مَحضُ الإِباءِ وَسُؤدُدُ الآباءِ
جَعَلاكَ مُنفَرِداً عَنِ الأَكفاءِ
Sheer proud defiance and the ancestral majesty of his forefathers—
these have set you apart, alone beyond every peer.
وَلَقَد جَمَعتَ حَمِيَّةً وَتَقِيَّةً
ثَنَتا إِلَيكَ عِنانَ كُلِّ ثَناءِ
Indeed, you have joined ardor to piety,
and both have turned the reins of every praise toward you.
يا مَن إِذا أَجرى الأَنامُ حَديثَهُ
وَصَلوا ثَناءً طَيِّباً بِدُعاءِ
O you whose mention, whenever mankind sets it flowing,
comes joined to fragrant praise and prayer.
الدَهرُ في أَيّامِ عِزِّكَ لا اِنقَضَت
مُتَعَوِّضٌ مِن ظُلمَةٍ بِضياءِ
Time, in your glorious days—may they never end—
is accustomed to exchanging darkness for radiance.
وَتَحَكُّمُ الأَيّامِ مِنذُ رَدَعتَها
عَن جَورِها كَتَحَكُّمِ الأُسَراءِ
You command the days, having restrained them
from their injustice, as captives are restrained.
حُطتَ الرَعيةَ بِالرِعايَةِ رَأفَةً
فاضَت عَلى القُرَباءِ وَالبُعَداءِ
You bent tenderly over your subjects, tending them with compassion,
and favored near and far alike.
وَشَمَلتَها بِالعَدلِ إِحساناً بِها
فَجَزاكَ عَنها اللَهُ خَيرَ جَزاءِ
You embraced them in justice, showing kindness to them;
may God reward you for them with the finest reward.
عَدلٌ كُفيتَ بِهِ العِداءَ يَضُمُّهُ
عَزمٌ أَقامَ قِيامَةَ الأَعداءِ
Justice by which you were spared hostility, embraced by
a resolve that raised the enemies' Day of Doom.
عَزمٌ إِذا سَمِعَ العَدوُّ بِذِكرِهِ
أَغنى غَناءَ الغارَةِ الشَعواءِ
A resolve whose mere mention, when an enemy hears it,
spares the toil of a devastating raid.
إِن صُلتَ كُنتَ مُجَبِّنَ الشُجعانِ أَو
ظافَرتَ كُنتَ مُشَجِّعَ الجُبَناءِ
If you charge, you make cowards of the brave; or,
if you triumph, you put courage into cowards.
وَإِذا مَرَرتَ عَلى مَكانٍ مُجدِبٍ
نابَت يَداكَ لَهُ عَنِ الأَنواءِ
Whenever you pass across a barren place,
your hands take the place of its rain clouds.
كَم أَزمَةٍ سَوداءَ راعَت إِذ عَرَت
جَلَّيتَها بِنَدى يَدٍ بَيضاءِ
How many a black crisis, terrifying when it descended,
have you cleared with the largesse of a white hand;
وَكَتيبَةٍ شَهباءَ مِن ماذِيِّها
لاقَيتَها بِمَنيَّةٍ دَهماءِ
and how many an ash-gray battle, bristling with keen blades,
have you met with blackest death.
تَلقى الفَوارِسُ مِنكَ في رَهجِ الوَغى
زَيدَ الفَوارِسِ أَو أَبا الصَهباءِ
Amid the dust of battle, horsemen encounter in you
Zayd al-Khayl—or Abu al-Hayja.
وَالعِزُّ لا يَبقى لَغَيرِ مُعَوَّدٍ
أَن يَكشِفَ الغَمّاءَ بِالغَمّاءِ
Glory endures only for one accustomed
to dispelling one blinding affliction through another.
إِنَّ الأَئِمَّةَ في اِصطِفائِكَ أُيِّدوا
بِمُؤَيَّدِ الراياتِ وَالآراءِ
The imams, in raising you to eminence, were strengthened
by one who upholds banners and sound counsels:
ذي هِمَّةٍ عَدَويَّةٍ ما رُوِّعَت
بِعِداً وَلا باتَت عَلى عُدَواءِ
a man of Adawite aspiration, whom no distant peril frightened,
nor did peril ever spend the night exposed to his aggression.
