تألق نور العدل وانطفأ الظلم — Ibn Al Maqri

تألقَ نورُ العدل وانطفأ الظلمُ

وقامت على ساق عصون الهدى تنمو

The light of justice shone, and oppression was extinguished.

And the branches of guidance stood on their stem, growing.

فَقلْ لضلال كَان أطلع رأسَه

وثؤلول كفرٍ طَال قد أَزفَ الحسمُ

So say to error that had raised its head,

And to a towering wart of unbelief: the time for excision is near.

سيحيى بيحيى كل يومٍ وليلةٍ

معالمَ عدلٍ قد محا رسمَها الظلمُ

Through Yahya, each day and night, life will return to

The landmarks of justice whose outlines oppression erased.

ويرجع للدنيا الشباب يزينها

ويصبحُ للدين الولاية والحكمُ

And youth will return to the world, adorning it.

And authority and rule will belong to religion.

فملكك يايحيى هو الجر والثنا

إذا كان ملك الظالمين هو الإِثمُ

Your reign, O Yahya, is reward and praise,

Whereas the reign of oppressors is sin.

لقد فرج الباري بملكك غمةً

عن الخلق تنسى عندها الولد الامُ

Through your reign, the Creator has indeed lifted such anguish

From creation as makes a mother forget her child.

تضِّرفَ قومٌ في الخلافةِ مالهم

لِما وضع الرحمنُ في أهلها علمُ

Some people meddled with the caliphate, with no

Knowledge of what the Merciful had placed in those worthy of it.

فالقى رداءَ الملكِ عنه الههم

غلامٌ حديث السن لم يأته الحلمُ

So their god cast the mantle of kingship off himself—

A boy of tender years, not yet mature.

فامضوا بها أحكامهم وهي تشتكي

وآذانهم عما اشتكت مهم صمُّ

So they enforced their decrees through it, while it complained,

And their ears were deaf to its complaints against them.

وما تركوا وجهاً لهم عند ربهم

بأمر به في دينهم دخل الوهمُ

And they left themselves no standing before their Lord,

By a deed through which error entered their faith.

أعانوا على الباري عداه ولم يبت

لرب البرايا من عنايتهم سهمُ

They aided the Creator's enemies against Him, and there remained no

Share of their concern for the Lord of all creatures.

وحذرتهم من ربهم فتضاحكوا

وويلٌ لمن ربُّ السماءِ له خصمُ

And I warned them of their Lord, but they laughed together.

And woe to one whose adversary is the Lord of heaven!

ولا تركوا وجهالهم عند خلقهِ

وقد عم كلاً منهم الجور والغشمُ

Nor did they leave themselves any standing before His creatures,

For injustice and brutality had afflicted every one of them.

لقد نالني المكروه منهم وليس لي

إِليهم سوى توحيدِ ربّ السما جرمُ

Harm indeed befell me from them, although I had no

Crime against them but affirming the oneness of heaven's Lord.

ونالك منهم ما علمت من الأذى

لتعلم أن الله مقدوره حتمُ

And you suffered from them the harm you know,

So you would know that God's decree is inevitable.

فما جالبٌ خيراً إذا لم يكن قضاً

ولا دافعٌ شرا إذا ما قضى حزمُ

For no good, unless decreed, can be brought,

Nor evil, once He decrees it, be averted by prudence.

أرادوا بك الأسوا وربك لم يرد

فكان مراد الله لا ما به هموا

They wished the worst for you, but your Lord did not.

So God's will came to pass, not what they intended.

وجروك من جيش ليبقى عليهم

ويذهب عنك الملك فانعكس الحكمُ

They stripped you of troops so these would remain theirs,

And kingship leave you; but the outcome was reversed.

وصاروا إلى ما كنت فيه بظلمهم

وصرتَ لما كانوا عليه ولا ظلمُ

And they came to the plight you had suffered through their injustice,

And you reached their former station, without injustice.

أراد انتقاماً منهم بك ربُنا

ولله مكرٌ لا يحيط به عِلمُ

Our Lord intended to take vengeance on them through you.

And God has a stratagem no knowledge can encompass.

