أفي أهل ذا النادي عليم أسائله

فإني لما بي ذاهب اللب ذاهله

Is there amongst the people of this place a knowledgeable one that I may ask,

For verily, perplexed am I in understanding and bewildered,

سمعت حديثاً أحسد الصم عنده

ويذهل واعيه ويخرس قاتله

I have heard such talk that would make the deaf envious,

And astonish the perceptive, rendering the opponent speechless,

فهل من جواب تستغيث به المنى

ويعلو على حق المصيبة باطله

Is there an answer that distressed wishes may cry out for,

And falsehood prevail over the truth of this affliction?

وقد رابني من شاهد الحال أنني

أرى الدست منصوباً وما فيه كافله

For I am troubled by the witnesses of this state, that I

See the hand outstretched yet no gift within its grasp.

فهل غاب عنه واستناب سليله

أم اختار هجراً لا يرجى تواصله

Has it been absent from him and a substitute appointed?

Or has it chosen to sever ties, with no hope of reconciliation?

فإني أرى فوق الوجوه كآبة

تدل على أن الوجوه ثواكله

For I see gloom over faces,

Signifying that the faces have been forsaken,

فيا أيها الدست الذي غاب صدره

فماجت بلاياه وهاجت بلابله

So O hand that has been absent from embracing,

Whose calamities have raged and confusions roared,

عهدت بك الطود الذي ساخ في الثرى

وفي كل أرض خوفه وزلازله

I knew you as the towering mountain rooted in the earth,

Feared in every land for your tremors and quakes,

ومن سد باب الملك والأمر خارج

إلى سائر الأقطار منه وداخله

The one who shut the gates of dominion and authority,

Both within and without the borders of all regions,

ومن عوق الغازي المجاهد بعدما

أعدت لغزو المشركين جحافله

The one who aided the holy warrior after preparing,

The regiments for invading the idolaters’ lands,

ومن أكره الرمح الرديني فالتوى

وأرهقه حتى تحطم عامله

The one who forced the soft spear to twist,

Exhausting it until its maker was shattered,

ومن كسر العضب المهند فاغتدى

وأجفانه مطروحة وحمائله

The one who broke the supple bow wantonly

With its eyelids flung down and its coverings,

ومن سلب الإسلام حلية جيده

إلى أن تشكى وحشة لطوق عاطله

The one who robbed Islam of its beautiful adornment,

Until it complained of the barrenness of its vacant necklace,

ومن أسكت الفضل الذي كان فضله

خطيباً إذا التفت عليه محافله

The one who silenced outstanding merit whose excellence,

Was a speaker, whilst assemblies turned to face it,

وما هذه الضوضاء من بعد هيبة

إذا خامرت جسماً تخلت مفاصله

What is this clamour after such awe,

When it has abandoned a body and deserted its joints?

كأن أبا الغارات لم ينش غارة

تريك سواد الليل فيه قساطله

It is as if the father of raids did not set out a raid,

That would show you the blackness of night in its darknesses,

ولا لمعت بين العجاج نصوله

ولا طرزت ثوب الفجاج مناصله

Nor did his sharp blades shine amongst the dust,

Nor were his clothes embroidered with stitching,

ولا سار في عالي ركائب موكب

ينافس فيه فارس الخيل راجله

Nor did a procession march with lifted carriages,

Where the knight vied with the steed to outdo his walker,

ولا مرحت فوق الطروس يراعه

كما مرحت تحت السروج صواهله

Nor did they prance above the saddle clothes while underneath saddles,

They frisked playfully like a colt with its mother,

ولا قسمت ألحاظه بين مخلص

جميل السجايا أو عدو يجامله

Nor did his glances distribute themselves between loyal sincere ones,

Or a foe pretending courtesy through flattery,

ولا قام في المحراب والحرب عاملاً

من البأس والإحسان ما الله قابله

Nor did he stand in the prayer niche and battlefield, acting,

With valour and beneficence as Allah has destined for him,

تعجبت من فعل الزمان بنفسه

ولا شك إلا أنه جن عاقله

I am astonished by what time has done with itself,

Without doubt it must have lost its senses,

بمن تفخر الأيام بعد طلائع

ولم يك في أبنائها من يماثله

With whom do the days boast after the passing of its prime,

When amongst its sons none can equal him?

أتنزل بالهادي الكفيل صروفها

وقد خيمت فوق السماك منازله

Do its turns descend upon the guiding patron,

While above the heavens his mansions have settled?

وتسعى المنايا منه في مهجة امرئ

سعت منهم الأقدار فيما تحاوله

Do deaths strive to get him while he is alive,

While destinies expend efforts against what he aspires?

