الم تعلم بمن تقع الخُطوب
وهل تدري النَّوآئبُ من تنوب
Do you not know who misfortunes befall?
Do you not know whose turn miseries take?
بَلى وكأنَّما الأَحْداث تَغْشىَ
أجلَتنا وافضَلَنا تصيبُ
Yes, it's as if disasters overwhelm us -
Our time runs out and the best fate strikes us.
خطوبٌ في الضّعِاف أشدُّ نكراً
وفي الأشرف موقعُها غَريبُ
Misfortunes in the weak are most abhorred,
And in the noblest souls their fall is weird.
وفقْدان العزيز أعَزَّ خطبا
وَفوتُ المُعْجبات هو العجيبُ
To lose a loved one is the greatest woe,
And to miss delights is the strangest blow.
تَعاظمْنا المشيَبَ ومُذْ كبرنا
وَددْنا أن يدومَ لنا المَشيبُ
We boasted of our grey hairs since we aged,
Wanting our whiteness ever to pervade.
وفارقنا الأحبَّة فاعْترفْنا
يَروحُ المرءُ ليس لهُ حبيبُ
We parted from loved ones and then perceived
A man departs owning no one who's grieved.
وَعاينَّا الخُطوبَ كما سمَعنا
فلا شكٌ ولا ظن كَذوبُ
We've seen these woes as we'd heard them told,
No doubt, deception here cannot take hold.
ونحنُ نُسرّ بالدَّنيا كأنّا
أمنَّا ما تُسِرُّ لنا الغُيوبُ
While we find joy in life as though we know
No sadness that the unseen days may show.
عزيزُ النَّاسِ أكبرهُم نَعيماً
واشقَى النَّاس في الدنيا اللَّبيبُ
The happiest people have the most assets,
While the most wretched here bear wisdom's weight.
مَراقبةُ العُقولِ نُهىً وحلمٌ
ويَصفو الوصلُ ماغَفَل الرَّقيبُ
To watch one's mind, patience is the guide,
While companionship makes harshness subside.
وعيشٌ مُنْتهاهُ إلى زوالٍ
وغايتُه الأذَى فَمَتَى يطيبُ
A life that leads to fading has no zest,
And harm is its eventual bequest.
تَسير بنا إلى الأجل اللَّيالي
ونحن بنا السّآمة واللغوبُ
The nights escort us on to finite ends,
While boredom and distress have us in bends.
وها أَنا في المُنى أجْري وادري
بأن الدَّهرَ جَيّآءٌ ذَهوبُ
And here am I, though doomed I stay aware
That time is fickle, fleeting without care.
وفي الأوقات ليَ مُلتاث لهوٍ
كأنيَّ في تناولها مُريبُ
My leisure hours I spend absorbed in play,
As if I'll live forever and a day.
ومن يَتوقَّعِ الحدثانَ يأمَنْ
رَوائعَ حينَ يفْجَوءُه الوثُوبُ
One who foresees events can rest assured,
Safe from whatever shocks the deaf have heard.
إِذا صادفتَ احسانَ الليَّالي
فهلاَّ تنتَهي ولها ذنوبُ
If nights bring you their kindness, don't forget
Their wrongs once done you that incur a debt.
وإن أبَدَتْ لكَ الدَّنيا كَمالاً
فسَوفَ يكون عُقباهُ العُيوبُ
If worldly perfection to you seems nigh,
Its faults and failings surely will belie.
الم ترَ يوم داهيةٍ شَهْدِنا
لعمرك أنه يومُ عصيبُ
Remember days of woe we have survived?
By God, those days brought grievous blows that jived.
وحادثةٌ مُفجّعِة عليها
تساعدت المدامعُ والقلوبُ
Some sad event where tears flowed free,
And hearts were limp, racked with agony.
فؤآدٌ حَشوهُ لذعٌ أليمٌ
وجفنٌ مِلؤه دمعٌ سَكوبُ
A spirit filled with piercing, bitter pain,
An eye drowned in tears falling like rain.
