أَمّا الزَمانُ فَفي يَدَيكَ عِنانُهُ
يا أَيُّها المَلِكُ المُعَظَّمُ شانُهُ
As for time, its reins are in your hands,
O honored king, exalted is his glory!
ذَلَّلتَ جامِحَهُ فَصارَ كَما تَرى
لا جَورُهُ يُخشى وَلا عُدوانُهُ
You have subdued its unruly ways, so now it is as you see,
Its tyranny is no longer feared, nor its transgression.
وَأَرَيتَهُ السُنَنَ الحَميدَةَ رادِعاً
عَن ضِدِّها فَتَقَلَّبَت أَعيانُهُ
And you have shown it the praiseworthy ways, holding it back
From its opposite, so its essence has changed.
إِن ذَمَّ سائِرَ مَن يَراهُ فَإِنَّهُ
يُثني عَلَيكَ وَلا يَكِلُّ لِسانُهُ
If it dispraises all others who behold it, it nevertheless
Praises you unceasingly and its tongue does not tire.
لا غاضَ ذا المُلكُ العَقيمُ فَإِنَّهُ
بَحرٌ وَأَملاكُ الدُنا خُلجانُهُ
Let not this barren reign deceive you, for it is a sea,
While the delights of this world are but its billows.
طُلهُم فَإِنَّكَ مَعدِنُ الشَرَفِ الَّذي
أَخبارُهُ عَجَبٌ فَكَيفَ عِيانُهُ
Seek them, for you are the source of honor, reports of which
Are wonders - so imagine beholding it!
أوتيتَ في أُفُقِ العَلاءِ مَحَلَّةً
لا يَدَّعي إِدراكَها كِيوانُهُ
You have attained in the horizon of the exalted a station
That no ambitious mind can claim to grasp.
فَاِسلَم لِمُلكٍ صِدقُ عَزمِكَ حِصنُهُ
وَعَلى سُيوفِكَ لا نَبَت إِحصانُهُ
So surrender to a kingdom whose resolve is your bastion
And against whose swords no fortress can grow.
وَرَعِيَّةٍ أَنسَيتَها مُذ حُطتَها
زَمَناً تَشيبُ لِهَولِهِ وَلِدانُهُ
And a populace you have comforted since alighting among them
An era ago, while their youth turn gray in its terror.
فَمَقيلُهُم بِفَناءِ دَوحٍ لَم يَزَل
عَذباً جَناهُ ظَليلَةً أَفنانُهُ
So their place of rest is not in the Meadow of Adha without
Its freshness, its shade being delightful and its springs pure.
وَعَشيرَةٍ ظَنّوا خِلافَكَ فُرصَةً
طَوعَ الهَوى فَأَضَلَّهُم شَيطانُهُ
And a clan who thought opposing you an opportunity
That desire obeyed, so Satan led them astray.
وَدَواؤُهُم ما شاهَدوهُ وَداؤُهُم
إِنكارُ حَقٍّ واجِبٍ عِرفانُهُ
While the cure for them is what they have witnessed, and their disease
Is denying an obligatory recognition.
فَلَقَد أَطاعَكَ مَن أَحَبَّ حَياتَهُ
فَنَجا وَأَردى حائِناً عِصيانُهُ
So one who loves his life has obeyed you
And is saved, while defiance destroys the traitor.
وَلَوَ اِنَّهُم ذَلّوا لِعِزِّ مَليكِهِم
لا زالَ يَقهَرُ مَن بَغى سُلطانُهُ
And if only they had yielded to the power of their king,
His authority would still defeat any who rebelled.
لَمَحا ذُنوبَهُمُ وَجَمَّعَ شَملَهُم
بَعدَ الشَتاتِ حُنُوُّهُ وَحَنانُهُ
He would overlook their sins and unite their ranks
After divisions - such is his affection and tenderness!
لا يَطمَعَن في حُسنِ عَفوِكَ طامِعٌ
حَتّى يُماثِلَ سِرَّهُ إِعلانُهُ
Let no ambitious man hope for your gracious pardon
Until his secret matches his proclamation.
