أَلِلدَّهرِ تَبكي أَم عَلى الدَهرِ تَجزَعُ
وَما صاحِبُ الأَيّامِ إِلّا مُفَجَّعُ
Do you weep for Time or despair over fate?
The master of days is ever despairing.
وَلَو سَهَّلَت عَنكَ الأَسى كانَ في الأَسى
عَزاءُ مُعزٍّ لِلَّبيبِ وَمَقنَعُ
Had sorrows relented for you, there would be
Comfort in sorrow for the insightful and contented.
تَعَزَّ بِما عَزَّيت غَيرَكَ إِنَّها
سِهامُ المَنايا رائِحاتٌ وَوُقَّعُ
Take comfort in who you have comforted, for they
Are arrows of death flying and striking.
أُصِبنا بِيَومٍ في حمَيدٍ لَوَ أَنَّهُ
أَصابَ عَروس الدَهرِ ظَلَّت تَضَعضَعُ
We were struck one day in Hamaid, if only it
Had struck the bride of time she would have swayed and fallen.
وَأَدَّبنا ما أَدَّبَ الناسَ قَبلَنا
وَلكِنَّهُ لَم يَبقَ لِلصَبرِ مَوضِعُ
It disciplined us as it had disciplined men before us,
But no opportunity remained for patience.
أَلَم تَرَ لِلأَيّامِ كيفَ تَصَرَّمَت
بِهِ وَبِهِ كانَت تُذادُ وَتُدفَعُ
Have you not seen how the days have grown decrepit
Through it, and through it they were pushed back and driven away?
وَكَيفَ التَقى مَثوىً مِنَ الأَرضِ ضَيِّقٌ
عَلى جَبَل كانَت بِهِ الأَرضُ تُمنَعُ
And how it came to rest in a narrow piece of earth,
Though the earth was too confining for it?
وَلَمّا اِنقَضَت أَيّامَهُ اِنقَضى العُلا
وَأَضحى بِهِ أَنفُ النّدى وَهوَ أَجدَع
When its days came to an end, glory came to an end,
And its flowing spring dried up though it had gushed forth.
وَراحَ عَدُوُّ الدينِ جَذلانَ يَنتَجي
أَماني كانَت في حَشاهُ تَقَطَّعُ
The enemy of religion withdrew despicably,
Pursuing hopes that had been cut to shreds inside him.
وَكانَ حَمَيدٌ مَعقِلاً رَكَعَت بِهِ
قَواعِدٌ ما كانَت عَلى الضَيمِ تَركَعُ
And Hamaid was a fortress to which knelt
Foundations that did not kneel to oppression.
وَكُنتُ أَراهُ كَالرَزايا رَزَئتُها
وَلَم أَدرِ أَنَّ الخَلقَ تَبكيهِ أَجمَعُ
I saw him like a gazelle I had hunted down
And did not know that all creation wept for him.
حِمامٌ رَماهُ مِن مَواضِعَ أَمنِهِ
حِمامٌ كَذاكَ الخَطبُ بِالخَطبِ يُدفَعُ
A dove he had sheltered drove him from his secure places,
Thus, disasters are driven away by disasters.
وَلَيسَ بِغَروٍ أَن تُصيب مَنِيَّةٌ
حِمى أُختِها أَو أَن يَذِلَّ المُمَنَّعُ
It is no surprise that a death should strike
The sanctuary of its sister, or that the invincible should be subdued.
لَقَد أَدرَكَت فينا المَنايا بِثَأرِها
وَحَلَّت بِخَطبٍ وَهيُهُ لَيسَ يُرفَعُ
Among us death took its vengeance,
And befell us with calamities—and they cannot be resisted.
نَعاءِ حمَيداً لِلسَرايا إِذا غَدَت
تُذادُ بِأَطرافِ الرِماحِ وَتوزَعُ
Call out Hamaid’s name to the young warriors when
They thrust with spear-points at dawn and share out the spoils.
وَلِلمُرهَقِ المَكروبِ ضاقَت بِأَمرِهِ
فَلَم يَدرِ في حَوماتها كَيفَ يَصنَعُ
To the exhausted and distressed, his affairs were too constricted,
So amidst his confusions he knew not what to do.
وَلِلبيضِ خَلَّتها البعولُ وَلَم يَدَع
لَها غَيرَهُ داعي الصباحِ المُفَزَّعُ
For the wife bereft of her husband no callers remained
Except the rasping-voiced rooster at dawn, her disquieter.
