سلمتِ وما الديارُ بسالماتٍ
على عنَت البلى يا دارَ هندِ
You bid farewell, yet the abodes are not at peace
From the ravages of time, O land of India!
ولا برِحتْ مفوَّقةُ الغوادي
تُصيبُ رباكِ من خَطَإٍ وعمدِ
Nor has the lofty-stationed one ceased,
Inflicting your Lord with errors and wickedness,
بموقِظةِ الثرى والتربُ هادٍ
ومُجديةِ الحيا والعامُ مُكدي
With the awakening of soil and the dormant dust,
And the decline of life and the distressing years.
على أني متى مطرَتْكِ عيني
ففضلٌ ما سقاكِ الغيثُ بعدي
Yet whenever my eyes rain upon you,
It is a favor what the rain has watered you after me.
أميلُ إليكِ يجذبني فؤادي
وغيرُكِ ما استقام السيرُ قصدي
My heart inclines toward you and draws me,
And none but you makes my course go straight.
وأُشفق أن تبدِّلكِ المطايا
بوطأتها كأنَّ ثراكِ خدّي
I fear the caravans will change you
With their treading, as if your soil were my cheek.
أرى بكِ ما أراه فمستعيرٌ
حشاي وواجدٌ بالبين وجدي
I see in you what I see, so I borrow
My joy and find in separation agony.
وليتِك إذ نحلتِ نحولَ جسمي
بقِيتِ على النحول بقاءَ عهدي
Would that you, when you granted the wasting of my body
Remained in that wasting as long as my pact endures!
وما أهلوكِ يومَ خلوتِ منهم
بأوّلِ غَدرةٍ للدهر عندي
And how could they bid you farewell when they left from you
With the first betrayal of fate according to me?
سلي الأيام ما فعلت بأنسي
وعيشٍ لي على البيضاء رغدِ
Ask the days what they did with my joy,
And a life of comfort and prosperity for me,
وفي الأحداج عن رشإٍ حبيبٍ
على لونيه من صِلةٍ وصدِّ
And in intimacies, about a beloved friend
Matching my complexion in attachment and friendship,
يماطلُ ثم يُنجزُ كلَّ دَيْنٍ
ولم ينجز بذي العلمين وعدي
Who plays coy and then fulfills every debt,
Yet did not fulfill to "The Lord of Two Easts" my promise.
تبسّم بالبراق وصاب غيث
فلو مُلِكَ الفِداءُ لكنتُ أَفدي
He smiled with radiance and poured forth rain,
So if ransom could avail, I would ransom him.
ثناياه وفاه ولا أغالي
بما في المزن من برقٍ وبَرْدِ
His sides and mouth I do not overvalue,
For what is in the clouds of lightning and hail.
ألاَ مَن عائدٌ ببياضِ يومٍ
لعيني بين أحناء وصمدِ
Will one return with the whiteness of a day,
To my eyes between inclinations and steadfastness?
وعِينٍ بالطُّوَيلع بارزاتٍ
على قَسَماتِهنّ حياءُ نجدِ
And eyes gazing long at al-Tawyla'
On their eyelids the shyness of Najd.
نظرنَ فما غزالتُه بلحظٍ
ومِسْنَ فما أراكتُه بقدِّ
They looked but no gazelle of his with a glance,
And touched but did not thin his compactness with their wrists.
وبلهاء الصِّبا تبغي سِقاطي
إذا حلّلتها هزَلتْ بجِدّي
The foolishness of youth seeking my downfall,
If I humor it, jesting with my earnestness.
تَعدُّ سنيَّ تعجَبُ من وقاري
ولم يجتزْ مراحَ العمر عَدِّي
It counts my years and wonders at my dignity;
But the phases of life have not passed my tally.
فما للشَّيْب شدَّ عليّ ركضاً
فطوّح بي ولم أبلغ أشُدِّي
So why has old age attacked me with galloping pace
And toppled me when I've not reached my prime?
يعيّرني ولم أره شآني
تنبه حظُّه بخمولِ جَدّي
It taunts me though it has not seen my mettle aroused.
Its fortune was alert to my listlessness.
