محل العلا لولا الدني شريف

وظل النهى لولا الغبي وريف

The station of eminence would be noble, were it not for the base.

And reason's shade would be luxuriant, were it not for the fool.

وحب الدنا يدني إلى الذل دله

ويعطف عطف العز وهو غروف

Worldly love, in its infatuation, draws one toward abasement,

And bends the flank of honor, voracious as it is.

وركن الهدى واهي الدعائم واهن

إذا لم تشده بالأكف سيوف

And guidance's pillar has frail supports and is weak,

Unless swords held in hands brace it.

وراجي العدا لم يدخل الأمن من قلبه

ولما يذدد عنه المخوف مخيف

And one who trusts his enemies finds no security in his heart,

While no fearsome man has yet driven away what he dreads.

وطي الفلا اجرى بحر همومه

وهمته تطفو به وتطوف

And crossing deserts sets the sea of his cares flowing,

While his resolve buoys him up and bears him about.

ونيل السها عن غير ادراك حازم

منيع مقام لا يرام منيف

And attaining Suha without a resolute man's discernment

Is a lofty, impregnable station beyond reach.

ونفس المنى بالندب تستقرب المدا

وان طال تقريب لها ووجيف

Through a gallant man, the soul of aspiration reckons the distance short,

Though its cantering and galloping go on at length.

ترى للردى جأشاً قوياً على الردى

وقد راح عنها الحظ وهو ضعيف

You see a heart ready for death, strong against death,

Though fortune has left it, weak as that fortune is.

ومن كلفته المجد نفس أبية

فأهون محتوم عليه حتوف

And whoever is charged with glory by a proud soul—

Deaths are the lightest doom ordained for him.

خليلي تقديم التوقي مضلة

وعقل أخي المرمى البعيد سخيف

My two friends, putting caution first leads astray;

And the mind of a man with distant aims is foolish.

يروم تصاريف المقادير دهره

وتغلب أقدار له وصروف

He seeks to direct fate's changing decrees throughout his life,

Yet the decrees and reversals allotted him prevail.

هي الدار ما دامت لدار أو ان تكن

أضيفت لها الأشباح فهي ضيوف

This abode has never endured for a household; or, if

Bodies are lodged within it, they are merely guests.

سقي اللَه ربعاً بالعواصم ما سقي

لذكراه دمعي الخد وهو ذروف

May God water a dwelling in al-Awasim, as long as

My streaming tears water my cheek at its remembrance.

وحيا بذاك الحي عيشاً جنيته

وقد ذللت من جانبيه قطوف

And bless the life I reaped in that quarter,

While its fruit-clusters hung within reach on either side.

بناعمة الأطراف اهصر عطفها

وكفى لطرف النايبات طروف

With a tender-limbed one whose waist I bent,

While my hand struck at calamity's eye.

تعادل فيه الدهر اما مصيفه

ربيع واما قره فخريف

Time kept its balance there: its summer

Was spring, and its cold season autumn.

تذكرينه بالأصائل والضحي

صدوح بأفنان الأراك هتوف

You recall it in the late afternoons and the forenoons,

O songbird, calling from the arak boughs.

تنوح وأبكيها كلانا لغربة

وكل غريب للبكاء الوف

It laments, and I weep for it—both of us for exile;

And every exile is accustomed to weeping.

لعل زماناً فوقت لي صروفه

سهام فراقٍ ملن حفيف

Perhaps time, whose reversals have nocked against me

Arrows of parting that swerved with a hiss,

يخفف عبء البعد عني بأوبة

فعب النوي غب اللقاء خفيف

Will ease the burden of distance from me through a return;

For separation's burden is light after reunion.

وآنس خلان الأباعد نافر

واقسي أولي القربى عليك عطوف

The friendliest of distant companions is aloof,

While the harshest of your kin is tender toward you.

ومن جهل الدنيا فأني بعامها

وخبر بنيها ان سئلت عروف

If anyone is ignorant of the world, I know its year,

And its sons' affairs well, if asked.

لئن خلتهم مثل النضار نظارة

فأنهم بالأختبار زيوف

If you imagine them to have the luster of pure gold,

They prove counterfeit when tested.

فصيحهم عند النصيحة ألكن

واصحاهم عقلا لديك نزيف

Their eloquent man stammers when giving counsel,

And their soberest mind is, before you, befuddled.

فلا تطمعن في رأفة من قلوبهم

وهل امرؤ غير الأمير رؤف

So never hope for compassion from their hearts;

Is any man but the prince compassionate?

هو ابن علي بن سيفا أخو العلا

أبو الفضل خدن المكرمات حليف

He is the son of Ali ibn Sayfa, brother of eminence,

Abu al-Fadl, companion and ally of noble deeds.

كريم لروّاد الكلا في فنائه

ربيع وفي المشتا الجديب مصيف

Generous—to seekers of pasture, in his courtyard,

He is springtime, and in barren winter, a summer haven.

جواب مرجيه أجل ولحبذا

وما سمعت منه لعل وسوف

His answer to those who hope in him is 'Yes!' and 'Most welcome!'

Never have I heard him say 'Perhaps' or 'Someday.'

لركب أياديه إذا بعد المدا

ذميل لراجي فضله وخفوف

The cavalcade of his favors, when the distance grows long,

Has a swift trot and nimble pace toward those hoping for his bounty.

