أنسمة طيب أم صبا طيبة هبا — Al Burai

أَنسمة طيب أَم صبا طيبة هبا

سحيرا دَعا قَلبي فأسرع مالبى

Was it a fragrant breeze, or Tayba's east wind, that blew

before dawn, calling my heart, which answered so swiftly?

وَطَلعَة نور التم أَم نور أَحمَد

تشعشع حَتّى شق ساطعه التربا

And was that rising glow the full moon's light, or Ahmad's light,

radiating until its brilliance cleft the earth?

فذانك زاداني سروار وَفرجا

همومي وَحلا من عرا كبدي كربا

Those two increased my joy and relieved

my cares, untying anguish from the bonds of my liver.

وَهَيهات ما كل النَسيم حجازيا

وَلا كل نور يبهج الشرق وَالغربا

Yet far from it—not every breeze comes from the Hijaz,

nor does every light gladden the East and West.

لسكان تلك الأَرض عهد مؤكد

لدى وَخبر العهد ما أَنصب الحبا

The dwellers of that land have a binding pledge

in my keeping; the account of that pledge is what established love.

وَما زلت أَستَسري النَسيم لا رضهم

عَلى بعد دارينا وأستمطر السحبا

I have kept sending the breeze by night to their land,

despite the distance between our homes, and imploring the clouds for rain.

تذكرني الاشواق من لست ناسيا

فَتَجري دُموعي في محاجرها صبا

Longings remind me of one whom I have never forgotten,

and my tears pour from their sockets.

فَيا لي من الذكرى وَيالي من الهَوى

وَيا دَمع ما أَجرى وَيا قَلب ما أَصبي

Ah, what remembrance does to me! Ah, what love does to me!

O tears, how freely you flow! O heart, how lovesick you are!

خَليلي من حبي كأن لَم يَرعَكما

رَحيل فَريق فارَقوا الهائم الصبا

My two friends, dear to me, it is as though you were not alarmed

by the departure of a company who left the wandering lover behind.

فاصبح لا عهد قَريب بهم وَلا

طَليعَة علم عنهم تشرح القَلبا

He was left with no recent contact with them, nor

any first report of them to gladden his heart.

دَعَته حمامات الحمى للبكا فَلَم

تدع اذ تَداعَت في الاراك له لبا

The sanctuary's doves called him to weep, and did not

leave him any wits when they called among the arak trees.

وأثمله مر النَسيم فَما دَرى

أنسمة طيب أَم ضيا طيبة هبا

The passing breeze intoxicated him, and he could not tell

whether a fragrant breeze or Tayba's radiance had blown.

وَما ذاكَ الا روح روضة جنة

ثَرى في ثراها سيد العرب العربا

It was nothing but the breath of a garden of Paradise,

soil in which rests the master of the pure-blooded Arabs.

نَبي هدى من ضل منا بهديه

وأدرك بالتَوحيد من يعبد النصبا

A prophet who guided those among us who strayed, through his guidance,

and brought God's oneness to those who worshipped idols.

رجونا به من ظلمة الظلم رحمة

فمد علينا ظل ملته الغلبا

Through him we hoped for mercy out of the darkness of oppression,

and he spread over us the shade of his mighty faith.

وَما زالَ يَدعونا إِلى اللَه وحدهِ

إِلى أَن رضينا اللَه سبحانه رَبا

He never ceased calling us to God alone,

until we accepted God—glory be to Him—as our Lord.

وَلَولاه ما كانَ الوجود بموجد

وَلا أرسل الرحمن رسلا وَلا نبا

But for him, existence would never have been brought into being,

nor would the All-Merciful have sent messengers or a prophet.

فما اشتملت أَرض عَلى مثل أَحمد

وَلا استودع الرحمن رحما وَلا صلبا

No land has ever contained Ahmad's equal,

nor has the All-Merciful entrusted his equal to womb or loins.