وَجَدوكَ في مَنعِ التُراثِ وَحِفظِهِ
أَقوى الحُماةِ وَأَوثَقَ الأُمَناءِ
Your forefathers, in defending and preserving the inheritance,
were the strongest protectors and most trustworthy guardians.
مازِلتَ مُذ أَعلَوا مَكانَكَ مازِجاً
صِدقَ الوَلاءِ لَهُم بِحُسنِ وَفاءِ
Ever since they raised your station, you have remained glorious,
repaying true allegiance with beautiful fidelity.
وَلَقَد أَعَدّوا لِلخُطوبِ صَوارِماً
لَيسوا وَأَنتَ إِذا عَدَت بِسَواءِ
They prepared sharp swords against calamities;
yet they and you, when counted, are not equal.
تُذكى مَصابيحُ الظَلامِ عُلالَةً
أَبَداً وَما يَجلوهُ كَاِبنِ ذُكاءِ
You forever kindle lamps amid darkness with justice,
and none clears darkness away like the Son of the Sun.
لَو كُنتَ قِدماً سَيفُهُم لَم يَستَثِر
أَبناءُ هِندٍ مِن بَني الزَهراءِ
Had you of old been their sword,
the sons of Hind would not have risen against the sons of al-Zahra.
أَو كُنتَ ناصِرَ حَقِّهِم فيما مَضى
ما حازَهُ ظُلماً بَنو الطُلقاءِ
Had you supported their right in times gone by,
the sons of the freed captives would not have seized it unjustly.
ما غَيظُ مَن يَبغي مَحَلَّكَ ضِلَّةً
إِلّا كَغَيظِ ضَرائِرِ الحَسناءِ
Whoever seeks your station is enraged by his own delusion,
like the rage of co-wives against a beautiful woman.
حَسَدٌ كَحَرِّ النارِ مُنذُ عَراهُمُ
لازالَ غَصَّهُمُ بِبَردِ الماءِ
It is envy, fierce as fire, that has befallen them;
may it remain a choking bitterness even in cool water.
يا اِبنَ الأُلى ما رُشِّحَت أَيمانُهُم
إِلّا لِبَذلِ نَدىً وَعَقدِ لِواءِ
Son of forefathers whose right hands were trained
only to pour out bounty and bind the standard,
نَزَلوا عَلى حُكمِ المُروءَةِ وَاِمتَطوا
بِالبَأسِ ظَهرَ العِزَّةِ القَعساءِ
men who submitted solely to the rule of manliness and piety,
with the proud backs of unbending might.
أَمواتُهُم بِالذِكرِ كَالأَحياءِ
وَلِحَيِّهِم فَضلٌ عَلى الأَحياءِ
Through remembrance, their dead are like the living,
while a virtue surpassing the living keeps them alive.
وَلّاكَ حَمدانُ الفَخارَ بِأَسرِهِ
وَأَجَلُّهُ لِبَني أَبي الهَيجاءِ
To you belong both branches of glory's praise,
and its most exalted branch belongs to the sons of Abu al-Hayja:
الفائِضينَ عَلى العُفاةِ مَواهِباً
وَالناهِضينَ بِباهِظِ الأَعباءِ
those who overflow with gifts upon petitioners
and rise beneath the heaviest burdens.
سَكَنَ القُصورَ العِزُّ مُنذُ حَضَرتُمُ
وَبِكُم قَديماً حَلَّ في البَيداءِ
Glory has inhabited palaces since you entered them,
though through you it dwelt long ago in the desert.
وَعَلَوتُمُ حَتّى لَقالَ عَدُوُّكُم
أَمُلوكُ أَرضٍ أَم نُجومُ سَماءِ
You rose so high that even your enemies might ask:
Are you kings of earth, or stars of heaven?
فَلتَفتَخِر بِكُمُ رَبيعَةُ بَل بَنو
عَدنانَ طُرّاً بَل بَنو حَوّاءِ
Let Rabi'a boast of you—indeed, let all
the sons of Adnan boast, and all the children of Eve.