وودَّ على غضارة حُلَّتيهِ
مكانَ الرقع من أسمال بُردي
It wished upon the coarseness of my attire,
The place of patches, some striped cloak.
وما ورقُ الغنى المنفوضُ عنّي
بمُعرٍ من حُسام المجدِ غِمدي
No leaf of wealth flutters about me,
With a flash of swords of glory sheathed.
حملتُ وليس عن جَلَدٍ بقلبي
حُمولَةَ واسع الجنبين جَلْدِ
I carried burdens though no hero in my heart,
The burdens of the wide-chested camel hide.
تبادهني النوائب مستغرّاً
فأدفعها بعزمةِ مستعِدّ
Misfortunes tempt me, while I remain deceived,
So I repel them with resolved intention.
يزِلُّ الحوفُ عن سكنات قلبي
زليلَ الماءِ عن صفحاتِ جلدي
Fear departs the dwellings of my heart,
Feeble as water on my skin's surfaces.
دع الدنيا تَرِفَّ على بنيها
وتُجلِبُ بالجفاء عليّ وحدي
Let the world overflow upon its people,
And bring harshness upon me alone!
وفِرْ أموالَهم تنمو وتزكو
فليس كنوزُها ثمناً لحمدي
And spare their wealth to grow and ripen,
For its treasures are no price for my praise.
لعل حوائ الآمال فيهم
تُطَرَّقُ من أبي سعدٍ بسعدِ
Perhaps the circumstances of hopes are in them,
Will bring me from my father Saʿd good fortune.
فتى عَقدتْ تمائمُه فطيماً
على أُكرومةٍ ووفاءِ عَقدِ
A youth whose amulets Fortune bound kindly,
On a nature and loyalty of knot.
وربَّته على خُلُق المعالي
غرائزُ من أبٍ عالٍ وجَدِّ
And his instincts for the traits of glory raised him,
The prompts of a lofty father and grandfather.
فما مجَّت له أُذُنٌ سؤالاً
ولا سمحتْ له شَفَةٌ بردِّ
No ear went around to him seeking requests,
No lip was permitted to him any coldness.
إذا اخضرّت بنانُ أبٍ كريمٍ
فصِبغتُها إلى الأبناء تُعدِي
When the shoots of a generous father grow green,
Their dye extends to the sons.
تطاولَ للكمالِ فلم يُفتْهُ
على قُربِ الوِلاد مكانُ بُعدِ
He reached for perfection but it did not elude him,
Despite the nearness of birth no place for distance.
وتمَّ فعُلِّق الأبصارَ بدراً
ولم يَعلَقْ له شَعَرٌ بخدِّ
He fulfilled and so gazes were fixed as a full moon,
For him no poetry was composed for his cheek.
رآه أبوه وابن الليث شبل
لسَدَّةِ ثُغرةٍ وهو ابن مَهدِ
His father and cousin saw him as a lion cub,
For the status of a gap-toothed one, while still a baby.
فقال لحاسديه شُقِيتُمُ بي
وهذا ابني به تَشقَوْنَ بعدي
So he said to his enviers: "You are miserable through me,
And this is my son, through whom you'll be miserable after me."
جَرَى ولداتِهِ فمضى وكدُّوا
لو أنَّ الريحَ مُدْرَكَةٌ بكدِّ
His progeny flowed, so he passed away and they plotted,
As if the winds could be reached by scheming.
إذا سبروه عن عَوصاءَ أدلَى
بها فَنَجا على غَرَرِ التحدّي
When they probed him about rugged places, he came down
Upon them and so escaped by the deceits of defiance.
دَعُوا دَرَجَ الفضائل مزلِقاتٍ
لماضٍ بالفضائلِ مستبِدِّ
They left the degrees of merits slippery,
For one whose past merits were binding.
وما حسدُ النجومِ على المعالي
ولو ذابَ الحصا حسدا بمُجدي
The celestial stars envy not for merits,
Even if only pebbles dripped envy for my glory!
أبا سعدٍ ولو عثروا بعيبٍ
مشوا فيه بحقٍّ أو تعدّي
O father of Saʿd, even if they found a fault,
They exaggerated it whether in truth or aggression.