تَظاهَرَت الاخبار من قبل بعثه

بأن يظهر الرحمن أَعلا الوَرى كعبا

Reports converged before his mission

that the All-Merciful would bring forth the highest in rank of all creation.

وَبشرنا موسى وَعيسى بن مَريَم

به ومن الاحبار من قرأ الكُتبا

Moses and Jesus, son of Mary, gave us glad tidings

of him, as did those religious scholars who had read the Scriptures.

فَلما اِستقلت أمه حمله رأت

به بَركات من عَديد الحصى أربى

When his mother bore the burden of carrying him, she saw

blessings through him more numerous than the pebbles.

وأهبطت الاملاك لَيلة وضعه

وَناداه من في الكَون رحبا به رحبا

The angels were sent down on the night of his birth,

and all in creation called out to him: 'Welcome, welcome!'

ونكست الاصنام في كل وجهة

وَغلت يد الشَيطان تبا له تبا

The idols were overturned in every direction,

and Satan's hand was shackled—ruin to him, ruin!

وأخمدت النيرات في أَرض فارِس

وَكل يَهود الشام قد عدموا خبا

The fires in the land of Persia were extinguished,

and all the Jews of al-Sham lost their cunning.

وَلاحَ شعاع النور في شعب مكة

فَقامَت رِجال الحق تَستَبقِ الشُعَبا

A ray of light appeared in a ravine of Mecca,

and the men of truth rose, racing toward the ravines.

فَلما رأوه أَكبروه وَفاخرت

بطلعته البَطحاء أفق السما عجبا

When they saw him, they revered him; and in glory vied

al-Batha, at his appearance, with heaven's horizon in wonder.

رأوا منه ملء العين طفلا مُباركا

يَناسب غرا من بَني غالب غلبا

In him they saw a blessed child, a sight that filled the eye,

kin to the radiant, mighty sons of Ghalib.

وَلَم ينكروا من آل وهب بن زهرة

خؤلتهم اذ كان أَكرَمهم وهبا

Nor did they deny, among the family of Wahb ibn Zuhra,

their maternal kinship, since he was the most generous of them in giving.

فَلاقَت قُرَيش منه ايمن طائر

واسعد فأل واِنثَنى جدبها خصبا

Quraysh found in him the most auspicious omen,

the happiest augury, and its barrenness turned to fertility.

وَجلل أَهل الشرق وَالغَرب انعما

يقل مداد البحر عَن حصرها كتبا

He clothed the people of East and West in blessings

that an ocean of ink could not fully record.

وَعلم اهل الرشد ذكرا مُباركا

حوى الزجر والاحكام وَالفرض وَالندبا

He taught the people of right guidance a blessed Reminder

containing prohibitions, rulings, obligations, and recommendations.

وَبالغ في الانذار حَتّى اذا عتت

عليه رجال الشرك خاطبهم حربا

He warned to the utmost until, when they grew insolent

against him—the men of idolatry—he addressed them with war.

وَما زالَ حَتّى فل شوكة بأسهم

وابد لهم بالسَيف من امرهم رعبا

He did not cease until he blunted the edge of their might

and, with the sword, showed them the terror of their plight.

وَحل بلطف اللَه عقدة عزهم

وَذَلك حين اِستَعمل الطعن وَالضربا

Through God's kindness he loosened the knot of their power,

when he employed thrusting and striking.

وَلَم يَبقَ للكفار حصنا ممنعا

وَلا مَسلكا وَعرا وَلا مرتقى صعبا

He left the unbelievers no fortified stronghold,

no rugged path, nor any difficult ascent.

فَكانَ فنا الطاغين في كل بلدة

وَمنتجع الراجين في السنة الشهبا

He was the destruction of tyrants in every land,

and a pasture for the hopeful in the ash-gray year of drought.

يبارى هبوب الريح جود يَمينه

اذا ما شمال الشام ناوحت النكبا

The bounty of his right hand races the blowing wind

when the north wind of al-Sham blows against the crosswind.

