى القُلَلِ

His pride overwhelms the champions' bones,

And the sword's hilt is summoned to the summits.

ما زِلتُ أَبحَتُ أَمري عَن عَواقِبِهِ

حَتّى رَأَيتُ حُلولَ العِزِّ في الحُلَلِ

I kept examining my course for its consequences,

Until I saw glory settling among the encampments.

وَفي التَغَرُّبِ إِلّا عَنكَ مَغنَمَةٌ

وَمَنبِتُ الرِزقِ بَينَ الكورِ وَالجَمَلِ

There is gain in wandering abroad—except away from you—

And livelihood grows between the saddle and the camel.

لَولا الكِرامُ أَصابَ الناسَ كُلَّهُمُ

داءُ البَعادِ عَنِ الأَوطانِ وَالحِلَلِ

Were it not for generous men, all people would be afflicted

With the sickness of separation from homelands and encampments.

نَرجو وَبَعضُ رَجاءِ الناسِ مَتعَبَةٌ

قَد ضاعَ دَمعُكَ يا باكٍ عَلى الطَلَلِ

We hope, though some human hopes bring weariness;

Your tears are wasted, O weeper over the ruined campsite.

كَمِ اِغتَرَبتُ عَنِ الدُنيا وَما فَطَنَت

بي المَهامِهُ حَتّى جازَني أَمَلي

How often I wandered far from the world, unnoticed

By the trackless wastes, until my hope outstripped me.

في فِتيَةٍ رَكِبوا أَعراصَهُم وَرَمَوا

بِالذُلِّ خَلفَ ظُهورِ الخَيلِ وَالإِبِلِ

Among youths who rode across their open grounds and flung

Humiliation behind the backs of horses and camels.

وَالماءُ إِن صَفِرَت مِنهُ مَزادُهُمُ

شَرَيتُهُ مِن بُطونِ الأَينُقِ البُزُلِ

And water—if their waterskins were emptied of it—

I purchased from the bellies of full-grown she-camels.

إيهٍ لَقَد أَسَرَ الدُنيا بِنَجدَتِهِ

أَبو الفَوارِسِ وَالإِقدامِ لِلبَطَلِ

Go on! He has indeed captured the world through his valor:

Abu al-Fawaris—and daring belongs to the hero.

صانَ الظُبى وَاِستَلَذَّ الرَأيَ وَاِنكَشَفَت

لَهُ العَواقِبُ بَينَ الهَمِّ وَالجَذَلِ

He preserved the sword-edges, savored counsel, and there unfolded

Before him the outcomes, amid sorrow and joy.

ماضٍ عَلى الهَولِ طَلاعٌ بِغُرَّتِهِ

عَلى الحَوادِثِ مِقدامٌ عَلى الأَجَلِ

Pressing through terror, rising with his bright brow

Above calamities, boldly advancing toward death.

هُنِّئتَ يا مَلِكَ الأَملاكِ مَنزِلَةً

رَدَّت عَلَيكَ بَهاءَ الأَعصُرِ الأُوَلِ

Congratulations, O king of kings, on a station

That restored to you the splendor of the earliest ages.

دَعاكَ رَبُّ المَعالي زَينَ مِلَّتِهِ

وَمِلَّةٌ أَنتَ فيها أَعظَمُ المِلَلِ

The master of high honors named you his faith's adornment;

A faith that holds you is the greatest of faiths.

صَدَمتَ بَغدادَ وَالأَيّامُ غافِلَةٌ

كَالسَيلِ يَأنَفُ أَن يَأتي عَلى مَهَلِ

You struck Baghdad while the days were heedless,

Like a torrent that scorns to come at leisure,

بِكُلِّ أَبلَجَ مَعروفٍ بِطَلعَتِهِ

إِذا تَناكَرَ لَيلُ الحادِثِ الجَلَلِ

With every radiant-faced man, known by his countenance,

When the night of grave calamity grows forbidding.

يا قائِدَ الخَيلِ إِن كانَ السِنانُ فَماً

فَإِنَّ رُمحَكَ مُشتاقٌ إِلى القُبَلِ

O leader of horsemen, if the spearhead were a mouth,

Then your lance is yearning for kisses.

