أَفاضِلُ الناسِ أَغراضٌ لِذا الزَمَنِ
يَخلو مِنَ الهَمِّ أَخلاهُم مِنَ الفِطَنِ
The best of people are but means in this age
The virtuous are Fate's favorite targets in these times; only he who lacks wit lacks worry.
Empty of cares, their emptiness makes them shrewd
We live among a generation equal in their vice, a plague upon the free soul worse than bodily disease.
وَإِنَّما نَحنُ في جيلٍ سَواسِيَةٍ
شَرٍّ عَلى الحُرِّ مِن سُقمٍ عَلى بَدَنِ
We are indeed in an ignoble generation
Creatures surround me on every side, yet you err to ask "Who are they?" instead of "What are they?"
More harmful to the noble than illness to the body
I tread no land save on the edge of peril, nor pass a soul that does not harbor hate.
حَولي بِكُلِّ مَكانٍ مِنهُمُ خِلَقٌ
تُخطي إِذا جِئتَ في اِستِفهامِها بِمَنِ
Wherever I go, their nature surrounds me
I consort with none of their kings, save those more fit for beheading than a pagan idol.
When you ask who they are, they evade the question
I find excuses for them even as I scold, until I turn the blame upon myself for staying.
لا أَقتَري بَلَداً إِلّا عَلى غَرَرٍ
وَلا أَمُرُّ بِخَلقٍ غَيرِ مُضطَغِنِ
I will reside no country but out of necessity
The fool's need for manners, lacking wit, matches the headless donkey's need for a halter.
And will not associate with those of despicable character
I kept company with wretches in a barren waste, naked of silks but amply clothed in filth.
وَلا أُعاشِرُ مِن أَملاكِهِم أَحَداً
إِلّا أَحَقَّ بِضَربِ الرَأسِ مِن وَثَنِ
And none of their rulers will I associate with
Ruins of the wild with bellies gnawed by hunger, lizard eggs their free and wretched feast.
More deserving of a blow to the head than an idol
They probe for news, but I withhold my tale, though their arrows of suspicion never miss the mark.
إِنّي لَأَعذِرُهُم مِمّا أُعَنِّفُهُم
حَتّى أُعَنِّفُ نَفسي فيهِمِ وَأَني
Though I reproach them I excuse them
I feign a flaw to shield me from my peer, that we might seem equals in our frailty.
Until I blame myself for their weakness
On the road I feared to speak with grammar's grace lest I be known, yet my tongue refused to err.
فَقرُ الجَهولِ بِلا عَقلٍ إِلى أَدَبٍ
فَقرُ الحِمارِ بِلا رَأسٍ إِلى رَسَنِ
The fool’s poverty of intellect calls him to manners
Patience has lightened the weight of every blow, and resolve has smoothed the rough and jagged path.
The donkey’s lack of head calls him to the halter
How often salvation and glory lie in courting death, while cowardice links survival with disgrace.
وَمُدقِعينَ بِسُبروتٍ صَحِبتُهُمُ
عارينَ مِن حُلَلٍ كاسينَ مِن دَرَنِ
Clad externally in fine robes yet naked within
Let not the oppressed take pride in fine attire; does a silken shroud delight the buried corpse?
Their bellies are ruins, the loot of a land without price
God knows the state I hope for, which eludes me still; I demand it of Time, yet Time delays the debt.
خُرّابِ بادِيَّةٍ غَرثى بُطونُهُمُ
مَكنُ الضِبابِ لَهُم زادٌ بِلا ثَمَنِ
They question me yet receive no news from me
I praised a folk, but should we live, I'll weave them poems not of words, but of charging mares and stallions.
No arrow of doubt flies to them from me
Beneath the dust of war, their rhymes are lean steeds; when recited, they pierce the flesh, not enter the ear.
يَستَخبِرونَ فَلا أُعطيهِمُ خَبَري
وَما يَطيشُ لَهُم سَهمٌ مِنَ الظِنَنِ
A fault I espy in a companion, I avoid it in him
I will not fight like one backed against a wall, nor make peace on terms that hide a smoldering grudge.
