أَنا مَن بَدَّلَ بِالكُتبِ الصِحابا
لَم أَجِد لي وافِياً إِلّا الكِتابا
I am the one who exchanged companions for books,
I found no intimate friend but the book.
صاحِبٌ إِن عِبتَهُ أَو لَم تَعِب
لَيسَ بِالواجِدِ لِلصاحِبِ عابا
A companion, whether you tire of him or not,
If not found by a companion, is no blemish.
كُلَّما أَخلَقتُهُ جَدَّدَني
وَكَساني مِن حِلى الفَضلِ ثِيابا
Whenever I cultivate it, it renews me,
And dresses me in robes of superiority's jewels.
صُحبَةٌ لَم أَشكُ مِنها ريبَةً
وَوِدادٌ لَم يُكَلِّفني عِتابا
A companionship I never doubted,
And affection that did not obligate me to blame.
رُبَّ لَيلٍ لَم نُقَصِّر فيهِ عَن
سَمَرٍ طالَ عَلى الصَمتِ وَطابا
Many a night we did not shorten in it
From conversation prolonged in silence and allurement.
كانَ مِن هَمِّ نَهاري راحَتي
وَنَدامايَ وَنَقلِيَ وَالشَرابا
My day's concerns were my comfort,
My regrets and transport and drink.
إِن يَجِدني يَتَحَدَّث أَو يَجِد
مَلَلاً يَطوي الأَحاديثَ اِقتِضابا
If it finds me conversing or finds
Weariness, it shortens the talks summarizing.
تَجِدُ الكُتبَ عَلى النَقدِ كَما
تَجِدُ الإِخوانَ صِدقاً وَكِذابا
You find books, according to criticism, as
You find companions, truthfully and lying.
فَتَخَيَّرها كَما تَختارُهُ
وَاِدَّخِر في الصَحبِ وَالكُتبِ اللُبابا
So choose it as you choose him,
And hoard the finest in companions and books.
صالِحُ الإِخوانِ يَبغيكَ التُقى
وَرَشيدُ الكُتبِ يَبغيكَ الصَوابا
A companion's righteousness wants you pious,
And a book's guidance wants you correct.
غالِ بِالتاريخِ وَاِجعَل صُحفَهُ
مِن كِتابِ اللَهِ في الإِجلالِ قابا
Give precedence to history and make its pages,
In venerating Scripture, a mantle.
قَلِّبِ الإِنجيلَ وَاِنظُر في الهُدى
تَلقَ لِلتاريخِ وَزناً وَحِسابا
Flip through the Bible and see guidance
Meet history in weight and reckoning.
رُبَّ مَن سافَرَ في أَسفارِهِ
بِلَيالي الدَهرِ وَالأَيّامِ آبا
Many traveled in journeys of
The ages' nights and days perplexed.
وَاِطلُبِ الخُلدَ وَرُمهُ مَنزِلاً
تَجِدِ الخُلدَ مِنَ التاريخِ بابا
And seek eternity and make it a dwelling,
You will find eternity a door from history.
عاشَ خَلقٌ وَمَضَوا ما نَقَصوا
رُقعَةَ الأَرضِ وَلا زادوا التُرابا
A people lived and passed who did not diminish
The earth's expanse or increase the soil.
أَخَذَ التاريخُ مِمّا تَرَكوا
عَمَلاً أَحسَنَ أَو قَولاً أَصابا
History took from what they left
Good work or word that hit the mark.
وَمِنَ الإِحسانِ أَو مِن ضِدِّهِ
نَجَحَ الراغِبُ في الذِكرِ وَخابا
From benevolence or its opposite
The desirous succeeded in mention or were deprived.
مَثَلُ القَومِ نَسوا تاريخَهُم
كَلَقيطٍ عَيَّ في الناسِ اِنتِسابا
The example of a people forgot their history
Is a foundling confused among people in lineage.
