ضحك الدهر بعد طول عبوس — Abu Bakr Al Suli

ضَحِكَ الدَّهْرُ بعد طُول عُبُوسِ

طَالعاً بالسُّعُودِ لاَ بالنُّحُوسِ

Time laughed after a long frown,

rising with good fortune, not ill fortune.

وأَتَتْنا الأيَّامُ معْتَذراتٍ

لابسَاتٍ نعيمَها بعدَ بُوسِ

And the days came to us apologizing,

clad in their bliss after misery.

بالإِمامِ الرَّاضِي الْمُطلِّ على الآ

داب شَمْسِ الْمُلُوك وابِن الشُّمُوسِ

Through Imam al-Radi, who rises above the

arts—the sun of kings and son of suns.

سَبْعَةٌ مِنْ خَلاَئِفِ ولَدُوهُ

لَمْ يكُنْ ذَا لغيره مِنْ رَئِيسِ

Seven caliphs were his forebears;

no other leader had such a lineage.

رَضِيَ الرَّاضِي الإِلَهُ لِمُلْكٍ

أَوْضَحَ النَّهجَ مِنْهُ بَعْدَ الدُّرُوسِ

God approved al-Radi for a kingdom

whose path He made clear after its effacement.

فهو كالخِصْبِ بَعْدَ وافِدِ جَدْبٍ

رُعِيَ الغَضُّ مِنْهُ بعدَ الْيَبيسِ

He is like verdure after drought arrives,

its tender growth grazed after the dry grass.

آنسَ اللهُ بالخليفةِ مُلْكاً

مَوحِشَ الرَّبْعِ وَاهِنَ التَّأْسِيسِ

God brought cheer, through the caliph, to a kingdom

whose abode was desolate, whose foundations weak.

فَهُوَ يخْتالُ فِي الْجَدِيدِ مِنَ اللِّبْ

سَةِ والْحُسْنِ بَعْدَ لُبْسِ الدَّرِيسِ

So it struts in fresh

raiment and beauty, after wearing threadbare clothes.

يَا نَسيمَ الْحَيَاةِ أَضْحَكْتَ دَهْراً

كان لَوْ لاْكَ دَائِمَ التَّعْبِيسِ

O breeze of life, you made an age laugh

that, but for you, would have frowned forever.

أَنَّ أيَّامَكَ اللِّذَاذَ كَوَصْلِ الْ

حِبِّ طِيباً وَنوْمَةِ التَّعْرِيسِ

Your delightful days are as sweet as union with the

beloved, and sleep at a traveler's night halt.

مَرْدَوَاجُ بِسَيْفِ حَظِّكَ مَفْتُو

لٌ فَأَهْوِنْ بِذَاكَ منْ مَرْمُوسِ

Mardawaj is twisted by the sword of your fortune;

how contemptible is that buried man!

قَصَفْتُه رِيَاحُ أَيَّامِكَ الْغُ

رِّ فَأَخْمَدْنَ مِنْهُ نَارَ الْمَجُوسِ

The winds of your radiant days shattered him,

and quenched within him the Magians' fire.

ثُلَّ عَرْشُ اللَّعِينِ أَسْرَعَ مِمَّا

سُلِبَ الْعَرْشَ مِنْ يَدَيْ بِلْقِيسِ

The accursed man's throne was shattered faster than

the throne was snatched from Bilqis's hands.

وَتَوَلَّتْ بِمَأْتَمِ الدَّهْرِ أَيَّا

مٌ أَتَتْنَا تَجُرُّ ذَيْلَ الْعَرُوسِ

And days departed amid time's mourning,

which had come to us trailing a bride's train.

بَعْدَ كُفْرٍ لِنِعْمَةٍ وَقَبِيحٌ

كُفْرُ عَبْدٍ في نِعْمَةٍ مَغْمُوسِ

After ingratitude for bounty—and ugly is

a servant's ingratitude when steeped in blessings.

وَجَزى الْمُسْلِمِينَ تَؤْخَذُ قَسْراً

بِخُرُوجٍ عَلَيْهِمُ وَمُكُوسِ

And tribute from Muslims was seized by force,

through levies upon them and tolls.

حَابسُ الْمَالِ عَنْهُمْ مُسْتَضَامٌ

باتِّسَاعِ الأَذَى وضِيقِ الْحُبُوسِ

Whoever withheld money from them was oppressed,

with boundless suffering and cramped prisons.

وكأَنَّ الْعِيالَ إِذْ فَقَدُوهُمْ

أُنْشِرُوا في الْبِلاَدِ بَعْدَ الُّرمُوسِ

As though the dependents, when they lost them,

had been raised to life throughout the land after burial.

