بدا الشيبُ في رأسي فَجَلَّى عَمَايتي

كما كشفتْ ريح غماماً تَطَخْطَخَا

Gray hairs have appeared in my head, revealing my blindness,

As the wind uncovered a hazy, drizzling cloud.

ولا بدّ للصبح الجلِيّ إذا بدت

تباشيْره أن يسلخ الليل مسلخا

And surely when the bright dawn appears,

Its first lights must peel away the night's skin.

وأضحت قناةُ الظَّهْر قُوِّسَ متْنُها

وقد كان معدولاً وإن عشتُ فخخا

And the channel of my back has become curved in its body,

Though it had been straight, even if I live decrepit.

وأحدث نقصانُ القُوىَ بين ناظري

وسمعي وبين الشخصِ والصوت بَرْزخا

The diminishing of my strength has created a gap

Between my eyes, my hearing, and people and voices.

وكنت إذا فَوَّقتُ للشخص لَمحَتي

طوتْ دونه سَهْباً من الأرض سَرْبَخَا

When I used to look ahead at someone, my glances

Would fold a plain of earth beneath him.

وكنتُ يناديني المنادي بعَفْوِهِ

فَيَغْتَالُ سمعي دون مَدْعَاهُ فرسخا

And the caller would call me in his kindness,

While my hearing would miss his call from afar.

فحالَتْ صروفُ الدهر تنسخ جِدَّتي

وما أُمْلِيَتْ من قبلُ إلا لتُنْسَخا

So time's turns copy out my oldness,

And nothing was dictated before except to be copied.

وأصبحتُ عَمَّا للفتاة مُوَقَّراً

وقد كنت أيام الشباب لها أَخَا

And I have become venerable to the girl,

When in the days of youth I was her brother.

وما عَجَبٌ أن كان ذاك فإنه

إذا المرء أشْوَتْهُ الحوادثُ شَيَّخَا

It is no wonder that this was so, for when

Afflictions made a man old, he was aged.

بَلَى عجبٌ أني جَزعت ولم أكن

جَزوعاً إذا ما عضَّهُ الدهرُ أَخَّخَا

But it is a wonder that I was troubled, when I was not

One to be troubled if time's biting injured him.

عَزَاءَكَ فاذكرهُ ولا تنس مِدْحةً

لأَبْلَجَ يحكي سُنَّة البدر أبلْخَا

Your consolation—remember it, and do not forget praise

Of Abu Al-Abbas, who relates the full moon's attributes.

له سِيمِياءٌ بين عَيْنَيْ مُبَارَكٍ

إذا ما اجتلاها رَوْعُ ذي الروع أفْرَخَا

He has a mark between the eyes of the blessed one,

When the terror of possessing terror alarmed him.

صَريخٌ لو اسْتَصْرخْتَه يا ابن طاهرٍ

على الدهر إذ أخنى عليك لأَصْرخا

A cry—if you appealed to it against time

When it harmed you, O Son of Tahir—would cry out.

من المُصْعَبيين الذين تفرَّعوا

شَمَاريخَ أطْوادٍ من المجد شُمَّخا

Of the Mus`ab, whose branches

Shot up lofty pillars of glory, arched.

أُناسٌ متى ساءلت نَافَس حظَّهمْ

بأيَّامهم في الجود والبأس بَخْبَخَا

Men, if you asked them, their fortune vied

With their days in generosity and valor, seething.

إذا ما المساعي أُجْريَتْ حلباتُها

بَدَوْا غُرراً في أَوجُه السَّبْق شُدَّخا

Whenever their endeavors' tracks were pursued,

They appeared as the outstanding steeds of the lead, hock-marked.

بِهم جُعِل المجدُ التَّليدا مُصَدَّراً

وليس بإنْسيٍّ سواهم مُؤَرَّخا

Through them enduring glory was exported,

And none but them was chronicled as human.