أَو كَمَغلوبٍ عَلى ذاكِرَةٍ
يَشتَكي مِن صِلَةِ الماضي اِنقِضابا
Or like a defeated man in memory
Complaining of his past's connection being severed.
يا أَبا الحُفّاظِ قَد بَلَّغتَنا
طِلبَةً بَلَّغَكَ اللَهُ الرِغابا
O Father of Historians, you have conveyed us
Students, may God convey you wishes.
لَكَ في الفَتحِ وَفي أَحداثِهِ
فَتَحَ اللَهُ حَديثاً وَخِطابا
For you in the Conquest and its events
God opened a new discourse and address.
مَن يُطالِعهُ وَيَستَأنِس بِهِ
يَجِدُ الجِدَّ وَلا يَعدَم دِعابا
Whoever peruses it and makes it a companion
Finds seriousness and is not devoid of jest.
صُحُفٌ أَلَّفَتها في شِدَّةٍ
يَتَلاشى دونَها الفِكرُ اِنتِهابا
Writings you authored in fervor
In which the mind melts away stealing.
لُغَةُ الكامِلِ في اِستِرسالِهِ
وَاِبنُ خَلدونَ إِذا صَحَّ وَصابا
The language of The Complete in prolixity
And Ibn Khaldoun when accurate and correct.
إِنَّ لِلفُصحى زِماماً وَيَداً
تَجنِبُ السَهلَ وَتَقتادُ الصَعابا
Verily for eloquence there is a rein and hand
That avoids ease and leads the difficult.
لُغَةُ الذِكرِ لِسانُ المُجتَبى
كَيفَ تَعيا بِالمُنادينَ جَوابا
The era's talk is the tongue of the Chosen One
How can it answer the inviters?
كُلُّ عَصرٍ دارُها إِن صادَفَت
مَنزِلاً رَحباً وَأَهلاً وَجَنابا
Every age, if its abode met it,
A vast house, family, and space.
إِئتِ بِالعُمرانِ رَوضاً يانِعاً
وَاِدعُها تَجرِ يَنابيعَ عِذابا
Bring it thriving vegetation
And invite it to flow with torment's springs.
لا تَجِئها بِالمَتاعِ المُقتَنى
سَرَقاً مِن كُلِّ قَومٍ وَنِهابا
Do not bring it accumulated goods
Stolen from every tribe aggressively seized.
سَل بِها أَندَلُساً هَل قَصَّرَت
دونَ مِضمارِ العُلى حينَ أَهابا
Ask it of Andalusia, did it fall short
Of the supreme realm when it stayed?
غُرِسَت في كُلِّ تُربٍ أَعجَمٍ
فَزَكَت أَصلاً كَما طابَت نِصابا
It was planted in every foreign soil
So it thrived originally as its stakes were fragrant.
وَمَشَت مِشيَتَها لَم تَرتَكِب
غَيرَ رِجلَيها وَلَم تَحجِل غُرابا
It walked its walk, it did not ride
Other than its feet or wear out shoes.
إِنَّ عَصراً قُمتَ تَجلوهُ لَنا
لَبِسَ الأَيّامَ دَجناً وَضَبابا
An age you stand to unveil it for us
Wore the days opaque darkness.
المَماليكُ تَمَشّى ظُلمُهُم
ظُلُماتٍ كَدُجى اللَيلِ حِجابا
The Mamluks walked, their darkness
Darkness like the night’s veil.
كُلُّهُم كافورُ أَو عَبدُ الخَنا
غَيرَ أَنَّ المُتَنَبّي عَنهُ خابا
All of them like camphor or Abdel Khanna
Except Al-Mutanabbi missed the mark from it.
وَلِكُلٍّ شيعَةٌ مِن جِنسِهِ
إِنَّ لِلشَرِّ إِلى الشَرِّ اِنجِذابا
And for each a followers of his ilk
Evil to evil is attracted for certain.
ظُلُماتٌ لا تَرى في جُنحِها
غَيرَ هَذا الأَزهَرِ السَمحِ شِهابا
Darkness in whose wings you see
Nothing but this brilliant Azhar meteor.
