لله سر جمال أنت موضعه — Ibn Sahl Al Andalusi

لِلَّهِ سِرُّ جَمالٍ أَنتَ مَوضِعُهُ

وَالسِرُّ حَيثُ يَشاءُ اللَهُ يودِعُهُ

God has a secret of beauty; you are its abode.

And God deposits that secret wherever He wills.

مَن كانَ يُنكِرُ أَنَّ الخَلقَ جُمِّعَ في

شَخصٍ فَفيكَ بَيانٌ لَيسَ يَدفَعُهُ

Whoever has denied that creation was gathered in

One person has, in you, proof he cannot refute.

فَمِنكَ في كُلِّ عَينٍ ما تَقَرُّ بِهِ

وَمِنكَ في كُلِّ جَأشٍ ما يُرَوِّعُهُ

So from you, every eye receives what gives it delight,

And from you, every heart receives what awes it.

إِذا اِنطَوى لَكَ قَلبٌ فَوقَ مَوجِدَةٍ

تَبَرَّأَت مِنهُ أَو عادَتهُ أَضلُعُهُ

If a heart harbors resentment against you,

Its ribs disown it or become its enemies.

لِلناسِ إِن رَكِبوا نَهجَ الفَخارِ بُنَيّ

اتِ الطَريقِ وَلِاِبنِ الجَدِّ مَهيَعُهُ

Other men, when they tread the road of glory, have its little

Byways; Ibn al-Jadd has its broad highway.

ما صُوِّرَت لِسِوى التَنويلِ راحَتُهُ

وَلا لِغَيرِ اِستِماعِ الحَمدِ مَهيَعُهُ

His palm was fashioned for nothing but bestowing gifts,

Nor his broad passage for anything but hearing praise.

وَجهٌ يُضيءُ وَيُمنى سَيبُها غَدِقٌ

كَالبَدرِ وافَقَ فَيضَ النيلِ مَطلِعُهُ

A face that shines, a right hand abundant in bounty,

Like the full moon whose rising coincided with the Nile's flood.

كَالغَيثِ لَكِنَّهُ رَيٌّ بِلا شَرَقٍ

وَالغَيثُ قَد يُشرِقُ الوُرّادَ مَشرَعُهُ

Like rain, yet he quenches thirst without choking,

And rain's watering place may choke those who come to drink.

كَالطَلِّ لَكِن يُرَدّى النورَ لابِسُهُ

وَالظِلِّ لا يَقبَلُ الأَنوارَ مَوقِعُهُ

Like dew, but its wearer is robed in light,

And shade's resting place admits no light.

بِفِكرِهِ مِن مَصيفٍ شَبَّ لَفحَتُهُ

وَكَفِّهِ مِن رَبيعٍ رَبَّ مَربَعُهُ

In his thought is a summer whose scorching blast blazes,

And in his palm a spring whose meadow flourishes.

زادَت وَزارَتُهُ إِذ ثُنِّيَت شَرَفاً

مُزَوَّجُ الدُرِّ أَبهاهُ وَأَبدَعُهُ

His vizierate grew in honor when it was doubled:

Paired pearls are the fairest and most wondrous.

إِحداهُما صارِمٌ مِن فَوقَ عاتِقِهِ

وَأُختُها عَلَمٌ في الكَفِّ يَرفَعُهُ

One of the two is a keen sword above his shoulder,

And its sister a banner he raises in his hand;

أَو هُدبُ حُلَّتِهِ في السِلمِ يَلبَسُها

وَهَذِهِ في الوَغى سَردٌ يُدَرَّعُهُ

Or the fringe of his robe, which he wears in peace,

And this one, in battle, is mail he dons as armor;

أَو تِلكَ مِغفَرُ عِزٍّ فَوقَ مَفرِقِهِ

وَتِلكَ تاجٌ مَعاليهِ تُرَصِّعُهُ

Or that one a helmet of honor atop his head,

And that one a crown his lofty merits stud.

مَن عَزمُهُ لِصُدوعِ الحَقِّ يَجبِرُها

وَرَأيُهُ لِظَلامِ الشَكِّ يَصدَعُهُ

He whose resolve mends the fractures of truth,

And whose judgment cleaves the darkness of doubt.

فَذاكَ بابٌ إِلى الإِرشادِ يَشرَعُهُ

وَذا سِنانٌ إِلى الإِلحادِ يُشرِعُهُ

So that is a door he opens toward right guidance,

And this a spearpoint he levels against impiety.

كَم ماكِرٍ بَطَلَت عَن ذاكَ خُدعَتُهُ

وَذي عُتُوٍّ بِهَذا لانَ أَخدَعُهُ

How many a schemer's trick has failed against that,

And many a rebel's neck has yielded to this.

وَكَم مَكانٍ مِنَ العَلياءِ يَفرَعُهُ

بِذا وَكَم نَظَرٍ عَن ذا يُفَرِّعُهُ

And how many heights of eminence he scales

With this, and how many insights he derives from that.

فَإِن رَمى قَرطَسَت بِالسَهمِ نَزعَتُهُ

وَإِن رَأى صادَفَ التَوفيقَ مَنزِعُهُ

So if he shoots, his bow-draw sends the arrow into the target,

And if he considers, his approach meets with success.

تَنبو المَضاجِعُ عَنهُ فىِ الدُجى سَهَراً

لِيَطمَئِنَّ بِجَنبِ الدينِ مَضجِعُهُ

Beds give him no rest in the darkness as he keeps vigil,

So that his resting place beside the faith may be secure.

