قد كفى الله وهو نعم الكافي — Abn Hius

قَد كَفى اللَهُ وَهوَ نِعمَ الكافي

وَشَفى المَجدَ وَهوَ أَلطَفُ شافِ

God has sufficed—and how well He suffices—

and healed glory—He is the gentlest healer.

جَرَّ ذاكَ الخَوفُ الَّذي نَكَسَ الأَب

صارَ تيهاً قَد بانَ في الأَعطافِ

That fear which had lowered eyes has brought

a pride now plain in the carriage of their shoulders.

نِعمَةٌ أَخلَفَت ظُنونَ الأَعادي

فيكَ دامَت مَظِنَّةَ الإِخلافِ

A blessing that confounded your enemies' expectations

of you—may it remain a source of their disappointment.

طالَما أَرجَفوا وَكانَت هَوادي

ذي المَذاكي نَتيجَةَ الإِرجافِ

Long did they spread alarm; and the necks

of these full-grown steeds were the fruit of that alarm.

يا أَميرَ الجُيوشِ يا عُدَّةَ الظا

هِرِ أَكرِم بِذا النِداءِ المُضافِ

O Commander of the Armies, O mainstay of al-Zahir,

how noble this title that links you to him!

لَكَ مِن قَلبِ كُلِّ مَن وَحَّدَ اللَ

هَ مَكانٌ مُشارِكٌ لِلشِغافِ

You have, in the heart of everyone who affirms God's oneness,

a place beside the heart's inmost core.

فَفِداءٌ لِعَدلِكَ المالِىءِ الأَر

ضَ وَكانَت غُفلاً مِنَ الإِنصافِ

May a ransom for your justice, which fills the earth,

once bereft of fairness, be

أُمَمٌ مُذ وَليتَ أَمرَ اللَيالي

آذَنَتهُم صُروفُها بِاِنصِرافِ

the nations whom, since you took charge of the nights,

the nights' adversities have bidden farewell.

أَنتَ سَيفُ اللَهِ الَّذي لَيسَ يَحتا

جُ غَداةَ الوَغى إِلى إِرهافِ

You are God's sword, which needs no

sharpening on the morning of battle.

وَسِراجُ الدُنيا فَدامَت إِلى أَن

تَتَقَضّى مُنيرَةَ الأَكنافِ

And the world's lamp—may the world remain, until

it passes away, radiant in every quarter.

إِنَّ رَأيَ الوَزيرِ أَسَّسَ عِزّاً

أَنتَ أَعلَيتَهُ بِذي الأَسيافِ

Indeed, the vizier's counsel founded a glory

you have raised aloft with these swords.

مَن يُضِع أَمرَهُ فَإِنَّ إِمامَ ال

عَصرِ يَدري مَن يَصطَفي وَيُصافي

If anyone neglects his own cause, surely the imam of the

age knows whom to choose and befriend.

كُلُّ مَن خالَفَ الخِلافَةَ قَد رَ

أى بِعَينِ اليَقينِ عُقبى الخِلافِ

Everyone who defied the caliphate has seen

with certainty's own eye the outcome of defiance.

أَسرَفوا ضِلَّةً فَأَسرَفتَ عَدلاً

قَد يُماطُ الإِسرافُ بِالإِسرافِ

They went to excess in error, so you went to excess in justice;

excess may be swept away by excess.

وَاِستَعانوا بِنُصرَةِ الرومِ وَالرَو

مُ هَباءٌ تَسفيهِ هَذي السَوافي

They sought the support of the Romans; yet the Romans

are dust scattered by these sweeping winds.

جَهِلوا أَمرَهُم فَقَد عَلِموهُ

ذَكَروا البَحرَ عِندَ وِردِ النِطافِ

They did not know their plight; now they know it;

they remembered the sea when coming to drink mere drops.

فَأَتَوا أَروَعاً يَفوقُ البَرايا

بِفَعالٍ موفٍ وَقَولٍ وافِ

So they came to an awe-inspiring man, surpassing all creation

in unstinting deeds and faithful speech.

وَتَلافَوا وَما سِواكَ رَجاءٌ

كَم تَلافٍ ثَنى عِنانَ تَلافِ

They made amends—there is no hope but you;

how often has rescue turned back the reins of ruin!

فَاِصطَنِع مَن أَتاكَ فَالرُمحُ لا يَن

فَعُ إِلّا مِن بَعدِ عَضِّ الثِقافِ

Favor whoever comes to you: the spear is of no

use until the straightening clamp has bitten it.

لَيسَ يُنجي الطَريدَ مِن هَذِهِ الهِم

مَةِ غَيرُ الإِرقالِ وَالإِرجافِ

Nothing saves the fugitive from this resolve

but swift riding and headlong flight.

فَليُنيبوا فَما لِمَن أَنتَ قافٍ

بِشَبا العَزمِ مَنزِلٌ دونَ قافِ

Let them repent, for whoever you pursue

with resolve's sharp points has no refuge this side of Qaf.

وَليَشيموا نَداكَ فَالوِردُ صافٍ

وَليَفيؤوا إِلَيكَ فَالظِلُّ ضافِ

And let them watch for your bounty: the watering place is clear;

and let them return to you: the shade is ample.

في رِياضٍ جيدَت بِصَوبِ العَطايا

فَسَوامُ الآمالِ غَيرُ عِجافِ

In gardens watered by the downpour of gifts,

hope's grazing herds are not lean.

خُلُقٌ لا يَضيقُ إِن ضاقَتِ الأَخ

لاقُ عَمَّن تَضيقُ عَنهُ الفَيافي

A nature never too narrow, though other natures are,

for one whom even the vast deserts cannot contain.