So it seems we both share the same weakness
The army camps in the waste, smelted by the midday sun amidst the deafening roar of strife.
وَخَلَّةٍ في جَليسٍ أَتَّقيهِ بِها
كَيما يُرى أَنَّنا مِثلانِ في الوَهَنِ
A word on the road which I hesitate to pronounce
The noble dead have cast their virtues down upon Al-Khasibi, in every sacred rite and law.
So they are guided, yet I cannot avoid the slip
These virtues rest within his care; when orphans come, he meets them with glory and boundless grace.
وَكِلمَةٍ في طَريقٍ خِفتُ أَعرِبُها
فَيُهتَدى لي فَلَم أَقدِر عَلى اللَحنِ
Patience has softened for me every calamity
A judge who, when matters tangle in confusion, strikes a view that severs milk from water.
And resolve submits, however rough the road
Fresh in his youth, yet his vigil makes the night seem long, his eye estranged from sin and sleep alike.
قَد هَوَّنَ الصَبرُ عِندي كُلَّ نازِلَةٍ
وَلَيَّنَ العَزمُ حَدَّ المَركَبِ الخَشِنِ
Many saviors charged boldly to their death
He sips but to survive, not to quench a thirst, and eats to stand upright, not to grow fat.
And killers paired with cowards in battle
He speaks the truth even when the truth brings harm, the same in secret as he is in public view.
كَم مَخلَصٍ وَعُلًى في خَوضِ مَهلَكَةٍ
وَقَتلَةٍ قُرِنَت بِالذَمِّ في الجُبُنِ
He solves the rulings that baffled the ancients, and unveils the truth to the wandering mind.
His deeds are lineage enough; were he not to say "Al-Khasib is my sire," the branch would prove the root.
لا يُعجِبَنَّ مَضيماً حُسنُ بِزَّتِهِ
وَهَل يَروقُ دَفيناً جَودَةُ الكَفَنِ
The pouring rain-cloud, son of the pouring rain-cloud, son of the pouring rain-cloud, son of the pouring rain-cloud.
His fathers have bound the world’s beginning to its end, uniting all knowledge within a single span.
لِلَّهِ حالٌ أُرَجّيها وَتُخلِفُني
وَأَقتَضي كَونَها دَهري وَيَمطُلُني
As if they were born before their birth, or possessed wisdom in days before time began.
They stride against their foes, forever shielded by their virtues more surely than by mail.
مَدَحتُ قَوماً وَإِن عِشنا نَظَمتُ لَهُم
قَصائِداً مِن إِناثِ الخَيلِ وَالحُصُنِ
Those who watch his approach feel a joy that smooths the furrows from every frowning brow.
It is as though Ibn Abdallah’s wealth pours from his palms to flood the lands of Rome and Yemen.
تَحتَ العَجاجِ قَوافيها مُضَمَّرَةً
إِذا تُنوشِدنَ لَم يَدخُلنَ في أُذُنِ
In you we find the rain-cloud without its mud, and the bounty of the sea without the wind and ships.
In you we find the lion without his hideous face, and the best of all things with the dross refined away.
فَلا أُحارِبُ مَدفوعاً إِلى جُدُرٍ
وَلا أُصالِحُ مَغروراً عَلى دَخَنِ
Since you took your seat in Antioch, the chaos calmed, as if blood-feuds had settled into sudden truce.
Since you passed its mountains, they rubbed their foreheads bare in bowing, leaving no green upon the peaks.
مُخَيِّمُ الجَمعِ بِالبَيداءِ يَصهَرُهُ
حَرُّ الهَواجِرِ في صُمٍّ مِنَ الفِتَنِ
Your gifts have emptied the markets of their craftsmen; your bounty makes labor and trade obsolete.
This is the giving of one who trusts not in Time, the detachment of a soul that finds no home in this world.
