وَرْدُ الخُدودِ ودُونَهُ شَوْكُ القَنا
فَمنِ المُحَدِّثُ نَفْسَهُ أن يُجْتَنَى
The blush of cheeks and under it the thorns of spears,
So who would dare to pluck it?
لا تَمدُدِ الأيدي إليه فطالما
شَنُّوا الحُروبَ لأنْ مدَدْنا الأعيُنا
Stretch not your hands toward it, for oft
They have waged wars because we stretched our eyes.
وَرْدٌ تخَيَّر من مَخافةِ نَهْبِه
باللّحظِ في وَرَقِ البَراقعِ مَكْمَنا
A rose chose to hide itself in the veil's leaves
Casting off its garb in the dark, wearing it back at dawn.
يُلْقي الكِمامَ معَ الظّلامِ إذا دَجا
ويَعودُ فيه مع الصَّباح إذا دنا
Oft accord and discord were creeds of passion, my friend,
And whichever she wished became our faith.
ولطالَما وُجدَ الخِلافُ وإلْفهُ
دِيناً لعَمْرُك للحسانِ ودَيدَنا
Say to her who did wrong and was tempting,
"If you were just, you'd be more tempting."
قُلْ للَّتي ظلَمتْ وكانتْ فتنةً
لو أنها عَدلتْ لكانتْ أفْتَنا
When I asked her lips for a pearl,
She said, "Aren't your eyelids treasure enough?"
لمّا سألتُ الثّغرَ منها لُؤلؤاً
قالتْ أما يَكْفيكَ جَفْنُكَ مَعْدِنا
Is your modesty meant erringly with the veil?
Yet nakedness for your beauty I see more modest.
أيُرادُ صَوْنُكِ بالتَّبرقُعِ ضَلّةً
وأرى السُّفورَ لمثْلِ حُسنِك أصْوَنا
Like the sun - impossible to unveil her face,
Unless with a thin cloud she dresses.
كالشّمسِ يَمْتنعُ اجْتلاؤك وَجْهَها
فإنِ اكتسَتْ برَقيقِ غَيْمٍ أمْكَنا
She grew stingy in the sanctuary of her greed.
Ask the guards of the tribe - what turned her away from us?
غدَتِ البخيلةُ في حمىً من بُخْلها
فسلُوا حُماةَ الحيِّ عمَّ تَصُدُّنا
Still the specters of her imagination refused us.
How long will lances of horsemen point our way?
وأَبتْ طُروقَ خيالِها فإلى متى
جَرُّ الرّماحِ من الفوارسِ نَحْوَنا
Can the living tribes of Al-Amiriyya
Do more than what she did to us?
هل عنْدَ حَيِّ العامريّةِ قُدرةٌ
أنْ يَفْعلوا فوقَ الَّذي فعلَتْ بنا
They are no greater menace than if they fought
Than the blow of the dark-moled one when she refused us.
ما هُمْ بأعظمَ فَتكة لو بارزوا
من طَرْفِ ذاتِ الخالِ إذ برْزتْ لنا
If my murder is their aim, then let them raise
The crowns and leave her and I alone.
إن كان قَتْلي قَصْدَهمْ فلْيَرفَعوا
كِللَ الظّعائنِ ولْيُخلُّوا بَيْننا
What shielded us from the departure of the lovely ones
Were it not for the watching eyes that checked us?
ماذا كفَونا من لقاءِ فَواتنٍ
لولا مُراقَبةُ العيونِ أتَيْننا
My friend, fill up with travellers heading their land,
For their long absence now shares our sorrow.
يا صاحِ مِلْ بالعيسِ شَطْرَ ديارِهم
فطلُولُها أضحَتْ تُشاطرُنا الضَّنى
Urge the steed recklessly on the dwellings
That it may heal a heart or perhaps heal us.
عُجْ بالمَطيِّ على المنازل عَوْجةً
فلعلَّها تُشفي جوىً ولعلَّنا
Aid your brother when he calls you for a scheme,
And when you seek aid, call on us.
