أجاب ما سألته لما انثنى — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

أجابَ ما سألتْهُ لما انثنى

يرنو بألحاظ كألحاظ المها

He answered what she asked him when he turned,

gazing with glances like those of wild antelopes.

وأثبت الحب له دلائلاً

بصبّه منها النحول والضنى

And love established proofs for him,

in his lover, among them wasting and sickness.

يا رشاً ملكته حشاشتي

فجار في حكم الغرام واعتدى

O gazelle whom I made master of my life's essence,

he ruled love tyrannically and transgressed.

رعياً رعاك الله في مستغرم

إن لم تراع ذمَّةً فيك رعى

Show care—may God guard you—for an enamored man,

if you do not honor the pledge he honored toward you.

يا قلب خَفِّضْ لوعةً وجدتها

فربما واصل من كانَ جفا

O heart, lessen the anguish you have found;

perhaps one who shunned you will renew his union.

لا توسعاني بالهوى ملامة

إن الجمال قائدي إلى الهوى

Do not, you two, lavish blame upon me for love;

beauty is my guide toward desire.

نظرتُ سِرباً بالعقيق نظرة

فأورثتني نظرتي هذا الأسى

I cast one glance at a troop of gazelles at al-Aqiq,

and that glance bequeathed me this sorrow.

حيّ العقيق فاللوى من مربع

نهبت فيه طربي فالمنحنى

Salute al-Aqiq, then al-Liwa, those encampments

where I snatched my joy, then the bend.

زمان لهو صبوة قضيته

ذاك زمان قد تقضّى ومضى

A time of diversion and youthful passion I spent—

that time has ended and passed away.

وكلما هب الصبا من نحوهم

زاغ عن الصبر فؤادي وصبا

Whenever the east breeze blew from their direction,

my heart forsook patience and yearned.

مالي وللأيام لا كانت فقد

أصمتنيَ الأحداث في سهم الردى

What have I to do with the days—may they never have been!—for

calamities have struck me dead with death's arrow.

تَخَوَّنَتْني كلَّ يوم نكبةٌ

ضرامها في كل آن تُحتَضا

Every day a calamity betrayed me,

its blaze kindled at every moment.

هل علم الدهر الذي أساءني

أيّ أخي عزم وذي فضل قلى

Does time, which wronged me, know

what man of resolve and merit it has hated?

آه على عمر مضى أكثره

ولم أنل فيه من الدهر المنى

Alas for a life whose greater part has passed,

in which I gained none of my wishes from time.

مضى بي العمر وكاد مسرعاً

أن ينجلي صبح المشيب والجلا

Life carried me onward, and soon

the dawn of gray hair and baldness was about to break.

وعاند الدهر العبوس مطلبي

إذا جنيت الورد أضحى لي سفا

Sullen time opposed my desire;

when I plucked roses, they became sharp awns for me.

وإن حلبنا ما نروم دَرّه

كانت عزوزاً لا ترد بالروا

And when we milked what we hoped would yield,

it proved scant of milk, bringing no quenching draught.

إنَّ اللَّيالي حمَّلتني ثقلاً

تنوء من ثقل به شمُّ الذُّرا

The nights have burdened me with a weight

beneath which even lofty peaks would stagger.

واتَّقدت من الغرام لوعة

كأنما نيرانها نار الفضا

An anguish of love blazed up,

as though its flames were the fire of the open plain.

فسعرت من حر أنفاسي بها

لظىً أذاب حرُّه شحم الكلى

With the heat of my breaths I kindled within it

a blaze whose heat melted the fat around my kidneys.

يا مانعي المورد من رضابه

ما آن للظمآن ورد من أضا

O you who bar me from the spring of his sweet saliva,

has the time not come for the thirsty man to drink from pools?

وروضة يطربني الورق إذا

تَذكَّرَ الإلف لمغداه شدا

And a garden where doves delight me when

they remember their mates and sing on their morning outings.

كأنَّما الطلّ على أغصانها

قلائد الدر على غيد الطلا

The dew upon its branches seems

like pearl necklaces upon graceful necks.

ونسَّمَتْ ريح الصبا عرارها

فهزّ عطفيه لها بانُ النقا

The east wind wafted the scent of its wild narcissus,

and the dune's ban tree swayed its two flanks to it.

