أصبحت عاديت للصبا رشدك — Abn Rumi

أصبحتَ عاديتَ للصبا رشدَكْ

جهلاً وأسلمتَ للهوى قَوَدَكْ

You have come to oppose your good sense for youthful passion,

in ignorance, surrendering your reins to desire.

حتى متى لا تُفيقُ من سِنَةٍ

ولا يداوي مفنِّدٌ فندَكْ

How long will you fail to wake from slumber,

while no reprover remedies your folly?

تُعملُ في صيدِ كل صائدةٍ

ختلكَ طوراً وتارة طَرَدكْ

You deploy, to hunt down every huntress,

your guile at times, your pursuit at others.

ترمي التي إنْ أصابَ ظاهرَها

سهْمُك شكَّتْ بحدِّه كبدَكْ

You shoot at one who, should her outer self be struck

by your arrow, would pierce your liver with its point.

يا صاحبَ اللومِ هبْ لذي شعفٍ

عوْنَك فيما عراهُ أو جَلَدَكْ

O man of reproach, grant a love-stricken soul

your help in what has befallen him, or your fortitude.

أوسِعْه عذراً ولُمْ مُعذِّبه

وقلْ له عن أخٍ قد اعتقدَكْ

Allow him ample excuse, and blame his tormentor;

and speak to him for a brother who has chosen you as a friend:

يا حسنَ الجيدِ كم تُدِلُّ على ال

صبِّ كأنْ قد نحلته جيَدَكْ

O lovely-necked one, how you lord it over the

lovesick one, as though you had bestowed your neck on him!

يا واضحَ الثغرِ كم تُدِلُّ على ال

صبِّ كأنْ قد أذقتهُ بردَكْ

O radiant-mouthed one, how you lord it over the

lovesick one, as though you had let him taste your coolness!

أدْلِلْ عليه إذا فعلتَ به

أفعَالك اللائي أشبهتْ غيَدَكْ

Take liberties with him once you have done for him

those deeds of yours that match your languid grace.

حظِّيَ من لؤلؤيْك منعُك مَنْ

ظومَك منّي وتارة بدَدَكْ

My share of your two kinds of pearls is your withholding your strung

ones from me, and at other times your scattered ones.

لا لثمَ ثغرٍ ولا محاورةً

يحلَى بها من هواه قد عبدكْ

No kissing of a mouth, and no conversation

to delight one who has worshipped you out of passion.

يا مورداً صادقَ العذوبةِ أش

كوكَ وأشكو الحماةَ أنْ أردَكْ

O watering-place of true sweetness, I complain

of you, and of the guards who bar my way to you.

إذا افترقنا وَشَى الوشاةُ وإنْ

كان التلاقي وجدتُهم رصَدَكْ

When we part, the slanderers spread tales; and if

we meet, I find them keeping watch over you.

وأنت في منعِ ما أُحبُّ مع ال

قومِ فمن ذا يجير مُضطَهَدَكْ

And you, in denying what I love, side with the

others—who, then, will shelter the one you oppress?

يا ليتَ روحي وروحَك التقتا

في جسدي أو أُحِلَّتا جسدَكْ

Would that my soul and yours might meet

within my body, or be lodged within yours!

عجبتُ من ظلمِكَ القويَّ ولو

شاءَ ضعيفٌ ثناكَ أو عقدكْ

I marvel at your wronging the strong, although

a weakling, if he wished, could bend you or bind you.

دعْ ذا وقلْ في مديحِ ذي كرمٍ

قَوَّمَ إفْضالُ كفِّهِ أودَكْ

Leave this, and speak in praise of a generous man

whose bountiful hand has straightened your crookedness.

ممَّن إذا ما رجوتَ نائلهُ

أنجزَكَ الظنُّ فيهِ ما وعدَكْ

Whenever you hope for the bounty of such a man,

your trust in him fulfills all it promised you.

ما حُوذرتْ نكبةٌ مُزلزِلةٌ

بالناسِ إلا جعلتَه سندكْ

No shattering calamity is feared

among people without your making him your support.

أوْلاك ما يوجبُ اعتبادكَ أد

ناه وما منَّهُ ولا اعْتَبَدَكْ

He gave you gifts that would bind you in servitude—even the least

of them; yet he neither held them over you nor made you his slave.

إسحاقُ أُمْتِعْتَ بالسلامةِ وال

أمْنِ ولا فارقَ التُّقى خلدَك

Ishaq, may you enjoy well-being and

security, and may piety never leave your heart.

وكثَّر اللَّهُ من فتاك أبي

إسحاقَ في ظلِّ نعمةٍ عَدَدكْ

And may God, through your young man Abu

Ishaq, increase your numbers beneath the shade of blessing.

