لفقدان عبد الواحد الدمع قد جرى — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

لفُقْدانِ عبد الواحد الدَّمع قد جرى

وأَجرى نجيعاً لمدامع أحمرا

For the loss of ʿAbd al-Wahid, tears have flowed,

and made crimson blood flow through the tear ducts.

تذكَّرته من بعد حول فأَذْرَفَتْ

عليه جفوني حسرةً وتذكّرا

I remembered him after a year; tears were shed

by my eyelids over him, in sorrow and remembrance.

فكفكفْتُ من عيني بوادر عبرة

وما خِلْتُها لولاه أنْ تتحدَّرا

I wiped from my eye the first welling tears,

which I had not thought would fall but for him.

أَقامَ عليَّ العيدُ في النَّحر مأتماً

وأَظهرَ ما قد كانَ في القلبِ مضمرا

On the day of sacrifice, the feast held a mourning gathering for me,

and revealed what had been hidden in my heart.

لئنْ غيَّبوهُ في التُّراب وأَظلَمَتْ

معالم كانت تفضح الصبح مسفرا

Though they hid him in the earth, and there grew dark

features that had put the radiant dawn to shame,

فما أَغمدوا في الترب إلاَّ مهنَّداً

ولا حملوا في النَّعش إلاَّ غضنفرا

they sheathed in the dust nothing but an Indian-forged sword,

and carried in the bier nothing but a lion.

أُصِبنا وأيم الله كلّ مصيبة

بأَروع أبكى الأَجنبين ولا مِرا

By God, we suffered every affliction

in losing a splendid man who made even strangers weep, beyond dispute.

فيا لك من رزءٍ أصاب وحادث

ألمَّ وخطب في الجلاميد أثَّرا

What a grievous loss has struck, what an event

has befallen us, what a calamity has left its mark on solid rock!

تفقَّدْتُ منه وابل القطر ممطراً

وفارقتُ منه طلعة البدر نيّرا

In him I missed a torrent of pouring rain,

and parted from his radiant, full-moon face.

وما كانَ أبهى منه في النَّاس منظراً

ولا كانَ أزكى منه في النَّاس مخبرا

No one among people was more splendid than he to behold,

nor purer than he in inward character.

أفي كلّ يومٍ للمنايا رزيَّةٌ

تكاد لها الأَكبادُ أن تتفطَّرا

Does death bring a calamity each day

at which livers almost split apart?

تهيِّجُ أحزاناً وتبعثُ زفرةً

وتُرسلُ في فقد الأَحبَّة منذرا

It stirs up sorrows and calls forth a sigh,

and sends a warning in the loss of loved ones.

تكدّر أخوان الصَّفا في انبعاثها

وأيّ صفاءٍ لامرئٍ ما تكدَّرا

Its onset troubles the brothers of sincere affection;

and what person's serenity has not been clouded?

أجلُّ مصاب الدَّهر فَقْدُكَ ماجداً

ودفْنُكَ أجداث الأَكارم في الثَّرى

Time's greatest affliction is your loss of a noble man,

and your burying the noble in tombs beneath the earth,

وقولكَ مات الأَكرمون فلم نَجِدْ

زعيماً إذا ما أورد الأَمر أصدرا

and your saying the noble are dead, and we can find no

leader who, having led a matter in, brings it out again.

وما حيلة الإِنسان فيما ينوبه

إذا كانَ أمر الله فيه مقدَّرا

What resource has a person against what befalls him,

when God's command concerning it is decreed?

وهبكَ اتَّقيتَ الرِّزءَ حيث أريته

فكيف بمن يأتيك من حيث لا ترى

Suppose you avoid calamity where it is shown to you:

then what of one that comes from where you cannot see?

ونحنُ مع المقدور نجري إلى مدًى

وليس لنا في الأَمر أن نتخيَّرا

With what is decreed, we run toward an end,

and have no choice in the matter.

إذا لم تُمَتَّع بالبقاء حياتنا

فلا خيرَ في هذي الحياة الَّتي نرى

If our life is not granted lasting existence,

there is no good in this life we see.