إذا انتشقنا أرجاً من طيبها

كأنْ نشقنا أرجاً من الشذى

When we inhaled fragrance from its sweetness,

it was as though we inhaled an aromatic perfume.

أنعِم به مُرْتَبَعاً كأنَّه

بتلكما الغيد محاريب الدُّمى

How delightful a spring retreat it is, as though

with those graceful maidens it were shrines of idols.

تعاهدتها من حيّيٍ ماطر

يسقي أهاضيب الحجاز والرُّبا

A rain-bearing cloud tended it,

watering the heights of the Hijaz and the hills.

يا حادي العيس ذميلاً سيره

يهجهج العيس إلى ربع الخلا

O driver of pale camels, whose journey is a trot,

urging the camels toward the deserted dwelling,

تمشي هزيزاً وهزيزاً تارة

إن هزّها حادي الهوينا وحدا

they walk swaying, and at times swaying again,

when their gentle-paced driver stirs them and chants.

هل أنت موفٍ بالوقوف ساعة

بأربع غيرها خطب البلى

Will you grant an hour's halt

at dwellings changed by the calamity of decay?

لم يبق إلاَّ سفعة في دمنة

وأرسماً مثل الخيال وجثا

Nothing remains but a dark stain in an abandoned campsite,

traces like a phantom, and mounds.

فمسبلاً فيها بقايا أدمع

فناشداً فيها قلوباً وحشا

Then shed there the last remaining tears,

and seek there hearts and innermost souls.

بالله إنْ عُجت على ربوعها

حي الربوع النازلين في منى

By God, if you turn aside to her dwellings,

greet the dwellings of those encamped at Mina.

واهاً لصبٍّ كله صبابة

لا يستفيق من تباريح الجوى

Alas for a lover who is all longing,

never recovering from the torments of inward sorrow.

يكاد وجداً يتلظَّى وهوىً

وما استقر ساعة ولا سجا

He almost burns with yearning and desire,

never resting for an hour or growing still.

قد حُرِمَ النَّوم على أجفانه

فبات يرعى الفرقدين والسها

Sleep has been forbidden to his eyelids,

so he spends the night watching the Farqadayn and al-Suha.

أرشفة من ريق من أحبُّه

فتنطفي جذوة وجد في الحشا

One little sip of the saliva of the one I love,

and the ember of yearning within my breast would die.

وكلَّما نهنهت دمعاً واكفاً

كأنَّما ينصبّ من مزن الحيا

Whenever I restrained streaming tears,

they seemed to pour from rain-bearing clouds.

يا عين لا تلوين بي في عبرة

لعلَّ أنْ يبتَلّ بالماء صدى

O eye, do not withhold a tear from me;

perhaps a thirsty heart may be moistened with water.

دعوت دمعي فأجاب طائعاً

ورمت للقلب اصطباراً فعصى

I called my tears, and they answered obediently;

I sought endurance for my heart, but it rebelled.

فلا تلمني إنْ بكيت عَنْدَما

فإن دمع العين في العين سرى

Do not blame me if I weep blood-red resin,

for the eye's tears have coursed within the eye.

إذا رجوتُ مطلباً بادرته

وما عقدت حبوةً على الرَّجا

Whenever I hoped for a goal, I hastened toward it;

I never bound my knees and sat relying on hope.

أعْدَدتُ للبيداء هُوجاً ضُمَّراً

أنْحرُ في أخفافها أدم الفلا

For the desert I readied headstrong, lean camels,

beneath whose padded feet I slaughter the desert's pale antelopes.

تلوي التليل للحمى تلفتاً

وتسبق الريحَ إذا الريحُ جرى

They twist their necks, looking back toward the homeland,

and outrun the wind when the wind races.

مهما تحث لمطلب ومقصد

تقاصرت فيها فسيحات الخُطا

However you urge them toward a goal or destination,

even broad strides seem short in them.

وحيث ناويت النوى أنويتها

وكلُّ حَرٍّ أبصر الذل انتوى

Wherever I intended departure, I directed them;

every free man who sees humiliation departs.

وصارم أبيض لو جرّدته

ظننت برقاً لاح علويّ السنا

And a bright sword which, if I unsheathed it,

you would think lightning flashing with lofty radiance.

