اطوياني ملامة وانشراني

بلغ الوجدُ حيث لا تبلغاني

Wrap me in blame and unfold me,

Let passion reach where you cannot reach me,

قد عناني جوًى يطول وفيه

يقصر اللومُ عن مردّ عناني

An ardor has possessed me, long yet brief,

Wherein censure falls short of curbing me,

كيف عيني لم تغدُ بيضاء حزناً

وهي قد أصبحت بلا إنسان

How is it my eyes did not turn white with grief

When they have become without a loved one,

إنَّ صوت النعيّ مذ خاض سمعي

خلته في حشاي غربَ سنان

Since the voice of bereavement talked in my hearing

I have left it screaming in the depths of my molars,

وعضضتُ البنانَ غيظاً ولكن

لا يفيد المكلوم عضُّ البنان

And I have bitten my fingers in fury but

The stricken gains nothing from biting fingers,

فاعذراني إذا ربطتُ فؤادي

بيدي وانطويتُ ممَّا دهاني

So excuse me if I have tied up my heart

With my hands and folded myself from what has pierced me,

إنَّ قلبي من دهشتي طار رعباً

فغدا وهو دائم الخفقان

My heart has flown away in fright of my shock

So it persists fluttering,

كفكفا عن حشايَ غرب ملامي

من جراح الجوى بها ما كفاني

Stop blaming my molars’ depths

With the ardors’ wounds that have sufficed me,

أينَ منِّي صبري لأرضى فأسلو

صبري اليوم والرضا ميِّتان

Where is my patience to consent and appease?

My patience and consent today are dead,

أنا يا لائميَّ أدرى بطبِّي

فاعذلاني ما عشتُ أو فاعذراني

I, my blamers, know my own state,

So excuse me, whether I live or excuse me,

سلّياني بردِّ روحي وإلاّ

فبماذا عنه إذاً سلواني

Comfort me with the coolness of my soul, else

With what then can you comfort me?

قرّباه فوقَ الثرى اليوم منِّي

أو فمنه تحت الثرى قرِّباني

Bring him today closer to me above the soil

Or bring me closer under the soil to him,

واقبراه إذاً بقلبي وإلاّ

فخذاه بقبره واقبراني

Bury me then in his grave, else

Take me in my grave and bury me,

وإلى جنب مهجتي وسِّداه

أو إلى جنب جسمه وسِّداني

And next to my innermost self place him

Or next to his body place me,

فحياتي وموته رزآن

لم أقدّرْ عليَّ يجتمعان

For my life and his death are incompatible,

I could not manage that they come together,

بل تخيلتُ أن يعيش وأفنى

أو سواءً تضمُّنا حفرتان

But I imagined him alive and me dead

Or both of us alike held in two pits

لم أفارقه أجنبيًّا ولكنْ

هو روحي وفارقت جثماني

I did not part from him a stranger but

He is my soul and I parted from my body

قد نشرنا ما بيننا الودَّ دهراً

فطواه الردى وليت طواني

We had spread affection between us for ages

But time has folded it—would that it folded me!

غمّضا ناظري ما عشتُ غيظاً

فعلى مَن بعد الرضا تفتحان

Shut my eyes for as long as I live in fury

For after consent—upon whom do you open them?

وزفيري ثقّف حنايا ضلوعي

فعلى ودِّ مَن تبين حواني

And make my sighs burrow into my ribs’ hollows—

For whose affection do you make clear my loves?

وخطوب الزمان دونك شخصي

فلك اليوم قد كشفتُ عياني

And time’s afflictions without you are my adversary,

So for you today I have uncovered my eyes,

نزعت عنِّي الحوادث درعي

فبمن أتَّقي شبا الحدثان

Events have stripped me of my coat of mail,

With whom then can I beware the sparks of events?

