لقد بسط الإحسان والعدل في الأرض — Al Imad Al Asbahani

لقد بسطَ الإحسانَ والعدلَ في الأرضِ

إمامٌ بحكمِ اللّهِ في خَلْقهِ يَقضي

Indeed, he has spread beneficence and justice across the earth—

an imam who judges God's creatures according to God's decree.

أَفادَ المنايا والمنى فوليُّهُ

غدا للمنى يَقضي وحاسدُهُ يقضي

He bestows death and wishes fulfilled: his ally

now fulfills his wishes, while his envier dies.

مَهيبٌ يُغَضُّ الطّرفُ دونَ لقائهِ

يَغُضُّ حياءً وهو في الحق لا يُغضي

Awe-inspiring, he makes eyes lower before meeting him;

he lowers his gaze in modesty, yet never looks away from what is right.

أَفي يوسفَ المستنجدِ اللّه قولُه

كذلك مكّنا ليوسُفَ في الأرضِ

Is it of Yusuf al-Mustanjid that God says:

'Thus We established Yusuf in the land'?

ألا إنَّ أَمراً ليس يُبرَمُ باسمهِ

فإبرامُهُ يُفضي سريعاً إلى النّقضِ

Know that any matter not ratified in his name—

its ratification quickly leads to annulment.

وختمُ دوامِ المُلكِ فيه فللتُّقى

على مُلكهِ ختمٌ يجلُّ عن الفَض

In him lies the seal of lasting kingship, for piety

sets upon his kingdom a seal too exalted to be broken.

لسَيْبٍ وسيفٍ كَفُّهُ حالتي ندىً

وبأْسٍ فما تخلو من البسط والقبضِ

For bounty and sword, his hand, in times of generosity

and valor, is never without opening or grasping.

صرائمهُ في الحادثاتِ صوارمٌ

إذا نَبت الآراءُ عن كشفها تمضي

His firm resolves are cutting swords amid calamities;

when counsels fail to dispel them, those swords press on,

بحزمٍ لأَسرارِ المقاديرِ مُقتض

وعزمٍ لأبكارِ الحوادثِ مُفْتضِّ

with prudence that wrests out the secrets of destiny,

and resolution that deflowers virgin calamities.

إمامٌ له ما يُسخطُ اللّهَ مسخطٌ

وما غيرُ ما يُرضي الإلهَ له مُرضِ

An imam for whom whatever angers God is displeasing,

and nothing but what pleases God pleases him.

لكَ النُّورُ موصولاً بنورِ محمدٍ

أَضاءَتْ بهِ الأَنسابُ عن شرفٍ محضِ

Yours is light joined to the light of Muhammad;

through it, lineages shine with pure nobility.

وظلُّكَ في شرقِ البلادِ وغربها

مديدٌ على طولِ البسيطةِ والعَرضِ

Your shade, in the east of the lands and their west,

extends the whole length and breadth of the earth.

أَنمتَ عبادَ اللّهِ أمناً فلم تدعْ

عيونَ العدى رُعباً تكحَّلُ بالغمضِ

You lulled God's servants to sleep in safety, but did not let

the enemies' eyes, through terror, adorn themselves with the kohl of sleep.

فعهدُ الأَعادي قالصُ الظلِّ مُنقضٍ

ونجمُ الموالي طالعٌ غيرُ منقضِّ

The enemies' era, its shadow shrinking, is ending,

while the allies' star rises, never falling.

لقد فرضتْ منكَ النّوافلُ شكرَها

على النّاسِ حتى قابلوا النّفلَ بالغرضِ

Your freely given favors have indeed made gratitude obligatory

upon the people, until they answered bounty with purposeful thanks.

وما الفرقُ بين الرُّشد والغيِّ في الورى

سوى حُبِّكم في طاعةِ اللّهِ والبُغضِ

What separates right guidance from error among mankind

but love for you in obedience to God, as against hatred?

رفعتَ منارَ الدِّين عدلاً فأَهلُهُ

من العزِّ في رفعٍ وبالعيشِ في خفضِ

You raised religion's beacon through justice, so its people

stand high in honor and live in ease.

بخيلٍ كمثلِ العارضِ السَّحِّ كثرةً

تضيقُ صدورُ البيدِ عنها لدى العَرضِ

With horses as abundant as a rain-pouring cloud,

the deserts' bosoms are too narrow for them when mustered.

معوَّدةٌ خوضَ النّجيعِ من العدى

إذا انتجعَتْهُ أَلسنُ السُّمرِ بالوَخضِ

Accustomed to wading through enemies' blood,

when the tongues of brown spears forage for it with their thrusts.

إذا حَفيتْ منها النِّعالُ تنعّلَتْ

بهام عِدىً رُضّتْ بها أَيَما رَضِّ

When their horseshoes wear through, they shoe themselves

with enemies' skulls, utterly crushed beneath them.

حوافرُ خيلٍ ودَّتْ الصِّيدُ أَنّها

تكحّل منها بالغبارِ لدى النفضِ

Hooves of horses: proud lords have wished they could

kohl their eyes with the dust shaken off them.

عوارضكم نابتْ عن العارضِ الرَّوي

وآراؤكم أَغنتْ عن الجحفلِ العَرْض

Your clouds of bounty take the place of the rain-laden cloud,

and your counsels dispense with the broad host.

