يروع الذئب حيث سواك راع — Abn Qlaks

يَرُوعُ الذئبُ حيثُ سِواكَ راعِ

ويُثْلَمُ غَيْرُ نَصْلِكَ بالقِراعِ

The wolf strikes terror where anyone but you is shepherd.

And blades other than yours are notched in combat.

ويُخْدِعُ بالمُنَى من بات يرجو

تناوُلَ شَأْوِ عِزِّكَ بالخِداعِ

Wishes deceive whoever spends the night hoping

to attain the reach of your glory through deceit.

وما المغرورُ إِلاَّ مَنْ تَعَاطَى

مداكَ وما مداكَ بمُسْتَطاعِ

None is deluded but he who attempts

your reach—yet your reach is unattainable.

يحاول نُهْزَةَ الإِطراقِ عنه

وللوَثَبَاتِ إِطراقَ الشُّجَاعِ

He seeks an opening in your gaze averted from him;

yet the serpent lowers its head to spring.

فساقَ إِليكَ كُلَّ أَسيرِ حَتْفٍ

دَعَتْهُ إِلى مَتَالِفِهِ الدَّواعي

Thus it drove to you every captive of death,

whom impulses called toward his own destruction.

وقام السَّعْدُ يُنْشِدُ رُبَّ أَمرٍ

أُتِيح لقاعدٍ بِمَسيرِ ساعِ

And good fortune rose to recite: 'Many a thing

is granted to one seated through a striver's journey.'

فَقَلَّصَتِ الرَّعارِعُ جانبَيْها

مُنّزَّهَةَ المَقَامِ عَنِ الرِّعاعِ

Then the noble youths drew in their flanks,

their station kept unsullied by the rabble.

وما الحَشَرَاتُ مَعْ نَزْوَاتِ كَيْدٍ

بجاهلةٍ مُنَاجَزَةَ السِّباعِ

And insects, despite their fits of cunning,

are not ignorant of fighting beasts of prey.

فأَينَ متونُ مُشْرَعَةِ العوالى

وأَينَ بطونُ عالية الشِّراعِ

Where, then, are the backs beneath leveled lances,

and where the bellies beneath a lofty sail?

رأت ذاتَ القلوعِ لك احْتِفالاً

أَرَتْهُمْ مثلَهُ ذاتَ القِلاعِ

She saw the sail-bearing fleet muster for you;

she of the fortresses showed them a muster to match.

وكايلَتِ المواضِيَ بالمَوَاضِي

مكايَلَةَ الرِّضا صاعاً بِصاعِ

And she measured keen blades against keen blades,

in a willing exchange, measure for measure.

وإِن ذَمُّوا المِصاع لِحَرِّ بأْسٍ

فقد حمدوكَ في ذَمِّ المصاعِ

Though they condemn combat for the heat of battle,

in condemning combat they have praised you.

وكم حفِظَتْ سيوفُكَ من دماءٍ

أُضيعَتْ عند أَبناءِ الضِّياعِ

And how much blood your swords have spared

that was squandered among the sons of the farmlands.

رعيتَ اللَّه والإِسلامَ فيهِمْ

وكنتَ لِذَا وذلك خَيْرَ راعِ

You heeded God and Islam in dealing with them,

and of this and that you were the finest shepherd.

وربَّت فارسٍ أَمْسَى مَرُوعاً

وإِنْ أَضْحَى على خِصْبِ المَرَاعي

And many a horseman passed the evening terrified,

though he passed the morning amid fertile pastures.

طَرَحْتَ عنانَهُ لِيَدَيْهِ فيها

وليسَ يخيبُ عندك ذو انتجاعِ

You placed his reins in his own hands there,

and no seeker of pasture goes disappointed with you.

فإِن أَشبعته وخلاكَ ذَمٌّ

فكَمْ أَشْبَعْتَ من أُمَمِ جِياعِ

If you have fed him full and blame has passed you by,

how many hungry peoples have you fed full!

ولمَّا اسْتَرْفَدُوكَ جَرَيْتَ فيهم

على المحمودِ من كرم الطباعِ

And when they sought your aid, you dealt with them

according to what is praised in generous natures.

رضعتَ الجودَ في سلْمٍ وحربٍ

وحرَّمت الفِطامَ على الرَّضاعِ

You suckled generosity in peace and war,

and forbade weaning from that nursing.

وصُنْتَ بوارق الأُمراءِ عن أَنْ

تَمُدَّ لها الخطوبُ طويلَ باعِ

And you guarded the princes' lightning-flashes against

calamities stretching a long arm toward them.

رفعتَ لهم سماءَ المَجْدِ حتى

سَكَبْتَ المجد دعوى الارتفاعِ

You raised the heaven of glory for them until

you poured out glory's claim to loftiness [wording unclear].

وسُمْتَ مقامَ داعِي الدِّينِ فيهمْ

فكلٌّ للَّذِي أَوْلَيْتَ داعِ

And you sought the station of the faith's summoner among them;

so each offers prayers for what you have bestowed.

ولو أَدركْتَ تُبَّعَ مالَ فخراً

إِلى التَّقديمَ عندَكَ باتِّباعِ

Had you encountered Tubbaʿ, he would proudly have inclined

toward preferment with you by following you.

يضيقُ بك الزمانُ الرّحبُ ذَرْعاً

وعزمُكَ فيه مُتَّسِعُ الذِّراعِ

Vast time cannot encompass you,

yet your resolve has an ample armspan within it.

وكم وَطِئَتْ مساعِيكَ السَّوامي

بأَخْمَصِها على لِمَمِ المساعي

How often your lofty endeavors have trodden

with their arched soles upon the locks of other endeavors.