إذا تصديت به لضربة

فلقت في غراره أمّ الصدى

When I poised it for a blow,

I split the skull with its keen edge.

معتقلاً أسنَّةً خطَّيةً

كأن في طعانها سفع الذكا

Clutching Khatt spearheads,

whose thrusts seem the scorch of blazing fire.

إنِّي ومن أنالني من العلى

مراتباً من دونها وخز القنا

By Him who granted me exalted

ranks beneath which lie the stabs of spears,

إذا رأيت الذُّلَّ رحَّلْتُ له

أنضاء أسفارٍ وناوحت النوى

whenever I saw humiliation, I saddled against it

travel-worn mounts and contended with distance:

نجائباً مثل الظليم ترتمي

لدى الفيافي الغفل أنأى مرتمى

choice camels darting like male ostriches,

to the farthest reaches of trackless deserts.

ولم أرِدْ مَوْرِدَ عذبٍ شابَهُ

ضيمٌ رأى تكديره لما صفا

I never approached a sweet watering place tainted

by oppression that sought to muddy what was clear.

ونازعتني شيمة لا ترتضي

إلاَّ المعالي غايةً ومنتهى

A disposition urged me, content with nothing

but lofty deeds as its goal and utmost end.

وكم هجرت موطناً من أهله

والدار من سكانها قد تجتوى

How many a homeland I abandoned because of its people;

a dwelling may become hateful through its inhabitants.

وربّ طِرف لا يرى الطرف له

إثْراً إذا الطرف اقتفى

Many a noble steed leaves no trace the eye can see,

when the eye follows its trail.

يجتاز بي فدافداً دوية

لا تهتدي لمفحص فيها القطا

It carries me across vast, deserted plains,

where even sandgrouse cannot find a nesting hollow.

أفري أديم القاع في حافره

لما طوى البطنان واجتاز المدى

With its hoof I slit the skin of the desert floor,

as it traverses the hollows and crosses the distance.

ضافي السبيب أعوجيٌّ ووأوأٌ

ولم يكن أسفى وما فيه سفا

With flowing mane and tail, of Awaj's stock, and swift,

it is not scant-forelocked, nor has any forelock sparseness.

ولائم جسارتي قلت له

إنَّ القضاء كائن لا يتقى

To one who reproached my boldness I said:

Fate will come to pass and cannot be avoided.

وكيف أخشى ما قضى الله به

وإنَّما الإنسان أهداف القضا

How could I fear what God has decreed,

when man is but a target for fate?

ولا أبالي والوقار شيمتي

أأحْسَنَ الدهر المسيء أم أسا

I care not, dignity being my disposition,

whether injurious time treats me well or ill.

يا رُبَّ عزمٍ بالدنا جرَّدتُه

كأنَّه حدّ الحسام المنتضى

Oh, how many a resolve I unsheathed in this world,

like the edge of a drawn sword!

وموقف من الوغى شَهِدْتُهُ

ترشح بالموت العوالي والظبا

And many a battlefield stance I witnessed,

where spearpoints and blades dripped death.

وإنني كذلك القيل الذي

إذا بدا تأجج الحرب اصطلى

I am like that king who,

when war's blaze appears, warms himself in it.

سلّم إليَّ الأمر وانظر باسلاً

لا يخطئ الأغراض يوماً إن رمى

Entrust the matter to me and behold a brave man

who never misses his targets when he shoots.

أسطو بماضي الشفرتين أحدبٍ

غراره يبتّ أوداج العدى

I strike with a curved blade, keen on both edges,

whose sharp edge severs my enemies' jugular veins.

وحاسد من غيظه فضائلي

حاكى شؤوني بالنهى وما حكى

An envier, enraged by my virtues,

imitated my ways with his intellect, yet failed to match them.

وفي سواد القلب كنت جاعلاً

وداده حتَّى بدا لي ما بدا

In the depths of my heart I had placed

his affection, until what appeared became clear to me.

وخرشفيٍّ لا يوارى عيبه

قطعة لؤم صيغ من طين الخنا

And a coarse, scaly fellow whose fault cannot be concealed,

a lump of baseness fashioned from the clay of obscenity.

لو كانَ عيناي بأم رأسه

لما درى بنفسه إلاَّ قذى

If my two eyes were in his own head,

he would perceive himself as nothing but a mote.