لئن كانَ ابراهيم خص بخلة

فَهَذا نبي أَوتى القرب والحبا

If Abraham was singled out for intimate friendship,

this is a prophet granted nearness and favor.

وان كان فوق الطور موسى مكلما

فأَحمد جاز السبع وأخترق الحجبا

And if Moses was spoken to atop al-Tur,

Ahmad passed beyond the seven heavens and pierced the veils.

وان فجر اليَنبوع موسى من الصفا

فأحمد أَروى من أَنامله الركبا

And if Moses made a spring gush from the rock,

Ahmad quenched the travelers' thirst from his fingertips.

وان كلم الاموات عيسى بن مَريَم

فأحمد في عَيناه سجت الحصبا

And if Jesus, son of Mary, spoke to the dead,

for Ahmad, the pebbles lay still in his two eyes [text unclear].

لَقَد فضل الاملاك والرسل رفعة

عليهم وَساد الجن وَالعجم وَالعربا

He surpassed the angels and messengers in exalted rank

above them, and ruled over jinn, non-Arabs, and Arabs.

أَلَم تَرَ أَن الانبياء جَميعهم

عليه يَحيلون الشَفاعة في العقبى

Do you not see that all the prophets

refer intercession to him in the world to come?

فَما أَحد منهم يَقول انا لها

سواه واى يَنتَهي مثله قربا

None of them says, 'I am fit for it,'

except him; who else attains nearness like his?

غداه نَرى من تحت ظل لوائه

حَبيبا وَحوضا طيبا بارِدا عذبا

On that morning, from beneath his banner's shade, we shall see

a beloved one and a pool, wholesome, cool, and sweet.

عَلَيك سَلام اللَه عد بِكَرامة

لمن لا يَرى غير الذنوب له كسبا

God's peace be upon you; grant an honor

to one who sees no earnings of his own but sins.

وَقل أَنتَ يا عَبد الرَحيم غدامعي

بحضرة قدس عند من يغفر الذَنبا

And say, 'You, O Abd al-Rahim, shall be with me tomorrow

in a holy presence, before the One who forgives sins.'

وَكن من اذى الدارين حصتي فانني

اعدك لي من كل نائبة حسبا

Be my share of refuge from the harm of both abodes, for I

count you as sufficient for me against every calamity.

وَمَهما تَناءَت عنك داري فانني

لا صبح يا شمس الهدى جارك الجنبا

However far my dwelling lies from you, I

shall surely be, O sun of guidance, your distant neighbor.

فَما كانَ عودى ان حججت وَلَم أعد

اليك جفاء لا ومن فلق الحبا

My return was not—if I made pilgrimage and did not return

to you—an act of estrangement: no, by Him who splits the grain!

وَلكن تَصاريف الزَمان عجيبة

وانت اذا اِستَعتَبت اجدر بالعتبى

But the turns of time are wondrous,

and you, when entreated to reconcile, are most worthy of granting reconciliation.

فصل حبل مَدحي فيك واقبل وَسيلَتي

لادرك حسانا بفضلك اوكعبا

So join the cord of my praise of you, and accept my plea,

that through your favor I may catch up with Hassan or Ka'b.

واكرم مَعي نسلي واهلي وَحيرَتي

وَسالف آبائي وَصَحبي وَذا القربى

Honor with me my descendants, my household, and my bewilderment [text unclear],

my forefathers of old, my companions, and my kin.

وَصلى عليك اللَه ما ذر شارق

وَما اِبتَهجت في اللَيل افق السما شهبا

May God bless you as long as a sun rises,

and heaven's horizon rejoices at night with shooting stars,

صَلاة وَتَسليما عَليك وَرَحمَة

مُباركة تَنمو فَتَستَغرِق الحصبا

blessings, salutations, and mercy upon you,

blessed and growing until they encompass all the pebbles,

تخصك يا مَولاي حيا وَميتا

وَتشمل في تَعميمها الآل وَالصحبا

devoted to you, my master, in life and death,

and embracing, in their universal reach, your family and companions.