حَتَّامَ أمطلُ سيِّدي شكرَ اليدِ
وإلاَمَ يُمهلُني التغاضي سيدي
How long must I delay, my lord, the thanks my hand owes?
And how long will my lord indulge my negligence?
وأنا الذي أوجبتُ من كرمٍ على
نفسي وإن مُوطِلْتُ شُكرَ الموعدِ
I am the one who, out of nobility, imposed
upon myself—even if I tarried—the promised thanks.
فلأشكرنَّ له وأشكرُ بعده
دهراً أَرانيهِ وبَلَّ بهِ يدي
I shall surely thank him, and go on thanking him
for an age of plenty he showed me, placing it within my reach.
ولأحمدنَّ مُلِمّةً صَرَفْتُ له
وَجْهي ومهما جَرَّ نفعاً يُحمَدِ
And I shall praise the misfortune toward which I turned
my face to him—for whatever brings benefit deserves praise.
ولأجْلوَنَّ عليهِ كلَّ خَريدةٍ
عذراءَ تهزأُ بالعَذَارى الخُرَّدِ
And I shall unveil before him every secluded maiden,
a virgin poem that mocks untouched young maidens.
ولأفرِغَنَّ علَى مُقلَّدِ مجدِهِ
دُرَراً يهشُّ لهُنَّ كُلُّ مُقَلِّدِ
And I shall pour upon the necklace of his glory
pearls at which every wearer of necklaces rejoices—
من كلِّ مَنْ لم يسخُ راويُها بها
فيكادُ يُمسِكُها لسانُ المُنشِدِ
each a poem whose reciter can scarcely bear to yield it,
so that the singer’s tongue almost withholds it.
مازالَ يكنفُنِي بغُرِّ صِلاَتِهِ
حتى أَنَارَ ظلامَ حَظّي الأسودِ
For he has never ceased surrounding me with the radiance of his gifts,
until he illuminated the darkness of my black fortune.
ويرمُّ من حَالٍ لَوَى بصلاحِهَا
دهرٌ تَعَاورَها بكفَّي مُفْسِدِ
He restores my condition, whose very backbone
Time had mauled with both its ruinous hands;
قَسَماً بِضَبْعِ فَتَى أسَفَّ بِعَزْمِهِ
ذُلَّ الخمولِ إلى الحضيضِ الأوهَدِ
and he raises by the arm a young man whose resolve
the humiliation of obscurity had cast into the deepest abyss.
وأعزَّ بالإكْرَامِ نَفْساً طَالَمَا
كانتْ تَروحُ على الهَوَانِ وتغتدي
Through honor he ennobled a soul that long
had gone forth and returned clothed in humiliation.
أسدَى إليَّ يداً يضيقُ بها الثَّنَا
ذَرعاً ولمْ أبسطْ يَدَ المُسْتَرْفِدِ
He bestowed on me a hand of bounty whose praise constrains
both my arms, though I had never stretched out a petitioner’s hand.
كرَمٌ أَرَاحَ من السُؤَالِ عُفاتَهُ
حتَّى ابتدَى بالعُرْفِ من لم يَجْتَدِ
Such generosity spared its petitioners the need to ask,
anticipating with kindness even those who had not begged.
أَعْطَى فما أبقَى على مُسْتَطرَفٍ
عَلقَتْ يَدَاهُ بِهِ ولا مُتَلدِّدِ
He gave away every rare possession newly acquired;
once his hands obtained it, they never hesitated to release it.
كالغيثِ لا يَسْطيعُ يملكُ قَطْرَهُ
حتى لقد خِلناهُ مَخْرُوقَ اليَدِ
Like a rain-cloud that cannot hold back its drops,
until we thought his hand had been pierced through.
قد قلتُ للساعي لإدراكِ الغِنَى
يتربصُ الأَوْشَالَ عن أَمَلٍ صَدِي
I said to the man striving to attain riches,
searching the scant pools at the bidding of a thirsty hope,
يَطْوي المفاوزَ دَاخِلاً في فَدْفَدٍ
بيدِ المطيِّ وخارجاً من فَدْفَدِ
crossing the wastelands, entering one open desert
on the backs of riding-camels and emerging into another:
طَوْراً يَحثُّ بهِ القِلاَصُ وتارةً
يَرْمي بهِ آذِيُّ بحرٍ مُزْبِدِ
at times the young she-camels hasten beneath him; at others,
the surge of a foaming sea tosses him.
هذيْ وفودُ الحَمدِ صادرةً فَخُذْ
بطريقهِمْ تُبلِغْكَ أَعْذَبَ مَورِدِ
Here are the delegations of praise departing; follow
their road, and they will bring you to the sweetest watering-place.
يَدْعُو الظُمَاةَ إليهِ صَفْوُ جَمامِهِ
وتقولُ للصَادي عُذُوبَتُهُ رِدِ
Its limpid fullness calls the thirsty to itself,
and its sweetness tells the parched man: Drink!
حَاشَا نَدَى العلويِّ أنْ طَلَبَ امرؤٌ
مَعَهُ الثراءَ ومَدَّ كفَّ المُجْتَدِي
Far be it from the bounty of the Alid that any seeker
should keep his wealth when the petitioner extends his palm.