واعتمدَ اللَّهُ بالمكارهِ مَن

قدّرها فيك أو بِها اعتمدكْ

And may God assail with misfortunes whoever

planned them against you, or assailed you with them.

كم غائبٍ غابَ ثم عاد فأل

فاكَ أخا سؤدَدٍ كما عَهِدكْ

How many an absent man went away, then returned and found

you a man of eminence, just as he had known you!

ترغبُ في حمدِ حامديك ولا

تحرمُ جدوى يديْكَ من جحدكْ

You desire the praise of those who praise you, yet

do not deny your hands' bounty to one who denies your worth.

لا يرهبُ القاصدوك مِنْحَسةً

قد قصدَ الحظُّ بابَ من قصدَكْ

Those who seek you fear no ill fortune:

good fortune has sought the door of whoever seeks you.

يا جبلَ اللَّهِ في بسيطته

لا هدَّكَ اللَّهُ بعدما وطَدَكْ

O mountain of God upon His earth,

may God not topple you after making you firm.

حقّاً لقد سَلَّكَ الهُدى ذكَراً

عضْباً وكان الضلالُ قد غمدكْ

Truly, Guidance has drawn you, a hard-tempered blade,

keen-edged, while Error had kept you sheathed.

كأنّما يَشهَدُ النبيَّ أو ال

صدّيقَ أو صاحبيْه مَن شهدَكْ

It is as though one sees the Prophet, or

al-Siddiq, or his two companions, on seeing you.

ورثتَ عباسَك الوسامة وال

رأي فما ينكر امرؤ سَدَدَكْ

From your Abbas you inherited good looks and

judgment, so no man denies your rectitude.

وعِلْمُ عبدِ الإلهِ إرثُك لا

شكَّ فمِنْ ثمَّ تستقي مدَدَكْ

The learning of Abd al-Ilah is your inheritance, beyond

doubt; from there you draw your strength.

ولم تزلْ مذ نشأتَ ممتثلاً

نُسْكَ عليٍّ ميمِّماً صمدَكْ

Ever since you grew up, you have followed

Ali's devotion, turning toward your goal.

وما تعديتَ من محمدٍ ال

حلمَ إذا ما المميِّزُ انتقدكْ

Nor have you departed from Muhammad's

forbearance, whenever a discerning judge examines you.

وحزمُ منصورك المشادُ به

فيك ومن ثمَّ تحتذي لددَكْ

Your Mansur's much-extolled resolve

is in you; from there you take the model for your tenacity.

وساقَ عيسى إليك آصرة ال

شَيْخَيْنِ رِفْداً فنِعْمَ ما رفدكْ

Isa brought you the bond of the

two elders as a gift—how fine a gift he gave you!

وإن بغاك امرؤ بحيث بنى

أحمدُ أعلى بنيانه وجدكْ

And if a man seeks you where

Ahmad built his loftiest edifice, he will find you.

وما تخلفتَ عن خصال أبي

إسحاق من سعيه ولا جَهدكَ

Nor have you lagged behind the qualities of Abu

Ishaq, in his striving or in your own exertion.

آباءُ صِدْقٍ إذا بنيتَ من ال

مجد بناءً وجدتَهم عَمَدكْ

Forefathers of true worth: whenever you raise a building of

glory, you find them your pillars.

مِنْ كلِّهم فيك شيمة فتلتْ

حبلَكَ شزْراً وأحكمت عقدَكْ

From each of them a trait in you has twisted

your rope tightly and made your knots firm.

وتُرْفَدُ الخيرَ من جدودك أو

يُلْقَى بك النَّسْبُ صاعداً أُدَدَكْ

You are endowed with goodness from your forefathers, until

your lineage bears you upward to your Udad.

أقولُ للمنبرِ الشريفِ وقدْ

طال مدى ما اقتضاكَ وارتصدَكْ

I say to the noble pulpit, whose

claim on you and waiting for you have lasted long:

صبراً فلو قد علاك فارسُك ال

أصْيَدُ أحيا بريحهِ صَيَدَكْ

Patience! If your knight should mount you,

that proud-necked man, his fragrance would revive your proud bearing.

أبشرْ به منبرَ العَروبةِ وان

ظُرهُ كأني أراهُ قد صعِدكْ

Rejoice in him, O Friday pulpit, and await

him; I seem to see him already mounting you.

إذ لا تجوزُ الصوابَ خطبتُهُ

ولا يضلُّ الهدى إذا اقتعدكْ

For his sermon never strays from what is right,

nor does he stray from guidance when he sits upon you.

وكيف لا تكثرُ الحنينَ من ال

شوقِ إليه وجدُّه مهدَكْ

How could you not increase your yearning cries out of

longing for him, when his grandfather fashioned you?

