خير الأحاديث ما يبقى على الحقب — Ibn Abi Hussaynah

خَيرُ الأَحاديثِ ما يَبقى عَلى الحِقَبِ

وَخَيرُ مالِكَ ما دارا عَنِ الحَسَبِ

The best tales are those that endure through the ages.

And the best of your wealth is what safeguards your honor.

لا ذِكرَ يَبقى لِمَن يَبقى لَهُ نَشَبٌ

وَالذِكرُ يَبقى لِمَن يَبقى بِلا نَشَبِ

No remembrance endures for one whose wealth remains;

and remembrance endures for one who remains without wealth.

عَرضُ الفَتى حينَ يَغدُو أَبيَضاً يَققاً

خَيرٌ مِنَ الفِضّةِ البَيضاءِ وَالذَهَبِ

A young man's honor, when it becomes white and spotless,

is better than white silver and gold.

بَنى المُعِزُّ لَنا فَخرينِ شادَهُما

بِالمَكرُماتِ وَبِالهِندِيَّةِ القُضُبِ

Al-Muʿizz built us two glories, raising them

with noble deeds and keen Indian swords.

مُشَيَّعٌ لا يُريحُ الخَيلَ مِن تَعَبٍ

وَالمالَ مِن عَطَبٍ وَالعِيسَ مِن نَصَبِ

Dauntless, he gives the horses no respite from toil,

nor wealth from ruin, nor pale camels from exhaustion.

يَلقى العُفاةَ بِرِفدٍ غَيرِ مُحتَبِسٍ

عَنِ العُفاةِ وَوَعدٍ غَيرِ مُرتَقَبِ

He meets those seeking gifts with bounty never withheld

from the petitioners, and a promise needing no wait.

رُوحي فِدىً لِأَبي العُلوانِ مِن مَلِكٍ

سَمحِ اليَدَينِ بِتاجِ المُلكِ مُعتَصِبِ

My soul be ransom for Abu al-ʿUlwan, a king

generous of both hands, wearing the crown of kingship.

بَنى القِبابَ رَفيعاتِ الذُرى شُهُباً

مَخلوطَةً بِنُجومِ الحِندِسِ الشُهبِ

He built pavilions, lofty-crested and gleaming white,

mingled with the bright stars of the deep night.

مُطَنَّباتٍ إِلى العَلياءِ ما اِفتَقَرَت

إِلى عَمُودٍ وَلا اِحتاجَت إِلى طُنُبِ

Guyed to the heights, they had no need

of a pole, nor did they require a guy-rope.

مِثلَ الجِبالِ الرَواسي كُلَّما لَعِبَت

بِها الصَبا رَقَصَت من شِدَّةِ الطَرَبِ

Like firmly rooted mountains, whenever they were played upon

by the east wind, they danced from sheer delight.

لا يَومَ أَحسَنُ مِنهُ مَنظَراً عَجَباً

في مَطعَمٍ عَجَبٍ في مَشرَبٍ عَجَبِ

No day was lovelier than that one, a wondrous spectacle,

with wondrous food and wondrous drink.

خَمسُونَ أَلفاً قَراهُم ثُمَّ شَرَّعَهُم

مُعَتَّقَ الراحِ لَم تُقطَب وَلَم تُشَبِ

He fed fifty thousand, then led them to drink

aged wine, neither blended nor diluted.

سَدَّت عَقائِرُهُ الغيطانَ أَو تَرَكَت

لَونَ البَرى لَونَ ما في الحَوضِ مِن ذَهَبِ

His slaughtered beasts filled the lowlands, or left

the soil the color of the gold within the basin.

حَتّى لَكادَ مَعينُ الماءِ يَصبِغُهُ

ما شاعَ في الأَرضِ مِنها مِن دَمٍ سَرِبِ

Until the flowing water was almost stained

by the streaming blood from them that spread across the earth.

