جاءَ نَيروزُنا وَأَنتَ مُرادُه

جاءَ نَيروزُنا وَأَنتَ مُرادُه

وَوَرَت بِالَّذي أَرادَ زِنادُه

وَوَرَت بِالَّذي أَرادَ زِنادُه

Our Nowruz has come, and you are its aim.

Our New Year came while you were its purpose,

Our Nowruz comes, and you are its intent, / Through your desire its kindling sparks were sent.

And its fire-sticks sparked with what it desired.

And it turned out as its maker had wanted.

This glance it won from you, so brief and dear, / Shall be its store to last the coming year.

هَذِهِ النَظرَةُ الَّتي نالَها مِنـ

هَذِهِ النَظرَةُ الَّتي نالَها مِنـ

ـكَ إِلى مِثلِها مِنَ الحَولِ زادُه

ـكَ إِلى مِثلِها مِنَ الحَولِ زادُه

This glance that it has gained from

This glance you gave me equals

It turns from you as daylight starts to fade, / An eye wherein you are the sight and shade.

you is its provision until another like it a year hence.

Any other in a whole year for him.

Here in the Persian lands we taste delight, / This very morning is its birth and light.

يَنثَني عَنكَ آخِرَ اليَومِ مِنهُ

يَنثَني عَنكَ آخِرَ اليَومِ مِنهُ

ناظِرٌ أَنتَ طَرفُهُ وَرُقادُه

ناظِرٌ أَنتَ طَرفُهُ وَرُقادُه

At day's end, there turns away from you

At the end of the day one who looks at you turns away.

The Persian realms have magnified this day, / Till all the year looks on with jealous sway.

its watcher, whose waking sight and sleep are you.

You are the apple of his eye and his rest.

We did not don our wreaths of floral bands, / Till hills and valleys wore them in these lands.

نَحنُ في أَرضِ فارِسٍ في سُرورٍ

نَحنُ في أَرضِ فارِسٍ في سُرورٍ

ذا الصَباحُ الَّذي نَرى ميلادُه

ذا الصَباحُ الَّذي نَرى ميلادُه

We are in the land of Persia, rejoicing

We are in the land of Persia in delight

Before a lord whom Khosrau cannot peer— / Nor Sasan's line—in power or in sphere.

this morning, whose birth we behold.

On the morn whose birth we witness.

An Arab tongue, a wise philosopher's mind, / Yet in his feasts the Persian style we find.

عَظَّمَتهُ مَمالِكُ الفُرسِ حَتّى

عَظَّمَتهُ مَمالِكُ الفُرسِ حَتّى

كُلُّ أَيّامِ عامِهِ حُسّادُه

كُلُّ أَيّامِ عامِهِ حُسّادُه

The kingdoms of Persia so exalted it

The Persian kingdoms magnified it so much

When one gift cries, "I am extravagance!" / Another claims, "Nay, mere temperance!"

that all the days of its year are its enviers.

That even all the days of its year envy it.

How could my shoulder shrink from heaven's height, / When draped with baldric that sustains his might?

ما لَبِسنا فيهِ الأَكاليلَ حَتّى

ما لَبِسنا فيهِ الأَكاليلَ حَتّى

لَبِسَتها تِلاعُهُ وَوِهادُه

لَبِسَتها تِلاعُهُ وَوِهادُه

We donned no garlands on it until

We have not worn crowns until

His right hand hung a sword upon my side, / A singular heirloom, his fathers' pride.

its hills and lowlands had donned theirs.

Its fringes and skirts wore them.

When drawn, a light laughs out, so bright and fair, / The sun itself would claim that beam its heir.

عِندَ مَن لا يُقاسُ كِسرى أَبو سا

عِندَ مَن لا يُقاسُ كِسرى أَبو سا

سانَ مُلكاً بِهِ وَلا أَولادُه

سانَ مُلكاً بِهِ وَلا أَولادُه

With one whom Kisra, father of Sasan,

With one unmatched by Kisra or the dynasty of Abu Sasan

They shaped its sheath to fit its form in dread / Of loss—an image of the steel it fed.

cannot match in kingship, nor can his sons.

As a king thereby nor his descendants.

Shod in gold, though not for feet that bleed, / It bears a sea where wavy patterns lead.

