قد رجع الحق إلى نصابه — Sardar

قد رجعَ الحقُّ إلى نِصابهِ

وأنت من كلّ الورى أولىَ بهِ

Right has returned to its rightful place,

and you, of all mankind, are most entitled to it.

ما كنت إلا السيفَ سلَّته يدٌ

ثُمّ أعادته إلى قِرابهِ

You were only a sword that a hand drew,

then returned to its sheath.

هزَّتهُ حتى أبصرْتُه صارما

رونقُه يُغنيه عن ضِرابهِ

It brandished it until I saw it keen-edged,

its gleam sparing it the need to strike.

أَكرِمْ بها وزارةً ما سلَّمت

ما استُودِعت إلا إلى أربابهِ

How noble a vizierate, which has handed

its charge only to its rightful masters!

مشوقة إليك مذ فارقتَها

شوقَ أخي الشِّيب إلى شبابهِ

It has yearned for you since you left it,

as a gray-haired man yearns for his youth.

مثلُك محسودٌ ولكن معجز

أن يُدرَكَ البارقُ في سحابهِ

One like you is envied, yet it is impossible

to reach the lightning within its cloud.

حاولها قومٌ ومن هذا الذي

يُخْرِجُ لينا خادرا من غابهِ

Some tried to win it—but who is there

who can draw a lurking lion from its forest?

يُدمِى أبو الأشبال من زاحمَهُ

في خِيسهِ بظُفره ونابهِ

The father of cubs bloodies whoever crowds him

within his thicket, with his claw and fang.

وهل سمعتَ أو رأيت لابسا

ما خلَع الأرقمُ من إهابهِ

And have you heard of, or seen, anyone wearing

the skin that the speckled serpent has shed?

لا تحسَبا لهوَ الحديث ماحيا

حَتما قضاه الله في كتابهِ

Do not think idle chatter can erase

an irrevocable decree God ordained in His Book.

مرُّ النسيم غاديا ورائحا

لا يُزلقُ الأصمَ عن هِضابهِ

The breeze's passage, morning and evening,

cannot dislodge solid rock from its heights.

وليس يُعطى أحدا قيادَه

أمرٌ لسانُ المجد من خُطَّابهِ

Nor will it yield its reins to just anyone—

an office with glory's own tongue among its suitors.

تيقَّنوا لما رأَوها صعبةً

أن ليس للجوِّ سوى عُقابهِ

When they found it hard to win, they became certain

that the sky belongs to its eagle alone.

إن الهلالَ يُرتَجى طلوعُه

بعد السَّرارِ ليلةَ احتجابهِ

The crescent's rising is hoped for

after the moon's dark phase, on the night it is concealed.

والشمس لا يُوءَس من طُلوعِها

وإن طواها الليلُ في جِلبابهِ

And none despair of the sun's rising,

though night enfolds it in its cloak.

ما أطيبَ الأوطانَ إلا أنها

للمرء أحلىَ أثرَ اغترابهِ

How sweet the homelands are! Yet they

are sweeter to a man after his exile.

كم عَودةٍ دلَّت على دوامها

والخُلدُ للإنسان في مآبه

How many a return has pointed to its permanence,

and man's eternity lies in his return.

لو قَرُبَ الدُّرُّ على جالبه

ما لجَّجَ الغائصُ في طِلابه

If the pearl were close at hand to whoever fetched it,

the diver would not venture into deep water to seek it.

ولو أقام لازما أصدافَه

لم تكن التيجانُ في حسابه

And had it stayed fast within its shells,

crowns would never have entered its reckoning.

من يعشق العلياءَ يلقَ عندها

ما لقىَ المحبُّ من أحبابه

Whoever loves the heights encounters there

what a lover meets from his beloveds:

طورا صدودا ووصالا مرّةً

ولذّةُ الوامقِ في عتابه

rejection at one time, union at another;

and the devoted lover's delight lies in his reproaches.

وبّما اعتاصَ الذي تأمُلُه

وأصبحَ المخوفُ من أسبابهِ

And sometimes what you hope for proves difficult,

and what you fear becomes one of its means.

ما لؤلؤ البحر ولا مَرجانه

إلا وراءَ الهول من عُبابهِ

The sea's pearls and its coral lie

only beyond the terror of its surging depths.

ذلَّ لفخر الدولة الصعبُ الذُّرَى

وعلَّم الأيام من آدابهِ

The rugged heights have bowed before Fakhr al-Dawla,

and he has taught the days some of his good manners.

واستخدم الدهرَ فما يأمره

إلا أتى الطاعةَ في جوابه

He has made Time his servant: whenever he commands it,

it answers him with obedience.

يكاد من تهذيبه أخلاقَهُ

أن يستردَّ الغدرَ من ذئابهِ

Through his refinement of Time's character, he almost

takes treachery away even from its wolves.

