سلام عليه لا على الدهر بعده — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

سلامٌ عليه لاَ على الدّهرِ بَعْدهُ

تُرانِي أَرْضَى بَعْد مَولايَ عَبدَه

Peace be upon him, not upon time after him.

Do you think I would accept his servant after my master?

أَيحْسُن عندي أَن أُقَبِّل تُربَها

وكنتُ بها دهراً أُقَبِّل خَدَّه

Would it be fitting for me to kiss its soil,

when there I long used to kiss his cheek?

وما قُرْبُه إِنْ كان جِسْمِيَ عندها

وما بُعدُه إن كان قلبيَ عِنْده

What is nearness to him, if my body is beside it,

and what is distance from him, if my heart is with him?

أَبى الدَّهْرُ إِلاَّ ضدَّ ما أَنا طالبٌ

فيا ليتَ مِني مكَّن اللهُ ضِدَّه

Time refused anything but the opposite of what I seek;

would that God had given its opposite power over me!

يُعِدُّ الفَتى إِخوانَه لزمانه

وأَعْدى له من صَرفِه من أَعدَّه

A young man readies his brothers for his times of need,

yet those he readies are fiercer foes than time's vicissitudes.

فقبْلَ شَبابِي قد لبستُ شبيبةً

وقبلَ أَشُدِّي قد بلغت أَشُدَّه

So, before my youth, I had already donned youthfulness,

and before my prime, I had attained its full strength.

أَعاذلُ ما ذكَّرتَ مِنيَ ناسياً

وردَّ اسْمُ مَنْ أَهْوَى عَلَى السَّمع رَدَّه

O reproacher, you have not reminded one who had forgotten;

and my beloved's name returned its echo to my hearing.

يذكِّرُ مِنِّي البُحْتُرِيُّ نسيمَه

ويَذْكُرُ مني ابْنُ المفرَّغِ بُردَه

Al-Buhturi evokes through me his Nasim,

and Ibn al-Mufarrigh recalls through me his Burd.

فهمَّ إِليه الملكُ أَن يسبق اسمَه

وكاد إِليه الدَّسْتُ يسبُق مَهْدَه

Kingship was eager to reach him before his name,

and the throne almost came to him before his cradle.

وإِنَّ أَحَقَّ الناسِ أَنْ يرِثَ العُلا

فتى وارِثٌ منه أَبَاه وجدَّه

Indeed, the one most entitled to inherit high station

is a youth who succeeds his father and grandfather in it.

كما أَنَّه لم يُعرف الجودُ قَبلَه

وفي الْحَقِّ أَلاَّ يُذْكَرَ الْغَيثُ بَعْده

Just as generosity was unknown before him,

it is only right that rain go unmentioned after him.

تقاعَدَ عن مِصرَ السَّحابُ فَلمْ يَسِرْ

إِلَيْها فَلم يُحوجْ لأَن يَسْتِمدَّه

The clouds held back from Egypt and did not travel

to her; he left her no need to seek their aid.

وللهِ وعدٌ في زِيادَةِ ملكه

فلا تَحسبَنَّ اللهَ يُخلِفُ وعْدَه

And God has promised to increase his dominion;

so never think that God will break His promise.

وما حَدُّه مَا في يَديْه وضِعْفُه

سيُبلِغ ما لا يبلغ الرُّمْحُ جَدَّه

What he holds, even doubled, is not his limit;

his good fortune will reach what no spear can reach.

إِن استكثروا الملكَ الذي يستقِلُّه

فغيرُ كثيرٍ ملكُه الأَرضَ وحدَه

If they deem vast the kingdom he considers small,

his ruling the earth alone is no great thing.

أَو كمن يَدَّعِي إِلَى الفَضْلِ يسعى

وهُو بَيْن القيودِ وَالأَصْفاد

Or like one who claims he strives toward excellence,

while he is among fetters and shackles.

إِنَّنِي أَرحَمُ الأَعَادِي فَيَا رقَّةَ

قَلْبي مِنَ رَحْمَتي للأَعادي

I truly pity my enemies—oh, the tenderness

of my heart in its mercy toward enemies!

وهُمُ يطفئونَ نَاري ويأْبَى الله

إلاَّ خمودَهُم واتِّقَادي

They try to extinguish my fire, but God wills

only their extinction and my blazing.

كيف لا يَرْفَعُ الزَّمانُ عِمَادِي

وعَلَى الفاضِل الأَجَلِّ اعْتِمادي

How could time not raise my pillar,

when on the most august al-Fadil I rely?

في مَعَانِي نَداهُ مرْمَى مَرامِي

وبأَرْجَائِها مَراد مُرادي

In the expressions of his bounty lies the target of my aim,

and within their reaches lies the object of my desire.

طرَدت كفَّه النَّوائِب عِنِّي

وأَنَا مَعْ جُنودها في اطِّرَادِ

His hand drove calamities away from me,

while I was in a running battle with their hosts.

وأَنَامَت عَيْني أَيادِيه من بَعْدِ

مَلاَلِ السُّها لطُولِ سُهادِي

His favors lulled my eye to sleep, after

al-Suha had wearied of my long sleeplessness.

وعَلا بي إِلى السَّماءِ فأَصْبحتُ

أَرَاها كالأَرْضِ ذَاتِ المِهَادِ

He raised me to the sky, so that I came

to see it like the earth spread as a bed.