وَاِعتِزامٌ يَلينُ في الزَمَنِ اللَي

نِ وَيَجفو عَلى الزَمانِ الجافي

And a resolve that softens in gentle times,

and grows stern against stern times.

كَرَمٌ فائِضٌ وَعِزٌّ بِأَطرا

فِ العَوالي مُمَنَّعُ الأَطرافِ

Overflowing generosity, and a might, by the points

of lofty spears, made impregnable at its borders.

ما لِعِرقِ الأَتراكِ لا اِجتَثَّهُ الدَه

رُ وَلا مالَ دَوحُهُ لِاِنقِصافِ

What a stock the Turks have—may Time never uproot it,

nor its great tree bend to breaking!

فَأَراهُم قَوادِماً في جَناحِ ال

عِزِّ وَالناسُ دونَهُم كَالخَوافي

For I see them as the primary feathers in the wing of

glory, and men beneath them like the secondary feathers.

مَعشَرٌ يُنسَبُ الفَخارُ إِلَيهِم

فَتَكاتٌ لِكُلِّ ضَيمٍ نَوافِ

A people to whom renown is ascribed,

whose fierce attacks drive off every humiliation.

شَيَّدوا فَخرَهُم بِفَخرِكَ لَمّا

عايَنوا المَجدَ ظاهِراً غَيرَ خافِ

They built their honor upon your honor, when

they beheld glory manifest, not hidden.

وَقُرَيشٌ لَولا الرِسالَةُ وَالتَن

زيلُ ما أَذعَنَت لِعَبدِ مَنافِ

And Quraysh, but for the Message and Revelation,

would not have yielded to Abd Manaf.

كُلَّما رُمتُ مِن صِفاتِكَ صِنفاً

أَخَذَت بي عُلاكَ في أَصنافِ

Whenever I seek one kind among your qualities,

your eminence carries me into many kinds.

أَنتَ نَبَّهتَ ذا الكَلامَ فَلا نا

مَت جُفوني إِن نامَ ليلُ القَوافي

You awakened these words; may my eyelids never

sleep if the night of rhymes sleeps,

عَن مَعانٍ تَكسو المَناقِبَ أَفوا

فَ ثَناءٍ أَبقى مِنَ الأَفوافِ

heedless of meanings that clothe virtues in patterned robes

of praise, more enduring than patterned cloth.

بالِغاتٍ أَقصى الدُنا تُنزِلُ المَش

روفَ أَعلى مَنازِلِ الأَشرافِ

Reaching the world's farthest bounds, they place the lowlier man

in the highest stations of the noble.

قَد سَقَت هَذِهِ اللُهى شَجَراتٍ

كُلَّ حينٍ لَهُنَّ حينُ قِطافِ

These gifts have indeed watered trees

whose every moment is harvest time.

خابَ سَعيُ القَريضِ إِن مَلَّ مِن إِت

حافِ مَن لا يَمَلُّ مِن إِتحافي

May poetry's striving fail if it tires of giving gifts

to one who never tires of giving gifts to me,

مُنكِراً عُرفَهُ وَأَيُّ ثَناءٍ

بَينَ إِنكارِهِ وَبَينَ اِعتِرافي

denying his kindness—and what praise is there

between denying it and my acknowledgment?

كُلَّما جِئتُ أَشتَكي ضَعفَ شُكري

عَن عَطاياهُ لَجَّ في الإِضعافِ

Whenever I come complaining that my gratitude is too weak

for his gifts, he persists in multiplying them.

وَثَنائي وَإِن عَلا لا يُوَفّي

حَقَّ جَدوى في كُلِّ يَومٍ تُوافي

And my praise, however high, cannot repay

the due of bounty that arrives each day.

كَيفَ يُثني مِن مَكرُماتِكَ بِالحا

ضِرِ مَن لا يَقومُ بِالأَسلافِ

How can your present acts of generosity be praised

by one unable to do justice to the earlier ones?

صِرتُ أَبغي فَواضِلَ العَيشِ تَبذي

راً وَما كُنتُ طامِعاً بِالكَفافِ

I now seek life's luxuries in lavish spending,

though once I did not hope for bare subsistence.

لَم أَخَل وَالآحادُ تَنفِرُ مِنّي

أَن تَصيرَ الآلافُ مِن أُلّافي

I never thought, when single coins fled from me,

that thousands would become my intimates.

كُلُّ عافٍ يَنتابُ فَضلَكَ قَد أَص

بَحَ يَنتابُ فَضلَهُ كُلُّ عافِ

Every petitioner who frequents your bounty has become

one whose bounty every petitioner frequents.

صَدَّقَت هَذِهِ المَخايِلُ بِالإِح

سانِ قَولَ المُدّاحِ وَالوُصّافِ

These signs have, through generosity, confirmed

the words of those who praise and portray you.

فَبَقاءُ المَديحِ ما لَم يَكُن في

كَ بَقاءُ الحَبابِ فَوقَ السُلافِ

For the life of praise, unless it be of you,

is the life of bubbles on the choicest wine.

فَحَباكَ الَّذي بَراكَ بِأَلطا

فٍ تَوالى مِن أَنفَسِ الأَلطافِ

So may He who fashioned you grant you graces

following in succession, among the most precious of graces,

وَعَوافٍ تَترى وَلا رُؤِيَت مِن

كَ رُبوعُ العَليا وَهُنَّ عَوافِ

and health ever renewed; may there never be seen, bereft of

you, the abodes of high glory lying desolate.