في راحتيك الرزق والأجل — Al Tughrai

في راحتيكَ الرِزقُ والأجَلُ

وبعزمتيكَ الأمنُ والوَجَلُ

In your two palms lie sustenance and life's appointed end;

And by your two resolves come safety and dread.

ولك الكتائب وهي مُشعَلَةٌ

والبيضُ في الهامات تشتعلُ

And yours are the battalions, set ablaze,

And bright swords blaze among the heads.

والرأيُ يمضي حيثُ لا أسَلٌ

يمضي لِطيَّتهِ ولا بَطَلُ

And your judgment advances where no spear

Advances to its goal, nor any champion.

والمكرُماتُ يضِلُّ إنْ حُصِرتْ

في عدِّها التفصيلُ والجُمَلُ

And your noble deeds, if tallied, bewilder

Both detailed reckonings and totals in their count.

ويدٌ تَهُدُّ المالَ راحَتُها

أبداً ويعمُرُ ظهرَها القُبَلُ

And a hand whose palm lays waste to wealth,

Forever, while kisses throng its back.

ومجالسٌ يُكْنَى الكلامُ بها

لِيناً وتُغْضِي دونَها المُقَلُ

And assemblies where speech is couched in allusion,

Gently, and eyes lower before them.

بكَ دانتِ الدنيا لصاحبِها

وانقادَ منها السهلُ والجبلُ

Through you the world submitted to its master,

And its plains and mountains yielded.

مادتْ غُصونُ العيشِ مُثْقَلةً

حَمْلاً وغصنُ الدِين مُعتدلُ

The boughs of life swayed, heavily laden

With their burden, while faith's bough stood straight.

وأعادتِ الأيامُ بهجَتَها

فالملك غَضُّ العود مقتبلُ

And the days restored their splendor;

So kingship is tender of stem and youthful.

ولعَ العُداةُ بهم فذادَهُمُ

يَقظانُ في استعجاله مَهَلُ

The foes grew intent on them, but were driven back

By a vigilant one, deliberate even in his haste.

كالسيلِ لولا أنه دُفَعٌ

والليلِ لولا أنهُ ظُلَلُ

Like a torrent, were it not a succession of surges,

And like the night, were it not layers of shadow.

وذَعرتَ ريبَ الدهرِ منتقِماً

من كيدِه فصِعابهُ ذُلُلُ

And you terrified time's misfortunes, taking vengeance

On its guile; its hardships are now tame.

لو دبَّ رأيُك في كعوبِ قَناً

ما مسَّها طنبٌ ولا خَطَلُ

If your judgment crept into the joints of spear-shafts,

Neither excessive length nor slackness would touch them.

أو كان ضوؤُكَ للغزالةِ لمْ

يحجُبْ ضياءَ جبينها الطَفَلُ

Or were your light the sun's, no

Twilight would veil the radiance of her brow.

في كلِّ مكرمةٍ وإن عظُمَتْ

بجميلِ فعلكَ يُضربُ المثلُ

In every noble deed, however great,

Your beautiful deeds are held up as the example.

سُسْتَ الأنام برأي مشتمِلٍ

بالحزمِ لا سأمٌ ولا مَلَلُ

You governed humankind with judgment clothed

In firm resolve, with neither tedium nor weariness.

ترعَى إِذا غفلوا وتسهرُ إنْ

ناموا وتَحلم كلَّما جَهِلُوا

You watch over them when they are heedless, and keep vigil if

They sleep; you are forbearing whenever they act foolishly.

أنت الذي لولا مَداهُ عفتْ

طرقُ الهُدى واستبهمَ السُّبُلُ

You are he without whose reach would vanish

The paths of guidance, and the ways would grow obscure.

في كل شعبٍ من رويَّتِه

شُعَبٌ ومن آرائِه شُعَلُ

In every branch of his deliberation

Are further branches, and from his judgments, flames.

تمضي الأمورُ على إرادتِه

فتكادُ قبلَ الفِعل تنفعلُ

Affairs proceed according to his will,

So they almost come to pass before the act.

يرتدُّ عنه جَفنُ حاسدِهِ

وكأنهُ بالنارِ مكتحِلُ

His envier's eyelid recoils from him,

As though it were lined with fire.

وجهٌ كيومِ الصحوِ مبتسمٌ

ويدٌ كلَيلِ الدّجْنِ تنهملُ

A face smiling like a clear day,

And a hand pouring like a cloud-dark night.

متخرِّقٌ في العُرْف منبسطٌ

متأزِّرٌ بالمجدِ مشتمِلُ

Lavish in kindness, open-handed,

Girded with glory and cloaked in it.

لا الهولُ يملأُ ناظريهِ ولا

يجتابُ فُرضةَ سمعِه عَذَلُ

Terror does not fill his eyes, nor

Does reproach pass through the inlet of his hearing.