ساعِدْ أخاك إذا دعاكَ لخُطّةٍ
وإذا أردتَ مُساعِداً لكَ فادْعُنا
Two ignorant men in the world -
So beware, my brother, lest both continue unenlightened.
فالجاهلانِ اثْنانِ من بَيْنِ الورَى
فافْطُنْ أُخَيَّ وإنْ هما لم يَفْطُنا
One who says, "I need no people nor they me,"
Speaks in ignorance of them or they of him.
مَن قالَ ما بالنّاسِ عنّي من غنىً
من جَهْلهِ أو قال بي عنهم غِنى
How often I pastured your defiant or visiting tribe
When passion loosed its bond on me.
كم رُعْتُ حيَّكِ ثائراً أو زائراً
لمّا عَناني من غرامي ما عنى
A life I spent as youth dictated,
Squinting and being squinted at by all the lovely-eyed.
عيشٌ كما شاء الصِّبا قضّيْتُه
أصبو وأُصبي كُلَّ أَحْورَ أَعْيَنا
I recall in the nights a night
When familiarity called on me and nestled close.
إنّي لأذكرُ في اللّيالي ليلةً
والإلْفُ فيها زارني مُتوسِّنا
Imagination dispatched and followed after
A visitor - have you seen a guest follow a guest?
بعثَ الخيالَ وجاءني في إثْره
أَرأيتَ ضَيْفاً قطُّ يتْبعُ ضَيْفَنا
The phantom travels while settling briefly
In an abode where fancy is turned to certainty.
الطَّيفُ يرحَلُ وهْو ينْزِلُ مُقلةً
فيها التوهُّمُ قد أُحيلَ تيقُّنا
Today I allow the fiction of a visiting fiction
Who travels to seek the favor of the blended tribe.
فاليومَ أَرضَى زُورَ زَوْرٍ طارق
يَسْري لخَطْبِ نوَى الخليطِ مُهوَّنا
I ransom his steps if he walks his accustomed path,
That he may become a habitual visitor.
أَفدي خُطاه إذا سَرَى بمكانه
منّي ليُمسيَ للزّيارةِ مُدْمِنا
No sooner had I spurned the specter
Than on a night the tribe camped at the lofty dunes.
ما إنْ جفَوْتُ الطَّيفَ إلاّ ليلةً
والحيُّ قد نزلوا بأعلَى المُنْحنى
As my heart filled and I was busy praising
The mighty religion of God, humbling my thoughts,
لمّا ألمَّ وقد شَغَلْتُ بمدحةٍ
لعزيزِ دينِ اللهِ فكْريَ مُوْهِنا
On a night when the lamps of darkness envied
My words, and she - my adornment - envied them too,
في ليلةٍ حسدَتْ مصابيحُ الدُّجَى
كَلِمي وقد كانتْ بها هيَ أَزْينا
My pen, she and I - the three of us - kept night vigil
And praise of you was our task.
قَلمي بها حتّى الصّباحِ وشَمْعتي
بِتْنا ثلاثتُنا ومَدْحُك شُغْلُنا
Till we conquered the soldiers of darkness
When our tongues broadcast against them,
حتّى هَزَمْنا للظّلامِ جُنودَهُ
لمّا تَشاهَرْنا عليه الألْسُنا
My lamp vanquished them, and I the darkness
Stayed up all night and at dawn we were happiest.
أَفْناهما قَطّي وأَفنَيْتُ الدُّجَى
سَهَراً فأَصبَحْنا وأَسْعدُهم أَنا
To the mighty one I hoped to visit, a pilgrim,
But I shrank from knocking at his precious door.
وإلى العزيزِ أَمَلْتُ نِضْوي زائراً
لكنّني اسْتَبْضَعْتُ دُرّاً مُثْمَنا
So he came in the morn, fulfilling the measure
Of our complaint, for what had befallen us.
فغَدا يُنيلُ الرِّفدَ مُوفيَ كيْلِه
من قبلِ شَكْوانا لِما قد مَسَّنا
A generous king - when war calls,
You find him alone equal to armies.
مَلِكٌ أَغرُّ إذا انْتَدى يومَ النَّدى
أَلْفيتَهُ فرداً مواهبُه ثُنا
Gentle of fingers in caring
Like a mountain embracing the resting clouds.