عَرَبِيٌّ لِسانُهُ فَلسَفِيٌّ

عَرَبِيٌّ لِسانُهُ فَلسَفِيٌّ

رَأيُهُ فارِسِيَّةٌ أَعيادُه

رَأيُهُ فارِسِيَّةٌ أَعيادُه

Arabic is his tongue, philosophical

Arabic is his language, philosophical his opinion,

It cleaves the armored knight in plate and mail; / Naught save his scattered limbs can tell the tale.

his thought, and Persian his festivals.

Persian his holidays.

Time gathered then its edge, his hand, my lay; / And brought the scattered ones to unity.

كُلَّما قالَ نائِلٌ أَنا مِنهُ

كُلَّما قالَ نائِلٌ أَنا مِنهُ

سَرَفٌ قالَ آخَرٌ ذا اِقتِصادُه

سَرَفٌ قالَ آخَرٌ ذا اِقتِصادُه

Whenever a gift says, 'I am extravagance from him,'

Whenever an achiever says “I” immoderately

I wore a mark of beauty from his dew, / Clad in the precious gear that he bestrew.

another says, 'This is his moderation.'

Another says “that is economy.”

We mastered horsemanship on steeds he gave, / That left his felt to race, brisk and brave.

كَيفَ يَرتَدُّ مَنكِبي عَن سَماءِ

كَيفَ يَرتَدُّ مَنكِبي عَن سَماءِ

وَالنِجادُ الَّذي عَلَيهِ نِجادُه

وَالنِجادُ الَّذي عَلَيهِ نِجادُه

How can my shoulder fall short of heaven,

How can my shoulder turn away from the heavens

They hoped for rest with us they shall not find, / Traversing realms his power has defined.

when the sword-belt upon it is his sword-belt?

And the star-studded sky above it?

Will noble Abu'l-Fadl accept my plea? / Ink drawn from my own eyes writes the decree.

قَلَّدَتني يَمينُهُ بِحُسامٍ

قَلَّدَتني يَمينُهُ بِحُسامٍ

أَعقَبَت مِنهُ واحِداً أَجدادُه

أَعقَبَت مِنهُ واحِداً أَجدادُه

His right hand girded me with a keen blade

His right hand gave me a sword

I ail from shame so deep within my breast, / The causer's virtues visit me, a guest.

whose forebears left it their only scion.

With a single known lineage.

My verse fell short of his transcendent height, / Until his critique bent it to the light.

كُلَّما اِستَلَّ ضاحَكَتهُ إِياةٌ

كُلَّما اِستَلَّ ضاحَكَتهُ إِياةٌ

تَزعُمُ الشَمسُ أَنَّها أَرآدُه

تَزعُمُ الشَمسُ أَنَّها أَرآدُه

Whenever it is drawn, a radiance smiles upon it,

Whenever a smiling moon rises

I am the sharpest falcon in the chase, / Yet cannot hunt the star of highest place.

which the sun claims as its peer.

The sun claims it appeared for her.

There are truths no spoken word can tell, / Which only deep belief in hearts can spell.

مَثَّلوهُ في جَفنِهِ خَشيَةَ الفَقـ

مَثَّلوهُ في جَفنِهِ خَشيَةَ الفَقـ

ـدِ فَفي مِثلِ أَثرِهِ إِغمادُه

ـدِ فَفي مِثلِ أَثرِهِ إِغمادُه

They wrought its likeness on its scabbard, fearing loss;

They imagined it in his eyelids fearing loss

I never saw a man of Abu'l-Fadl's mold; / Such deeds are habits that his days unfold.

thus it is sheathed within a copy of its pattern.

So in the likes of its trace is its concealment.

The drowning man has excuse in the wave, / If counting fails him in the watery grave.

مُنعَلٌ لا مِنَ الحَفا ذَهَباً يَحـ

مُنعَلٌ لا مِنَ الحَفا ذَهَباً يَحـ

ـمِلُ بَحراً فِرِندُهُ إِزبادُه

ـمِلُ بَحراً فِرِندُهُ إِزبادُه

Shod with gold, though not from barefoot wear, it holds

A sandal not of gold bears the sea. Its strap,

The dew has won, its flood has risen high; / Verse is my prop; on Ibn al-'Amid I rely.

a sea whose damask pattern is its foam.

Its holder, and its laces bear it.

