هكذا يسعى لذكر يخلد — Mahmoud Qabadu

هَكَذا يُسعى لذكرٍ يخلدُ

وَفعالٍ نفعُهُ لا ينفدُ

Thus one strives for remembrance that endures,

and deeds whose benefit never runs out.

لَيسَ كلٌّ يُحرزُ الخصلَ ولا

كلُّ مستهدٍ لقصدٍ يرشدُ

Not everyone wins the prize, nor

does every seeker find the way to a goal.

إنّ لِلدهرِ صُروفا تَصرفُ ال

عزمَ أو تصرمُ ما يعتمدُ

Time indeed has turns that deflect

resolve, or sever what one relies upon.

ما تَأتّى لاِمرئٍ مطلبهُ

دونَ توفيقٍ وعونٍ ينجدُ

No person's goal is attained

without divine favor and aid that comes to the rescue.

كَم حريص يُحرم القصدَ وكم

مُتوانٍ بِمُناه يسعدُ

How many an eager striver is denied his goal, and how many

a laggard is blessed with his desires!

إنّ مَن كانَ الغِنى غايتهُ

مِن حياةٍ هو فيها مجهدُ

Indeed, for one whose aim is wealth

in a life in which he is worn out,

غَيرُ خافٍ أنّه الأحرى بهِ

صرفُ ما ينفدُ في ما يخلدُ

it is plain that what best befits him

is to spend what perishes on what endures.

أي ولا خيَر ولا أَبقى من ال

عَملِ الصالحِ ذخراً يعتدُ

Indeed, nothing is better or more lasting than

righteous action as a treasure to be counted on.

هوَ في الدارينِ للآتي به

مثلُ فلكٍ حلّه أرفخشدُ

For the one who brings it, in both abodes,

it is like the ark where Arpachshad dwelt.

ثمّ إنّ الأحمدَ الأرضى إلى ال

لهُ منهُ ما إليه يصمدُ

Then the most praiseworthy and most pleasing to

God among such deeds is what one turns toward:

ذلكَ العلمُ الّذي ورّثتِ الر

رسلُ أصحاباً هَدوا لما هُدوا

that knowledge which was bequeathed by the

messengers to companions, who guided others as they were guided.

نَظّرَ اللّه اِمرأً يحفظهُ

وَيؤدّيه لِمن يسترشدُ

May God make radiant a man who preserves it

and conveys it to whoever seeks guidance.

دَعوةُ المختارِ لا تبرحُ في

حافِظي السنّة عنه تشهدُ

The Chosen One's blessing lives on among

those preserving his Sunna, bearing witness.

يا لَها مِن خطّة فائقةٍ

خِنصرُ الفخرِ عليها يعقدُ

What an outstanding calling it is!

Pride bends its little finger to count it first.

هي أَنفاسٌ نفيساتٌ عن ال

مُصطفى آثرُهُنّ السندُ

They are precious breaths from the

Chosen One, conveyed by the chain of transmission.

تَرجَمت عَن حضرةِ اللّه وعن

دينهِ فهيَ الهدى والرشدُ

They tell of God's august presence and of

His religion; they are guidance and right direction.

سُننٌ ما ظلّ مَن يَسلكها

وَسِواها ضلّةٌ أو فندُ

Ways whose follower never strays,

while anything apart from them is error or folly.

بَيّنت ما أنزَلَ اللّه لَنا

مِن كتابٍ فيضهُ لا ينفدُ

They explained what God revealed to us

of a Scripture whose abundance never runs out.

فَصلاحُ الدينِ والدّنيا مدى الد

دهرِ محويٌّ بِها مطّردُ

So the welfare of religion and worldly life throughout

time is contained in them, unbroken.

يا رَعَى اللّه رِجالاً ضَربوا

أَكبدَ العيسِ لَها وَاِجتَهدوا

Ah, may God protect the men who struck

pale camels' flanks in their pursuit, and strove.

بَذَلوا الأنفسَ في تَحصيلِها

وَاِقتَفَوا آثارَها وَاِنتَقَدوا

They gave their very selves to acquiring them,

followed their traces, and critically examined them.

حَمَلوها خلفاً عن سلفٍ

وَنَفَوا عَنها غلاةً ألحدوا

They carried them, successors receiving from predecessors,

and expelled from them extremists who had deviated.

كلّهم مجرٍ بِمضمارٍ مجل

ليهِ ذاكَ الأصبحيّ الأوحدُ

All race upon a course whose front-runner

is that peerless al-Asbahi:

حجّةُ اللّهِ عَلى الخلقِ ومن

لَيسَ يَفري ما فراه أحدُ

God's proof against creation, and one

whose achievements no one else can match.

مالكُ بنُ أنسِ بنِ مالك ب

نِ أَبي عامر المجتهدُ

Malik son of Anas, son of Malik, son

of Abu Amir—the discerning jurist.

نَجمُ دارِ الهجرةِ الطالعُ في

أُفقها ستّينَ عاماً يُرشدُ

The star of the Abode of Emigration, rising on

its horizon, guiding for sixty years.

مُفتياً لم يُفتِ إلّا وله

نَحو سبعينَ إِماماً يشهدُ

As a mufti, he gave no rulings until

some seventy imams bore witness for him,

بَعدما درسَ عشراً بينهم

مُذ عَدا سبعاً وعشراً تسردُ

after he had studied ten years among them,

since passing seven and ten, counted in succession.

وطّأ اللّهُ لَه سُبلَ الهُدى

في مُوطّاهُ الصحيحُ الأفيدُ

God smoothed the paths of guidance for him

in his Muwatta, sound and most beneficial.

لَم يؤلّف مِثلهُ في ملّةٍ

فهوَ القدوةُ والمعتمدُ

No like of it has been compiled in any faith;

it is the model and the authority.

