بشراي دالت دولة المعصوم — Ibn Shakeel

بُشرايَ دالَت دَولَةُ المَعصومِ

بِحَيا العُفاةِ وَنُصرَةِ المَظلومِ

Glad tidings for me! The Infallible's reign has come,

with life-giving rain for supplicants and aid for the oppressed.

بِقُدومِ إِبراهيمَ سَيِّدِنا الرَضا

قَدِمَت وُفودُ السَعدِ خَيرَ قُدومِ

With the arrival of Ibrahim, our lord al-Rida,

delegations of good fortune have made the happiest arrival.

حَيَّت مُحَيّاهُ المَواسِمُ وَالتَقَت

مِنهُ العُيونُ عَلى أَغَرَّ وَسيمِ

The festive seasons greeted his face, and gazes met

upon him, radiant and handsome.

وَتَحَدَّثَ الحَيُّ الجَميعُ بِقُربِهِ

فَتَرَوَّحوا في نَضرَةٍ وَنَعيمِ

The whole community spoke of his nearness,

and found refreshment in flourishing beauty and bliss.

قَالظِلُّ مَمدودٌ كَأَنّا في ذُرى

عَدنٍ بِهِ وَالشُربُ مِن تَسنيمِ

The shade is spread, as though we were upon the heights

of Eden through him, drinking from Tasnim.

وَالأَرضُ واجِفَةٌ وَما رَجَفاتُها

إِلّا لِاَنَّ بِها قُلوبَ الرومِ

The earth trembles, and its tremors arise

only because the hearts of the Romans are within it.

شَهِدَ الزَبورُ بِها وَلِآلَهُ

فَضلاً عَلى المَنثورِ وَالمَنظومِ

The Psalms attest it, and for his house,

a distinction above prose and verse.

عَذُبَت مَوارِدُ جودِهِ فَلَو أَنَّني

أورِدتُها لَشَرِبتُ شُربَ الهِيَمِ

The springs of his generosity are sweet; were I

brought to them, I would drink like thirst-stricken camels.

حاوَلتُ مِدحَتَهُ فَبِتُّ بِلَيلَةٍ

ما لَيلُ مَهجورٍ وَلَيلُ سَليمِ

I attempted his praise and passed a night—

what are a forsaken lover's night and a snake-bitten man's beside it?

تَبِتُ القَوافي في يَدي فَأَنَسُّها

بِجَلالِهِ فَتَفِرُّ مِن تَنظيمِ

The rhymes settle in my hand; I spur them

with his majesty, and they flee being ordered into verse.

حَتّى كَأَنّي مُفحَمٌ أَو أَنَّ بي

عِياً وَذاكَ العَيُّ غَيرُ ذَميمِ

Until I seem struck speechless, or afflicted

with inability to speak—an inability that is no disgrace.

وَلَقَد وَثِقتُ بِحِلمِهِ فَنَظَمتُها

سَعياً لَعَمرُكَ لَيسَ بِالمَذمومِ

Yet I trusted his forbearance and composed them:

an endeavor, by your life, that is not blameworthy.

مَدحُ الأَميرِ اِبنِ الخَليفَةِ قُربَةٌ

لِلَهِ كَالتَكبيرِ وَالتَعظيمِ

Praising the prince, the caliph's son, is an act of devotion

to God, like proclaiming His greatness and glorifying Him.

قُل لِلَّذي شادَ النَسيبُ مُقَدِّماً

مَدحُ الأَميرِ أَحَقُّ بِالتَقديمِ

Tell whoever gives the love prelude pride of place:

the prince's praise deserves precedence more.

فَإِذا طَرِبتَ إِلى النَسيبِ فَنَفتَةٌ

بَعدَ الصَلاةِ عَلى ذَوي المَعصومِ

If you delight in the love prelude, let it be a breath of verse

after invoking blessings upon the Infallible's kin.

وَإِذا بَلَغتَ إِلى الخِيامِ فَبَلِّغَن

مِنّي الخِيامَ وَدائِعَ التَسليمِ

And when you reach the tents, be sure to convey

from me to those tents my entrusted greetings.

