شرف مضى ونظيره يتجدد — Aloshari

شرف مَضى وَنَظيره يَتَجدد

لِفَتى أَبوه المُرتَضى وَمُحَمد

An honor has passed, and its equal is renewed

For a youth whose forebears are al-Murtada and Muhammad.

خَضعت لِعزَتِهِ الأَعزة فَاِنثَنى

وَلَهُ يَد فَوقَ الزَمان لَها يَد

The mighty bowed to his might, and he turned back,

And his is a hand above Time, a hand that holds sway.

وَتَصَعدت أَنواره فَتَحَيرَت

شَمس الضُحى لضيائِها وَالفَرقَد

His lights rose high, bewildering

The forenoon sun and Farqad with their radiance.

علوي آباء عَلى اسنادهم

لَما غَدا لابن العَوانك يسند

Alid in ancestry, through his forebears' transmitted line,

When he came to be traced to the son of al-Awanik.

نسب يُعلقه الزَمان تَميمة

فَوق الرُؤوس وَسُؤود لا يجحد

A lineage that Time hangs as an amulet

Above all heads, and an eminence none can deny.

أَضحى الزَمان بِفَضله مُتطاولاً

فَغَدا وَيَوم علاه يحسده الغَد

Time grew proud through his excellence,

And the day of his glory became tomorrow's envy.

تَسعى الرفاق إِلى استلام نَواله

وَالكُل مِنهُ مُطَوق وَمُقَيد

Companies hasten to receive his bounty,

All garlanded and bound by his gifts.

كَرم عَلى كَرَم وَجود مغدق

وَيَد تسح وَبَحر فَرد يشهد

Generosity upon generosity, and lavish bounty,

A hand pouring forth, a peerless sea to behold.

صَدر تَصدر لِلفُنون وَبَثها

بَين العِباد وَكُل فَرد يشهد

A foremost man who led in learning and spread it

Among mankind, as every person testifies.

ذهن تضيء بِهِ الحَوادث إِن رجت

وَيَذوب حالاً مِن سناه الجلمد

A mind that lights up events when they grow turbulent,

And from its radiance solid rock melts at once.

نَحر العُلوم بشفرتيه فَلَم تَمُت

في عَصره لا رَيب وَهوَ مهند

He slaughtered the sciences with his two blades, yet they did not die

In his age—no doubt—though he is an Indian-steel sword.

لِلّه درك يا زَماناً قَد غَدا

فَرداً بِمَن هُوَ في المَكارم مُفرد

How splendid you are, O age that has become

Unique through one unmatched in noble deeds.

وَتَهن يا قَطر العِراق بِمَن سَمَت

بِجدوده أَرض الحِجاز وَثَمهد

Rejoice, O land of Iraq, in one whose

Forefathers exalted the lands of the Hijaz and Thamhad.

وَأَبوه حَيدرة الفَوارس وَالفَتى

القرم الكَريم الناسك المتهجد

His father is Haydara of the horsemen, that youth,

The noble champion, generous, devout, a worshipper by night.

لَيث الكَتيبة إِن عدت سرواتها

وَبَدا العرمرم وَاللهام الأَسود

The battalion's lion when its chiefs are counted,

And the vast host and black, all-devouring army appear.

أَسد دم الأسد الهزبر خِضابه

مَوت فَريص المَوت منه ترعد

A lion whose dye is the blood of a mighty lion,

A death before whom Death's flanks tremble.

يؤتي الزَكاة لِمَن أَتى متعرضاً

لِنداه وَهوَ الراكع المتشهد

He gives alms to whoever comes seeking

His bounty, while bowing and declaring his faith.

يا أَيُّها البَحر الذي بعلومه

وَنواله زَمن الهُدى يَتجَدد

O sea, through whose learning

And bounty the age of guidance is renewed!

أَنى يَكون أَبا البَرية آدم

وَأَبوك وَالثقلان أَنتَ مُحمد

How can Adam be mankind's father,

When Muhammad is your father, and you embody humankind and jinn?

ضَحكت بِكَ الدُنيا وَقَرت عَينها

فَرحاً فَأَنتَ لِمُقلَتيها أَثمَد

The world smiled through you, and its eye grew cool

With joy, for you are kohl for both its eyes.

وَلأنت عَين الشَمس يحسر دونها

أَعمى البَصيرة وَالضَعيف الأَرمَد

You are indeed the sun's own orb, before which falter

The blind in insight and the weak, sore-eyed.

وَلأنت بَدر يُستَضاء بِنوره

لَيلاً وَتقصر عَن تناوله اليد

You are indeed a full moon whose light gives illumination

At night, beyond the reach of any hand.

وَلأنت نَجم يُهتدى بِضيائه

سحراً وَيعجز عَن مَداه المقعد

You are indeed a star whose radiance guides

Before dawn, beyond the reach of one unable to walk.