My thought grasped all, save for a soul so grand; / I lack his speech, nor does his strength here stand.

يَقسِمُ الفارِسَ المُدَجَّجَ لا يَسـ

يَقسِمُ الفارِسَ المُدَجَّجَ لا يَسـ

ـلَمُ مِن شَفرَتَيهِ إِلّا بِدادُه

ـلَمُ مِن شَفرَتَيهِ إِلّا بِدادُه

It cleaves the armored horseman; nothing escapes

It divides the armed horseman. None escapes

A tyrant in his gifts! When riders rest, / The seas must bear his bounty at his behest.

its two edges but his saddle's side-pads.

From its two blades but only its sheath.

His favors flooded me; his wish was clear: / That speech itself be part of what was dear.

جَمَعَ الدَهرُ حَدَّهُ وَيَدَيهِ

جَمَعَ الدَهرُ حَدَّهُ وَيَدَيهِ

وَثَثائي فَاِستَجمَعَت آحادُه

وَثَثائي فَاِستَجمَعَت آحادُه

Time gathered its edge and his two hands,

Fate brought its length and width together,

We never heard of one who loved to give, / And wished his very heart in gifts to live.

and my praise; thus its peerless ones came together.

And its dimensions gathered into one.

God made the most eloquent of men on earth, / In lands where Kurds to Arabic give birth.

وَتَقَلَّدتُ شامَةً في نَداهُ

وَتَقَلَّدتُ شامَةً في نَداهُ

جِلدُها مُنفِساتُهُ وَعَتادُه

جِلدُها مُنفِساتُهُ وَعَتادُه

I girded on a beauty spot upon his bounty,

I took on a beauty-mark near his brightness.

The worthiest of rains to earn our praise, / In times when souls are locusts in their ways.

its skin his treasured possessions and equipment.

Its hide puckers; it is his gear and tackle.

Just as He sent the Prophecy to light, / And Resurrection when corruption reached its height.

فَرَّسَتنا سَوابِقٌ كُنَّ فيهِ

فَرَّسَتنا سَوابِقٌ كُنَّ فيهِ

فارَقَت لِبدَهُ وَفيها طِرادُه

فارَقَت لِبدَهُ وَفيها طِرادُه

Swift steeds among his gifts made horsemen of us;

Thoroughbreds examined us. They surpassed him

The rising moon adorns the night's dark face; / Its blackness brings the brightness no disgrace.

they left his saddlecloth, his charge still in them.

In fleetness but he surpassed them in driving away.

We pondered long on how to send a prize, / As servants offer to their Master's eyes.

وَرَجَت راحَةً بِنا لا تَراها

وَرَجَت راحَةً بِنا لا تَراها

وَبِلادٌ تَسيرُ فيها بِلادُه

وَبِلادٌ تَسيرُ فيها بِلادُه

They hoped for rest with us, which they shall never see;

We felt a sense of calm with him that cannot be seen

Yet all we hold of wealth and steeds so fine, / Are but his gifts, guided by his design.

and through lands his lands go journeying.

And countries walk in which his countries walk.

And so we sent you forty colts of verse, / Each one a field where rhythms intersperse.

هَل لِعُذري عِندَ الهُمامَ أَبي الفَضـ

هَل لِعُذري عِندَ الهُمامَ أَبي الفَضـ

ـلِ قُبولٌ سَوادُ عَيني مِدادُه

ـلِ قُبولٌ سَوادُ عَيني مِدادُه

Will my apology, before the noble Abu al-Fadl,

Is there for my excuse with the magnanimous Chief any acceptance?

A number—may you live it!—where the frame / Finds vital need, not just a surplus claim.

find acceptance? The black of my eye is its ink.

The blackness of my eyes makes its ink.

So tether them; a heart has bred their speed, / A stable whence the thoughts outstrip the steed.

أَنا مِن شِدَّةِ الحَياءِ عَليلٌ

أَنا مِن شِدَّةِ الحَياءِ عَليلٌ

مَكرُماتُ المُعِلِّهِ عُوّادُه

مَكرُماتُ المُعِلِّهِ عُوّادُه

I am ill from the intensity of my shame;

I am lovesick from intense shame.

the gifts of him who sickened me are my sickbed visitors.

The visits of the healer are his favors.