والظلم واللؤم طباع بالفتى

يكتمه العجز ويفشيه القوى

Injustice and baseness are dispositions in a man:

weakness conceals them, and strength exposes them.

قابلت أفعالاً له بمثلها

ولا يلين جانبي إذا قسا

I met his deeds with their like,

and my side does not soften when he grows harsh.

وقد تنوَّرت الأنام خبرةً

فزال عن عينيَّ من ذاك العمى

I have studied mankind through experience,

and thereby blindness left my eyes.

وقد عَلِمْتُ أنَّ قلبي مفعمٌ

بما لقي من أهله وما رأى

I know my heart is filled

with what it suffered from its people and what it saw.

من لي بخلٍ إن رأى بي زلةٍ

سامحها وعثرةً قال لعا

Who will find me a friend who, seeing a lapse in me,

forgives it, and at a stumble says, 'Rise again!'?

وهل صديق يرتجى وفاؤه

هيهات هذا أمَلٌ لا يرتجى

Is there a friend whose faithfulness may be hoped for?

Far from it! This is a hope beyond hoping.

ولست بالغمر الذي ما جرّب ال

دهر ولا ذاق السرور والعنا

I am no novice who has never tested the

times, nor tasted joy and hardship.

بل كل خطب خطر بلوته

حتَّى تروى القلب فيه فارتوى

Rather, every grave calamity I have experienced,

until my heart drank deeply of it and was sated.

يا ربة القرطين هل من ليلة

تحكي من الوصل ليالينا الألى

O mistress of the two earrings, is there a night

of union resembling our former nights?

ليلة غاب الواشي عن مَحَلِّنا

فكنت أجلو بالدجى شمس الضحى

A night when the informer was absent from our abode,

and in the darkness I unveiled the sun of morning—

حمراء لم تقطب بمزج صرفها

فهي كورد الجلّنار تجتنى

red, its pure essence not soured by dilution,

like pomegranate blossoms ready to be plucked.

لله أيام قضينا شطرها

منادمي أبلج معسول اللمى

How splendid the days whose hours we spent,

my drinking companion radiant, his dark lips honey-sweet!

عاطيته مشمولة كريقه

لو جليت في جنح ليل لانجلى

I exchanged with him cool wine, like his saliva,

which, unveiled in night's darkness, would dispel it.

مهفهف يميس تيهاً قدُّه

كأنَّما مال به ريح الصبا

Slender, his figure sways proudly,

as though the east wind had bent him.

وباللّوى كانَ لنا معاهد

سُقيت صوب المزن يا دار اللوى

At al-Liwa we had places of meeting;

may pouring clouds water you, O dwelling of al-Liwa!

مرَّت ليالينا وأوطار بها

كأنها أضغاث أحلام الكرى

Our nights and the pleasures within them passed,

like tangled dreams of sleep.

أموعد المشتاق في وصاله

إنجازك الوعد لمحتاج متى

O you who promise the yearning lover union,

when will you fulfill your promise to one in need?

هذي عرى الصبر التي عهدتها

قد فُصِمَتْ بالوجد هاتيك العرى

These bonds of patience that you knew—

those very bonds have been broken by yearning.

إنَّ الأماني باللّبيب ضَلَّةٌ

وما عسى يجدي لعل وعسى

Wishes are folly for the wise;

what good can 'perhaps' and 'maybe' do?

وإنها لحسرة ما تنقضي

أو إنني أقضي بتصريف القضا

It is an anguish that will never end,

or I shall perish through the workings of fate.

هل عائد لي زمنٌ عبرة بذي الغضا

وهل يريني الدهر ما كنت أرى

Will a time of tears at Dhu al-Ghada return to me?

Will time show me what I used to see?

ولي بأحوال الزمان عبرة

كفى الزمان عبرة لذي النهى

In time's changing states I have a lesson;

time suffices as a lesson for those with understanding.

أخبرني هذا الدنا عن القضا

بفطنة تدني إلينا ما نأى

This world has taught me about fate

through discernment that brings the distant near.

قد ابتليت وبَلَوْتُ أمْرَها

فلا أبالي بعدها بما أتى

I have been tried and have tested its ways;

after that, I care not what comes.

