إن بان منزله وشطت داره — Ibn Alkhatib

إنْ بانَ منْزِلُهُ وشطّتْ دارُهُ

قامتْ مَقامَ عِيانِهِ أخْبارُهُ

If his abode has receded and his dwelling lies far away,

reports of him take the place of seeing him.

قسِّمْ زَمانَكَ عَبْرَةً أو عِبْرَةً

هَذي ثَراهُ وهَذِهِ آثارُهُ

Divide your time between a tear and a lesson:

here is his grave's earth, and here are his traces.

إنا الى الرّحْمانِ منّا أنْفُساً

تَدْري الصّوابَ وشأنُها إنكارُهُ

To the All-Merciful we turn with souls of our own,

that know what is right, yet denial is their habit.

مدّتْ منَ الآمالِ إلا كاذِباً

يا طالَما خدَعَ النّهى غَرّارُهُ

They hold out hopes, but only lying ones;

ah, how often its deceiver has beguiled reason!

لا تُخْدَعَنّ بزينَةٍ منْ زُخْرُفٍ

عمّا قَليلٍ يُسْتردُّ مُعارُهُ

Never be deceived by gilded adornment:

before long its borrowed finery will be reclaimed.

مَنْ سالَمَ الدّنْيا يسالِمُ حيّةً

مرْهوبَةً فلْيَدْرِ كيفَ حِذارُهُ

Whoever makes peace with the world makes peace with a serpent,

a dreaded one; let him know how to beware.

كيفَ الخَلاصُ لهارِبٍ قد جَدّ في

طَلَبٍ حَثيثٍ ليْلُهُ ونَهارُهُ

How can a fugitive escape, when striving in

relentless pursuit are his night and his day?

جيْشانِ منْ زَنْجٍ ورومٍ أحْدَقا

بطَريدِ معْرَكةٍ فبانَ فِرارُهُ

Two armies, of Zanj and Romans, have surrounded

a fugitive from battle, so his flight is exposed.

يدْعو بِنا الدّاعي ويُغْري بالمُنى

شأنُ امْرئٍ قد خانَهُ اسْتِبْصارُهُ

The summoner calls us and entices us with wishes,

like a man whose discernment has betrayed him.

والمُلْتَقى كثَبٌ وإنْ طالَ المَدى

وتقلّبتْ بمُعمَّرٍ أطْوارُهُ

The meeting is near, however long the distance,

and however a long-lived man's stages change.

ووَراءَ غَفْلَتِنا مَعادٌ جامِعٌ

هاتيكَ جنّتُهُ وهذه نارُهُ

Beyond our heedlessness lies an all-gathering return:

yonder is its paradise, and here its fire.

أيْنَ الملوكُ بَنو الملوكِ ومَنْ إذا

طلَبَ الصِّعابَ تيسّرَتْ أوْطارُهُ

Where are the kings, sons of kings, and those who, when

they sought difficult goals, found their desires made easy?

منْ كلّ بدْرِ دُجىً وشمْسِ ظَهيرةٍ

وغمامٍ جودٍ لا يَني مِدْرارُهُ

Every full moon of darkness, every sun of noon,

every cloud of bounty whose downpour never slackened.

فإذا غَزا فمَنَ الدِّماءِ مُدامُهُ

ومنَ الصّهيلِ إذا انْتَشى مِزْمارُهُ

When he campaigned, his wine was blood,

and neighing was his flute when he grew intoxicated.

هذا أميرُ المسلِمينَ ومَنْ جَرى

مَثَلاً شَروداً مَجْدُهُ وفَخارُهُ

This is the Commander of the Muslims, whose

glory and pride became a far-ranging proverb.

هذا أبو الحسَنِ بْنُ عثمانَ الذي

كرُمَتْ عناصرُهُ وطابَ نِجارُهُ

This is Abu al-Hasan ibn Uthman, whose

origins were noble and whose lineage was pure.

قصَدَتْهُ عاديةُ الزّمانِ فاقْصَدَتْ

لمْ تُغْنِ عنْهُ عندَها أنصارُهُ

Time's assault aimed at him and struck him dead;

his allies availed him nothing then.

من بعدِ ما فتحَ الفُتوحَ ودوّخ ال

مَعْمورَ حتى أذْعَنَتْ أقْطارُهُ

After he won great conquests and subdued the

inhabited world until its regions submitted;

منْ بعدِ ما خلَفَ الغَمائمَ جودُهُ

عنْدَ الهطولِ فأغْدِقَتْ أمْطارُهُ

after his generosity took the rainclouds' place

in their downpour, and his rains fell abundantly;

منْ بعدِ ما قضَتِ النّذورَ رِماحُهُ

منْ بعدِ ما شفَتِ الصّدور شفارُهُ

after his spears fulfilled their vows;

after his blade-edges healed hearts.