قد طأطأتْ أيامُه أعناقَها

خاضعةً تسير في رِكابِه

His days have bowed their necks,

and humbly follow in his retinue,

كأنها عصائبٌ من طالبي

ثوابهِ أو خائفى عِقابهِ

like bands of those who seek

his reward, or fear his punishment.

إن أخطأتْ واصلت اعتذارَها

وإن أصابت فهو من صوابهِ

If they err, they keep offering apologies;

if they do right, it is through his right judgment.

يا ناشد الجُود وقد أضلَّه

مالك لا تبغيه في جَنابِه

O seeker of generosity, having lost it,

why do you not seek it in his presence?

حيث أقام أبصرَ الناسُ الندى

تُشير كفاه إلى قِبابهِ

Wherever he settles, people behold Generosity,

its two hands pointing toward his pavilions.

ترى وفودَ الشكر حولَ بيته

كأنها الأوتادُ في أطنابه

You see delegations of gratitude around his house,

like stakes along its tent ropes.

ما ثوَّروا الآمال عن صدروهم

إلا أناخت بفِناء بابهِ

No sooner do they rouse hopes from their breasts

than those hopes kneel in the courtyard at his door.

وكيف لا يهوىَ الرجاءُ رَبعَه

وليس مَرعاه سوى أعشابهِ

And how could Hope not love his dwelling,

when it has no pasture but his grasses?

قَلَّد أيدي المكرُماتِ إذَنهُ

فرفَعتْ من طَرَفَىْ حِجابهِ

He entrusted his permission to the hands of noble deeds,

and they lifted his curtain by its two edges.

لا تشئلنَّ عن مدى معروفه

أو تسل الوسمىَّ عن مَصابهِ

Do not ask how far his kindness extends,

or ask the autumn rain where it falls.

يكفيك ما يبسُطه من بِشره

أن تطلبَ الإذن إلى حُجَّابهِ

The cheerfulness he offers spares you

the need to seek permission from his doorkeepers.

يطغَى بتكرير السؤال رفدهُ

والدَّرُّ جيَّاشٌ على احتلابهِ

Repeated requests make his bounty overflow,

and the milk gushes forth when it is drawn.

هو الذي أفعالهُ من حسنِها

كأنما اشتُقِقن من ألقابهِ

He is the one whose deeds are so fair

that they seem derived from his titles.

مَن حسَبُ السؤددِ في صميمهِ

ونسبُ العلياء في لُبابهِ

One whose very core holds the nobility of lordship,

and whose essence holds the lineage of exalted rank.

كالسمهرىّ عزمُه لو لم يكن

ينقُص عنه الرمحُ باضطرابهِ

His resolve is like a straight spear—were it not

that the spear falls short of it through its wavering.

شكرا وزير الوزراء تستزد

أضعافَ ما بُلّغتَ من وَهابهِ

Give thanks, vizier of viziers, and you will gain

many times what you have been granted by its giver.

قدِمتَ كالغيث أصاب ظامئا

سنوَّفه الخَدَّاعُ من سَرابهِ

You came like rain falling on a thirsty man

whom his deceitful mirage had kept putting off.

كم ساجدٍ لمّا سموتَ طالعا

كأنه صلَّى إلى مِحرابِه

How many a worshipper bowed when you rose into view,

as though he prayed toward his prayer niche!

وصائم رؤياك قد أغنته عن

طعامه طِيبا وعن شرابهِ

And a fasting man—the sight of you has spared him

the need for his food and drink, through its sweetness.

ولو أطاق الدَّستُ سعيا لسعى

مستقبِلا يختال في أثوابهِ

And if the seat of office could run, it would run

to welcome you, strutting in its robes.

كان حشاه قلِقا حتى احتبى

في صدره من كان من آرابه

Its heart was restless until there sat, knees drawn up,

at its center the one it desired.

لأقمت في نعماءَ مطمئنَّةٍ

تُحكِّم الفؤادَ في إطرابهِ

You would surely dwell in tranquil prosperity,

which gives the heart command over its delight,

تساعد الدنيا على زينتها

وتغلب الدهر على أحقابهِ

helps the world to adorn itself,

and prevails over Time through all its ages.

ألقت عصاها وارتمت ركابُها

في سُرَرِ الوادى وفي شِعابهِ

It has laid down its staff, and its mounts have lain down

in the valley's heart and in its ravines.

قد أُعفىَ المارنُ من خَشاشهِ

ورُوّحَ الغاربُ من أقتابهِ

The tender nose has been freed of its nose-ring,

and the withers relieved of their packsaddles.

على يديك المرتجَى إنعامُها

تابَ غرابُ البين من نُعابهِ

Through your two hands, whose bounty is hoped for,

the raven of separation has repented of its cawing.