أبدى الفرند نجابة النصل — Abn Qlaks

أَبْدَى الفِرِنْدُ نجابَةَ النَّصْلِ

والفَرْعُ يُظْهرُ طِيبَةَ الأَصْل

The blade's watered pattern reveals its noble quality,

and the branch shows the goodness of the root.

والنِّبْلُ قد نَفَضَتْ كِنَانَتَهُ

بِيَدِ السَّدادِ مسدِّدَ النَّبْل

And nobility has shaken out its quiver,

by the hand of true aim, O aimer of arrows.

لا تَعْجَبُوا لِلَّيْثِ حينَ غَدَا

وَيَدَاهُ قَد عَقَدا على شِبْلِ

Do not marvel at the lion when he appeared,

his two paws clasped around a cub.

فِي الشمس والبدرِ المينرِ إِذَا

جاءَا بِنجمٍ صِحَّةُ النَّسْلِ

In the sun and the radiant full moon, when

they beget a star, sound lineage is seen.

والفضلُ مَا اضطردَتْ مناسِبُه

حتى انْتَهَتْ منه أَبَا الفضلِ

And merit's pedigrees did not run unbroken

until they culminated through him, O Abu al-Fadl.

ثَمَدْ يُرى كأَبِيهِ بَحْرَ نَدَّى

والوَبْلُ أَوْلُهُ مِنَ الطَّلِّ

A small pool is seen, like his father, as a sea of bounty;

and a downpour begins as a light drizzle.

فَتَرى أَسِرَّته وأُسْرَتَه

متقدِّمَيْنِ بحُجَّةٍ فَصْلِ

So you see his features and his family

both foremost, with decisive proof.

زيدَتْ بنو الحَجَرِ الكرامُ بِهِ

حَجَراً يُفْجِّرُ أَعيُنَ البَذْلِ

The noble Banu al-Hajar have gained in him

a stone that makes the springs of generosity gush.

أَهلاً وسهلاً بل يقِلُّ له

أَن يلتقي بالأهلِ والسهلِ

Welcome, welcome! Yet it is too little for him

to be met with kinfolk and easy ground.

السعدُ والإِقبالُ طالَعُه

وهما كذا قالا له قبلي

Good fortune and prosperity are his ascendant;

both said the same to him before I did.

وافَى وقد أوفَى الهلالُ معاً

فقضى الحسودُ برُتْبَةِ المِثْل

He arrived as the crescent rose into view, together;

so the envious man judged them equal in rank.

أَنا لا أُشَبِّهُهُ بغُرَّتِه

فأَجَلُّ منه إِخمَصُ الرِّجْل

I do not liken it to his radiant brow,

for the hollow of his foot is nobler than it.

والغيثُ صِنْوُ أَبيهِ قد شَحَذَتْ

كفَّاهُ سيف الخصبِ للمحلِ

And rain, his father's twin, has sharpened,

with its two hands, the sword of plenty against drought.

والأَرضُ قد نزَعَتْ غلائلُها

ما في الصدورِ لها من الغِلِّ

And the earth's robes have stripped away

whatever rancor hearts held against it.

والدهرُ قد عَدَلَتْ حكومتُه

ولطالَ ما عَدَلَتْ عن العَدْلِ

And Time's judgment has become just,

though long had it turned away from justice.

مَلأَ الملاَ بسعيدِ غُرَّتِه

فجميعُ ذلك عنه يستملي

He filled the world with the good fortune of his brow;

and all of this takes dictation from him.

وإِذا رأَيت الحُسْنَ من حَسَنٍ

فاطْرَبْ لصِدْقِ الإِسْمِ والفعلِ

And when you see beauty coming from Hasan,

rejoice at the truth of name and deed.

بحرُ مناسِبُه إِلى حَجَرٍ

تُرْبِي مفاخِرُهُ على الرَّمْل

A sea whose lineages reach back to Hajar,

his glories outnumber the grains of sand.

آباؤهُمْ شَتَّى فضائِلُهُمْ

وهو المُلَقَّب جامِعَ الشملِ

Their forefathers' virtues are diverse,

and he is called 'Gatherer of the Scattered.'