وَلأَنت مصباح تَلألأ في العُلى

مِن نور مشكاة النُبوة يوقد

You are indeed a lamp sparkling in the heights,

Kindled from the light of prophethood's niche.

طرفت بِكُم عَين الحَسود وَمثلكم

يا أَهل مَكه وَالمَدينة يحسد

The envious eye is stung by you; those like you,

O people of Mecca and Medina, are envied.

تَاللَه ما ولدت كَأَحمد حرة

وَلَداً وَلَيسَ كَبنت أَحمَد يولد

By God, no freeborn woman has borne a son like Ahmad,

Nor is anyone born to equal Ahmad's daughter.

غيث وَما سح الغيوث كَكفه

فَيَداه مِن جود الغَوادي أَجود

A life-giving rain: no downpour of rain can match his palm;

His two hands outdo the bounty of morning showers.

فَخذوا بَني الآمال مِن بَحر النَدى

دراً وَلَكن مِن مَوارده ردوا

So take, O children of hope, from the sea of bounty

Pearls—but draw from its watering places.

وَإِذا ضَلَلتم في المَسير لِبابه

فَخُذوا بِجذوة نوره فَستهتدوا

And if you lose your way on the journey to his door,

Take a firebrand of his light, and you will find the way.

وَإِذا شقيتم بالزَمان وَأَهله

فَأتوا لعبد اللَه كيما تسعدوا

And if you suffer from Time and its people,

Then come to Abd Allah, that you may find happiness.

سَعد تقارن وَالداك بحجرة

فَسعدت أَنتَ وَكانَ نَجلك أَسعَد

In good fortune your parents joined in one chamber,

So you were fortunate, and your son more fortunate still.

كانَت مقدمتاك في شَرف علا

وَنَتيجة الشرفين حبر سَيد

Your two premises stood in exalted nobility,

And the outcome of those two honors is a learned lord.

وَقَضَت قَضيتك العلية أَن ترى

وَقِياسها الحَق الَّذي لا يجحد

Your lofty proposition decreed that you be recognized,

Its syllogism the truth that none can deny;

وَتطابق البُرهان أنك صارم

أَبَداً عَلى مَر المدى لا يغمد

And the proof concurs that you are a cutting sword,

Never sheathed throughout the passage of time.

فَخر تَسلسل لا نهاية فَوقه

وَكَذاك سلسلة الرضا لا تنفد

Glory linked in a chain, with no end above it;

And likewise the chain of favor never ends.

دارَت عُلومك في الوُجود وَأَهله

وَالدَّور في بَعض المَواضع يُحمد

Your learning circulated through existence and its people,

And circularity, in some cases, is praiseworthy.

حداً مِن التَصديق جئت مصوراً

فَعَلَيك رايات الفَضائل تُعقَد

You came embodied as a definition of assent,

So over you the banners of virtue are fastened.

ذهني تَلَجلَج في علاك فَلَم أطق

عداً وَاني بِالثَناء مُقلد

My mind faltered before your glory; I could not

Count it all, and in praise I am but an imitator.

فَأَتيت طلاً مِن عباب مغرق

وَطَفقت أنشده وَأَنتَ المُنشد

So I brought a light drizzle from an overwhelming sea,

And began reciting it, though you are the reciter.

ما للقصائد أَن شدت بِمديحكُم

فَسَماعها مِن كُل شَخص يُقصد

What is it about poems that, when sung in your praise,

Everyone seeks to hear them?

أَفَأَنتُم رَوض سَرَت ريح الصبا

بِوروده فَعَلى المَسامع يورد

Are you a garden where the east wind passes

Through its roses, its fragrance brought to listening ears?

أَم أَنتُم مسك ذكت نَفحاته

فَتعطرت بِشَذا شذاه الفدفد

Or are you musk whose wafts grow strong,

So the open waste is perfumed with the fragrance of its scent?

أَم أَنتُم راح القُلوب فَلَم يَزَل

يَرتاح منكُم صادح وَمغرد

Or are you the wine of hearts, so that ever

A singer and a warbler find delight in you?

شَهر الصِيام مَضى وَأَنتَ لَكَ البَقا

وَلَكَ الكَرامة وَالمقام الأَحمَد

The month of fasting has passed; may you endure,

With honor and the most praiseworthy station.

وأظَلك العيدُ الذي بكَ قَد نَمت

أَغصانه فأَتى بِها يتأود

The feast has spread its shade over you; through you have grown

Its branches, and it comes swaying with them.

فَتهن فيهِ وَدم بِأَرغد عيشة

وَدَع الحَسود بِغَيظه يَتَرَدد

Rejoice in it, and live on in the greatest ease,

And leave the envious man to wander in his rage.

لا زِلت تَسمع كُل عيد قائِلاً

شَرَف مَضى وَنَظيره يَتَجَدد

May you ever hear, each feast, a voice saying:

An honor has passed, and its equal is renewed.