وفي يوم بدر حين بارز شيبة — Al Sayed Al Humairi

وفي يوم بدرٍ حينَ بارزَ شيبة

بِعَضبِ حُسامٍ والأسنَّةُ تَلمَعُ

And on the day of Badr, when he dueled Shaybah,

with a keen, cutting sword, while the spearheads gleamed,

فبادره بالسيف حتى أذاقه

حِمام المنايا والمنيّاتُ تَرْكَعُ

he forestalled him with the sword until he made him taste

death's doom, while deaths knelt.

وصيّره نهباً لذئبٍ وقَشْعَمٍ

عليه من الغِربان سودٌ وأبقَعُ

He made him plunder for a wolf and an old vulture,

with black crows and a pied one above him.

وفي يوم جاءَ المشركونَ بجمعِهم

وعمرو بن عبدٍ في الحديدِ مقنَّعُ

And on the day the polytheists came with their host,

with Amr ibn Abd shrouded in iron armor,

فجدَّلهفقال له إنّ النبيَّ ورده

على حاجةٍ فارجع وكلٌّ ليَرجعُ

he felled him; then he said to him, 'Indeed, the Prophet ...,' and turned him away,

'has some business, so go back'; and everyone would surely return.

فعادَ ثلاثاً كلّ ذاكَ يَرُّده

فأهوى بتأييدِ إلى الباب يَقْرَعُ

He returned three times; each time he turned him away.

Then, with aid, he moved toward the door, knocking.

فاسمَعهُ القرعَ الوصيُّ لِبابِهِ

فقال له ادخل بعدَما كادَ يرجعُ

The appointed successor made him hear the knocking at his door,

and he told him, 'Enter,' after he had almost gone back.

وقال له يَشكو وقد جئتُ مرّةً

وأخرى وأخرى كلَّ ذلك أَدفعُ

He said to him, complaining, 'I came once,

and again and again, and each time I was turned away.'

فَسَرَّ رسولَ الله أكلُ وصيِّهِ

وأنفُ الذي لا يَشتهي ذاك يُجدعُ

His appointed successor's eating delighted God's Messenger,

and the nose of whoever dislikes that is cut off.

وقال له ما إن يُحبّك صادِق

من الناس إلاّ مؤمنٌ متورِّعُ

He said to him, 'No sincere person loves you

among the people except a devout believer,

ويَقلاك إلاّ كافرٌ ومنافقٌ

يفارقُ في الحقّ الأنامَ ويَخَلَعُ

and none hates you save an unbeliever or a hypocrite,

who breaks with mankind over the truth and renounces allegiance.'

فلمّا قضى وحي النبيّ دعا له

ولم يكُ صلّى العصرَ والشمسُ تَنْزِعُ

When the Prophet's revelation had ended, he prayed for him,

and he had not prayed the afternoon prayer, while the sun was sinking.

فرُدّت عليهِ الشمسُ بعد غُروبِها

فصار لها في أوّلِ الليلِ مَطلَعُ

The sun was returned to him after its setting,

so it had a rising at the beginning of the night.

وأسكنه في مَسجد الطُّهر وحدَه

وزوَّجه واللهُ من شاءَ يَرفَعُ

He housed him alone in the mosque of purity,

and arranged his marriage; God exalts whomever He wills.

مجاوِرُهُ فيه الوصيُّ غيرُه

وأبوابهم في مسجدِ الطُّهرِ شُرَّعُ

The appointed successor was his neighbor there, [as were] others;

and their doors stood open in the mosque of purity.

فقال لهم سُدّوا عن اللهِ صادقاً

فضَنُّوا بها عن سَدِّها وتمنَّعوا

He truthfully told them, on God's authority, 'Close them.'

But they clung jealously to them rather than close them, and resisted.

فقامَ رجالٌ يذكرونَ قرابةً

وما ثمّ فيما يبتغي القومُ مَطمَعُ

Men rose, invoking their kinship,

but there was no hope of gaining what the people sought.