وقد تسرى العيوبُ على التصافي
فكيفَ بها بحقٍّ أو تعدّي
Shortcomings may be kept hidden in the flawless,
So what of them in truth or aggression?
ولكن فتَّهم فنجوتَ منهم
نَجاءَ اللحن بالخصمِ الألدِّ
But their wits failed so you escaped them,
The incorrectness of an opponent, harsh.
وملَّكَكَ الفخارُ فلم تنازَع
بقُلٍّ في النديّ ولا بحَشْدِ
Victory made you master so you did not contend,
With little spirit for hostility or zeal.
أبٌ لك يُلحِمُ العلياءَ طولاً
وخالٌ في عِراصِ المجد يُسدِي
A father who unites the noble for lengthy time,
And a maternal uncle flooding the valley of glory.
ولم يعدِلْ أبا لك يَعرُبيّاً
زميلٌ مثلُ خالك في مَعَدِّ
None rivals your father, O Arab,
A peer like your uncle in might.
جزيتُك عن وفائك لي ثناءً
يودّ أخي مكانَك فيه عندي
I paid you for your loyalty to me with praise
Which my brother would wish in your place from me.
ولولا الودُّ عزّ عليك مدحي
ولولا الفضلُ عزّ عليك ودّي
Were it not for love, my praise of you would be difficult,
And were it not for merit, my affection difficult.
بني عبد الرحيم بكم تعالت
يدي ووري على الظلماء زَندي
O Banū ʿAbd al-Raḥīm, how lofty
My hand and gold were upon the ignorant!
وإن أودَى بنيسابور قومي
فجدُّكُمُ من الأملاك جدِّي
If the people of Nishapur did wrong my people,
Then your grandfather is among my glories.
وأصدقُ ما محضتُ القومَ مدحي
إذا ما كان مَجدُ القوم مَجدي
Truest is my praising a people when
The people's glory is my glory.
تُفاعِيني لتُردِيَني الليالي
فأذكرُكم فتنهسُني بدُرْدِ
You vie with me so the nights destroy me,
And I remember you so you revive me with your pearls.
وأزحَمُ فيكُمُ نكباتِ دهري
بعصبةِ غالبٍ وبني الأشدِّ
I thrust into you the setbacks of my fate
With the band of a victor and the sons of lions.
لذلك ما حبوتكُمُ صفايا
ذخائرُ خيرُ ما أحبو وأُهدي
Therefore never did I love pure (worthy) things
Except the treasures of the best I loved and was gifted.
طوالعُ من حجابِ القلبِن عفوي
بهنَّ يُبدُّ غايةَ كلِّ جُهدِ
Rising spontaneously from veils of the hearts,
By them the utmost exertion’s goal appears.
تجوبُ الأرض وتقطعُ كلَّ يوم
مدَى عامين للساري المُجِدِّ
You tour the land, traveling each day
Two years’ distance for the noble horseman.
يَرِيَن وبعدُ لم يُروَين حسناً
كأنّ سطورَهن وُشوعُ بُرْدِ
They show and yet their beauty is not sated,
As if their lines were tattooed with hailstones.
إذا رَوَّت رجالَكُمُ كُهولاً
سأرن لصبيةٍ منكم ومُدِ
When they water your men as mature ones,
They will show some of your boys as infants.
ولولاكم لما ظفرت بكفءٍ
يَسُرُّ ولا سعت قدماً لرشدِ
Were it not for you I'd not gain a match
Whose company gives joy or feet guidance.
ولكن زفّها الأحرارُ منكم
فما أشقيت حرّتَها بعبدِ
But your freemen married them to me,
So I did not suffer her nobility's loss to a slave.
فَضَلتم سؤدداً وفضَلتُ قولاً
فكلٌّ في مداه بغير نِدِّ
You have excelled by giving wealth and I words,
So each in his own domain without rival.
بكم خُتم الندَى وبِيَ القوافي
بقيتم وحدكم وبقيتُ وحدي
Through you sincerity was sealed and through me rhymes.
You remained uniquely you and I remained uniquely I.
