عاملت ربك وانتدبت خصالا — Ibn Al Maqri

عاملتَ ربك وانتدبتَ خصالا

يرضى بها سبحانه وتعالى

You have dealt with your Lord and embraced virtues

that please Him—glorified and exalted is He.

فتهنَّ من طاعاتهِ ما نلتهُ

سهلاً وعز على الملوك منالا

Enjoy, then, the obedience to Him you have attained

with ease, though kings find it hard to attain.

ما قد رأى رمضان يوماً سره

في دار ملك مثل دارك حالا

Never, on any day, has Ramadan seen to its delight

in a king’s abode a scene like that within yours.

أرضيت ربك فيه حين شحنتهُ

ليلاً على تقوى الإِله رجالا

You pleased your Lord therein, when you filled it

by night with men devoted to the fear of God.

وشعائر الرحمن فيه مقامةٌ

بالملك يحيى واتسعن مجالا

The rites of the All-Merciful are upheld there

by King Yahya, and their scope has widened.

فتراه يرفل في ملابيس التقى

ويظل يزهو بالصيامِ جمالا

You see him sweeping along in the garments of piety,

ever radiant with the beauty of fasting.

والصبح يستمع الحديث عن النبي

أكرم بذاك مقالة وفعالا

And morning listens to traditions of the Prophet—

how noble this is in word and deed!

والليل يصغى للصلاة وللندى

ولمن أطاب تلاوةً وأطالا

And night lends an ear to prayer and generosity,

and to whoever recites beautifully and at length.

هذا الوداع له وهذى ليلةٌ

عن ألف شهر قدرها قد طالا

This is the farewell to it, and this is a night

whose worth has surpassed a thousand months.

تتنزل الأملاك من رب السما

والروح فيها نحوكم إرسالا

Angels descend from the Lord of heaven,

and the Spirit on this night, sent forth toward you.

فاستبشروا بجوائز من ربكم

فيها يضاعف بالجزا أعمالا

So rejoice in gifts from your Lord;

on this night He multiplies the recompense for deeds.

وليهنكم ملكٌ يجمعُ شملكمُ

للصالحِات ويدفع الأثقالا

And may you delight in a king who unites you

for righteous deeds and wards off burdens.

يمسي كتاب الله منشوراً له

ليرى ويقرا ناظراً ما قالا

At evening God’s Book lies open before him,

that he may see and read, looking upon what He has said.

ويرد والقراءُ تتلو حولهُ

ما أخطؤوه ويذهب إِلا شكالا

And while the reciters chant around him, he corrects

what they misread and dispels obscurity.

أرايتم ملكاً كيحيى هكذا

ينسى بطاعة ربه الأشغالا

Have you seen a king like Yahya, who thus

forgets his concerns in obedience to his Lord?

جبلٌ تراه ساكناً وبصدره

ما لا تكون به الجبالُ جبالا

A mountain you see standing still, yet in his breast

lies that beside which mountains are no mountains.

يلقى الحوادث غير مكترثٍ بما

منها يمر يمينهُ وشمالا

He meets calamities, heedless of what

passes to his right and to his left.

خرقت سعادتهُ العوائدَ فاكتفى

بصنيعها يوم النزالِ نِزالا

His good fortune broke all precedent; he needed

only its deeds for his fighting on the day of battle.

من شاء منكم أن يريه آية

من سعده تضرب الامثالا

Whoever among you wishes to be shown a sign

of his good fortune, one that inspires proverbs,

فلينظرن إلى الذين استنهكوا

دار الخلافةِ وانتضوا الاقفالا

let him look at those who ravaged

the caliphate’s abode and tore away its locks.

هل فيهم لولا سعادة ماجدٍ

أحد يداني تلكم الأهوالا

Was there among them, but for a noble lord’s good fortune,

anyone who could approach those terrors?

هيهاتَ لولا سعْدَ يحيى قادَهم

ما صالَ في جنباتِها من صَالا

Far from it! Had Yahya’s good fortune not led them,

none who stormed its precincts would have done so.

هي في السما كالنجم لكن سعده

لما تغيّظ قلّب الأحوالا

It is in heaven like a star; yet his good fortune,

when it grew angry, overturned affairs,

ورأى الأجانب قد تولوا أمرها

وتحكّموا إذ قلدوا الأطفالَ

and saw foreigners taking charge of its affairs

and ruling at will, having vested children with authority.

وجرى القضاء بما جرت من ربنا

غضباً ليحيى والسعود تلالا

And the decree unfolded as it came from our Lord,

in anger for Yahya, while auspicious stars shone.

حتى إذا ما الملك لاذ بأهله

ونسي سهوكة ريح من قد والى

Until, when sovereignty took refuge with its own people

and forgot the foul stench of those it had favored,

حاولت أن يجروا على عاداتهم

عند الملوكِ وتغفر الإِخطالا

you sought to have them follow their accustomed ways

with kings, and to forgive their blunders.