وقدرُك لا يخفى فأخفاه عنهم

وأعماهم عمى اقتضى الرشد والحلمُ

And your worth is plain, yet He hid it from them,

And blinded them, as sound judgment and forbearance required.

ومثلك لا يؤذى ولكنهم لهم

إِلى ربهم في دينه ذلك الحرمُ

One such as you should not be harmed; yet they bear

That offense against their Lord in His religion.

فأعماهم حتى يذوقوا عقوبةً

من الله معناها ومنك بها الاسمُ

So He blinded them, that they might taste a punishment

From God in its substance, and from you in name.

وما ثم شيءْ غير هذا فووخذوا

بأعمالهم حتى يتوبوا وينزموا

And there is nothing else to it; so they were held accountable

For their deeds, until they repent and feel remorse.

وما الملك إلا أنتَ لكنْ قدموا

ليعرفَ قدرُ البرءِ من مسه السقمُ

You alone are king, but they were put first,

So one touched by sickness might know recovery's worth.

ولولاهُمُ ما بان فضلكَ هكذا

ولولاك لم يظهرْ بهم ذلكَ الذمُّ

Without them, your excellence would not have appeared so clearly,

And without you, that disgrace would not have shown in them.

فالبضدِ يبدو حسن ضد وقبحُهُ

ولولا الدجى استحسن القمر التمُّ

For opposites reveal each other's beauty and ugliness;

And without darkness, would the full moon be admired?

أبوك الذي ما زين الملك مِثلهُ

وأنت الذي يزهو به الأب والامُّ

Your father—none adorned kingship as he did,

And you are he in whom father and mother take pride.

فيهن البرايا ملك يحيى فإنَّهُ

حياة الورى ينمو بها اللحمُ والعظمُ

May Yahya's reign gladden all creatures, for it is

The life of humankind, through which flesh and bone grow.

فكل مهنّ في الأنام مهنئاً

سروراً بيحيى إذ لكل به قسم

So every well-wisher among humankind offers congratulations,

Rejoicing in Yahya, for everyone has a share in him.

وكلُّ امرئ يحيا ان اضطر أو اسى

بوصفين في يحيا هما الجود والحلمُ

And every person lives, whether in need or at fault,

Through two qualities in Yahya: generosity and forbearance.

تخافُ سطاه المفسدين وما سطا

ولكنْ إمارات بها يعرفُ الشهمُ

Evildoers fear his might, though he has not struck,

But there are signs by which the valiant man is known.

تناهوا عن الإِفساد واستشعروا الردا

وما سلّ صمصامٌ ولا قد رمى سهمُ

They ceased their corruption and sensed their doom,

Though no keen sword was drawn and no arrow had been loosed.

بعثت لهم جيشاً من الرعب كفهم

فما همهم الا السلامة والسلمُ

You sent against them an army of terror that restrained them,

So their only concern was safety and peace.

أتاك ولم تطلبه ملكا أقمته

وقد خر مستلق وقد تربَ الجسمُ

Kingship came to you unsought, and you raised it up,

As it lay fallen on its back, its body coated with dust.

فنفضت عنه الترب حين أقمتُه

وألبستهُ ما لا يدنسهُ وصمُ

Then you shook the dust from it when you raised it up,

And you clothed it in what no blemish can defile.

وأحييت عدلاً مات واندرسَ اسمه

ولم يبق من آثاره في الورى رسمُ

And you revived a justice that had died, its name effaced,

And no trace of its legacy remained among humankind.

تداركه يحيى فحىّ بفعله

وفاهت له بالشكر ألسنة بكمُ

Yahya rescued it, and it lived again through his action,

And mute tongues spoke their thanks to him.

فملكك تفريجٌ من الله عنهم

وعنك فشكر الله فرض به حتمُ

So your reign is relief from God for them,

And for you; thus gratitude to God is a binding duty.

فأكرِمْ بعقبي دولة ذا ابتداؤها

وماحسن المبدا به حسن الختمُ

How splendid the outcome of a reign that begins thus!

And whatever begins well will also end well.

بلغت من العلياء مالا يناله

سماء ولا يدنو إلى أُفقهِ نجمُ

You have attained a height of glory beyond the reach

Of any heaven; no star draws near its horizon.