فما بقعة الأسرى جوده بها

كأن الدنا عين ونائله طيف

No place exists but his generosity has traveled through it;

As though the world were an eye and his bounty a dream-vision.

ينوع للعافين جزل عطائه

فمنها تليد يحتذى وطريف

He varies his abundant gifts for petitioners:

Some are time-honored models to follow, and some are new.

ولا غرو ان اهدت يداه طرائفاً

وباطنها للمكرمات ظروف

No wonder if his hands bestow rarities,

For their palms are vessels of noble deeds.

جموع لأشتات الثناء والمها

وهوب لما ابقي سواه تلوف

A gatherer of scattered praises, bringing them together,

A lavish giver, a squanderer of what others hoard.

أخو عزمات تقتضيها عدالة

بها صحب الذئب الضري خروف

A man of resolves required by justice,

Through which the ravenous wolf keeps company with a lamb.

يقوم بأمر مقعدٍ همم الوري

ويجلس عزاً والأنام وقوف

He undertakes a task that cripples mankind's resolve,

And sits in honor while all people stand.

ويرهب منه الألف فرداً لدى الوغى

فكيف إذا غال الألوف الوف

And a thousand fear him when he stands alone in battle;

How, then, when thousands lay thousands low?

وفور لو ان الطيس حرف مردد

بفيه لما عدت عليه حروف

Abundant—if a multitude were a letter repeated

In his mouth, no letters would be counted against him.

يعاقب عند الانتقام بعفوه

وبعض الوري عند العقاب عسوف

When taking revenge, he punishes with his pardon,

While some men are cruel when they punish.

ويأنف ذكرى من يسيء بغيبة

إذا ساء والحر الكريم انوف

He disdains backbiting one who does him wrong,

When he offends; a free, noble man is proudly disdainful.

ألا أيها المولى الذي ليس دونه

حجاب ولم تسدل عليه سجوف

O lord, before whom there is no

Barrier, nor have curtains been lowered around him,

ومن جوده حتى بكل تنوفة

ينوء بما ضن الحيا وينوف

And whose bounty, even in every barren wilderness,

Rises bearing what rain withholds, and surpasses it,

تهن بعيد النحر وانحر به العدا

ودم عائداً ما عاد وهو نحيف

Rejoice in the Feast of Sacrifice, and slaughter your foes at it;

And keep returning whenever it returns, though it is frail.

ولا زلت تنثيها سحائب انعم

بها البرق من بشر عليك خطوف

May you ever spread them—clouds of blessings,

Whose lightning flashes swiftly with glad tidings for you.

تعاف المنايا ساحتيك وتعتفي

يديك أمانينا وأنت عفيف

May death shun your two courtyards, and may

Our hopes seek bounty at your hands, while you remain pure.

ويقصر عن ادراك شأوك طالب

ولو سار مسري الريح وهو عصوف

May any seeker fall short of attaining your height,

Even if he follows the wind's course when it is tempestuous.

لأردع اضدادي واقمع حسدي

وتجدع اعناق لهم وانوف

So that I may repel my adversaries and suppress my enviers,

And their necks and noses may be cut off.

يمينا بمزجي اليعملات إلى منى

منى الخفيف ظهراً والحجيج صفوف

I swear by the driver of swift she-camels to Mina,

Mina of the lightly burdened, with the pilgrims in rows:

لقد انصفتك الود نفسي واظهرت

صفاء محياً ما عليه نصيف

My soul has truly dealt fairly with you in love, and revealed

The purity of a face over which no veil lies.

واني لك العبد الدنى وانني

على الغير حر لا الام صلوف

I am your lowly slave, yet I

Am free toward others, unblamed and proudly aloof.

همومي من جدواك ان ابلغ العلا

وهم السوى جو دابة ورغيف

My concern in seeking your bounty is to reach eminence,

While others' concern is a beast's belly and a loaf.

فهل ترتضي ارجو سواك وارتدي

قلاك واني للعنان صروف

Would you approve that I hope in another and clothe myself

In aversion to you, when I am quick to turn the reins?

ولو كان جود الغير كأساً على ظما

لما راق لي اني لذاك رشوف

Even if another's bounty were a cup offered in thirst,

It would not please me to be a sipper of that cup.

وكل له في كل ارض كفاية

ولكن طرفاً لا يراك كفيف

And everyone has sufficiency in every land,

But an eye that does not see you is blind.

وان كلفت بالسعي عندك حسدي

فكل حسود بالكريم كلوف

And if my enviers are obsessed with scheming before you,

Every envier is obsessed with a noble man.

فلا تسمعن ما صنفته رواتهم

فإن أكاذيب اللئام صنوف

So do not listen to what their narrators have fabricated,

For the lies of the vile are of many kinds.

ولي فيك ما يسطو على القلب لفظه

ويقتسر الألباب وهو لطيف

I have verses about you whose wording seizes the heart

And subdues minds, though it is delicate:

قواف على الأفواه سحر وفي الطلا

جمان وفي إذن المصيخ شنوف

Rhymes that are magic on the lips, and on necks

Pearls, and earrings in the attentive listener's ear.

بقيت بقاء النيرين ولا اعترا

علاك كسوف مثلها وخسوف

May you endure as long as the two luminaries, and may

No solar or lunar eclipse like theirs afflict your eminence.

ففضلك در والأماني نواهل

ولفظك دُر والزمان رصوف

For your bounty is flowing milk, and hopes drink their fill;

And your speech is pearls, with time their setter.