وَكَم مَدَدتَ عَلى الأَقرانِ مِن رَهَجٍ

في لَيلَةٍ تَغدُرُ الأَلحاظُ بِالمُقَلِ

How often you spread battle-dust over your opponents

On a night when glances betray the eyes.

وَمُستَغَرّينَ ما زالَت قُلوبُهُمُ

تُبَدَّدُ الرَأيَ بَينَ الرَيثِ وَالعَجَلِ

And many caught unawares, whose hearts kept

Scattering judgment between delay and haste,

حَتّى أَخَذتَ عَلَيهِم حَتفَ أَنفُسِهِم

ما أَظلَموا بِبُروقِ العارِضِ الهَطِلِ

Until you secured their own doom against them,

As they entered darkness amid the pouring cloud's lightning.

رَأَوا مَقامَكَ فَاِزوَرَّت عُيونُهُمُ

ما كُلُّ لَحظٍ إِلى الآماقِ مِن قَبَلِ

They saw your stance, and their eyes turned aside;

Not every glance toward the inner eye-corners comes from a squint.

لِلَّهِ زَهرَةُ مُلكٍ قامَ حاسِدُها

وَلَيسَ يَعلَمُ أَنَّ الشَمسَ في الحَمَلِ

How wondrous a kingdom's blossom, whose envier rose,

Not knowing that the sun was in Aries.

لا تَأسَفَنَّ مِنَ الدُنيا عَلى سَلَفٍ

فَآخِرُ الشَهدِ فينا أَعذَبُ العَسَلِ

Never grieve over what has passed of the world,

For the last of the comb's honey is the sweetest to us.

وَلا تُبالِ بِفِعلٍ إِن هَمَمتَ بِهِ

وَلَو رَمى بِكَ بَينَ العُذرِ وَالعَذَلِ

Do not shrink from a deed once you have resolved upon it,

Even if it casts you between excuse and reproach.

لا تَمشِيَنَّ إِلى أَمرٍ تُعابُ بِهِ

فَقَلَّما تَفطُنُ الأَيّامُ بِالزَلَلِ

Never walk toward an affair for which you are blamed,

For seldom do the days take note of slips.

لِلَّهِ أَيُّ فَتىً أَمسَت لُبانَتُهُ

رَذيَّةً بَينَ أَيدي العيسِ وَالسُبُلِ

By God, what a youth, whose heart's desire has become

A spent she-camel before the pale camels and the roads.

لا يَنشُدُ الحُبُّ رَأياً كانَ أَصلَحَهُ

إِذا الفَتى طَرَدَ الآراءَ بالغَزَلِ

Love does not reclaim a judgment once set right,

When a youth drives judgments away with love-poetry.

رَآكَ أَشرَفَ مَمدوحٍ لِمُمتَدِحٍ

وَخَيرُ مَن شَرَعَت فيهِ يَدُ الأَمَلِ

He saw you as the noblest subject for a panegyrist,

And the best toward whom the hand of hope has reached.

نَحا لِنَحوِكَ لا يَلوي عَلى أَحَدٍ

إِنَّ المُقيمَ عَنِ النُزّاعِ في شَغَلِ

He headed toward you, turning aside to no one;

Indeed, the settled man is too occupied for wanderers.

وَلَيسَ يَأتَلِفُ الإِحسانُ في مَلِكٍ

حَتّى يُؤَلِّفَ بَينَ القَولِ وَالعَمَلِ

Goodness does not come together in a king

Until he unites word and deed.

فَما أَمَلُّ مَديحاً أَنتَ سامِعُهُ

وَعاشِقُ العِزِّ لا يُؤتى مِنَ المَلَلِ

I never tire of praise that you are hearing,

And the lover of glory is not overcome by weariness.

ما عُذرُ مِثلِيَ في نَقصٍ وَقَولَتِهِ

إِنّي الرَضيُّ وَجَدّي خاتَمُ الرُسُلِ

What excuse has one like me for falling short, when he says,

"I am al-Radi, and my forefather is the Seal of the Messengers"?

هَذا أَبي وَالَّذي أَرجو النَجاحَ بِهِ

أَدعوهُ مِنكَ طَليقَ الهَمِّ وَالجَذَلِ

This is my father, and he through whom I hope for success;

I call him your freedman, in sorrow and joy.