يا زاجِرَ البُدْنِ القِلاصِ يُقيمُهُ

أنْجادُهُ وتُقيمُهُ أغْوارُهُ

O driver of the stout young she-camels, whom

his uplands detain, and his lowlands detain,

وتحثّهُ الزّلْفى ليَقْصِدَ عِبْرَة

في الدّهْرِ طالَ لأجْلِها استِعْبارُهُ

and whom devotion urges to seek a lesson

in time, for which his weeping has lasted long:

عرّجْ على الوادي المقدّسِ والحِمى

واقْصِدْ ضَريحاً لا يَغيبُ جوارُهُ

turn aside toward the holy valley and the sanctuary,

and seek a tomb whose shelter never disappears.

ومُقامُ بِرٍّ عُظِّمَتْ حُرُماتُهُ

واخْتالَ في خِلَعِ الرّضى زُوّارُهُ

An abode of virtue whose sanctities were exalted,

whose visitors strutted in robes of favor.

تُقْضى مناسِكُهُ ويُمْسَحُ رُكْنُهُ

أبَداً وتُقْذَفُ للدّموعِ جِمارُهُ

Its rites are performed, and its corner is touched

forever, and tears are cast like its ritual pebbles.

كمْ فيهِ منْ ليْثٍ هِزَبْرٍ ما سَطا

إلا ومِنْ بيضِ الظُّبا أظْفارُهُ

How many a mighty lion lies there, who never attacked

without bright sword-edges for his claws!

ومُناخُ فضْلٍ أقْصَدَتْهُ يَدُ الرّدى

وهِلالُ تِمٍّ خانَهُ أبْدارُهُ

A resting place of excellence, struck dead by death's hand,

and a crescent at fullness, betrayed by its waxing.

فكأنّما أجداثُهُمْ لمّا بَدتْ

آياتُ وعْظٍ رُتِّبَتْ أسْطارُهُ

It is as though their graves, when they appeared,

were verses of admonition, their lines set in order.

روْضٌ تأرّجَ عرْفُهُ وترنّمَتْ

أطْيارُهُ وتهدّلَتْ أشْجارُهُ

A garden whose fragrance wafted and whose

birds sang, while its trees drooped.

خَضِرُ الجَنابِ سَقى مَعاهِدَهُ الحَيا

وعَلا على كَنْزِ الجَلالِ جِدارُهُ

Green in its precincts, its grounds watered by rain,

its wall rising above a treasure of majesty.

للهِ ما اشْتَمَلَتْ عليْهِ ثيابُهُ

منْ مَفْخَرٍ بالحَمْدِ طارَ مَطارُهُ

How wondrous, by God, is what its robes enfold,

of glory whose renown flew abroad with praise!

ولَرُبَّ رَكْبٍ أُعمِلَتْ لمَزارِها

أقْتادُهُ واستوْثَرَتْ أكْوارُهُ

Many a caravan, for its visitation, employed

its saddle-frames and cushioned its saddles.

جعَلوا النّسيمَ دَليلَهُمْ وقدِ اخْتَفى

علَمُ الطّريقِ فدلّهُمْ مِعْطارُهُ

They made the breeze their guide when hidden was

the road's landmark; its perfumed breeze guided them.

طابَتْ معاهِدُها بخيْرِ خليفةٍ

مَنْ زارَهُ غُفِرَتْ لهُ أوْزارُهُ

Its precincts grew sweet with the best of caliphs:

whoever visited him had his sins forgiven.

مَنْ كان يُعْدَلُ بالسّحائِبِ جودُهُ

مَنْ كان يوزَنُ بالجِبالِ وقارُهُ

One whose generosity was equated with rainclouds,

one whose dignity was weighed against mountains.

لوْ رامَ يقتَنِصُ النّجوم لنالَها

حتّى يحُطَّ عُلُوّها استِقْدارُه

If he sought to hunt the stars, he would attain them,

until his power brought their heights low.

ولَكان دِرْهَمُهُ الذي يسْمو بهِ

بدْرُ السّماءِ وشمْسُها دينارُهُ

The silver dirham with which he rose would have been

the sky's full moon, and its sun his gold dinar.

أو خافَ طيْرَ الجوِّ منْ سَطَواتِهِ

لفَظَتْهُ عنْ أرْجائِها أوْكارُهُ

Or, if the birds of the air feared his assaults,

their nests would cast them from their confines.

