مَن سائِلٌ لِمُعَذِّرٍ عَن خَطبِهِ
أَو صافِحٌ لِمُقَصِّرٍ عَن ذَنبِهِ
Who will ask an excuse-maker about his plight,
Who asks the excuser for his faults
Or pardon one who has fallen short for his fault?
Or greets the evader for his sin?
حُمِّلتُ لِلحَسَنِ بنِ وَهبٍ نِعمَةً
صَعُبَت عَلى ذِلِّ الثَناءِ وَصَعبِهِ
I was laden with a favor from al-Hasan ibn Wahb,
For Hasan ibn Wahb I was burdened with bounty—
Too difficult for praise, whether tame or unruly.
It was hard on that lofty eulogy and its loftiness.
وَوَعَدتُهُ أَنّي أَقومُ بِشُكرِها
فَحَمَلتُ مِنهُ نَقاً فَلَم أَنهَض بِهِ
And I promised him I would give it due thanks,
And I promised him I would give thanks,
So I shouldered a sand dune from him, but could not rise with it.
But I carried from him only delinquency, and did not rise to it.
إِلّا أَكُن كُلِفتُ مِنهُ يَذبُلاً
فَلَقَد مُنيتُ بِخِدنِهِ أَو تِربِهِ
If I was not charged by him with bearing Yadhbul,
Unless I was tasked by him with withering weakness—
I was surely burdened with its companion or its peer.
Then I was tried by his corpulence or dust.
ما أَضعَفَ الإِنسانَ إِلّا هِمَّةً
في نُبلِهِ أَو قُوَّةً في لُبِّهِ
How weak man is, save for resolve
Nothing weakens a man but resolve
In his nobility, or strength in his mind!
In his nobility or strength in his heart.
مَن لا يُؤَدّي شُكرَ نِعمَةِ خِلِّهِ
فَمَتى يُؤَدّي شُكرَ نِعمَةِ رَبِّهِ
He who does not render thanks for his friend's favor—
Who does not give thanks for his friend's grace
When will he render thanks for his Lord's favor?
When will he give thanks for his Lord's grace?
وَهَبَ اِبنُ وَهبٍ وَفرَهُ حَطتى لَقَد
أَوفى عَلى شَرقِ الثَناءِ وَغَربِهِ
Ibn Wahb gave away his wealth, until indeed he
The son of Wahb gave me his bounty and exceeded—
Rose above the east of praise and its west.
He fulfilled the East and West of praise.
سَبّاقُ غاياتٍ إِذا طَلَبَ المَدى
بِرَسيلِهِ فَعَدُوُّهُ مِن حِزبِهِ
First to every goal, when he pursues the farthest reach
A frontrunner of peaks when he seeks the distance
With a rival, his adversary is of his own clan.
With his steed—his rival is of his own party.
وَإِذا تُقُسِّمَ قَبرُ عَمرٍو في بَني الـ
ـدَيّانِ صارَ إِلَيهِ أَزكى تُربِهِ
And when Amr's grave is apportioned among the sons of al-
And if the grave of ‘Amr is divided among the sons of al-Dayyan
Dayyan, its purest earth falls to him.
Its choicest soil goes to him.
إِن شِئتَ أَن تَدَعَ الفَعالَ لِأَهلِهِ
فَاَعرِض لِمَجدِ سَعيدِهِ أَو وَهبِهِ
If you wish to leave noble deeds to their rightful people,
If you wish to leave deeds to their people
Turn to the glory of his Sa'id or his Wahb.
Then present the glory of his happy endeavors or gifts.
تِلكَ الخُصوصُ فَإِن عَمَمتَ أَمَدَّها
بِرَبيعَتَيهِ وَحارِثَيهِ وَكَعبِهِ
Those are the particulars; if you broaden them, he reinforces them
Those are the special things—and if you generalize
With his two Rabi'ahs, his two Hariths, and his Ka'b.
With his Rabī‘ah and Hārith and Ka‘b.
صيدٌ لِأَصيَدَ لَستَ تُبصِرُ جَمرَةً
في الناسِ لَم تَكُ قَطرَةً مِن صُلبِهِ
Proud lords of a proud lord: you see no fiery clan
Game for a hunter—you do not see a coal
Among men that was not a drop from his loins.
Among the people that was not a drop from his lineage.
عَرَفَ العَواقِبَ فَاِستَفادَ مَكارِماً
يَفنى الزَمانُ وَذِكرُها في عَقبِهِ
He knew the outcomes and acquired noble qualities:
He knew the consequences and so gained virtues—
Time perishes, while their memory lives among his descendants.
Time passes but their mention remains in his footsteps.
وَكَفى الكَريمَ بِها أُولاءِ مَكارِماً
مَأثورَةً في سِلمِهِ أَو حَربِهِ
And these noble deeds suffice the noble man,
And the generous one was satisfied for those virtues
Preserved in memory, in his peace or his war.
To be traditions in his peace or his war.