وكَأَنِّي بِهِمْ حَمَايِلَ إِقْبَا

لٍ طَوِيلِي الإِطْرَاقِ والتَّنْكِيسِ

And I seem to see them as the sword-belts of good fortune,

long bowed, with heads hanging down.

حَسَّهْمُ سَيفُكُ الحُسَامُ فأَضْحَوْا

هُمَّدًا مِنْهُ مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ حَسِيسِ

Your keen-edged sword slew them, and they became

lifeless from its stroke, without the faintest sound.

يَا حُلِيَّ الزَّمَانِ يَا زينَةَ الأَرْ

ضِ وَرَأْسُ الْمُلُوك وَابْنَ الرُّءُوسِ

O adornment of time, O ornament of the

earth, chief of kings and son of chiefs!

إِنَّ نُصْحِي وَصِدْقَ وَدِّي قَدِيمٌ

لَمْ أَشُبْهُ بِالزُّورِ وَالتَّدْلِيسِ

My sincere counsel and true affection are longstanding;

I have not tainted it with falsehood or deceit.

قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ الزَّمانُ شَبابِي

خَالِساً غُرَّتِي بِشَعْرٍ خَلِيسِ

Before time devoured my youth,

stealthily stealing my youthful bloom with gray-streaked hair.

مَا أُطيلُ الْمَقاَلَ خَوْفاً لإِضْجاً

رِ إمَامٍ مُؤَيَّدٍ مَحْرُوسِ

I will not prolong my words, for fear of wearying

an imam upheld and protected.

وَأَرَى النَّاسَ أُظْهِرُوا بِمَدِيحٍ

لِيَ مِنْهُ البُكُورُ بالتَّغْلِيسِ

I see others brought forth with praise

in which mine had the early start, before dawn.

رُبَّ بَذْلٍ سَقَيْتَنِي مِنْهُ كَأْساً

فَأَعِدْ مُدَارَ تِلكَ الْكُئُوسِ

Many a gift have you poured me a cup of;

so send those cups around again.

حِينَ شَرَّفْتَنِي فَكُنْتُ بِنُعْمَا

كَ جَلِيساً مِنْ قَبْلِ كُلِّ جَلِيسِ

When you honored me, I became through your favor

a companion before every other companion.

ثُمَّ أَفْرَدْتَنِي خُصُوصاً بِبِرٍّ

مُفْرَدٍ طَاهِرٍ مِنَ التَّدْنِيسِ

Then you singled me out especially for kindness,

unique and pure, untouched by defilement.

إِنَّ بَيْنِي وَبَيْن دَهْرِيَ حَرْبَاً

جَاوَزَتْ حَرْبَ دَاحِسٍ وَالْبَسُوسِ

A war rages between me and my time,

surpassing the wars of Dahis and al-Basus.

أَنَا منْهُ لغَيْرِ هَجْرٍ وَوَصْلٍ

وَاقِفٌ بَيْنَ لَوْعَةٍ ورَسِيسِ

With it I am neither parted nor united,

standing between burning sorrow and lingering ache.

فَاعْتَبِرْ مَا شَكَاهُ عَبْدُكَ مِنْهُ

ثُمَّ دَاوِ الْخُنَاقَ بِالتَّنْفِيسِ

So consider what your servant has complained of from it,

then cure the choking by giving breathing room.

هُوَ في مِخْلَبِ الزَّمَانِ فَرِيسٌ

فَارْحَمِ الآنَ نَفْسَ هَذَا الْفَرِيسِ

He is prey in time's talons;

so now have mercy on the life of this prey.

وَاسْقِهِ مِنْ سُلاَفِ جَودِكَ بَذْلاً

فَاقَ طِيباً سُلاَفَةَ الْخَنْدَرِيسِ

And give him, from the pure wine of your bounty, a gift

sweeter than the finest draught of aged wine.

يُطْلَقُ الشِّعْرُ فِي أُناسٍ وَشِعْرِي

وَقْفُ مَدْحٍ عَلَى الإِمَامِ حَبِيسِ

Poetry is freely offered to many people; my poetry

is an endowment of praise, reserved for the imam.

لَمْ تَزَلْ فِي القَدِيمِ تَلْبَسُ مِنْهُ

مُسْتَجَدَّ الطِّرَازِ غَيْرَ لَبِيسِ

You have always, since earlier days, worn from it

newly fashioned embroidery, never threadbare.

لاَ أُعَلِّي بِهِ لعُلْوَةَ فِكْراً

فِي مَشِيبٍ لَهَا وَلاَ لِلْعَمِيسِ

I do not raise my thoughts in it to Ulwa,

in her gray-haired age, nor to al-Amis.