على ذاهبٍ منَّا يرغم أُنوفِنا

نُعالِجُ حُزْناً أو نموت فنُعذرا

For one who leaves us, rubbing our noses in the dust,

we struggle with grief—or die, and so be excused.

وما أنا بالناسي صنائعه الَّتي

تذكّرنيه كلّ آنٍ تذكّرا

I am not one to forget his benefactions,

which bring him back to mind at every moment.

فأُثني عليه الخير حيًّا وميّتاً

وأشكره ما دمتُ حيًّا مذكرا

So I speak well of him, living and dead,

and thank him as long as I live, keeping his memory alive.

وإنِّي متى ضَوَّعْتُ طيب ثنائه

فتَقْتُ به مِسكاً وأَشممْتُ عنبرا

Whenever I diffuse the fragrance of his praise,

I release musk with it and give ambergris to smell.

تبارك من أنشاكَ يا ابن مبارك

جميلاً من المعروف لن يتنكَّرا

Blessed is He who created you, O son of Mubarak,

as a beautiful deed of kindness that will never be disowned.

وما زلت حتَّى اختاركَ الله طاهراً

فكُنتَ ماء المُزن عذباً مطهَّرا

You remained pure until God chose you,

and so you were rain-cloud water, sweet and purified.

إلى رحمة الرَّحمن والفوز بالرّضا

سبَقت وما أسبقت فينا التَّصبّرا

To the Merciful's mercy and the triumph of His favor

you went ahead, but gave endurance no head start within us.

وما كانَ بالصَّبرِ الجميل تمسُّكي

ألا إنَّ ذاك الصَّبر منفصم العُرى

I had no hold on gracious patience;

indeed, the bonds of that patience are broken.

كفى المرء في الأَيَّام موعظةً بها

وتبصرة فيها لمن قد تبصَّرا

The days themselves are admonition enough for a person,

and offer insight to whoever has discerned.

ولا بدَّ أنْ تلقى المنون نفوسَنا

ولو أنَّنا عشْنا زماناً وأَعصرا

Death must meet our souls,

even if we lived for long ages and eras.

وإنَّ اللَّيالي لم تزلْ بمرورها

تسلُّ علينا بالأهلَّة خنجرا

The nights, as they pass, never cease

to draw a dagger against us with their crescent moons.

أتُطْمِعُنا آمالُنا ببقائنا

بكلّ حديثٍ ما هنالك مفترى

Do our hopes entice us with promises of survival,

with every tale there is—all fabricated?

وإنَّ المنايا لا أبا لك لم تَدَعْ

من النَّاس سرباً ما أُريع وأذعرا

And death—no father have you!—has left

no flock of people that has not been startled and terrified.

أغارت على الأَقيال من آل حميرٍ

وجاءتْ على كسرى الملوك وقيصرا

It raided the princes of the house of Himyar,

and overtook the kings Kisra and Caesar.

فما منعت عنها حصون منيعة

ولا كشفتْ من فادح الخطب ما عرا

No impregnable fortresses kept it away,

nor lifted the grievous calamity that befell them.

لئنْ غابَ عن أبصارنا بوفاتِه

فما زالَ في الأَفكار منَّا مفوَّرا

Though his death hid him from our eyes,

he remains richly present in our thoughts.

فقدناك فقدان الزُّلال على الظّما

فلا منهل إلاَّ ومورده جرى

We have lost you as clear water is lost in thirst,

so there is no watering place but its source has flowed.

ألا في سبيل الله ما كنت صانعاً

من البرّ والمعروف في سائر الورى

Let all that you did be in God's path—

your charity and kindness toward all mankind.

وكنتَ لوجه الله تشبعُ جائعاً

وتُطعم مسكيناً وتكسو لمن عرى

For God's sake, you would satisfy the hungry,

feed the poor, and clothe whoever was bare.

وإنِّي لأستسقي لك الله وابلاً

متى استمطر الصَّادي عزاليه أمطرا

I ask God to send you a downpour

that pours whenever the thirsty beg rain from its spouts,

يصوب على قبر يضمّك لَحْدُهُ

ويَسْطَعُ مسكاً من أريجك أذفرا

falling on a grave whose burial niche embraces you,

while pungent musk rises from your fragrance.

