Sol 6.1

  1. كَذا في طِلابِ المَجدِ فَليَسعَ مَن سَعى

    بَلَغتَ المَدى فَليُعطَ فَخرُكَ ما اِدَّعى

    Thus let whoever strives pursue glory.

    You have reached the utmost; let your pride be granted all it claims.

  2. مَدىً لَو تُجاريكَ الرِياحُ تَأُمُّهُ

    لَخَلَّفَها التَقصيرُ حَسرى وَظُلَّعا

    A reach toward which, were the winds to race you,

    their shortcomings would leave them behind, exhausted and limping.

  3. فَلَستَ تَرى طَرفاً إِلى المَجدِ طامِحاً

    سَلا الناسُ عَمّا لَم تَدَع فيهِ مَطمَعا

    You see no gaze aspiring toward glory;

    people have ceased longing for what you left no hope of attaining.

  4. إِذا ما مُلوكُ الأَرضِ تيهاً تَرَفَّعوا

    كَفاكَ عُلُوُّ القَدرِ أَن تَتَرَفَّعا

    When earthly kings exalt themselves in arrogance,

    your lofty rank spares you the need to exalt yourself.

  5. وَإِنَّكَ إِن عَنَّت غِمارٌ مِنَ الرَدى

    لَأَورَدُهُم ما لَم تَرَ العارَ مَشرَعا

    Indeed, if deep floods of death loom,

    you are their boldest entrant, unless you see shame as the watering-place.

  6. وَأَمنَعُهُم حِزباً إِذا اِشتَجَرَ القَنا

    وَأَنداهُمُ تُرباً إِذا الغَيثُ أَقلَعا

    Your host is the most impregnable when lances clash,

    and your soil the moistest when the rain has ceased.

  7. وَحاشاكَ أَن يَغشاكَ عَجزٌ أَباتَهُم

    مَدى اللَيلِ عَن ساري هُمومِكَ هُجَّعا

    Far be it from you to suffer the weakness that leaves them

    sleeping all night, heedless of your night-roaming cares.

  8. تَبيتُ العِتاقُ القُبُّ تَحتَ سُروجِها

    لِتُرسِلَها في غُرَّةِ الصُبحِ مُزَّعا

    The lean thoroughbreds spend the night beneath their saddles,

    for you to release them racing at dawn's first light.

  9. وَتَمنَعُ ما تَحوي لِتُعطِيَهُ نَدىً

    وَغَيرُكَ لا يَنفَكُّ يُعطى لِيَمنَعا

    You safeguard what you possess to bestow it generously,

    while others are forever receiving only to withhold.

  10. وَلَمّا تَعَدّى الدَهرُ بِالأَمسِ طَورَهُ

    فَأَحدَثَ خَطباً ما أَجَلَّ وَأَفظَعا

    When Time yesterday overstepped its bounds,

    and wrought a calamity—how tremendous and dreadful!—

  11. وَقَد أَصبَحَت أُمُّ العَزاءَ لِما عَرا

    سُلوباً وَأُمُّ الهَمِّ وَالرُعبِ مُتبَعا

    and the mother of consolation, through what befell, became

    bereft of her young, while the mother of grief and terror had young following her,

  12. أَحَلتَ شَديدَ الخَوفِ أَمناً لِوَقتِهِ

    فَأَضحَكَ مَن أَبكى وَبَشَّرَ مَن نَعا

    you turned intense fear into safety in an instant,

    so the bringer of tears brought laughter, and the death-announcer good news.

  13. تَدارَكتَ يا سَيفَ الإِمامَينِ دينَنا

    وَقَد كَرَبَت أَركانُهُ أَن تَضَعضَعا

    You rescued our faith, O Sword of the Two Imams,

    when its pillars were on the verge of tottering.

