خليفة ما جاء حتى ذهبا — Ahmed Shawqi

خَليفَةٌ ما جاءَ حَتّى ذَهَبا

ضاعَ عَليهِ الدَمُ وَالمال هبا

A caliph: no sooner had he come than he was gone.

Blood and wealth were wasted for him, turned to dust.

الصاحِبُ اِبنُ الصاحب الكَريمِ

الجللُ المَطلَب وَالغَريمِ

The Companion, son of the noble Companion,

Lofty in his aims, formidable as an adversary.

اِبنُ الزُبير وَكَفى تَعريفا

إِن الشَريفَ يَلدُ الشَريفا

Ibn al-Zubayr—that is introduction enough.

Indeed, the noble begets the noble.

أَبوهُ هَضبةُ العُلا الشَماء

وَأُمُّهُ في الشرف السماء

His father was the towering height of glory,

And his mother, in nobility, was the sky.

مُستَقبلُ الأَيام بِالصِيامِ

وَمُتعبُ الظَلام بِالقِيامِ

Welcoming the days with fasting,

And wearying the darkness with standing in prayer.

وَأَطهَرُ المُعاهدين ذِمَّه

وَأَكبرُ المُجاهِدين هِمه

The purest of covenant-makers in keeping faith,

And the greatest in resolve among those who strive.

وَثباً مِن الخَوارجِ الشِدادِ

إِلى بَني أُميَة اللدادِ

Leaping from the fierce Kharijites

To the implacable sons of Umayya,

إِلى مُداراة بَني العَباس

وَالعَلويين الشِدادِ الباس

To conciliating the sons of al-Abbas

And the Alids, fierce in might.

فَاِنتَظَمت أَهلَ الحِجالا بَيعتُه

وَاِحتَكَمَت في البصرتين شِيعتُه

Thus allegiance to him embraced those in the curtained chambers,

And his partisans held sway in the two Basras.

وَدَخل العِراقُ في وَلائِهِ

وَخَرَجَت مصرُ عَلى أَعدائِهِ

Iraq entered into allegiance to him,

And Egypt rose against his enemies.

فَضاقَ مَروانُ بِهِ ذِراعا

وَاِنخرعت قُدرته اِنخِراعا

Then Marwan could no longer cope with him,

And his power was utterly shattered.

بابن الزُبير لا يُقاس ابن الحَكَم

لا تَرفَعُ الأَحكامُ كُلَّ مَن حَكَم

Ibn al-Hakam cannot be measured against Ibn al-Zubayr.

Rulership does not ennoble everyone who rules.

لا يَستوي مَن عُمرَه تَحنَّفا

وَمَن رَسولُ اللَهِ أَقصى وَنَفى

One who followed the true faith all his life is not the equal

Of one whom God's Messenger drove away and exiled.

مَروانُ لَيسَ لِلأُمور صاحِبا

وَإِن غَدَت لِذَيلِهِ مساحبا

Marwan was no master of affairs,

Though they became paths for his trailing hem.

جر عَلى عُثمانَ ما قَد جرا

أَرادَ أَن يَنفَعَهُ فَضَرّا

He brought upon Uthman what he brought;

He meant to benefit him, but did him harm.

رُبَّ عَدوٍّ عاقِلٍ أَشكاكا

وَرُبَّ وَدِّ جاهِلٍ أَبكاكا

Many a wise foe has eased your grievance,

And many a foolish friend has made you weep.

لَكنه أَبو النُجوم الزُهرِ

مَصابِحِ الأَمر مُلوكِ الدَهر

Yet he was the father of radiant stars,

Lamps of rule, kings of the age.

حدِّث إِذا باهى المُلوكُ بِالوَلَد

عَن حَجَر الأَرض وَبَيضَةِ البَلَد

Speak, when kings boast of their offspring,

Of the earth's rock and the land's prized egg.