تَبِعْتَ أَباكَ في جودٍ وبأْسٍ

وزِدْتَ على اتِّباعِ بابْتِداعِ

You followed your father in generosity and valor,

and went beyond following by innovating.

بني شرفَ الفخارِ على يَفَاعٍ

فكنتَ النارَ في شَرَف اليَفَاعِ

He built the pinnacle of pride on a hilltop;

and you were the fire on the summit of that height.

ومثلُكَ بالوزارةِ ذو اضطلاعٍ

على من جاد فيها ذو اطلاعِ

And one like you can shoulder the vizierate,

well acquainted with those who excelled in it.

بِنهضتِكَ ارتجعتَ لها بلالاً

أَباكَ وليس يَوْمَ الإِرْتِجاعِ

Through your rising, you restored to it Bilāl,

your father—though this is no day of return.

فما نلقَى به إِلاَّ بشيراً

كأَنَّ المَيْتَ لم يندُبْهُ ناعي

So in him we meet only a bearer of glad tidings,

as though no herald of death had lamented the dead man.

وحقَّ لنا بياسرٍ ارْتِياحٌ

عزيزٌ أَنْ يُعَارَضَ بِارْتياعِ

And rightly we take delight in Yāsir,

a delight that alarm can scarcely oppose.

سمعنا عن عُلاهُ وقد رأَينا

سما قدرُ العِيانِ على السَّماعِ

We heard of his loftiness; now that we have seen,

the worth of seeing has surpassed that of hearing.

وصارَعْنَا الخطوبَ إِلى حماهُ

فكانَ لنا به غَلَبُ الصِّراعِ

We wrestled with calamities toward his protected domain,

and through him the victory in wrestling was ours.

وفارَقْنَا إِليه الأَهلَ علماً

بأَنَّ به دوامَ الإِجْتِماعِ

We left our kin to go to him, knowing

that through him togetherness endures.

بَدَأْنا بالتدَّاعي للتَّدانِي

فأَسرعْنَا التَّداني بالتَّداعي

We began by calling one another to draw near;

then, calling one another, we hastened our approach.

فأَوْرَدَنَا نَدَاهُ البَحْرَ شُدَّتْ

قُرَاهُ بالمَذَانِبِ والتِّلاعِ

So his bounty brought us to the sea, whose

villages were bound together by channels and ravines.

وَمَلَّكَنا ربوعَ المجدِ حتَّى

نَظَمْنَاهُنَّ في تلك الرِّباعِ

And he gave us possession of the abodes of glory, until

we set them in verse within those dwellings.

وأَقْطَعَنَا اقْتِراحاتِ الأَماني

وما الإِقطاعُ منهُ بذِي انْقِطاعِ

And he granted us whatever our wishes proposed;

and his grants know no interruption.

فأَصبحَ باسْمِهِ ديوانُ شِعْرِي

على التَّحرِير عالي الإِرْتِفاعِ

Thus the collection of my poems, bearing his name, became

high in yield upon exact reckoning.

وكانت دَوْلَةُ الإِقتار عندي

فقامَ لنا نداهُ باخْتِلاعِ

The rule of poverty had held sway with me;

then his bounty rose to depose it for us.

وصارَتْ رُقْعَةُ الدنيا بكفِّي

بما أَولاهُ من مِنَنِ الرِّقاعِ

And the expanse of the world came into my palm

through the favors he bestowed in written grants.

ولولا من حَطَطْتُ قِناعَ خدِّي

لعِلَّةِ صَوْنِهِ تَحْتَ القِناعِ

Were it not for one for whom I lowered my cheek's veil,

in order to preserve it beneath the veil,

وذكرَى عاوَدَتْ كَبِدِي فعادَتْ

وليْسَ سِوى شَعاعٍ في شَعَاعِ

and a memory that revisited my liver, leaving it

nothing but scattered fragments amid scattered fragments,

ضَرَبْتُ بِظِلِّهِ أَوتادَ رَحْلِي

وقُلْتُ أَمِنْتُ عادِيَةَ اقْتِلاعِ

I would have driven the pegs of my camp into his shade,

and said, 'I am safe from the violence of uprooting.'

سلامٌ أَيها الملكُ المُعَلَّى

بلفظٍ يستقيلُ من الوداعِ

Peace, O exalted king,

in words that ask to be excused from farewell.

سلامٌ كالنسيمِ الرَّطْبِ ساعٍ

بخَطْوٍ من تَأَرُّجِهِ وَسَاعِ

Peace, advancing like the moist breeze,

with broad strides borne by its fragrance.

فإِنْ ضاعَفْتَ في حقِّي اصطِناعاً

فقَدْ ألْفَيْتَ أَهلَ الإِصْطِناعِ

If you redouble your favors toward me,

you have indeed found one worthy of favor.

وإِن وفَّرْتَ فِيَّ الجودَ إِني

لأَرحلُ عنكَ بالشكرِ المُشَاعِ

And if you lavish generosity upon me, I

shall surely leave you with gratitude spread abroad:

ثناءٌ تَعْيَقٌ الأَقطارُ منه

وتُخْضَبُ منه ما حِلَةُ البقاعِ

praise from which the regions grow fragrant [uncertain reading],

and whatever raiment the lands wear is dyed by it [wording unclear].

متى غنَّتْ به نَغَمُ الوَافِي

هَفَتْ طرباً لها نَغَمُ السَّماعِ

Whenever the faithful one's melodies sing it,

the strains of song flutter with delight at them.

إِذا ما المجدُ لم يُضْبَطْ بشعرٍ

فقد أَضحى بِمَدْرَجَةِ الضِّياع

When glory is not preserved in poetry,

it has taken the road to oblivion.