كَأَنَّ حمَيداً لَم يَقُد جَيشَ عَسكَرٍ
إِلى عَسكَرٍ أَشياعُهُ لا تُرَوَّعُ
It was as if Hamaid had not led a mighty army
Against another army, undismayed.
وَلَم يَبعَثِ الخَيلَ المُغيرَةَ بِالضُحى
مِراحاً وَلَم يَرجِع بِها وَهيَ ظُلَّعُ
As if he had not unleashed the galloping horses at dawn,
Charging, only to return with them dust-covered.
رَواجِعُ يَحمِلنَ النِهابَ وَلَم تَكُن
كَتائِبُهُ وَحاميها الكَمِيُّ المُشَيَّعُ
The returning warriors carried booty—and yet they were not
Like his regiments and the protector of their rear guard.
هَوى جَبَلُ الدُنيا المَنيعُ وَغَيثُها ال
مَريعُ وَحاميها الكَمِيُّ المُشَيَّعُ
The lofty mountain of the world fell, its pouring rain ceased,
And its protector, the impenetrable rear guard.
وَسَيفُ أَميرِ المُؤمِنينَ وَرُمحُهُ
وَمَفتاحُ بابِ الخَطبِ وَالخَطبُ أَفظَعُ
He was the sword of the Commander of the Faithful and his spear,
The key to the door of calamities and disasters.
فَأَقنَعَهُ مِن مُلكِهِ وَرِباعِهِ
وَنائِلِهِ قَفرٌ مِنَ الأَرضِ بَلقَعُ
So it sufficed him from his kingdom, his lands
And his attainments—a barren tract of land.
عَلى أَيِّ شَجو تَشتَكي النَفسُ بَعدَهُ
إِلى شَجوِهِ أَو يَذخُرُ الدَمعَ مَدمَعُ
For what sorrow should the soul complain after him?
To his sorrow, or store up flowing tears?
أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ الشَمسَ حالَ ضِياؤُها
عَلَيهِ وَأَضحى لَونُها وَهوَ أَسفَعُ
Have you not seen how the sun—its light is dimmed for him
And its color darkened, though it had radiated?
وَأَوحَشَتِ الدُنيا وَأَودى بَهاؤُها
وَأَجدَب مَرعاها الَّذي كان يُمرِعُ
The world was emptied of life and its splendor extinguished.
Its pasture, which had sprouted, dried up.
وَقَد كانَتِ الدُنيا بِهِ مُطمَئِنَّةً
فَقَد جَعَلَت أَوتادُها تَتَقَطَّعُ
Through him the world was tranquil,
Yet now its pegs have been pulled up.
بَكى فَقدَهُ روحُ الحَياةِ كَما بَكى
نَداهُ النَدى وَاِبنُ السَبيلِ المُدَفَّعُ
The spirit of life wept for his loss
As the companion wept his call, and the wayfarer, the outcast.
وَفارَقَتِ البيضُ الخُدورَ وَأُبرِزَت
عَواطِلَ حَسرى بَعدَهُ لا تَقَنَّعُ
The white-skinned ladies left their chambers,
And languishing sorrows without comfort were unveiled.
وَأَيقَظَ أَجفاناً وَكانَ لَها الكَرى
وَنامَت عُيونٌ لَم تَكُن قَبلَ تَهجَعُ
He awakened some whose eyes sleep had weighed down,
While eyes that had not closed before fell asleep.
وَلكِنَّهُ مِقدارُ يَومٍ ثَوى بِهِ
لِكُلِّ اِمرِىءٍ مِنهُ نِهالٌ وَمشرَعُ
But it is the ordained lot—for a day
Sheltered each person—branches grow from the trunk.
وَقَد رَأَبَ اللَهُ المَلا بِمُحَمَّدٍ
وَبِالأَصلِ يَنمى فَرعُهُ المُتَفَرِّعُ
God has mended the Community with Muhammad
And with the origin its branches burgeon.
أَغَرُّ عَلى أَسيافِهِ وَرِماحِهِ
تُقَسَّم أَنفالُ الخَميس وَتُجمَعُ
I boast of his swords and his spears
Which apportion the fifth spoils of Thursday and gather them.
حَوى عَن أَبيهِ بَذلَ راحَتِهِ النَدى
وَطَعنَ الكُلى وَالزاعِبِيَّةُ شُرَّعُ
He sheltered his father from vituperation and backbiting—
Tabuk and the Allies were his sharp blades.