ملِكُ المُلوكِ أجَلَّ منْ كُسِي التُّقى

بُرْداً وشُدّ على العَفافِ إزارُهُ

King of kings, the most august of those clothed in piety

as a cloak, with his waist-wrap tied over chastity.

ملكُ الملوكِ ونُخْبَةُ النّخَبِ الذي

عُرِفَتْ على طولِ المَدى أنْوارُهُ

King of kings, the choicest of the choice, whose

lights were known throughout the ages.

يا فارِجَ الأزَماتِ بالقَلْبِ الذي

مهْما ارتَمى ذلّتْ لهُ أخْطارُهُ

O reliever of crises with a heart that,

wherever it ventured, saw its dangers bow before it!

يا مُجْزِلَ الصّدَقاتِ في جُنْحِ الدّجى

واللّيْلُ قدْ سُدِلَتْ لهُ أسْتارُهُ

O liberal giver of alms beneath darkness's wing,

when night's curtains had already been lowered!

يا كافِلَ الأيْتامِ يُدْفَعُ عنْهُمُ

بِنَداهُ جوْرُ الدّهْرِ أو أضْرارُهُ

O guardian of orphans, from whom are warded off,

by his generosity, time's injustice and its harms!

يا مَنْ تكفّلَ بالأمانِ يَمينُهُ

للآمِلينَ وباليَسارِ يَسارُهُ

O you whose right hand guaranteed safety

for the hopeful, and whose left guaranteed prosperity!

يا مَنْ بوَحْيِ اللهِ في خَلَواتِهِ

ضاءَ الدُجى وتأرّجَتْ أسْحارُهُ

O you through whose revelation from God, in his retreats,

darkness shone and his pre-dawn hours grew fragrant!

يا عابِرَ الجيْشِ الكَثيفِ كأنّهُ

بحْرٌ تلاطَمَ بالقَنا زَخّارُهُ

O you who crossed the dense army, as though it were

a sea whose swelling waters surged with spears!

حشَرَ الأنامَ فَما يؤمَّلُ حصْرُهُ

بشَبا اليَراعِ ولا يُطاقُ حِصارُهُ

He mustered mankind; its numbers could not be reckoned

by pen-points, nor could it be encompassed.

يا مُلْبِسَ الأوْراقِ منْ نورِ الهُدى

حُلَلَ الجَمالِ تلألقَتْ أنْوارُهُ

O you who clothed the pages, from the light of guidance, in

robes of beauty, their lights glittering!

فكأنّما أطْراسُها مُبيَضّةٌ

غُرَرُ الصّباحِ إذا بَدا إسْفارُهُ

As though its whitened sheets were

the bright brows of morning when its radiance appeared;

وكأنّ ذاكَ الحِبْرَ منْ غسَقِ الدُجى

وكأنّ زُهْرَ نُجومِهِ أعْشارُهُ

and as though that ink were the darkness of night,

and its ten-verse markers the night's bright stars.

يا سابِقَ الخُلَفاءِ في طَلَقِ العُلا

والمَكْرُماتِ فَما يُشَقُّ غُبارُهُ

O you who outstripped the caliphs in the race of excellence

and noble deeds, whose dust none could pierce!

يا مُسْتَهينَ الخطْبِ لمّا أعْضَلَتْ

أدْواؤهُ وتكالَبَتْ أشْرارُهُ

O you who made light of calamity when intractable

were its ills, and its evils gathered fiercely;

ومُقابِلَ التّمحيصِ بالصّبْرِ الذي

زُرَّتْ على مبْدإ الهُدى أزْرارُهُ

and met purifying trials with patience, whose

buttons were fastened upon the foundation of guidance.

والتِّبْرُ لوْلا السّبْكُ والتّمحيصُ لمْ

يُشْتَقّ منْ خبَثِ التّرابِ نُضارُهُ

Without smelting and refining, raw gold would never

yield its pure gold from the dross of earth.

تبْكي عليْكَ مَعاهِدُ المُلْكِ التي

كانَتْ بشَمسِكِ تهْتَدي أقْمارُهُ

The precincts of kingship weep for you, whose

moons once found their way by your sun.

تبكي عليكَ مدارس العِلْمِ الذي

بكَ صاحَ حيَّ على الفلاحِ مَنارُهُ

The schools of learning weep for you, whose

beacon, through you, cried, 'Come to success!'

نمْ وادِعاً واهْنأ جِواركَ في جَوا

رِ اللهِ قدْ نالَ السّعادَةَ جارُهُ

Sleep peacefully, and enjoy your nearness in the presence

of God; His neighbor has attained felicity.