عَهْدُك في هذا الزمان قد مضى

وذلك الغصن الرطيب قد ذوى

Your era in this world has passed,

and that tender branch has withered.

سلكت من كلِّ الفجاج وعرها

وذقت منها ما أمر وحلا

Of every mountain passage I took the rugged way,

and tasted its bitterness and sweetness.

قد قذفتني في البلاد غربتي

وقد أرتني كلَّ ما رمت النوى

My estrangement has cast me across the lands,

and distance has shown me all I sought.

ما كنتُ أرضى بالعراق مسكناً

لو لم يكن في أرضها أبو الثنا

I would not have accepted Iraq as a dwelling

had Abu al-Thana not been in its land:

السيّد المحمود في خلاله

وفائض البحرين علماً وندى

the master, praised for his qualities,

overflowing with two seas, learning and generosity.

يقول من ناظَرَه في علمه

ما بعد هذا غايةٌ ومنتهى

Whoever debates with him in learning says:

Beyond this there is no goal or final height.

لا هو بالفظِّ الغليظ قلبه

وبالوغى أشدّ من صمّ الصفا

He is neither coarse nor hard of heart,

yet in battle harder than solid rock.

تخاله حين تراه ضاحكاً

كروضة باكرها قطر النّدى

When you see him smiling, you imagine him

a garden visited early by drops of dew.

غمر الرّواء لم تزل راحته

منهلَّةً لمن نأى ومن دنا

Abundant in refreshing bounty, his palm has never ceased

pouring forth for those far away and those near.

المقتني الحمد الطويل ذكره

والحمد للإنسان أسنى مقتنى

He acquires praise whose remembrance endures;

praise is man's most splendid possession.

شهم الجنان لوذعيٌّ فاضِلٌ

أشمّ عرنين العلى عالي الذرا

Brave of heart, perceptive, and excellent,

lofty in nobility, towering in eminence.

فاق الأنام بالتقى وبالحجى

وزينة المرء التقى مع الحجى

He surpassed mankind in piety and intelligence;

a man's adornment is piety joined with intelligence.

وزينة الإنسان بل وفخره

إمَّا بأفضالٍ وإما بتقى

And man's adornment—indeed, his glory—

lies either in benefactions or in piety.

سعى إلى الفضل فنال ما ابتغى

وليس للإنسان إلاَّ ما سعى

He pursued excellence and gained what he sought;

man has nothing but what he strives for.

مكارم الأخلاق فيها مولع

ما اعتام شيئاً غيرها ولا انتضى

He is devoted to noble qualities of character;

he chose nothing else, nor drew anything else forth.

ما زال يرقى بالحجى وبالنهى

حتَّى رقى بالعلم أعلى مرتقى

He kept ascending through intelligence and understanding,

until learning raised him to the highest ascent.

لا يختشي في الله لوم لائم

أفتى على الحقّ وبالحقّ قضى

In God's cause he fears no reproacher's blame;

he gave rulings in truth and judged by truth.

يقذف من فيه الجمان لفظه

بحر ولكن بالعلوم قد طمى

His speech casts pearls from his mouth;

he is a sea, overflowing with knowledge.

ما انقبضت راحته عن سائل

وما سمعنا منه هجراً ولغا

His palm never closed against a petitioner,

nor have we heard obscenity or idle talk from him.

تدرّع البأس الشديد قلبه

وفي رداء الفضل والتقوى ارتدى

His heart armored itself in fierce courage,

and he clothed himself in excellence and piety.

إلى ذُرا جرثومةٍ طيبةٍ

إذ ينتمي القرم ولمّا ينتمى

To the heights of a noble ancestral root

this chief traces his descent whenever lineage is traced.

ألْهَمَهُ الله علوماً بعضها

لو نشرت سَدَّ بها رحب الفضا

God inspired him with branches of knowledge, some of which,

if unfolded, would fill the breadth of open space.

قريحة مثل الركام سيلها

أو هي كالنار إذا اشتدَّت صلا

His inventive mind pours like heaped rainclouds,

or is like fire when its heat grows fierce.

تجري بما يطلب منها غيثها

وليس بالبدع من الغيث الجدى

Its rain flows with whatever is sought from it;

bounty from rain is nothing strange.

