أيامنا بك كلها أعياد — Ibn Al Maqri

أَيامنا بك كلُّها أعيادُ

للخير فيها مبدأٌ ومُعادُ

Through you, all our days are festivals.

In them goodness has a beginning and a return.

حسنتْ بك الدنيا وعاد شبابُها

فالناسُ ناسُ والبلادُ بلادُ

Through you the world has grown beautiful, and its youth has returned.

So people are truly people, and lands are truly lands.

والعيد أنت على الحقيقة عيدهُ

وسروره إن سرّتِ الأعيادُ

You are, in truth, the festival's own festival,

and its delight, if festivals bring delight.

وافاك يطوي الأفق مما أولعت

منه بحبك مهجةٌ وفؤادُ

It came to you, folding up the horizon, for so deeply enthralled

were its soul and heart with love for you,

ذكرُ احتفالك والقيام بشأنه

وكرامة أضعاف ما يعتادَ

by the thought of your celebration and attention to its affairs,

and honor many times what it usually receives.

فاستصغرَ الأملاك واحتقرَ الورى

وأتاك ليس له سواك مرادُ

It deemed kings insignificant and scorned humankind,

and came to you, desiring none but you.

فلو أنه خلى وما هو يشتهي

ما ودعتك إلى المعاد معادُ

Had it been left free to follow its desire,

no recurring feast would bid you farewell until the final return.

فتراهُ والفلكُ المدارُ يجرهُ

متنحنحاً لك لم يكد ينقادُ

You see it dragged away by the revolving sphere,

clearing its throat for you, scarcely willing to yield.

قالوا أَيهوى العيد قلتُ لهم نعمْ

أو لم يحن الجذعُ وهو جمادُ

They asked, 'Does the festival love?' I told them, 'Yes.'

And did not the trunk yearn, though it was lifeless?

ويريد ينقض الحدار ومن يرد

يهوى أليس سوى هوى ومرادُ

And the wall wills to fall; whoever wills

loves—is there anything but love and desire?

فتهنهُ عيداً أتى ووراه من

نصر الإِله وفتحهِ أنجادُ

So enjoy a festival that has come, with behind it

valiant helpers of God's victory and conquest,

ودمارُ اعداء وفتح مدائنٍ

وملاَئكٍ وبواتك أمدادُ

the destruction of enemies and the conquest of cities,

and reinforcements of angels and cleaving swords.

كرم ومعدلة وحسن خلائقٍ

وفراسةٌ وسياسيةٌ وجلادُ

Generosity, justice, and fine character,

discernment, statecraft, and prowess in combat.

ما للرياحِ إذا سخى جرى ولا

للسحب إبراقٌ ولا ارعَادَ

When he gives freely, the winds have no speed, nor

have the clouds any lightning or thunder.

يبكى حياءً من عطاياه الحيا

والبحرَ يلطمُ وجهه منتادُ

The rain weeps in shame at his gifts,

and a seeker of bounty slaps the sea's face.

ما كان َ قطُّ ولا يكون كمثلهِ

ملكٌ يوازنه ولا أندادُ

Never has there been, nor will there be, his like:

a king to match him, or any peers.

وسألتكم بالله هل منكم فتىً

لمقالتي أو بعضها جحّادُ

I ask you by God: is there a young man among you

who denies my words, or any part of them?

ما قلتُ إلا واثقاً أن الورى

بجميع ما أثنى به أشهادُ

I spoke only in the certainty that humankind

bears witness to all I praise in him.

حتى الحسودُ مقالهُ كمقالتي

والفضلُ ما شهدتْ به الحسّادُ

Even the envious man's words are like mine,

and true merit is what the envious attest.

آما الفسادِ فقد حسمتَ مكانه

بالسيفِ حتى ما بقى إفسادُ

As for corruption, you cut it off at its source

with the sword, until no corruption remained.

كان الطغاةُ إذا أثاروا فتنةً

ربحت تجارتهُم بها وأفادوا

Whenever the tyrants stirred up strife,

their trade profited by it, and they reaped gains.

وتأثلوا مالاً فظنوا إنما

بيد الورى ملك لهم أعتادوا

They amassed wealth and thought that whatever

lay in people's hands was theirs, as they had grown accustomed.

حتى نزلت بهم فساء صاحهُمُ

قتل الأبون وأنتُمُ الأولادُ

Until you descended upon them, and grim was their morning.

The fathers were slain, and you are the sons.