فلكم قد لويتُ دهري وهذا

دهري اليوم كيفَ شاءَ لواني

For so long have I bent my time, and this

Is my time today, bent however it wished,

لك أسمحتُ يا خطوب الزمان

ذهبتْ نخوتي فهاكِ عناني

To you I have resigned, oh woes of time,

My pride is gone—here, take my reins,

قد أبانت حشايَ فاستهدفيها

نكبة طوَّحت ضحًى بأبان

My molars have been struck by a calamity that has toppled

An eye whose tears wildly race,

راصدتني من حيثُ لستُ أراها

أعين النائبات وهي تراني

Lying in wait for me from where I did not see them:

The eyes of the fates see me,

فرمتني من حيثُ لا أتَّقيها

بسهام الهموم والأحزان

Hitting me from where I did not expect them

With the arrows of concerns and sorrows,

فأنا اليوم يا نوائبُ كلِّي

مقتلٌ بارزٌ لمن قد رماني

So today, oh twisting fates, I stand

An exposed target for whoever has shot me,

كنتُ قدماً أذودُ نبلك عنِّي

ببناني فأينَ منِّي بناني

I used to ward off your arrows from me

With my fingers—but where are my fingers from me?

قد نعاهُ الناعي إليَّ أيدري

لا درى أنَّه إليَّ نعاني

The herald has announced his death to me; does he not know

That it is to me he makes his announcement?

فحسبتُ الفؤادَ منِّيَ أضحى

بين نابي ذي سورةٍ أفعوان

So I reckoned the heart within me has become

Between my fangs a terrified snake,

لهف نفسي على صريع حمامٍ

ليسَ لي عنهُ بالدفاعِ يدان

My soul yearns for the slain dove—

I have no hands for his defense,

ودَّت المكرمات لو أنَّ منها

غسلته بدمعها العينان

The planets in their bounty would have wished

To wash him with the tears of their eyes,

ومسجًّى بنعشه في حبيرٍ

هو والجودُ فيه ملتحفان

And shrouded with his bier in a luminous sea

He and generosity in it wrapped together,

حملوه وخلفه كلُّ عافٍ

بدماء عيناه فائرتان

They carried him and every noble walked behind him

With blood pouring from their eyes,

قائلاً أيكة الرجاء اظمأي اليو

م وعودي مصفرَّة العيدان

Saying, “Where is the covenant of hope?” My today

Is withered branches and barren trees,

مصَّ منك الصعيدُ ماء سماحٍ

كنت فيه ريَّانة الأغصان

It has sucked away from you the water of generosity

With which branches were once irrigated,

عجباً خف نعشه وهو قد سار

بثقل المعروف والإِحسان

Wondrous is how his lightweight bier travelled

With the weight of benefaction and kindness—

بل أراه ما خفَّ إذ سارَ لكن

حملته ملائكُ الرحمان

But I see it has not become lightweight as it travelled,

Rather the angels of the Merciful carried it,

شيَّعته الأنامُ بالأحزان

والتقته بالبشر حورُ الجنان

People bid him farewell with sorrows

As houris of paradise came out to receive him;

هل كذا جلَّ نعشُ ميتٍ سواه

اختلطا عند نعشه العالمان

Was the bier of any other dead ever so majestic?

The two realms mingled around his bier,

وعليه قد ودَّت الأرضُ يبقى

ويرى كلَّ مَن عليها فان

Over him the soil has loved to remain

As all upon it expire and pass;

فاحملاني إلى ثراه احملاني

وقفا بي عليه وقفة عان

Carry me to his burial ground, carry me

And make me stop at it and stop a while,

ودعاني خلف الصعيد أناديه

نداء المروَّع اللهفان

Call me from behind the mound—I call him

The fearful call of the fervent bereaved:

يا فقيداً فقدتُ منهُ غماماً

كلَّما قلتُ قد ظمئتُ سقاني

“Oh object of loss from whom I have lost

A cloud—whenever I said I thirsted it would give me drink”

ودفيناً دفنتُ منه حساماً

كنتُ أعددته لحرب الزمان

And, oh buried one, in whom I have buried a sword

That I had readied to do battle with time,

أغمدتْه في الترب كفِّي فشلَّت

فاتَ نصري وأبتُ بالخذلان

It sheathed it in soil so my hands failed me

And my support slipped and I confessed to loss,

شغلت منطقي عليه المراثي

وخلا مِن هوى سواه جناني

Elegy has preoccupied my speech about him

While my heart’s affection for other than him is but gardens,

يا تراني أثني على مَن بمدحٍ

وهوى من أحبُّه يا تراني

Now whom shall I praise in eulogy

And whose love, oh whom shall I praise?