فعاتبه في ذاك منهم معاتِبٌ

وكان له عمّاً وللعمّ مَوْضِعُ

One of them reproached him over that,

and he was his uncle; an uncle has standing.

فقالَ له أخرجتَ عمَّكَ كارهاً

وأسكنتَ هذا إن عمّك يَجْزَعُ

He said to him, 'You expelled your uncle against his will,

and housed this one; your uncle is distressed.'

فقال له يا عمّ ما أنا بالذي

فعلتُ بكم هذا بل الله فاقنعوا

He told him, 'Uncle, I am not the one

who did this to you; rather, it was God, so be content.'

شِلواً صريعاً لوجهِهِ

رَهيناً بقاعٍ حولَه الضَّبْعُ تَخْمَعُ

A carcass, felled upon his face,

held captive on open ground, with a hyena limping around him.

وأهلكهم ربّي ورُدُّوا بِغيظهم

كما أُهلِكَتْ عادُ الطغاةِ وتُبَّعُ

My Lord destroyed them, and they were driven back in their rage,

as tyrannical Ad and Tubba were destroyed.

وفي خاصفِ النّعلِ البيانُ وعبرةٌ

لِمعتَبِرٍ إذ قال والنّعلُ تُرقَعُ

In the sandal-mender there is clear evidence and a lesson

for one who takes heed, when he said, while the sandal was being patched,

لأصحابه في مجمعٍ إن منكم

وأنفسُكم شوقاً إليه تَطلَّعُ

to his companions in an assembly, 'Indeed, among you is—

and your souls look eagerly toward him in longing—

إماماً على تأويلِه غيرُ جائِرٍ

يُقاتل بَعدي لا يَصِلّ ويَهْلَعُ

a leader, free of injustice, who over its interpretation

will fight after me, neither clamoring nor panicking.'

فقال أبو بكرٍ أنا هو قالَ لا

فقال أبو حفصٍ أنا هو فاسْفَعُ

Abu Bakr said, 'I am he.' He said, 'No.'

Abu Hafs said, 'I am he—so seize!'

فقال لهم لا لا ولكنّه أخي

وخاصفُ نَعلي فاعرِفوهُ المُرَقِّعُ

He told them, 'No, no; rather, he is my brother,

and the mender of my sandal; recognize him, the patcher.'

وفي طائرٍ جاءت به أم أيمنٍ

بيانٌ لمن بالحقِّ يَرضى ويَقْنَعُ

And in a bird that Umm Ayman brought

there is clear evidence for whoever accepts the truth and is content.

فقال إلهي آتِ عبدَك بالذي

تُحبّ وحبُّ اللهِ أعلى وأَرفَعُ

He said, 'My God, bring to Your servant the one

You love; God's love is higher and loftier,

ليأكلَ من هذا معي وينالَه

فجاءَ عليٌّ من يَصُدُّ ويَمنَعُ

so he may eat of this with me and partake of it.'

Then Ali came; someone was turning him away and barring him.

وقد كان في يوم الحدائقِ عبرةٌ

وقولِ رسولِ الله والعينُ تَدمِعُ

There was a lesson on the day of the gardens,

and in the words of God's Messenger, as his eye shed tears.

فقال عليّ ممّ تَبكي فقال مِن

ضغائنَ قومٍ شَرُّهم أتوقّعُ

Ali said, 'Why are you weeping?' He said, 'Because of

the rancors of people whose harm I anticipate

علكَ وقد يُبدونها بعد مِيتتي

فماذا هُديتَ اللهُ في ذاك يُصنَعُ

against you; they may reveal them after my death.'

'What, then—may God guide you—is to be done about that?'

وفي يومِ ناجاه النبيُّ محمدٌ

يُسِّر إليه ما يُريد ويُطْلِعُ

And on the day the Prophet Muhammad spoke privately with him,

confiding to him what he wished and making it known,

فقال أطال اليوم نَجوى ابن عمّه

مناجاتُه بغيٌّ وللبغيِ مَصرع

someone said, 'Today he has prolonged his private talk with his cousin.