خَضِلُ الأناملِ بالحِباء إذا احتَبى
كالطّودِ يَحتضِنُ الغَمامَ المُدجِنا
His enemies trust not his harm, for
He knows only goodness or better.
أَمِنَتْ إساءتَه عِداهُ لأنّهُ
مُذْ كان لم يُحسِنْ سوى أنْ يُحسِنا
When he saw his loyal counsel,
His face became illuminated with good fortune.
لمّا رأى السُّلطانُ خالصَ نُصحِهِ
أَضحى بغُرّةِ وجههِ مُتَيمّنا
The next day, the sign of his rule was in his right hand,
Annihilating the misery of the compliant and noncompliant.
فغدا وفي يُمناهُ آيةُ مُلكهِ
يُفْني المُسِرَّ عِنادَه والمُعْلِنا
So when rebels sprout in the realms,
He need only signal to his pen, and it uproots them.
فمتى تَفرْعنَ في الممالكِ مارِقٌ
أَوْمَى إلى قلمٍ له فتَثَعْبنا
The fair hand scattered his words,
And the defiant were leashed and brought to heel.
وجلا اليدَ البيضاءَ في كَلماته
فتَلقَّف المُتمرِّدَ المُتفَرْعنا
O you whose loosed steed, once turned homeward,
Success is its second nature when it turns back.
يا مَن إذا أَرخَى عِنانَ جَوادِه
أَضحى وثانيه النَّجاحُ إذا ثَنى
You return with the drawn swords, pardoning
Whatever land you travelled vexing it.
ويعودُ بالجُرْدِ السَّلاهبِ مُسْهلاً
في أَيِّ أَرضٍ سارَ فيها مُحْزِنا
When the news caught your hearing of a crying victim,
Pity wiped the tears from your eyes.
لمّا أَعَرتَ السّمعَ نَبْأةَ صارخٍ
نفَتِ الكرَى عن ناظرَيْكَ تَحنُّنا
You followed up your noble raid with argument -
Fulfilling its duty, ever the proper thing to do.
أَتْبعتَ حَجَّتَك الحميدةَ غَزْوةً
فقضَيْتَ أَيضاً فَرْضَها المُتَعيِّنا
You dragged the train of battalions deep
Into the land, behind the backs of villains thickly sown.
وجَررْتَ أَذيالَ الكتائبِ مُوغِلاً
في الأرضِ خلْفَ بني الخَبائثِ مُثْخِنا
Till those wastelands of theirs became
Like the gushing springs of Mina.
حتّى غدَتْ تلك المَجاهلُ منهمُ
وكأنما هُنّ المَناحِرُ مِن مِنى
The swords irrigated their land after
The lances had churned its surface.
سَقتِ الصّوارمُ أَرضَهمْ من بعدِ ما
قلّبْنَ أَظهُرَها السَّنابِكُ أَبْطُنا
You showed them the wonders of the day at Hafizah
Where the true strikes left no doubt.
وأَرْيتَهمْ إعجازَ يومِ حَفيظةٍ
لم يُبقِ صِدْقُ الضَّرْبِ فيه مَطْعَنا
It sowed doubt in them, and in an hour
Their resolve and determination bore bitter harvest.
زرَعَ الطِّعانَ فسَنْبلَتْ في ساعةٍ
من هامِهمْ وشُعورِهمْ سُمُرُ القَنا
There Ahmad's might made a believer
Of one who was not counted a believer in Ahmad.
فغدا هُناكَ ببأْسِ أَحمدَ مُؤمِناً
مَن لم يُعَدَّ بدينِ أَحمدَ مُؤمِنا
Do the polytheists know that they have not found
Safety from the edge of your sword?
هل عُصبةُ الإشراكِ تَعلَمُ أَنّها
ما صادَفَتْ من حَدِّ سيفِكَ مأْمَنا
But the armies turned back, routed,
Since their campaign against you was lighter.
لكنّما رجَع الجيوشُ وغُودِروا
إذ كان خَطْبُهمُ عليكمْ أَهْوَنا
Like a wounded soldier a horse cast off
While the arrow dealt him what it dealt.