فكم أبان من خفايا علمه

حتَّى الذي عنَّا اختفى فيه خفا

How many hidden treasures of his knowledge he revealed,

even secrets within it that had been concealed from us!

فأفحم الجاهل في عبارة

أوضح فيها ما انطوى وما انشرى

He silenced the ignorant with an expression

clarifying what lay folded and what was unfolded.

وألقَمَ الجاحد منهم حجراً

فبان فعل السيف منا والعصا

He forced a stone into the denier's mouth,

and the sword's work stood apart from the staff's among us.

تَبَيَّن الرشد من الغيّ به

وزال إظلام الضلال بالهوى

Through him sound judgment was distinguished from error,

and the darkness of straying vanished through love.

فهل له في ذا الورى مشابهٌ

هيهات ما بين الثريا والثرى

Does he have a likeness among these people?

Far from it—the distance between the Pleiades and the dust!

لو كانَ في العالم مثل علمه

لفاخرت جميع أقطار الورى

If learning like his existed in the world,

all the world's regions would boast of it.

أزال سقم الشك في تحقيقه

فكم صدور في معانيها شفى

Through his verification he removed the sickness of doubt;

how many breasts he healed through its meanings!

دوَّن ما أجاب في مجلِّدٍ

تذكرة لمن روى ومن وعى

He recorded his answers in a volume,

a reminder for those who transmit and those who understand.

مشتملاً على العلوم كلّها

وحاز فيه كل فضل وحوى

Encompassing all the sciences,

he gathered and contained every excellence within it.

أرسلها إليهم فأيقنوا

أنَّ ببغداد الكمال قد ثوى

He sent them to them, and they became certain

that perfection had taken residence in Baghdad.

وراح للسلطان أيضاً مثله

فحاز إذ ذاك السرور والهنا

A like volume also went to the sultan,

and thus won joy and delight

لدى أمير المؤمنين والذي

صيَّره الله على الخلق ذُرا

with the Commander of the Faithful, whom

God made a pinnacle over mankind:

حامي حمى الإسلام والغوث الذي

يغاث فيه المستغيث إذ دعا

defender of Islam's sanctuary, the succor through whom

the seeker of aid is helped when he calls;

خليفة الله على عباده

وذروة فيه الخطوب تتقى

God's caliph over His servants,

a summit in whom calamities are warded off.

لو كانَ في البحر ندى يمينه

لا نساغ ما البحر عذباً في اللها

If the sea held the bounty of his right hand,

its water would pass sweetly through throats.

والنصر والإقبال بعض جنده

إذا سطا أو إن رمى أو إن غزا

Victory and good fortune are part of his army,

whether he strikes, shoots, or wages war.

وهادم الكفر بسيف باتر

حتَّى ترى عمادها العالي هوى

He demolishes unbelief with a severing sword,

until you see its lofty pillar fallen.

لاذت سلاطين الورى ببابه

ترجو مراضيه وتأبى إن أبى

The world's sultans sought refuge at his door,

seeking his approval and refusing when he refuses.

وإنَّ هذا الدينَ في أيَّامه

أعاده من المشيب للصِّبا

In his days, this religion

he restored from gray age to youth.

طاعته فرض علينا واجبٌ

ويل لمن عن أمره السامي عتا

Obedience to him is our binding obligation;

woe to whoever rebels against his exalted command.

إذا أتاه بطشه استبلّ لا

يعرف إلاَّ عفوه من ملتجا

When his blow befalls a man, he recovers; he does not

know any refuge but his pardon.

أمَدَّ من همَّته وعزمه

ظِلاًّ على الإسلام منه قد ضفا

From his aspiration and resolve he extended

a sheltering shade that spread over Islam.

خلافة جاءت له وراثة

عن جدّه عن النبيّ المصطفى

A caliphate came to him by inheritance

from his forefather, from the chosen Prophet.

إنَّ علينا أكبر الفرض بأنْ

ندعو له بالنصر في طول المدى

Our greatest obligation is that

we pray for his victory throughout all time.

إذ نظم الملك وشاد سمكه

وقد أباد من طغى ومن بغى

For he ordered the realm and raised its lofty structure,

and destroyed those who tyrannized and transgressed.

