أَتَعجَب مِنّي أَن صبَرتُ عَلى الأَذى

وَكنت أمرأَ ذا إِربة متجمّلا

Do you marvel at me that I endured the harm with patience,

While being a man of wit and decorum?

فَإِنّي بِحَمدِ اللَه لا رأي عاجِز

رَأيت وَلا أَخطأت لِلحقّ مفصلا

For I—praise be to God—do not possess the judgment of the helpless,

Nor have I failed to discern the very joints of the truth.

وَلَكِن تَدبّرت الأُمور فَلَم أَجِد

سِوى الحِلم وَالاغضاء خَيراً وَأَفضَلا

But I contemplated matters and found nothing,

Save for forbearance and turning a blind eye, to be better and more virtuous.

وأقسم لَولا سالف الودّ بَينَنا

وَعهد أَبَت أَركانه أَن تَزيّلا

And I swear, were it not for the ancient affection between us,

And a covenant whose pillars refused to be shaken,

وَأَيّامك الغرّ اللَواتي تقدّمت

وَأَليتنيها منعماً مُتَطوّلا

And your shining days of old that have passed,

Which you bestowed upon me with grace and generosity,

رحلت قلوص الهجر ثُمَّ اِقتعدتها

إِلى البعد ما أَلفيت في الأَرض معملا

I would have saddled the mount of abandonment and ridden it away,

Into the distance, as long as I could find a path on this earth.

وَأَكرمت نَفسي وَالكَرامة حظّها

وَلَم تَرَني لَولا الهَوى متذللا

I would have honored my soul—for dignity is its due share—

And were it not for affection, you would never have seen me humbled.

وَعارضت أَطراف الصِبا أَبتغي أَخا

يَعين إِذا ما الهمّ بِالمَرء أَعضَلا

I have traversed the edges of the winds seeking a true brother,

Who aids when worry becomes a burden too heavy for a man to bear.

أَخاً كَأَبي عَمرٍ وأنّي بمثله

إِذا الحرّ بالمجد اِرتَدى وَتسربلا

A brother like Abu Amr—but where is the likes of him to be found,

When the free man clothes and cloaks himself in glory?

جَزى اللَه عُثمان الخريميّ خَيرَ ما

جَزى صاحِباً جزل المَواهِب مفضلا

May God reward Uthman al-Khuraymi with the best reward

That He ever granted a companion of abundant gifts and favor.

أَخاً كانَ إِن أَقبَلتُ بالودِّ زادَني

صَفاء وَإِن أَدبرت حنَّ وَأَقبَلا

A brother who, if I approached with love, increased me

In purity, and if I turned away, he yearned and drew near.

أَخاً لَم يَخُنّي في الحَياة وَلَم أَبِت

يخوّفني الأَعداءُ منه التَنقّلا

A brother who never betrayed me in life, nor did I ever sleep

While enemies frightened me with news of his fickleness.

إِذا حاولوه بالسِعاية حاوَلوا

بِهِ هَضبةً تأبى بأن تَتَخلخَلا

If they sought to move him against me with slander, they sought

To move a mountain that refuses to be shaken.

يحكّمني في ماله وَلِسانه

وَيَركَب دوني الزاعبيَّ المؤللا

He gave me command over his wealth and his word,

And he would ride against the sharpened spear in my defense.

كَفى جفوة الإِخوان طولَ حَياتِهِ

وَأَورث مِمّا كانَ أَعطى وَأَجزَلا

Throughout his life, he spared me the cruelty of false brothers,

And left a legacy of what he gave so generously and abundantly.

مَضى سَلَفاً قَبلي وَخُلِّفتُ بَعده

أَسيراً لأهوال الرِجال مكبّلا

He passed on before me, and I was left behind him,

A captive to the terrors of men, bound in shackles.

وَباتَ حَميداً لَم يكدّر صَنيعه

وَلَم أَقلِهِ طول الحَياة وَما قَلا

He rests now, praised, his deeds never sullied,

I never loathed him throughout life, nor did he loathe me.

وَكُنتَ أَخاً لَو دامَ عهدك وَاصلا

نصوراً إِذا ما الشرّ خبِّ وَهَروَلا

And you, too, were a brother—had your covenant remained unbroken—

A supporter when evil came trotting and rushing in.

فَغيّرك الواشون حَتّى كَأَنَّما

تَراني شُجاعاً بَينَ عَينيك مقبلا

But slanderers have changed you, until it seems as though

You see me as a viper approaching right before your eyes.