ماتَ محيي الثنا ولولا أبوه

قلتُ في لحده دفنت لساني

The vitalizer of praise-poetry has died; and were it not for his father

I would have said the tongue itself lies buried in his grave,

ذاك منه صفاته الغرّ جاءتْ

في مزايا علاه طبق المعاني

That derives from his being of glorious traits

Transcending contexts of meaning,

صالح الفعل راجحُ الفضل غوث ال

مستغيثين غيثُ أهل الأماني

Righteous in deed, preeminent in merit, succor of those seeking succor, rainfall of those seeking rain,

Godfearing and ascetic, devoting himself to God

ورعٌ ناسكٌ تفرَّغ للهِ

بقلبٍ من خوفه ملآن

With a heart filled with awe of Him,

Combining harsh protectiveness for religion

جامعٌ قسوة الحميَّة للدين

انتصاراً ورقَّة الإِيمان

In the way of triumph and softness of faith,

And with the glory of kings he wakes up revered

وبعزِّ الملوك يصبح مرهو

باً ويمسي بذلّة الرهبان

And sleeps in the lowliness of monks,

The truth of praise belongs to his sublimity—so say

صدق المدحُ في عُلاه فقلْ ما

شئت في مجده العظيم الشان

What you will of his magnificent repute,

Since the early days he is the best

هو في الخيرِ من قديم الليالي

خيرُ مَن قد مشتْ به قدمان

Of whoever time’s feet have trod,

His hands have burdened the neck of time

أثقلت كاهل الزمان أياديه

فأمسى عياله الثقلان

So it has passed the night as his dependent;

And due to his aid throughout earth

وعلى الأرض كلّها من نداه

أثرٌ طيبٌ بكلِّ مكان

There is a goodly vestige everywhere,

He built in Karkh a house for dwellers

قد بنى للقِرى على الكرخِ بيتاً

والتقى أسُّ ذلك البنيان

Where the foundations of that structure converged:

The streets lead to that door from all directions

شارعَ الباب تلتقي طرقُ الأر

ض جميعاً لديه بالضيفان

As guests throng to him in drove,

Raising beneath the darkness of night for wayfarers

رافعاً تحتَ ظلمة الليل للسا

رين فيه ذوائبَ النيران

The flaming wicks he prepares,

With hospitality he has prepared for the guest therein

كرماً قد أعدَّ للضيف فيه

عدد الطارقين غرَّ الجفان

As many provisions as those knocking on his door,

Bounties that you see in the cradle of his generosity

مكرماتٌ تري رضيع سماحٍ

عندها الدهرَ لا رضيع لبان

Time as an infant suckling milk,

Gratitude falls short of them, so how can

شكرُها أعجز الأنام فأنَّى

قابلتها الأيامُ بالكفران

Days reciprocate with any ingratitude?

I said to the sea, “Can you one day equal him?”

قلتُ للبحر هل تساويه يوماً

قال كلاّ لا يستوي البحران

It said, “No—the two seas are not equal,”

And I asked the serpents, “Can you match his generosity?”

وسألتُ الحيا أتحكيه جوداً

قال أينَ الباكي من الجذلان

It said, “Where is the weeping man to the butchers?”

None can portray with the open palm of generosity

ليس يحكيه في سماحة كفٍّ

غيرُ مَن قد حكاه عزَّة شان

Save the One whose high repute has portrayed him:

That servant of utmost benevolence who has ascended

ذاك عبد الكريم من قد تسامى

شرفاً حطَّ دونه النيران

In nobility—fires fall short of him—

So they are the two most precious pillars of glory and repute

فهما فرقدا علاءٍ ومجدٍ

وهما ديمتا ندًى وامتنان

And they are the two lasting pillars of dew and favor,

Whenever a glorious element has surpassed

كلما عنَّ مفخرٌ يوم سبقٍ

فيه تلقاهما شريكي عنان

I find them driving its reins,

They were born luminous stars—they are comets of pride

ولدا فتيةً همُ شهبُ الفخر

وإلا جداول الإِحسان

Otherwise, streams of benefaction,

Equal in generosity they have outdone

متساوين في المكارم قد فا

قوا بفضل النهى على الفتيان

The youth with merit and righteous conduct,

The living sprouts from the folds of death through them

ينشر الحيُّ من طوى الموت منهم

ويعيد الباقي حياة الفاني

And brings back the remainder’s expired life,

No loss of consent, as that remainder lives on—

ما فقدت الرضا وذلك باقٍ

مصطفى الجود يا ركاب الأماني

Mustafa the openhanded, O objects of wishes!

