يقول ابنُ عمَّارٍ مقالةَ مخلِصٍ

يقول ابنُ عمَّارٍ مقالةَ مخلِصٍ

لسيد تُرْكُسْتَانَ طُرّاً وخُزْلَخِ

لسيد تُرْكُسْتَانَ طُرّاً وخُزْلَخِ

Ibn Ammar speaks the words of a sincere man

Ibn 'Ammar recites with sincere words

To the lord of all Turkestan and Khuzlakh:

To the lord of Turkistan gracefully and elegantly

إليك أبا عثمان أهْدِي تحيةً

إليك أبا عثمان أهْدِي تحيةً

ثناءً كريحانِ الجِنَانِ المضَمَّخِ

ثناءً كريحانِ الجِنَانِ المضَمَّخِ

To you, Abu Uthman, I offer a greeting,

To you Abu 'Uthman I present greetings

Praise like the perfumed basil of the gardens.

And praise like the fragrance of the scented gardens

شكرتُكَ أنْ أَوْلَيْتَنِي ومنحتني

شكرتُكَ أنْ أَوْلَيْتَنِي ومنحتني

عَوَاطِفَ نُعْمَى مَاجِدٍ منك أبْلَخِ

عَوَاطِفَ نُعْمَى مَاجِدٍ منك أبْلَخِ

I thank you for bestowing on me and granting me

I thanked you for bestowing on me

The gracious bounty of your noble, lofty self.

The noble affections you graciously granted

رَدَدْتَ ليَ الإِشْرَاعَ بعد بُطُولِهِ

رَدَدْتَ ليَ الإِشْرَاعَ بعد بُطُولِهِ

فَبُؤْتُ بِعِزٍّ بَاذِخٍ كلَّ مَبْذَخِ

فَبُؤْتُ بِعِزٍّ بَاذِخٍ كلَّ مَبْذَخِ

You restored my right of outward projection after its annulment,

You returned my hopes after their long absence

So I came away with honor towering to the utmost height.

Thus I attained glorious splendor against all who seek splendor

وأمَّنْتَ قلبي أن أُسَامَ هَضِيمَةً

وأمَّنْتَ قلبي أن أُسَامَ هَضِيمَةً

فأفْرَخَ عنْهُ روْعُهُ كلَّ مُفْرَخِ

فأفْرَخَ عنْهُ روْعُهُ كلَّ مُفْرَخِ

You secured my heart against being subjected to injustice,

And you gave my heart assurance not to accept humiliation

So its terror left it completely.

So it was relieved of its fear against all who cause fear

نَسَخْتَ بمُرِّ الحقُّ مظنونَ شُبْهَةٍ

نَسَخْتَ بمُرِّ الحقُّ مظنونَ شُبْهَةٍ

أخَالَتْ ومَهْمَا ينْسِخ الحقُّ يُنْسَخِ

أخَالَتْ ومَهْمَا ينْسِخ الحقُّ يُنْسَخِ

With bitter truth you annulled a conjecture born of doubt

You erased with the bitterness of truth suspected doubts

That had caused confusion; whatever truth annuls is annulled.

That passed away, and whatever truth erases fades away

وقد كانَ ماتَ الحقُّ إلا حُشَاشَةً

وقد كانَ ماتَ الحقُّ إلا حُشَاشَةً

ولكنْ نَفَخْتَ الرُّوحَ في كلِّ مَنْفَخِ

ولكنْ نَفَخْتَ الرُّوحَ في كلِّ مَنْفَخِ

Indeed, truth had died, save for a lingering spark of life,

The truth was all but dead except as mere rubble

But you breathed life into every opening.

But you breathed life into all that breathes

فأضْحَى يرى بين العَداءِ وبيْنَهُ

فأضْحَى يرى بين العَداءِ وبيْنَهُ

بِمَنْعكَ منه بَرْزَخاً أَيَّ برْزَخِ

بِمَنْعكَ منه بَرْزَخاً أَيَّ برْزَخِ

So now it sees, between aggression and itself,

So it sees between enemies and itself

Through your warding harm from it, a barrier—what a barrier!

Through your protection a vast expanse

ولا بِدْعَ أن دَوَّخْتَ بالحق باطلاً

ولا بِدْعَ أن دَوَّخْتَ بالحق باطلاً

فكم باطلٍ بالعدل منك مُدَوَّخِ

فكم باطلٍ بالعدل منك مُدَوَّخِ

It is no wonder that with truth you subdued falsehood;

Without doubt you have destroyed falsehood with truth

How many a falsehood your justice has subdued!

So many falsehoods destroyed justly by you

وكان ابنُ عمَّار يُرَجِّيكَ لِلَّتي

وكان ابنُ عمَّار يُرَجِّيكَ لِلَّتي

يقال لها عند الشدائد بَخْ بَخِ

يقال لها عند الشدائد بَخْ بَخِ

And Ibn Ammar had looked to you for that deed

Ibn 'Ammar had hoped you would be there

Of which, amid hardships, one says, 'Bravo, bravo!'