ظَلَّت وَباتَت قُدورُ المَجدِ راكِدَةً

تُشَبُّ بِالمَندَلِ الهِندِيِّ لا الحَطَبِ

Glory's cauldrons stood unmoving all day and all night,

stoked with Indian aloeswood, not firewood.

يَنتابُها الناسُ أَفواجاً فَتَفغَمُهُم

طِيباً وَتُشبِعُ جُوعاهُم مِنَ السَغَبِ

People visit them in throngs, and they overwhelm them

with fragrance, and sate their hungry ones' hunger.

قَد بَيَّضَت نارُها الظَلماءَ أَو تَرَكَت

لَونَ الدُجى لَونَ رَأسِ الأَشمَطِ الجَرِبِ

Their fire has whitened the darkness, or left

the dark night the color of a scabby, gray-haired man's head.

تَسرِي الرِكابُ وَضَوءُ النارِ يُوهِمُها

وَيُوهِمُ الرَكبَ أَنَّ الشَمسَ لَم تَغِبِ

The riding camels travel by night; the firelight deceives them

and deceives the riders into thinking the sun has not set.

تَكَرُّماً ما سَمِعنا في القَديمِ بِهِ

وَلا قَرَأناهُ في الأَخبارِ وَالكُتُبِ

A generosity we never heard of in ancient times,

nor read of in chronicles and books.

تَفنى اللَيالي وَيَبقى ذِكرُ ما صَنَعَت

هَذي البُيوتُ عَلى الأَيامِ وَالحِقَبِ

Nights perish, but the memory of what was done endures

by these houses, through days and ages.

وَفي القِبابِ الَّتي قَد أُبرِزَت مَلِكٌ

يَمينُهُ رَحمَةٌ صُبَّت عَلى حَلَبِ

And in the pavilions that have been set up is a king

whose right hand is mercy poured upon Aleppo.

إِن طَبَّقَ الأَرضَ إِمحالٌ وَأَخلَفَها

وَعدُ الغَمامِ فَلم تُمطَر وَلَم تُصَبِ

If drought blankets the earth and it is let down

by the clouds' promise, receiving neither rain nor showers.

وَفي العَواصِمِ قَومٌ ما اتِّكالُهُمُ

إِلّا عَلى راحَتَيهِ لا عَلى السُحُبِ

And in al-ʿAwasim are people whose reliance is

only on his two palms, not on the clouds.

ما إِن رَأَيتُ وَلا خُبِّرتُ عَن أَحَدٍ

بِمثلِ ما فيهِ مِن بَأسٍ وَمِن أَدَبٍ

I have never seen, nor been told of, anyone

with such valor and refinement as he possesses.

تَلقى المُلوكَ كَثيراً إِن عَدَدتَهُمُ

وَفي الذَوابِلِ فَخرُ لَيسَ في القُضُبِ

You find kings numerous, if you count them,

yet slender spears have a glory absent from swords.

لا تَطلُبِ الجُودَ عِندَ الناسِ كُلِّهِمِ

فَلَيسَ لِلشَريِ طَعمُ الأَري وَالضَرَبِ

Do not seek generosity among all people,

for colocynth lacks the taste of honey and thick white honey.

ما كُلُّ مَن جادَ بِالمَعروفِ جاءَ بِهِ

عَن نِيَّةٍ وَضَميرٍ صادِقِ الأرَبِ

Not everyone who gives a kindness offers it

with intention and conscience sincere in purpose.

قَد يَبذُلُ المالَ مَغصُوباً أَخو بُخُلٍ

كَالتَمرِ يَخرُجُ مِن لِيفٍ وَمِن كَرَبِ

A miser may part with wealth wrested from him,

as dates emerge from palm fiber and frond bases.

وَالجُودُ أَصبحَ منسُوباً إِلىمَلِكٍ

مَحضِ الجُدُودِ كَريمِ الخِيمِ وَالنَسَبِ

And generosity has come to be attributed to a king

of pure ancestry, noble in character and lineage.