حبائل لم يعلقن إلا بأروع

تمد لصيد النيرات حبائله

Snares that have not been set except for the most sublime,

Extending to catch the glistening stars,

يبيت ومن زهر الأسنة في الدجى

مشاعره وقت القرى ومشاعله

He spends the night whilst the flowers of eloquent tongues,

Glow in the darkness like candles lighting villages,

أناديه قل كيف شئت فهذه

خصائصه مأثورة وحصائله

Call to him however you wish, for such are,

His famed traits and harvested fruits,

وعدد سجايا أبيض الوجه أبلج

تصدق دعوى المادحين فضائله

Enumerate the features of white-faced Abu Bakr in purity,

Confirming the claims of those praising his virtues,

كذبناه في دعوى الوفاء بعهده

متى جف هامي الدمع أو كف هامله

We have belied him in claiming fulfilment of his covenant,

Whenever my overflowing tears dry or my water carrier empties,

أيرثي لساني مجده بعد مدحه

وما لي لم تخذل لساني خواذله

Should my tongue inherit his glory after praising him,

When did my tongue not fail me at the decisive moments?

ألم يك في قلبي من الهم والجوى

وحر الأسى شغل عن الشعر شاغله

Was there not in my heart such anxiety and passion,

And the burning anguish of grief that preoccupied me from poetry?

سيذبل روض الشعر من بعد يومه

فلا عاش ذوايه ولا أخضر ذابله

The garden of poetry will wither after his day,

For neither its possessor lived nor its declining one flourished,

دعوني فما هذا بوقت بكائه

سيأتيكم طل البكاء ووابله

Leave me be, for this is not the time for weeping over him,

The season of weeping and its rains will come to you,

ولا تنكروا حزني عليه فإنني

تقشع عني وابل كنت آمله

And do not deny my sorrow over him, for I

Am bursting with clouds I had hoped for,

ولم لا نبكيه ونندب فقده

وأولاده أيتامه وأرامله

Why should we not weep and mourn his loss,

When his children are orphaned and his wives widowed?

فيا ليت شعري بعد حسن فعاله

وقد غاب عنا ما بنا الدهر فاعله

Oh, I wish I knew, after his good deeds,

And the days have been devoid of one who acts similarly,

أيكرم مثوى ضيفكم وغريبكم

فيمكث أم تطوى ببين مراحله

Will his lodging honour its guest and stranger?

Will he stay or will the stages fold away with him?

وهل تنعم الدنيا علي بمنعم

أجالسه من بعده وأؤاكله

Will worldly comforts gratify me with one,

I may sit with after him and share meals?