لما عليه عرضت أسئلة

وردّها إلى معاليه أتى

When questions were presented to him,

and their answers reached His Excellency,

فكان عالي أمره بطبعه

ونشره في كل أقطار الملا

his august command was to have it printed

and distributed throughout every region of the world,

ليستفيد الناس من علومه

ويهتدى فيه وفيه يقتدى

so people might benefit from its learning,

find guidance in it, and follow its example.

وراكبٍ من المعالي سابقاً

ما عثر الجدّ به ولا كبا

O rider of a swift mount among lofty deeds,

whose good fortune never stumbled or fell,

لو ظلَّ مني أملٌ أنشِدُه

إليك من دون الأنام لاهتدى

if a hope of mine lingered for me to seek,

it would find its way to you above all mankind.

مفتي العراقين ومولاي الذي

ألوذُ فيه حيث ما أمري وهى

Mufti of the two Iraqs, and my lord, in whom

I take refuge whenever my affairs grow weak.

مأوى أولي الفضل وشمس عزهم

والملتجى والمقتفى والمنتدى

Refuge of the excellent, sun of their honor,

their shelter, example, and place of gathering.

والضّيف تغدو عن معالي فضله

شاكرة من فضله حسن القرى

Guests depart from his exalted bounty,

grateful for his generous and splendid hospitality.

تضرب في دسيعة مائدة

مما عليها من جذور يشتوى

A table is laid in lavish hospitality,

with roots upon it being roasted.

ما تشتهي الأنفس فيها مائدة

يذهب عند مسّها مسّ الطوى

A table bearing whatever souls desire,

whose touch banishes the touch of hunger.

ما علمت بأنَّ في عراقنا

سوابقاً بالعلم تعدو المرطى

You did not know that in our Iraq

racehorses of learning run at full stretch.

نحن وشكراً للذي صيّرنا

ينابع العلم وأعلام الهدى

We are—and thanks be to Him who made us—

springs of knowledge and beacons of guidance.

إذا أتانا جاحدٌ مُباحثٌ

راح وفي فيه اغتذى عفر الثرى

When a disputing denier comes to us,

he leaves with the dust of earth fed into his mouth.

أقْسِمُ بالربِّ العظيم شأنه

ومن على العرش تجلَّى واستوى

I swear by the Lord, great in majesty,

and Him who manifested Himself upon the Throne and rose above it:

ما لَكَ في الدنيا نظيرٌ في ندىً

ولا حجىً ولا نهىً ولا عُلى

you have no equal in this world in generosity,

nor in intelligence, understanding, or eminence.

لو كانَ يدري الشرك ما حويته

من العلوم الغامضات لبكى

If polytheism knew what you possess

of abstruse branches of knowledge, it would weep.

عذراً لحُسَّادك فيما جحدوا

لا تدرك الجونةُ أبصار السخا

An excuse for your enviers in what they denied:

the sun is beyond the eyes of al-Sakha [unclear term].

مقالة المنصف فيك جهرة لا

شك كل الصيد في جوف الفرا

The fair-minded man's open declaration about you is—no

doubt—all game is in the wild ass's belly.

ذو جدوة هاطلة إذا اجتدى

ونخوة عالية إذا انتخى

Possessor of pouring bounty when petitioned,

and lofty pride when his spirit rises.

درى أمير المؤمنين بالذي

أظهَرْتَه وفي سواه ما درى

The Commander of the Faithful learned of what

you revealed; of no one else did he know the like.

ولو رآك طرفه لما ارتضى

إلاَّ بأنْ تسمو إلى أوج السما

Had his eye seen you, he would accept nothing

but your ascent to the highest point of heaven.

قد سر فيك قلبه من سمعه

ولا يفيد الأذْنَ تصوير الرؤى

What he heard of you has delighted his heart;

no picture of visions can inform the ear.

لله ما هذا الوزير إنَّه

عليٌّ المولى حباك بالرضا

How wondrous, by God, this minister is! He is

the lord Ali, who favored you with approval.

مُعَمِّرٌ بغداد في إحسانه

من بعد ما أبادها ريب الوبا

Through his beneficence he rebuilds Baghdad

after the ravages of plague had devastated it.

وراض أهل البغي بالقتل فلن

تسمع في ديارهم إلاَّ الوعى

He subdued the rebellious by killing; you will

hear nothing in their dwellings but cries.