أَلقى الكِرامُ الأُلى بادوا مَكارِمُهُم
عَلى الخَصيبِيِّ عِندَ الفَرضِ وَالسُنَنِ
This is an awe granted to no other man, a power of speech that transcends all mortal limits.
So command and sign—you shall be obeyed, O sacred mountain! Blessed be God who breathed such spirit into clay.
فَهُنَّ في الحَجرِ مِنهُ كُلَّما عَرَضَت
لَهُ اليَتامى بَدا بِالمَجدِ وَالمِنَنِ
قاضٍ إِذا اِلتَبَسَ الأَمرانِ عَنَّ لَهُ
رَأيٌ يُخَلِّصُ بَينَ الماءِ وَاللَبَنِ
غَضُّ الشَبابِ بَعيدٌ فَجرُ لَيلَتِهِ
مُجانِبُ العَينِ لِلفَحشاءِ وَالوَسَنِ
شَرابُهُ النَشحُ لا لِلرِيِّ يَطلُبُهُ
وَطَعمُهُ لِقَوامِ الجِسمِ لا السِمَنِ
القائِلُ الصِدقَ فيهِ ما يَضُرُّ بِهِ
وَالواحِدُ الحالَتَينِ السِرِّ وَالعَلَنِ
الفاصِلُ الحُكمَ عَيَّ الأَوَّلونَ بِهِ
وَالمُظهِرُ الحَقَّ لِلساهي عَلى الذِهنِ
أَفعالُهُ نَسَبٌ لَو لَم يَقُل مَعَها
جَدّي الخَصيبُ عَرَفنا العِرقَ بِالغُصُنِ
العارِضُ الهَتِنُ اِبنُ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ اِب
نِ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ اِبنِ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ
قَد صَيَّرَت أَوَّلَ الدُنيا وَآخِرَها
آباؤُهُ مِن مُغارِ العِلمِ في قَرَنِ
كَأَنَّهُم وُلِدوا مِن قَبلِ أَن وُلِدوا
أَو كانَ فَهمُهُمُ أَيّامَ لَم يَكُنِ
الخاطِرينَ عَلى أَعدائِهِم أَبَداً
مِنَ المَحامِدِ في أَوقى مِنَ الجُنَنِ
لِلناظِرينَ إِلى إِقبالِهِ فَرَحٌ
يُزيلُ ما بِجِباهِ القَومِ مِن غَضَنِ
كَأَنَّ مالَ اِبنِ عَبدِ اللَهِ مُغتَرَفٌ
مِن راحَتَيهِ بِأَرضِ الرومِ وَاليَمَنِ
لَم نَفتَقِد بِكَ مِن مُزنٍ سِوى لَثَقٍ
وَلا مِنَ البَحرِ غَيرَ الريحِ وَالسُفُنِ
وَلا مِنَ اللَيثِ إِلّا قُبحَ مَنظَرِهِ
وَمِن سِواهُ سِوى ما لَيسَ بِالحَسَنِ
مُنذُ اِحتَبَيتَ بِأَنطاكِيَّةَ اِعتَدَلَت
حَتّى كَأَنَّ ذَوي الأَوتارِ في هُدَنِ
وَمُذ مَرَرتَ عَلى أَطوادِها قَرِعَت
مِنَ السُجودِ فَلا نَبتٌ عَلى القُنَنِ
أَخلَت مَواهِبُكَ الأَسواقَ مِن صَنَعٍ
أَغنى نَداكَ عَنِ الأَعمالِ وَالمِهَنِ
ذا جودُ مَن لَيسَ مِن دَهرٍ عَلى ثِقَةٍ
وَزُهدُ مَن لَيسَ مِن دُنياهُ في وَطَنِ
وَهَذِهِ هَيبَةٌ لَم يُؤتَها بَشَرٌ
وَذا اِقتِدارُ لِسانٍ لَيسَ في المُنَنِ
فَمُر وَأَومٍ تُطَع قُدِّستَ مِن جَبَلٍ
تَبارَكَ اللَهُ مُجري الروحِ في حَضَنِ
