من كان عنه يدافع القدر — Ibn Hamdis

مَن كانَ عنهُ يدافِعُ القَدَرُ

لم يُرْدِهِ جنٌّ ولا بَشَرُ

He whom fate defends,

neither jinn nor mortal can lay low.

وثَنى الرَّدى عنهُ الرَّدى جَزَعاً

وسَعَتْ على غيراتهِ غِيَرُ

And death turned death away from him in terror,

and reversals of fortune worked against his reversals.

وَرَمَى عِداهُ بكلِّ داهيَةٍ

دهياءَ لا تُبقي ولا تذَرُ

And it struck his foes with every calamity,

dire, sparing nothing and leaving nothing.

لا عيبَ فيما كانَ من جَلَلٍ

يَجري بِكُلِّ مُقَدَّرٍ قَدَرُ

There is no disgrace in the grave calamity that befell;

fate runs its course through everything decreed.

إنَّ الملوكَ وإنْ هُمُ عَظُموا

تُغْرَى العُداةُ بِهِم وَإِن حَقَروا

Kings, however mighty they may be,

have enemies incited against them, however lowly those foes.

والغَدْرُ قد مُلِئَ الزَّمانُ به

قِدماً وكم نَطَقَتْ بهِ السيَرُ

And time has been filled with treachery,

since ancient days; how often chronicles have spoken of it!

وأولو المكايدِ إنْ رأوا فُرصاً

ركبوا لها العزَماتِ وابتدروا

And schemers, when they see opportunities,

mount their resolves to seize them and rush ahead.

والمُصطَفَى سَمّتْهُ كافِرَةٌ

لِتُضيرَهُ أو مسّهُ الضّررَ

And an unbelieving woman poisoned the Chosen One,

to injure him, or for harm to touch him.

وعَلا مُعاويةً بِذي شُطَبٍ

عند الصّباحِ لِشَجّهِ غُدَرُ

And Muʿawiya was struck with a grooved sword,

at dawn, by a traitor seeking to gash his head.

وعصابَةٍ لِلْحَينِ قادَ بها

ظُلْمُ النّفوسِ وساقَها الأشَرُ

And many a band was led to doom

by its souls' wrongdoing, and driven on by insolence.

حَتَّى إِذا ظَنُّوا بأنَّهُمُ

رَبِحوا وأنْجَحَ سَعْيُهُمْ خَسِروا

Until, when they thought that they

had profited and their endeavor had succeeded, they lost.

وَرَدوا الحتُوفَ وبئسَ ما وَرَدوا

لَكِنَّهمْ ورَدوا وما صَدروا

They came to their deaths—wretched was what they came to;

but they went in and never came out.

مثلَ الفراشِ تَقَحّمَتْ سُعُراً

فانظرْ إلى ما تَصنَعُ السُّعرُ

Like moths that plunged into blazing fires;

look, then, at what the flames do.

خُذلِوا وما نُصروا على مَلِكٍ

ما زالَ بالرّحمنِ يَنتَصِرُ

They were forsaken, not given victory over a king

who has always triumphed through the Most Merciful.

ردّوا المكايدَ في نُحورِهِمُ

عن عادِلٍ بسيوفِهِ نُحروا

They turned their plots back upon their own throats,

away from a just ruler, by whose swords they were slaughtered.

كانَ ابتداءُ فسادِهِمْ لهُمُ

وَعَلَيهِمُ بِصَلاحِهِ الخبَرُ

Their corruption began in their favor;

but through his righteousness, the outcome turned against them.

رفعوا عيُونَهُمُ إلى قَمَرٍ

فَرَماهُمُ برُجُومِهِ القَمَرُ

They raised their eyes toward a moon,

then the moon pelted them with its missiles.

صَبَّ الحديدَ عليهِمُ ذَرِباً

فكأنّهُمْ من حولهِ جَزَرُ

He poured sharp iron down upon them,

so they were like slaughtered beasts around him.

عَجباً لهم بُطِنُوا بعَيشهِمُ

وَبِقَتلِهمْ إذْ صُلِّبوا ظَهروا

How strange their lot! They were hidden in life,

and in death, when crucified, they were exposed.

