خلعت عليك مواسم الأيام

حلي الجلال وحلة الإعظام

The festivals of the days have bestowed upon you

the ornaments of majesty and the robe of veneration.

يمحو المحاق البدر عند تمامه

ونراك طول الدهر بدر تمام

The moon's dark phase effaces the full moon at its fullness,

yet throughout all time we see you as a perfect full moon.

جلت الخلافة منك فوق سريرها

كنز الهدى وذخيرة الإسلام

The caliphate has unveiled in you, upon its throne,

the treasure of guidance and the reserve of Islam;

وبقية الله التي ببقائها

تجري الأمور على أتم نظام

and God's remnant, through whose continuance

affairs run in the most perfect order.

بالعاضد المهدي قدس ذكره

صحت لنا الأيام بعد سقام

Through al-Adid al-Mahdi—hallowed be his name—

our days grew healthy after sickness.

لذنا بحبل ولائه فكأنما

لذنا بركني يذبل وشبام

We sought refuge in the rope of allegiance to him, as though

we had sought refuge by the twin pillars of Yadhbul and Shibam.

متمسكين ببيعة ضمنت لنا

عنه بمحو صحائف الآثام

Holding fast to a pledge of allegiance that guaranteed us,

on his behalf, the erasure of the records of sins.

أحيا بعصمتها القلوب وإنما

أجرى بها الأرواح في الأجسام

He revived hearts through its protection; in truth,

through it he set souls flowing within bodies.

متحدر من نسل حيدر طاهر

إن الطهور العذب نسل غمام

A pure descendant of Haydar's line—

for sweet, purifying water is the offspring of clouds.

ترنو إليه نواظر لو لم تنم

في ظله لم يكتحل بمنام

Eyes gaze toward him; if they did not sleep

in his shade, he would not line his eyes with sleep.

شاهدته لم أدر هل شاهدته

بمقام ملك أم بدار مقام

I beheld him and could not tell whether I beheld him

at a king's court or in an abode of lasting repose.

حجبت جلالة قدره أبصارنا

واستأذنت لبصائر الأفهام

The majesty of his rank veiled our eyes

and sought leave for understanding's inner sight.

يا سائلي عن موقف الشرف الذي

لم يخل من مكرم ولا إكرام

O you who ask me about that station of honor

never without one who honors, or honor bestowed:

ما فوق وجه الأرض من تسمو به

الدنيا سوى هذا المقام السامي

There is none upon the face of the earth through whom

the world rises, save this lofty station.

هذا ابن مقتلع الدروب بخيبر

في الله وابن مكسر الأصنام

This is the son of him who uprooted the gateways at Khaybar

for God's sake, and the son of him who shattered idols.

هذا ابن بنت المصطفى وبنو الفتى

أولى من الأصحاب والأعمام

This is the son of al-Mustafa's daughter; a man's sons

have a stronger claim than companions and paternal uncles.

هذا الذي حسدت ثرياه الثرى

حسد الجباه مواطئ الأقدام

This is he whose Pleiades envied the earth,

as foreheads envy the places where feet tread.

زاحم لعلك أن تفوز بنظرة

منه فتحرز أوفر الأقسام

Jostle forward: perhaps you may win a glance

from him, and thus secure the fullest share.

واجعل سلامك بالسجود فإنه

ليجل قدراً عن خطاب سلام

And make your greeting a prostration, for he

is too exalted in rank for a spoken greeting.

وامنع لسانك أن يهنئ مجده

بهلال فطر أو هلال صيام

And forbid your tongue to congratulate his glory

on the crescent of fast-breaking or the crescent of fasting.

واعكس فهن بفضله أيامه

فبه عرفنا حرمة الأيام

And reverse it: congratulate his days on his excellence;

for through him we learned the sanctity of days.

أقسمت بالملك الشهيد طلائع

وكفى به قسماً من الأقسام

I swore by the martyred king, Tala'i—

and he suffices as an oath among oaths—

لو لم يكن رمضان شهر كرامة

يقضى له بخصائص الإكرام

had Ramadan not been a month of honor,

accorded the special privileges of veneration,

لأنفت من تاريخه وسلبته

ذكر الفضيلة من شهور العام

I would have recoiled from its date and stripped it

of the name of virtue among the year's months;

ووسمته بملامتي وجعلته

هدفاً لكل مذمة وملام

and would have branded it with my reproach and made it

a target for every condemnation and blame.

ولقلت إن الصوم ليس بواجب

فيه وأن الفطر غير حرام

And I would have said that fasting was not obligatory

in it, and that breaking the fast was not forbidden.

إنه ليحزنني طلوع هلاله

وطلائع رهن الصدى والهام

Indeed, the rising of its crescent saddens me,

while Tala'i lies captive to owls and grave-birds.