واعْلَمْ بأنّ سَريرَ مُلْكِكَ حَلَّهُ

مَنْ أنتَ لوْ خُيِّرْتَهُ مُخْتارُهُ

Know that your royal throne has been occupied

by the very man you would have chosen, given the choice.

مَنْ هزّ دوْحَ رِضاكَ مُمْتازاً بهِ

حتّى دَنَتْ منْ راحَتَيْهِ ثِمارُهُ

He shook the great tree of your favor, distinguished by it,

until its fruits drew near his two palms.

خلَفْتَ إبْراهيمَ خيْرَ خليفَةٍ

للمُسْلِمينَ قدِ اسْتَقرّ قَرارُهُ

You left Ibrahim as the best successor

for the Muslims; his seat is firmly established.

موْلاكَ موْلاهُ وعَدْلُكَ عدْلُهُ

وحُلاكَ حِلْيَتُهُ ودارُكَ دارُهُ

Your Lord is his Lord, and your justice his justice;

your adornments are his adornment, your abode his abode.

ورضاكَ طاعَتُهُ وبرُّكَ دأبُهُ

ودُعاؤهُ لعُلاكَ واستِغْفارُهُ

Your pleasure is his obedience, your kindness his habit,

and for your exaltation are his prayers and pleas for forgiveness.

حتّى كأنّكَ لمْ تغيَّبْ في الثّرى

وكأنّ عُمْرَكَ ساعَدَ استِمْرارُهُ

Until it is as though you were not hidden in the earth,

and as though your lifetime had been granted continuance.

والغيثُ يُقْلِع ثمّ تَحْيا بعْدَهُ

في الرّوْضِ عنْ بَرَكاتِهِ أزْهارُهُ

Rain ceases, yet afterward there live,

in the garden, through its blessings, its flowers.

يهْنيكَ منْهُ سَعادةُ البَدْرِ الذي

لزِمَ الكَمالَ فَما يُخافُ سِرارُهُ

May you rejoice in him: the good fortune of a full moon that

abides in fullness, with no fear of its darkening.

منْ شمْسِ ذاتِكَ قد أمدَّ هِلالَهُ

وبقُطْبِ سيرتِكَ اسْتَقامَ جِدارُهُ

From the sun of your being he nourished his crescent,

and by the axis of your conduct his wall stood straight.

زوّدْتَهُ برضاكَ عنْدَ وَداعِهِ

والهوْلُ قد ماجَتْ لديْكَ بِحارُهُ

You furnished him with your approval at his farewell,

while terror's seas surged before you.

وتركْتَهُ بيدِ الإلاهِ وديعةً

فتضمّنَتْ لكَ حِفْظَهُ أقْدارُهُ

You left him as a trust in God's hand,

and His decrees guaranteed his preservation for you.

عُوِّضَتْ منْ دارِ الخُلودِ بمَنْزِلٍ

للخُلْدِ تَجْري تحْتَهُ أنْهارُهُ

A dwelling was granted in place of the abode of permanence,

for eternity, with its rivers flowing beneath it.

وتَعاهَدَتْكَ من ابْنِكَ القُرَبُ التي

تمْتارُ نحْوَ رِضاكَ ما تمْتارُهُ

Your son's acts of devotion have tended you,

gathering what provisions they can toward your favor.

لا يشْمَتُ الأعْداءُ كونَكَ في الثّرى

فالموْتُ حُكْمٌ ليسَ يُخْشى عارُهُ

Let enemies not gloat over your being in the earth;

for death is a decree whose shame need not be feared.

وإذا جرى المقْدورُ في بدْرِ الدُجى

يوْماً أيُجْهَلُ بعْدَهُ مِقْدارُهُ

If destiny befell the full moon of darkness

one day, could its worth afterward be unknown?

والخَلْقُ زرْعٌ للحَصادِ مآلُهُ

وإذا استَحقّ فَما عسى إنْظارُهُ

Creation is a crop whose ultimate fate is harvest;

when harvest is due, what reprieve could there be?

فإلى المَماتِ إذا استهلّ حَياتُهُ

والى المشيبِ إذا أطَلِّ عِذارُهُ

Life heads toward death from its first newborn cry,

and toward grayness when its cheek-hair first appears.

وهيَ اللّيالي كلّما عثرَ امْرُؤٌ

يوْماً أبتْ منْ أنْ يقال عثارهُ

Such are the nights: whenever a man stumbles

one day, they refuse to let his stumble be excused.

والدّهْرُ عنْ فَتَكاتِهِ لا ينْثَني

وأخصُّ مَنْ يَشْقى بهِ أحْرارُهُ

Time does not turn back from its deadly assaults,

and its free-born suffer from it most especially.

