عدوك مما عنك يسمع يا يحيى

من الصيت عان لا يموت ولا يحيى

Your enemy, from what he hears of you, O Yahya,

is captive to your renown—neither dying nor living.

واشقى البرايا حاسد كلما رأى

رأى في نفسه الوهن والوهيا

And the most wretched of creatures is an envier: whenever he sees,

he sees weakness and frailty within himself.

فقل لمريض منك يشفيه فعله

عليك بها لوم دواؤك قد اعيا

So tell one made ill by you, whose own deed would heal him:

'You bear the blame for it; your cure has proved difficult.'

فمت ان تشا غيظا وأن شئت لا تمت

فيحيى عروس كل يوم على عليا

So die of rage if you wish; and if you wish, do not die.

For Yahya is a bridegroom, every day upon a lofty height.

صنعائك الحسنى أثارت على العدا

من الغيظ ما ماتوا به وهم أحيا

Your good favors stirred up against the enemies

such rage that they died of it while still alive.

فمن عاش منهم عاش فيما يسوءه

ومن لم يعش يهلك وفي قلبه أشيا

Whoever among them lives, lives amid what grieves him;

and whoever does not live perishes with things still in his heart.

إذا ما رأى الأعداء مالك من يد

بها طوقت اعناقهم اطرقوا خزيا

When the enemies see the beneficent hand that is yours,

with which you have encircled their necks, they bow their heads in shame.

فخذ واعط بالباري وثق بعناية

من الله تلوى عنك أعناقهم ليا

So take and give; trust the Creator and the care

from God, by which their necks are twisted away from you.

بلغت بلا سعي إلى ما تريده

وكم حرمت قوم وقد افرطوا سعياً

Without striving, you reached what you desired;

and how many people were denied, though they strove excessively!

ومن لم يكن في عونه الله لم تصب

مراما مراميه وأن تابع الرميا

Whoever does not have God as his helper will not strike

a target with his shots, even if he keeps shooting.

الست ترى صنع الإله ولطفه

وتسهيله ما كان صعباً من الاشيا

Do you not see God's work and His gracious care,

and His easing of things that were difficult?

عقود شداد يسر الله حلها

عليك إِلى أن صار إثباتها نفيا

Tightly bound knots—God made their untying easy

for you, until their binding turned to unbinding.

فنم واثقا بالله غير مضيع

من الحزم في شيء فقد أوجب السعيا

So sleep, confident in God, without neglecting

prudence in anything, for He has enjoined striving.

وأحمد قال اعقل بعيرك واتكل

فلا تدعن الحزم في الأمر والرأيا

And Ahmad said, 'Hobble your camel and trust.'

So never abandon prudence in action and judgment.

فربك في الأسباب اخفى اقتداره

فلا زرع إلا بالحراثة والسقيا

For your Lord has concealed His power within causes;

there is no crop except through tillage and watering.

ومن رام أولادا بغير تناكح

فذاك امرء في الرأس يستوجب الكيا

Whoever seeks children without sexual union

is a man whose head deserves cauterizing.

على المرء ان يسعى ولله ما يشا

فلا يكثر الساعي اللجاج ولا الليا

A person must strive, and to God belongs whatever He wills;

so let the striver not overdo contention or evasion.

ودونك ما ترضى فأقدار ربنا

تراها بما ترضى به تسرع الجريا

Take what pleases you, for our Lord's decrees

you see hastening their course with what pleases you.

ومن عجب بغي المراكب هذه

بتجويرها ياويل من ركب البغيا

And strange is the aggression of these ships

in their injustice—woe to whoever embarks on aggression!

لقد حذروا هذا فكانوا ببغيهم

لما سمعوا صماً وما أبصروا عميا

They were indeed warned of this, yet through their aggression they were

deaf to what they heard and blind to what they saw.

فاعرضت عنهم والمقادير خلفهم

تسوقهم كالبدر نحوكم هديا

So you turned away from them, while fate's decrees behind them

drove them, like the full moon, toward you as an offering.

فلما دنوا منكم ولم تحفلوا بهم

أغارت عليهم كل داهية دهيا

When they drew near to you and you paid them no heed,

every dire calamity swooped upon them.

وجاءتهم الأمواج من كل جانب

وما برحت للبر تطويهم طيا

Waves came upon them from every side

and never ceased rolling them up toward the shore.