عدُّوكَ مرفوضٌ بمَجْهلِ حيرةٍ

لقى كلَ سيلٍ من عقابكَ مُرفضِ

Your enemy lies cast off in a trackless waste of bewilderment,

flotsam before every surging torrent of your punishment.

عقابُك أَوهاهُ فأصبحَ ناكصاً

على عقبيهِ ماله مُنَّةُ النَّكضِ

Your punishment has weakened him, leaving him recoiling

upon his heels, with no strength even to stir.

لشانئكم قلبٌ من الرُّعبِ خافقٌ

ومن وَهَج الحمّى ترى سرعة النبضِ

The one who hates you has a heart trembling with terror;

and from fever's blaze you see his pulse race.

وما صدقتْ إلاّ بوارقُ عدلكم

أَوان بروقِ الظلم صادقة الومضِ

Only the lightning flashes of your justice kept their promise,

when oppression's lightning flashed all too truly.

ويحيا ليحيى كلُّ حقٍ قضى وهل

قضى غيركم ما كان للدِّين من قرض

Through Yahya, every right he has fulfilled lives on; and has

anyone but you repaid the debt owed to religion?

وزيرٌ بأعباءِ الممالكِ ناهضٌ

إذا عجزتْ شمُّ الرواسي عن النهضِ

A minister who rises to bear the burdens of kingdoms,

when lofty, firmly rooted mountains cannot bear them.

مشتّتُ شملٍ للُّهى غيرُ مُنفضٍ

وجامعُ شملٍ للعُلى غيرُ منفضِّ

He scatters amassed gifts, yet is never depleted,

and gathers lofty honors into unity, never scattered himself.

وعزمٌ كحدِّ الصّارمِ السّيفِ مُنتضى

نَضوتَ به ثوبَ الغبارِ الذي ينضي

And a resolve, unsheathed like a keen sword's edge—

with it you stripped off the robe of dust that wears one down.

رجوتُ أَميرَ المؤمنينَ رجاءَ مَن

إلى كلِّ مقصودٍ به قصدُه يفضي

I placed my hopes in the Commander of the Faithful, with the hope of one

whose pursuit, through him, reaches every desired goal.

وأَشكو إليه نائباتٍ نُيوبها

نوابتُ في عظمي ثوابتُ ف نَحضي

And I complain to him of calamities whose fangs

grow into my bone and are lodged fast in my flesh.

ومنكرةٍ إنْ عضّني نابُ نائبٍ

أَما عرفتْ عودي صليباً على العَضِّ

And a woman who protests if calamity's fang bites me—

has she not known my timber to be tough against the bite?

تحضُّ على نِشدان حَظٍّ فقدتُهُ

إذا الحظُّ لم ينفعْ فلا نفعَ في الحضِّ

She urges me to seek a share of fortune I have lost;

if fortune does not help, exhortation has no use.

يُكلِّفها حبُّ السّلامةِ أَنّها

تُكلِّفني حبَّ القناعةِ والغضِّ

Her love of safety compels her

to make me love contentment and self-restraint.

لقد صَدَقَتْ إنَّ القناعة والتُّقى

لأَصونُ في الحالينِ للدِّينِ والعرضِ

She has indeed spoken truly: contentment and piety

are surer safeguards, in both conditions, for religion and honor.

تقولُ إِلامَ السّعيُ في الرِّزق راكضاً

ورزقُكَ محتومٌ وعُمرُكَ في رَكضِ

She says, 'How long will you run in pursuit of livelihood,

when your sustenance is decreed and your lifetime is racing past?

ولو كانتِ الأَرزاقُ بالسّعي لم يكن

غنى العزِّ معقولاً ولا فاقة العِضِّ

If livelihoods depended on striving, there would be

no conceivable wealth of honor, nor poverty for the shrewd.'

إنْ كان هذا البحرُ جَمّاً نَميرَه

ففيمَ اقتناعي عنه بالوشلِ البَرْضِ

If this sea is abundant in sweet water,

why should I turn from it and settle for a scant trickle?

كفَى شرفاً في عصرِ يوسفَ أَنّني

لبستُ جديدَ العِزِّ في الزَّمنِ الغَضِّ

It is honor enough, in Yusuf's age, that I

have donned fresh glory in this tender, youthful time.

لساني وقلبي في ولائكَ والثّنا

عليكَ فها بعضي يغارُ من البعضِ

My tongue and heart are devoted to you and to praise

of you: behold, one part of me envies another.

لَسوَّدَني تسويدُ مدحِك في الورى

فإضْتُ بوجهٍ من ولائكَ مبيضِّ

Blackening pages with your praise has indeed made me a master among mankind;

so I returned with a face whitened by allegiance to you.

وما كلُّ شِعرٍ مثلَ شعريَ فيكمُ

ومَن ذا يقيسُ البازلَ العَودَ بالنقضِ

Not every poem is like my poetry in your praise;

who would compare a mature, seasoned camel with an exhausted one?

وما عزَّ حتى هانَ شعرُ ابن هانىءٍ

وللسُّنّةِ الغرّاءِ عِزٌّ على الرَّفضِ

My poetry gained honor only when the poetry of Ibn Hani' was humbled;

and the radiant Sunna is exalted above rejectionism.