شكوى الهدى وتعلق الإسلام

بك ليس أضغاثا من الأحلام

Guidance's complaint and Islam's clinging

to you are no jumble of dreams.

أتخاف ضيما يا خليفة أحمد

في دار ملكك ملة الإسلام

Does it fear oppression, O successor of Ahmad—

the faith of Islam within your royal domain?

لا والذي أعطاك من سلطانه

ملكا أعاد محاسن الأيام

No, by Him who gave you, from His sovereignty,

a kingdom that restored the splendor of bygone days.

لك غيرة والله قد أوذي فما

منك امرؤ أولى بحسن قيام

Yours is protective zeal, and God has been affronted; so no

man is worthier than you of taking a noble stand.

كم من ملوك طوائف لم يولهم

مولاك ما أولاك من أنعام

How many kings of separate realms were never granted

by your Lord the favors He bestowed on you!

فالشكر للرحمن ان تمسى به

كلفا تذب عن الهدى وتحامى

So gratitude to the Merciful means that you remain

ardently devoted to Him, defending guidance and protecting it.

يا أيها الملك المحب لدينه

الحاني عليه حنوَّ ذي الأرحام

O king who loves his faith,

who cherishes it with a kinsman's tenderness!

يا أحمدا يا نجل إسمعيل يا

فرع الملوك وكل أصل نامي

O Ahmad, O son of Isma'il, O

scion of kings and of every flourishing root!

ألسنة البيضا تقاعد أهلها

في نصرها زمنا عن الإِقدام

The radiant [Sunnah]—its adherents held back

for a time from taking action to defend it.

وتخاذلوا لا رقة في دينهم

بل خيفة نشأت من الأوهام

They failed one another, not through weakness in their faith,

but through fear born of imaginings.

وما أثر الخصم المليك عليهم

لكنهم ابتوا من الاحجام

Nor had the king favored their adversary over them;

yet they [were undone] by holding back.

ولربما لم يدر أكثرهم بما

أولى الفصوص الدين من آلام

Perhaps most of them did not even know

what suffering the Fusus had inflicted on the faith.

ولكم لبثت وما يمر بمسمعي

كفر يشاع ولا قبيح كلام

Long I lived without hearing

unbelief being spread, or any foul speech,

حتى تهافت في الضلالة معشر

وتحزبوا في هذه الأيام

until a band rushed headlong into error

and formed a faction in these days.

كان الأسى من أجل حرمة مسجد

هتكت بأمر مقدم الحكام

The grief was over a mosque's sanctity,

violated by order of the chief of the judges.

عزت إهانته علينا إذا أتت

من حيث يرجى الأمر بالإِكرام

Its dishonoring was hard for us to bear, when it came

from where we expected orders to honor it.

وإذا بمن قد قال هذى قطرة

أنكرتها من جنب بحر طامي

Then someone said, “This is a drop

you have condemned beside an overflowing sea.”

القوم للباري تعرض جهلهم

حتى ادعوه يحل في الأجسام

These people's ignorance affronted the Creator,

until they claimed that He dwells in bodies.

فالمرء منهم لا يفرق بينه

أبداً وبين الله في الأحكام

A man among them thus makes no distinction between himself

and God, ever, in matters of judgment.

فأردت إنكارا عليه فقال لي

اقرأ نصوصهم وعد لملامي

I wished to object to him, so he said to me,

“Read their texts, then return to reproach me.”

فقرأته فرأيت امراً راعني

ومآثما زادت على الآثام

So I read it and saw something that horrified me,

and offenses greater than other offenses;

ومقال كفر في العبادة عنده

لا فرق بين الله والأصنام

and words of unbelief: in worship, he holds,

there is no difference between God and idols.

وإذا رجال في هواه تهالكوا

لقد اقتدوا منه بشر إمام

And behold, men gave themselves wholly to devotion to him;

indeed, in him they followed the worst of guides.

هذا يسبح ذا وهذا قائل

لأخيه أنت الله ذو الإِعظام

This one glorifies that one, and another says

to his brother, “You are God, worthy of great reverence.”

حتى لقد حدثت عن شيخ لهم

بالثغر قال وقد أتى بطعام

I was even told of one of their sheikhs

at the frontier, who said, having brought food,

ماذا تقول لمن يواكل ربه

بالأدم أحيانا وغير إدام

“What do you say of one who shares a meal with his Lord,

with accompaniments at times, and at times without?”

فصرخت في العلماء أرفع معلنا

صوتي وفي أهل التقى الاعلام

Then I cried out among the scholars, openly raising

my voice, and among the eminent people of piety:

أيسب بينكم الإله فتسكتوا

وتذوق أعينكم لذيذ منام

“Is God reviled among you, while you fall silent,

and your eyes savor sweet sleep?

أو في حدود الله ترعى فيكم

لأخ أواصر حرمة وذمام

Or, where God's bounds are concerned, do you uphold among yourselves

bonds of regard and obligation toward a brother?

أسمعتم علماء أرض غيركم

لا ينكرون الطعن في الإسلام

Have you heard of scholars in lands other than yours

who do not condemn attacks upon Islam?”

نفعتهم الذكرى وقد ذكرتهم

واستيقظوا من رقدة الأحلام

The reminder benefited them, once I had reminded them,

and they awoke from the slumber of dreams.

ورأوا رضى الباري الأهم فاسخطوا

من أسخطوا فيه بلا استحشام

They deemed the Creator's pleasure most important, and angered

whomever they angered for His sake, without embarrassment,

إلا رجالا صانعوا من دونه

في الله ذي الإِفضال والإِنعام

except some men who courted others' favor rather than His,

in matters concerning God, the Giver of bounty and blessings.

كتموا شهادتهم فهان عليهم

سخط المهيمن في رضا أقوام

They concealed their testimony, so they made light of

the Guardian's wrath in seeking people's approval.

فاغضب لربك وانتقم لحدوده

ممن يضيم الدين كل مضام

So be angry for your Lord, and avenge His sacred bounds

upon whoever subjects the faith to every injustice.

ما كان يغضب أحمد يا أحمدا

إلا لحرمة ربه ويحامي

Ahmad, O Ahmad, was never angered

save for his Lord's sanctity, which he defended.

ولأنت أولى بالنبي وهديه

فاخلفه في هذا وكل مقام

And you have greater claim to the Prophet and his guidance;

so succeed him in this, and in every station.

إن تنصروا رب السما ينصركم

ويثبت الأقدام في الإِقدام

If you help the Lord of heaven, He will help you

and make your feet firm as you press forward.

قسما به لئن انتدبت لنصره

وضربت دون أذاه بالصمصام

By Him I swear: if you rise to His defense

and strike with the keen sword to ward off affronts to Him,

لترى بعينك من عجائب نصره

أشياء لم تخطر على الأوهام

you will surely see with your own eyes, among the wonders of His aid,

things that never crossed the imagination.