Sol 6.1

  1. أراجعة لي عيشة الزمن النضر

    وعيش تقضى في كنانة والنظر

    Will the life of that verdant age return to me,

    And the life spent in Kinanah, and the gazing?

  2. ليالي ريعان الشبيبة مقبل

    وغصن الصبا يهتز في ورق خضر

    Those nights when youth's first bloom was coming on,

    And youth's branch swayed amid green leaves.

  3. رعى الله أيام الصبابة والصبا

    وعصرهما أكرم بذلك من عصر

    May God tend the days of longing and youth,

    And their season—what a noble season it was!

  4. وعالية الأنساب عالية الهوى

    ينيف بها فرع الذؤابة من فهر

    And a woman of lofty lineage, lofty in love,

    In whom the crownmost branch of Fihr rises high.

  5. سريت إليها والدجنة أضلع

    حنتها يد الظلماء مني على سر

    I traveled to her by night, while the darkness was ribs

    Bent by darkness's hand around a secret of mine.

  6. عثرت بأطراف الفنا حول خدرها

    وكم خادر عن جانبي ذلك الخدر

    I stumbled on death's fringes around her bower,

    And how many lurking lions flanked that bower!

  7. وأيدني قلب وعزم كأنما

    يقدان من حد المهند والصخر

    And a heart and resolve sustained me, as though

    Hewn from an Indian sword's edge and from rock.

  8. وعلمني تاج الخلافة في السرى

    ركوب الطريق السهل في المسلك الوعر

    And the Crown of the Caliphate taught me, in night travel,

    To take the easy road through a rugged passage.

  9. وعرفني معنى الشجاعة والندى

    بخوض غمار الموت والنائل الغمر

    And taught me the meaning of courage and generosity,

    By plunging into death's depths and giving abundant bounty.

  10. جزيل الندى والبأس تمسي بنانه

    مقسمة بين الصواعق والقطر

    Great in bounty and valor—his fingers end the day

    Divided between thunderbolts and rain.

  11. يسرك أن تلقى به الألف وحده

    إذا غلبت غلب الرجال على الصبر

    It delights you to find a thousand men in him alone,

    When even the mightiest men can no longer endure.

  12. سما قدره عن كل خلق وشيمة

    فما الزهر إلا من خلائقه الزهر

    His worth rose above every nature and disposition;

    Flowers are but born of his radiant virtues.

  13. كأن العلى من قبل ورد عقيمة

    فليس لها يا ورد غيرك من بكر

    As though glory had been barren before Ward,

    For she has no firstborn but you, O Ward.

  14. كريم له من آل رزيك إمرة

    نما فرعها من دوحة المجد والفخر

    A noble man whose command comes from the house of Ruzzik,

    Its branch grown from the great tree of glory and pride.

  15. يعدون ذخراً لكل ملمة

    وأكرم به عند الملمات من ذخر

    They reckon him a treasure for every calamity,

    And what a noble treasure he is when calamities strike!

  16. حسامهم الريان من علق الطلى

    ورمحهم الظامي إلى علق الصدر

    Their sword, sated with the clotted blood of throats,

    And their spear, thirsting for the clotted blood of breasts.

  17. نشا من ربوع الملك في حجراتها

    وربي من دست الوزارة في حجر

    He grew up in the chambers of royalty's mansions,

    And was reared in the lap of the vizierate's throne.

  18. فجاء حقيق العزم بالمجد والعلى

    وجاء خليق العزم بالنهي والأمر

    Thus he emerged with resolve worthy of glory and eminence,

    And with resolve fit to forbid and command.

  19. ونمت عليه زاكيات أصوله

    كما نم بالإصباح معترض الفجر

    And his noble roots proclaimed his nature,

    As the spreading streak of dawn heralds the morning.

  20. وساد من الأملاك كل مسود

    وقاد جيوش المسلمين إلى الكفر

    He surpassed in lordship every exalted king,

    And led the Muslim armies against unbelief.

  21. وطول باع الأسر والقتل في العدى

    وفك بنعماه الرقاب من الأسر

    And extended the reach of capture and killing among his foes,

    And through his bounty freed necks from captivity.

  22. ومن عجب أن المنايا تطيعه

    إذا شاء في زيد وإن شاء في عمر

    And strange it is that death obeys him,

    When he wills it for Zayd, or wills it for Amr,

  23. وتبدي له العصيان في مهجة ابنه

    لقد بالغت في شيمة اللؤم والغدر

    Yet defies him over his son's lifeblood:

    It has gone far indeed in baseness and treachery.

  24. تولت ضرغام بن بدر وإنه

    لأمنع في الإمكان من بيضة العقر

    It seized Dirgham ibn Badr, though he

    Was harder to reach, by any possible means, than the egg of barrenness.

  25. مضى الأكرم المأمون حين تطلعت

    إليه عيون الوفد والعسكر المجر

    The noblest, the trusted one, passed away as they gazed expectantly

    Toward him—the eyes of envoys and the vast host.

  26. ولاحت لهم في مخائل سؤدد

    يخبرهم عن صدقها كرم النجر

    And signs of lordship gleamed before them,

    Their truth attested to them by his noble stock.

  27. فلله من غصن نضير وكوكب

    منير وبدر غاب في غرة الشهر

    By God, what a verdant branch, and what a star,

    Shining, and a full moon that set at the month's beginning!