مثْلَ القنيصِ ازْورَّ عنه فارسٌ
والسَّهمُ فيه جنَى عليه ما جنَى
He hopes to live, but no wounded man lives,
The spears have lodged in his heart and made it their home.
يَرجو البقاءَ وما بقاءُ مُصَرَّعٍ
تَخِذَ السِّنانُ القلْبَ منه مَسْكَنا
If you turn back from them, they should expect
Only hastened demise and extinction.
إن تَرجِعوا عنهمْ فلا يَترقَّبوا
إلاّ الفَناءَ مُباكِراً لهمُ الفِنا
The clouds, after crossing, the land below
Sees in their wake a clear track of floods.
والسُّحبُ بعدَ عُبورِهنَّ يَرى الوَرى
في إثْرِها أثَرَ السُّيولِ مُبيَّنا
So Islam should celebrate that its pillar
Since it stood true has not bent or veered.
فَلْيَهنأ الإسلامَ أَنَّ عِمادَه
مُذْ جَدَّ في طَلَقِ المكارمِ ما ونَى
The war clouds dissolved the enemies of guidance
Since you sailed the heavens of noble deeds.
صَلِيَتْ شُواظَ الحربِ أَعداءُ الهُدَى
مُذْ سار في فَلَكِ المعالي مُمْعِنا
You are like the shining sun - it rose
Over the far and near horizons of the land.
وكأنّه الشَّمسُ المنيرةُ طالعَتْ
خِططَ البلادِ من القَصيّ إلى الدُّنا
Some earth, lit by your light, flourished
While other earth, fired by you, declined to rest.
فأباتَ أرضاً نُورُها مَسكونةً
وأبتْ لأُخرى نارُها أن تَسكُنا
To God belongs the arrival of the glorious one who
Became, for us, a shelter against fate's blows.
للهِ مَقْدَمُ ماجدٍ أضحَى به
عنّا لنازلةِ النَّوائبِ مَظْعَنا
A gentle return - Ahmad returned as his name
So he came prosperously, multiplying the good tidings.
عَوْدٌ إلينا عادَ أحمدُ كاسْمِه
فغدا بإقبالٍ يُضاعَفُ مُؤْذِنا
Rebellious mischief's spark had caught fire
And spread maliciously, or auspiciously.
كانتْ شَرارةَ فتْنةٍ مَشْبوبةٍ
فلقد تَرامَتْ أشْمُلاً أوْ أيمُنا
Say to those who split into factions thinking
Your rule opposed their own flimsy aims:
قُلْ للَّذين تَشعَّبوا شُعَباً لأنْ
ظَنّوا خِلافَكُم مَراماً هَيِّنا
None contends with the torrent in spate
Save one who has wearied of life and soured.
ما إنْ يُنازِعُ ضَيْغَماً في غِيلِه
إلاّ امْرؤٌ ملَّ الحياةَ وحُيِّنا
One who builds his mansion midst the lion's den
Feeling the wind of the lion wrecked what he built.
ومَنِ ابتنَى وسْطَ العرينِ قبابَهُ
فأحسَّ ريحَ اللَّيثِ قَوَّض ما ابْتَنى
In every forest where he strayed from his cubs
Seeking pasture - but no repose whenever he turned.
في كلِّ غابٍ غابَ عنه سَليلُه
مَرْعىً ولكنْ لا قَرارَ إذا انْثَنى
A guardian of each matter will fatigue
An intruder, whether he rule justly or excellently.
سيُريحُ عازِبَ كُلّ أمرٍ سائسٌ
يُرضي الرَّعيّةَ عادلاً أو مُحْسنا
O haven, you appoint people to wondrous tasks
That became by the rising stars more wondrous.
يا مَوئلاً يُولي الأنامَ صنائعاً
أمسَتْ منَ الشُّهُبِ الطَّوالعِ أبْيَنا
No sooner had your repute and kingdom called you
Than you answered, bettering and fortifying.
ما إنْ دعاكَ لِصيتِه ولمُلْكِهِ
إلاّ أجَبْتَ مُحسِّناً ومُحصِّنا
All whom you entrusted prospered lavishly
While you yourself prospered contentedly.