فتقسّموا قِسمين قسمَ عاقل

عَرف الرشادَ فما استعاض ضلالا

Then they split in two: one group was wise,

recognizing right guidance and not exchanging it for error.

ورأوك أتقى عالمين بأنه

لولاك ما نال امرؤ ما نالا

They saw you as more devout, knowing that

but for you, no man would have gained what he gained.

فتبرؤوا منهم وأعزوا بالذي

أمسى يغرُّ بجهله الجهّالا

So they disowned the others and urged you against the one

who, in his ignorance, beguiled the ignorant.

محّقتهم محقَ الربا وأبدتهم

قتلاً ونفياً لم تدع مُختالا

You blotted them out as usury is blotted out, destroying them

by killing and exile; you left no swaggerer.

خرجَ العبيد وظنهم أن يفقدوا

متوقعين الكتب والإِرسالا

The slaves went out, supposing they would be missed,

expecting letters and messengers.

وهمُ أقل وأنتَ أغنى عنهم

فتخطّفوا وتقطعوا أوصالا

Yet they were too insignificant, and you had no need of them;

so they were snatched away and torn limb from limb.

وراوا هوانا ما جرى حتى لقد

أكلوا الأكفّ ندامة وتنالا

They saw such humiliation befall them that indeed

they gnawed their hands in remorse and [unclear].

صاروا لزهدك فيهمُ بيني الورى

مثلَ الكلاب يقتّلون حِلالا

Your indifference left them, among mankind,

like dogs, lawfully put to death.

يوصى بقتلهم القبائلَ بعضهم

بعضاً لكي يجد والَدْيكَ منَالا

The tribes urge one another to kill them,

each seeking thereby to gain a reward with you.

يا ويل من لم ترض عنه إذ نأى

ماذا يجر له الخروج وبالا

Woe to whoever departs without your approval!

What ruin his departure brings upon him!

بيعت نساؤهمَ وبيع بنوهم

وبناتهم ومضى الرجال قتالا

Their women were sold, and their sons were sold,

and their daughters; the men went to slaughter.

من كانَ خصمك كان ربك خصمُه

أرايت خصماً للإِله مقالا

Whoever is your adversary has your Lord as his adversary.

Have you seen an adversary of God reprieved?

إن شئت عاجلهم بسيفك تنتقمْ

أو شئت أمهلهم به إِمهالا

If you wish, strike them swiftly with your sword and take revenge;

or, if you wish, grant them a respite from it.

فسيوف ربك قد كفتكَ وكم كفى

ربُّ السماء المؤمنين قتالا

For your Lord’s swords have sufficed you; how often

has the Lord of heaven spared believers the fight!

هذى العبيدُ وأهل مورا حرقوا

كي يغضبوك بيوتهم والمالا

These slaves and the people of Mura burned

their houses and property to anger you.

اترى بيوتهم قطعن بغيرهم

إن العقول لقد مُلين خبالا

Do you think their houses were destroyed by anyone else?

Those minds are indeed filled with madness.

بطروا معيشتهم وكانوا في غنىً

ونساؤهم مترفهون كسالى

They scorned their livelihood, though they lived in abundance,

and their women were pampered and idle.

خرجوا بهن إِلى القفار وحاولوا

شجراً يكن فما وجدن ظلالا

They took them out into the wastelands and sought

trees to shelter them, but the women found no shade.

فتنكرت تلك الروا وتشخبت

تلك الجسوم الناعمات كلالا

Their fair looks grew unrecognizable, and there gushed

from those tender bodies exhaustion.

حل البلاء بهم وعاشوا عيشة

عرض العذابُ بها هناك وطالا

Affliction befell them, and they lived a life

in which torment spread wide there and lasted long.

لو كنتَ تعلمُ قدر ضعف عقولهمِ

لرأيتها تكفي الجميعَ نكالا

If you knew the measure of their feeble minds,

you would find them punishment enough for everyone.

ما كانَ لو تركوا البيوت وأصلحوا

يجدوا لأنفسهم ربا وجلالا

What if they had spared the houses and made amends?

They would have found prosperity and honor for themselves.

ما زالَ من عاداك يوقع نفسهُ

حتى يرى ضعفَ الوبالِ وبَالا

Whoever opposes you keeps casting himself down

until he meets a double measure of ruin.

يا رب يحيى إِن يحيى للسخا

أحيا رسوماً قد ذهبنَ زوالا

O Lord of Yahya, Yahya has, for generosity,

revived customs that had vanished utterly.

يا رب بلغهُ لما لا ينتهي

ملكٌ إليه لا يرامُ منالا

O Lord, bring him to what no

king can reach, beyond all hope of attainment.

لو يسبك الأملاك شخصاً ما رضي

منه تقدُّ لأخمصيةِ نِعالاِ

Were kings cast into one man, he would not deem him fit

to be cut into sandals for the arches of his feet.