  14. بِرَأيٍ مَتى أَعمَلتَهُ في مُلِمَّةٍ

    فَكَم يَرجِعُ العاتي بِهِ مُتَضَرِّعا

    With judgment which, whenever you wield it in a crisis,

    how often the insolent returns through it humbly pleading!

  15. إِذا خُدِعَت آراءُ قَومٍ أَبى لَهُ

    مُهَذَّبُهُ أَن يُستَزَلَّ فَيُخدَعا

    When a people's judgments are deceived, yours is guarded

    by its refinement from being led astray and duped.

  16. أَخَذتَ عَلى مَن ضَمَّ شامُكَ بَيعَةً

    بِها أَمِنوا الأَمرَ الَّذي كانَ أَجزَعا

    You took a pledge of allegiance from all embraced by your Syria,

    through which they were safe from what had most alarmed them.

  17. جَمَعتَ بِها الأَهواءَ لَمّا تَفَرَّقَت

    وَفَرَّقتَ شَملَ الغَيِّ لَمّا تَجَمَّعا

    Through it you united inclinations when they had scattered,

    and dispersed the forces of error when they had gathered.

  18. فَلَلتَ ظُبى الأَيّامِ لَمّا جَعَلتَها

    عَلى الهامِ وَالأَجسامِ بَيضاً وَأَدرُعا

    You blunted the blades of the days when you made them

    helmets upon heads and armor upon bodies.

  19. دَعاكَ لَها مُستَنصِرُ اللَهِ دَعوَةً

    فَلَبَّيتَهُ قَبلَ الخَلائِقِ مُسرِعا

    Mustansir Allah issued you a summons for this,

    and you hastened to answer him before all other people.

  20. فَلَم تَألُ أَن أَوقَعتَ بِالإِفكِ كُلَّ ما

    يَخافُ وَأَمَّنتَ الهُدى ما تَوَقَّعا

    You spared no effort to inflict on falsehood all that

    it feared, and secured guidance against what it dreaded.

  21. وَلَو أُمهِلَت تِلكَ الأَباطيلُ ساعَةً

    لَأَبقى شَباها مارِنَ الحَقِّ أَجدَعا

    Had those falsehoods been given an hour's respite,

    their sharp points would have left truth's nose mutilated.

  22. وَقَد عَلَتِ الأَصواتُ حَتّى رَدَدتَها

    بِحَزمِكَ مِن تَحتِ الحَيازيمِ خُشَّعا

    Voices had risen, until you brought them low,

    humbled by your resolve, from deep beneath the ribs.

  23. فَمُدَّت لَكَ الأَيدي وَلَو أَنَّها أَبَت

    لَمُدَّت رِقابٌ لِلصَوارِمِ خُضَّعا

    Hands were stretched to you; had they refused,

    necks would have been stretched, bowing to sharp swords.

  24. وَلَو عَمِيَت عَمّا أَرَيتَ بَصائِرٌ

    لَبَصَّرتَها بِالقَعضَبِيَّةِ لُمَّعا

    Had inner eyes been blind to what you showed,

    you would have made them see with flashing Qa'dabi spears.

  25. مَساعٍ حَلَبتَ الدَهرَ فيها شُطورَهُ

    وَلَم تُبقِ في قَوسِ السِيادَةِ مَنزِعا

    Deeds in which you milked Time's udders,

    leaving no further draw in the bow of lordship.

  26. وَما زِلتَ عَن حَقِّ الأَئِمَّةِ دافِعاً

    حَوادِثَ لَم يَعرِف لَها الناسُ مَدفَعا

    You have always warded off from the Imams' rightful claim

    calamities for which people knew no defense.

  27. فَإِن أَضرَبوا عَن ذي الفَقارِ فَبَعدَما

    أَصابوكَ أَجرى مِنهُ حَدّاً وَأَقطَعا

    If they have set Dhu al-Fiqar aside, it was only after

    finding you swifter-edged and more cutting than it.