إذ يختلي الأعناق ضرب سيفه

كأنها العيس وقد لسَّت خلا

His sword's stroke mows down necks,

as though they were pale camels that had cropped fresh grass.

إذا امتطى العزم وصال صولة

قدّ الرؤوس جازلاً مع المطا

When he mounts resolve and launches an assault,

he chops heads clean through along with backs.

لو نالت المزن نوال كفه

لما اشتكى الظمآن من عيم الظما

Had rainclouds attained the largesse of his palm,

no thirsty man would complain of thirst's craving.

لو كانَ للّيل سنا آرائه

أضاء من صباحها وما عسا

Had night the radiance of his judgments,

it would shine with their morning light, never darkening.

وعارف بالناس ذو فراسة

أخفت له ما قد توارى واختفى

Knowing people, he possesses discernment

that reveals to him what lay concealed and hidden.

أعلاك أعلى رتبة ومنصب

ذاقت أياديك به طعم الشرا

He raised you to the highest rank and office;

through it your hands tasted colocynth's bitterness.

تقدّ فيك المعضلات كلها

لأنت سيف ولك الفضل جلا

All difficulties are cut through by you;

you are indeed a sword, burnished by excellence.

تلقى هزبراً نابه حسامه

إبّان حُمَّ الأمر وانشقت عصا

One meets a lion whose fang is his sword

when the crisis comes and the staff of unity splits.

الثابت الجأش الوقور جانباً

ما ارتاع من حادثة ولا انثنى

Steadfast of heart, dignified in bearing,

he never took fright at an event or turned aside.

ولست منهم إن نأوا وإن دنوا

وهل يقال الدرّ من هذا الحصى

You are not one of them, whether they are far or near;

can a pearl be called one of these pebbles?

أنَّى لهم بما به أكمدتهم

وباعهم مع طول باعيك ورا

How could they attain what you have made them grieve over?

Their reach falls behind your long reach.

فدتك نفسي من هزبر باسل

وقلَّ من نفسي لعلياك الفدا

May my soul ransom you, brave lion;

my soul is a small ransom for your eminence.

وقف على العافين ما تملكت

يمينه مما علا وما غلا

He consecrated to petitioners all that

his right hand owned, exalted and costly.

هل العلى إلاَّ يد مبسوطة

يؤمها لوِردها من اعتفى

What is nobility but an outstretched hand,

toward whose watering place a petitioner comes,

وصارم مجرَّد مرهفة

مجوهر الإفرند محدود الشبا

and a drawn sword, finely honed,

its watered pattern gleaming, its edges keen,

وحسن خلقٍ وأحاديث عُلىً

لو أنس العاشق فيه لسلا

and good character and noble discourse,

in which a lover, finding comfort, would forget his grief?

يهتزّ عِطف سامعيها طرباً

كأنَّما ذاق المدام فانتشى

Its listeners' bodies sway in delight,

as though they had tasted wine and become intoxicated.

وعزة بالدين بل ورفعة

وغيرة يحمى لها ويحتمى

And honor through religion—indeed, exaltation—

and a zeal for which one defends and seeks protection.

وكلّ ما ذكرته وقلته

فيك على رغم العدى قد انطوى

Everything I have mentioned and said

is contained in you, despite your enemies.

من ذا يهنِّي العلم في سميذع

أصبحَ بعد الهدم في أسمى البنا

Who will congratulate learning in this noble lord?

After demolition it has risen to the loftiest structure.

قد كانَ مخفياً فلما جاءه

محمود ذو المجد ابتدا وأنفا

It had been hidden, but when there came to it

Mahmud, possessor of glory, it emerged afresh.

إليك منِّي سيِّدي قصيدةً

فأنت حسبي من غناء وكفى

From me to you, my master, a poem;

you are all the wealth I need, and suffice.

قصّرت يا مولاي في مقصورة

مضمونها الشكر عليك والثنا

I have fallen short, my lord, in this alif-rhyming poem,

whose substance is thanks to you and praise.

فإن تنل منك الرضا جائزة

فهو الثراء للفقير والغنى

If it wins your approval as its reward,

that is wealth and abundance for the poor man.

لو أنَّ هذا العيد أضحى ألسناً

تتلو لك الشكر الجميل ما وفى

If this festival became so many tongues

reciting beautiful thanks to you, it would not repay you.