هُوَ مَنْ إذا فَوَّقْتَ سهمَكَ رامياً
غَرَضَ المُنَى وَذَكَرْتَه لم يَصرُدِ
He is the man who, when you aim your arrow
at the goal of desire and invoke his name, never misses.
ومَتى جَمعتَ يَدَيْكَ مُقْتَدِحاً بِهِ
زَندَ الرّجا أورَى ولمّا يَصْلُدِ
And whenever your hands strike together, kindling hope through him,
the fire-drill of expectation catches and never fails.
ومتى أظلّكَ ليلُ نحسٍ فاستَنِرْ
بوضيءِ غُرَّتِه صباحَ الأسعَدِ
Whenever a night of ill fortune overshadows you, seek light
in the shining blaze of his brow—the morning of happiest fate.
يا أيُّها الساعي ليدركَ شَأْوَهُ
أسرفتَ في إخفاقِ سَعْيِكَ فاقعُدِ
O you who strive to attain his eminence,
you have hurried straight into failure; sit down.
أَوَيُمكنُ السَّاعِي المُجدُّ لُحُوقَ مَنْ
يجري بأقدامِ النبيِّ مُحمّدِ
Can even the most diligent runner overtake
one who runs in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad?
أو تَسْتَطيعُ يَدٌ مُطَاولةَ امرئٍ
رقَتِ السَّماءُ بِهِ مناكبَ أحمدِ
Can any hand compete with a man
by whose hand the sky rose to Ahmad’s shoulders?
هيهاتَ أَنْ بلَّتْ بآخرَ مثلهِ
أيدي القَوابِلِ ما حَضَرْنَ لمولِدِ
Far indeed that another like him should ever be delivered
by the hands of midwives, however many births they attend!
مِن دَوحةٍ بَسَقتْ مناجي فرعِهَا
هَامَ السِّمَاكِ وحَكَّ فَرْقَ الفَرْقَدِ
He comes from a tree whose far-reaching branches towered
above al-Simāk and grazed the crown of al-Farqad.
ومضتْ مَخَايلُهُ لنا فسفَرْنَ عن
نَفْسٍ مُؤَيَّدةٍ وعَزْمٍ أَيِّدِ
His signs passed before us and then unveiled
a well-supported spirit and a mighty resolve,
وَيَدٍ صَنَاعٍ بالجميلِ وهِمَّةٍ
طَمَّاحَةٍ لِسَدَادِ ثَغْرِ السُؤْدِدِ
a hand accomplished in doing good, and an ambition
aspiring to seal every breach in sovereign excellence;
ومعاطفٍ تفترُّ عند المدحِ عن
حَركَاتِ مُطَّردِ الكُعُوبِ مُسَدَّدِ
and graceful folds that, when praise parts them, reveal
the motions of a straight-jointed, unerring spear.
يا غلطةَ الدهرِ التي ما عَوَّدتْ
يَدَ جودِهِ بعطيّةِ المتعمّدِ
O happy error of Time—one never repeated
by its generous hand as a deliberately fashioned gift!
فَهَّهتني فأنا الغبيُّ وإنَّني
لَيَنُوبُ عن عملِ الصَوَارمِ مِذْوَدي
You have struck me speechless: I am the slow-witted one, though
my defense may stand in for the work of cutting swords.
أمَعَاشِرَ الشُّعَراءِ ضَاقَ أخوكُمُ
عن مَدْح سَيِّدِهِ فهل من مُسْعِدِ
O company of poets, your brother has proved unequal
to praising his lord—will anyone lend him aid?
يا أيُّها المدلي بِوَفْرِ ثَنَائِهِ
قَابِلْ بِهِ نُعْمى حُسينٍ يَنْفَدِ
O you who pour out an abundance of praise,
set it against Husayn’s favors: it will be exhausted.
فالشكرُ يَقِرُ عَنْ مُطَاوَلةِ امرئٍ
إن يشكروا ماضِي نَدَاهُ تجَدَّدِ
For gratitude falls short of keeping pace with a man
whose past generosity renews itself whenever it is thanked.
لازلتَ مَحْسُوداً على ما فيكَ من
نُبِلٍ وما قدْرُ امرئٍ لمْ يُحسَدِ
May you remain envied for all the excellence within you—
what worth has any man who has never been envied?
إنّ العُلا أُفُقاً متى استجليتَها
ألفيتَ أنجمَها عُيُونَ الحُسَّدِ
Whenever you survey the horizons of sublimity,
you find its stars to be the eyes of envy.
لا عُذْرَ للعلويِّ إنْ أبصرتَهُ
بعد الفِطَامِ يَشِبُّ غيرَ مُحَسَّدِ
Sublimity would have no excuse if it saw him
grow beyond weaning without becoming an object of envy.
فليهنَ والدَكَ الخلودُ وإن قضى
فالمرءُ ما أُولي بِمثلِكَ يخْلُدِ
May your father rejoice in immortality, though he has passed away:
a man blessed with one like you is surely made immortal.