وتقسمت أموالهم ونفوسُهم

نهباً وقتلاً والديارُ رمادُ

Their wealth and their lives were apportioned

to plunder and slaughter, and their dwellings were ash.

سطواتُ ليثٍ صيّرت جهّالهم

عقلاً ولو جهلوا عليك لبادوا

A lion's onslaughts made their fools

wise; had they acted insolently toward you, they would have perished.

تركت ظباك بكل شخصٍ غيرة

لأخيه يخشى مثلها إِن عادوا

Your blades left in every person a warning

for his brother, who fears the same should they return.

فأكفهُم مغلولةٌ وسيوفهم

مفلولةٌ ورماحهم أَقصادُ

Their hands are fettered, and their swords

blunted, and their spears are fragments.

يرجونَ عفوكَ والحنانُ عليهم

ذلاً وقد هلكوا أسى أو كادوا

They hope for your pardon and compassion upon them,

humbled, having died of grief—or nearly so.

أخذت حصونٌ من سواك منيعة

في الأفق لا يرجة لها استعدادُ

Fortresses were taken, impregnable to anyone but you,

on the horizon, with no hope of preparation against them.

أظهرت عنها غفلةً وتناوماً

ووراء ذلك يقظةٌ وسُهادُ

You showed indifference toward them and feigned sleep,

but behind that lay vigilance and sleeplessness.

إذ كان حربهم عناء لاغنا

فيه ولا يجدي لقاً وطرادُ

For fighting them was toil without gain,

and neither clashes nor pursuit would avail.

عجب الورى ظناً بأنك غافلٌ

وبكل يوم بَعضهنَّ بَعادُ

People marveled, thinking you inattentive,

while each day some of them remained far away.

هيهاتَ مثلك لا تنامُ جفونُه

والنارُ ثائرةٌ به الأحقادُ

Far from it! One like you does not let his eyelids sleep

while the fire of grudges rages against him.

لكنهُ ليس الحروب على السوى

فن الحروب تغافلٌ وجيادُ

Yet wars are not all alike:

the art of war is feigned heedlessness and fine steeds.

جرّدتَ رأياً بات يسرى فيهمُ

كالماء تحت التبنِ ليس يكادُ

You unsheathed a plan that crept among them through the night,

like water beneath straw, scarcely perceptible.

ونزعتها شيئاً فشيئاً منهم

بالرأي لا حرب ولا استعدادُ

You wrested them away, little by little,

by judgment, without war or preparations.

وترى الجبال تظنهنَّ جوامداً

ولها مرورَ السحبِ حين تذادُ

You see the mountains and think them motionless,

yet they pass like clouds when driven onward.

والرأى جيش لا يطاق إذا غزى

وقرينه التوفيق والإِرشادُ

Judgment is an army that cannot be withstood when it invades,

with success and guidance at its side.

من أين ينجو من سيوفِك هاربٌ

وسيوفُ رأيك قبلهُ أرصادُ

Where can a fugitive escape your swords,

when the swords of your judgment lie in wait ahead of him?

مالأمرىء طلب السلامةَ منكمُ

إِلاّ التذللُ والخضوعُ عِمادُ

For a man seeking safety from you,

abasement and submission are his only support.

شقيتْ مشائيمٌ بحربكَ مثلما

شقيتْ بلقيا ريح عادٍ عاد

Ill-omened men suffered by warring against you, just as

ʿAd suffered upon meeting the wind of ʿAd.

ياليتَ عينَ أبيكَ تنظرُ ما هُنا

لك من معالٍ تُبتني وَتشادُ

Would that your father's eye could see what is here:

lofty honors being built and raised for you,

وسطاً باعداء لو اتفقت لهم

أو بعضها بردت بها الاكبادُ

and assaults upon enemies—had these fallen to their lot,

or even some of them, their livers would have been cooled.

بدلتم بسيوفها الا عدا سيو

فاً من عصيى مالها اغمادُ

With its swords you gave the enemies replacement swords,

made of sticks, with no sheaths.

فالله نحمده شفيت قلوبنا القر

حا بما لاقت بك الاضدادُ

So we praise God: you healed our wounded hearts

through what your opponents suffered at your hands.

لا زالت الاعياد لبسك هكذا

والعيش يصفو والمدا يزدادُ

May festivals always be your attire like this,

and life grow serene, and its span increase,

حتى ترى ابنا بنيك وكلهم

لبنى بنى ابنائهم اولادُ

until you see your sons' sons, each of them

with children born to the sons of their sons' sons.