ذكر العَقيقَ فَسالَ مِن أَجفانِهِ
وَاِشتفَّهُ وَجدٌ إِلى سُكانِهِ
The memory of al-Aqiq made tears flow from his eyelids,
And longing took hold of him for the dwellers of his homeland.
وَاِشتَمَّ في ريح الصَبا أَرجَ الصّبا
فَصَبا حَليفَ جَوىً إِلى أَوطانِهِ
He breathed in the fragrant breeze of Sabah and yearned
For his companion to return to his homelands.
وَشَجاهُ مَسجور الفُؤادِ إِلى الحِمى
وُرقٌ سَواجِعُ هِجن مِن أَشجانِهِ
And his heartsick love urged him
To the Hima, leaves shedding copiously from its branches.
تروى عَنِ الورقِ الغَرامَ وَطالَ ما
دَرَسَت فُنون العِشقِ في أَفنانِهِ
It narrates about love from the leaves, and he who
Has mastered the arts of passion in his youth.
فيهِنّ سالِمَة الحَشا مِن لَوعَةٍ
لَم تَدرِ طَعمَ الوَصلِ مِن هِجرانِهِ
In it are women of Banu Asad suffering from the pain
Of separation, not knowing the taste of union after parting.
تُمسي وَتُصبِحُ في أَرائِكِ أَيكَةٍ
مَع إِلفِها وَالعُمرُ في رَيعانِهِ
She wakes and sleeps on cushions of ayka-wood,
Accustomed to luxury while still in the prime of youth.
تَرتادُ رَوضَ الشامِ أَخصَب مَنزِلٍ
حَيثُ العرارُ صَغى إِلى حَوذانِهِ
She frequents the gardens of Syria, the most fertile abode,
Where al-A'rār once sang next to their ram companions.
حَيثُ المَعالِم مُشرِقاتٌ بِالدُمى
وَالغانيات يَطُفنَ حَولَ مَغانِهِ
Where the landmarks shine brilliantly white
And the singers wander around their musical instruments.
في ظِلِّ مُنبَجِسِ اللُجَينِ جَرى بِهِ
ذَهَبُ الأَصيلِ يَسيلُ مِن قيعانِهِ
In the shade of munabbiṣ lujayn there runs
Pure gold pouring from its springs.
أَلمى الظلال كَأَنَّ سُمرَتهُ لَمىً
عَذبُ المَراشِفِ نَدَّ عَن غُزلانِهِ
Its shadows are as if its duskiness is made smooth
By the gentle stroking of gazelles along their sides.
بَينا تراودُ فيهِ مِن عَذبٍ إِلى
عَذب يَفوق عَلى العُذَيبِ وَبانِهِ
While she contemplates the succession there of sweetness upon
Sweetness, each exceeding udhayb and its wild plants in taste.
في صَفوِ عَيش إِذ رَمَتها نيّةٌ
لِلرُوم فاخِتُها بِسودِ رِعانِهِ
When fate decided to take her to the Romans, in the vigor of youth
She went away with her black escort of young men.
هَبَطَت بِها الأَقدار أَرضاً لَم يَكُن
فيها نُزول الوَحي مِن فُرقانِهِ
Destiny brought her down to a land where the revelation
Of the Qurʾān did not descend with its clear proofs.
سَوداءُ مُظلِمَةُ الفَضاء كَأَنَّها
قَلبُ الحَسود عَلَيهِ ظُلمَةُ رانِهِ
Pitch-black, gloomy open space as if it were
The heart of an envier cloaked in the darkness of rancor.
فَغَدَت تَنوحُ عَلى الدِيار بِمَدمَعٍ
سَحٍّ يُباري الغَيثَ في تَهتانِهِ
She began weeping for her homelands with copious tears,
Pouring like heavy rain in its coursing.
ماسورةُ القَلبِ المُعنّى مِن جَوىً
مَسجورةُ الأَحشاءِ مِن نيرانِهِ
An imprisoned heart, anguished from the pain of love,
Imprisoned intestines, burning from its fires.
تَبكي إِذا ذُكِرَ الحِمى حَيثُ الحِمى
رَوضٌ تَفَرَّد في ذُرى أَغصانِهِ
She weeps when Hima is mentioned, where at Hima
There is a garden excelling in its branches' blossoms.