لَهفي عَلى حَيِّ حَلا قَوَّضوا

خِيَمَ الرُبا لِبِناءِ خَيمِ الخِيِمِ

Alas for a tribe so delightful! They struck

the hilltop tents to build the tent of noble character.

وَمَضَوا وَلَو أَنَّ النُجومَ نَواظِرٌ

عاروا عُيونَ الشُهبِ بِالتَغييمِ

They departed; had the stars been watching eyes,

they would have blinded those bright eyes with clouds.

وَلَأَنَّ عَينَ الشَمسِ عَينٌ رَفَّعوا

ظُلَلَ العَجاجِ عَلى العِمادِ الكُومِ

And because the sun's eye is an eye, they raised

canopies of dust above the lofty, hump-backed pillars.

لاثوا مُدَثَّرَةَ السُجوفِ وَظَلّوا

فَوقض الخُدوجِ عَلى شَقيقَةِ ريمِ

They swathed the curtain-shrouded maiden and remained

above the howdahs, over a gazelle's sister.

قَمَرُ الجَمالِ فَسَل بِها وَبِخِدرِها

مِن هالَةٍ مَحفوفَةٍ بِنُجومِ

A moon of beauty—ask about her and her secluded chamber:

a halo surrounded by stars.

جَرَّبتُ لَذّاتِ النُفوسِ فَلا أَرى

كَالرَكبِ يَخبِطُ في حَشى الدَيمومِ

I have tried the pleasures of souls, and find nothing

like a caravan tramping through the heart of the trackless desert,

مُتَرَنِّمينَ عَلى ذُرى كيرانِهِم

وَصَريرُها بَدلٌ مِنَ التَرنيمِ

its riders singing upon the summits of their saddles,

whose creaking takes the place of song.

قي كُلِّ طامِسَةِ الصُوى لا يَهتَدي

فيها الدَليلُ بِمَعلَمٍ مَعلومِ

In every waste with effaced waymarks, no guide

can find his way by any known landmark.

كانَت صَحائِفُ قَفرٍ غُفلاً فَقَد

رَسَمَ السُرى وَخَدّي بِها وَرَسيمي

They were unmarked pages of wilderness; now

my swift gait and trot have traced night travel upon them.

قُل لِلمَطِيِّ تَجَلُّدي لا بُدَّ مِن

صِنوِ الخَليفَةِ فَاِقعُدي أَو قومي

Tell the riding beasts: endure; there is no doing without

the caliph's counterpart—so kneel or rise.

سيري عَلى اِسمِ اللَهِ في اَمَلي فَقَد

ضَمِنَ المَطالِبَ جودُ إِبراهيمِ

Journey in God's name toward my hope, for

Ibrahim's generosity has guaranteed my desires.

سيري إِلى مَلكٍ رَضىً في مالِهِ

حَقٌّ لِسائِلِهِ وَلِلمَحرومِ

Journey to an approved king, in whose wealth

there is a right for his petitioner and the deprived.

القائِدِ الخَيلَ العِتاقَ كَأَنَّها

سيدانَ رَملٍ أَو نُجومِ رُجومِ

He leads noble horses, as though they were

wolves of the sands, or stars hurled as missiles.

فيها قَتاتُ الطَيرِ يُرتَعُ بِالضُحى

وَلَها اِنقِضاضَةُ لِقوَةٍ يَحمومِ

Among them, the birds' talebearer feeds at forenoon,

and theirs is the swoop of a black eagle.

نَضَحَ الحَميمُ جُلودَها فَتَضَوَّعَت

فَكَأَنَّ مِسكاً رَشحُ كُلِّ أَديمِ

Hot moisture splashed their hides, and fragrance rose,

as though the sweat of every hide were musk.

مِن كُلِّ وَردٍ خاضَ بَحراً مِن دَمٍ

فَنَجا بِلَونِ الأَحمَرِ المَذمومِ

Among them is a bay that plunged into a sea of blood

and emerged with the color of the censured red.