ما كَفاني تَقصيرُ ما قُلتُ فيهِ

ما كَفاني تَقصيرُ ما قُلتُ فيهِ

عَن عُلاهُ حَتّى ثَناهُ اِنتِقادُه

عَن عُلاهُ حَتّى ثَناهُ اِنتِقادُه

It was not enough that my words about him fell short

My failing in what I said of its height did not spare me

of his high rank; his criticism doubled the shortfall.

Until he concluded it with his critique.

إِنَّني أَصيَدُ البُزاةِ وَلَكِن

إِنَّني أَصيَدُ البُزاةِ وَلَكِن

نَ أَجَلَّ النُجومِ لا أَصطادُه

نَ أَجَلَّ النُجومِ لا أَصطادُه

I am the keenest-hunting of falcons, and yet

I hunt wide-eyed gazelles. But

the greatest of stars I cannot catch.

I delay shooting the stars.

رُبَّ ما لا يُعَبِّرُ اللَفظُ عَنهُ

رُبَّ ما لا يُعَبِّرُ اللَفظُ عَنهُ

وَالَّذي يُضمِرُ الفُؤادُ اِعتِقادُه

وَالَّذي يُضمِرُ الفُؤادُ اِعتِقادُه

Many a thing words cannot express,

How much meaning words do not convey,

though the heart harbors belief in it.

And what the heart secretly believes!

ما تَعَوَّدتُ أَن أَرى كَأَبي الفَضـ

ما تَعَوَّدتُ أَن أَرى كَأَبي الفَضـ

ـلِ وَهَذا الَّذي أَتاهُ اِعتِيادُه

ـلِ وَهَذا الَّذي أَتاهُ اِعتِيادُه

I am not used to seeing the like of Abu al-Fadl;

I am not accustomed, as with the Outstanding One,

yet what he has done is his accustomed way.

That this is his routine.

إِنَّ في المَوجِ لِلغَريقِ لَعُذراً

إِنَّ في المَوجِ لِلغَريقِ لَعُذراً

واضِحاً أَن يَفوتَهُ تَعدادُه

واضِحاً أَن يَفوتَهُ تَعدادُه

Surely, amid the waves, the drowning man has an excuse,

For the drowner there is in the wave a clear

a clear one, for failing to count them.

Excuse that its sequence eluded him.

لِلنَدى الغَلبُ إِنَّهُ فاضَ وَالشِعـ

لِلنَدى الغَلبُ إِنَّهُ فاضَ وَالشِعـ

ـرُ عِمادي وَاِبنُ العَميدِ عِمادُه

ـرُ عِمادي وَاِبنُ العَميدِ عِمادُه

Bounty wins: it has overflowed; and poetry

The dew prevails. It overflowed, and poetry is my pillar,

is my pillar, while Ibn al-Amid is bounty's pillar.

And the son of the pillar is its pillar.

نالَ ظَنّي الأُمورَ إِلّا كَريماً

نالَ ظَنّي الأُمورَ إِلّا كَريماً

لَيسَ لي نُطقُهُ وَلا فيَّ آدُه

لَيسَ لي نُطقُهُ وَلا فيَّ آدُه

My thought has fathomed everything except a generous man

My guess obtained things - except the generous one.

whose eloquence I lack, whose strength is not in me.

I have no speaking to him, nor in me is his equal.

ظالِمُ الجودِ كُلَّما حَلَّ رَكبٌ

ظالِمُ الجودِ كُلَّما حَلَّ رَكبٌ

سيمَ أَن تَحمِلَ البِحارَ مَزادُه

سيمَ أَن تَحمِلَ البِحارَ مَزادُه

He wrongs generosity: whenever a caravan alights,

The unjust one, whenever a riding camel knelt down, it would allow

its waterskins are required to carry the seas.

That the seas carry his supplies.

غَمَرَتني فَوائِدٌ شاءَ فيها

غَمَرَتني فَوائِدٌ شاءَ فيها

أَن يَكونَ الكَلامُ مِمّا أَفادُه

أَن يَكونَ الكَلامُ مِمّا أَفادُه

Gifts overwhelmed me; he wished

Benefits whose speech flooded me pleased him

that speech should be one of the gifts he bestowed.

To be of the beneficial kind.

