ضاءت الأكوان والدهر ابتسم — Niqula Al Niqash

ضاءت الأكوان والدهر ابتسمْ

وعلى جبهتهِ المجد ارتسمْ

The worlds shone, and Time smiled;

and glory was traced upon its brow.

حبذا دهرٌ وفى في عهدهِ

وحبانا بسرور ونعم

How fine an age that kept its covenant

and favored us with joy and blessings!

طوقت أعناقنا نعمتهُ

فغدونا نزدهي بين الأمم

Its blessing encircled our necks,

so we became resplendent among the nations.

لو ترى عدلاً نرى أسلافنا

كادت الأفراح أن تحيي الرمم

If you could see justice! We see our forebears—

joys almost brought the crumbling remains to life.

جاد حتى عاد لا يبخل في

كل ما أخبأهُ منذ القدم

It gave so freely that it withheld nothing of

all it had hidden away since ancient times.

نعمة منهُ لقد نلنا بها

عود وإلينا بجلباب النعم

A blessing from it: through this we have gained

a return to us, in a cloak of blessings.

راشد والي بلاد الشام بل

شهمها الندب الهمام المحترم

Rashid, governor of the lands of al-Sham—rather,

its noble-hearted, gallant, valiant, honored man;

فخرها مفضالها رونقها

بل إمام العصر هذا أي نعم

its pride, its benefactor, its splendor—

rather, the leader of the age: this man, yes indeed.

سار بالدولة والإقبال والم

جد والتوفيق مسعود القدم

He journeyed with sovereignty, good fortune, and glo—

—ry and success, blessed in his step.

غاب عنا أشهراً قد خلتها

طول دهر والضنى فينا ألم

He was absent from us for months I reckoned

the length of an age, while wasting anguish beset us.

عاد والعود لنا أحمد إذ

نالنا منهُ سنا البدر الإثم

He returned—a return more praiseworthy to us, for

from him the full moon's radiance reached us [“sin” ends the supplied line; sense unclear].

وبدا في ثغر بيروت الهنا

إذ تلقاه بحمدٍ وابتسم

Joy appeared at the port of Beirut,

as it welcomed him with praise and smiled.

سر أيا صوت التهاني هاتفاً

في ربا الشام على تلك الأكم

Go, O voice of congratulations, crying out

in the uplands of al-Sham, over those hills,

وقل البشرى لكم بشراكمُ

عاد راعينا الهمام المحترم

and say: Glad tidings to you—your good news!

Our valiant, honored guardian has returned.

حل في سورية مذ حلها

كل أنسٍ مع سرور ونعم

In Syria, since he settled there, there has dwelt

every delight, with joy and blessings.

وغدت تربانها من عسجدٍ

حينما قد مسها ذاك القدم

And its soils became pure gold

when that foot touched them.

سطعت فيها زواهي نوره

بِسناً قد شق أستار الظلم

The splendors of his light shone there,

with radiance that rent the veils of darkness.

يالها من عودة قد ألبس

تنا على طول المدى ثوب العظم

What a return! It has clothed—

—us for all time in the robe of greatness.

أصلحت حكمتهُ أحوالها

وحباها الروح من بعد العدم

His wisdom set its affairs aright,

and he bestowed life upon it after nothingness.

نال من ذات المعالي كل ما

رام إذ نياتها صلح الأمم

From her of lofty honors he gained all he

sought, for her aims are the nations' peace.

كيف لا وهي التي قد صدرت

عن رضا سلطاننا ذاك العلم

How could it be otherwise, when she has issued

from the approval of our sultan, that eminent man?

ربّها عبد العزيز المرتقي

فوق عرش المجد في عالي الهمم

Her lord is Abd al-Aziz, who ascends

above the throne of glory, with the loftiest aspirations.

باسطُ في قدرةٍ فوق البسي

طةِ كفَّا ضابطٌ فيهِ الأمم

Stretching, in might, over the ear—

—th a hand with which he holds the nations in check.

كل من في الكون مطواع لهُ

وكذاك السيف وفق والقلم

Everyone in the universe is obedient to him,

and likewise the sword and the pen are in accord.

تثبت الدنيا لعالي أمره

فيقيها الحلم من ضر العدم

The world stands firm at his exalted command,

and his forbearance shields it from annihilation's harm.

جيشهُ في حربهِ حملتهُ

أشبهت غارة آساد الأجم

His army's charge in his warfare

resembled the onslaught of lions of the thickets.

كدت لولا خالقي استغفر اللّه

أن أسألهُ دار النعم

But for my Creator—I seek God's forgiveness—I would nearly have

asked him for the abode of blessings.

ترتع الخلق بصحرا أمنهِ

وكذاك الذئب يرعى والغنم

Creatures graze freely in the desert of his security,

and likewise the wolf grazes alongside the sheep.

لم يدع ذكراً لمن قد سلفوا

من ملوك الأرض عرباً أو عجم

He left no memory of those who came before,

the kings of the earth, Arab or non-Arab.

فهو شخص مفرد قد طبعت

فيهِ أنواع المزايا والكرم

For he is a peerless man; imprinted

within him are all kinds of excellence and generosity.

ساد حتى شاد في أفق المعا

لي فخاراً جل أن يلقى العدم

He reigned until he raised, on the horizon of subli—

—mity, a glory too great ever to perish.

قد تباهى العصر فيهِ إذ غدا

لابساً في بابهِ ثوب الخدم

The age boasted of him, for it became

clad at his gate in the servants' garb.

عمَّر اللَّه بهِ أقطارنا

مثلما قطر الأعادي قد هدم

Through him God made our lands flourish,

just as he laid the enemies' land in ruins.

رقت الألفاظ في أوصافهِ

وكذا في مدحه النظم انسجم

Words grew delicate in describing him,

and likewise verse flowed harmoniously in his praise.

قصرت بالمدح أقلامي كما

يده البيضاءُ طالت بالنعم

My pens fell short in praising him, even as

his white hand stretched far with blessings.

فلذا ضجوا بأنواع الدعا

والهجوا بالحمد يأكل الأمم

So clamor with every kind of prayer,

and chant praise; he eats the nations [wording unclear].

واهتفوا خلَّده المولى على

تخت ملك صانهُ باري النسم

And cry: May the Lord keep him forever upon

a royal throne guarded by the Creator of souls.