ما شئتَ من وعدٍ يساوِقُه

نُجْحٌ وقولٌ تِلوُهُ عملُ

Every promise you could wish for is matched

By fulfillment, and speech is followed by action.

مُسِحتْ على الأنواءِ راحَتُهُ

فانساقَ منها العارضُ الهَطِلُ

His palm was brushed across the rain-bringing stars,

So from it the downpouring cloud swept onward.

وتبرَّجَتْ للمجدِ همَّتُهُ

فانصاعَ منها الجبنُ والبُخُلُ

And his ambition displayed its beauty for glory,

So cowardice and miserliness fled from it.

هو عِلّةُ المعروفِ لو صدقوا

أنّ الأمورَ لكونها عِلَلُ

He is the cause of kindness, if they spoke truly

That things have causes for their existence.

إنْ ضَنَّ غيثٌ أو جنَى قمرٌ

فيمينُه وجبينُه البَدَلُ

If rain is grudging, or a moon does wrong,

Then his right hand and brow replace them.

تغدُو بنو الدنْيَا وليس لهمْ

من طولِ ما أغناهمُ أمَلُ

The world's children rise with nothing left

To wish for, so long has he enriched them.

أغناهُ عن سعيٍ وعن طَلَبٍ

جَدٌّ حثيثٌ خطوُهُ عَجِلُ

He is spared striving and seeking

By good fortune, swift and hurried in its stride.

وكفاهُ جهدَ الرأي يَشْغَلُهُ

عفوُ البديهةِ ما بها شُغُلُ

And he is spared the toil of thought that would engross him

By unforced intuition, free of preoccupation.

فالرأيُ مثلَ القول مبتدَهٌ

والقولُ مثلَ الطعنِ مرتَجَلُ

So judgment, like speech, is spontaneous,

And speech, like a thrust, is improvised.

من دوحةِ العلياء حيثُ نَبَا

عن صفحتيها القادِحُ العَمِلُ

From the great tree of eminence, where recoils

From its two flanks the industrious wood-borer.

صمَّاءُ ما في عودِها خَوَرٌ

عيطاءُ ما في عِطْفِها مَيَلُ

Solid, with no weakness in its wood,

Towering, with no bend in its flank.

زمَّ الممالكَ أوّليّتَه

حتى أقامَ قناتَها الدوَلُ

His forebears held the kingdoms' reins,

Until dynasties straightened their spear-shaft.

الساكتينَ وما بهم حَصَرٌ

والقائلينَ وما لهم خَطَلُ

Silent, yet not tongue-tied,

And speaking, yet without foolish talk.

فَعلوا وما قالوا وأينَ هُمُ

من معشرٍ قالوا وما فعلوا

They acted and did not speak; how far they are

From a people who spoke and did not act!

إنْ أطرقُوا هِيبُوا وإنْ نطقُوا

قالوا الجميل وإن وَلُوا عَدَلوا

If they lowered their heads, they inspired awe; if they spoke,

They spoke fair words; and if they ruled, they were just.

وإِذا الخطوبُ رسَتْ كلاكِلُهَا

وتشابهَ الأَعجازُ والقُلَلُ

And when calamities settled their chests firmly down,

And the bases and summits became indistinguishable,

وتبادرتْها البُزْلُ وانعكستْ

فيها على أصحابِها الحِيَلُ

And seasoned veterans hurried to confront them, while

Stratagems used there rebounded upon their own devisers,

سبقتْ بديهتُه رويَّتَهُ

كالبرقِ لا ريثٌ ولا كَسلُ

His intuition outstripped his deliberation,

Like lightning, with neither delay nor sloth.

يهوى اللَّحاقَ بشأوِه نفَرٌ

عن شأوِهِ غَفلوا وما عَقِلُوا

Some men long to catch up with his course,

Heedless of his reach, and without understanding.

ألِفُوا الهُوينَا فاستطارَ بهِ

متمهِّلٌ بالبرقِ منتعِلُ

They were used to ease, but he was borne aloft

By an unhurried one, shod in lightning.

لوْ أنَّ شُرْبَ الماءِ منقصةٌ

لم يُصْبِهِ نهلٌ ولا عَلَلُ

If drinking water were a blemish,

Neither a first nor a second draught would touch him.

فإليكَ مجدَ الدينِ مُعلِمَةً

بالشكرِ أقطعُها وتتَّصِلُ

So to you, Majd al-Din, this poem, marked

With gratitude: I break it off, yet it continues.

فالمدحُ مختارٌ ومنتخَبٌ

والشكرُ معتامٌ ومنتخَلُ

For praise is chosen and selected,

And gratitude is singled out and sifted.

واسلمْ على الأيام تأمُرُها

أبداً بما تهوَى وتمتثلُ

And stay safe through the days, commanding them

Forever as you desire, while they obey.

أيامكَ الأعيادُ ناصعةٌ

غُرٌّ وبالُكَ ناعِمٌ جَذِلُ

Your days are festivals, radiant,

Bright, and your mind is at ease and glad.