ياغرسَ ذي العرشِ لا شريكَ لهُ

أنبتَك اللَّهُ ثم لا حَصَدَكْ

O sapling of the Lord of the Throne—He has no partner—

God planted you; may He never reap you!

بقيتَ للمكرماتِ ما بقيتْ

ولا فقدتَ الندى ولا فقدكْ

May you endure for noble deeds as long as they endure,

and may you never lose generosity, nor it lose you.

وحائرِ الرأْي فيك قلتُ له

أراكَ شبَّهت بحره ثَمَدَكْ

To one bewildered in his judgment of you, I said:

I see you have compared his ocean to your shallow pool.

يا رَمِدَ العينِ قُمْ قبالَتَهُ

فداوِ باللحظ نحوه رَمَدَكْ

O sore-eyed man, stand facing him,

and cure your sore eyes by looking toward him.

أقصِرْ عن الجهلِ يا مُماجِدَه

فقد قضى اللَّهُ أنه مَجدَك

Desist from ignorance, you who vie with him in glory:

God has decreed that he surpasses you in glory.

نافستَ في المُنفِساتِ مَنْ وسعتْ

إحدى مناديح صدرهِ بلدكْ

You vied for precious honors with one whose

breast could hold your land in a single spacious reach.

ألومُ منْ يرتجي لحاقكَ في ال

مجدِ كما لا ألومُ من حَسَدَكْ

I blame whoever hopes to catch you in

glory, just as I do not blame whoever envies you.

جاراك أهلُ العلاء فانقطعتْ

أنفاسُهم قبل قطعِهم أمدَكْ

The people of eminence raced you, but

their breath failed before they could cover your course.

جَرَوا فملُّوا الجِراء في طَلَقٍ

وذاك ما لا تملُّه أبدكْ

They ran, but tired of racing in a single heat;

that is what you never tire of, your whole life long.

أقسمتُ باللَّهِ والنبيِّ لقد

قضتْ مساعيك حقَّ من وَلدكْ

I swear by God and the Prophet: indeed,

your endeavors have paid your begetter his due.

يا منْ يَؤمُّ الوزيرَ معتمِداً

أبلغتَ خير البلاغِ معتمدَكْ

O you who head for the minister, seeking support,

may you reach your goal in the best of ways.

قلْ لأبي الصقرِ إن مَثَلْتَ له

واجمع لما أنت قائلٌ حشدكْ

Say to Abu al-Saqr, if you stand before him,

and gather all your strength for what you will say:

لا يَعْجَبِ الناسُ أن تسودَهُمُ

حقُّ أياديك أن تطيلَ يدكْ

Let people not wonder that you are their master:

your favors deserve that your hand should reach far.

تاللَّهِ تدرِي الأكفُّ تشكر إط

لاقَك أصفادهن أمّ صفدَكْ

By God, do hands know whether to thank you for loosening

their fetters, or for your gifts?

ما نسألُ اللَّه أن تنالَ من ال

خيراتِ إلا عديدَ مَنْ حمدكْ

We ask God to grant you, of

good things, only as many as those who have praised you.

ينصرفُ الوفدُ يحمدُون معاً

يومك فيهم ويأملون غدكْ

The delegates depart, all praising

your day among them and hoping for your morrow.

إنَّ الذئابَ التي تُغيرُ على ال

ناسِ تناهتْ من خوفها أسدَكْ

The wolves that raid the

people have desisted out of fear of your lion.

نصبْتَ للمسلمين محتِسباً

كثَّرَ مُعْطِيكَهُ به عُدَدَكْ

You appointed a public overseer for the Muslims;

may He who gave him to you multiply your resources through him.

فقد أتى كلَّ ما تراه من ال

أمر رشاداً وما عدا رشدَكْ

For he has handled all that you see of

affairs rightly, never departing from your sound judgment.

لا زلتَ يا خيرَ سيدٍ عضُداً

له ولا زال كائناً عضُدكْ

May you always, O best of masters, be a support

to him, and may he always remain your support.

وساخطٍ ما رضيتَ قلتُ له

ارضَ رِضاه أو افترشْ ضمدكْ

To one displeased with what you approve, I said:

Be pleased with his pleasure, or make your rancor your bed.

عشْ في ذراهُ ودعْ عداوتَه

وأنت في الخلد ترتعي رغدكْ

Live in his shelter and abandon enmity toward him,

while in paradise you graze upon your plenty.

وإنْ تتابعتَ في شِقاقِكَهُ

فاعددك في النار تصطلي وقدكْ

But if you persist in your opposition to him,

count yourself in the Fire, burning in your own blaze.

يا من يعادي السماءَ أنْ رُفِعَتْ

كلْ خيرَها تحتها ودع نكدَكْ

O you who hate the sky for being raised high,

eat its bounty beneath it, and abandon your vexation.