أَبا القاسِمِ اِسلَم في وُفودٍ مِنَ القَسمِ
وَلا زالَ مَن حارَبتَهُ دامِيَ الكَلمِ
Abu al-Qasim, may you remain safe through every visitation of fate,
and may anyone you fight remain bloodied with wounds.
رَأَيتُكَ تَرعى الجودَ مِن كُلِّ وِجهَةٍ
وَتَبني بِناءَ المَجدِ في خِطَّةِ النَجمِ
I have seen you nurture generosity from every quarter,
and build glory’s edifice in the realm of the stars,
وَذا شِيَمٍ سَهلِيَّةٍ حَسَنِيَّةٍ
رَئيسِيَّةٍ صيغَت مِنَ الجَبرِ وَالحَطمِ
possessed of qualities gentle and lovely,
princely qualities, fashioned for mending and for crushing.
إِذا نَوبَةٌ نابَت أَدَرتُ صُروفَها
عَلى الضَخمِ آراءً لَدى الحادِثِ الضَخمِ
When a turn of adversity strikes, you master its vicissitudes
in the face of a grave affair, with counsels ready for the momentous event.
يَداكَ لَنا شَهرا رَبيعٍ كِلاهُما
إِذا جَفَّ أَطرافُ البَخيلِ مِنَ الأَزمِ
Your hands are, to us, the two months of Rabiʿ—each one springtime—
when the miser’s fingertips have dried up from famine.
أَلَذُّ مُصافاةً مِنَ الظِلِّ وَالضُحى
وَأَكرَمُ في اللَأواءِ عوداً مِنَ الكَرمِ
Sweeter in true friendship than shade and morning light,
and nobler by nature in hardship than the vine.
فَفيمَ تَرَكتَ النَصفَ في الوُدِّ بَعدَما
رَآهُ الوَرى خَيراً مِنَ النَصفِ في الحُكمِ
Why, then, have you forsaken fairness in affection, after
all mankind deemed it better than fairness in judgment?
أَإِيّايَ جارى القَومُ في الشِعرِ ضَلَّةً
وَقَد عايَنوا تِلكَ القَلائِدَ مِن نَظمي
Was it I whom the people wronged in poetry,
though they had beheld those necklaces wrought from my verse?
طَلَعتُ طُلوعَ الشَمسِ في كُلِّ تَلعَةٍ
وَأَشرَفتُ إِشرافَ السِماكِ عَلى الخَصمِ
You rose as the sun rises over every height,
and towered like the star al-Simāk above your rivals.
وَما أَنا بِالغَيرانِ مِن دونِ جارِهِ
إِذا أَنا لَم أُصبِح غَيوراً عَلى العِلمِ
I am no fiercely protective defender of his neighbor
unless I become fiercely protective of learning.
لَصيقُ فُؤادي مُذ ثَلاثونَ حِجَّةً
وَصَيقَلُ ذِهني وَالمُرَوِّحُ عَن هَمّي
For thirty years, learning has clung close to my heart,
the polisher of my mind and banisher of my care.
أَبى ذاكَ صَبرٌ لا يَقيلُ عَلى الأَذى
فُواقاً وَنَفسٌ لا تَمَرَّغُ في الظُلمِ
Such conduct is refused by a patience that, under injury, grants no respite
even for the interval between milkings—and by a soul that will not wallow in wrongdoing.
وَإِنّي إِذا ما الحِلمُ أَحوَجَ لاحِياً
إِلى سَفَهٍ أَفضَلتُ فَضلاً عَلى حِلمي
Indeed, whenever forbearance leaves a reviler in need
of folly, I outdo my forbearance with folly in ample measure.
تَظُنُّ ظُنونَ السوءِ بي إِن لَقيتَني
وَلا وَتَري فيما كَرِهتَ وَلا سَهمي
You harbor evil suspicions of me whenever you meet me,
though neither my vengeance nor my arrow played any part in what displeased you.
وَتَجزَعُ مِن مَزحي وَتَرضى قَصيدَةً
وَقَد أُخرِجَت أَلفاظُها مَخرَجَ الشَتمِ
You recoil from my jest, yet welcome an ode
whose words have already been cast in the mold of abuse.
فَإِن تَكُ أَحياناً شَديدَ شَكيمَةٍ
فَإِنَّكَ تَمحوها بِما فيكَ مِن شَكمِ
Though at times you are stern and unyielding in resolve,
you efface that sternness with the restraint within you.
وَما خَيرُ حِلمٍ لَم تَشُبهُ شَراسَةٌ
وَما خَيرُ لَحمٍ لا يَكونُ عَلى عَظمِ
What good is forbearance unmingled with fierceness?
What good is flesh if it does not rest upon bone?
وَهَل غَيرُ أَخلاقٍ كِرامٍ تَكافَأَت
فَمِن خُلُقٍ طَلقٍ وَمِن خُلُقٍ جَهمِ
Are they anything but noble traits held in counterpoise—
some a temper open and cheerful, others a temper grim?
نُجومٌ فَهَذا لِلضِياءِ إِذا بَدا
تَجَلّى الدُجى عَنهُ وَذَلِكَ لِلرَجمِ
They are stars: this one gives light whenever it appears;
darkness clears before it, while that one is for pelting demons.
فَإِن لَم تَطيبا لي جَميعاً فَإِنَّهُ
نَهى عُمَرٌ عَن أَكلِ أُدمَينِ في أَدمِ
So if you are not wholly gracious toward me, then indeed
ʿUmar forbade eating two condiments on a single leather spread.
Sol 5.6