  28. وَإِن نِلتَ هَذا المُرتَقى وَهوَ لَم يُنَل

    فَلَم تَرقَ حَتّى رُقتَ مَرأىً وَمَسمَعا

    Though you attained this height, which none had reached,

    you rose only after delighting both sight and hearing.

  29. وَمُنذُ اِصطَفاكَ المُلكُ أَلفاكَ مَوئِلاً

    لَهُ وَلَنا فيما أَلَمَّ وَمَفزَعا

    Since kingship chose you, it has found you a refuge

    for itself and us in whatever befell, a place of resort.

  30. وَمُذ ذُدتَ عَن إِرثِ الإِمامَةِ مَن طَغى

    بِسَيفِكَ أَضحى رَوضَةً لَيسَ تُرتَعا

    Since you drove the transgressor from the Imamate's inheritance

    with your sword, it has become a meadow none may graze.

  31. تَحَدَّيتَ أَهلَ البَغيِ حَتّى أَصَرتَهُم

    لِأَمرِكَ مِمَّن ما بَغى قَطُّ أَطوَعا

    You challenged the rebels until you made them

    more obedient to your command than those who had never rebelled.

  32. وَأَدنَيتَ بِالجَدوى أَمانِيَّ لَم تَزَل

    إِلَيكَ عَلى بُعدِ المَسافَةِ نُزَّعا

    Through bounty you brought near hopes that had ever

    yearned toward you across the distance.

  33. فَدانَت لَكَ الدُنيا وَأَعطاكَ أَهلُها

    قِياداً عَلى رُغمِ المَعاطِسِ طَيِّعا

    The world submitted to you, and its people yielded you

    docile reins, their proud noses humbled.

  34. وَكَم مازِقٍ رَدَّ النَدى لَكَ وَجهَهُ

    وَقَد طالَما وَلّاكَ لِلخَوفِ أَخدَعا

    How many a fugitive has bounty turned back to face you,

    though long, from fear, he had shown you the side of his neck.

  35. وَلَو لَم تُمَيِّلهُ إِلى البِرِّ عَنوَةً

    لَأَوجَفَ في نَهجِ العُقوقِ وَأَوضَعا

    Had you not forced him to turn toward loyalty,

    he would have galloped and sped down disloyalty's road.

  36. لَقَد فازَ مَن أَلقى إِلَيكَ عَصِيَّهُ

    كَما خابَ مَن لَم يُبقِ لِلعَفوِ مَوضِعا

    Successful indeed is he who casts down his staves before you,

    as he has failed who leaves no room for pardon.

  37. وَما زِلتَ دونَ الدينِ قِدماً مُقارِعاً

    نَوائِبَ لَو قارَعنَ رَضوى تَصَدَّعا

    You have long stood in the faith's defense, battling

    calamities which, had they struck Radwa, would have split it.

  38. أَقَمتَ لَها سوقَ الطِعانِ وَلَم تُقِم

    دَعائِمَ هَذا الدينِ كَالسُمرِ شُرَّعا

    You raised against them a market of spear-thrusts; never did you raise

    pillars for this faith to match the leveled brown lances.

  39. وَلَو لَم تَذُد عَنهُ الخُطوبَ بِقُوَّةٍ

    لَما أَمِنَت تِلكَ القُوى أَن تَقَطَّعا

    Had you not forcefully repelled calamities from it,

    those cords would not have been safe from severing.

  40. فَتَحتَ مُلوكِ الخافِقينَ أَسِرَّةٌ

    تَزَعزَعُ خَوفاً إِن قَناكَ تَزَعزَعا

    Beneath the kings of East and West are thrones

    that shake with fear if your lances shake.

  41. عَزائِمُ لَم تُؤمِن عَوادِيَها العِدى

    وَتُؤمِنُ ما أَمضَيتَ أَن يُتَتَبَّعا

    Resolutions whose onslaughts leave foes no safety,

    and keep your decrees safe from challenge.

