الدهر حرب بالرزايا الفجع — Mahmoud Qabadu

الدهرُ حربٌ بالرزايا الفجّعِ

وَبنوهُ نهبٌ لِلمنايا الشرّعِ

Time is a war of grievous calamities;

and its children are prey to deaths poised to strike.

وَنوائبُ الأيّامِ لا تنبو ولا

تَكبو وَليسَ وراءها من مفزعِ

The days' misfortunes neither miss their mark nor

stumble; there is no refuge beyond them.

تُخني تخونُ تمينُ تمني لا تفي

تُغري تغرُّ تبيحُ كلّ ممنّعِ

They destroy, betray, lie, offer hopes, and never keep faith;

they entice, deceive, and throw open all that is impregnable.

إِن كانَتِ الأيّامُ أعماراً لنا

فَبَقاؤُنا لتحسّر وتوقّعِ

If the days are our allotted lifespans,

then we live on in regret and apprehension.

جورُ الزمانِ معَ الحياةِ وعدلهِ

في الموتِ قاضٍ باِختيار المصرعِ

Time's injustice in life, and its justice

in death, call for choosing death.

وَيحَ النفوسِ قد اِبتلاها ربّها

حيثُ اِدّعت وكذاكَ شأنُ المدّعي

Alas for souls! Their Lord has tested them

when they made claims—and such is the claimant's lot.

رُدّت لأسفلَ سافِلين طبيعةً

وَهَوىً وَكانَت في المقامِ الأرفعِ

They were cast down to the lowest of the low in nature

and desire, though they had held the highest station.

فُطِرَت عَلى التنزيهِ ثمّ تورّطت

بمضائقِ التشبيهِ لو لم تدّعِ

They were fashioned for transcendence, then became entangled

in the straits of likeness—if only they had not made claims!

عَمِيَت مسالكَها وَلو لم تغترب

كانَت أدلّ منَ القطا للمهيعِ

They lost sight of their paths; had they not become estranged,

they would have found the open road more surely than sandgrouse.

وأشدُّ ما بُلِيَت بِه فقدانها

أهلَ العلومِ وكلّ فذّ أروعِ

The harshest trial they have suffered is losing

people of learning and every peerless, splendid man,

كالعالمِ العلّامةِ الفهامةِ ال

برّ التقي الماجد المتورّعِ

like the scholar, the great savant, the master of understanding,

the righteous, devout, noble, scrupulous man;

صدرِ الشريعةِ تُرجمان لسانها ال

بحرِ المحيط بدرها المتنوّعِ

foremost in sacred law, interpreter of its tongue,

the encompassing ocean, its many-faceted full moon;

مُغني اللّبيبِ عنِ الكتابِ مفصّل ال

جُمل اللبابِ بكلّ معنى مبدعِ

who makes the discerning need no book, expounder of

the choicest sentences, with every original meaning;

كشّافِ أسرارِ البلاغةِ قطبِ أف

لاكِ المعارفِ والعلوم النفّعِ

unveiler of eloquence's secrets, axis of the

spheres of learning and beneficial sciences.

ظَفِرت يدُ الأيّامِ منهُ بماجدٍ

حبرٍ سريٍّ أريحيٍّ أَلمعي

The hand of the days seized in him a noble man,

a learned master, noble, generous, and discerning.

عَضّتهُ آسفةً عليه كأنّما

عَضّت بنانَ النادمِ المسترجعِ

It bit him, grieving for him, as though

it bit the fingertips of one remorseful, wishing to reclaim.

جادَت بهِ واِستَرجَعته وربّما

جادَ البخيلُ لخشية أو مطمعِ

It gave him generously and reclaimed him; sometimes

a miser gives from fear or hope of gain.

كانَ الطويلَ ذراعُهُ العالي الذرى

فَاِستَنزلته إِلى ثلاثة أذرعِ

He was long of arm, lofty of summit;

then it brought him down to three cubits.