وعلى البِقاعِ له خيامُ ندّى

أَطنابُها مستجمَعُ السُّبْلِ

And over the lands he has tents of bounty;

their guy ropes are the meeting place of roads.

وبه قريشٌ جدَّدَتْ شرفاً

قد كانَ شِيدَ بِخاتَمِ الرُّسْلِ

Through him, Quraysh has renewed an honor

that had been raised by the Seal of the Messengers.

لو قلتُ للساعي ليدرِكَه

ارْجِعْ عَمِيتَ بمَسْلَكٍ غُفْلِ

Were I to tell one striving to overtake him:

'Turn back! You are blind on an unmarked path!'

هذِي البسالَةُ دونَ نهضَتِها

ما شئتَ من مُتَمَنِّع بَسْلِ

This is valor; before its onslaught stands

whatever fierce, unyielding foe you wish.

وقف السوابِقُ دونَ غَايَتِه

ومضَى على الغُلَوَاءِ يَسْتَغْلِي

The swiftest steeds halted short of his goal,

and he pressed on in headlong zeal, striving ever farther.

حَطُّوا فقاموا تحتَ طاعَتِه

لما رأَوْهُ قامَ بالتِّقْلِ

They lowered themselves, then stood under his command,

when they saw him shoulder the burden.

وله سحابٌ نزلت بمَنْصِبِه

فتعلَّقَتْ بالشَّيْخِ والطِّفل

And he has clouds that descended at his station,

then clung to the old man and the child.

فإِذا اختَبَرْتَ وجَدْتَ معرفةً

صارَ الفتى فيها أَخا الكَهْلِ

And when you test him, you find knowledge

in which the youth has become the mature man's peer.

إِن كانَ بعضُ الناسِ حين يَرَى

فلُرَّب بعضٍ وهو كالكُلُ

If, to the eye, he is but part of mankind,

yet many a part is like the whole.

فِقْهٌ تَبِينُ المُشْكِلاتُ به

وتروحُ مُطْلَقَةً من الشُّكْل

Understanding, through which hard questions become clear,

and depart, released from their fetters.

وهُدىً مُبِينٌ لم يُخَلِّ أَخا

جَهْلٍ ولَوْ أَضْحَى أَبا جَهْل

And clear guidance that never forsakes a brother

of ignorance, even should he be Abu Jahl.

وكتابَةٌ من حُسْنِ صُورَتِها

تُغْنِي عن التَنْقِيطِ والشَّكْلِ

And handwriting, so beautiful in form,

that it needs neither dots nor vowel marks.

وسكونُ خاشٍ صِيغَ من مَهَل

منه حَراكٌ صِيغ من مُهْل

And a reverent man's stillness, wrought of deliberation;

from him comes motion wrought of molten metal.

ولَرُبَّ أَجوافَ فيه قعقعةٌ

وكما عَلِمْتَ مَخارِقُ الطَّبْل

And many hollow bodies have a clatter within;

and, as you know, such are the drum's tricks.

يا مَنْ أَعادَتْنِي له سَنَةٌ

ضنَّتْ عَلى عِدَة فَكانَتْ لِي

O you to whom a year brought me back,

a year that begrudged many, yet was mine.

صلَّيْتُ باسْمِ أَخيكَ ممتدِحاً

فَنَجوْتُ من لَهَبِ الهوى المُصْلِي

I prayed in your brother's name, praising him,

so I escaped the searing flame of desire.

ومدحْتُكُمْ في طَيِّ مِدْحَته

حُكْماً ولَمَّا أُبْلَ بالنَّبْلِ

And I praised you all in the folds of his praise,

by inference, though not yet tried with arrows.

والآنَ تَمَّ لديكَ مُفْتَرَضِي

وأَصَبْتُ من نَفَلٍ ومن نَفْل

And now my prescribed duty is fulfilled with you,

and I have gained both bounty and a voluntary offering.

ورأَيتُ منصِبَكُمْ فقلتُ له

ما لَمْ يُخَالَفْ فيهِ بالفِعْلِ

And I saw your station, and said of it

what was not contradicted by deeds.

والناسُ غَيْرَكَ للفضولِ أَتَوْا

وأَتَيْتَ وَحْدَكَ أَنْتَ للفَضْلِ

And people other than you came for frivolities,

but you, you alone, came for excellence.