أرى كل جمع بالردى يتفوق

وكل جديد بالبلى يتمزق

I see every gathering drained away by death,

And every new thing torn apart by decay.

وما هذه الأعمار إلا صحائف

تؤرخ وقتاً ثم تمحي وتمحق

These lifespans are nothing but pages

That chronicle a time, then are erased and obliterated.

وإنك يا ابن الهالكين وصنوهم

ووالدهم من دوحة الموت معرق

And you, son of the perishing and their brother,

And their father, are rooted deep in death's great tree.

وما العمر إلا رأس مال فلا تكن

مجازفة من رأس مالك تنفق

Life is nothing but capital, so do not be

Recklessly spending from your capital.

وهل خاطب الله الخليقة بالتقى

وخص ذوي الألباب إلا ليتقوا

Has God addressed creation with piety,

And singled out the discerning, for any reason but that they should be pious?

ولم أر شيئاً مثل دائرة المنى

توسعها الآمال والعمر ضيق

I have seen nothing like the circle of desires,

Which hopes enlarge, though life is narrow.

ولا مثل خطب الموت شيئاً فإنه

جديد على تكراره ليس يخلق

Nor anything like the calamity of death, for it is

New despite its recurrence; it never grows worn.

وما كنت أدري قبل موت طلائع

بأن الليالي يعتريهن أولق

I did not know, before Tala'i's death,

That the nights could be seized by madness.

أتيت بها يا دهر وهي مذمة

صحيفتها مابين عينيك تلصق

You brought this about, O Time—a disgrace

Whose record is affixed between your eyes.

وعرضت منها للحناجر غصة

أصم بها سمع وأخرس منطق

And through it you laid a choking lump in throats;

Hearing was deafened by it, and speech struck dumb.

سعيت إلى ما فيه نقصك جاهداً

وغيرك في السعي المعان الموفق

You strove hard toward what diminished you,

While another is aided and granted success in striving.

قطعت بها يمنى يديك فلا تلم

سواك إذا أخنى ذراع ومرفق

With it you severed your own right hand; blame not

Anyone but yourself when arm and elbow fall to ruin.

سيلقى لفقد الصالح المجد حسرة

يغص بها منه اللها والمخنق

Glory will suffer anguish at al-Salih's loss,

That chokes its uvulas and throat.

ويبكيه دست للوزارة لم يزل

به عن محل النجم يسمو ويسمق

And a vizier's seat will weep for him, which always

Through him rose and towered beyond the star's station.

ويبكي الندى والبأس أفعاله التي

لها لمم الأملاك تحلى وتحلق

And generosity and valor will weep for his deeds, for which

Kings' locks are adorned and shorn.

ويندبه ماضي الغرارين صارم

تظل به الهامات تعلى وتفلق

And a keen sword, sharp on both edges, will lament him,

With which heads are ever lifted and split.

سنا النجم أو طرف من النصل أزرق

وأجرد يحكي الطرف من نسل لاحق

A star's gleam, or a blue tip of the blade.

And a sleek steed, swift as a glance, from Lahiq's stock,

تقر الصبا والبرق أن ليس يلحق

أديب عفت عنه لفقدك صهوة

Which the east wind and lightning admit cannot be overtaken.

A well-trained steed, its saddle deserted since your loss,

فأصبح بعد اللين ينزو وينزق

وقافية كالعقد والتاج لم يزل

Now leaps and turns unruly after its gentleness.

And a rhyme, like a necklace and a crown, which always

يحلى بها للدهر جيد ومفرق

فجيد بها قلدته وهو عاطل

Adorned Time's neck and the parting of its hair:

A neck you adorned with it while it was bare,

ومجد بها قيدته وهو مطلق

وملمومة تحكي غوارب لجة

And glory you bound with it while it was unbound.

And a massed army, resembling the crests of a deep sea,

تظل بها الأبطال تطفو وتغرق

يلوح بها في كل ثغر ومخرم

In which champions ever float and drown.