تَعَدَّ وأسرف في مديح ابن طاهرٍ

فلست على الإِسراف فيه مُوَبَّخَا

You have transgressed and been excessive in praising the Son of Tahir,

Yet I am not to be blamed for excess in praising him.

أبو أحمدٍ ليثُ البلاد وغيثها

إذا حطْمَةٌ لم تُبق في العظم منقخا

Abu Ahmad, the lion of the land and its rain—

If annihilators left no marrow in the bone—

فتى لم يزل في رأس علياءَ دونها

بمَرْقَبة باضَ الأُنُوقُ وفَرَّخا

A lad who always at the summit of heights beneath it

In vigil, dawn shone and nested.

إذا راح في رَيَّا نَثَاه حسبتَه

هنالِك بالمسك الذَّكيِّ مُضَمَّخا

When he walked about, you'd think him there

Soaked in pure musk.

يُنِيخُ المَطيَّ الراغبون ببابه

ولو لم ينيخُوه إذن لَتَنَوّخا

Yearning riders halt his mount,

And if they did not halt it, it would kneel.

تَظلّ متَى صافحتَ أسْرارَ كَفِّه

تَمَسُّ عيوناً من نَداهُنَّ نُضَّخَا

You remain, when you grasp the secrets of his palm,

Touching eyes watered from his bounty.

إذا وَعَدَ اهْتزت له الأرض نَضْرَةً

وأنبت منها كلُّ ما كان أسْبَخا

If he promised, the land quaked greenly for him,

And sprouted all that was withered.

وإن أوْعَدَ ارتَجَّت فإن تمَّ سُخطهُ

تهاوت جبال الأرض في الأرض سُوَّخا

But if he threatened, the mountains would shake,

And collapse into the earth, pounded down.

ولستَ تُلاقي عالماً ذا براعةٍ

بأبرَعَ منه في العوم وأرسخا

You will not meet a scholar more skillful than him

In swimming and firmer.

ولم تر ناراً أوقدت مثل ناره

لدى الحرب أشوى للأعادي وأطْبخا

You have not seen a fire kindled like his fire

In battle, more scorching and cooking to the foe.

كفى زمناً أدّى الأميرَ وأَهْلَه

به وبهمْ إن حاول البَذْخَ مَبْذَخَا

Enough time he has given the Emir and his family.

Through him and them, if vainglory aspired, it was humbled.

هو الطِّرْفُ أجرتْه الملوك ومسَّحت

قديماً له وجهاً أغرَّ مُشَمْرَخَا

He is the winking one kings have crowned,

And of old wiped a cheek more twinkling.

إذا هو قاد المُصعبيين فاغتدَوا

جَحَاجحَةً تَهْدي غَطاريف شُرَّخا

When he leads the Mus`ab, they become

Slayers toppling the humped backs of armor.

فأيَّةَ دارٍ للعدا شاء جَاسَها

وأيةَ أرضٍ للعدا شاء دَوّخا

So which house did he desire to storm

And which land did he desire to pound down?

به أيَّدَ اللَّه الخلافة بعدما

وَهى كُلَّ وَهْيٍ رُكْنُها فتفسَّخا

Through him God supported the caliphate after

Its pillars tottered and split apart.

هو الطَّاهر ابن الطَّاهرين الألى مَضَوْا

ولم يَلْبَسوا عرضاً مُذالاً مُطَيَّخا

He is the pure son of two pure ones who have gone,

And did not wear a disgraced, contaminated garment.

ومُسْتَمْنِحِي مدحاً كمدحيه بعدما

تمكَّن إخلاصي له فَتَمَخَّخَا

And I am begging praise like my praising him, after

My loyalty to him has become firmly rooted.

فقلتُ له عني إليك فلن أرى

هواك لمثلي في رمادك مَنْفَخَا

So I said to him, turning my eye to you—I will not see

Passion for you in your ashes kindled by the likes of me.