مِدَحٌ لَمْ يَزِدْ عَلَيْهَا زِيادٌ

وَهُوَ خَاشٍ رَدَى أَبِي قَابُوسِ

Praises that Ziyad did not surpass,

even while fearing death from Abu Qabus.

لاَ وَلاَ حَاكَ مِثْلَهُنَّ جَرِيرٌ

عِنْدَ إِيحَاشِ رَبْعِهِ الْمَأْنُوسِ

No, nor did Jarir weave their like,

when his once-familiar dwelling grew desolate.

قَامَ هذَا الْمَدِيحِ بِالعُذْرِ مِنِّي

نَائِباً عَنْ نَشيدِ يَوْمِ الْخَمِيسِ

This praise has offered my excuse,

standing in for Thursday's recitation.

فَالْقْهُ بِالنَّجَاح يَا أَكْرَمَ الأُمَّ

ةِ أُعْطِي بِهِ يَمِينَ غَمُوسِ

So receive it with success, O noblest of the

community; on it I swear an oath that would damn me if false.

لِيَ سَبْقُ الْمَدِيحِ فِيكَ عَلَى النَّا

سِ وَفَخْرٌ بِالسَّبْقِ فِي التَّأْسِيسِ

Mine is the first praise of you, ahead of the

people, and pride in being first to lay the foundation.

هِيَ حالٌ لَيْسَ الشَّبَابُ وإِنْ فُضِّ

لَ خَيْراً فِيهَا مِن التَّعْنِيسِ

It is a state in which youth, though

favored, is no better than aging unmarried.

يَا إِمَاماً بِهِ أُمَّرتْ عُرَى الْحَ

قِّ وَحُلَّتْ مَعَاقِدُ التَّلْبِيسِ

O imam, through whom the bonds of

truth were strengthened and the knots of deception undone!

أَيَّدَ اللهُ مُلْكُه بِوَزِيرٍ

عَالِمٍ بِالزَّمَانِ طَبٍّ رَئِيسِ

God strengthened his kingdom with a minister,

versed in his times, a skillful leader.

ضَامِنٍ بِالْوَفَاءِ مِنْهُ رضَى الل

هِ بِحْفظِ الرَّئيسِ والْمَرْءُوسِ

Who secures, through his loyalty, the pleasure of

God by safeguarding ruler and ruled.

ظَمِئَ الْمُلْكُ قَبْلَهُ فَسَقَاهُ

رِيَّهُ مِنْ زُلاَلِ نُصْحٍ مَسُوسِ

The kingdom thirsted before him; he gave it to drink

its fill of the clear water of well-directed counsel.

حَاصِدٍ لِلْعِدَى بِأَقْلاَمِ رَأْيٍ

تَقْطَعُ السيفَ عَنْدَ حَمْيِ الْوَطِيسِ

A reaper of enemies with the pens of judgment,

which cleave the sword when the battle-furnace blazes.

كَيْدُهُ وَافِدٌ عَلَيْهِمْ بِيَوْمٍ

قَمْطَرِيرٍ بِمَا يَشُقُّ عَبُوسِ

His plotting comes upon them with a day

harsh with affliction and grim-faced.

بَانَ فَضْلاً عَلَى الكُفَاةِ كَمَا با

نَ عَلَى ابْنِ اللَّبُونِ فَضْلُ السَّدِيسِ

His excellence above able men stood clear, as did

the six-toothed camel's superiority over the two-year-old.

طَابَ أَصْلاً وَبابْنْه طَابَ فَرْعاً

غَرَس الْمُلْكُ منه خَيْرَ عَريس

Noble in root, and through his son noble in branch,

the kingdom planted from him the finest lion's thicket.

قَدْ أَمَرَّ الزَّمَانُ طَوْعاً عَلَيْهِ

فَسَخَا بَعْدَ نَفْرَةٍ وَشُمُوسِ

Time has passed over him obediently,

and grown generous after aversion and obstinacy.

فَتَرَى النَّاسَ خَاضِعِينَ إِلَيْهِ

مِنْ قِيَامٍ بِأَمْرِهِ وَجُلُوسِ

So you see the people submitting to him,

rising and sitting at his command.

أَمْتَعَ اللهُ بالْوَزِيرِ إِمَاماً

خُصَّ مِنْ نُصْحِهِ بِعلْقٍ نَفِيسِ

May God grant the imam lasting benefit from the minister,

singled out for a precious treasure of his counsel.

وَأَطَالَ الْبَقَاءَ لِلْمَلِكِ الرَّا

ضِي إِلَهُ أَصْفَاهُ وُدَّ النُّفُوسِ

And may God prolong the life of King al-

Radi, to whom He has granted the hearts' pure affection.