In it, at every frontier and mountain pass, appears

مع الفلق الوضاح شعواء فيلق

يسح لها وبل من النبل لم تزل

With radiant dawn, a host's fierce onslaught.

For it a downpour of arrows pours, from which

قلوب العدى منه ترش وترشق

ولما تقضى الحول إلا ليالياً

Enemy hearts are ceaselessly spattered and pierced.

The year had not yet passed, save for a few nights

تضاف إلى الماضي قريباً وتلحق

وعجنا بصحراء القرافة والأسى

Soon to be added and joined to the past,

When we turned toward al-Qarafa's desert, while grief

يغرب في أكبادنا ويشرق

عقرنا على رب القوافي عقائلاً

Set and rose within our livers.

We slaughtered choice offerings for the lord of rhymes,

تعز إذا هانت جياد وأينق

وقلنا له خذ بعض ما كنت منعماً

Prized even when fine steeds and she-camels are held cheap.

And we said to him: Take some of what you once bestowed

به وقضاء الحق بالحر أليق

عقود قواف من قوافيك تنتقى

On us; repaying what is owed best befits the noble.

Necklaces of rhymes selected from your rhymes,

ودر معان من معانيك تسرق

نثرنا على حصباء قبرك درها

And pearls of meaning stolen from your meanings.

We scattered their pearls upon your grave's pebbles,

صحيحاً ودر الدمع في الخد يفلق

وما الشعر إلا النفس ذابت وهذه

Intact, while the pearls of tears split upon the cheek.

Poetry is only the soul melted down; these are

دماء لها في مهرق الطرس مهرق

لئن ذبلت منها رياض أنيقة

Blood whose spilling-place is on the parchment of the page.

Though elegant gardens of it have withered,

ففي قلبه روض من الوجد مونق

وإن قطبت حزناً فمن بعدما سرت

Yet in its heart lies a luxuriant garden of longing.

And if it frowned in sorrow, that was after the joy

أسرتها حسناً تضيء وتشرق

مضيت بطيب العيش عنها فأصبحت

Its features gave in beauty, shining and radiant.

You departed from it with life's sweetness, so it came

بأنفاسها شجواً تغص وتشرق

سقى الله والسقيا من رحمة الله

To choke and gasp on its own breaths in grief.

May God water—and watering is of God's mercy—

ثرى جاده منك الحيا المتدفق

وخلد ملك الناصر ابنك ما سرت

The soil your overflowing rain once drenched.

And perpetuate your son al-Nasir's reign as long as

نجوم الثريا والسماك المحلق

وقد علم الإسلام بعدك أنه

The stars of the Pleiades and soaring al-Simak move.

Islam has learned, since your passing, that he

على مهجة الإسلام يحنو ويشفق

وإن مقاليد الكفالة والهدى

Is tender and protective toward Islam's very heart.

And that the keys of guardianship and guidance

بعاتقه أضحت تناط وتعذق

يصرف صرفيها عقاباً ونائلاً

Have come to be hung and fastened upon his shoulder.

He administers their two aspects, punishment and reward,

ويفتق خطيبها سداداً ويرتق

سطى وعطا كالماء والنار لم يزل

And their spokesman unseams and mends with sound judgment.

Force and bounty, like water and fire: he is ever

لها مطفئ في كل قلب ومحرق

فنعمته وبل على الخلق مغدق

A quencher and a burner with them in every heart.

His favor is a copious downpour upon creation,

ونقمته على الملك محدق

يقلب ظهر الكف أو بطن راحة

And his vengeance encircles the realm.

He turns the back of his hand or the inside of his palm,

تظل بها الأرواح ترزاً وترزق

إذا طلعت في الدست غرة وجهه

Through which souls ever perish and receive sustenance.

When his face's radiance rises in the council-seat,

رأيت وجوه الناس تعنو وتعنق

اقر عيون المكرمات بهمة

You see the people's faces bow and crane forward.