أَيديكُمُ مَشكورَةُ الآلاءِ
وَوُجوهُكُم مَشهورَةُ اللَألاءِ
Your hands are thanked for their favors,
and your faces are famed for their radiance.
وَأَرى مُشَبِّهَكُم بِأَهلِ زَمانِكُم
كَمُشَبِّهِ الإِصباحِ بِالإِمساءِ
When I behold your elders beside the people of their age,
it is like comparing morning with evening.
وَلَأَنتَ في الرُؤَساءِ غَيرُ مُطاوَلٍ
وَكَذلِكَ اِبنُكَ في بَني الرُؤَساءِ
Among leaders, none can rival you,
and likewise among leaders' sons stands your son.
أَخَذَ الحُسَينُ مِنَ المَحاسِنِ صَفوَها
عَفواً وَما أَبقى سِوى الأَقذاءِ
Husayn took the choicest portion of all virtues,
effortlessly, leaving nothing but the dregs.
عَمري لَقَد كُبِتَ الحَسودُ بِوِصلَةٍ
تَصِلُ الرَفاءَ بِصالِحِ الأَبناءِ
By my life, through my bond with you I have confounded the envious—
a bond joining harmony to worthy sons.
وَاِجتابَ مِن خِلَعِ الخِلافَةِ كُلَّ ما
تُقذي سَناهُ نَواظِرَ النُظَراءِ
Every robe of caliphal honor chose him for itself,
its radiance nourishing the eyes of his peers.
فَليَعلُ أَبناءُ المُلوكِ كَما حَوى
أَسنى الحِباءِ وَعُدَّ في الأَحياءِ
Let him rise above the sons of kings, by what he has attained:
the loftiest gift and a secure rank among the living.
وَمَلابِسُ الخُلَفاءِ لائِقَةٌ بِمَن
أَضحى أَبوهُ ناصِرَ الخُلَفاءِ
The garments of the caliphs befit the man
whose father became the caliphs' champion.
إِن حازَ أَقطارَ السَعادَةِ فَهوَ مَن
نَمَّت عَلَيهِ مَخايِلُ السُعَداءِ
If he has gained the furthest reaches of felicity, it is because
the signs of the fortunate grew plainly upon him.
وَتَحَدَّثَت تِلكَ الشَمائِلُ أَنَّهُ
عَينُ الزَمانِ بِأَلسُنِ فُصَحاءِ
Those noble qualities proclaimed that he is
the eye of the age, through the tongues of eloquent men.
فَاِثنِ المَلامَةَ في فِراقٍ بالِغٍ
بِأَبي عَلِيٍّ أَشرَفَ العَلياءِ
Reproach over his separation has reached its utmost—
by Abu Ali, the noblest of high eminences.
أَدناهُ مِن أَندى الأَئِمَّةِ راحَةً
لِمُؤَمِّليهِ أَكرَمُ الوُزَراءِ
He brought him close to the imam most generous of hand,
as relief to hopeful petitioners—the most generous of viziers.
لَن تُحسَبَ الضَرّاءُ ضَرّاءً إِذا
أَفضَت بِصاحِبِها إِلى السَرّاءِ
The Green One will not be accounted green if
she brings her companion into ease and happiness.
فَاِجعَلهُ مِثلَ الشَمسِ يَنفَعُ وَقعُها
وَضياؤُها وَمَكانُها مُتَنائي
Make him like the sun, whose warmth gives benefit,
and whose light reaches us though its station is remote.
لِلعِزِّ سارَ مُحَمَّدٌ عَن أَهلِهِ
ثُمَّ اِستَعانَ بِنُصرَةِ الغُرَباءِ
For glory's sake Muhammad journeyed from his people,
then sought the aid of strangers.
إِن كانَ عَن عَينَيكَ غابَ فَلَم تَغِب
أَنباءُ مَن يَأتي مَنَ الأَبناءِ
Though he has vanished from your sight, there have not vanished
reports of him brought by those who carry reports.