أَو أَشقَرٍ غَشَّتهُ شَمسُ جَبينِهِ

شَفَقاً وَعِطفاهُ هُبوبُ نَسيمِ

Or a chestnut, clothed by the sun of its forehead

in twilight-red, its two flanks a blowing breeze.

أَو أَصهَبٍ شَرِبَ المُدامَ أَديمُهُ

فَأَقَلَّ فارِسَهُ بِرَسمٍ قَديمِ

Or a tawny horse whose hide has drunk wine

and carried its rider at an age-old trot.

أَو أَشهَبٍ رَقَمَت قَراطيسُ جِلدِهِ

فَأَتى الوَغى بِكِتابِهِ المَرقومِ

Or a gray, the parchment sheets of whose hide were inscribed,

which came to battle with its patterned book.

أَو أَبلَقٍ كَالقَدحِ يَحسِبُ أَنَّهُ

قَد قُلَّدَت مِنهُ الوَغى بِبَريمِ

Or a piebald, like an arrowshaft, imagining

that battle has been garlanded with its two-colored braid.

أَو أَدهَمٍ أَرخى الظَلامُ سُدولَهُ

مِنهُ عَلى طِرفٍ أَحَمَّ بَهيمِ

Or a black horse—darkness has let down its curtains

from it over a coal-black, wholly dark steed.

خَيلُ الأَميرِ أَعدَّها فَكِلاهُما

خَلَفٌ مِنَ النُعمانِ وَاليَحمومِ

The prince's horses—he has readied them; both he and they

are successors to al-Nu'man and al-Yahmum.

يا خَيلَ مَولانا أَبيني حالَةً

فَلَقَد خَلَطتِ الظَمرَ بِالتَطهيمِ

O horses of our master, make your condition clear:

you have combined slenderness with full, fine conformation.

أَمَعَ الأَعِنَّةَ تَمرَحينَ تَجاذُباً

وَعَلى الكَتيبَةِ شِدَّةُ التَصميمِ

Do you frolic, tugging against the reins,

yet assault the battalion with fierce resolve?

إِن كُنتِ غِزلانَ الصَريمَةِ فَاِسنَحي

أَو كُنتِ عِقبانَ السَراءِ فَحومي

If you are gazelles of the sandy tract, pass to the right;

or if eagles of the sara trees, circle overhead.

لَمّا اِستَهَل بِها الثُغورَ صَوارِخاً

طَلَعَت طُلوعَ العارِضِ المَركومِ

When he burst upon the frontiers with them, shrill-voiced,

they rose like a massed rain cloud.

تَقَعُ السَنابِكُ بِالصَفا فَتَرى بِهِ

آثارَها كَالطابَعِ المَختومِ

Their hooves strike flint, and upon it you see

their traces like the impression of a seal.

قالَت جُموعُ الرومِ حينَ وَطِئتَهُم

وَيلٌ لِبيضِ رُؤوسِنا المَخطومِ

The Roman hosts said when you trampled them:

Woe to the nose-guarded helmets upon our heads!

فيها بُروقُ المَشرَفِيَّةِ لُمَّعاً

تَعِدُ الكُماةُ بِجَحفَلٍ مَهزومِ

Among them glitter the lightning flashes of Mashrafi swords,

promising the warriors a routed host.

وَالزاعِبِيَّةُ كُلُّ صِلِّ مُطرِقِ

شَرِهٍ لِسَدِّ المُهجَةِ المَكتومِ

And the Za'bi spears—each a cobra with lowered head,

greedy for the hidden reservoir of life-blood.

وَالخافِقاتِ كَأَنَّ أَفئِدَةَ العِدى

أَكسَبنَها الخَفَقانَ بِالتَعليمِ

And the fluttering banners—as though the enemy's hearts

had taught them how to flutter.

وَالمُسرَداتُ مِنَ الدِلاصِ كَأَنَّها

عَرضُ السَلامَةِ رَدَّ لِلتَحسيمِ

And the linked coats of polished mail—as though they were

safety's abstract quality rendered bodily.