Make his steps through you glide gently

فرديه خفائفاً تصدري منه

ثقال الخطى على الركبان

To remove from him the heaviness of pacing upon mounts—

He is morn to days and fortune to nights,

هو صبحُ الأيام سعد الليالي

بهجة الدهر نور عين الزمان

Delight of fate and light of the times’ eye,

Which you receive from the scent of his praise

تتلقَّاه من شذا حسبيه

عطرَ الجيبِ طيِّب الأردان

And the fragrance of his chest’s perfumes;

And of mortals his smile is a full moon

ومن البشر في محيَّاه بدرٌ

وبكفَّيه للندى جعفران

As his palms shed dew and basil,

The most blossomed guide when a delegation wanders—

والأغرُّ الهادي إذا حارَ وفدٌ

فسناه دلالة الحيران

His finger points the perplexed aright,

He whose reins are slackened in generosity, face is clear,

هو طلقُ العنان في الجود طلق ال

وجه طلق اليدين طلق اللسان

Hands are open, and tongue is loose,

And his traits in the lofty horizon are comets

ومزاياه في سما المجد شهبٌ

وهو فيها وصنوه القمران

As he is among them—and they are his protection,

Trustworthy of piety—and were any trustworthy like an intimate

وأمين التقى وهل ضمَّ مثلاً

لأمينٍ في عصرنا المشرقان

In our time brought together, the two brightest?

—Pure of soul, pocket, and cloak, chaste

طاهر النفس طاهر الجيب والأب

راد عفٌّ في السرِّ والإِعلان

In private and openly,

Never soiled by sins’ dust upon him

أبداً في تقاه لم تتغبَّر

بغبار الآثام منه اليدان

Are his hands through perpetuity,

And in the veracity of his accent he is like Abu Dharr

وهو في صدق لهجةٍ كأبي ذرٍّ

وتقوًى تحكي تقى سلمان

Or Salman in Godwariness that portrays Salman’s wariness,

The hopeful Muhammad Hasan of beautiful face

والمرجَّى محمدٌ حسنُ الطل

عة ينضو اللثام عن كيوان

Where the veils over march away from his domain—

Stores of the glory’s oceans within him

مخبراتٌ مخايل الفضل فيه

أن سيسموا فخراً على الأقران

Suggest they would pridefully surpass peers

O father of al-Mustafa whose forbearance anchors

يا أبا المصطفى وحلمك أرسى

في لقاءِ الخطوب من ثهلان

In the encounter of woes more than the calm,

Your soul is of holy essence wherein

لك نفسٌ قدسيَّةُ الذات فيها

حزتَ أعلى مراتب العرفان

You have won the highest states of mystic knowledge,

And God has described your heart as being

وصف اللهُ أنَّ قلبك للتق

وى مشيراً بآية الامتحان

For piety—hinting in the ordeal’s verse;

And of the steadfast I see you in our time—

وأرى الصابرينَ في عصرِنا أنت

عناك الإِلهُ في القرآن

God has named you in the Recitation,

As though were it said “Count them,” we would count you

حيثُ لو قيلَ عدِّدوهم عددنا

كَ ونعياً عن أنْ نجيء بثاني

And refrain from bringing a second,

He means by the mention a collective

هو جمعٌ أُريد بالذكر منهُ

واحدٌ وهو أنتَ عند البيان

But intends by the statement: you alone,

Empty from the heart the ardors of bereavement,

فرِّغ القلبَ من جوى الثكل يا مَن

هو في الفضلِ ملءُ عين الزمان

O you who in merit fills the eye of time!