  42. لَئِن قَبُحَت في عَينِ شانيكَ مَنظَراً

    لَقَد حَسُنَت عِندَ الخِلافَةِ مَوقِعا

    Though ugly in your hater's eyes,

    they are welcome indeed to the caliphate.

  43. وَإِن أَسِدَت ذُؤبانُ ذُبيانَ فَاِحتَمَت

    فَكَم رَوَّعَت مِن طَيِّئٍ روعَ أَروَعا

    Though the wolves of Dhubyan turn lions and defend themselves,

    how many a bold heart of Tayyi' your resolves have terrified!

  44. سَلَبتَهُمُ فَخراً تَليداً وَنَخوَةً

    حَصاناً مِنَ العَدوى وَعِزّاً مُمَنَّعا

    You stripped them of ancestral pride and of a haughtiness

    inviolate against assault, and of impregnable might,

  45. وَما مَلَكوا مِن عَهدِ عادٍ وَتُبَّعٍ

    بِحَدِّ ظُبىً يَذكُرنَ عاداً وَتُبَّعا

    and of all they had possessed since the days of 'Ad and Tubba',

    with the edge of blades that remember 'Ad and Tubba'.

  46. قَواطِعَ ما تَنفَكُّ في كُلِّ مَشهَدٍ

    تُميتَ لِتُحيِي أَو تَضُرُّ لِتَنفَعا

    Cutting blades that never cease, in every encounter,

    to kill to give life, or harm to bring benefit.

  47. وَكانوا هُمُ الحَيُّ اللَقاحُ فَغودِروا

    بِها لِلِقاحِ الذُلِّ وَالضَيمِ مَرتَعا

    They were the tribe that acknowledged no overlord, yet were left

    by those blades a pasture for the milk-camels of abasement and oppression.

  48. وَلا راحَةٌ لِلقَومِ مِن فَتكِ راحَةٍ

    يَطولُ القَنا فيها وَإِن كانَ أَذرُعا

    The people find no rest from the onslaught of a palm

    in which lances lengthen, though they are but cubits long.

  49. إِذا العَزمُ كَفَّ الدَهرَ عَن غُلَوائِهِ

    فَلَم يُدنِ مَن أَقصى وَلا راعَ مَن رَعا

    When resolve restrains Time from its excesses,

    Time cannot draw near those resolve banishes, or frighten those resolve guards.

  50. أَقَلتَ عِثاري لا عَرَتكَ مُلِمَّةٌ

    فَقالَ لَعاً مَن قالَ مِن قَبلُ لا لَعا

    You lifted me from my stumble—may no calamity befall you—

    and he who once said, 'No recovery!' now said, 'Recover!'

  51. وَجُدتَ بِإِدنائي اِبتِداءً وَلَم تَزَل

    تَجودُ إِذا المَسؤولُ ضَنَّ تَبَرُّعا

    You generously brought me close, unasked, and have ever

    given freely when one petitioned proved miserly.

  52. وَلَمّا أَبَيتُ الشافِعينَ لِمَنَّهِم

    وَجَدتُ شَفيعاً مِن عُلاكَ مُشَفَّعا

    When I refused intercessors because they would make me beholden,

    I found in your eminence an intercessor whose plea was accepted.

  53. فَعاوَدَ إِعدامي بِظِلِّكَ لا اِنطَوى

    ثَراءً وَمُصطافي بِرَبعِكَ مَربَعا

    Beneath your shade—may it never fold away—my poverty returned

    as wealth, and my summer camp at your abode as a spring retreat.

  54. وَأَصبَحَ حَوضي في جَنابِكَ مُترَعا

    عَلاءً وَرَوضي مِن سَحابِكَ مُمرِعا

    My pool in your precinct became brimful

    of eminence, and my meadow lush from your clouds.

  55. فَجُد بِالعَطايا عَن حِياضٍ مَلَأتَها

    كَفاني نَوالاً أَن أَقولَ وَتَسمَعا

    Bestow your gifts away from pools you have already filled;

    enough largesse for me is to speak and have you listen.