ما سَمِعنا بِمَن أَحَبَّ العَطايا

ما سَمِعنا بِمَن أَحَبَّ العَطايا

فَاِشتَهى أَن يَكونَ فيها فُؤادُه

فَاِشتَهى أَن يَكونَ فيها فُؤادُه

We have never heard of one so fond of giving

We have not heard of one who loved gifts

that he wished his own heart to be among the gifts.

Then wished his heart would be among them.

خَلَقَ اللَهُ أَفصَحَ الناسِ طَرّاً

خَلَقَ اللَهُ أَفصَحَ الناسِ طَرّاً

في مَكانٍ أَعرابُهُ أَكرادُه

في مَكانٍ أَعرابُهُ أَكرادُه

God created the most eloquent of all mankind

God created the most eloquent of men refined

in a place whose Bedouins are its Kurds,

In a place whose people are Kurds.

وَأَحَقَّ الغُيوثِ نَفساً بِحَمدٍ

وَأَحَقَّ الغُيوثِ نَفساً بِحَمدٍ

في زَمانٍ كُلُّ النُفوسِ جَرادُه

في زَمانٍ كُلُّ النُفوسِ جَرادُه

and, of all rainclouds, the soul most worthy of praise,

The truest of saviors claimed a soul with praise

in an age when all souls are its locusts,

In a time when all souls were locusts.

مِثلَما أَحدَثَ النُبُوَّةَ في العا

مِثلَما أَحدَثَ النُبُوَّةَ في العا

لَمِ وَالبَعثَ حينَ شاعَ فَسادُه

لَمِ وَالبَعثَ حينَ شاعَ فَسادُه

just as He brought prophethood into the world

Just as he brought about prophethood in the world

and the sending of messengers when its corruption spread.

And sending when its corruption spread.

زانَتِ اللَيلَ غُرَّةُ القَمَرِ الطا

زانَتِ اللَيلَ غُرَّةُ القَمَرِ الطا

لِعِ فيهِ وَلَم يَشِنهُ سَوادُه

لِعِ فيهِ وَلَم يَشِنهُ سَوادُه

The moon's bright face adorned the night,

The crescent adorned night with its rising in it

rising within it, unblemished by its darkness.

And its darkness did not dishonor it.

كَثَرَ الفِكرُ كَيفَ نُهدي كَما أَه

كَثَرَ الفِكرُ كَيفَ نُهدي كَما أَه

دَت إِلى رَبِّها الرَئيسِ عِبادُه

دَت إِلى رَبِّها الرَئيسِ عِبادُه

Much thought went into how we might offer gifts, as

Thought increased how we may give gifts as his servants gave

his servants offered gifts to their lord, the chief.

To their Lord the President.

وَالَّذي عِندَنا مِنَ المالِ وَالخَيـ

وَالَّذي عِندَنا مِنَ المالِ وَالخَيـ

ـلِ فَمِنهُ هِباتُهُ وَقِيادُه

ـلِ فَمِنهُ هِباتُهُ وَقِيادُه

And all we possess of wealth and horses

What we have of money and horses

comes from him—his gifts and the mounts he sent.

Are grants from Him and His guidance.

فَبَعَثنا بِأَربَعينَ مِهاراً

فَبَعَثنا بِأَربَعينَ مِهاراً

كُلُّ مُهرٍ مَيدانُهُ إِنشادُه

كُلُّ مُهرٍ مَيدانُهُ إِنشادُه

So we sent forty colts,

So we sent forty skilled warriors,

each colt's racecourse being its recitation.

Each a equal whose role is to recite poetry.

عَدَدٌ عِشتَهُ يَرى الجِسمُ فيهِ

عَدَدٌ عِشتَهُ يَرى الجِسمُ فيهِ

أَرَباً لا يَراهُ فيما يُزادُه

أَرَباً لا يَراهُ فيما يُزادُه

A number of years you have lived, in which the body finds

A number the body sees multiplied in it

a benefit it does not find in added years.

Forty which are not seen in its addition.

فَاِرتَبِطها فَإِنَّ قَلباً نَماها

فَاِرتَبِطها فَإِنَّ قَلباً نَماها

مَربَطٌ تَسبِقُ الجِيادَ جِيادُه

مَربَطٌ تَسبِقُ الجِيادَ جِيادُه

So tether them, for the heart that bred them

So unite them. For a heart which raised them

is a stable whose steeds outstrip all steeds.

Is a bond preceded by steeds.