بشرى الورى بالأمن بعد مخاف — Ibrahim Riahi

بُشْرَى الورى بِالأَمْنِ بعد مَخَافِ

وقفوا به في موقف الأعراف

Glad tidings to humankind of safety after fear,

That left them standing at the station of the Heights.

قرّت به عين الهُدَى أمّا الهوى

فَلِحُزْنِه حزنت بنو الإِرجاف

Guidance's eye was gladdened by him; as for desire,

So at its grief, the sons of alarm-mongering grieved.

أغفت جُفون الرّشد ثم تنبّهت

بلطائِفٍ قد كُنّ تحت سجاف

The eyelids of sound judgment slumbered, then awoke

Through subtle graces that had lain behind a veil.

ما صحّ لولا ذاك في حقّ امرئٍ

رؤيا سليمانٍ بعين خلاف

But for that, it could not have held true in any man's case:

A vision of Sulayman through an eye of opposition.

وهُوَ الذي عمّ البريَّةَ فضلُه

فأحاط بالدّنيا إحاطةَ قاف

And he it is whose bounty embraced creation,

Encompassing the world as Qaf encompasses it.

والدّين في عِزٍّ به والنّاس من

بركاته في جنّةٍ أَلْفَافِ

Religion is mighty through him, and the people, through

His blessings, dwell in a densely wooded garden.

قُلْ للمغارب هل جهلتِ كمالَه

وكمالُه في الكون ليس بِخَافِ

Say to the western lands: were you unaware of his perfection,

Though his perfection is not hidden in creation?

أَضْحَكْتِ سِنَّ الشّرق إِذْ أَبْكَيْتِ في

ما قد أتيتِ مدامعَ الإِنصاف

You made the East smile, even as you made weep,

Through what you had done, the eyes of fairness.

رُمتِ القياسَ بغيرِ معنى جامعٍ

وغرستِ لاستثمار غُصْنِ خلاف

You sought an analogy without a shared ground,

And planted a willow branch to harvest fruit.

فأتيتِ بِالخطإ الذي لا يُرْتَضَى

حتّى لأحمقَ في المدارك جاف

Thus you committed an error that cannot be approved,

Not even for a fool of barren understanding.

إنّ الكواكبَ في السّماء كثيرةٌ

لكنْ ذُكاءُ فريدةُ الأوصاف

The stars in heaven are many,

Yet Dhuka, the sun, is peerless in her qualities.

وكذلك الأشراف كلٌّ جوهرٌ

وأبو الرّبيع فريدة الأصداف

Likewise, the nobles are each a jewel,

And Abu al-Rabi is the unrivaled pearl among shells.

أَنَقِمْتُمُ منه التُّقى فسئمتمُ

نِعَماً سَوابِغَ سُتْرُهُنّ ضواف

Did you resent his piety, and so tire of

Bountiful blessings whose sheltering veils spread wide?

أَمْ علمَه أم حلمَه أَمْ عدلَه

أَمْ وَكْفَ كَفِّ يَمِينِهِ المِتْلاَفِ

Or his learning, his forbearance, or his justice,

Or the downpour from the palm of his lavish right hand?

أم رُمْتُمُ بطراً وكم من قرية

بَطِرَتْ فَجُرَّ بها إلى الإتلاف

Or did you seek wantonness? How many a town

Grew insolent, and was dragged thereby to destruction!

فنقضتمُ العهدَ الذي قد أَوْثَقَتْ

كفُّ الشّريعة في يد الأسلاف

You broke the covenant that had been bound fast

By the hand of sacred law in the hand of the forebears.

ونسِيتمُ يومَ الولاية وهو في

كَرْهٍ لها والقوم في إلحافِ

You forgot the day of his accession, when he was

Reluctant to accept it, while the people pleaded insistently.

لم يَرْضَهَا لولا صلاحٌ رامَه

وتَضَرُّعُ العلماءِ والأشرافِ

He would not have accepted it but for the good he sought

And the entreaties of scholars and nobles.