فَاِستَأنست منهُ القبور وَأَوحشت

منهُ المساجدُ ذات تفجّعِ

The graves found companionship in him; desolation fell

on the mosques through his loss, grief-stricken.

يا دَهرُ مَن للعلمِ من لِلفضائلِ

أَبقيتَ بعدَ نضوبِ ذاك المشرعِ

O Time, whom for learning, whom for virtue

have you left after that watering-place ran dry?

عاجَلتَنا وَعثيتَ فينا فاِتّئدِ

هَل بَعد مصرع بيرم من مصرعِ

You struck us suddenly and ravaged us; slow down!

What death is there after Bayram's death?

جُرثومةُ المجدِ الأثيلِ ودوحَة ال

أصل الأصيل هوت بريح زعزع

The rootstock of ancient glory and the great tree of

noble lineage have fallen before a tempestuous wind.

للّه ما أَورى الترابُ وَما حوى

مِن سؤددٍ ومكارمٍ في بلقعِ

By God, what the earth has hidden and enclosed

of eminence and noble virtues in a barren waste!

وَمهابةٍ ملءَ القلوبِ ونضرةٍ

ملءَ العيونِ وطرفة للمسمعِ

And majesty filling hearts, and radiance

filling eyes, and a marvel for the ear!

يا قَبرُ أنتَ الآنَ روضةُ جنّةٍ

مَن مرّ حولكَ فليزر وليرتعِ

O grave, you are now a garden of paradise;

whoever passes near you, let him visit and enjoy your pasture.

يا قبرُ إنّكَ قَد سُقيتَ بوجههِ

فَاِشكرهُ وَاِستبشر بهِ وتوسّعِ

O grave, you have been watered by his face;

so thank him, rejoice in him, and grow spacious.

يا قبرُ كيفَ سعدتَ أنتَ بقربهِ

دونَ البقاعِ فكنتَ أكرم موضعِ

O grave, how were you blessed with his nearness

above all other places, becoming the noblest site?

يا قبرُ أيُّ وديعةٍ أودعتها

فَكن الأمينَ وخف من المستودعِ

O grave, what a trust has been entrusted to you!

So be faithful, and fear the one who entrusted it.

يا قبرُ تفترشُ الترابَ لجنبهِ

وَلخدّهِ أخشِن به من مضجعِ

O grave, you spread the earth beneath his side

and his cheek—how rough a resting-place it is!

يا قَبرُ لا تبلغ إِليه مُصابنا

فَتروعُه قَد كان غير مروّعِ

O grave, do not convey our affliction to him,

lest you alarm him: he was never daunted.

يا قبرُ مَن للمُعضلات فليلُها

داجٍ وبدرُ كمالهِ لم يطلعِ

O grave, who will face difficult questions? Their night

is dark, and the full moon of his perfection has not risen.

يا قبرُ إنّك إن طَويتَ علومهُ

لَم تطوِ نشرَ ثنائه المتضوّعِ

O grave, if you have folded away his learning,

you have not folded away the fragrant spread of his praise.

يا أيّها الجبلُ المنيفُ بقربهِ

طاوِل بهِ ما شئتَ تعلُ ويخضعِ

O mountain, exalted by his nearness,

through him, rival whatever you will in height: you rise, it bows.

ناهيكَ مِن علمٍ عَلى علم ومن

شمسٍ مناظرةٍ لقطب أرفعِ

What an eminent figure upon a mountain, and what

a sun vying with a still loftier pole!

يا أيّها الناعية دونكَ درّةً

شنّف بِها آذان أهلِ المجمعِ

O herald of death, take this pearl;

adorn with it the ears of those assembled:

بَيتاً يقالُ لِسامعيه تأمّلوا

كَم مِن خبايا في الزوايا الأربعِ

a verse whose hearers are told, 'Reflect:

how many hidden things lie in its four corners!'

