في كُنْهِ قَدْرِكُ للعقولِ تَحَيّرُ
فَلِذاكَ عنه النَيّرَاتُ تُقَصّرُ
Your destiny baffles minds,
Thus praises fall short to describe it.
والوَاصِفونَ عُلاكَ مِنّا قَرِّبوا
ما تَرجَموا لِلنَّاسِ عَنهُ وعَبَّروا
Those who tried to detail your loftiness,
Could not convey it fully to people.
أَلقَيتَ عَزمَكَ بَينَ عَيْنَيْ ضَيْغَمٍ
وأباتَ طَيْفُكَ كُلَّ شَيءٍ يُذْعَرُ
You set your resolve between the eyes of adversity,
And your spirit overwhelmed all that quivered.
وَرَحلتَ في جَوْنِ القَتامِ عَرمرَمٍ
وَكَأنَّهُ لَيلٌ بِوَجهِكَ مُقمِرُ
You journeyed in the darkness of night gallantly,
As if it were a night lit by your moon-like face.
وَلَئِن قَدِمْتَ وفي اعتِقادِكَ عَوْدَةٌ
فَالبَحرُ من عظمٍ يَمُدُّ ويَجزُرُ
If you return, though return be your intent,
The sea swells and ebbs with your enormity.
والفتحُ من فَضْلِ الإله ويومُهُ
مُتَقدّمٌ بِالنَّصرِ أو مُتأخِّرُ
Victory comes from God’s grace on His day,
Brought forward or delayed as He desires.
لَولا اقتِرابُ الوَقتِ عَن قدَرٍ لَما
فُتِحَتْ على حالٍ لأَحمَد خَيبَرُ
Had the time not drawn near its ordained hour,
Khyber would not have opened for Ahmad thus.
وفَوارِسٍ يَحْمَرُّ مِنْ ضربِ الطِّلا
بِأَكُفِّهم وَرَقُ الحَديدِ الأَخضَرُ
And cavaliers whose hands make green iron red
When they strike, no trace of fear in them.
لا غُشَّ جُبْنٍ فيهمُ فَكأنَّهم
سُبكوا بِنِيرانِ الحُروبِ وسُجِّروا
As if fused by the fires of war and emboldened,
Some meek, others bold, some swords feminine, others masculine.
وَمِنَ الرِّجالِ مُرَوَّعٌ ومُشَجَّع
ومنَ السُّيوفِ مُؤنّثٌ ومُذَكَّرُ
Their hearts have grown accustomed to submitting to their Lord,
And glory resides in their ever-victorious swords.
ألِفَتْ قلوبُهُمُ الخضوعَ لِرَبِّهِم
والبَأسُ في أَسيافِهِم مُتَكَبِّرُ
They hurl their souls at certain death undaunted,
Their faces mocking the eyes that see them.
يَرْمُونَ أغراضَ الحتوفِ بأنفسٍ
وَوُجوهُها لِعُيونِهِم تَتَنَمَّرُ
Brooks gush forth from their sheathed swords
To irrigate the thickets of their foes.
وَتَغورُ في هامِ العُلوجِ جَداوِلٌ
لِلضَّربِ مِن أَغمادِهِم تَتفَجَّرُ
Each brute-natured as a slumbering lion
Between the staffs of spears.
مِن كُلِّ وَحشِيِّ الطِّباعِ كَأَنَّهُ
بَينَ القَنا الخَطِّيِّ لَيثٌ مُخْدَرُ
Foremost in patience, his veil on the day of battle
His breastplate and forgiveness.
مُتَقَدِّمٌ مِن صَبرِهِ ولِثامُهُ
يَومَ القراعِ أضاتُهُ والمِغفَرُ
Their armies, O what armies accompanied them!
As if oceans burst forth over oceans.
صًحِبَت جُيوشُهُمُ جيوشاً يا لها
مِن أبْحُرٍ زَخَرَتْ عَلَيها أَبحُرُ
Woe to the fortress of Labeet on a day
When the red torrent flows by its sides!
ويلٌ لِحصنِ لَبَيطَ من يومٍ على
جَنَبَاتهِ يجري النجيعُ الأحمرُ
Fear weighs down its hours but lightens
With the heroes in it, the cowards.
والرَّوعُ تَثْقُلُ بالرَّدى ساعاتُهُ
وَتَخِفُّ بِالأَبطالِ فيهِ الضُّمَّرُ
The day folds back on itself therein
As if the sun coils and turns in on itself.
يُثْنَى النَّهارُ بِهِ على أَعْقابِهِ
حَتَّى كَأنَّ الشَّمسَ فيه تُكَوَّرُ
The gloom therein is endless night without morn,
And dawn but borrowed flashes that cannot spread.
والنّقْعُ فيه دُجُنّةٌ لا تَنجلي
والصُّبحُ مِنهُ مَلاءةٌ لا تُنشَرُ
Indeed you tightened the noose around their heights’ necks,
As one who sees clearly turned his judgment on them.