وكان لديهم مركب فيه بلغة

فظلوا به يسقون أموالهم سقيا

They had a vessel with sustenance aboard,

and kept drenching their wealth aboard it.

وجاءتهم مما بعثت كتائب

مراكبهم تمشى بهم نحوهم مشيا

Detachments from those you had sent came upon them,

their ships moving with them toward the enemy.

ففر بهم قد اودعوا فيه مركب

يظن بأن البحر فيه لهم بقيا

Then a vessel fled with them, who had been put aboard it,

it being thought the sea would spare them within it.

فادركهم في جانب المندب القضا

بريح فرت أوداج مركبهم فريا

But doom overtook them beside al-Mandab,

with a wind that rent their vessel's jugular veins.

وجاءتهم البشرى بهذا وعندكم

جماعتهم اسرى فكانت لهم بغيا

The glad tidings of this reached them, while in your keeping

their company were captives; it proved an outrage to them.

فبان لهم أن المهيمن خصهم

وما كان أمر الله عندهم نسيا

It became clear to them that the All-Watching One had singled them out,

and God's decree was no forgotten thing among them.

لقد ضيعوا أضعاف ماجوروا به

ويكفيهم هذا الذي قد جرى نهبا

They lost many times what they acted unjustly over;

and this plundering that has taken place is enough for them.

فزد ربنا شكرا يزدك عناية

ورعيا لما أولاك من فضله رعيا

So increase your thanks to our Lord; He will increase His care for you,

and cherish well what He has bestowed on you of His bounty.

فما أنت إلا واسع الفضل واهب

خلقت من المعروف لا تعرف الليا

For you are only a giver of boundless bounty.

You were created from kindness; you know no stalling.

فقد ضجت الأموال مما يبيدها

ومما ترى بين الورى نفسها فيا

Wealth has cried out against what destroys it,

and because it sees itself as spoils among mankind.

ترى البحر لا يكفيك للضيف شربة

وتصغر في عينيك نزلا له الدنيا

You deem the sea too little to provide a guest one drink,

and the world looks small in your eyes as hospitality for him.

فرفقا فبالسلطان للمال حاجة

أهم فخذ وأحسن على مالك البقيا

So show restraint: in rulership there is a need for wealth

more pressing; so take, and carefully preserve your wealth.

فقد قيل أوساط الأمور خيارها

هي الرشد عدوها وأطرفها غيا

For it has been said: the middle courses are the best.

They are sound guidance—reckon them so, and their extremes as error.

فقل لملوك الأرض أنتم عبيده

ومن قال لا منكم فقد قالها عيا

Then tell the kings of the earth, 'You are his slaves;'

and whoever among you says no has said it ineptly.

أفيكم فتى في الملك قد عد مثله

ثمانين جدا في القبور وهم أحيا

Is there among you a youth who, like him, has counted in his royal line

eighty forefathers—in their graves, yet alive?

أفيكم فتى في الجود بالمال مثله

يرى البحر لا يكفي لوارده ريا

Is there among you a youth like him in giving wealth,

who deems the sea too little to quench his visitor's thirst?

ألا ربما قد كان في عهد تبع

لآبائه الماضيين أباؤكم سبيا

Indeed, perhaps in the days of Tubbaʿ,

your forefathers were captives of his departed forefathers.

هو الطاهر ابن الأشرف الملك الذي

إذا فاض جودا والحيا قد هما استحيا

He is al-Tahir, son of al-Ashraf—the king who,

when he overflows with bounty, puts even pouring rain to shame.

فتى تغرق البحر المحيط هباته

فيسبح فيها للحياة ولا محيا

A youth whose gifts drown the encompassing ocean,

so it swims in them for its life, yet there is no survival.

فويل لم عاداك ما بقى الشقا

أرى مثله في الأشقياء ما بقى حيا

So woe to whoever opposes you, as long as misery endures!

I see his like among the wretched as long as he remains alive.

ويهني امرء أولاك فوزاً بما يجب

ينال الفتى أقصى المراتب والعليا

And may the man who has given you your due rejoice in triumph;

a young man attains the utmost ranks and heights.

فلا زال يلقى كلُّ كَلٍ ببابكم

مناخا ويلفي في فنائكم فيا

So may every burdened man ever find at your gate

a resting place, and find shade in your courtyard.