يَدنو بَنو المَنصور مِن أَبنائِهِ

في الرفق بِالمَلكِ وَفي بِنائِهِ

The sons of al-Mansur come close to his sons

In caring for the kingdom and in building it.

ما كسليمانَ وَلا عَبدِ المَلِك

وَلا الوَليدِ عاهِلٌ وَلا مَلِك

None is like Sulayman or Abd al-Malik,

Or al-Walid, among sovereigns or kings.

لَما أَتى اِبنَ الحَكَمِ الحِمامُ

آل لِعبد المَلك الزِمام

When death came to Ibn al-Hakam,

The reins passed to Abd al-Malik.

فَيا شَقاءَ اِبنَ الزُبير ما لَقى

لَقَد أُصيبَ بِالدَهيِّ الفَيلَق

And oh, Ibn al-Zubayr's misery—what he suffered!

He was indeed beset by a wily man, a legion in himself.

فَتى مِن النَوابغ المُرّادِ

إِن همّ لَم يُثنَ عَن المُراد

A youth among the untamable geniuses,

If he resolved, he was not turned aside from his goal.

قَد نَضجت آراؤه غلاما

وَرُزق الهمةَ وَالكَلاما

His judgments had already ripened when he was a boy,

And he was granted resolve and eloquence.

وَكانَ في الشَرع شِراعَ الأَمّه

وَفي الحَديث مُستَقى الأَئمّه

In sacred law, he was the nation's sail,

And in hadith, the wellspring of the imams.

فاقَ فَلَولا بُخلُهُ وَغَدرُهُ

فاتَ مَقاديرَ المُلوك قَدرُهُ

He excelled; but for his stinginess and treachery,

His stature would have surpassed the measure of kings.

ما زالَ في الشام إِلى أَن راضها

ضم قِواها وَشَفى أَمراضَها

He remained in Syria until he had tamed her,

United her forces and cured her ailments.

فَاِجتَمَعت لِذي دَهاءٍ حُوّلي

كَعَهدِها بِالأَمَويّ الأَوَلِ

So she united under a man of resourceful cunning,

As in her days under the first Umayyad.

رَمى بِها مَجموعة مُعدَّه

إِن النِظامَ عَدَدٌ وَعُدّه

He hurled her forth, united and prepared;

For organization is numbers and equipment.

فَظَفرت بفِرَق الخَوارجِ

مِن داخِلٍ في طاعَةٍ وَخارِجِ

So she overcame the Kharijite factions,

Those entering obedience and those breaking away.

وَلَم تَدع لابن الزُبير جَمعا

إِلّا أَراها طاعَةً وَسَمعا

And she left Ibn al-Zubayr no host

That did not show her obedience and submission.

بَعد حُروب وائِلِيَةِ الحرَب

لَولا سُباتُ الرُوم ضاعَت العُرب

After wars, Wa'il-like in their fury;

Had the Romans not slumbered, the Arabs would have perished.

أَحستِ المللة فيها بِالغرر

وَرُمِيَ البَيتُ العَتيقُ بِالشرر

The faith sensed peril in them,

And the Ancient House was pelted with sparks.

وَطاحَ فيها مُصعَبٌ كَريماً

يَحمي كَلَيث العَتيقُ بِالشَرر

And in them Mus'ab fell, noble,

Guarding the Ancient [House] like a lion, with sparks.

وَضاقَ عَبد اللَه عَن عَبد المَلك

وَرَأيِهِ الوَضاءَ في الخَطب الحلك

And Abd Allah proved unequal to Abd al-Malik

And his radiant judgment in the pitch-dark crisis.

اِنصَرَف الكُرّارُ وَالكُماةُ

وَاِنحَرَف الأَنصارُ وَالحُماةُ

The charging warriors and champions departed,

And the supporters and protectors turned away.

أَسلَمه الأَهلون حَتّى ابناه

وَخَذلت شِمالَه يمناه

His kinsmen abandoned him—even his two sons;

And his right hand forsook his left.

