يا نائبا غاب عني الصبر مذ بانا — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

يا نائباً غابَ عنِّي الصّبر مُذْ بانا

هلاّ سألتَ عن المشتاق ما عانى

O deputy whose departure stripped me of patience,

why did you not ask what the yearning one has suffered?

ما راق في عينه شيء يروق لها

ولا اصطفى غير من صافيت إخوانا

Nothing that might delight his eye has pleased it,

nor has he chosen brothers other than those you befriended.

ولا إذا غرَّدت ورقاء في فنن

أملَت عليَّ من الأوراق أشجانا

Nor, when a gray dove sang upon a bough,

did it dictate sorrows to me from among the leaves.

وصرت في حال من لا يبتغي بدلاً

بالأهل أهلاً وبالجيران جيرانا

I became like one who seeks no replacement:

another family for his family, or other neighbors for his neighbors.

ما زلت أخضِلُ أجفاني بأدمعها

إذا تذكَّرتُ أوطاراً وأوطانا

I have never ceased moistening my eyelids with their tears

whenever I recalled desires and homelands.

أشدّهم في الوغى بأساً وأكرمهم

كفًّا وأعظمهمُ في قدره شانا

The fiercest of them in battle, and the most generous

of hand, and the greatest in rank and standing.

خليفة الله في الأقطار محترم

إنَّ العزيز عزيز حيث ما كانا

God's caliph is honored throughout the lands;

the mighty one is mighty wherever he may be.

فلا كنامق والٍ للعراق ولا

كمثل عبد العزيز اليوم سلطانا

No governor of Iraq is like Namiq, nor

any sultan today like Abd al-Aziz.

فلو وزنت ملوك الأرض قاطبة

لزادهم في الندى والبأس رحجانا

Were you to weigh all the kings of the earth,

he would outweigh them in generosity and valor.

أراعها ما رأته من عزائمه

فأذعنت لمليك الأرض إذعانا

What the earth saw of his resolve struck it with awe,

and it yielded utterly to the sovereign of the earth.

ولم يربه ركوب البحر من خطر

لما تنقل بلداناً فبلدانا

No danger in voyaging at sea disquieted him

as he traveled from country to country.

كالشمس إذ تملأ الدنيا أشعتها

لا تستطيع لها الأقطار كتمانا

Like the sun, whose rays fill the world,

the lands cannot keep it hidden.

قد صان مملكة الإسلام أجمعها

فصانه الله حِفظاً مثلما صانا

He has protected the entire realm of Islam;

so may God guard him as he guarded it.

وما ادّعى الفخر مجدٌ في صنائعه

إلاَّ أقام عل ما قال برهانا

Glory never boasted of his deeds

without furnishing proof of what it said.

الله يكلأه مما يحاذره

وزاده الله بعد الأمن إيمانا

May God guard him against what he fears,

and grant him greater faith beyond security.

وهل يبالي بشيءٍ أو يحاذر من

أمرٍ ويرهب أمثالاً وأقرانا

Would he care about anything, or be wary of

some matter, or fear equals and peers—

من كانَ مستنصراً بالله متخذاً

حزب الملائك أجناداً وأعوانا

one who seeks God's aid, taking

the host of angels as troops and helpers?

رأت من الملك السامي جلالته

فطأطأت أرؤساً منها وتيجانا

They beheld the majesty of the exalted king,

and bowed their heads and crowns.

أبدت خضوعاً وقرّت أعيناً وجلت

عن القلوب من الأضغان أدرانا

They showed submission, their eyes found comfort, and they cleared

the stains of rancor from hearts.

صافى فصوفي حتَّى لم تجد أحداً

إلاَّ ويوليه بالنعماء شكرانا

He offered sincere friendship and received it, until you found no one

who did not offer him gratitude for his blessings.

صلب على الخصم لو تلقى الخطوب به

في نارها طول هذا الدهر ما لانا

Firm against the foe: were he to face calamities with that resolve,

amid their fire for all time, he would never yield.

يقضي النهار بأحكام يُدَبّرها

رأياً ويتلو بجنح الليل قرآنا

He spends the day devising decrees

with sound judgment, and recites the Qur'an under night's wing.

وأظهرت بالعراق العدل رأفته

من بعد ما مُلِئت ظلماً وعدوانا

His compassion brought justice to light in Iraq

after it had been filled with oppression and aggression.

فانقادت الناس عن أمرٍ لطاعته

طوع القياد فلا تأباه عصيانا

So the people submitted at his command in obedience,

readily led, never refusing it in rebellion.

نعم الرجال رجال يحدقون به

كانوا لدولته الغَرّاء أركانا

Excellent men are the men surrounding him;

they have been pillars of his illustrious state.

كم أحرقت شهبه للماردين فما

أبقَتْ على الأرض للباغين شيطانا

How many of his meteors burned the rebels, leaving

not one devil among the oppressors upon the earth.

رأت له معجزات الفخر فاختلقت

مذاهباً في معاليه وأديانا

They saw his wondrous feats of glory and devised

creeds and faiths devoted to his lofty virtues.

فأجمعت أممُ الإفرنج واتَّفَقَت

على محبَّته شيباً وولدانا

The nations of the Franks unanimously agreed

to love him, old men and children alike.

بينا تراهم أسودَ الحرب إذ وُجِدوا

يحلّقون بجوّ الفخر عُقبانا

While you see them as lions of war, they are found

soaring as eagles in the sky of glory.

يقاتلون العدى صَفًّا فتحسبهم

في يوم معترك الأعداء بنيانا

They fight the foes in a rank, so that you take them

for an edifice on the day of battle with their enemies.