In times of hardship, they say "alas!"

وكنتَ الذي يحنُو على مستجِيرِهِ

وكنتَ الذي يحنُو على مستجِيرِهِ

بِعَارِفَةِ المولى وعائدة الأَخِ

بِعَارِفَةِ المولى وعائدة الأَخِ

And you were the one who tenderly cares for those seeking his protection,

You were the one who cared for those seeking refuge

With a patron's kindness and a brother's beneficence.

With knowledge of the Master and returning to the brother

ولو أن داري حسْبُ هَمِّك في العُلا

ولو أن داري حسْبُ هَمِّك في العُلا

وفي العُرفِ أضحى صَحْنُها ألفَ فرسخِ

وفي العُرفِ أضحى صَحْنُها ألفَ فرسخِ

And if my house matched your ambition for greatness

Had my abode been the limit of your concerns

And beneficence, its courtyard would span a thousand parasangs.

Its courtyard in custom would have reached a thousand leagues

فكيف ترى الإِضرار بي في جناحها

فكيف ترى الإِضرار بي في جناحها

أبَى ذاك مجدٌ شامخٌ كلَّ مَشْمَخِ

أبَى ذاك مجدٌ شامخٌ كلَّ مَشْمَخِ

How, then, could you countenance harming me over its projecting wing?

How could you see harming me in its precincts

Your glory, towering to the utmost, has refused that.

That refused, a lofty glory against all who climb high

أقولُ لِعيْسٍ أقبلت بمُخِبِّهَا

أقولُ لِعيْسٍ أقبلت بمُخِبِّهَا

على الأَيْنِ تَفْرِي سَرْبَخاً بعد سربخِ

على الأَيْنِ تَفْرِي سَرْبَخاً بعد سربخِ

I say to pale camels approaching with their urging rider,

I say to Jesus, she came with her seductions

Despite exhaustion, cleaving vast desert after vast desert:

To tempt, freely flowing after flowing

عليكِ ابنُ تَكْسِينٍ فَأُمِّي جنابه

عليكِ ابنُ تَكْسِينٍ فَأُمِّي جنابه

تُنَاخي إليه سهلةَ المتنوَّخِ

تُنَاخي إليه سهلةَ المتنوَّخِ

Seek Ibn Taksin, and make for his precinct;

Upon you, son of Takish, so my mother yields to him

You will be made to kneel beside him in a comfortable resting-place.

Placidly bending over to be mounted

فتى غيرُ ما عِلْجِ الخليقة خِلْفِها

فتى غيرُ ما عِلْجِ الخليقة خِلْفِها

ولا خَنِثِ الإِترافِ مثْلِ المُفَنَّخِ

ولا خَنِثِ الإِترافِ مثْلِ المُفَنَّخِ

A young man neither coarse in character nor base in it,

A man unlike the rest of creation after it

Nor made effeminate by luxury, like one enfeebled.

Nor of effeminate pampering like the perfumed

تقابل منه العينُ عند طلوعه

تقابل منه العينُ عند طلوعه

ضياءً متى يُصْبَبْ على الليل يسْلخِ

ضياءً متى يُصْبَبْ على الليل يسْلخِ

At his rising, the eye beholds in him

The eye meets in him at his rising

A radiance that, whenever poured upon night, strips it away.

A brilliance, however much it pours onto the night it peels off

جوادٌ يرى تطهير عرضٍ وملبسٍ

جوادٌ يرى تطهير عرضٍ وملبسٍ

وتدنيس طَبَّاخ وتسويد مَطْبَخِ

وتدنيس طَبَّاخ وتسويد مَطْبَخِ

A generous man who believes in cleansing honor and clothing,

A steed who sees the purification of honor and dress

And soiling the cook and blackening the kitchen.

And the sullying of cooks and blackening of kitchens

يُوَبِّخُهُ إحسانه أو يُتِمُّهُ

يُوَبِّخُهُ إحسانه أو يُتِمُّهُ

وإن لم يكن في فعله بالمُوَبَّخِ

وإن لم يكن في فعله بالمُوَبَّخِ

His beneficence chides him until he makes it complete,

His generosity reproaches or completes him

Though his conduct gives no cause for reproach.

Though there be no reproachable act on his part

إذا ما العُلا عُدَّت فأيُّ مُصَدَّرٍ

إذا ما العُلا عُدَّت فأيُّ مُصَدَّرٍ

به عن أبي عثمانها ومُؤَرَّخِ

به عن أبي عثمانها ومُؤَرَّخِ

When lofty deeds are counted, who could head their record

When glory is prepared, who is the regulator

And mark their era, other than their Abu Uthman?

Of it but Abu 'Uthman the recorder?