لك خارقات عوائد لن تعرفا — Ibn Al Maqri

لكَ خارقاتُ عوائد لن تعرَفا

في مقتفٍ أثراً ولا في مقتضى

You have wonders that break custom, never to be known

in one following a precedent, nor in what is required.

ومواعدٌ بالنصر من ربِّ السما

والوعدُ من رب السما لن يُخلفا

And promises of victory from the Lord of heaven;

the Lord of heaven's promise will not be broken.

من كانَ نصرُ اللهَ قائدَ جيشهِ

فمحاربوه من الهلاكِ على شفا

He whose army is led by God's victory—

his adversaries stand on the brink of destruction.

يا أَيها الملكُ المعوِّدُ نَفسَه

أن لا يحاربُ قبلُ أن يتوقفا

O king who accustoms himself

not to wage war before first pausing,

ويسال ما نقل العدى ليزيله

عنها اقتداءً بالنبيِّ المصطفى

and asking what the enemies have reported, to remove it

from them, following the chosen Prophet's example.

إِنَّ الذينَ بعثتهُم نذراً لهم

ظنّوك تبعثُهم لهم مستعطِفا

Those whom you sent as warners to them

thought you sent them to seek their favor.

فأتوا ليشترطوا العطا وإِذا بهم

قد طولبوا أكلا بما قد أَتلَفا

So they came to stipulate the gifts, only to find

they were called to account [word unclear] for the destruction done.

فتراجعت برويّهم عطشائهم

وبدا الكل غير ما قد سوّفا

Their thirsty men turned back with those whose thirst was quenched,

and all appeared otherwise than had been promised.

لم تغتنمها فرصةً بحضورهم

بل قلتَ يرجع آمنا من خوفا

You did not seize their presence as an opportunity;

instead you said, 'Let whoever feared return safe.'

لا يختشى فوتاً قوياً فارجعوا

ولينصرف من كان يلقى ومصرفا

No great loss is feared; so return,

and let whoever was received depart [ending unclear].

خيرّتهم بين الحياة إذا وفوا

والموت إن خانوا فكنت المنصفا

You gave them the choice of life if they kept faith,

or death if they betrayed; thus you were just.

فثنوا عن الرشد العنان واجمعوا

بغياً على أن يقتلوا من صودفا

But they turned the reins away from right guidance and resolved,

in transgression, to kill whomever they encountered.

وإذا أراد الله إهلاك امرئ

أعماه فارتكب المهالك موجفا

When God wills a man's destruction,

He blinds him, and he rushes headlong into deadly perils.

حلفا وربك غير راضٍ عنهما

والحنث قد نوياهُ حالةِ حلّفا

The two swore, while your Lord was displeased with them,

already intending to break their oaths at the moment they swore.

وتسارعا للغدر لم يشعر به

إِلا وقد ذاقوا العذابَ المتلفا

Both hastened to treachery; it was not perceived

until they had tasted the annihilating punishment.

حبسَ الإِلهُ العلمَ حتى قتّلوا

وتسابق الخبران كي لا تأسفا

God withheld the news until they were slain,

and the two reports raced each other, so you would not grieve.

من لم يمد بسعد فضل هكذا

لم يعدم التنغيص فيما استخلفا

Whoever is not aided by such gracious good fortune

will not escape distress in what he is entrusted to govern.

قتلوا ابن عسكر حاسبين على الوفا

من بعده فإذا حساب ما وفي

They killed Ibn Askar, counting on loyalty

after him—yet their reckoning was not fulfilled.

ما مصرع أَدنى إلى ذي شقوةٍ

من مصرع الباغي إذا ما أسرفا

No fatal fall is nearer to a luckless man

than the fall of a rebel when he exceeds all bounds.

وبدت لهم في بعض جندكَ فرصةٌ

فتناهزوها خيفةً أن تكتفي

They saw an opportunity against some of your soldiers,

and seized it, fearing that you might be satisfied.

جمعوا له الأوباش وارتكبوا الردا

مثل الفراش على وقيد ما انطفا

They gathered the rabble for it and plunged into ruin,

like moths into a blaze that had not gone out.

فتصادموا فإِذا وصفت فلا تصف

إِلا زجاجاً صادماً صمّ الصفا

They clashed; if you describe it, describe nothing

but glass striking solid flint.

كان الفتى ابن ابي غرارة راسه

بقرارة فافاق إذ برح الخفا

The young man, Ibn Abi Gharara, had his head

in a hollow; he came to his senses when concealment vanished.

وضع الوفا حيث الخيانة تبتغى

وأتى الخيانة حيثُ ما يؤتى الوفا

He placed loyalty where treachery was sought,

and practiced treachery wherever loyalty was offered.

اليوم تعرف قدرَ من فارقتهُ

في حيثُ لا يغنى الفتى أَن يعرَفا

Today you know the worth of the one you forsook,

where knowing can no longer avail a man.

رجعت عليك وقد رميت إِلى السما

حجراً فرضت وجه رأسك والقفا

It rebounded upon you: you had thrown into the sky

a stone, which crushed your brow and the back of your head.

