مَشارِقُ الأَرضِ لَفَّها بِمَغارِبٍ
وَغادَرَ قُطبَيها مِزاجاً لِقاطِبِ
The Easts of the earth, he enfolded in Wests,
And left its poles, to mix with each other.
وَجانَسَ بَينَ الغَورِ وَالنَجدِ عِندَها
كَلّا أَرضِها لَم يَعي وَقعَ السَلاهِبِ
He made the caves neighbor the meadows,
As if unaware where the lions prowled.
وَضيقٌ بَينَ الفَرجَتينِ فَصارَتا
إِلى مِثلِ ما ضُمَّت أَنامِلُ حاسِبِ
The horizons he narrowed, till they
Were closed tight as the fingers of an accountant.
وَقَرَّبَ بَينَ العَدُوَّتَينِ كَأَنَّما
لَهُ كَرَّةَ الغَرباءِ أَكَرَّةَ لاعِبِ
He brought ancient foes close together,
As if he possessed the ball of the player.
مَروِيَّ شِعارِ الهِندِ دانَ وَراوِياً
سَبانَ المَعالي عَن رِقاقِ المَضارِبِ
He related the mottoes of India, dān and rawiya,
And told of the glories, not base greed and profit.
لِواءٌ مِنَ الإِسلامِ قَد عَزَّ نَصرُهُ
أَطَلَّ عَلى الآفاقِ مِن كُلِّ جانِبِ
A banner of Islam its triumph made manifest,
Unfurling in every direction to East and to West.
لِواءٌ لَوانَ الأَرضِ طالَ أَثيرُها
لَمّا زالَ حَتّى أَندَقَّ بَينَ الكَواكِبِ
A banner whose glory covered the realms of the earth,
Until it gleamed midst the stars in the sky.
وَلَو أَنَّ قَرانَ الشَمسِ أَرىخى ذَوائِباً
لَما كانَ مِنهُ غَيرَ إِحدى الذَوائِبِ
If the train of the Sun let its tresses down loose,
They would be but a single one of its tresses.
تُداوِلهُ بَعدَ النَبِيِّ خَلائِفٌ
مَفاخِرُهُم كُلٌّ عَلى كُلِّ غارِبِ
Successors receive it, after the Prophet, one from the other,
Each of them eminent over each fading star.
لَعَمري لَئِن طالَ التَحَكُّكَ بِالسُهى
وَقارِبٌ رَوقُ النَجمِ أَوَ لَم يُقارِبِ
By my life! If vacillation lasts until the Pleiades decline,
Or the star Aldebaran fails to rise,
لَمّا طاوَلتُ أَحسابَ عُثمانَ عُصبَةٌ
وَلا دانَ مِنها مَطلَبٌ نَحوَ طالِبِ
When a faction stretched out its hands for ʿUthmān,
With no reverence for a Caliph like ʿAlī,
أَرى آلَ عُثمانَ بِنَصرِ مُحَمَّدٍ
هِيَ الأَزدُ إِلّا أَنَّها لم تُصاحِبِ
I saw the House of ʿUthmān with the victory of Muhammad,
They are the Azd, though they never accompanied him.
مَلونَ بِالأَمرِ الَّذي يَحمِلونَهُ
خَلِّيونَ عَن خَلفِ المَساعي الكَواذِبِ
Sincerely devoted to the authority they wield,
Far from the misguided efforts of deceiving pretenders.
لَقضد نَوَّروا لَيلاً مِنَ النَقعِ داجِياً
بِشُهبِ رِماحٍ لِلنُحورِ ثَواقِبِ
Truly they illuminated a night of grim darkness
With the shooting stars of lances piercing breasts.
وَقَد فَرَّعوا مِن كُلِّ مَلكٍ عَقيلَةٌ
رِياضَتُها أَعيَت عَلى كُلِّ خاطِبٍ
From every kingdom they have plucked choice fruits,
Whose bloom has foiled every wooing suitor.
لَقَد جَمَعوا البَرَّينِ مَعض زَاخِريهِما
وَأَحسَنَ مِنهُ جَمعَهُم لِلمَناقِبِ
They gathered the goodness of land and sea through their raiders,
And better than this: gathered glory for themselves.
حَفِظتُ لِعُثامٍ وَقاراً مَريدُهُ
تَرَدّى بِإِذنِ اللَهِ حُلَّةَ خائِبِ
I have guarded honor for ʿUthmān, his partisan,
Hoping–if God permits–the garb of shame will slip.
وَحَسُنَت بَل حَصُنتَ ما شِئتَ وَاِقتَضَت
خَواطِرُكَ الغَرا وَحُسنُ المَذاهِبِ
You have done nobly, even fortified, what you desired,
Following your own sound intuitions and ways.
سَرَدَت لَهُ هَذا الحَديدَ فَلَم تَزَل
تَمُدُّ بِقُضبانٍ لَهُ وَقواضِبِ
You have forged this iron for him and cease not
To ply it with ingots and rods.
قَواضِبُهُ في الحَربِ ِن تُنتَدَب لَها
وَقُضبانِهِ في السِلمِ إِن لَم تُحارِبِ
Its rods for war, if summoned to it,
Its ingots for peace, if no war is provoked,
وَما عَفَت نارُ الحَربِ إِلّا تَعَقُّلاً
وَكُلٌّ مِنَ الدَولاتِ تُدلى بِجاذِبِ
The fires of war subside only through reason,
While all states are pulled by the rope of fate.
وَما عَقَتها إِلّا اِحتِفازاً لِقُربِها
وَهَل يَنهَضُ البازي بِغَيرِ مَخالِبِ
They subside only to flare up again nearby,
Does the falcon rise without claws?
لِكُلٍّ مِنَ الأَمرَينِ أَعدَدتَ عُدَّةً
فَسالِم إِذا ما طِبتَ نَفساً وَغاضِبِ
For each circumstance you have readied supplies–
So greetings in peace and when wrathful in war!
سَهِرتُ وَقَد نامَ الأَنامُ بِمُقلَةٍ
لَه قَلبُ شَيحانَ وَجُثمانِ شاحِبِ
I have stayed up while mankind slept in repose,
With the heart of passionate love and the body of the emaciated.
فَحُبُّكَ ذا شَرعِيٌّ وَعُرفي وَمَذهَبي
وَمَدحَكَ ذا فَرَضي وَوَتَري وَواجِبي
For your love is my creed, my way, my doctrine,
And praising you: my duty, my bond, my obligation!