فَجاءَ أُمّه وَمَن كَأُمِّه

لَعَلَها تَحمل بَعضَ هَمّه

So he came to his mother—and who was like his mother?

Perhaps she could bear some of his burden.

وَالبَيت تَحتَ قَسطَلِ الحَجاجِ

وَخَيلُهُ أَواخذُ الفِجاجِ

The House lay beneath al-Hajjaj's cloud of dust,

And his cavalry held the mountain passes.

فَقالَ ما تَرينَ فَالأَمرُ لَكِ

لِلمَوت أَمضى أَم لِعَبد المَلِكِ

He said, “What do you think? The decision is yours:

Shall I go to death, or to Abd al-Malik?”

قالَت بَنيّ وَلدَ القوّامِ

وَاِبنَ العَتيق القائم الصَوّامِ

She said, “My little son, child of the constant worshipper,

And descendant of al-Atiq, steadfast in prayer and constant in fasting,

أَنظُر فَإِن كُنتَ لِدينٍ ثرتَ

فَلا تُفارق ما إِلَيهِ سِرتَ

Consider: if you rose up for faith,

Do not forsake what you set out toward.

أَو كانَت الدُنيا قُصارى هِمتك

فَبئس أَنتَ كَم دَمٍ بِذمتك

Or if this world was the utmost of your ambition,

Then wretched are you—how much blood is on your conscience!

إِلحَق بِأَحرارٍ مَضوا قَد أَحسَنوا

فَالمَوت مِن ذلِّ الحَياة أَحسَنُ

Join free men who passed on, having done well;

For death is better than a life of humiliation.

وَلا تَقُل هُنتُ بِوَهن مَن مَعي

فَلَيسَ ذا فعلَ الشَريف الأَلمَعي

Do not say, ‘I was brought low by the weakness of those with me’;

That is no deed of a noble, clear-sighted man.

وَمُت كَريماً أَو ذُقِ الهَوانا

وَعَبثَ الغِلمان مِن مَروانا

And die nobly, or taste humiliation

And the mockery of Marwan's boys.

أَنتَ إِلى الحَقِّ دَعَوتَ صَحبَكا

فَاقضِ كَما قَضوا عَلَيهِ نَحبَكا

You called your companions to the truth;

So fulfill your vow upon it, as they fulfilled theirs.

وَلا تَقُل إِن مُتُّ مَثَّلوا بِي

وَطافَ أَهلُ الشام بِالمَصلوب

Do not say, ‘If I die, they will mutilate me,

And the people of Syria will circle the crucified one.’

هَيهات ما لِلسَّلخ بِالشاة أَلم

وَرُب جِذعِ فيهِ لِلحَق عَلَم

Far from it! The sheep feels no pain from flaying.

And many a tree trunk bears a banner of truth.”

وَعانَقتهُ فَأَحسّت دِرعا

قالَت أَضِقتَ بِالمَنون ذرعا

She embraced him and felt a coat of mail.

She said, “Has death become too much for you to bear?

مِثلَك في ثِيابه المُشَمّره

جاهد لا في الحَلق المسمّره

One like you, in his tucked-up clothes,

Fought, not in riveted rings of mail.

لا تَمضِ فيها وَأرح مِنها الجَسد

وَامشض بِلا درعِ كَما يَمضي الأَسَد

Do not go in it; free your body of it,

And go without armor, as the lion goes.”

فَنزع النَثرةَ عَنهُ وَاِنطَلق

في قلة يَلقى العَديدَ في الحَلَق

So he stripped off his coat of mail and set forth,

Among a few, facing the multitude in mail.

فَماتَ تَحتَ المرهفات حرا

لَم يَألُ خَيرَ الأُمَهات بَرّا

He died beneath the keen-edged blades, a free man,

Never stinting in devotion to the best of mothers.