لَولاكَ ما اِنفَسَحَت في العَيشِ هِمَّتُهُ

وَلا أَقَرَّ عُيونَ الخَيلِ وَالخَوَلِ

But for you, his ambition would not have found room in life,

Nor would he have gladdened the eyes of horses and retainers.

حَطَطتَهُ مِن ذُرى صَمّاءَ شاهِقَةٍ

مِنَ الزَمانِ عَلَيها غَيرُ مُحتَفِلِ

You brought him down from the crags of a sheer, towering mountain,

Unconcerned with time while upon it.

تَلعاءَ عالِيَةِ الأَردافِ تَحسَبُها

رِشاءَ عاديَّةٍ مُستَحصَدِ الطُوَلِ

Lofty-necked and high-backed—you would think it

The stout-twisted rope of an ancient well.

تَلقى ذَوائِبَها في الجَوِّ ذاهِبَةٌ

يَلُفُّها البَرقُ بِالأَطوادِ وَالقُلَلِ

You find its tresses soaring through the air;

Lightning wraps it among the mountains and summits.

وَأَنتَ طَوَّقتَهُ بِالمَنِّ جامِعَةً

قامَت عَلَيهِ مَقامَ الحَليِ وَالحُلَلِ

And with your favor you clasped a fetter about him

That served him in place of jewels and robes.

أَوسَعتَهُ فَرَأى الآمالَ واسِعَةً

وَكُلُّ ساكِنِ ضيقٍ واسِعُ الأَمَلِ

You gave him ample means, and he saw hopes grow wide;

And every dweller in straits has spacious hopes.

جَذَبتَ مِن لَهَواتِ المَوتِ مُهجَتَهُ

وَكانَ يَطرِفُ في الدُنيا عَلى وَجَلِ

You drew his lifeblood from the throat of death,

While he cast fearful glances at the world.

ما كانَ إِلّا حُساماً أَغمَدَتهُ يَدٌ

ثُمَّ اِنتَضَتهُ اليَدُ الأُخرى عَلى عَجَلِ

He was but a keen sword sheathed by one hand,

Then swiftly drawn by the other hand.

فَاِقذِف بِهِ ثُغَرَ الأَهوالِ مُنصَلِتاً

وَاِستَنصِرِ اللَيثَ إِنَّ الخيسَ لِلوَعَلِ

So hurl him, unsheathed, into the breaches of terror,

And seek the lion's aid: the thicket is for the ibex.

وَلا تُطيعَنَّ فيهِ قَولَ حاسِدِهِ

إِنَّ العَليلَ لَيَرمي الناسَ بِالعِلَلِ

Never heed what his envier says about him;

For the ailing man surely charges others with ailments.

أَولى بِتَكرِمَةٍ مَن كانَ يَحمَدُها

وَالحَمدُ يَقطَعُ بَينَ الجودِ وَالبَخَلِ

Most deserving of honor is he who gives thanks for it,

And praise separates generosity from miserliness.

كَفاكَ مَنظَرُهُ إيضاحَ مَخبَرِهِ

في حُمرَةِ الخَدِّ ما يُغني عَنِ الخَجَلِ

His appearance is enough to disclose his inner worth;

In a cheek's redness is what makes blushing needless.

تَحَمَّلَ الشَرَفَ العالي وَكَم شَرَفٍ

غَطّى عَلَيهِ رِداءُ العَيِّ وَالخَطَلِ

He bore lofty nobility; how much nobility

The cloak of inarticulacy and foolish talk has concealed!

أَوَيتَهُ مِن نِزالِ المُستَطيلِ إِلى

مَرعىً أَنيقٍ وَظِلٍّ غَيرِ مُنتَقِلِ

You sheltered him from the overbearing man's assault, bringing him to

A delightful pasture and a shade that never passes.

إِنّا لَنَرجوكَ وَالأَيّامُ راغِمَةٌ

وَالرَوضُ يَرجو نَوالَ العارِضِ الخَضِلِ

We surely set our hopes on you, despite the unwilling days,

And the meadow hopes for the bounty of the rain-laden cloud.

تَبلى بِدَولَتِكَ الدُنيا وَحاشَ لَها

أَن لا يَكونَ عَلَينا أَبرَكُ الدُوَلِ

The world will wear out beneath your reign; far be it

That it should not be the most blessed of reigns for us.