كُلٌّ إذا استَرعَوْهُ يَسْمَنُ مُهزِلاً
في ذا الزَّمانِ وأنت تَهزِلُ مُسْمِنا
I have shunned praising other kings of my time as taboo
And shunned not praising the like of you as more taboo.
دَسْتُ الوِزارةِ لم يَزَلْ مَنْ حَلَّهُ
ولَئنْ تَجلّى ملءُ عَيْنَيْ مَنْ رَنا
You reached the farthest extent and ruled us
And grasped the heights' peaks and encompassed fate's ends.
كالبدرِ في ليلٍ ورأيُكَ شمسُه
والبدرُ مُقْتَبسٌ من الشَّمسِ السَّنا
Ever unbroken you remained in trials, whenever
Time toyed with its people and fluctuated.
سِيّانِ عندكَ كان رَبْعاً آهِلاً
للحيِّ أو رَسْماً عفا وتَدمَّنا
Hope itself had wandered
Until, arriving at your abode, it settled.
ما إنْ خذَلْتَ على اختلاف شعارِه
مُتعلِّياً ناداك أو مُتعَثْمِنا
It surrendered its reins to your father's son through you
Thus you tend him with utmost care.
واليومَ أجدَرُ حينَ أصبحَ عُطْلُه
مُتزيِّناً لمّا غدا مُتَزيَّنا
You are hope for all who walk the earth,
To you points he who through you was satisfied.
لا زلتَ ثَبْتاً في المواقفِ كُلّما
لَعِبَ الزّمانُ بأهلِه وتَلوَّنا
You have lofty ambitions exceeding
The age, and you lived to spread them, harvest them.
أما الرجاء فلم يزل متغربا
حتى إذا وافى ذُراك استوطنا
As if it and time were a narrow road
You tread with a vast army.
ألقَى إلى ابْنِ أبيه منكَ رِحالَه
فلِذاكَ أنتَ بهِ شديدُ المُعْتنَى
The book of your era - since its sons arose
And God made it your ascent and titled it so,
أَنتَ الرَّجاءُ لكلِّ مَن يطأُ الثَّرى
فإليكَ كان أَشار حينَ به اكْتنَى
They read, to this day, a title for it,
While our hearts anticipate what it contains.
لك في العُلا هِمَمّ تَزيدُ على مَدَى
زَمَنٍ فعشْتَ لنَشْرِهنَّ الأزْمُنا
O glorious one, the age is fragrant with your memory
And memory in the days is a precious possession.
وكأنّها والدّهرَ نَهْجٌ ضَيِّقٌ
أَصبحتَ تَسلُكُ فيه جَيْشاً أَرْعَنا
The finer we describe you
The finer you make what we attribute to you.
وكتابُ عصرِكَ مُذْ أَتَى أَبناءه
واللهُ ضَمَّنه عُلاكَ وعَنْوَنا
I consider praising the kings of my time a defect,
And consider not praising the like of you a greater defect.
قرأوا إلى ذا اليومِ عُنْواناً له
وقلوبُنا تَتَطلَّعُ المُتضمَّنا
You reached the farthest extent and ruled us,
Reached the farthest high and encompassed fate's twist.
يا ماجداً عَبِقَ الزّمانُ بذِكرهِ
والذِّكرُ في الأيّامِ نعْم المُقْتَنى
You remained, without cease, travelling the past,
Without change, empowered over the future.
يَزْدادُ عندَك حُسْنُ ما نُثْنِي به
كمَزيدِ ما توُليهِ حُسْناً عِنْدَنا
وأَعُدُّ مدْحَ ملوكِ عَصْريَ هُجْنةً
وأَعُدُّ تَرْكَ مديح مثْلِك أَهْجَنا
فبلَغْتَ قاصيةَ المَدى وملكْتَ نا
صيةَ العُلا وحَويْتَ عاصِيةَ المُنى
وبَقِيتَ من غيرِ انْقطاع ماضياً
وبلا تَغَيُّرِ آخِرٍ مُتمكِّنا