وَأَراكَ في الجَيشِ اللَهامِ وَأَهلِهِ

قَلباً يُصانُ بُجُؤجُؤٍ وَحَزيمِ

I see you amid the vast army and its men

as a heart sheltered by breastbone and breast.

وَلَو اِنفَرَدَت مِنَ الفَوارِسِ لِلعِدى

لَهَزَمتَهُم بِالآيِ مِن حاميمِ

Even if you faced the enemy apart from the other horsemen,

you would rout them with the verses of Ha-Mim.

إِنَّ الإِمامَ رَآكَ في أَعمالِهِ

كَالبَدرِ يَسطَعُ لَيلَةَ التَتميمِ

The Imam saw you within his domains

like the full moon shining on the night of its completion.

فَرَمى ظَلامَ الظُلمِ مِنكَ بِنَيِّرٍ

عَدلٍ رَؤوفٍ بِالعِبادِ رَحيمِ

So, through you, he struck injustice's darkness with a luminous one,

just, compassionate toward the people, merciful.

يَقِظٍ نِقابُ ظُنونِهِ كَيَقينِهِ

إِنَّ العُلومَ نَتائِجُ التَرجيمِ

Watchful and discerning, his conjectures are like his certainties:

knowledge is the fruit of conjecture.

باتَ الطُغاةَ عَلى المَضاجِعِ غُفَّلاً

عَمّا يُرادُ وَباتَ غَيرَ نَؤومِ

The tyrants passed the night upon their beds, heedless

of what was intended, while he passed it without slumber.

تأَبى السِياسَةُ أِن يُهَوِّمَ ساعَةً

أَنّى تَحامي المُلكِ بِالتَهويمِ

Statecraft forbids him even an hour of dozing:

how can the realm be defended by dozing?

وَهوَ الحَكيمُ يَزينُهُ سَفَهُ الوَغى

إِنَّ الحَليمَ هُنلاكَ غَيرُ حَليمِ

He is wise; the recklessness of battle adorns him,

for there the forbearing man is not forbearing.

بَشِّر يَتامى المُسلِمينَ بِوالِدٍ

مِنهُ يَحوطُ ذِمارَ كُلِّ يَتيمِ

Give the Muslims' orphans glad tidings of a father

in him, safeguarding every orphan's rights.

وَالمُمحِلاتُ مِنَ البِلادِ بَوابِلٍ

مِن جودِهِ يُحيي الأَنامَ سُجومِ

And give the drought-stricken lands tidings of a downpour

from his generosity, pouring forth to revive mankind.

وَلتُنذِرِ الرومَ الطُغاةَ بِعاصِفٍ

مِن باسِهِ مِثلَ الدَبورِ عَقيمِ

And warn the tyrannical Romans of a storm wind

from his might, barren as the west wind.

ظَنّوا بِهِ قَد زارَهُم مُتَوَشَّحاً

بِنِجادِ عَضبِ الشَفرَتَينِ صَميمِ

They imagined he had come to them, girded

with the baldric of an unflawed, keen double-edged sword,

في عُصبَةِ التَوحيدِ يَقدُمُهُم بِأُب

بَهَةٍ الجَلالِ في حُلى التَكريمِ

amid the company of divine oneness, leading them in

majestic splendor, decked in the ornaments of honor.

يَرتَدُّ طَرفُ العَينِ عَنهُ مَهابَةً

وَيَجِلُّ لَولا الحِلمُ عَن تَكليمِ

The eye's gaze recoils from him in awe,

and, but for his forbearance, he would be too exalted to address.

فَإِذا تَنادَينا بِحَضرَتِهِ رَوَت

عَنّا النُحاةُ غَرائِبَ التَرخيمِ

When we call to one another in his presence,

grammarians recount from us strange instances of clipped vocatives.

وَإِذا رَأَو جَريَ القَضاءِ بِأَمرِهِ

فَهِموا يَقينَ الحَزمِ وَالمَحزومِ

And when they see justice proceeding by his command,

they grasp the certainty of resolve and what is resolved.