  28. وجوهرة من أنفس الدر لم تجد

    لها صدفاً بعد التشظي سوى القبر

    And a jewel among the choicest pearls, which found no

    Shell for itself after shattering but the grave.

  29. لئن نقص المقدار قدر حياته

    لقد مات موفور الجلالة والقدر

    Though destiny shortened the measure of his life,

    He died with majesty and worth undiminished.

  30. ومن طال شرح المادحين لفضله

    فما ضره أن مات مختصر العمر

    And one whose excellence those praising him recount at length—

    What harm has he suffered in dying with his years cut short?

  31. كأن الليالي استشعرت سوء فعلها

    وإن ضاق عن تقصيرها سعة العذر

    As though the nights had sensed the evil of their deed,

    Though the broadest excuse fell short of covering their failing.

  32. فعوضه بابن ثلاثة أخوة

    وقد يستفاد الربح من موضع الخسر

    Thus his recompense for a son was three brothers,

    And profit may be gained from the very place of loss.

  33. أتت بهم الأيام جبراً لكسرها

    فيا لك من كسر ويا لك من جبر

    The days brought them to mend the break they had made;

    Ah, what a breaking, and what a mending!

  34. سروا من بلاد الشام نحوك نجعة

    كما انتجع الأسباط يوسف في مصر

    They journeyed by night from the lands of al-Sham toward you, seeking pasture,

    As the Tribes sought Joseph in Egypt for sustenance.

  35. قضية حال تقتضي نيل رتبة

    يلم بها حكم العيافة والزجر

    A circumstance that implies attaining a rank

    To which the judgment of bird-divination and augury points.

  36. وما أنت إلا الكف تسطو على العدى

    وهم قوة فيها كأنملك العشر

    And you are but the hand that strikes the foes,

    And they are strength within it, like your ten fingers.

  37. وقد أيد الرحمن موسى كليمه

    بهارون لما قال أشركه في أمري

    And the All-Merciful strengthened Moses, to whom He spoke,

    Through Aaron, when he said, "Let him share in my task."

  38. وقد عمر الإنعام والبأس ذكرهم

    بأندية خضر وألوية حمر

    And bounty and valor have kept their renown alive

    In verdant assemblies and beneath red banners.

  39. وساروا إلى غايات كل فضيلة

    بسيرتك الحسنى وأفعالك الغر

    They advanced to the furthest bounds of every virtue

    Through your noble conduct and your radiant deeds.

  40. وهزوا أنابيب القنا حول ضيغم

    يرشحهم للكر في ساعة الفر

    And brandished the shafts of spears around a lion

    Who prepares them to charge in the hour of retreat.

  41. مهيب السطى أضحت نوائب دهره

    خواضع لا تسطو بناب ولا ظفر

    His onslaught inspires awe; the calamities of his age have become

    Submissive, striking with neither fang nor claw.

  42. إذا نزلت ثغر المخافة خيله

    أزالت شعار الخوف عن ذلك الثغر

    When his horses descend upon the frontier of dread,

    They remove the garment of fear from that frontier.

  43. وإن خفقت راياته خفقت لها

    قلوب أعاديه من الخوف والذعر

    And when his banners flutter, in answer there flutter

    His enemies' hearts, from fear and terror.

  44. وكم غارة مسودة النقع أسفرت

    وقائعه فيها عن العز والنصر

    And in many a raid, blackened with dust, there emerged

    From his battles therein, glory and victory.

  45. ومعترك ضنك المجال تكفلت

    له البيض فيها بالغناء عن السمر

    And many a battlefield, with little room to move, where

    White blades pledged to spare him the need for tawny spears.

  46. فتى حاز إحساناً وحسناً ونجدة

    ثلاث خلال الغيث والليث والبدر

    A youth possessing beneficence, beauty, and valor—

    Three qualities of rain, the lion, and the full moon.

  47. وضمنت شعري في مناقب مجده

    ثلاث خلال الخمر والسحر والشعر

    And into my verse on his glorious virtues I infused

    Three qualities: those of wine, magic, and poetry.

  48. دعاني إلى مدحي لورد خلائق

    زرعن له حب المحبة في صدري

    Virtues summoned me to offer praise to Ward,

    Sowing in my breast the seed of love for him.

  49. وسابق إحسان مطلت بشكره

    ولم أقض فيه واجب الحمد والشكر

    And earlier kindness, whose thanks I had delayed,

    For which I had not discharged due praise and gratitude.

  50. ومن نثر الإحسان والبشر لم يفت

    مناقبه مستحسن النظم والنثر

    And whoever scatters kindness and good cheer will not lack

    Fine verse and prose to celebrate his virtues.

  51. وما أدعي مدحاً يقوم بشكره

    علي ولكني مدحت به شعري

    I claim no praise can fulfill the thanks he is owed

    By me; rather, through him I have honored my verse.

  52. ولازال شهر الله أسعد قادم

    عليه بأعمال المثوبة والبر

    May God's month ever be the most auspicious visitor

    To him, with deeds of reward and righteousness.

  53. توقره عند القدوم تواضعاً

    وتوقره عند الرحيل من الأجر

    You honor it at its arrival, in humility,

    And load it, at departure, with reward.