هذا العقيقُ وهذهِ أقمارُهُ
فإلامَ قلبُك لا يقرُّ قرارهُ
This ruby and its moons,
Why does your heart not settle in its abode?
يقضي الظلامُ وان تطاول عمرهُ
وبسُمرهِ لا تنقضي أسماره
Darkness will pass, no matter how long its life,
And its gloom cannot extinguish its lights.
ما هاج منك البرقُ دانٍ لمعُهُ
إلا لناءٍ شطَّ عنك مزاره
The lightning that struck you was not to harm,
But to remove disease that afflicted you.
شامواَ حياهُ وفي جفونك ماؤهُ
وخَبا سناهُ وفي ضلوعك ناره
The life of youth is in your eyelids,
And its water is in them.
آها لجفنٍ لاتجفُّ دموعُهُ
وقتيل وجدٍ ليس يُدرَك
Its radiance has faded,
And its fire is in your ribs.
مظلومُ بينٍ لا يُرجَّن عدلُهُ
وأسير حبٍ لا يُفَكُّ إِساره
Alas for an eyelid whose tears do not dry,
And a slain passion that cannot be revived.
في طاعةِ البُرَحاء قولةُ مكمَدٍ
قلبٌ أُصيبتْ بالنَّوى أَعشاره
An oppressed one whose justice cannot be restored,
And a prisoner of love whose shackles cannot be undone.
في نازجٍ للبدر سُنَّةُ وجههِ
والظبيِ سحرُ جفونهِ ونفارُه
In obeying the most generous, the words of Muhammad
Whose heart was pierced with arrows.
يُثَنى على مثلِ القضيبِ وشاحهُ
وتُحلُّ عن شمس الضُّحى أزراره
The full moon borrowing the sun’s splendor,
The gazelle’s spell is in its eyes and shyness.
متجلببٌ ليلَ القلوب لصونهِ
ما زارَ إلا والظَّلام إِزارُه
His mantle folds over a slender form,
And the stars of dawn are loosened from his breast.
ويقل للقمر المنيع حجابهُ
ولو أنَّ دارةَ كل بدر دارُه
Covered in the garb of hearts’ darkness to protect it,
None visited him but with darkness as his mantle.
دِعصٌ ردفهُ وقوامهُ
صُبحٌ وليلٌ خَدُّه وِعذاره
And he says to the inaccessible proud moon to veil itself,
As if the house of every full moon is his abode.
نشوانُ من خمر الشباب فداؤهُ
ما غارَ من بأن العقيق وغارهُ
A leader whose guide and stature,
Are the morn and eve, his cheek and crown.
من لي بهِ والدهرُ عدلٌ حكمهُ
لا الظُّلم شيمتهُ ولا إيثارُه
He bows to the like of a rod yet his mantle,
Flows from the sun of dawn, unfastening its buttons.
يجلوه في حُلل الجمالِ وحَليهِ
زمنٌ تساوى ليلُهُ ونهارهُ
Intoxicated by the wine of youth—his ransom—
No ruby envied him his cave.
ريَّانُ نمَّ على الحيا نمأَمهُ
فَينان يبهرُ رندهُ وبهارُه
Who can rebuke fate whose rule is justice,
Not oppression his trait, nor favor his wont?
وقد اعتصمت بظلّ أروع باتكِ ال
عزَمات جارَ على الحوادث جارُه
Time adorned him in garbs and jewelry,
An era whose night equals its day.
من كان مُنجدَهُ على أعدائه
نصر فغيرُ قليلةٍ أنصاره
A sapling nurtured in the bosom of life,
A branch whose bloom and spring dazzle.
وكذاك من خطبَ المعالي فليكن
كفتى علّيٍ فرعُهُ ونجارُه
I sought refuge in the shade of your wonderful night,
Whose resolve defied the vicissitudes of fate.
ما البحر والطَّودُ الاشمُّ إذا احتبى
في الدَّست إلا جودهُ ووقارُه
He who finds his aid against his enemies,
In a victory, few are his supporters.
راضَ الزمانَ فأصبحت أيامه
طوعاً وتضاءَلت أقداره
And so it is for one who woos glory,
Let him be like the valiant ‘Ali, his descendant and carpenter.
فالدّين عارٍ حلُهُ وحرامهُ
والملكُ عالٍ سمكهُ ومنارهُ
Neither the sea nor the towering mountains,
Save by its generosity and dignity when grasped.
قيلٌ كتائبه سطورُ كتابهِ
فكأنما أطلابهُ أسطارهُ
It burst through the sky and transcended its spheres,
Fate moves as it determines.
في الجدب غيثٌ ليس تقلع سُحبهُ
والخوفِ ذمرٌِ لا يباح ذمارُه
Its vestiges in both worlds are beautiful,
As beautiful as clouds are their traces.
فرَعَ السماءَ وجازَ عن أفلاكها
فلقدرهِ تجري بما يختارُه
The numerous bounties of its vigil,
And so few at night rest their eyes.
آثارُه في العالمينَ جميلةٌ
أن َّ السحاب جميلة آثارهُ
A moon that lights, its unborn radiance
Illuminates the earth, its dust never rising.
يقظان ظل كثيرة آلاؤه
فلذاك بات قليةً أنظارُه
Its actions are visible signs, its generosity
Related legends, its tales flowing.
قمر يضئ يضي الأرض نور جنينه
وجواد مجد لا يشق غباره
It adamantly disobeys he who bars it from dew,
And willingly complies, the dew being its guide.