زيدَتِ الأَخلاقُ فيهِ حائِطاً
فَاِحتَمى فيها رِواقاً وَقِبابا
Morals in it were made a wall
In which it took shelter a porch and domes.
وَتَرى الأَعزالَ مِن أَشياخِهِ
صَيَّروهُ بِسِلاحِ الحَقِّ غابا
And you see the isolates among its sheikhs
Made it with the weapon of truth inaccessible.
قَسَماً لَولاهُ لَم يَبقَ بِها
رَجُلٌ يَقرَأُ أَو يَدري الكِتابا
By God if not for him no man would remain in it
Reciting or knowing Scripture.
حَفِظَ الدينَ مَلِيّاً وَمَضى
يُنقِذُ الدُنيا فَلَم يَملِك ذَهابا
It preserved the faith completely and passed away
Rescuing the world though unable to remain.
أوذِيَت هَيبَتُهُ مِن عَجزِهِ
وَقُصارى عاجِزٍ أَن لا يُهابا
Its prestige was harmed by its weakness
And the most an incapable can do is not be feared.
لَم تُغادِر قَلَماً في راحَةٍ
دَولَةٌ ما عَرَفَت إِلّا الحِرابا
No pen was left at ease
By a state that knew nothing but war.
أَقعَدَ اللَهُ الجَبرَتِيَّ لَها
قَلَماً عَن غائِبِ الأَقلامِ نابا
God seated Al-Jabarti for it
A pen beyond absent pens flowing.
خَبَّأَ الشَيخُ لَها في رُدنِهِ
مِرقَماً أَدهى مِنَ الصِلِّ اِنسِيابا
The sheikh hid for it in his parchments
A stylus more piercing than dripping poison.
مَلِكٌ لَم يُغضِ عَن سَيِّئَةٍ
يا لَهُ مِن مَلَكٍ يَهوى السِبابا
A king who did not overlook a misdeed
What a king to love insult.
لا يَراهُ الظُلمُ في كاهِلِهِ
وَهوَ يَكوي كاهِلَ الظُلمِ عِقابا
Injustice does not see it on its shoulder
While it brands the shoulder of injustice.
صُحُفُ الشَيخِ وَيَومِيّاتُهُ
كَزَمانِ الشَيخِ سُقماً وَاِضطِرابا
The sheikh’s notebooks and diaries
Like the sheikh’s era—sickness and turmoil.
مِن حَواشٍ كَجَليدٍ لَم يَذُب
وَفُصولٍ تُشبِهُ التِبرَ المُذابا
With margins like ice not melted
And sections resembling melted lead.
وَالجَبَرتِيُّ عَلى فِطنَتِهِ
مَرَّةً يَغبى وَحيناً يَتَغابى
And Al-Jabarti despite his cleverness
Sometimes is oblivious and sometimes feigns.
مُنصِفٌ ما لَم يَرُض عاطِفَةً
أَو يُعالِجُ لِهَوى النَفسِ غِلابا
A fair man unless influenced by passion
Or treats his soul’s passion biased.
وَإِذا الحَيُّ تَوَلّى بِالهَوى
سيرَةَ الحَيِّ بَغى فيها وَحابى
And when the living are ruled by passion
The living’s biography desires corruption and bias.
وَقعَةُ الأَهرامِ جَلَّت مَوقِعاً
وَتَعالَت في المَغازي أَن تُرابا
The battle of the pyramids stood high
And rose among battles to soil.
عِظَةُ الماضي وَمُلقى دَرسِهِ
لِعُقولٍ تَجعَلُ الماضي مَثابا
The past’s lesson and its instruction’s meeting
For minds that make the past a beacon.
مِن بَناتِ الدَهرِ إِلّا أَنَّها
تَنشُرُ الدَهرَ وَتَطويهِ كَعابا
Of the ages’ daughters except she
Spreads out and folds the age like a turban.