واسْتَطارَتْ نَارِي فَمَا شَمْسُ

هَذَا الأُفْقِ إِلاَّ شَرارَةٌ مِنْ زِنَاد

My fire soared, and the sun

of this horizon is but a spark from a fire-striker.

ضِقْتُ ذَرْعاً بجودِه ويدٌ وا

حدَةٌ لا تُطيقُ حَمْلَ أَيَادِ

His bounty overwhelms me; a single hand

cannot bear such favors.

كُنْتُ مَيْتاً مِن قبلِ مَوْتِي فَقَد رَدْ

دَ مَعادِي مِنْ قبلِ وَقْتِ مَعَادِي

I was dead before my death; he has restored

me to life before the time of my resurrection.

سيِّدٌ مُعرِقُ السّادَةِ قَدْ سا

دَ بِحقٍّ حتَّى على الأسَاد

A lord of deeply rooted lordly lineage, who has ruled

by right, even over lions.

مَا أَتَتْه تِلك السِّيادَةُ عن جـ

ـدٍّ وَلكن أَتَتْه عَنْ أَجْدَاد

That lordship came to him not from a grandfather,

but came to him from forefathers.

إِن يَكُن مُعرِقَ الأَبُوَّةِ في السؤْ

دَدِ فالرَّأْيُ مُعرِقٌ في السَّدَاد

If his paternal lineage is deeply rooted in eminence,

his judgment is deeply rooted in soundness.

عمَّ معروفَه العِبَادَ فَقَدْ أَصـ

ـبحَ عبدُ الرَّحِيم مَوْلَى العِبَاد

His kindness embraced all people; thus has

Abd al-Rahim become the master of mankind.

وتحلَّى بجودِه كُلُّ حَالٍ

وتَغنَّى بِمَدْحِه كُلُّ شَادِ

All who wear ornaments are adorned by his bounty,

and every singer sings his praise.

فَمَعالِيه مَا لَها مِنْ نَفَاذٍ

وأَياديه ما لها مِنْ نَفاد

His lofty qualities cannot be fathomed,

and his favors cannot be exhausted.

قَدْ دَعَتْه إِلى النَّوالِ دواعٍ

وعَدَتْه عَنْ ضِدِّ ذاك العَوادِي

Impulses have called him to generosity,

and obstacles have kept him from its opposite.

محسِنٌ حسَّن العُلاَ ويزيدُ البـ

ـيتَ حُسْناً حَلاوَةُ الإِنْشَادِ

A benefactor who has beautified high rank; a verse grows

more beautiful through the sweetness of recitation.

سَبقَ النَّاسَ للمعالِي ولا ينـ

ـكَرُ سبقٌ إِذَا أَتَى مِنْ جَوَاد

He outstripped others to greatness; it is no surprise

when the lead is taken by a thoroughbred.

قَدْ تَعنَّى مُعانِدوه فما نَا

لُوا وأَهْلُ الْعَنَاءِ أَهْلُ العِنَادِ

His adversaries have toiled, yet gained

nothing; the obstinate are the ones who suffer.

شَادَ رُكْنَ السبع الأَقَالِيم بالتَّد

بير حتَّى أَضْحت كَسَبْعٍ شِدَاد

Through governance he built up the pillar of the seven climes,

until they became like seven mighty heavens.

قَلَمٌ في يدٍ له لَمْ يَزَل يجـ

ـري فَيزْرِي بالصَّافِنَاتِ الْجِيادِ

A pen in his hand has never ceased to run,

putting the poised, noble steeds to shame.

هو لِلمُلكِ كالعمادِ فتلك الـ

ـيد مَغنية بذَاك الْعِماد

It is like a pillar to kingship; that

hand suffices by means of that pillar.

ولخوفٍ من بأْسِه حين يَسْطُو

أَصبحَ الطَّيشُ في صُدور الصِّعادِ

For fear of his might when he strikes,

unsteadiness has entered the breasts of lances.

يفهمُ الطِّرْسُ ما يُسَطَّر فِيه

من بَيانٍ يَدْنُو لِفَهم الجمَادِ

The parchment understands what is written upon it,

eloquence that comes within the understanding of lifeless things.

أَيها الغيثُ لا انْقَشَعْتَ فكلٌّ

منكَ لاَ بَلْ إِليك ريّانُ صَادِي

O rain, may you never disperse! For everyone

is sated by you—no, thirsty for you.

عَلِم الله أَنَّ حُبَّك عندي

فرضُ قَلبِي في ملَّتي واعْتِقادي

God knows that love for you, to me,

is my heart's obligation in my faith and belief.

إِنني سوف أَقْتَضِي منك وعْداً

بادٍ به فَنِعْم البادي

I shall claim from you a promise

you first offered—how excellent the initiator!

مطلَبٌ فيه مَلْبَسُ العِزِّ إِذ

يُلبِسُ ذُلاًّ جماعةَ الحُسَّادِ

A request that brings a robe of honor, since it

clothes the company of enviers in disgrace.

لم تَزل تُنْبِتُ الرِّياض ولكِن

لا عَلى الرَّوضِ بل عَلَى الأَجْسادِ

You have never ceased to make gardens grow, but

not upon meadows—rather, upon bodies.

هو وَعْدٌ قد كان لي وسُؤَالِي

مِنْكَ إِنْجازُ ذَلِك الميعاد

It is a promise you once made me; my request

of you is the fulfillment of that pledge.