وَليَسلُهُ مَن لا يُفارِقُ غِلَّهُ
حَتّى يُفارِقَ روحَهُ جُثمانُهُ
And let the one stained with sin not feel secure
Until his spirit separates from his body.
وَليَتبَعَنَّ رِضاكَ غَيرَ مُوارِبٍ
مَن في يَمينِكَ خَوفُهُ وَأَمانُهُ
And let whoever is not deceitful resolutely follow your approval -
For those under your protection have hope and safety.
فَلَأَنتَ مَن يَأبى النِفاقَ فَلَم يَعِش
في ظِلِّهِ مَن لَم تَمُت أَضغانُهُ
For you are one who abhors hypocrisy, so none can live
Under its shade but those whose grudges have not died.
وَغَناءُ مَن أَصبَحتَ عَنهُ مُعرِضاً
كَغَناءِ رُمحٍ بانَ عَنهُ سِنانُهُ
And bereft is one from whom you have turned away -
Like a spear whose tip is bent, gone its sharpness.
فَليُصحِبوا لَكَ رَغبَةً أَو رَهبَةً
فَلَطالَما ضَرَّ الجَوادَ حِرانُهُ
So let them keep with you desire or awe,
For the steed is long vexed by its bridle.
لَو أَنَّ غَيرَكَ رامَهُم لَتَصَعصَعَت
أَعوانُهُ وَتَضَعضَعَت أَركانُهُ
Had another aspired to rule them, his supporters would crumble
And his pillars collapse.
وَهُمُ الأُلى ما أَشرَعوا صُمَّ القَنا
في مَأزِقٍ إِلّا وَهُم فُرسانُهُ
For they are stalwarts who, when the pass was dangerous,
Were its knights, never shrinking from the fray.
أَبطالُ صَعصَعَةٍ حُماةُ رَبيعَةٍ
في حَيثُ يُزري بِالجِبانِ جَنانُهُ
Heroes of Sa'sa'ah, defenders of Rabee'ah,
Where the coward is disgraced even if with companions.
مِن كُلِّ مُختَبَرِ المَضاءِ مُجَرَّبٍ
يَحمي حِماهُ ضِرابُهُ وَطِعانُهُ
From every battlefield tested and proven -
He whom they protect is kept safe by their blows and stabs.
مَن يَنثَني وَمِنَ النَجيعِ مُدامُهُ
طَرَباً وَما طَبَعَ القُيونُ قِيانُهُ
Those who straighten when others slouch, with posture erect,
While mounts sway not having that nature.
لَيثٌ وَفي خَلَلَ الوَشيجِ عَرينُهُ
وَفَنيقُ حَربٍ وَالمَكَرُّ عِرانُهُ
Lions amidst the dense groves, their lair within,
Artful warriors, while deceit their tool.
ما أَمَّ قَفراً لَم تَجَفَّل أَسدُهُ
فَرَقاً كَما جَفَلَت بِهِ ظِلمانُهُ
They have never raided a barren wasteland
But that their assault makes it desolate.
غُرّوا بِأَن عَقّوا سِواكَ وَأَسرَفوا
وَعُقوقُ مِثلِكَ مُعوِزٌ إِمكانُهُ
They were deluded in defying you and exceeded bounds,
Yet defying the likes of you strains the possible.
فَأَتَت عَزائِمُ لَو قَرَعنَ مُتالِعاً
لَتَهافَتَت هَضَباتُهُ وَرِعانُهُ
So firm resolutions came whose impact, if contiguous,
Would shatter its plateaus and terrify its shepherds.
لِمُؤَيَّدِ الإِقدامِ بِالرَأيِ الَّذي
لَم يَأتِهِ عَمروٌ وَلا وَردانُهُ
For the champion of resolute daring with the view
That no Amr came to, nor hosts have reached.
وَنَصِيَّةِ البَيتِ الَّذي طالَ السُهى
وَعَلا الثُرَيّا صاعِداً بُنيانُهُ
And the advocate of the house whose glory is long,
With its edifice lofty, its structure ascending.