يَبِسَتْ جُذوعُهُمُ وهُم ثَمَرٌ

للضُّبْعِ أينعَ ذلك الثّمَرُ

Their trunks dried up, while they were fruit;

for the hyena, that fruit ripened.

مِن كُلِّ رابٍ سَلهَبٍ رَسخَتْ

منهُ القوائمُ ما له حُضُرُ

From every towering, long-limbed trunk, firmly rooted

in its legs, with no gallop in it.

وَكَأَنَّما الحرباءُ مِنهُ علا

عوداً ونارُ الشمسِ تَستَعِرُ

And it was as though a chameleon had climbed

a bough of it, while the sun's fire blazed.

أوَ ما رَأَوْا يحيَى سعادَتُهُ

وقفٌ عليها النّصْرُ والظّفَرُ

And have they not seen Yahya, whose good fortune

has victory and triumph dedicated to it?

إِنَّ الزّمانَ خَديمُ دَولَتِهِ

يُفني أعاديها وإنْ كَثُروا

Time is indeed the servant of his reign,

destroying its enemies, however numerous they become.

مَلِكٌ على الإسلامِ ذِمّتُهُ

سِتْرٌ مَديدٌ ظِلّهُ خَصِرُ

A king whose pledge of protection over Islam

is a spreading canopy, its shade cool.

سَمْحٌ تَبَرّجَ جودُ راحتهِ

لعفُاته ولعِرضه خفَرُ

Open-handed, his palm's bounty unveils itself

to his petitioners, while modesty guards his honor.

ذو هيبَةٍ كالشّمْسِ مُنْقَبِضٌ

عنها إِذا انبَسَطَتْ له النّظرُ

He inspires awe like the sun: the gaze recoils

from it whenever it shines out before the eye.

والعَدلُ فيها والتّقى جُمِعَا

فَكأَنَّ ذا سَمعٌ وذا بَصَرُ

And within it, justice and piety are joined,

as though this were hearing and that were sight.

خَفَضَ الجناحَ وخَفْضُهُ شَرَفُ

وعلى السِّماكِ علا له قَدرُ

He lowered his wing, and lowering it was honor;

and his rank rose above al-Simak.

مُتَيَقّظُ العَزَمات تحسبُها

ينتابُها من خَوْفِهِ السّهَرُ

Ever-watchful in his resolves, you would think them

visited by sleeplessness out of fear of him.

كَالسَّيفِ هُزَّ غِرارُهُ بِيَدٍ

لِلضَّربِ وهوَ مُصَمِّمٌ ذكَرُ

Like a sword whose edge is brandished by a hand

to strike, cutting straight through, hard of steel.

وكأنّ طيبَ ثنائِهِ أرجٌ

عن روَضِهِ يَتَنَفّسُ السّحَرُ

And the sweetness of praise for him is like a fragrance

that the predawn hour breathes from his gardens.

تَنْمي على الأعداءِ عَزْمَتُهُ

والزّندُ أوَّلُ نارِهِ شرَرُ

His resolve grows against his enemies,

and the fire-stick's flame begins as sparks.

وكأنّ ركنَ أناتِهِ سَبَلٌ

بموارِدِ المَعروفِ يَنفَجِرُ

And the pillar of his forbearance is like pouring rain

gushing forth at the watering places of kindness.

يا فاتِكاً بِعُداتِهِ أبداً

إنّ الذِّئابَ تُبيدُها الهُصُرُ

O you who forever strike down your foes,

indeed, fierce lions annihilate the wolves.

شُكراً فَإِنَّ السَّعْدَ مُتَّصِلٌ

وُصِلَتْ بهِ أيّامُكَ الغُرَرُ

Give thanks, for good fortune is unbroken;

your radiant days are joined to it.

واسْلَمْ فَإِنَّكَ في الندى مَطَرٌ

يَمحُو المحولَ ولِلهدى وَزَرُ

And live in safety, for in generosity you are rain

that wipes away droughts, and a refuge for guidance.