يا ساكناً بين جنات وأنهار — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

يا ساكناً بين جنَّاتٍ وأَنهارِ

ليهنكِ العيشُ إِني مِنْكَ في النَّار

O dweller among gardens and rivers,

may life be sweet to you; because of you I am in the fire.

وطيِّباً ظَلَّ من آبائِهِ أَبداً

مَعْ طَيِّبِينِ وطُهراً عند أَطهار

And O virtuous one, ever abiding among his forefathers,

with the virtuous, and O pure one among the pure.

عرِّف أَباكَ وقد أَسقَاكَ كَوثَرَهُ

بأَنَّني فيك أُسقَى دَمعِيَ الجَارِي

Tell your father, who has given you his Kawthar to drink,

that for you I am made to drink my flowing tears.

دُمُوعُ عينيَّ أَنصارِي ولا عَجَباً

إِنْ قُلْتُ أَضعفُ أَعوانِي وأَنصاري

The tears of my eyes are my supporters, and no wonder

if I call them the weakest of my helpers and supporters.

تخيّرتْك المنَايا وَهْيَ حَائِزةٌ

حظّاً وكم فيك من حظٍّ لِمُخْتَارِ

Death chose you, gaining

good fortune—and how much fortune you hold for a chooser!

ما الموتُ عاراً وقد أَغضيت حين أَتى

وأَنت ما زلت لا تُغضِي عَلى عَارِ

Death is no disgrace; you closed your eyes when it came,

though you have never turned a blind eye to disgrace.

وأَنت يا بَدرُ لمَّا أَن سَريتَ سَرى

عنَّا هُداك ويا شوقاً إِلى السَّارِي

And you, O full moon, when you traveled by night, away went

your guiding light from us—oh, my longing for the night traveler!

ما زلتَ بدراً منيراً غيرَ مُنْكَسِفِ

للمهتدِين ونَجماً غيرَ غوَّار

You remain a radiant full moon, never eclipsed

for those finding their way, and a star that never sets.

واوحشةَ الدَّار لمَّا غاب مَالِكُها

عَنْها وقَلبي هو الْمَعِنيُّ بالدَّار

Oh, the desolation of the house when its master vanished

from it—and by 'the house' I mean my heart.

أَعديْتَ طيفَك صِدقاً لم يَزرْ معه

فلستُ أَحظَى بطيفٍ مِنْكَ زوَّار

You infected your phantom with truthfulness, so it has not visited;

so I am granted no phantom of you that visits often.

لو كنتَ تَعلَمُ أَخبارِي مفصّلةً

في الحزْن سَاءَتْك في الفِردوس أَخْبَارِي

If you knew the details of my condition

in sorrow, my news would grieve you in Paradise.

وفي جوَارِك قَلْبي فَارْعَ حُرمَتَه

وقد عَهدْتُك تَرعَى حُرمَةَ الجَارِ

And my heart is your neighbor; safeguard its sanctity,

for I have known you to safeguard a neighbor's sanctity.

في غير رُزْئِك إِني أَيُّ محتمل

أَو غير فقدِك إِني أَيُّ صبَّار

In any calamity but losing you, what endurance I have!

Or in any loss but losing you, what patience I have!

وكيف أَلْقى اصطباراً عنْكَ أَو جَلَداً

وقد رأَيْتُك مُلقىً بَينَ أَحجَارِ

And how can I find patience without you, or fortitude,

when I have seen you laid among stones?

وليس كالقبرِ قبرٌ قد حللتَ به

وإِنما هو مِشكاةٌ لأَنْوَارِ

And the grave you have entered is no ordinary grave;

it is only a niche for lights.

سحائبُ القُدسِ والرِضوانُ تُمطرُه

فلا تَمُنُّ سماواتٌ بأَمطارِ

Clouds of holiness and divine favor rain upon it,

so let no heavens claim their rains as a favor.

مَضى الشَّريفُ وأَبقى منْ مَحاسِنهِ

حَدائقاً ذَاتِ أَنوارٍ وأَزْهَارِ

The noble one has passed, leaving of his virtues

gardens filled with lights and blossoms.

ذِكْرٌ طوى الأَرضَ والأَيامُ تَنْشُره

فَلاَ يَزالُ تَرَاهُ رَهْنَ أَسفَارِ

His renown has traversed the earth, and the days spread it abroad,

so you always see it bound to journeys.

ما زال برّاً برِيِّ القَولِ منَ خَطَل

قَوّالَ مأْثُرةٍ قوَّامَ أَسحارِ

He remained righteous, his speech free of folly,

ever speaking of noble deeds, ever standing in prayer before dawn.

