يُرَجَّى نَداه في القطوب وجُودُه
وتُخشى عوادي بأسه في التَّبسُّمِ
His generous call is hoped for in bare mountains,
And the onslaught of his might is feared in smiles.
فما تحبسُ الإِحسان منه حفيظةٌ
ولا البِشْرَ روعاتُ الخميس العرمرم
No restraint holds back his benevolence,
Nor do the terrors of fateful Thursdays alarm his cheer.
كذي هيْدَبٍ جَوْنٍ تُخافُ بُروقُهُ
ويُرجى نداهُ ساجياً غير مُرْزِم
Like a bright, rainy cloud, his light is feared
Yet his gentle rain is hoped for, constant and sure.
يُفاخر أضْواءَ الضُّحى بطَلاقَةٍ
وصوْبَ الحَيا بالنَّائِل المُترذِّمِ
His brilliance outshines the morning’s splendor
And his uprightness surpasses the inclined stars.
يُزَرُّ قميصاهُ بسلمٍ ومَعْرَكٍ
على خِضْرِمٍ جمِّ العُباب وضيْغَم
His shirts are rent with peace and warfare
Upon a verdant pasture, abundant and fertile.
فللسَّلْم ما حاكت يدٌ عبْقَريَّةٌ
وللحربِ ما أضحى لداود ينْتمي
For peace, what an able hand has woven,
And for war, what was made for David's people.
وزيرٌ رأى كِبْر الرجال وإِن علوا
سَفاهَةَ رأيٍ أو فسادَ تَوَهُّمِ
A minister who saw the greatness of men, though they rose high
Considered it the folly of an idea or corruption of illusion.
وأيْقَنَ أنَّ البَأوَ كُفْرٌ لأنهُ
مُباراةُ جَبَّارِ السَّماءِ المُعظَّمِ
And knew that defiance is blasphemy, for it
Is challenging the Majestic Lord of the Heavens.
فأضْحى كماءِ المُزن رَقَّ نسيمه
تَحَدُّرهُ منْ فارِعٍ مُتَسَنِّمِ
So he became like cool rain whose breeze
Flows gently down from a towering summit.
إذا ما اشمخرَّتْ رتبةٌ بمسَوَّدٍ
غَدا مُخْبِتاً في فِعْلِهِ والتّكلُّمِ
When a rank swells with arrogance
It becomes humbled in deed and speech.
فتُضحي أباة الذُّل والفقر عارقٌ
غِنيِّينَ منه عن شَرابٍ ومطْعَمِ
So the disgrace of humiliation and poverty becomes
A relief, making them needless of drink and food.
يُؤانس من وحشيِّهمويُبيحهُمْ
نَداه ويُصغي للعَييِّ المُجمْجِم
His call comforts their loneliness and makes them intimate,
And he listens to the silent poor.
كأنهُمُ إخوانُهُ لا لِعلَّةٍ
وضُرٍّ ولكن بين تالٍ وتَوْأمِ
As if they were his brethren, not for
Affliction or harm, but for rhyme and rhythm.
فبوركَ من غمْر السَّجايا كأنهُ
سنى قَمرٍ في حالِك الجُنح مُظلِم
Blessed is he who is immersed in glory, as if
He were the full moon in its waning darkness.
تَخِفُّ عليه الفادِحاتُ كأنما
تَحُلُّ بعادِيِّ القَعائدِ أيْهَمِ
Calamities are hidden from him as if they
Befell the furthest tent-dwelling nomads.
صفوحٌ يموت الغيظُ عند اقتداره
ويطْردُ حَرَّ البأسِ بردُ التّكرُّمِ
A reconciler who dies in rage when able
And repels the heat of might with the coolness of generosity.
ويحْلمُ حتى يُصبح الجُرمُ شافعاً
إلى عفْوهِ في كل جانٍ ومُجرمِ
And is forbearing until crime itself becomes
An intercessor for his pardon, in every side and criminal.
فلا برِحتْ غرس الخلافة عِزَّةٌ
يوَدُّ شَباها كلُّ أبيضَ مِخْذَم
The glory of the caliphate did not cease to be
A wish for every bright-faced youth.
أبا جعفرٍ حاوي المَعالي قَديمها
وحادِثِها ما بين بأسٍ وأنْعُمِ
O Abu Ja'far, possessor of its ancient nobility
And its present, between might and favors!
فثَمَّ الحِمى الحامي لكل مُشرَّدٍ
وثمَّ النَّدى الهامي على كلِّ مُعْدمِ
There lies the protector, sheltering every outcast,
There lies the rain, clouding over every dispossessed.
