تأمّل أبا عبد الإله فإنه

هو ابنُ فراتٍ شمسُ من يتأمّلُ

Contemplate Abu Abdillah, for he is

The son of Euphrates, a sun for whoever contemplates.

علتْ وأضاءتْ للعيونِ وربّما

غدا كلُّ طرْفٍ وهْو عنها مُفَلّلُ

It rose and illuminated for the eyes, and perhaps

Tomorrow every glance will be lowered from it.

فلا تكن المطروفَ عنها وصادها

تُضِئْ لك والإجمالُ بالمرء أجملُ

So do not be averted from it or go against it,

It illuminates for you while uprightness in man is more beautiful.

أبو حسن ذو الحسنِ والخيرِ منظراً

ومُختبراً أعلى وأسنى وأجْملُ

Abu Hassan, virtuous and benevolent in appearance

And innermost being, supreme, lofty, and most beautiful.

فما ذنبه في ذاك إن كان ربّه

قضى أنه أعلى وذو الرغم أسفلُ

So what is his sin in that if his Lord

Ordained that he is higher while the resentful are lower?

ولو لم يقلد فيه غيرُ وزيرهِ

وغيرُ ابنه وهْو المرجَّى المؤمَّلُ

And if none but his minister

And none but his son—the hoped for, the longed for—

ورأيها ما لا يُفيَّل مثله

إذا أخطأ التوفيقَ رأيٌ مُفيَّلُ

And its view is matchless,

When the right judgment errs, judgment is erroneous.

إذاً لا عدمتَ الشكَّ والريبَ كلّهُ

فكيفَ ومصباحُ الفراتيِّ مُشعَلُ

Then you would lack all doubt and suspicion

For how when the lantern of the Euphrates is lit?

وفيه لعينَيْ ناظرٍ متوسَّمٌ

شهودٌ وأعلامٌ من الفضلِ مُثّلُ

And in him there is for the eyes of an onlooker

Witnesses and signs of superiority exemplified.

وفي ذاك ما جلّى عمايةَ عامهٍ

وقشّعها لكن ليلكَ ألْيلُ

And in that which clarified the blindness of his time

And dispelled it, though your night is darker.

ولو كان ليلاً واحداً زال ظلُّه

ولكنه ليلٌ بليلٍ مُجلَّلُ

And if it were one night, its darkness would have passed,

But it is a night followed by repeated nights.

دجا ليلُ نحسٍ في سرارٍ وأطبقتْ

عليه السواري فهو أسود أطولُ

The gloom of an inauspicious night in intrigues, and

Its misfortunes have overwhelmed him, so he is utterly blackened.

وما زلتَ ذا ظلمٍ قديمٍ وظلمةٍ

من الجهلِ تخفى عنك أنك تجهلُ

And you have not ceased to be from an ancient injustice and darkness

Of ignorance that hides from you that you are ignorant.

فلا تجرحنّ القولَ فيك فإنه

وإن لم يكن عدلاً عليك مُعدّلُ

So do not find fault with the words regarding you, for

Even if not equitable to you, they are made equitable.

وحسبُك جهلاً أن سعيت مشمّراً

لتجتثَّ أصلا تحته تتظلّلُ

It suffices you in ignorance that you earnestly sought

To uproot a foundation under which you take shelter.

سعيتَ بمن أحياك من بعد ميتةٍ

وأدّى وفاءً ما وفاه السّموألُ

You have turned against the one who revived you after death

And fulfilled a loyalty that even constellations do not fulfill.

وفي بغيك البادي عليك شهادةٌ

بأنك مطروقُ الدماغِ مُخبّلُ

And in your manifest betrayal is a testament

That you are feeble-minded and crazed.

ولم أرَ ما تعتدُّه من ذنوبهِ

سوى أن أبى تبديلَ ما لا يبدّلُ

And I have not seen among his sins

Save that he refused to exchange what cannot be exchanged.

أكلَّفتَه هضمَ الخراجِ وحَطْمه

لك الفيءَ عدواناً وأنت مؤمَّلُ

You burdened him with appropriating and destroying the land-tax

While you are its recipient through wrongdoing.

فلما أبى قلتَ القبيحَ ولم تزل

تُبخّل ذا الإنصافِ قِدماً وتبخلُ

So when he refused, you spoke abhorrently and did not cease

To begrudge the just-minded, restricting and withholding.

وقال فقال الحق دافع لومه

ببيّنةٍ إذْ لم تزلْ تتقوّلُ

And he spoke truth, rebutting the blame,

With clear proof, while you continue to equivocate.

وكم حاجةٍ مقرونةٍ بخيانةٍ

أباها وإن سيءَ امرؤٌ متذللُ

How many needs coupled with betrayal

He shunned though a man be base and groveling.

وكم حاجةٍ مستحسنٍ حملُ ثقلها

تحمّلَ منها فوق ما يُتحمّلُ

And how many good needs whose burden

He bore beyond what can be borne.