سآوي إلى ركن شديد والتجي

إلى ملك عم البرية نائله

I will incline to the Corner of the Kaaba and plead

To the King whose kingdom encompasses all lands,

إلى العادل بن الصالح الملك الذي

أقابل وجه البشر حين أقابله

To the Just Son of the Righteous, the King whose

Face greets people whenever I greet him,

أقوال وقول الحق فرض على الفتى

إذا شهدت بالصدق يوماً دلائله

Words and speaking truthfully are incumbent upon the youth,

When evidence affirms it one day,

ألا إن سلطان ابن رزيك لم يزل

ورزيك ليث الغاب إن غاب باسله

Indeed the Sultan Son of Ruzzik has never ceased to be,

As Ruzzik is the lion of the jungle if absent is its brave,

هو المجد أغنانا عن الليث شبله

وناب لنا عن صالح فيه عادله

He is the glory who enriched us beyond the lion cub,

And represented Salah amongst us with his justice,

تولى وقد خلى علائق ثقله

ولكن تولى ذلك الثقل حامله

He assumed authority after the burdens of its significance lightened,

But the bearer of that weight assumed it,

فكان كرجع الطرف وحشة آهل

من العز حتى قيل أونس آهله

Thus he was like the gaze returning in desolation,

From glory, until it was said comfort comforted its bereft,

وما هو إلا بدر مجد وسؤدد

بدا طالعاً في الدست إن غاب آهله

He is but the moon of glory and good fortune,

Having risen in the land though its people were absent,

وفرع كريم الأصل سد مسده

فبورك من نجل وقدس ناجله

A noble branch plugging the gap of one gone,

Blessed thus is the son and sanctified his successor,

وما زلت قبل اليوم قرة عينه

وقاصية الذخر الذي كان يأمله

I was, before this day, the delight of his eye,

And the fruit of his stock that he aspired for,

ولو كان حياً سره فعلك الذي

تجلت له من كل فضل مخائله

Were he alive your deed which

Exhibited to him your every merit would have pleased him,

عذرت به الأيام من بعد عدلها

وقد يعذر الجاني من الناس عاذله

You have excused the days after their justice,

And the offender may excuse his critic,

تداركت هذا الخلق عدلاً ورأفة

وقد أجهضت من شدة الخوف حامله

You have corrected this people with justice and compassion,

After it aborted due to intense fear what it carried,

وأطفأت نار الشر بعد التهابها

وسكنتها والشر تغلي مراجله

And extinguished the fire of evil after it had blazed,

Calming it while evil was boiling in its pots,

وأحسنت ذكر الدهر بعد إساءة

تبين فيها ميله وتحامله

You have improved the memory of time after its disservice,

In which its leaning and bias became evident,

وكانت أمور الناس فوضى فساسها

ودبرها مستجمع العزم كامله

The affairs of the people were chaotic so you systematised them,

With fully pooled resolution managing them,

أغر له من آل رزيك أسرة

هم ساعد الملك العقيم وكاهله

Your family of Ruzzik are the arm supporting the state,

They are the shoulder of the kingly authority and its pillar,

به وبهم لا فرق الله شملهم

أنافت أعاليه وأرست أسافله

May Allah not separate your unity,

Elevating its heights and fixing its lowlands.

تساند مثل البزل منه عصابة

بهم قام صاغيه وأسند مائله

A band of stalwarts support you like a brace,

Through them the polisher stood firm and the leaning found support,

هو الكف والباع الطويل إذا سطوا

وهم عند بطش الراحتين أنامله

They are the palm and the outstretched arm when they attack,

And at the clasp of the two hands they are the fingers.

فيا حاسديهم حاذروا أن تصيبكم

به منجنيقات الردى وجنادله

So O you who envy them, beware lest

The catapults of evil and its disputants strike you,

ويغرقكم من بحره فيض زاخر

تزيد على فيض البحار جداوله

And the abundant surge of his sea drowns you,

Exceeding the flooding streams of seas with its courses,

ويا أيها الطير البغاث كأنني

بكم وقد انقضت عليكم أجادله

And O you cawing crows, I see you

Swooping down with claws outstretched towards you,

رويدكم يا ملقحيها سفاهة

فهلا لقاح لا تطرق حامله

Restrain yourselves O defamers of others’ honour,

Why do you pollinate that which bears no fruit?

ويا واردي ماء العقوق تأدبوا

فذا مورد لا بد تصفو منهله

And O you approaching the waters of filial disobedience, learn decency

For this is a watering place you must cleanse before drinking from it,

أراكم أمنتم أن تدار عليكم

رحى الموت أو تلقى عليكم كلاكله

I see that you feel secure from the grinding wheel of death turning against you

Or its calamities being unleashed upon you,

ألا إن جمعاً يردع السيف جمعه

سيرجع منقاداً إلى الحلم جاهله

Know that a horde whose multitude deters the sword,

Will return obedient to wisdom despite ignorance,

لقد ضربت أنيابكم في صفاتهم

وعاد بلا ناب على الصخر آكله

Your fangs have indeed struck at their qualities,

Yet returned toothless to the rock after gnawing it,

ولم تتركوا التشعيب بقيا وإنما

يعاف ورود البحر والموت ساحله

You left no defamation but invented it,

Although the sea’s roses and death’s coast are unsullied!

لقد صفحوا عن زلة النعل منكم

ودان لهم حافي الزمان وناعله

They have pardoned your sandal’s slip,

While the barefoot time and the shoed bowed to them,

أفي كل عصر يستطيل مقصر

حقير ويردي نابه الذكر خامله

Does an inadequate failure in each era lengthen arrogantly,

Demeaning the mention of others through inertia?

ويعلو الثرى نحو الثريا سفاهة

ويسطو بأعيان الزمان أراذله

Does foolishness ascend the earth towards constellations,

And the riffraff of time grow rampant?

وهذا أمير المؤمنين أجل أن

يقاس بخلق وابن ملجم قاتله

Is this Commander of the Faithful any less than

To be measured with people, and Ibn Muljam his killer?

وحمزة أودى يوم أحد وإنما

بحربة وحشي أصيبت مقاتله

Hamza who perished at Uhud, and yet

Only by the blow of a wild beast was its battler harmed,

فشكراً على الفخر الذي لك عاجله

وحمداً على الأجر الذي لك آجله

So gratitude for the pride which is yours promptly,

And praise for the compensation which is yours later,

وهنيتها من دولة عادلية

يقام بها فرض الندى ونوافله

And great glad tidings of a just rule,

Under which the obligation of religion and its supererogatory acts are established,

أراد أناس نقضها فتأكدت

أينقض حبل الله والله فاتله

Some people desired its annulment but it became evident,

Can the rope of Allah be severed while Allah is its twister?