لا يَعدِمِ النائي حَياةَ الحاضِرِ ال
داني وَلا الداني حَياةَ النائي
The distant man never lacks the present man's protection,
nor does the one nearby lack the distant man's care.
إِنّا لَنَدعو بِالبَقاءِ لِتَسلَمَ
أَبَداً وَلا نَدعو بِقُربِ لِقاءِ
We pray for your long life, that you may remain safe
forever; we do not pray for a meeting soon.
فَرَقاً لَعَمرُكَ أَن يُفارِقَ عِاصماً
بِالبَأسِ مَعصوماً مِنَ الفَحشاءِ
Suppose—by your life—that yesterday he went away angry,
though kept inviolate from every indecency:
حُكمٌ بِغَيرِ تَحامُلٍ وَحِراسَةٌ
هَمَتِ الهُدى وَتُقىً بِغَيرِ رياءِ
the judgment was made without partiality and under protection,
guided by right conduct, with no hope of reward.
لَم تُلفَ في العُبّادِ وَالزُهّادِ في
هَذا الوَرى فَضلاً عَنِ الأُمَراءِ
For his sake worshippers and ascetics among mankind pine away,
to say nothing of princes.
إِنا أَمِنّا السوءَ مُنذُ وَليتَنا
فَوَقَتكَ أَنفُسُنا مِنَ الأَسواءِ
Since you took charge of us, we have been safe from evil,
and our souls have recovered from their maladies.
وَهَناكَ ذا العيدُ الَّذي حَسَّنتَهُ
وَبَقيتَ مَخصوصاً بِكُلِّ هَناءِ
There is the festival whose beauty you perfected,
while you remain singled out for every happiness,
مُستَعلِياً بِمَناقِبٍ مَسموعَةٍ
مِن أَلسُنِ الخُطَباءِ وَالشُعَراءِ
rising proudly through a distinction proclaimed
by the tongues of orators and poets.
لا يَجحَدَنَّكَها الحَسودُ تَجاهُلاً
فَالصُبحُ لا يَخفى عَلى البُصَراءِ
Let no envious man deny your worth in feigned ignorance:
envy cannot be hidden from the discerning.
إِنَّ المَحامِدَ في المَحافِلِ رُتبَةٌ
ما حُرِّمَت إِلّا عَلى البُخَلاءِ
Praises are arrayed in public assemblies,
though only misers are deprived of them.
فَتَمَلَّ مِن وَشي القَريضِ مَلابِساً
طَرَّزتَها بِجَلالَةٍ وَعَلاءِ
So enjoy robes woven from the embroidery of verse,
robes I have adorned with majesty and elevation.
لَو كانَ لِلعَرَبِ القَديمَةِ مِثلُها
لَم تَحمَدِ المَصنوعَ في صَنعاءِ
Had the ancient West possessed the like of him,
the workmanship of Sana'a would never have been praised.
إِنّي عَقَلتُ رَكائِبي وَوَسائِلي
في حَضرَةٍ مَسكونَةِ الأَفناءِ
I have hobbled my mounts and stayed all my means
in a court whose precincts teem with inhabitants,
مَأهولَةِ الأَرجاءِ بِالنِعَمِ الَّتي
ما كُدِّرَت بِالمَنِّ وِالإِرجاءِ
whose quarters are peopled by blessings,
unclouded by reminders of favors or delays.
شُفِعَت مَواهِبُها الجِسامُ بِعِزَّةٍ
كَفَلَت بِإِعدائي عَلى أَعدائي
Its immense gifts have interceded for my honor
and guaranteed me aid against my enemies.
أَبَقِيَّةَ البَيتِ الرَفيعِ بِناؤُهُ
لا زِلتَ تِربَ عُلاً حَليفَ بَقاءِ
You have preserved the lofty house and its structure;
may you ever nurture eminence, companioned by permanence,
مُستَمتِعاً بِالمَأثُراتِ مُمَتِّعاً
أُذُنَ السَميعِ بِها وَعَينَ الرائي
enjoying glorious deeds and bestowing their enjoyment—
deeds heard by the attentive ear and seen by the watchful eye.