كَم ذا أُفَضِّلُ مَدحَهُ وَلَو أَنَّني

كُنتُ اِبنَ صَفوانٍ خَطيبَ تَميمِ

How long shall I extol his praise? Even if I

were Ibn Safwan, the orator of Tamim,

لَعَجِزتُ عَن وَصفِ الأَميرِ وَإِنَّما

يومي الخَديمُ بِمَقصِدٍ مَفهومِ

I would fail to describe the prince; all that

the servant does is gesture toward an understood purpose.

أَجِدُ الثَناءَ عَلَيهِ يَعغدِلُ حَجَّةً

وَعَلى ذَويهِ كَعُمرَةِ التَنعيمِ

I find praising him equal to a pilgrimage,

and praising his kin like an umrah from al-Tan'im.

إِنَّ القَوافي ذو تقِلُّ لِقَدر ِهِ

لِيَقِلُّ عَنها قَدرُ كُلِّ عَظيمِ

Indeed, the rhymes that fall short of his worth—

every great man's worth falls short of theirs.

إن كُنَّ دُراً فَهيَ مِن تَنظيمي

أَو كُنَّ زُهراً فَهيَ مِن تَنجيمي

If they are pearls, they are from my stringing;

or if bright stars, they are from my star-setting.

وَإِذا اِنتَسَبنَ نمينَ أَكَرمَ مَعشَرٍ

مِن آلٍ قَحطانٍ وَأَشرَفِ خيمِ

When they declare their lineage, they trace to the noblest people,

from the house of Qahtan and the noblest character.

صَدَفِيَّةٌ كِندِيَّةٌ تَرعى المُنى

فَلَرُبَّما أَكَلَت مُرارَ سُمومي

Sadafi and Kindi, they nurture hopes,

yet often have tasted the bitterness of my poisons.

دُفِنَت بِأَنقَرَةٍ مَعَ الضَليلِ

فَاِستَخرَجتُها مِن ثَوبِهِ المَسمومِ

They were buried in Ankara with the Errant One,

and I drew them forth from his poisoned robe.

عَرَبِيَّةٌ في بُقعَةٍ عَجَمِيَّةٍ

فَرَّت إِلى صَدري مِنَ التَعجيمِ

Arabic in a non-Arabic land,

they fled into my breast from being made foreign.

فَمَنِ اِدَّعى السِحرَ الحَرامَ فَإِنَّني

بِحَلالِ هَذا السِحرِ حَقُّ زَعيمِ

Whoever lays claim to forbidden magic—surely I

am a true master of this magic's lawful kind.

وَإِلى أَبي إِسحاقَ مَولانا الرِضى

يا نَفسُ أُمّي جَلَّ مِن مَأمومِ

And toward Abu Ishaq, our master al-Rida,

turn, my soul—how exalted a one to seek!

وَخُذي أَماناً مِن زَمانِكِ عِندَهُ

فَلَقَد أَجازَ عَلَيكِ حُكمُ ظَلومِ

And obtain safety from your age in his presence,

for an oppressor's judgment has passed against you.

مَن مُبلِغٌ عَنّي الخُطوبَ بِأَنَّني

آوي لِرُكنٍ لَيسَ بِالمَهدومِ

Who will tell misfortunes on my behalf that I

take shelter in a support that cannot be torn down?

فاتَ الغِنى كَفّي فَكَم مِن حاسِدٍ

فَرِحٍ وَكِم مِن صاحِبٍ مَهمومِ

Wealth eluded my hand—how many an envier

rejoiced, and how many a friend was distressed!

فَطَلَبتُ جَدواهُ لِيَحدِقَني غِنىً

سَيّانَ فيهِ حاسِدي وَحَميمي

So I sought his bounty, that wealth might surround me,

my envier and my close friend being equal in it.

وَرَجَوتُ خِدمَتَهُ لِيَخدِمَني الوَرى

فَأفوزَ بِاِسمِ الخادِمِ المَخدومِ

And I hoped to serve him so that mankind might serve me,

and I might win the title of the servant who is served.