تَعَوَّدَ الصارِمُ الهِندِيُّ في يَدِهِ

ضَربَ الجَماجِمَ تَحتَ البِيضِ وَاليَلَبِ

The Indian sword in his hand has grown accustomed

to striking skulls beneath helmets and leather armor.

لا يَنثَني وَوُجوهُ الخَيلِ ساهِمَةٌ

أَو يَنثَني وَالقَنا مُحمَرَّةُ العَذبِ

He does not turn back, though the horses' faces are drawn,

or he turns back with the spears' tips reddened.

تَسِيلُ مِن عَلَقِ اللَبّاتِ أَكعُبُها

كَأَنَّما صُبِغَ المُرّانُ بِالنَجَبِ

Their shaft-joints stream with gore from the hollows of throats,

as though the ash-wood had been dyed with bark.

ما سارَ نَحوَ العِدى في جَحفَلٍ لَجِبٍ

إِلّا وَقامَ مَقامَ الجَحفَلِ اللَجِبِ

He never marched toward his foes in a clamorous host

without himself taking the place of that clamorous host,

في ظَهرِ عارِيَةِ اللَحيَينِ قَد دَرِبَت

بِالطَعنِ مِن تَحتِ طَبٍّ بِالوَغى دَرِبِ

on the back of a lean-jawed mare, well trained

in lance-thrusting, beneath a master seasoned in battle.

تَعُودُ مُبيَضَّةَ المَتنَينِ مِن زَبَدٍ

مُحمَرَّةَ الفَمِ وَألرُسغَينِ وَاللَبَبِ

She returns with both sides of her back whitened by foam,

red at the mouth, the two pasterns, and the breast.

كَقَهوَةٍ صُفِّقَت في الكَأسِ فَاكتَسَبَت

بِالمَزجِ لُوِّنَ لَونَ الراحِ وَالحَبَبِ

Like wine stirred in a cup, acquiring

through mixing a tint—the color of wine and bubbles.

يا ناشِرَ الفَضلِ في دانٍ وَمُنتَزِحٍ

وَقاسِمَ الرِزقِ في ناءٍ وَمُقتَرِبِ

O you who spread bounty among those near and far,

and distribute sustenance among those distant and close,

طَهَّرتَ شِبلَيكَ لِلتَقوى وَما اِفتَقَرا

إِلى طُهُورٍ مِنَ الفَحشاءِ وَالرَيَبِ

you purified your two lion-cubs for piety, though they had no need

of cleansing from indecency and doubtful conduct.

لَقَد خَلَفتَ أَخاكَ المَيتَ في وَلَدٍ

حَلَلتَ مِنهُ مَحَلَّ الوالِدِ الحَدِبِ

You indeed took your dead brother's place in caring for his son;

you stood toward him in the place of a loving father.

رَفَعتَهُ مُستَحِقاً وَاِجتَهَدتَ لَهُ

مِن ذَلِكَ اليَومِ في التَشريفِ وَاللَقَبِ

You raised him, as he deserved, and labored for him

from that day on, in honor and title.

وَزِدتَّهُ رِفعَةً لَمّا جَعَلتَ لَهُ

ذِكراً كَذِكرِكَ لا يَخلُو مِنَ الخُطَبِ

And you raised him still higher when you gave him

a mention like your own, inseparable from the sermons.

مِن أَينَ يَفعَلُ هَذا الفِعلَ ذُو حَسَبٍ

دانٍ بِذي حَسَبٍ أَو غَيرِ ذي حَسَبِ

How could such a deed be done by a man whose standing

is low, toward one of standing or of none?

سَجِيَّةٌ مِن كَريمِ الطَبعِ في مَلِكٍ

مُهَذَّبٍ لَم يَغِب يَوماً وَلَم تَغِبِ

It is a trait born of noble nature in a king

refined, who has never been absent a day, nor has that trait.

إِذا نَظَرتَ إلى ما بَذَّرَت يَدَهُ

أَيقَنتَ أَنَّ السَماحَ المَحضَ في العَرَبِ

When you look at what his hand has scattered,

you are certain that pure generosity resides among the Arabs.