سقاك الحيا المنهلُّ كلّ عشيَّةٍ

وروَّاك من قطر الغمام مبكرا

May the pouring rain water you every evening,

and drench you early with drops from the clouds.

فقد كنتَ للظمآن أعذبَ منهلٍ

وقد كنتَ غيثاً بالمكارم ممطرا

For you were the sweetest watering place for the thirsty,

and rain showering noble deeds.

وقد كانَ فيك الشّعر ينفُقُ سوقه

لديك ويبتاع الثناء ويشترا

Through you, the market for poetry flourished

in your presence, and praise was bought and purchased.

وقد ساءني أن أصبح الفضل كاسداً

وأصبح مغنى الجود بعدك مقفرا

It grieves me that excellence has become unsought,

and generosity's abode desolate after you.

وقد خمدتْ نار القِرى دون طارق

فلا جود للجدوى ولا نار للقرى

The fire of hospitality has died before the night visitor arrives;

there is no generosity to give aid, no fire for hospitality.

وغُدر ساري الحمد في كلِّ مهمهٍ

من الأرض مصروف العنان عن السّرى

The night traveler of praise has been betrayed in every wilderness

of the earth, his reins turned away from night travel.

فلا أُخْصِبَتْ أرض الخصيب ولا زهى

بها الرّبع مأنوساً ولا الرَّوض مزهرا

May the land of al-Khasib never grow fertile or flourish,

with a dwelling full of company or a garden in bloom.

لقد كانَ صُبحي من جبينك واضحاً

وقد كانَ ليلي من محيَّاك مقمرا

My morning shone clear from your brow,

and my night was moonlit by your face.

فيا ليتَ شعري والحوادث جمَّةٌ

ويا ليتني أدري ومن ذا الَّذي درى

Would that I knew, amid so many calamities!

Would that I understood—and who has understood?

محاسن ذاك العصر كيف تبَدَّلتْ

ورونق ذاك الحُسن كيفَ تغيَّرا

How did the beauties of that age change,

and how was that beauty's splendor altered?

وكانتْ لك الأَيدي طوالاً إلى العُلى

تناول مجداً في المعالي ومفخرا

Your hands reached far toward the heights,

grasping glory among lofty ranks and honor.

فكم راغب فيها وكم طامع بها

أمدَّ لها الباعَ الطويلَ فقصَّرا

How many longed for them, how many aspired to them,

stretching a long reach toward them, yet falling short.

ومن مكرمات تملكُ الحرَّ رقَّةً

تطوّق من أيديك يداً ومنحرا

And noble deeds that win over the free man through tenderness,

that, from your hands, encircle hand and throat.

ومن حسنات تخلق الدهر جدَّةً

كتبتُ بها في جبهته المجد أسطرا

And good deeds that wear out time yet remain fresh,

with which I wrote lines of glory upon its brow.

وكم مُعسرٍ بدَّلت بالعُسْر يُسْرَه

وما زلت للفعل الجميل ميسّرا

How many a needy man you gave ease in place of hardship,

and you were always ready for noble action.

ولو كانت الأَنصار تُنجي من الرَّدى

نصرناكَ إذ وافاك نصراً مؤزّرا

Had supporters been able to save you from death,

we would have given you mighty aid when it came to you.

فكم مقلةٍ أذْرَتْ عليك دموعها

ومُهجة صادٍ أوشكَتْ أن تسعّرا

How many an eye has shed its tears for you,

and the heart of a thirsty one has nearly burst into flame!

وكم كبدٍ حرَّى يحرّقها الأَسى

تكادُ على ذكراك أنْ تتَفَطَّرا

How many a burning liver does grief scorch,

almost splitting apart at your memory.

وليلة تُذكيني بذكرك زفرةً

حرامٌ على عيني بها سنة الكرى

And a night sets me ablaze with a sigh at your memory;

in it, even the lightest drowsiness of sleep is forbidden to my eye.

عليك سلام الله ما حجَّ محرمٌ

وهلَّلَ في تلك البقاع وكبَّرا

God's peace be upon you as long as a pilgrim in consecration performs the Hajj,

and declares God's oneness and greatness in those places.