تَنفَكُّ تَنثُرُ لُؤلُؤاً مِن مَدمَعٍ
كَالدُرِّ ينظمُ في سُموط جُمانِهِ
Continuously she scatters pearls from her tears
Like threaded durr-beads on her sunūṭ.
حَتّى تَرى رَوضَ الحِمى أَو تَجتَلي
رَوضَ اِبنِ بُستانٍ إِمامِ زَمانِهِ
Until she sees the garden of Hima, or imagines
The garden of Ibn Bustan, imam of his time.
قاضي العَساكر مَن تَبَوّأ مَنزِلاً
تُمسي النُجومُ الزُهرُ مِن أَخدانِهِ
Judge of the armies, who achieved an abode,
Where the stars and flowers spend the night in his embrace,
المُعتلي شَرَفَ العُلا بِبيانِهِ
المُجتَلي سِرَّ القَضا بِعِيانِهِ
The one exalted in ascendance by his eloquence,
Manifesting the mysteries of destiny by his knowledge,
ذُو غايَةٍ في المَجدِ رامَ بُلوغَها ال
فَلَكُ المُحيطُ فَجدَّ في دَوَرانِهِ
Of the utmost limit in glory—he reached for it
As the rotating celestial sphere hastened in its cycle,
سَبَقتهُ فَاِستَعدى عَلَينا طاوِياً
لِصَحائِف الأَعمالِ في سُرعانِهِ
He surpassed us by preparing for himself
The records of deeds in their swiftness.
لِلَّهِ مَولىً هامُ هِمَّتِه سما
هامَ السِماك فحلَّ فَوقَ مكانِهِ
For God, a masterful devotee—his ambition soared
Like the falcon that hovered in its place.
مولىً تَرَدّى الفضلُ أَبهى حُلَّة
تَوشيعُها المَعروفُ مِن إِحسانِهِ
A master whose overflowing grace wears the most magnificent raiment,
Whose good deed is to clothe it in his benevolence.
ظِلُّ المُحيّا لَو يُقابل نُورَهُ
بَدرُ الدُجى لِحِماه عَن نُقصانِهِ
If the shadow of the reviver were to face his light,
The full moon of nighttime would shield it from diminishment.
وِإِذا دَجى لَيلُ الخُطوبِ فَرَأيُهُ
فيها كَضوءِ الشَمس في لَمَعانِهِ
And if the darkness of tribulations comes, his view therein
Is like the sun's brilliance in its flashes.
ماضي العَزائِمِ خَيرُ مَولى أمَّه
رَكبٌ يَجوب البيدَ في رَمَلانِهِ
Firm of purpose, the best master of his mother,
A rider traversing the expanse amidst its sand dunes.
في ثَني بُردَيه إِمامُ تَقىً وَفي
حِقوَيه رَضوى بانَ بَعدَ إِبانِهِ
In the fold of his Burdah, the imam of piety, and in
His grasp, acceptance—it appeared after its concealment.
هُوَ مَن عَلِمتَ فَدَع سِواهُ وَمَن يُرِد
بِحرَ المَكارم صَدَّ عَن غُدرانِهِ
He is the one whom you have known, so leave others,
And whoever desires the sea of noble deeds, bar him from treachery.
بَحرٌ لَنا مِن راحَتيهِ جَداوِلٌ
طَفَحَت فَسالَت مِن مَسيلِ بَنانِهِ
For us is a sea from his two reposeful moments
Whose streams overflowed, pouring from the slopes of Bannān.
مُتَبَسِّمٌ يَومَ النَدى لعُفاتِهِ
كَالرَوضِ ضاحَكَهُ نَدى هَتّانِهِ
Smiling on the day of bestowal due to his chastity
Like a garden made joyous by the stroking of its branches.
ما رَدَّ يَوماً سائِلاً وَلَهُ سَطى
باس تَردُّ الدَهرَ عَن حَدَثانِهِ
Never once did he turn away a beseecher, and his handle is long enough
To turn back the passing days from their renewal.
راوي حَديث العِلمِ عَن نُعمانِهِ
حاوي فُنون الفَضلِ مِن بُستانِهِ
Narrator of the tradition of knowledge from its Nuʿmān,
Encircler of the arts of merit from its orchards.
العالِمُ الطهرُ الَّذي ظَهَرَت لَهُ
كَشفاً شُؤون الحَقِّ في أَعيانِهِ
The pure scholar whom the affairs of truth were revealed to,
Removing obstructions from their essence.