حتّى إذا استولى كما شاء الهُدى

وبَشِمْتُمُ بِالْبِرِّ والألطاف

Then, when he took power as guidance willed,

And you were glutted with goodness and gentle favors,

قلتم نخالفه وأيّ فضيلة

في منهلٍ عذبِ الموارِدِ صاف

You said, 'We will oppose him—and what virtue is there

In a watering place with waters sweet and clear?'

لم يُرْضِني والعالَمين بأسْرهم

إدٌّ أَتَيْتُمْ للرّشاد مُنَافِ

It pleased neither me nor all the worlds together—

The enormity you committed, contrary to right guidance.

تستوجبون بذاك لولا حِلْمُهُ

ما اسْتَوْجَبَتْهُ الْقَوْمُ بالأحقاف

For that, but for his forbearance, you would deserve

What the people of al-Ahqaf deserved.

لكن عفا والعفوُ منه سَجِيَّةٌ

وأتى بِصَفْحٍ وافرٍ وعفافِ

But he pardoned; forgiveness is his nature,

And showed abundant clemency and restraint.

لم يلتفت لنفاذ قدرته التي

بالنّون مدّ مديدها والكاف

He did not resort to the full force of his power,

Whose long reach was extended through Nun and Kaf.

لو شاء قَهْرَ عَدُوِّهِ لم يفتقر

لقعاقع الأرماح والأسياف

Had he wished to subdue his enemy, he would not have needed

The clatter of spears and swords;

وأُمِدَّ من جند السّماء وراثةً

من جدّه المختارِ بالآلاف

And would have been reinforced by heaven's hosts, an inheritance

From his forefather, the Chosen One, in their thousands.

لكنّ طَوْدَ ثَبَاتِه لم يهتزز

بعواصفٍ من غيّهم أصناف

Yet the mountain of his steadfastness did not tremble

At storms of every kind arising from their waywardness.

ورعى حقوقَ اللّهِ والأرحامِ في

قَوْمٍ زعانفَ للضّلالِ خِفاف

He honored God's rights and the bonds of kinship among

A rabble swift to embrace error.

كرهوا الهدى والحقَّ لمّا جاءهم

جَنَفاً إلى الإِهمال والإِسراف

They hated guidance and truth when it came to them,

Inclining toward neglect and excess.

ولوِ انَّمَا اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَى أهواءهم

جاؤوا بِسُمٍّ للأنام زُعافِ

Had guidance merely followed their desires,

They would have brought humankind a deadly poison.

يا خاتَمَ الخلفاءِ لا تَحْفِلْ بهم

واصْدَعْ بأمر اللّه صدعَ مُصَافِ

O seal of the caliphs, pay them no heed,

And proclaim God's command with a loyal friend's sincerity.

واصْبِرْ كما صَبَرَ الهُدَاةُ فإنّها

مِحَنٌ يَلِدْن مَنَائِحَ الإِتحاف

And be patient as the guides were patient, for these are

Trials that give birth to gifts of gracious favor.

فاللّه حسبُك والذين استيقنوا

فتصامَمُوا عن ناعقِ استخفاف

God is enough for you, and those firm in certainty,

Who have turned deaf ears to the croaker of contempt.

واحْلُمْ على المولى السّعيدِ فإنه

بَرُّ البُنُوَّةِ صادق الإِسعاف

Be forbearing toward Lord al-Sa'id, for he is

Dutiful in sonship, sincere in giving aid.

أنت اليزيدُ وإن يقولوا عمُّه

والابنُ قد يَهْفُو وليس بجاف

You are al-Yazid, though they call you his uncle;

A son may falter without being unloving.

مثل اليزيدِ هفا فجاء بصارفٍ

في فيه للسّلطان ذا استعطافِ

One like al-Yazid erred, then came with a means to avert wrath,

In his mouth, seeking the sultan's compassion.