فَلا الكَثيرُ مِنَ الدُنيا يُشاغِلُهُ

وَلا الكَفافُ مِنَ العَلياءِ يُقنِعُهُ

So no abundance of worldly things distracts him,

Nor does a bare sufficiency of eminence satisfy him.

لَطابَ نَفسُ أَميرِ المُؤمِنينَ وَلَم

يَدَع لِصَوتِ الهُدى الداعي تَوَرُّعُهُ

Surely the Commander of the Faithful's soul was glad, and

His scrupulous piety did not forsake the calling voice of guidance.

لَمّا تَحَرَّكَ يَأجوجُ النِفاقِ بَنى

لَهُ سَدادُكَ سَدّاً لا يُضَعضِعُهُ

When the Gog of hypocrisy stirred, there was built

By your sound judgment a barrier against it that it cannot shake.

لَو أَعرَبَت طاعَةٌ عَن طائِعٍ شَهِدَت

بِأَنَّها لَكَ طَوقٌ لَيسَ تَخلَعُهُ

If obedience spoke for an obedient man, it would testify

That it is a collar of allegiance to you, never to be cast off.

وَلَو تُشَقُّ عَنِ المَنصورِ تُربَتُهُ

أَثنى عَلَيكَ لِعَهدٍ لا تُضَيِّعُهُ

And were al-Mansur's grave-earth split open,

He would praise you for a covenant you do not neglect.

حَفِظتَ لِلحافِظِ المَرحومِ سيرَتَهُ

وَالأَصلُ إِن طابَ طابَت عَنهُ أَفرُعُهُ

You preserved the way of the late al-Hafiz,

And when the root is good, its branches grow good from it.

رَجاجَةٌ عَصَتِ الغاوينَ نَبعَتُها

وَنائِلٌ طاوَعَ العافينَ مَنبَعُهُ

Sound judgment whose bow-stave resists the misguided,

And bounty whose spring complies with those seeking gifts.

شَيَّدتَ عَهدَكَ فَالتَقوى دَعائِمُهُ

وَاِشتَقَّ مِنهُ بِناءٌ ظَلتَ تَصنَعُهُ

You built up your covenant; piety is its pillars,

And from it arose a building you continued to construct.

فَالعَهدُ أَكرَمُ مَنوِيٍّ وَأَوثَقُهُ

وَالدارُ أَسعَدُ مَبنِيٍّ وَأَرفَعُهُ

So the covenant is the noblest, surest thing conceived,

And the house the most auspicious, loftiest thing built.

أَنتَ الَّذي أُسِّسَت بِالصِدقِ بَيعَتُهُ

كَمِثلِ ما أُسِّسَت بِاليُمنِ أَربُعُهُ

You are he whose pledge of allegiance was founded on sincerity,

Just as his dwellings were founded on good fortune.

ما بِالبِناءِ اِضطِرارٌ أَن تُحَسِّنَهُ

سُكناكَ يَملَأَهُ حُسناً وَيوسِعُهُ

The building has no need for you to beautify it;

Your dwelling there fills it with beauty and enlarges it.

مَنازِلُ البَدرِ لا تَحتاجُ تَحلِيَةً

فَغُرَّةُُ البَدرِ فيها الحَليُ أَجمَعُهُ

The full moon's mansions need no adornment,

For the full moon's bright face within them is every adornment.

أَمّا الفَعالُ فَما تَأتيهِ أَشرَفُهُ

أَوِ الكَلامُ فَشِعري فيكَ أَبدَعُهُ

As for deeds, those you perform are the noblest;

Or speech—my poetry about you is its most wondrous.

تَبَرَّعَ النَظمُ في يِحيى وَطاوَعَني

وَمِن بَراعَةِ مَمدوحي تَبَرُّعُهُ

Verse offered itself freely for Yahya and readily obeyed me,

Its free offering comes from the excellence of the man I praise.

راجيكَ مُستَشعِرٌ حَربَ الخُطوبِ وَما

غَيرُ الخَطابَةِ وَالأَشعارِ مَفزَعُهُ

The one who hopes in you feels calamities' warfare, and

Has no refuge but oratory and poems.

لَو قادَ مِن فَقرِهِ قَولاً يُفَقِّرُهُ

أَو لَو يُشَجِّعُهُ لَفظٌ يُسَجِّعُهُ

If from his poverty he mustered a saying, he would set it into clauses,

Or if a phrase emboldened him, he would cast it in rhymed prose.

وَشيمَةُ الزَمَنِ المَذمومِ تُؤيِسُهُ

وَعادَةُ السَيِّدِ المَحمودِ تُطمِعُهُ

And the nature of blameworthy time drives him to despair,

And the habit of the praiseworthy lord gives him hope.

أَيُسلِمُ المَجدُ آمالي إِلى قَلَمٍ

تَنهَلُّ لي رَحمَةً في الطِرسِ أَدمُعُهُ

Will glory entrust my hopes to a pen

Whose tears pour onto the parchment in mercy for me?

صادٍ حَكى شَقَّهُ ضيقاً وَريقَتَهُ

لَوناً كَذا الإِلفِ حالُ الإِلفِ تَتبَعُهُ

Thirsty, he mirrors its cleft in anguish, and its saliva

In color; thus one companion's state follows the other's.

إِلَيكَ مَرجِعُ تَأميلي فَكَيفَ تَرى

تَخييبَهُ وَلِأَوفى الناسِ مَرجِعُهُ

To you my hope returns; how, then, can you contemplate

Disappointing it, when it returns to the most faithful of men?

عَلَّقتُ أَمداحَكَ الحُسنى عَلى أُذُني

تَمائِماً مِن جُنونِ العُدمِ تَمنَعُهُ

I hung my fairest praises of you upon my ear,

As amulets to ward off the madness of destitution.