جَمعّت قومك ثم جئتَ تسوقهم

لمصارعِ ما كنت فيها منجفا

You gathered your people, then came driving them

to killing grounds where you were not [word unclear].

وتركتهم نقص الرماح ظهورهم

وفررت لا تلوي على من نكفا

You left them, the spears ravaging their backs,

and fled, not turning toward anyone who turned back.

لا ترج بعد اليوم إِلا ذلةً

تمشى بها تخشى بأن تتخطفا

Hope for nothing after today but humiliation,

walking in it, afraid of being snatched away.

قد كنت عن هذا وهَذا في غنى

لكن على البادين قد غلب الجفا

You had no need for this or that,

but coarseness has prevailed among the desert-dwellers.

وقعوا ورِبك في فتوح مالها

رقع ولا لخروق خرقتها رفا

They have fallen, by your Lord, into breaches with no

patching, nor any darning for the rents you tore.

قتلت جماهرهم وقد قتلوا امرءاً

سبب الهلاك لمن بقى متخلفا

You slew their multitudes, while they had killed one man

who became the cause of ruin for those remaining behind.

كثرت أعاديهم وقِلَّ نصيرهم

مرض به يئس الطبيب من الشفا

Their enemies multiplied and their helpers dwindled:

an illness for which the physician despaired of a cure.

أمرٌ سماوي كفيتَ به العدى

فاشكر وقلْ من يكفِه الله اكتفى

A heavenly decree spared you your foes;

give thanks and say, 'Whomever God suffices has enough.'

ما غارت الرحمت إِلا هكذا

أما على أهل البصائر ما اختفى

Mercy shows its jealous zeal only in this way;

to those with insight, this was not hidden.

صنتَ الممالكَ بالمماليك التي

لا تعرف الأعداء إِلا بالقفا

You safeguarded the kingdoms with mamluks who

know their enemies only by the backs of their heads.

أَما الوجوه فما رأوا في معرك

رجلاً تغشّاهم يهزُّ مثقفا

As for faces, in battle they never saw

a man advancing upon them, brandishing a straightened spear.

فتوهموها لم تكن خلقت لهم

مما إِذا حملوا على الصف انكفا

So they imagined those faces had not been created for them,

since whenever they charged the battle-line, it recoiled.

فلّوا بسعدك حدَّ كلِ مهندٍ

ورموا بهيبتك القنا فتقصفا

By your good fortune they blunted every Indian blade,

and through awe of you they hurled the spears, which splintered.

قل للذين تناكصوا من بعد ما

أكل الحديد ونال منهم ما كفى

Tell those who drew back after

the steel had devoured them and taken its fill:

هذي مصارعكم فمن يخشى الردى

يذهب ومن لم يخش ليستأنفا

'Here are your killing grounds: whoever fears death

may leave; whoever does not, let him begin again.

تجد الصوارم في أكف ضراغم

ما للردى أعما أرادت مصرفا

You will find keen swords in the hands of lions;

death cannot be turned aside from what it wills.'

قل للذي حسب السراب بقيعةً

ماء فأرفل يتّبعه وأوجفا

Tell the man who mistook a mirage in a flat expanse

for water, then swaggered after it and hurried on:

ترك المياه تفيضُ في جناته

فيضاً ولجّج في المهامهِ مُلحفا

He left the waters overflowing in his gardens,

abundantly, and pressed obstinately onward through the wastes.

انظر بعينك واتّبع سبلَ الهدى

قد أعذر البارى إِليك وعرّفا

Look with your own eye and follow the paths of guidance;

the Creator has left you no excuse and made things plain.

أو لم يقولوا العين واحدة فهل

أبصرت في هذا بعقلك موقفا

Did they not say, 'The essence is one'? Have you, then,

found through reason a place to stand in this?

هل أنت ربك أو الهك عبده

او أنت غيرك قل فما في ذاخفا

Are you your Lord, or is your God His servant?

Or are you other than yourself? Speak—there is no obscurity here.

هل كسّر الأصنام أحمدُ عابثاً

هل كان في قتلى قريشٍ مسرفاً

Did Ahmad break the idols in mere frivolity?

Was he excessive in the slaying of Quraysh?

انظر إلى الإِسلام واليمن الذي

عاينته والشؤم لما خولفا

Look at Islam and the good fortune

you witnessed—and the ill fortune when it was opposed.

واذكر مشورتَك التي قدَّمتها

كم كدّرت لما أطيعت من صفا

Remember the counsel you put forward:

how much serenity it troubled when it was obeyed,

في الحالتين معا وقد كلفته

أن لا يمزق كتبهم فتكلّفا

in both cases alike; you had also charged him

not to tear up their writings, so he constrained himself.

أو ما رأيت الجند كيف تفرقوا

عقبي المشورة والخلاف المرجفا

Did you not see how the soldiers scattered

after that counsel and the alarming dissent,

وذو آل والأشراف وانظر كيف هم

لما عصيت اليوم قاعاً صفصفا

and Dhu Al and the nobles? Look how they are,

today, when you were disobeyed: a level, barren plain.