فالبصرةَ الآن في خفضٍ وفي دعةٍ

وكلّ خير أتاها من سليمانا

Basra now enjoys ease and repose,

and every blessing has come to it from Sulayman.

أجاد فيما يراه من سياستها

فزان ما كانَ قبل اليوم قد شانا

He excelled in his judgment of how to govern it,

beautifying what had marred it before today.

وكيفَ أسلو أحبَّاءً مُنِيت بهم

وما وجدت لهذا القلب سلوانا

How can I forget loved ones who have become my trial,

when I have found no solace for this heart?

يا شدَّ ما راعني يوم الفراق ضحًى

ودَّعْتُ فيه من الغادين أظعانا

Ah, how the day of parting alarmed me at midmorning,

when I bade farewell to the camel litters of those setting out!

ولا يميل إذَنْ إلاَّ إلى شرف

ذو اللبّ متّخذ الأَشراف أخدانا

Only toward honor, then, does he incline—

the discerning man who takes nobles as close companions.

ولا سمعت بشيء من مناقبه

إلاَّ انثنيت بما أسمعت نشوانا

Never have I heard of any of his virtues

without returning intoxicated by what I was told.

تَتَبَّعوا المجد حتَّى قال قائلهم

أحْيَتْ ملوكُ بني عثمان عثمانا

They pursued glory until one of them said:

The kings of the house of Uthman have revived Uthman.

فأطلقت ألْسُنَ الدنيا مدائِحُه

وأسْمعت مَن بها سرًّا وإعلانا

His praises unleashed the tongues of the world

and reached its inhabitants, secretly and openly.

جمعت منها قلوباً قلَّما اجتمعت

محبَّة فيك ساداتٍ وأَعيانا

You gathered hearts from that world that seldom united,

in love for you—the hearts of lords and notables.

وإنْ تلفَّظت في نطق وفي قلم

قرّطت من دور الأَلفاظ آذانا

And if you express yourself in speech and with the pen,

you deck ears with pearls of words.

لقد حكيت وما فاتتك فاتنة

قسّ الفصاحة أو ناظرت سحبانا

Indeed you emulated—and no beguiling grace eluded you—

Quss in eloquence, or debated Sahban.

أحْسَنْتَ في كلِّ ما دبّرْت من حكم

جُزِيتَ عن ذلك الإِحسان إحسانا

You have done well in every judgment you devised;

may you be repaid with goodness for that good work.

فمن كمالك عن رأي ومعرفة

وضعت للعدل والإِنصاف ميزانا

Through your perfection, arising from judgment and knowledge,

you set a balance for justice and fairness.

فضل من الله أُوتينا الكمال به

فضلتَ غيرك معروفاً وعرفانا

A grace from God, through which we were granted perfection:

you surpassed others in kindness and understanding.

لله درّك بين الناس من فطن

حيّرت في ذهنك الوقَّاد أذهانا

God bless you—what a discerning man among men!

With your blazing intellect, you bewildered other minds.

حلم به تترك النيران باردةً

وعزمة تترك الأَمواه نيرانا

A forbearance through which you leave fires cold,

and a resolve that turns waters into fires.

لا تُنزلُ الجود إلاَّ في منازله

وما عزّ عندك من شيء وما هانا

You bestow generosity only where it belongs,

whether the thing is precious to you or of little worth.

أبصرت أشياءَ لا تخفى منافعها

كأن الأَوائل عنها الدهر عميانا

You discerned things whose benefits are plain,

as though the ancients had always been blind to them.

والناس من ذلك التنظيف يومئذٍ

كأنَّما انتشقت روحاً وريحانا

And the people, from that cleansing, on that day

seemed to have inhaled a refreshing breeze and sweet basil.

سقيتنا الماء عذباً ما به رنق

فأصبح الظَّامئ العطشان ريَّانا

You gave us sweet water with no murk in it,

and the parched and thirsty became fully quenched.

ولم تدع وجميع الناس تملأه

ممَّا يزيد بمرضى البحر بحرانا

You did not leave it, though all the people were filling it,

with what worsens the crisis of those sick from the sea.

صحت بك البصرة الفجار من مرض

أضرَّ بالناس أرواحاً وأبدانا

Through you, Basra [unclear: “the wicked”] recovered from an illness

that harmed the people in spirit and body.

من بعدما كانَ الأَمراض قد صبغت

منها الوجوه بصبغ الموت ألوانا

After diseases had already stained

the faces there in the colors of death's dye.

من ذا الَّذي ينكر الأَشياء حينئذٍ

وقد قلبت من الأَبدان أعيانا

Who could deny these things at that time,

when you had transformed the very substance of bodies?

يا دوحة المجد نزكو في مغارسها

أصلاً وفرعاً وأغصاناً وقضبانا

O great tree of glory, in whose planting grounds we flourish,

as root and branch, boughs and shoots.

على جبينك خَطَّ المجدُ أسطُرَه

وكم قرأت لذاك الخطّ عنوانا

Upon your brow, glory has inscribed its lines,

and how often I have read a heading for that script!

ويا لك الله إن حرَّزت من رجل

يمثّل السحر ألفاظاً وتبيانا

And may God favor you, if you have secured a man

who embodies magic in words and lucid expression.

تجنى ثمار المعالي من رسائله

حتَّى غدت عن رياض الفضل بستانا

The fruits of lofty virtues are harvested from his letters,

until they became a garden drawn from virtue's meadows.

ومذ بدا وجهك الزَّاهي لأعيننا

جلا عن البصرة الفيحاء أحزانا

And since your radiant face appeared before our eyes,

it has dispelled sorrows from spacious Basra.

وفي قدومك ما تمَّ السرور به

وربَّما غابت الأَقمار أحيانا

And your arrival brought our joy to completion,

though moons may sometimes disappear.