مِن زُها مئة ألف مُنتقى

مِن أَحاديث لِطه تسندُ

Chosen from some hundred thousand

traditions traced back to Taha,

أَربعينَ سنةً يخلصه

وَإِلى الأمثلِ دينا يقصدُ

he refined it for forty years,

seeking the most exemplary in religion.

ثمّ لمّا أَن تَناهى اِمتحنَ الن

نَفسَ هَل مَقصدها منه الغدُ

Then, when it was complete, he tested

his soul: did it seek through this the morrow?

فَغَدا يُلقي إِلى الماءِ به

وَهوَ لا تبتلُّ منه بلدُ

So he began casting it into the water,

yet no part of it grew wet.

وَلَقد حاكى لداتٌ صنعهُ

فَكأن قَد ولَّدوا ما وُلِّدوا

His contemporaries indeed imitated his work,

as though what they brought to birth had never been born.

وَكَفى قولُ اِبن إدريسَ ثنا

وَهوَ مَن لا لجزافٍ يعمدُ

Ibn Idris's words suffice as praise—

he is not one to resort to reckless claims:

ما عَلى الأرضِ كتابٌ هو أد

نَى إِلَى القرآن منه يعهدُ

There is no book on earth that is

known to be nearer to the Quran than it.

فَتَرى الفُرقان قطباً راسخاً

وَهوَ في الدورِ عليه فرقدُ

You see the Criterion as a steadfast pole,

and this, in its orbit, as a Farqad star.

لَيسَ بِالغالي لِذي الدينِ ولو

ملء دُنياهُ عليهِ ينقدُ

For a man of faith it is not too costly, even if

he pays for it all his world contains.

فَهوَ أَجدى مِن تفاريقِ العصا

كَالفرا في جوفهِ ما يقصدُ

It is more useful than the fragments of a staff;

like the wild ass, its belly holds all one seeks.

وَهوَ للعائذِ حصنٌ مانع

وَهوَ للعالمِ بحرٌ مزبدُ

For one seeking refuge, it is a protective fortress;

for the scholar, it is a foaming sea.

وَهو في توطئةٍ مثل اِسمهِ

يَسهلُ الحزنُ به أو يمهدُ

In smoothing the way, it lives up to its name:

through it rough ground grows easy, or is leveled.

منهُ ما شاعَ لذاتِ الطلقِ إن

نَشرتهُ إِذ بيسرٍ تلدُ

It is said of it that a woman in labor, if

she opens it out, will give birth with ease.

فَاِصرف العزمَ إِلى تحصيلهِ

إنّه العلقُ النفيسُ الأفيدُ

So direct your resolve toward acquiring it;

it is a precious treasure, most beneficial.

أَقنهِ يَحرسكَ أنفقهُ يَزِد

كَ وَما تَرجوه منه صددُ

Treasure it: it guards you; spend it: it enriches

you; what you hope to gain from it is within reach.

وَتعلّم أنّه قَد أكثبَت

نُهزةٌ فيه لمن يرتصدُ

And know that there has drawn near

an opportunity in it for whoever lies in wait.

جُلّيت منهُ مجلّاتٌ كما

تُجتلى البيضُ الحسانُ الخرّدُ

Volumes of it have been unveiled, as

fair-skinned, lovely, bashful maidens are unveiled:

مُرخصاتُ المهرِ مغلاتُ الحلى

شقَّ عنها أبلمات محتدُ

low in dowry, costly in adornment.

Their source has split their palm-leaf coverings open.

فَهيَ منهُ كالصدى من صائتٍ

أو مثالٍ بمزايا يشهدُ

Thus they are to it as an echo from a voice,

or a likeness bearing witness to its excellences.

وطّأ اليومَ الموطّا مطبعٌ

فيهِ مِن مُنشيه طبعٌ سددُ

Today a press has smoothed the way for the Muwatta;

in it lies its founder's sound imprint.

قَد جلاهُ الملكُ الصادقُ في

لبّة التمدينِ عقداً ينضدُ

King al-Sadiq has displayed it upon

civilization's throat, a necklace strung in order.

مَلكٌ دولتهُ ما غادَرت

في رَعاياها فتىً لا يحسدُ

A king whose state has left

no young man among its subjects who is not envied.

أَيقظت في رَعيهم أَعيُنها

وَأَنامَت كلّ عينٍ تسهدُ

It kept its eyes awake to care for them,

and put to sleep every sleepless eye.

دَولةٌ جدّدتِ العمرانَ بال

علمِ وَالعدلِ فَلِم لا تسعدُ

A state that renewed civilization through

knowledge and justice—why should it not prosper?

لَم تَزل خَضراؤُنا تَحيى بِها

مِثل ما يَحيى بروحٍ جسدُ

Our green land has never ceased to live through it,

just as a body lives through a soul.

خَلّدَ اللّه لها صادقها

وكَفاهُ أَمره قَد أيّدوا

May God make its Sadiq endure forever,

and suffice him in his affairs; they have indeed been upheld.

إِنّ في طبعِ الموطّا شاهداً

لِمزاياهُ وفخراً يخلدُ

Indeed, printing the Muwatta bears witness

to his excellences, and brings enduring glory.

أيّها الناسُ لَقد أَصفى لَكُم

وِردهُ فَاِستَبِقوه واِحمدوا

O people, he has surely purified for you

its draught; race to it and give thanks.

وَلتدروا ساعةَ الإتمامِ مِن

أيِّ يوم شهر عام فَاِنشُدوا

And to learn the hour of completion, on

which day, month, and year, recite:

أرّخوا عصرَ الخميسِ أرّخوا

طابَ ختماً للموطّا المولدُ

Record the date: Thursday afternoon—record the date:

The Mawlid was a happy seal upon the Muwatta.