وليس على مال الخليفةِ محملٌ

لبُطلٍ وفيه للحقائق محملُ

And there is no charge on the Caliph's wealth

For the futile, as in it there are places for realities.

أمينٌ على مال الملوك كأنه

حِذاراً ونصحاً حيةٌ يتقلْقَلُ

Trustworthy over the wealth of kings as if

In caution and advice he is a swaying serpent.

ينالُ بكُنهِ اللوم كلَّ مخفَّفٍ

عن الناس والسلطانُ بالحقّ مثقَلُ

He attains through his essence blame from every complainer

On behalf of the people while the sultan is burdened with the truth.

يبيتُ إلى أن يجمع الفيءَ كلَّه

أخا فِكَرٍ مما به يتململُ

He stays awake until he can gather all the land-tax

Like a thoughtful man careful of what disturbs him.

وهل حقُّ سلطانٍ يطالبُ أهله

أبو القاسم المحتاطُ إلا مُحَصَّلُ

And is it not the right of a sultan to demand of his people

That the vigilant Abu al-Qasim collect it fully?

ومن عتبك الغثِ الذي قد عتبته

على ابن فرات موضعٌ ليسَ يُعقلُ

As for your coarse reproach that you have reproached

Ibn Furat with, it is not reasonable.

فما صُنعُ عبدٍ في قضاء مليكهِ

وتقديرهِ وهْو المدينُ المحوَّلُ

So what can a servant do in carrying out the judgment and decree of his king?

He is the debtor transferred.

ولا بِدْعَ أن ضمّ الوزيرُ كُفاتَه

إليه وألغى اللغو والرَّذْلُ يُرذلُ

It is inevitable that the minister gather his capacities

To him and abolish the improper and despicable which is made despicable.

رآك وقوماً أشبهوكَ نفايةً

إماطتُها عند الأماثل أمثلُ

He saw you and a people like you as rubbish

To be removed among the exemplars is most exemplary.

وهل ساقطٌ وافتْهُ دولةُ حكمه

وحفظٌ على السلطان إلا مبطَّلُ

And has one reached by his reign whom fortune let down

And protected the sultan except a nullified one?

وهل وثنٌ بعد النبي محمدٍ

وبعد كتاب الله إلا مُعطَّلُ

And is there an idol after the Prophet Muhammad

And after the Book of God except a futile one?

فلا تُلحمنّ الشعر عِرضك إنه

حريقُ هجاء نارهُ تتأكّلُ

So do not patch your honor with poetry, for it

Is a burning satire whose fire consumes.

ولا تُهدفِ الإقْذاع سمعَك إنه

وجدِّك لا تُبلى عليك المفضّلُ

And do not turn your hearing to vulgarity, for it

In earnest, its shame on you cannot be erased.

وقد قُرعت من ذي أناملك العصا

وإن راب ريبٌ بعدها سُلَّ معولُ

And you have been stricken by one with fingers like my fingers

And if doubt crept in, the peg after it is pulled out.

وإن أنت لم تردَعك رادعة النُّهى

فعنديَ مشحوذ الغِرارَينِ مقصلُ

And if the deterrence of prohibition does not restrain you

I have two sharpened swords at hand.

وإني لذو نظمٍ ونثرٍ كأنني

بحدّيهما رمحٌ مُزَجٌّ مُنَصَّلُ

And I am one of poetry and prose as if I am

With the two of them a straightened, honed spear.

وإن رمتَ من يُعنى به الحقّ والهوى

فإنك مخسوفٌ به أو مزلزلُ

And if you shoot arrows at one the truth and passion call to

You are certain to sink down or crumble because of him.

فلا تلحينّي إن لَحَيتُكَ إنني

بُنصرةِ إخوان الصفاء مُوَكَّلُ

So do not confront me if you confronted him

For I am entrusted with supporting the sincere brothers.

تنمرتُ للأعداء من دون صاحبي

وحاميتُ عن تاجٍ به أتجمّلُ

I became hostile to the enemies apart from my companion

And I protected a crown by which I am adorned.

أَبَيتُ فلا يُرعَى حماه بحضرتي

ولا لحمُه ما عشتُ باللحم يؤكلُ

I refused, so the protector is not respected in my presence

Nor is his flesh, as long as I live, to be eaten.

وهبْتُ له طوعاً حفاظي وإنه

لأوْهبُ مني للحفاظ وأبذلُ

I willingly granted him my protections though he

Is more deserving than me of protections and is more generous.

وإني ليحميه لساني وإنه

لأقْول مني في الخطوبِ وأفعلُ

My tongue protects him and he is

More saying than me in adversities and more doing.

وما حمسي من دونه أن رأيتني

وإياه في الهيجاء أمضي وينكُلُ

And I would not be deterred from supporting him

If I saw him and I in heated battle persist and be defeated.

ولكنه فرضٌ يؤدَّى إلى العلا

ونافلة من بعده تُتَنَفَّلُ

But it is an obligation fulfilled to the Most High

And a voluntary offering after it, excellently done.