وَلَقَد شَدَدتَ على خِناقِ علوجِهِم
وَأَدارَ رأيَكَ فيهِمُ مُستَبصِرُ
They sought refuge in the heights, as if it were
An impregnable refuge reinforced with leaden walls.
واستَعصَموا بِذُرى أَشَمَّ كَأَنَّهُم
عُصْمٌ أُتيحَ لَها هِزَبرٌ قَسْوَرُ
You diminished their numbers, yet it was as if
Time let them be there only to increase.
قَلّوا لَدَيْكَ غنيمةً فكأنّما
أَبقتهُمُ الأَيّامُ فيه لِيَكثُروا
Scarcely would their ashes remain when
A hissing wind scatters them in the air.
وَلَقَلَّمَا يبقى رمادُهُمُ إذا
طارَتْ بِهِ في الجَوِّ ريحٌ صَرْصَرُ
The guide rose, no liar he, and said
The Christians are forsaken and you supported.
قامَ الدَّليلُ وما الدَّليلُ بِكاذِبٍ
أَنَّ النَّصارى يُخْذَلونَ وتُنْصَرُ
You stilled the tremors in the horizons caused by them,
And the pulse of being was calmed and slowed.
سكّنْتَ في الآفاقِ من حَرَكاتِهِم
والنَّبضُ من خَوَرِ الطَّبيعَةِ يَفْتُرُ
Why did blasphemy not restrain its course
When you shattered its firm pillars?
هلّا أطاقَ الكفرُ جَرَّ قَناتِهِ
لَمَّا تَرَكتَ كُعُوبَها تَتَكَسّرُ
A day of glory and honor, while the knights
Stumble over the heights, falling and failing.
يَومَ العُروبَةِ والعِرَابُ لواعِبٌ
تَكبو على هامِ العُلوجِ وَتَعثُرُ
Eyes downcast, hearts brimmed with sorrows,
A painful day for the chivalrous knight.
والفَنشُ يَحصِبُ ناظريه وقلبَهُ
بقوارعِ الأحزانِ يوْمٌ مُعْوِرُ
He mounted the steed of error, insisting on his wrong opinion,
An ignorant soul crossing where none may cross.
رَكبَ الغِوايةَ واستبَدَّ برأيِهِ
جهلاً ليَعبُرَ خضرماً لا يُعبَرُ
In your resolves which you executed upon them
Take a lesson that does not change with days.
خُذ في عَزائِمِكَ الَّتي تركَتهُمُ
خَبَراً مَعَ الأيّامِ لا يَتَغَيَّرُ
The horses are saddled in the dark around you
On each a tooth-like spear glistens.
بِالخيلِ تَحتَ اللَّيلِ يُسْرَجُ حَولَها
في كُلِّ ذابِلَةٍ سِنانٌ أَزهَرُ
Chewing the rations after losing their fodder,
Their mouths controlled by the snaffle.
وَتَلوكُ من فَقْدِ القَضيمِ شَكائِماً
تُنْهَى بها أفْواهُهُنَّ وَتُؤمَرُ
The ground tore beneath their hooves
As the boulders of the land yielded to their trampling.
عَرَكَتْ أَديم الأَرضِ تَحتَ حَوافرٍ
صَخْرُ البلادِ بِوَطئِهِنَّ مُسَخَّرُ
As your hunting dogs sing to protect them from harm
Melodies and serve them brimming cups.
حَتَّى تُغَنّيهِمْ ظُبَاكَ مِنَ الرَّدى
نَغَماً وتسقيهم كؤوساً تُسْكِرُ
You strove in God as His striving warrants,
While kings raced as you raced and fell short.
جاهَدتَ في الرَّحمَنِ حَقَّ جِهادِهِ
وجَرَى المُلوكُ كما جَرَيتَ فقصَّروا
So teak and sissoo are around them at night,
While lions and leopards are around you.
فَيَبيتُ ناجودٌ وعودٌ حَولَهم
ويَبيتُ حَولَكَ شزَّبٌ وَسَنَوّرُ
The pungent smell of them and their tickling
Are bloodstains on your mantle and braids.
وتَفوحُ غالِيَةٌ بِهِم وَذَريرَةٌ
وَهُما دمٌ في بُردَتَيكَ وَعِثْيَرُ
A garden thirsted for the spring rain of your praise
Yet rarely can it be watered to satiety.
أَعطَتكَ رَيحانَ الثَّناءِ حَديقَةٌ
ظَمِئَتْ وَلَكِن قَلَّما تَستَمطِرُ
I know your height encompasses all,
Your hand is generous, your munificence abundant.
وَأَنا العَليمُ بِأَنَّ طَوْلَكَ شاملٌ
وَذُراكَ رَحراحٌ وَجُودُكَ كَوْثَرُ