وأحب شعباناً لأني لا أرى

منه إلى شوال غير ظلام

And I love Sha'ban, for I see

nothing but darkness from it until Shawwal.

بل الرحيق ثراك من مستشهد

ظامي وبحر نداه عذب طامي

May nectar moisten your dust, O martyred one,

thirsty, though the sea of his bounty is sweet and overflowing.

ومن العظائم أن سلوتك بعدما

روى نداك مفاصلي وعظامي

And it would be an enormity to forget you, after

your bounty had watered my joints and bones.

سن ابن ملجم سنة أحييتها

يا ابن القوام بصائم قوام

Ibn Muljam established a precedent you revived,

O son of al-Qawwam, against one who fasted and kept prayerful vigil.

فقضى عليك أبو شجاع كما

لأخيك خير خليفة وإمام

So Abu Shuja' dealt you death, as

the best caliph and imam had dealt it to your brother.

ذقت الحمام كما أذقت ولستما

سيين لولا العدل في الأحكام

You tasted death as you made him taste it; you two would not

be equal, were it not for justice in judgments.

ولقد طويت حياة أروع لم يزل

مغرى بنشر العلم والأعلام

And indeed, you folded away the life of a noble man who never ceased

to be devoted to spreading knowledge and unfurling banners.

أطفأت نور الله إلا أنه

أطفاك من لفحاته بضرام

You extinguished God's light, but it

extinguished you with a blaze from its scorching blasts.

أظننت أن الغاب ليس بمسبع

الجنبات من شبل ومن ضرغام

Did you think the thicket was not beast-haunted

along its flanks, by lion-cub and mighty lion?

حلت بنو رزيك من ثبج العلى

ما عز من مرمى وبعد مرام

Banu Ruzzik have settled upon the crest of glory,

at a mark hard to reach and a far-distant goal.

تعلو وتغلو رتبة هم أهلها

أبداً على السامي أو المتسامي

A rank they merit rises high and grows precious,

forever above the lofty or those striving to be lofty.

فليسل عن هذا المدى من غره

طمع المنى ووساوس الأوهام

Let him forget this height, the man deceived by

covetous hopes and the whisperings of delusion.

ليس الزمان بصالح إلا على

تدبيرهم في النقض والإبرام

The age is sound only under

their direction in undoing and making firm.

علقت مقاليد الكفالة منهم

بمؤيد الآراء والإلهام

The keys of guardianship among them are entrusted

to one strengthened in judgment and inspiration.

ذخر الأئمة والمؤهل مذ نشا

لكفالة الخلفاء والحكام

The imams' treasure, and one fitted from his youth

for the guardianship of caliphs and rulers.

يرتاح صدر الدست منه بمالك

لفضائل الأسياف والأقلام

The seat of honor on the dais delights in him, a master

of the virtues of swords and pens.

شفع الشبيبة بالوقار وزانها

فالدهر بين سكينة وعرام

He paired youth with dignity and adorned it,

so the age stands between serenity and exuberance.

يبدي الكواكب في المواكب كلما

مدت على الإصباح ليل قتام

He displays stars among the processions whenever

they spread a dust-dark night over the dawn,

بذوابل وصوارم من شأنها

نظم الطلى أبداً ونثر الهام

with slender lances and keen swords, whose habit

is ever to string throats and scatter heads.

ويحاط شمل الملك منه بصولة

إذا اشتد الوطي الحامي

The kingdom's unity is guarded by his onslaught

when the heated trampling grows fierce.

قل للخلافة لا خلاف وقد غدا

عنها الكفيل أبو الشجاع يحامي

Say to the caliphate: there is no discord, now that

its guardian, Abu al-Shuja', has taken up its defense.

ولقد أعز مرام بيعتك التي

أضحى يناضل دونها ويرامي

Indeed, he has made your pledge of allegiance hard to assail,

now fighting in its defense and exchanging arrows.

وكفاك أمر النائبات بعزمة

خزمت أنوف عداك بالإرغام

And he spared you the burden of calamities with a resolve

that put rings through your enemies' noses in humiliation.

قطعت رجاء الخارجي عليكم

وصحابها من سكرة الأحلام

It cut off the rebel's hopes against you,

and through it he awoke from the stupor of dreams.

أذكى العيون على عدوك ضابطاً

أنفاسه في يقظة ومنام

He kept spies alert against your enemy, counting

his breaths in wakefulness and sleep,

حتى أتتك به السعادة راكباً

متن الصباح وصهوة الإطلام

until good fortune brought him to you, riding

the back of morning and the saddle of darkness.

فتح الفتوح أتاك من يد كافل

لم يرض منة ذابل وحسام

The victory of victories came to you from a guardian's hand,

who would not be indebted to lance and sword.

فاسأل إلهك أن يديم حياته

لك ألف عام بعد هذا العام

So ask your God to perpetuate his life

for you a thousand years beyond this year.