إذا جادت الروض الحديث غمائمه

تشققن عن نور الزهور كمائمه

When its clouds generously water the fresh garden,

its bud-sheaths split open to reveal the flowers' bloom.

وللحظ إن يسعف لسان ذليقة

يبن بها في النطق عربا أعاجمه

Fortune, when it lends aid, has a fluent tongue,

through which its non-Arabs become Arabs in their speech.

ولولا تباشير الرياض وطيبها

لما اضطربت شدواً بايك حمائمه

Were it not for the gardens' glad promise and fragrance,

the thicket's doves would not flutter with song.

إذا لم يعاضد كامل القوم حظه

تثعلبن في يوم الجلاد ضراغمه

If fortune does not support a people's accomplished man,

his lions become foxes on the day of battle.

ومن أسلمته في المكر رجاله

فما أحد ممن يعاديه راحمه

And whoever is abandoned by his men in the charge,

none among his enemies will show him mercy.

وما الليث لولا برثناه وغابه

وما الصقر لولا ظفره وقوادمه

What is a lion without its two clawed paws and its forest?

And what is a falcon without its talon and primary feathers?

إذا حص ريش الباز أوقص ظفره

فكل بغاث الطير كفو يقاومه

If the hawk's feathers are plucked or its talon clipped,

every weak bird is a match, able to withstand it.

وما ينفع القصر المشيد ارتفاعه

إذا سلمته للخراب دعائمه

What good is a lofty palace's height

if its pillars surrender it to ruin?

وقالوا ألست الندب قل لهم بلى

أنا الندب لكن ضيعته أقاومه

They said, 'Are you not the gallant one?' Tell them, 'Yes—

I am the gallant one—but one his own clansmen have forsaken.'

وما هيبة الصمصام في الجفن مغمدا

كهيبته صلتا وفي الكف قائمة

A keen sword's awe when sheathed in its scabbard is not

like its awe when drawn, with its hilt in the hand.

ولو لم يشا واستنسرت ببلاده

بغاث بلاد غيره وأباومه

And had he not wished it, in his lands would [not] have become eagles

the lowly birds of another man's lands, and his owls;

ولا بات يدني نصحه لي من بدا

على نطقه من غشه ما يكاتمه

nor would a man have spent the night offering me counsel, whose

speech exposed the deceit he concealed.

يقول انتقل فالتبر ترب بأرضه

وما ساد من لا تزدهيه عزائمه

He says, 'Move away, for gold is dust in its native soil,

and none attains eminence unless his resolves spur him on.'

فأضربت علما إنه بخداعه

يحاول تجهيلي بما أنا عالمه

So I turned away, knowing that through his deceit

he seeks to make me ignorant of what I know.

أارضي بملح من قليب اكده

عن العذب تياراً تموج خضارمه

Would I settle for salty water from a well I labor to draw from,

instead of sweet water in a torrent, its vast seas billowing?

أذا الذود لم يسمن بما أخضر مرتعا

من العشب لم تسمنه منه هشائمه

If the camel herd does not grow fat on green pasture

of grass, that grass's dry stalks will not fatten it.

إذا ما جفتني هذه الأرض لم أجد

لقلبي بأرض غيرها ما يلائمه

If this land should spurn me, I will not find

in another land what suits my heart.

وهب أن أرضا من أرض فكيف لي

بمولى كمولى حلمه ومراحمه

And grant that one land can replace another—how could I find

a patron like my patron in his forbearance and mercies?

سلالة إسمعيل هل سمع امرء

بثان له في المكرمات يزاحمه

Scion of Isma'il—has anyone heard

of a second man who rivals him in noble deeds?

سليل ملوك يسند الملك فيهم

أبا عن أب لا عن شقيق يقاسمه

Scion of kings, among whom kingship is handed down

father after father, not through a brother who shares it with him.

أتوا نسقا فيه يلي الوالد ابنه

كما نسق المنظوم في السلك ناظمه

They came in sequence, each father followed by his son,

as a stringer orders beads upon a thread.

يرصع تاج الملك للطفل منهم

وليدا ولم توضع عليه تمائمه

The royal crown is set with gems for a child among them,

a newborn, before his amulets are placed upon him.

وتضحى حواليه المعالي ثباثباً

فهذى تناغيه وهذي تلاثمه

And lofty honors cluster around him in lively throngs:

this one coos to him, and that one kisses him,

تعلمه كيف الصعود إلى العلا

وقد نصبت كيما ترقا سلالمه

teaching him how to ascend to the heights,

his ladders already raised so they may be climbed.

وكم ظهرت في أحمد من مخائل

على مهده والسعد تبدو علائمه

How many signs of promise appeared in Ahmad

at his cradle, as good fortune showed its signs!

والبس طفلا نفسه خير ملبس

من الحمد يسديه لها ويلاحمه

As a child he clothed himself in the finest raiment

of praise, laying its warp and weaving its weft for his soul.

وشب فشب الدهر عند شبابه

وعادت قواه واستقلت قوائمه

He came of age, and Time grew young with his youth;

its strength returned, and its legs stood upright.

فها هو من بعد اشتعال مشيبه

نظير المحيا أسود الشعر فاحمه

Now behold it, after its gray hair had flared,

fresh-faced, its hair black as coal.

فلا يعجبوا والخير أبقى لأهله

إذا ماغدى أو راح والدهر خادمه

Let them not marvel—goodness endures longer for its people—

when he goes forth morning or evening, with Time his servant.

فبالسيف والإحسان يستعبد الورى

ولكن عند السيف تبقى سخائمه

By sword and kindness he makes mankind his servants,

but with the sword their rancor remains.

من العجز ملك الجسم والقلب ممكن

فرغب وارهب تقتني من تسالمه

It is weakness to master the body when the heart can be won;

so entice and inspire fear: you will win those you make peace with.

كأحمد نعماه تسابق سيفه

فان فاتها بالسبق فهي مراهمه

Like Ahmad, whose bounty races his sword:

if the sword outstrips it, his bounty is its healing balm.

له قوة لا تزدهي بخديعة

فخذ في الكلام الحذر يامن يكالمه

He has a strength that no deceit can beguile;

so guard your speech, you who converse with him.

ويا أيها المغرور بالميل نحوه

ورا ما تراه غير ما أنت عالمه

And you who are deceived by an inclination toward him,

behind what you see lies something other than what you know.

أتعرف من تدعو وماذا دعا له

دعوت إلى الغيظ امرء أو هو كاظمه

Do you know whom you summon, and what he was summoned to?

You called a man to anger—or rather, one who restrains it.

وما فيه لا والله مثقال ذرة

وحاشاه مما أنت في النوم حالمه

There is not in him—no, by God—an atom's weight

of what you dream in sleep—far be it from him!

فأحمد بحر لا تكدره الدلا

ولا ينتهى فيه إلى الحد عائمه

Ahmad is a sea that buckets cannot muddy,

and no swimmer in it can reach its bounds.

فسلم إليه الأمر فيك وخله

وارآؤه يرضيك ما هو قاسمه

So entrust him with the decision about you, and leave him

to his own counsels; what he allots will please you.

ومد يداً واسئل من الله حفظه

على الدين كي لا تستحل محارمه

Stretch out a hand, and ask God to preserve him

steadfast in the faith, lest its sanctities be violated.