فُجِعنا بالكريمةِ في معدٍّ
لها ولقومها الشُرف الحسيبُ
We grieved for one noble soul claimed by death,
Honor was hers, and noble lineage bequeathed.
بسيّدة النساءِ تُقىً وحِلماً
وجوداً ما يُعدُّ لها ضريبُ
A lady of highest virtue, wise and fair,
Whose equal no appraiser could declare.
وَلَمْ يُعرفْ لها خُلقٌ ذميمٌ
ولم يوجَد لها سعيٌ مَعيبُ
No base trait in her could be traced,
No quest of hers left worthy deeds displaced.
مُجاوِرُها عزيزٌ في ذراها
وسآئلُها المَثوبَة لا يخيبُ
Her company made all near her esteemed,
Her requests rewarded, never once denied.
ألا هيَ مُزْنةُ الجُودِ اضْمحلَّت
وشمسُ المجد واراها المغيبُ
Alas the splendid pillar of grace is gone,
The sun of glory passed into night drawn.
تَولَّتْ بالبشاشةِ والأيادي
وغابَتْ بالسُّرور فما تغيبُ
Her cheer and open hands have slipped away,
And happiness with her has seen its day.
أيُسكنُ بعدَها البلدُ المزكَّي
وهل يُسْتَحسَنُ الزَّمن الخصيبُ
Can this lauded town be home without her tread?
Can times of bounty still their wealth be said?
أفادَ الكلّ نائلُها فأْضحى
لكلٍ من مُصيبتها نصيبُ
She benefited all, so each soul could claim
A portion of grief when sorrow laid its claim.
وقالَ لها من الباكي عَليها
حشى يَنْقدُّ أو كبدٌ تذوبُ
And every tear that falls speaks for the deceased,
"My heart is torn, my liver shredded, at least."
وعزَّ على الأحبَّةِ أن يرَوها
يُهالُ على محاسِنها الكثيبُ
It pained her loved ones that they can't behold
Her visage graced with tresses black as coal.
رَهينة وحشةٍ في بَطن لحدٍ
تمرُّ بِها الشَّمَائلُ والجنوبِ
She lies imprisoned in a lonesome tomb,
As years and eras over her will loom.
مفارقةٌ ومَلْقاها يسيرٌ
ونازحةٌ ومثواها قريبُ
Gone from us, though her place is not remote,
She's left, her dwelling-place for us still wrote.
تُزارَ فما تُحِسُّ بزآئريها
ويَدعوها المجيبُ فلا يُجيبُ
She cannot sense her mourners at her grave,
Their calls unheeded, though compassion gave.
نُبكِّيها ونندُبها وحقٌ
لنا منها التَّأسُّفُ والنَّحيبُ
We've wept for her and voiced our elegy,
For it is right that we should grieve for she.
ونعلم أنها إِحدى ملوك
من الساداتِ غالنهم شَعوبُ
We know she was a queen of high degree,
A lady whose rule spread o'er land and sea.
هُمُ عَمَروا البلادَ وأوطنوها
فأْمستْ ما بها مِنهمْ غريبُ
Her people made the countries flourish fair,
So foreign there seems all that they did square.
فكم بيتٍ لهم من مال عزّ
حمته الخيلُ والحَرسُ المهيبُ
What wealth filled every home that they made thrive,
Protected by their horses and guards of might!
تعاطتهُ المنيةُ من أشمٍ
تحُفُّ بهِ المجادلُ والدروبُ
But death took her, despite her rarest traits,
Whom cavalry surrounded, flags at her gates.
وما دفع الأقاربُ والموالي
وما نفع العوائد والطبيبُ
No aid from kinfolk could make death evade,
No doctor's knowledge render useless aid.
كفى حَزناً أنِ اختُرِمتْ بموتٍ
فلا ثأرٌ تُقامُ به الحروبُ
Grief enough that we've lost her to the tomb,
No vengeance can be sought to seal its doom.