يَحوي بنصفيهِ ومهملهِ ومع

جَمِهِ منَ التاريخِ أيّ مصنّعِ

It holds, in its two halves, its undotted and its

dotted letters, a wondrous feat of dating.

مَثواكَ بيرمُ في ربيع الأوّل

روضٌ مِنَ الجنّات أنكه مربعِ

Your resting-place, Bayram, in Rabiʿ al-Awwal,

is a garden of paradise, the sweetest-scented pasture.

زُفّت إليكَ عرائسُ البشرى برض

وانِ المهيمن في حِماه الأرفعِ

The brides of glad tidings were led to you with

the Guardian's approval, in His loftiest sanctuary.

وَوَضعتَ عَن كتفيك أعباءَ الأما

نَةِ غَير مشتطٍّ وغير مضيّعِ

And you laid down from your shoulders the burdens of

the trust, neither overreaching nor neglectful.

نَبكي فراقكَ عالمينَ بأنّه

عودٌ إِلى الوطنِ الرحيبِ الأوسعِ

We weep at parting from you, knowing it is

a return to the spacious, vast homeland.

فَاِذهَب حميداً مطمئنّ النفسِ مر

ضيّاً لربّك راضياً بالمرجعِ

Go, then, praiseworthy, with your soul at peace,

pleasing to your Lord, content with your return.

خَلّفتَ فينا مكرماتٍ قَد هَوى

عَنها الرواقُ كأنّه لم يرفعِ

You left noble virtues among us; down has fallen

their canopy, as though it had never been raised.

لا بَل ترَكت لها عماداً قائماً

يَسمو بِها فكأنّما لم تخضعِ

No—rather, you left them a standing pillar,

which lifts them high, as though they had never bowed.

فَرعٌ لِدوحةِ مجدكَ السامي إذا

نَزعَت به تلك السجايا ينزعِ

A branch of the great tree of your lofty glory—when

those innate qualities impel him, he strives onward.

قَد قامَ وَالأحزانُ تقصده لها

إِذ لاتَ حينَ تحزُّن وتوجعِ

He has risen to uphold them, though sorrows assail him,

for this is no time for grieving and suffering.

مَهلاً أَبا عبدِ الإله فَلست في

هَذا المصابِ بأوحد لم تشفعِ

Gently, Abu ʿAbd al-Ilah, for you are not, in

this calamity, alone and unaccompanied.

إِنّا رُزِئنا ما عَلِمت وَما لها

أَحدٌ سِواك فقم بقلبٍ أطمعِ

We have suffered the loss you know, and they have

no one but you; rise, then, with a more hopeful heart.

وَلَقد رَأَيناك الحريَّ بِنيلها

رأيَ الفراسةِ قبلَ فطم المرضعِ

We have indeed seen you worthy of attaining them,

with discerning vision, before the suckling was weaned.

أوتيتَ أَجر الصابرينَ وحزت فض

لَ الشاكرين فقرّ عيناً واِهجعِ

You received the reward of the patient, and won the

favor of the grateful: let your eyes find comfort, and sleep.

فلما علمت على التجمّل باعث

فَاِستفتِ نفسكَ في عزائك واِسمعِ

For in what you know lies a spur to composure;

so seek your soul's ruling on your consolation, and listen:

بَيتانِ خيرُهما الأخيرُ توارداً

إِذ قيلَ نجمٌ قَد هَوى في موقعِ

Two verses came forth; the better was the later,

when it was said, 'A star has fallen in its place,'

وَسَما إِلى الفُتيا محمّد بيرم

خلفاً لِوالدهِ رصيد المنزعِ

and Muhammad Bayram rose to the office of mufti,

succeeding his father, watchful in his course.

فيهِ تجدّ للسرورِ معاهدٌ

وَيكونُ للأحزان حسن المقطعِ

In him, the haunts of joy are renewed,

and sorrows will find a graceful ending.