فَأَنَالَهُ بالحلم واسعَ عطفه

عطفَ الأُبّوَّةِ سابغَ الأعطاف

So, with forbearance, he granted him his ample affection,

A father's affection, its folds spreading wide.

لا تَيْأسِ الْقُرْبَى حَنَانَكَ بعدما

فاضت سحائبُها على الأطراف

Let your kin not despair of your tenderness, after

Its clouds have overflowed upon the farthest reaches.

إنّ السّعيدَ مُبَرَّأ لكنّها

أطماعُ قَوْمٍ مُسْنِتِينَ عجافِ

Al-Sa'id is innocent; rather, these are

The ambitions of famine-stricken, gaunt men.

ما هَمُّهم نَصْرٌ له لكنّهم

نَصَروا سَخَائِمَ في النّفوس خوافِ

Their concern was not to support him; instead,

They championed grudges hidden in their souls.

مَنَّتْهُمُ الأحلامُ أَنْ سَيَنَالُهُمْ

عِزٌّ لأنَّهُمُ ذو سفساف

Their dreams promised them that they would gain

Glory—for they are men of baseness.

فاستيْقظوا من نومهم في خَيبةٍ

وندامةٍ ممتدّةِ الآساف

Then they awoke from their slumber to disappointment

And remorse with sorrows stretching on.

ولهم إذا انكشف الغطا يومَ اللّقا

خِزْيٌ بأنواع المكاره واف

Theirs, when the veil is lifted on the day of meeting,

Will be disgrace, replete with every kind of suffering.

ولك الثّناءُ مخلّداً في هذه

والفتح والنّصر العزيز مُوَافِ

Yours is everlasting praise in this life,

And conquest and mighty victory will come.

أمّا بتلك فلا تُرَعْ بل دُمْ لَنَا

فلك الهنا بنهاية الأزلافِ

As for the next life, fear not; rather, remain among us:

Bliss is yours in the utmost nearness.

يا من إذا تُلِيَتْ محاسنُ مَدْحِهِ

طَرِب النّهى من كأسها بسُلاف

O you whose beautiful praises, when recited,

Delight reason with pure wine from their cup!

ومتى يَرُمْ مُثْنٍ عليك بلوغَه

في الأرض قال له المديح أُنَا فِي

Whenever one praising you seeks to attain such praise

On earth, praise tells him, 'I am in...'

دامت حياتُك للقلوب مسرّةً

واللّه جلّ بنصره لك كاف

May your life remain a joy to hearts,

And God, exalted is He, suffices you with His aid.

خُذْها جِناناً في جَنانِ أجلّةٍ

ولها لهيبٌ في قلوبِ سخافِ

Receive it as gardens in the hearts of the eminent;

Yet it burns in the hearts of fools.

قَصُرَتْ نِبالي أن تُناضٍلَ دُونَكُمْ

فَبَرَيْتُ من نَبْع الجدال قَوافِ

My arrows fell short of fighting in your defense,

So I whittled rhymes from the bow-wood of debate.

ترمي العُدَاةَ بكلّ معنىً مُصْعِقٍ

وبكلّ لفظ مُبْرِقٍ خَطَّافِ

They strike the foes with every thunder-stunning thought,

And every flashing, snatching word.

شكراً لأَِنْعُمِكَ التي أَسْبَغْتَهَا

ولوَ انّهُ لِعُلاَك غَيْرُ مُكَافِي

In gratitude for the favors you have lavished,

Though it is no adequate recompense for your exalted rank.

أُهْدِي إليك تحيَّةً عِطْرِيَّةً

تغشى منازلَ آلِ عبدِ مَنَافِ

I offer you a fragrant greeting

That envelops the dwellings of the house of Abd Manaf,

بعد اختصاص المصطفى بصفّيها

وَتَعُمُّ نَشْراً كلَّ من هو قافِ

After singling out the Chosen One for its purest share,

And spreads its fragrance over all who follow.