His private converse is wrongdoing, and wrongdoing has its downfall.'

فقال لهم لست الغداة انتجيته

بل الله ناجاه فلم يتورعوا

He told them, 'It was not I who took him aside this morning;

rather, God spoke privately with him'; yet they showed no restraint.

فأبصر ديناراً طَريحاً فلم يزل

مُشيراً به كَفاً يُنادي ويُسمِعُ

He saw a dinar lying cast down and kept

gesturing with it in his palm, calling out and making himself heard.

فمال به والليلُ يَغشى سوادُه

وقد همَّ أَهل السُّوقِ أن يتصدَّعوا

Then he turned with it, as night's darkness spread,

when the people of the market were about to disperse,

إلى بيِّعٍ سَمحِ اليدينِ مباركٍ

توسّم فيه الخيرَ والخيرُ يُتْبَعُ

toward a blessed seller, generous-handed.

He discerned goodness in him, and goodness is to be followed.

فقال له بِعني طعاماً فباعَهُ

فقال لك الدينارُ والحَبُّ أجمَعُ

He said to him, 'Sell me food,' and he sold to him.

He said, 'The dinar and all the grain are yours.'

فلا ذلك الدينارُ أُحميَ تِبره

ولا الحَب ممّا كان في الأرضِ يُزرَعُ

Neither had that dinar's gold been heated,

nor was the grain of what is grown in the earth.

فبايعه جبريلُ والضيفُ أحمدٌ

فثمَّ تناهى الخير والبرّ أجمع

For Gabriel had traded with him, and the guest was Ahmad;

there goodness and all righteousness reached their utmost.

وفي أهلِ نجرانٍ عشيَة أقبلوا

إليه وحَجُّوا بالمسيحِ فأبدَعوا

And in the people of Najran, on the evening they came

to him, arguing about the Messiah and advancing novel claims,

وردُّوا عليه القولَ كُفراً

وقد سمِعوا ما قال فيه وأروعوا

and rejecting his words in unbelief,

though they had heard what he said about him, and caused alarm.

فقال تعالوا نَدعُ أبناءَنا معاً

وابناءَكم ثُمّ النساءَ فأجمَعوا

He said, 'Come, let us call our sons together,

and your sons, then the women'—and they agreed—

وأنفسَنا ندعو وأنفسَكم معاً

ليجمعَنا فيه من الأصلَ مَجْمَعُ

'and let us call ourselves and yourselves together,

so that a gathering may unite us there from the outset.'

فقالوا نعم فاجمع نُباهِلْكَ بُكرةً

وللقومِ فيه شِرّة وتسرُّعُ

They said, 'Yes; gather them, and we will invoke a mutual curse with you in the morning.'

The people showed fierceness and haste in this.

فجاؤوا وجاء المصطفى وابنُ عمّه

وفاطمُ والسِبطانِ كي يَتضرّعوا

They came, and the Chosen One came with his cousin,

and Fatimah and the two grandsons, to supplicate

إلى اللهِ في الوقتِ الذي كان بينهم

فلمّا رَأَوْهم أحجموا وتَضعضعوا

to God at the time arranged between them.

When they saw them, they recoiled and were shaken.

فقال له مه يا بُريدةُ لا تَقل

فإن برغمي في عليِّ تَتَبُّعُ

He said to him, 'Stop, Buraydah; do not say it,

for fault-finding with Ali is against my wishes.

فمنِّي عليَّ يا بُريدةُ لم يَزل

وإنّي كذا منه على الحقِّ نُطْبَعُ

Ali has always been of me, Buraydah,

and I likewise am of him; we are molded upon the truth.

وليُّكُم بَعدي علي فايقنوا

وقائِعَهُ بعد الوقيعةِ تُسرِعُ

Ali is your guardian after me; be certain.'

His battles hasten after the battle,

بتوبته مستعجلاً خابَ إنّه

بِسبِّ علي في لَظىً يَتَدرَّعُ

with his repentance, hurriedly—he has failed, for he

by reviling Ali, puts on blazing fire as armor.