He delighted the eyes of noble deeds with a resolve

أقر بها قلب الهوى وهو يخفق

وأصبح للدنيا وللدين مقلة

With which he stilled desire's heart while it fluttered.

And he became an eye for worldly life and religion,

بها ناظر الأيام يرنو ويرمق

وعلم أهل الشيب حسن وقاره

Through which the eye of the days gazes and watches.

And the beauty of his dignity has taught the gray-haired,

فلم زعموا أن الشبيبة أنزق

مناقب مجد لم يعوذ كمالها

So why did they claim that youth is more rash?

Virtues of glory whose perfection never sought refuge

بنقص وخلق لم يشنه التخلق

إذا كذب المثني على الليث والحيا

In imperfection, and a character unspoiled by affectation.

If the praiser of the lion and the rain speaks falsely,

فمادحها بالجود والبأس يصدق

ملكت بها أسر القوافي بأسرها

Then one praising these virtues for bounty and valor speaks truly.

Through them you have taken every rhyme captive,

فأضحت ومنها مسترق ومعتق

ولي كل يوم في علاك يتيمة

So now, among them, some are enslaved and others freed.

And each day, for your eminence, I have a peerless gem

من الدر تنفي ما سواها وتنفق

سبائك من صفو الكلام وحره

Among pearls, banishing all others and finding favor.

Ingots of pure and noble speech,

أجاد التأني سبكها والتأنق

يظل بها شعر البليغ وفكره

Whose casting deliberation and refinement have perfected.

By them, the eloquent man's poetry and thought are ever

على الظلم والإنصاف يسبى ويسبق

تغذى بها الألباب حتى كأنها

Captured and surpassed, under unfair or fair judgment.

Minds are nourished by them, until they seem

رحيق مصفى أو نمير مصفق

تلين متون القول منه بخاطري

Like purified wine or clear, filtered water.

The sturdy bodies of speech grow pliant in my mind through it,

فاغرب عند النزع منها وأغرق

فمنها لمن والاك برد مفوف

So when I draw from them, I produce marvels and plunge deep.

Among them, for whoever befriends you, is a finely striped cloak,

ومنها لمن عاداك سهم مفوق

إذا أهدرت أشداقها كفها الحيا

And among them, for whoever opposes you, a nocked arrow.

When their jaws roar, modesty restrains them,

فمالي وقد أحسنت إلا التشدق

ويسعدني علمي بأنك عالم

So, since I have excelled, what is left me but boasting?

It gladdens me to know that you are knowledgeable,

لما أدعي من فضلها متحقق

ولو لم تؤيد من لساني ولا يدي

And certain of the merit I claim for it.

Had you not lent strength to my tongue and my hand,

لما كنت بين الناس أنطي وأنطق

وجدناكم آل رزيك خير من

I would neither give nor speak among people.

We found you, house of Ruzzik, the best of those

تنص إليه اليعملات وتعنق

وفدنا إليكم نطلب الجاه والغنى

Toward whom swift she-camels hurry and stride.

We came to you as a delegation, seeking standing and wealth,

فأكرم ذو مثوى وأغني مملق

وعلمتمونا عزة النفس بالندى

And the guest was honored and the destitute enriched.

You taught us dignity of soul through generosity,

وملقى وجوه لم يشنها التملق

وصيرتم القسطاس بالجود كعبة

And a meeting of faces unblemished by flattery.

And through bounty you made the balance a Kaaba,

يطوف بركنيها العراق وجلق

فلا ستركم عن مرتج قط مرتج

Around whose two corners Iraq and Jilliq circle.

So your curtain is never shut against a hopeful supplicant,

ولا بابكم عن مغلق الحظ مغلق

وليس لقلب في سواكم علاقة

Nor your door closed to one whose fortune is barred.

No heart has an attachment to anyone but you,

ولا ليد إلا بكم متعلق

And no hand has a hold except upon you.