وَمِنَ الأَيّامِ ما يَبقى وَإِن
أَمعَنَ الأَبطالُ في الدَهرِ اِحتِجابا
And of days some remain though
The heroes deeply plunged into the age hiding.
هِيَ مِن أَيِّ سَبيلٍ جِئتَها
غايَةٌ في المَجدِ لا تَدنو طِلابا
From what path did you reach them
A peak of glory no seeker comes near?
اُنظُرِ الشَرقَ تَجِدها صَرَّفَت
دَولَةَ الشَرقِ اِستِواءً وَاِنقِلابا
Look to the East you find it shuffled
The East’s state straight and chaotic.
جَلَبَت خَيراً وَشَرّاً وَسَقَت
أُمَماً في مَهدِهِم شُهداً وَصابا
It brought good and evil and quenched
Nations in their cradle with nectar and fingertips.
في نَصيبينَ لَبِسنا حُسنَها
وَعَلى التَلِّ لَبِسناها مَعابا
In two inheritances we wore its beauty
And over much we wore it disgraced.
إِنَّ سِرباً زَحَفَ النَسرُ بِهِ
قَطَعَ الأَرضَ بِطاحاً وَهِضابا
A flock the eagles marched with
Crossed the land flat and plateau.
إِن تَرامَت بَلَداً عِقبانُهُ
خَطَفَت تاجاً وَاِصطادَت عُقابا
If its lands’ eagle banners converged
They snatched a crown and hunted a hawk.
شَهِدَ الجَيزِيُّ مِنهُم عُصبَةً
لَبِسوا الغارَ عَلى الغارِ اِغتِصابا
Al-Jiyzawi witnessed from them a band
Who wore aggression over aggression seized.
كَذِئابِ القَفرِ مِن طولِ الوَغى
وَاِختِلافِ النَقعِ لَوناً وَإِهابا
Like the wasteland’s wolves from lengthy discord
And varying howl in color and fright.
قادَهُم لِلفَتحِ في الأَرضِ فَتىً
لَو تَأَنّى حَظَّهُ قادَ الصَحابا
A youth led them to the conquest in the land
If his fortune had delayed he’d lead the companions.
غَرَّتِ الناسَ بِهِ نَكبَتُهُ
جَمَعَ الجُرحُ عَلى اللَيثِ الذُبابا
His setback deluded the people in him
Many wounds gathered on the lion the flies.
بَرَزَت بِالمَنظَرِ الضاحي لَهُم
فَيلَقٌ كَالزَهرِ حُسناً وَاِلتِهابا
There appeared to them in spectacular view
Horsemen like flowers in beauty and fervor.
حُلِّيَ الفُرسانُ فيها جَوهَراً
وَجَلالُ الخَيلِ دُرّاً وَذَهابا
The horsemen were adorned in it with treasure
And the horses’ majesty pearls and metals.
في سِلاحٍ كَحُلِيِّ الغيدِ ما
لَمَسَت طَعناً وَلا مَسَّت ضِرابا
In weaponry like the armor’s adornment that
Did not touch a stab or feel a strike.
طَرِحَت مِصرٌ فَكانَت مومِيا
بَينَ لِصَّينِ أَراداها جُذابا
Egypt was cast so it was a mummy
Between two thieves who wanted to pull it.
نالَها الأَعرَضُ ظَفَراً مِنهُما
مِن ذِئابِ الحَربِ وَالأَطوَلُ نابا
The most valiant of them won it
Of the war’s wolves, and the tallest fang.
وَبَنو الوادي رِجالاتُ الحِمى
وَقَفوا مِن ساقِهِ الجَيشَ ذُنابى
The valley’s sons, defenders of sanctity,
Stood from its march the army’s tails.
مَوقِفَ العاجِزِ مِن حِلفِ الوَغى
يَحرُسُ الأَحمالَ أَو يَسقي مُصابا
The stance of the incapable in war’s alliance
Guarding loads or watering the wounded.
