أحق بالعز من لا يرهب الخطرا — Haidar Alheli

أحقُّ بالعزِّ من لا يرهب الخطرا

ولا يعاقدُ إلاَّ البيضَ والسمرا

Most worthy of honor is he who does not fear danger,

and makes a pact with none but bright blades and brown spears.

والسيف أجدر أن يستلَّه لوغًى

مَن ليس يغمدُه أو يدرك الظفرا

And most fit to draw the sword for battle

is he who will not sheath it until he wins victory.

وأبيضُ العرض من في كفٍّه صدرتْ

بيضُ القواضب من ورد الدما حمرا

And purest in honor is he in whose hand have returned

white, keen blades, red from blood's watering-place.

لم تقض من وصله بكرُ العُلى وطراً

حتَّى من الهام يقضي سيفُه وطرا

The virgin of glory has not satisfied her longing through union with him

until his sword satisfies its longing upon skulls.

وحوزة الملك أولى في حياطتها

مَن باتَ في حفظها يستعذبُ السهرا

And most worthy of guarding the royal domain

is he who finds sleepless vigil sweet in keeping it safe.

وذي الرعيَّة أحرى في سياستها

مَن بالتجارب غورَ الدهر قد سبرا

And most fit to govern this people

is he who has sounded the depths of time through experience.

وليس يملكُ يوماً رقَّ مملكةٍ

مَن ليس يملأُ منها السمعَ والبصرا

Nor does anyone ever hold title to a kingdom

who does not fill its hearing and sight.

ولا تُراض أقاليمُ البلاد بمن

لم تسقِ من خُلقَيه الصفو والكدرا

Nor are the country's provinces tamed by one

from whose two tempers they have not drunk the clear and the turbid.

والحلُّ والعقد لو يورد صوابهما

إلاَّ الذي ثقة عن رأيه صدرا

And if the right courses of loosening and binding are brought forth,

it is only by one from whose judgment both issue with certainty.

ولا تناطُ أمورُ الملك أجمعها

إلاَّ بمن قارع الأيَّام مقتدرا

And all the affairs of kingship are entrusted

only to one who has contended with the days in strength.

أما نظرتَ لسلطان البريَّة من

على الرعيَّة ظلّ العدل قد نشرا

Have you not looked upon the sovereign of mankind, who

has spread the shade of justice over his subjects?

مَن ودّت الشهبُ لو في ربعه هبطتْ

فقبلته وشمّتْ تربه العطرا

He into whose dwelling the stars wished to descend,

to kiss him and breathe the fragrance of his soil.

كيف اغتدى مودعاً أسرارَ حضرته

صدراً أحاطَ بأسرار النهى خبرا

See how he came to entrust the secrets of his court

to a breast fully versed in the secrets of intellect,

وكيف أنزله منه بمنزلةٍ

لو ينزل البدرُ فيها تاهَ وافتخرا

and how he placed him, in his esteem, at a rank

where, were the full moon to alight, it would exult and boast.

لم يبلِ أخبارَه إلاَّ رأى ثقةً

للملك صدَّق منه المخبرَ الخبرا

He never tested reports of him without finding a trusted man

for the realm, whose proven worth confirmed the report.

فقالَ خذْ منصباً أُمُّ العُلى نصبتْ

أسرةً لكَ فيه الأنجم الزهرا

So he said: 'Take a station where the mother of glory has raised

thrones for you: the radiant stars.

هذي الوزارةُ فاحللْ في ذوائبها

فالحزم للشمس أن تستوزرَ القمرا

This is the vizierate: take your place upon its crests,

for the sun is wise to appoint the moon its vizier.'

فقال في رأيه والسيفُ يُجمعُ من

أطراف مملكة الإِسلام ما انتشرا

Then he spoke according to his judgment, while the sword gathered from

the far reaches of Islam's kingdom what had scattered.

مؤيَّداً بجنودٍ من مهابته

قد انتضى معه آراءه زبرا

Supported by troops born of the awe he inspires,

he had unsheathed his counsels alongside it—masses of iron.

وبات والدولة الغرَّاء يكلؤها

بعين مستيقظٍ لا يركبُ الغررا

And he spent the night guarding the radiant state

with a wakeful eye that takes no hazardous chances.

إن يجرِ في حلباتِ الرأي مبتدراً

خلَّتْ له الوزراءُ الوردَ والصدرا

If he races first into the arenas of judgment,

the viziers yield him the approach to water and the departure.

رأته أوسعها صدراً وأجمعها

فكراً وأصدقها إن شوورت نظرا

They saw him as broadest in breast and most comprehensive

in thought, and soundest in insight whenever they were consulted.

فسلَّمتْ لعلاهُ الأمرَ مذعنةً

لما يقولُ نهى إن شاءَ أو أمرا

So they yielded authority to his eminence, submitting

to whatever he says, forbidding if he wishes, or commanding.

فهل تضيقُ بخطبٍ جاءَ من بشرٍ

ذرعاً وإن جلَّ ذاك الخطبُ أو كبرا

Can it then be straitened by a calamity brought by a mortal,

in its power to cope, however grave or great that calamity may be,

وصدرُها الأعظمُ السَّامي الذي تسعُ

الدنيا بهمَّته أعظمْ به بشرا

when its exalted grand vizier is he who broadens

the world with his resolve—how great a man he is!