أَوتادُهُ بيضُ الظُبا وَعِمادُهُ
بَعضُ الرِماحِ وَبَعضُها أَشطانُهُ
Its tent poles are the oryx's white thighs, its pillars
Some spears, their shafts its columns.
مِن مَعشَرٍ لَم يُطوَ مُهرَقُ سُؤدُدٍ
إِلّا وَطَيِّبُ ذِكرِهِم عُنوانُهُ
From a folk whose honored abode's hearth flame was never
Extinguished but that their good name remains its lintel.
وَإِذا اِنتَهى دَهرٌ فَهُم أَعيانُهُ
وَإِذا أَتى خَيرٌ فَهُم أَعوانُهُ
When an era passes, they are its essence,
When good comes, they are its aid.
وَإِذا أَتَوا بَلَداً جَديباً أَخصَبَت
فيهِ رُباهُ وَأُتئِقَت غُدرانُهُ
When they come to a barren land, its greenery flourishes
And its valleys narrow in their midst.
لَو لَم تَفُز بِهِمُ العُفاةُ لَما دَرى
مُتَطَلِّبُ المَعروفِ أَينَ مَكانُهُ
Had the riffraff not prevailed over them, the seeker
Of favor would not know where to find it.
لَم يَجحَدِ الأَعداءُ واضِحَ مَجدِهِم
كَيفَ الجُحودُ وَسابِقٌ بُرهانُهُ
Foes do not deny their evident glory -
How can there be denial when proof leads the way?
مَن خُصَّ بِالشَرَفِ الَّذي ظَنَّت بِهِ
زُهرُ الكَواكِبِ أَنَّها جيرانُهُ
He was endowed with honor that the stars' blossoms supposed
Was their own, so encircled him as neighbors.
مَمنوعَةٌ أَحوالُهُ مَتبوعَةٌ
أَقوالُهُ مُتَتابِعٌ إِحسانُهُ
Guarded are his circumstances, emulated his words,
Successive his beneficence.
ما إِن يُغادي العِلمَ أَو يَحوي الغِنى
حَتّى يَفيضَ بَيانُهُ وَبَنانُهُ
If he leaves scholarship or contains affluence,
His clarity and munificence overflow.
لا خابَ آمِلُهُ وَلا خَبَّ الرَدى
يَوماً إِلَيهِ وَلا خَبَت نيرانُهُ
No aspirer to him has ever been frustrated,
Nor one who sought refuge met with flames.
يا عَونَ مَن غَدَرَت بِهِ أَيّامُهُ
وَمُعينَ مَن تَنبو بِهِ أَوطانُهُ
O aide of one whose days have betrayed him
And supporter of one for whom homelands yearn!
أَغنَيتَ عَن مُرِّ السُؤالِ وَحُلوِهِ
بِنَدىً يَزيدُ عَلى الحَيا تَهتانُهُ
You have spared the bitterness of asking and its sweetness
With dew that exceeds the elixir of life in its exhilaration.
هُوَ كَالغَوادي لا تَمُنُّ إِذا هَمَت
لا كَالغَمامِ تَباعَدَت أَحيانُهُ
It is like a torrent that does not refuse when resolve alights,
Not like a cloud whose moments of rain are scattered.
لِمَ لا أُبالِغُ في مَديحِكَ مُطنِباً
وَالشِعرُ طِرفٌ خاطِري مَيدانُهُ
Why not exaggerate my praise of you prolixly
When poetry is an impulse and my mind its arena?
أُثني عَلَيكَ بِما أَنالَتني يَدٌ
بِكرُ الغِنى مِن سَيبِها وَعَوانُهُ
I praise you for the wealth your hand conferred on me liberally
Of treasures making me needless of hoarding or aid.
فَليَعذِرِ المَولى الَّذي خالَفتُهُ
فَأَذَعتُ جوداً رَأيُهُ كِتمانُهُ
So forgive the patron I have breached the duty of
By broadcasting widely views that his wisdom concealed.