وَجَلا صَدا الأَلوان عَن مِرآتِهِ
وَرَأى وُجُودَ الحَقِّ في سَرَيانِهِ
The manifestations of color disappeared from his mirror,
And he saw the existence of truth in its flow.
فَأَتى عَلى عين اليَقينِ وَقَد مَضى
وَالقَومُ فيهِم غَفلَة عَن شانِهِ
He attained the essence of certainty and had passed on,
While the people were heedless of his worth.
صَبَّ الإِلَهُ سَحابَ رَحمَتِهِ عَلى
ذاكَ الضَريح وَحاضِري جِيرانهِ
God poured the clouds of His mercy upon
That shrine and its attending neighbors.
حَتّى يَعودَ ثَراه أَنضَر رَوضَةٍ
فيها جَميمُ النَبتِ مِن رَيحانِهِ
Until his burial place returns to being a green garden
Wherein is the totality of plants from its basil.
وَغَدَت تَحايا الرَب كُلَّ عَشيَّةٍ
تُهدى إِلَيهِ عَلى يَدي رِضوانِهِ
And gifts from the Lord come each night
Delivered to it by the hand of His good pleasure.
فَبِحَقِّهِ رَبا عَلَيكَ وَوالِدا
وَبِحَق ما تَرعاه مِن رِضوانِهِ
So by his right, O Lord of my parents,
And by the right of what You cultivate from Your approval,
أَلّا نَظَرتَ لِعَبدِ بابِكَ راحِما
فَالدَهرُ جارَ عَلَيهِ في عُدوانِهِ
Look to Your slave at the door with mercy,
As fate has been tyrannical to him in its aggression,
عطفاً عَلَيهِ بِمَنصبٍ يَسمو بِهِ
بَينَ الأَنام وَمِزه عَن أَقرانِهِ
Showing kindness to him with an office by which he rises
Among the people, distinguished from his peers.
فَلَقَد شَجاه جاهِلٌ في دَرسِهِ
يَرقى وَرَبُّ الفَضلِ في حِرمانِهِ
For an ignoramus has urged him in his pursuit of knowledge,
As he rises while the Lord of Grace deprives him.
حاشا لِما حَرَستهُ كَفُّ نَداك أَن
يَذوي وَفَيضُ نَداك في جَرَيانِهِ
Far be it that what Your withheld palm protects
Would waste away while the stream of Your bestowal flows!
وَلِمثل فَيضِكَ أَو يُؤخِّر ساعَةً
عَنهُ وَهَذا الوَقتُ وَقتَ أَوانِهِ
Or that one like the outpouring of Your bounty holds back for a moment
From him, while this is the time for its ordainment.
وَاِستَجلها عَربِيَّةً أَوطانُها
شِعب الغَوير وَمُلتَقى كُثبانِهِ
And may You render it eloquent Arabic though its homelands are
The mountain paths of Shibām and meeting place of its dunes.
قَلَّدتَها دُرَّ المَدائِحِ لُؤلُؤاً
رَطبا يَكاد يَفوقُ دُرَّ عُمانِهِ
You adorned it with the durr beads of panegyrics, juicy pearls
Nearly exceeding the durr beads of Oman in quality.
وَكَسَوتَها وَشيَ الثَناءِ مُحبَّرا
بُرداً يَفوحُ المسك مِن أَردانِهِ
And You clothed it in the brocade of praise, embroidered
With a cloak from which the musk fragrance flows from its train.
وَاِبسُط لَها كَفّ الرَجا وَأَقِم لَها
بِالروم وَزناً تَعلُ في ميزانِهِ
And extend to it the palm of hope, and make its measure weigh heavy
Against the Romans on the Scale.
فَالشعر عِندَ القَومِ حاشا سَيّدي
لا فَرقَ بَينَ هَجينه وَهِجانِهِ
For poetry, O my master, is nothing to the people—
No distinction in their view between its fine and wretched.
وَاِسلَم وَدُم في نِعمَةٍ مَحسودَةٍ
طولَ المَدى وَالعَيشُ في رَيّانِهِ
And may You be secure, continuing in an envied bliss,
Long-lasting days and life of ease.
وَبَنُوكَ أَقمارُ الفَضائل ما سَرى
بَرقٌ فَهاجَ الصَبّ في لَمَعانِهِ
Your children are the moons of virtue appearing one after another
Like flashes of lightning that stirred the clouds in their brilliance.