وقد يأبى ظُلامتها رجالٌ
من الحَيَّين شُبَّانٌ وشيبُ
Stalwart men still live whom this loss shook,
The youthful and the old, all heavy it took.
نجيبة سادةٍ وأبو سَعيد
أبوها وابنُها النَّدبُ النجيبُ
A scion of lords was she, her line secure,
Abu Sa'id was her sire, noble and pure.
وأصبح شاهداً بالبرّ عنها
أبو عَبد الأله فما يغيبُ
And Abu Abdillah stands witness to
Her virtues manifold, e'er shining through.
وفضل محمد بنِ مُعمرٍ عن
فضائِل خَير والده ينوبُ
Muhammad ibn Mu'ammar upholds the name
Of excellence, as his father staked his claim.
كما شَهِدت محاسنُه بحسنى
أبي عُمَرِ ونائلُه الرّحيبُ
As his father's virtues I attest to seeing,
Abu Umar's deeds fail not to bring him leading.
فتىً للمال مِتلافٌ بَذولُ
وللعلياءِ طلاَّبٌ كسوبُ
A young man inclined to wealth yet nobler goals,
Seeking lofty ends his effort he extols.
رَبيطُ الجأشِ مقدامٌ جريءٌ
طويلُ الباعِ بسَّامٌ وهوبُ
Brave, bold, and long of arm, a warrior pup,
Who befriends or opposes without let up.
واوفى من يُسالمُ أو يعادي
وأشقى من يُعاقِبُ أو يثيبُ
In his famed endeavor fails he never once,
And no fault exists in his deeds evinced.
فما في سَعيهِ المشهور عارٌ
ولا في فعله الموجودِ حُوبُ
Every land acclaims his merit outright,
Foreign tongues praise him, his glory grows bright.
يُشيدُ بفضلهِ في كل أرضٍ
لسانٌ بالثناءِ له غريبُ
His keen intellect and wisdom are confessed,
To all it's known he's prudent and possessed.
ويَشهد منه الفظاً وفهماً
فيعلمُ أنه الفَطِنُ الَّلبيبُ
The Azdi rose, glory was their destination,
Their hearts were free of lowly inclination.
من الأزد الكرامِ علت عُلاهم
وقد طَهُرت من الدَّنسِ الجيوبُ
His father's honor from Attaka flowed,
While hers from Mudar, with glory bestowed.
نّماهُ من الأبِ العَتكيّ مجدٌ
بمجد الأمّ من مضرِ مشوبُ
Sadness we felt for Muhammad's grieving spirit,
That Muhammad should feel sorrow made us fear it.
لعاً لمحمدٍ ولقد أسفْنا
بأنّ محمداً أسفٌ كئيبُ
Although the noble lad shows courage ample,
Bearing sorrows with composure most simple.
على أنَّ الفتى جلدٌ صبورٌ
على البلوى له عودٌ صليبُ
He's circled by concerns, but ne'er shows gloom
To any companion, refuses to fume.
تُساوِرُهُ الهمومُ فَلا عُبوسٌ
لديه على الجليس ولا قُطوبُ
He may shake in mirth or joyful emotion,
Like a lithe branch shaking soft in the wind's notion.
وقد يَهتزُّ جوداً وارتياحاً
كما يهتزُّ بالوَرق القَضيبُ
Long may he live to build his parents' name,
So it's known he's a cousin of merited fame.
فَعاشَ يشيد مَجدَيْ والدَيهِ
ليُعلم انه نعمَ النسيبُ
May his beloved ne'er from his side be driven,
Each beauty avoided that his gaze has given.
ولا تَبَعدْ عزيزتُه ودُرَّتْ
عليها كلُّ غادية تصوبُ
Muhammad's nature was virtuous and sound,
Destined to reign over all lofty and profound.
وكان محمد خلقاً زكياً
يكون له على العلْيا رُبوبُ