ففعاله مرئية آياته
وسخاؤهُ مروية أخباره
It gathered him into its right and its left,
While days darkened and people their sides.
يعصي إباءً مَن نهاه عن النَّدى
ويدين طوعاً والندى أَماره
The days have but their time, and people
Nothing but their souls, the earth their abode.
مَن أَمَهُ فيمينهُ ويسارُهُ
والعامُ اغبرَ يُمنهُ ويساره
Without it every horizon would shift
And the drops of clouds pour, flooding its regions.
ما للدَّهر إلا يومهُ والخلقُ إلـ
ـا نفسهُ والأرض دارُه
Nobility overlooking the sky, dignity
Like dawn, denying which the enemy cannot.
لولاهُ أَمحلَ كلَّ أفق واجتدتْ
قطر الغمام جديبة أقطاره
A full moon is its bounties, so if
Events unfold, its resolve and mansion endure.
شرف اطل على السماك وسؤددٌ
كالصبح لا يسعُ العدى إنكاره
The sword of any fading state,
How often did events make its blade fail?
بدر مواهبهُ البدورُ فإن سطا
خطبٌ ثناهُ عزمهُ وبدارهُ
But time is not spared, saving its own,
A triumph saving its claws a long toil.
وحسامُ أَية دولة شاذيةٍ
كم فل غربَ الحادثات غراره
O essence of dew! Without your generosity
There would only be flaw, feared, and scar.
ما ناب ناب الخطب إلا فلَّهُ
ظفرٌ نفاه كليلةً أظفاره
You are the king, all creation bears witness,
In awe of you, your refuge, and sanctuary.
يا لبن النَّدى لولا سماحك لم يكن
لا شوبهُ يخشى ولا أكداره
A dual defense shields your enemies,
Your nations delivered, its corners bounded.
والملك أنت وكل خلقٍ شاهدٍ
وهابه مناعه مغواره
You left the house of wealth a wasteland,
And ruins flourished, inhabited once again.
مثنَّيةٌ أعداؤه محميةٌ
أوطانه مقضيهُ أوطاره
Time was ungracious in its rulings,
Until it relented, its excuses paved.
غادرت بيت المال قفراً فاغتدت
مأهولةً اطلاله قفاره
Innocent, lifting the injustice of sorrows,
His face shone like the dawn, unveiling the gloom.
ولقد أساء الدهر في أحكامه
حتى استقال فمُهّدتْ أعذاره
His sight saved the nearby from misery,
And news from afar cured the worried.
بُرءٌ جلا ظُلَم الهموم كما بدا
وجهُ الضُّحى فجلا الدجى إسفاره
Why does none defend your family zealously,
Measuring his events and how far they reached?
نجَّى برؤيتهِ القريبَ من الأسى
وشفى البعيدَ من الجوى أخباره
In its fear, darkness, and transformations,
Are its lions, lands, and seas.
لم لا يدافعُ عن علائك وازعاً
أحداثه وبكم علا مقداره
They eclipsed you like the moon of the darkened night,
No, your lights are not obscured.
في خوفهِ وظلامهِ ومحولهِ
آسادُهُ وبدورُهُ بحارُه
You rose like its rising, none contested
The depiction, except its time and method.
حجبوكَ مثلَ أخيك بدرِ التمً
لا بل أنت غير خفَّيةٍ أنواره
Not another approached its splendor and perfection,
For none matched its setting and mystery.
وطلعتَ مثلَ طلوعه ما خا
لفَ التشبيهَ إلا وقتهُ وشعاره
If you depart mounted, the stars flung in handfuls,
You would not return except as their spread.
ما إن عداك ضياؤهُ وكمالهُ
فعدا علاك أفوله وسراره
The sincerity of your generosity made it merchandise,
That a questioner may acquire and glean.
لو يستطيع وقد ركبت مسلماً
ماعُدتَ إلا والنجوم نثاره
It conquered aridity—its decree cannot be reversed—
Enriched people—their prosperity cannot be surpassed.
نهنه صفَّي الدين جودك سلعةً
كيما يصادف سائلاً يمتاره
You brought renown to my name through the land,
Unveiling its clarity, its lines now longer.
قهرَ الجُدوبَ فما يردُ قضاؤهُ
أغنى الأنام فما يُراد نضاره
I did not aspire in my words about you, but
To gentle them and pave their ruggedness.
نوَّهتَ باسمي في البلاد فأسفرتْ
أوضاحهُ وتطاولت أسطاره
So the light of sadness hymned the life of morn
With its dew, and its flowers then flourished.
ما رُمت فيك القول إلا لان لي
ليانهُ وتسهلت أوعاره
A priceless pearl and the narrators its merchants,
A torrent came and hearts its harbor.
فثناي نور الحزن باكره الحيا
بنطافهِ فتأرَّجت ازهاره
Its verses recited, its times attended,
Its seasons engaged, and maidens promised.
سيل أتٌي والقلوب قرارهُ
درٌ ثمين والرواةُ تجاره
No company masked its destination from your land,
No caravan departed in your days without light.
متلوَّةٌ آياته مشهودةٌ
أوقاته مخطوبةٌ أبكاره
You remained forever immortalized in praise,
For praise has lengthened lives.
لا خفّ يوماً عن ديارك ركبهُ
لا جفّ في أيّامكم نوّاره
وبقيتَ عمرَ المدح فيك مخلَّداً
أن المديحَ طويلةٌ أعماره