ذو عزمةٍ مثلَ صدر السيف باترةٍ

لو لاقت الدهرَ قرناً عمرُه انبترا

A man of resolve that cleaves like the forepart of a sword,

were it to meet Time as an adversary, Time's lifespan would be cut short.

رعى المحبِّين فيها البدوَ والحضرا

وروَّع المبغضين الرومَ والخزرا

There he cared for those who loved him, nomads and townsfolk,

and terrified those who hated him, Romans and Khazars.

قد قلَّد الملكَ منه سيف ملحمةٍ

لو يقرعُ الصخرَ يوماً بالدم انفجرا

He has girded kingship with a battle-sword drawn from himself,

which, were it to strike stone one day, would make it gush blood.

إذا الجباهُ بذلِّ العجزِ قد وُسِمتْ

في جبهة الموت أبقى حدَّه أثرا

When foreheads have been branded with the humiliation of helplessness,

his edge has left its mark upon the forehead of Death.

يستصغرُ الحربَ حتَّى ما يباشرها

بنفسه ولها إن باشرَ السفرا

He deems war so small that he does not undertake it

himself; yet, were he to undertake the journey for it,

لجاءَ والهمَّة العلياءُ فيه أتتْ

كالسَّيلِ من قلل الأجبال منحدرا

he would come, with lofty resolve in him surging,

like a torrent descending from the mountain peaks,

في جحفلٍ إن سرى ضاقتْ بأوَّله

الدنيا وآخره لم يدرِ أينَ سرى

with a mighty host whose vanguard, marching by night, would crowd

the world, while its rear would not know where it had marched;

وخاضَ بحرَ الوغى بالحزمِ محتزماً

بالنقع ملتثماً بالصبرِ متَّزرا

and he would plunge into the sea of battle, girded with prudence,

his face veiled in dust, his waist wrapped in patience,

حتَّى تضجّ ملوكُ الأرض قائلةً

كذا بني الملك فلينصره من نصرا

until the kings of the earth cried out, saying:

'Thus was kingship built; let its supporters support it!'

هيهات هذي فعالٌ لا يقوم لها

مَن قد قضى منهمُ قدماً ومَن غَبرا

Far beyond reach! These are deeds that cannot be matched

by those among them who died long ago or those who remain.

لو مدَّ قيصرُ باعاً نحوها قصرا

أو رامها قبلُ كسرى الفرس لانكسرا

Were Caesar to stretch his arms toward them, his reach would fall short;

or had Kisra of Persia sought them before, he would have been broken.

فعالُ منتصرٍ لله قامَ بها

في الله منهياً لله مؤتمرا

Deeds of a champion of God, who undertook them

for God's sake, heeding His prohibitions and obeying His commands.

إنْ ينتقمْ فحقوق الله يأخذها

وليس يلغي حقوقَ الله إن غفرا

If he takes vengeance, it is God's rights he exacts,

nor does he annul God's rights when he forgives.

حلوُ السجايا رقيقٌ طبعه عذبٌ

له خلائقُ ينفي صفوُها الكدرا

Sweet in character, his nature tender and sweet,

he has qualities whose clarity banishes murk.

خلائقٌ كالحميَّا لو ترشَّفها

مَن كانَ يبغضه في حبِّه سكرا

Qualities like potent wine—were they sipped

by one who hated him, he would grow drunk with love for him.

آنستِ يا وحشة الدنيا بذي كرمٍ

أحيا بجدواهُ ميتَ الجودِ فانتشرا

You have found solace, O desolation of the world, in a generous man,

who, with his bounty, revived dead generosity, and it rose again.

ليس السحائبُ تحكيه وقد علمتْ

من كفِّه ماؤها قد كانَ معتصرا

The clouds do not match him, knowing

that their water was wrung from his palm.

ولا البحارُ تضاهيهِ وقد طمحتْ

أمواجها فهي بخلاً تحرزُ الدررا

Nor do the seas rival him, though surging high

are their waves; miserly, they hoard the pearls.

لم يجرِ حاتمُ طيٍّ أو أبو دلفٍ

إلاَّ وعن شأوهِ بالجودِ قد حسرا

Neither Hatim of Tayy nor Abu Dulaf ever raced

without tiring short of his reach in generosity.

وإنَّ معنا على ما فيه من كرمٍ

لو كانَ عاصرَه في الجودِ ما ذكرا

And Ma'n, for all the generosity in him,

had he lived in his time, would not have been mentioned for generosity.

يا مَن نرى الناسَ أنَّى غابَ غائبةً

جميعها وحضوراً أينما حضرا

O you, wherever you are absent, we see the people absent,

all of them—and present wherever you are present.

أمجلساً لك هذي الأرض قد جُمعت

أم أنتَ قد ضمنتْ أبرادُك البشرا

Has this earth been gathered as an assembly for you,

or is it you whose cloaks have enclosed mankind?

إن الصَّدارة لم يصلحْ سواكَ لها

كأنَّها أبداً عينٌ وأنتَ كرى

Indeed, none but you is suited to the chief office,

as though it were always an eye, and you its slumber.

لا زالَ سعدُك بالإِقبالِ مقترناً

يستخدمُ المبهجين النصرَ والظفرا

May your good fortune ever be joined to prosperity,

employing the two bringers of joy: victory and triumph.