وَإِذا اِستَهَلَّ أَبو عَلِيٍّ لِلنَدى
جاءَ الغَمامُ المُستَهِلُّ بِسَكبِهِ
And when Abu Ali begins his outpouring of bounty,
And if Abū ‘Alī heralds the dew,
The pouring cloud arrives with its torrent.
The heralding clouds come with their pouring.
وَإِذا تَأَلَّقَ في النَدِيِّ كَلامُهُ الـ
ـمَصقولُ خِلتَ لِسانَهُ مِن عَضبِهِ
And when his speech flashes in the assembly—
And if his well-honed speech gleams in amicability
Polished—you would think his tongue made from his keen sword.
You find his tongue cleansed of wrath.
وَإِذا اِحتَبى في عُقدَةٍ مِن حِلمِهِ
يَوماً رَأَيتَ مُتالِعاً في هَضبِهِ
And when he sits, his knees bound in a knot of his forbearance,
And if he knots up some tolerance in his forbearance
One day, you behold Mutali' amid its crags.
One day you see flashes in its highlands.
وَإِذا دَجَت أَقلامُهُ ثُمَّ اِنتَحَت
بَرَقَت مَصابيحُ الدُجى في كُتبِهِ
And when his pens darken, then begin their strokes,
And if his pens darken then shine
The lamps of darkness flash within his writings.
The lamps of nighttime shine in his books.
بِاللَفظِ يَقرُبُ فَهمُهُ في بُعدِهِ
مِنّا وَيَبعُدُ نَيلُهُ في قُربِهِ
Through the wording, its meaning draws near despite its distance
Through eloquence, his understanding seems near
From us, while attaining it stays far off despite its nearness.
While reaching him is far, in his nearness.
حِكَمٌ فَسائِحُها خِلالَ بَنانِهِ
مُتَدَفِّقٌ وَقَليبُها في قَلبِهِ
Wise sayings: their stream between his fingers
Wise sayings—their rover roams through his essence
Pours forth, and their well is in his heart.
Flowing copiously and their sentiments in his heart.
كَالرَوضِ مُؤتَلِفاً بِحُمرَةِ نورِهِ
وَبَياضِ زَهرَتِهِ وَخُضرَةِ عُشبِهِ
Like a meadow, harmonized by the red of its blossoms,
As if the garden, harmonized by the redness of its light
The white of its flowers and the green of its grass.
And the whiteness of its blossoms and greenness of its grass,
أَو كَالبُرودِ تُخُيِّرَت لِمُتَوَّجٍ
مِن خالِهِ أَو وَشيِهِ أَو عَصبِهِ
Or like cloaks selected for a crowned king,
Or like the brocades, chosen for one bedecked
From his fine cloth, his brocade, or his tie-dyed weave.
With his maternal uncles, cousins, or clan.
وَكَأَنَّها وَالسَمعُ مَعقودٌ بِها
شَخصُ الحَبيبِ بَدا لِعَينِ مُحِبِّهِ
And they seem, with the ear bound fast to them,
As if, while hearing them, vision is tied to them—
The beloved's figure appearing to his lover's eye.
The beloved appeared to the eyes of his lover.
كاثَرتُهُ فَإِذا المُروءَةُ عِندَهُ
تُعدي المُفاوِضَ مِن أَقاصي صَحبِهِ
I vied with him in bounty, and behold, his noble character
I contended with him so nobleness in his view
Is contagious to those who converse with him, even his remotest companions.
Transcends the envoy from the edges of his companions.
وَوَجَدتُ في نَفسي مَخايِلَ سُؤدُدٍ
أَن كُنتُ يَوماً واحِداً مِن شَربِهِ
And I found within myself signs of nobility,
And I found in myself dejected imaginings
Because I was, one day, one of his drinking companions.
That I was one day of his drinking companions.
فَصَبَغتُ أَخلاقي بِرَونَقِ خُلقِهِ
حَتّى عَدَلتُ أُجاجَهُنَّ بِعَذبِهِ
So I dyed my manners with the luster of his character,
So I dyed my character in the luster of his manners
Until I made their brine equal to his sweet water.
Until I corrected their discordance through his sweetness.
قَومي فِداؤُكَ قَد أَضاءَ لِناظِري
بِكَ كُلُّ مُنكَسِفِ الأَصيلِ مُضِبِّهِ
May my people be your ransom! There has shone before my eyes,
My people—your ransom—through you
Through you, every darkened, mist-shrouded afternoon.
Every eclipse of brilliant origin was illuminated.
في لُلِّ يَومٍ مِنَّةٌ ما بَعدَها
مَنٌّ يُعابُ الصادِرونَ بِغِبِّهِ
Each day brings a favor, not followed
In the night of a day of blessing unlike any other
By reproach that shames those who depart in its wake.
Favor follows those who went out in their absence.
كَم آمِرٍ أَلّا تَجودَ وَعاتِبٍ
في أَن تَجودَ أَبَتَّهُ في عَتبِهِ
How many a man commanding you not to give, and reproaching you
How many a commander refused to be generous, and blamer
For giving, has been silenced in his reproach!
Who blamed that you were generous—his eye turned in displeasure.
Sol 6.1