ما بالُ قيْصَرَ إذ جفَتْهُ قُصورُهُ

لمْ تُغْنِ عنْهُ طِوالُهُ وقِصارُهُ

What of Caesar, when his palaces forsook him?

Neither his tall ones nor his short ones availed him.

ما بالُ كسْرى لم يُدافِعْ سُورُهُ

عنْهُ الرّدى يوماً ولا إسْوارُهُ

What of Kisra? His wall did not defend him

against death for a single day, nor did his cavalryman.

واسألْ عنِ النّعْمانِ حيرَتَهُ وقدْ

عشِقَ الشقيقَ الغَضَّ فهْوَ شِعارُهُ

Ask his Hira about al-Nu'man, who

loved the fresh anemone and made it his emblem.

شُقّتْ على مَنعاهُ حُمْرُ قِبابِهِ

وشَقيقُهُ ألِفَ الذُّرى وبَهارُهُ

His red pavilions were rent at news of his death,

and his anemones and daisies took the heights as their home.

عبَسَ الزّمانُ لآلِ عبّاسٍ فَما

يُرْجى تهلُّلُهُ ولا اسْتِبْشارُهُ

Time frowned upon the house of Abbas, so no

smile or gladness could be hoped for from it.

وبَنو أميّةَ قد أدارَ علَيْهِمُ

قدَحاً تفشّتْ في الجميعِ عُقارُهُ

And among the sons of Umayya it passed around

a cup whose wine spread through them all.

وبَنو عُبَيْدٍ إذ تعبّد مُلْكُهُمْ

سُلْطان مصْرَ وأذْعَنَتْ أمْصارُهُ

And the sons of Ubayd, when their kingdom enslaved

Egypt's power and its cities submitted—

أخْنى على آثارِهِمْ فأبادَهُمْ

فَلَكٌ يكرُّ عليْهِمُ دوّارُهُ

their traces were effaced, and they were annihilated by

a celestial sphere whose revolutions swept back upon them.

يَرْضى الرّضيُّ بِها إذا ما أُنْشِدَتْ

يوْماً ويعْرِفُ فضْلَها مِهْيارُهُ

Al-Radi would be pleased with it, were it recited

one day, and his Mihyar would recognize its excellence.

قدَحَتْ زنادُ الشّوْقِ نارَ شُجونِهِ

وإذا قدَحْتُ الزّنْدَ طارَ شَرارُهُ

The flints of longing kindled the fire of his sorrows;

when I struck the fire-stick, its sparks flew.

عاقَ الأعادي عنْ رِثائِكَ بُرْهَةً

فغَدا الغبيُّ وشانُكَ إسْرارُهُ

Enemies held back your elegy for a while;

so the dullard went forth, and his concealment marred you.

واليومَ حلَّ عِقابُ كلِّ مُذَرَّبٍ

ماضي الشَّبا يَفْري الفَريَّ غِرارُهُ

Today the punishment of every whetted blade is lifted,

keen-pointed, its edge cleaving with mighty strokes.

وكَذا الحُسينُ قضى ولم يُنْدَبْ الى

زمَنٍ توالَتْ بعْدَهُ أعْصارُهُ

So too al-Husayn died and was not mourned until

a time after which successive ages followed.

حقٌّ على مَنْ يستَطيعُ لسانُهُ

صوْغَ النِّظامِ أو النثارِ بدارُهُ

Whoever has a tongue capable

of shaping verse or prose must hasten.

لمْ يبْقَ عن أهْلِ الضّرورةِ مانِعٌ

فاليومَ ينْفَعُ مُكْثِراً إكْثارُهُ

No barrier remains for those under constraint;

today abundant speech benefits its abundant speaker.

وعلى الإطالَةِ والإطابَةِ إنّما

هيَ تافِهٌ يُزْري بهِ استِنْزارُهُ

Despite its length and its sweetness,

it is but a trifle, demeaned as too scant.

عُذْراً لقوْمِكَ عنْ مَقامِ مقصِّرٍ

والعَبْدُ يَغْفِرُ ذنْبَهُ إقْرارُهُ

Pardon your people for the stance of one who falls short;

a servant's confession brings forgiveness of his sin.

مَنْ رامَ أمْراً لا يُنالُ مَرامُهُ

بالجُهْدِ كان الى القُصورِ قُصارُهُ

Whoever seeks a goal whose attainment is impossible

through striving has shortcoming as his utmost reach.

وإذا امْرؤٌ وافَى بِما في وُسْعِهِ

سقَطَ المَلامُ وروعِيَتْ أقْدارُهُ

When a man offers all that lies within his power,

blame falls away, and his capacities are taken into account.