  56. فَما طَلَبي المَعروفَ إِلّا غَنيمَةٌ

    لَدَيكَ وَقَد حُزتَ العُلى وَالغِنى مَعا

    My asking for kindness is only a gain

    for you, who have won both eminence and wealth.

  57. أَيادٍ تُباري الغَيثَ إِبّانَ هَطلِهِ

    وَتَخلُفُهُ فينا إِذا هُوَ أَقلَعا

    Favors that rival rain at the height of its downpour,

    and replace it among us when it ceases.

  58. وَزَعتُ رَجائي عَن سِواكَ بِبَعضِها

    وَلَولاكَ أَضحى في الوَرى مُتَوَزِّعا

    With some of them I restrained my hope from all but you;

    without you, it would have been divided among mankind.

  59. وَكَيفَ يُؤَدّي الحَمدُ فَرضَ جَميعِها

    وَأَيسَرُها يَستَغرِقُ الحَمدَ أَجمَعا

    How could praise discharge the debt owed to them all,

    when the least of them exhausts all praise?

  60. وَمالِيَ لا أُثني عَلَيكَ بِبَعضِ ما

    أَنَلتَ وَقَد أَثنى الجَمادُ تَطَوُّعا

    Why should I not praise you for some of what

    you have bestowed, when lifeless things praise you unbidden?

  61. فَدُمتَ لِهَذا العيدِ ما دامَ وَاِنكَفى

    بِرَغمِ العِدى مُستَقبِلاً وَمُشَيِّعا

    May you endure for this feast, while it lasts and when it ends,

    welcoming it and bidding it farewell, despite your foes.

  62. وَلا زالَ فيهِ مُستَجاباً دُعاءُ مَن

    دَعا لَكَ ما لَبّى الحَجيجُ وَما دَعا

    And on it may the prayer ever be answered of whoever

    prays for you, as long as pilgrims chant 'Here I am' and pray.

  63. فَكَم مُستَقِلٍّ عَنكَ ما تَرَكَت لَهُ

    إِلَيكَ عَطاياكَ الجَسيمَةُ مَرجِعا

    How many departing from you have been left no

    need to return to you, thanks to your immense gifts!

  64. وَما أَحسَنَ العافي بِعَينِكَ قادِماً

    وَأَقبَحَهُ فيها إِذا هُوَ وَدَّعا

    How fair in your eyes is the seeker of bounty arriving,

    and how ugly in them when he bids farewell!

  65. فَدونَكَها ما أَطلَعَتها صَحيفَةٌ

    كَما ظَنَّها ذو الفَضلِ لِلفَضلِ مَطلَعا

    Take it: no page has displayed it

    as the man of merit conceived it—a dawning-place of merit.

  66. إِذا قَلَّ عَرفُ المِسكِ مِن طولِ لُبثِهِ

    أَجَدَّ لَها مَرُّ اللَيالي تَضَوُّعا

    When musk's fragrance wanes through long keeping,

    the passage of nights renews this poem's perfume.

  67. سَقى رَوضَها غَيثُ المَعالي وَضُمِّنَت

    حَديثاً إِذا ما سارَ في الأَرضِ أَسرَعا

    The rain of lofty deeds watered its garden, and it was filled

    with a tale that speeds when it travels through the earth.

  68. وَصَيَّرَها تِبرُ الكَلامِ وَدُرُّهُ

    عَلى هامَةِ العَلياءِ تاجاً مُرَصَّعا

    The gold-dust and pearls of speech have made it

    a jeweled crown upon the head of high glory.

  69. لَعاشَ النَدى مُذ ظَلتَ فينا فَلا رَأَت

    لِجَنبِ النَدى عَينٌ مَدى الدَهرِ مَصرَعا

    Bounty has surely lived since you dwelt among us; may no

    eye through all time behold bounty's body laid low.