كم بين يومِ فسأل واعرف أصله

ونهار باغتة فجوف منصفا

How great the difference between the day of Fasal—learn its origin—

and the day of Baghta—[word unclear]—in fairness.

ما أهلَ باغتة بأقوى منهمُ

كلا ولا من في فسال أضعفا

The people of Baghta are not stronger than them,

nor, indeed, are those in Fasal weaker.

بل للعناية بالمليكِ لأنه

أصغى فهذبَّه الإِله وثقّفا

Rather, it is care for the sovereign, because

he listened, and God refined and disciplined him.

يا نجلَ أحمد يا خليفةَ أحمدٍ

في دينه في بعض فهمِك ما كفا

O son of Ahmad, O Ahmad's successor

in his religion: some of your understanding is enough.

حرض وما حرضٌ لهم لكنه

شاء الإله بها إِليك تعرّفا

Harad—and Harad is not theirs; rather,

God wished through it to make Himself known to you,

لتعوَد للرأي الذي ألهمتهُ

فثناك عنه من ثناك وخوّفا

that you might return to the judgment inspired in you,

from which one who turned you aside had deterred and frightened you.

أيخوفونك بالذي يعصونه

ونطيعه يا مذهباً ما أسخفا

Do they frighten you with the One they disobey,

while we obey Him? What a foolish doctrine!

ولقد أراك الله غير معلم

وأخذت حرفك عنه ليس مُصحفا

God indeed showed you, without a teacher,

and you received your lesson from Him, uncorrupted.

ورفضت أَعداء الإِله ولم يشر

أحد عليك بل الإله تصرّفا

You rejected God's enemies, and no one

advised you to do so; rather, God Himself acted.

وأراك آياتٍ عرفتَ بها الهدى

فأتيتهُ من بابهِ متشوّقا

He showed you signs through which you recognized guidance,

so you came to Him through His gate, yearning.

ما هذه إِلا عطايا عن رضى

تنبي فزد تزدد رضا وتعطّفا

These are only gifts born of favor;

they proclaim it: do more, and gain more favor and tenderness.

قل للأعاريبِ البغاةِ إلى متى

هذا التلددُ والفرارُ المتلفا

Tell the rebellious Bedouins: 'How long

will this bewilderment and ruinous flight continue?

أَنتم بحمد الله أن تسعطِفوا

مع خير سلطان عفا عمن هفا

By God's grace, if you seek clemency, you are

with the best of sultans, who pardons whoever slips:

المالكُ المنصور صفوة أَحمد

الناصر بن الملك أَعني الأشرفا

the sovereign al-Mansur, Ahmad's chosen scion—

al-Nasir, son of the king—I mean al-Ashraf—

ابن المليك الأفضل بن علي بن دا

ود الرضا نجلُ المظفّر يوسفا

son of King al-Afdal, son of Ali, son of Da-

wud al-Rida, son of al-Muzaffar Yusuf,

ابن الملوك الأكرمين وعدُّهم

سبعينَ ملكاً إِن عددَت وَنيّفا

son of the most noble kings, whose number

is seventy kings and more, if you count them.

فاذهب بفخرِ لا يشارككم به

إِلا أبٌ ماضٍ أو ابنٌ خلّفا

Go forth with a pride in which none shares with you

except a father gone before or a son left as successor.

والملك ملككم تراث أبوة

أبقت عليه لكم يدا وتصرفا

Kingship is yours, an inheritance from forefathers

that has maintained your hand and authority over it

من عهد تبّع والملوكُ سواكمُ

هذا ابتدا ملكاً وذا عنه انتفى

since the time of Tubba; as for other kings,

one began a reign, while another lost it.

أَعرفتم فيه بأصلٍ ثابتٍ

لا نابتٍ في تربةٍ فوق الصَّفا

Are you known in it by firmly rooted stock,

not one sprouting in soil above bare rock?

هُم فخِر من ولدوا ولكن فخرهم

بك قد وشى ذاك الفخار وفوّفا

They are the pride of those they fathered, but their pride

in you has embroidered and adorned that glory.

لو كانَ للموتى شفاءٌ كان ما

لاقت بك الأعداء للموتى شفا

If the dead had a cure, then what

your enemies suffered through you would be a cure for the dead.

ملكٌ لديه الموتُ يخشي والبقا

يُرجى فأمن من سطاه وخوّفا

A king in whose presence death is feared and survival

is hoped for; he gives safety to those he assailed and frightened.

وارج الغني مهما تمطّت كفه

قلماً وخفها إن تمطت مُرهفا

Hope for wealth whenever his hand reaches for

a pen, but fear it when it reaches for a keen blade.

لا تدنَ منه إذا تناول صارماً

واهرب إِليه إذا تناول مُصحفا

Do not approach him when he takes up a sharp sword,

but flee to him when he takes up a Quran.

للهِ منهُ وللورى ولنفسِه

كلٌّ نصيبٌ منهُ يُعطى بالوفا

God, humankind, and he himself

each receive their share from him in full.

ربِّ ابقهِ للدين والدنيا معاً

هذِي يصفّيها وهذا قد صفا

Lord, preserve him for religion and the world alike:

this world he purifies; this religion is already pure.