بكى عليه مُصلاَّهُ ومَسجِدُه

فما المصابيحُ إِلاَّ نَارُ تذْكَارِ

His prayer-place and his mosque wept for him;

so the lamps are nothing but a fire of remembrance.

وصامَ عن كل مَحظُورٍ فكانَ لَهُ

في الخُلد عِنْد أَبِيهِ عيدُ إِفطار

And he fasted from all that was forbidden, so he had

in eternity, beside his father, a feast of fast-breaking.

لم يَلْتَفِتْ قَطُّ للأَيامِ مُقْبِلةً

ولم يبالِ بإِقلال وإِكْثَارِ

He never heeded the days when they turned in his favor,

and cared nothing for scarcity or abundance.

أَتْقَى الأَنامِ جميعاً عند خَلْوَتِه

وأَسمحُ الخلق يوماً عند إِعسَارِ

He was the most God-fearing of all mankind when alone,

and the most generous of people on a day of poverty.

آثرتُ دَهْرِيَ أَن يَبقَى بِه أَبداً

فكان إِيثارُ دهري غَيرَ إِيثاري

I wished him to remain in my time forever,

but my time's preference was different from mine.

عَينَيَّ تَرْثيه منثورُ الدُّموع بها

كما لِسَانِي يبكِّيه بأَشعاري

My eyes lament him with their scattered tears,

as my tongue mourns him through my poems.

يا دَهْرُ تأْكُل أَحبَابِي وتَفْرِسُهم

ما أَنت يا دهرُ إِلاَّ ضيغمٌ ضارِي

O Time, you devour my loved ones and tear them apart;

you are, O Time, nothing but a ravening lion.

فيا افتقارِي إِذا أَفنيتَ مُدَّخَرِي

ويا ضَلالِي إِذَا غيَّبت أَقْمَاري

So, oh, my poverty, when you exhaust my stored treasure,

and oh, how lost I am when you hide my moons!

لم أَرجُ شيئاً من الدنيا فتعكسُه

وكَيفَ يُرجى وَفاءٌ عِنْدَ غدَّار

I have hoped for nothing from this world for you to overturn;

and how can faithfulness be expected from a traitor?

من يعرِفِ الدَّهر مثلي يَغْدُ مستوياً

في سمعِه صوتُ نَعَّاءٍ ونعَّار

Whoever knows Time as I do comes to find alike

in his hearing the voice of a death-crier and that of a shouter.

والمرءُ بالدَّهر لا ينفك مُنْكسِراً

قهراً وغيرُ عجيبٍ كَسرُ فَخَّار

And man, through Time, never ceases to be broken,

by force—and the breaking of earthenware is no surprise.

في كلِّ يومٍ لآلِ المصطفى مِحَنٌ

لاَ تُكسِبُ الدينَ إِلاَّ هَتْكَ أَستَارِ

Each day, the family of the Chosen One faces ordeals

that bring religion only the rending of its veils.

فَآل أَحمدَ مَصروعُون في حُفَرٍ

ومُبْعَدونَ بآفاقٍ وأَمصَار

So Ahmad's family lie slain in pits,

and banished in distant lands and cities.

قد أَدركَ الثأْرَ منهُم مَن يُعَاندهم

بالبَغْي والخَلْقُ نُوّامٌ عَنِ الثَارِ

Those who oppose them have exacted vengeance upon them,

through oppression, while mankind sleeps, heedless of vengeance.

حارَ الأَنامُ وحاروا في تحيُّرهم

ما حَيرَةُ الخَلْقِ إِلاَّ حكمةُ البَارِي

People were bewildered, and bewildered in their bewilderment;

mankind's bewilderment is nothing but the Creator's wisdom.

وأَكْثَرُ الناسِ يُلْقَى بعدَ فِكْرته

مُرَدَّداً بين إِنكارٍ وإِقْرَارِ

And most people, after reflection, are found

wavering between denial and acknowledgment.

يا ابنَ النبيِّ عسى في البعث تَبعَثُ لِي

من عِندِ جَدِّك عِتْقاً لِي مِن النَّار

O son of the Prophet, may you at the Resurrection send me

from your grandfather a release for me from the Fire.

فإِن لَقيتُك يَومَ الحشرِ مُشْتَغِلاً

عنِّي فقد أَوبَقَتْني ثَمَّ أَوزَارِي

For if I meet you on the Day of Gathering too occupied

to heed me, then my sins will have doomed me there.