عزاء فإن الشجو قد كان يسرف — Ibn Zamrak

عزاءٌ فإن الشجو قد كان يُسرفُ

وبُشْرى بها الداعي على الغور يُشرفُ

Take solace, for grief had grown excessive.

And glad tidings, with which the herald looks out over the lowlands.

لَئِنْ غَرَبَ البدرُ المنيرُ محمّدٌ

لقد طلعَ البدرُ المكمّلُ يوسُفُ

If the radiant full moon, Muhammad, has set,

the perfected full moon, Yusuf, has indeed risen.

وإن رُدَّ سيف الملك صوناً لغمدهِ

فقد سُلَّ من غمد الخلافة مُرْهَفُ

And if the sword of kingship was returned to the safety of its sheath,

a keen blade has been drawn from the sheath of the caliphate.

وإن طَوَتِ البُرْدَ اليماني يدُ البلى

فقد نُشِرَ البُردُ الجديدُ المُفَوَّفُ

And if the hand of decay folded the Yemeni mantle,

the new, striped mantle has been unfurled.

وإن نضب الوادي وجف مَعينُهُ

فقد فاض بحر بالجواهر يقذف

And if the valley's waters dwindled and its spring ran dry,

a sea has overflowed, casting forth jewels.

وإن صوح الروض الذي يثب الغنى

فقد أزهر الرّوض الذي هو يُخلِفُ

And if the garden where abundance springs forth has withered,

the garden that takes its place has blossomed.

وإن أقلعت سُحْبُ الحيا وتقشَّعت

فقد نشأَتْ منها غمائمُ وُكَّفُ

And if the rain clouds ceased and dispersed,

pouring clouds have arisen from them.

وإنْ صدعَ الشملَ الجميعَ يدُ النوى

بيوسُفَ فخرِ المنتدى يتألفُ

And if the hand of separation sundered the united company,

through Yusuf, the assembly's pride, it is reunited.

وإن راعَ قلبَ الدين نعيُ إمامه

فقد هُزَّ منه بالبشارة مَعْطَفُ

And if news of its imam's death alarmed the heart of the faith,

its shoulder has stirred at the glad tidings.

وقد ملك الإسلام خير خليفة

من البدر أبهى بل من الشمس أشْرَف

And Islam has gained the best of caliphs,

more radiant than the full moon, indeed more exalted than the sun.

يُعير محياه الصباحُ إذَا بدا

وتُخجِل يُمناهُ الغمام وتَخْلُفُ

Dawn lends his face its glow when he appears,

and his right hand shames the clouds and takes their place.

فمن نور مرآه الكواكبُ تهتدي

ومن فيض جَدْوَاهُ الحَيَا نتوكَّفُ

By the light of his appearance the stars find their way,

and from the flood of his bounty we await the rain.

ولما قضى المولى الإمام محمدٌ

تحكم في الناس الأسى والتأسُّفُ

When the lord, Imam Muhammad, passed away,

grief and regret held sway over the people.

فلا جفنَ إلاّ مرسلٌ سُحْبَ دمعه

ولا قلبَ إلا بالجوى يَتَلَهَّفُ

No eyelid failed to release clouds of tears,

and no heart but yearned in burning grief.

وقد كادت الدنيا تميد بأهلها

وقد كادت الشُّمُ الشوامخ ترجُفُ

The world nearly swayed beneath its people,

and the lofty, towering mountains nearly trembled.

وقد كادت الأفلاك ترفضُّ حسرةً

وكادت بها الأنوار تخفو وتُكْسَفُ

The celestial spheres nearly burst apart in sorrow,

and their lights nearly grew dim and were eclipsed.

ولكن تلافى اللهُ أمرَ عباده

بوارثِهِ واللهُ بالنّاسِ أَزأَفُ

But God rescued the affairs of His servants

through his heir; God is most compassionate toward mankind.

فللدين والدنيا ابتهاجٌ وغبطة

وللثغر ثغرٌ بالمنى يُتَرَشَّفُ

So faith and the world have rejoicing and happiness,

and the frontier has a mouth gently kissed by hopes.

أمانٍ كما تندى الشبيبة نَضْرَةٌ

يمُدُّ له ظلٌّ على الأرض أَوْرَفُ

Hopes as fresh and dewy as youth,

for him a luxuriant shade stretches over the earth.

طلعتَ على الإِسلام في دولة الرضا

فأَمَّنْتَهُ من كل ما يُتَخَوَّفُ

You rose over Islam in a reign of contentment,

and made it safe from everything feared.

بوجه يُرينا البدرَ عند طلوعه

وفي وجنة البدر المنيرِ التكلُّفُ

With a face that shows us the full moon at its rising,

while the radiant full moon's cheek seems contrived;

وَعزمٍ كما انشقَّ الصباح مُصَمِّم

ورأي به بيض الصوارم تُرْهَفُ

and a resolve unwavering as the breaking dawn,

and judgment by which gleaming blades are sharpened.

وحولك من حفظ الإله كتائبٌ

وفوقَكَ من ظلِّ السعادة رَفْرَفُ

Around you are battalions of God's protection,

and above you a canopy of happiness's shade.

فوالله ما ندري وللعلم عندنا

براهين عن وجه الحقائق تكشفُ

By God, we do not know—though knowledge has, for us,

proofs that unveil the face of truth—

أوجْهُك أمْ شمس النهار تطلعت

وكَفَّكَ أمْ سُحْبَ الحَيَا نَتَوَكَّفُ

whether your face or the daytime sun has risen,

and whether it is your palm or rain clouds whose bounty we await.

فكم لك من ذكرٍ جميلٍ ومفخر

عميم على أوج الكواكب يُشْرُفُ

How much fair renown and glory you possess,

far-reaching, rising above the stars' zenith.

يُزار به البيتُ العتيقُ وزمزمٌ

ويعرفّه حتى الصّفا والمُعَرَفُ

Through it the Ancient House and Zamzam are visited,

and even al-Safa and the gathering place at Arafat know it.

ومن يسألِ الأيامَ تخبرْهُ أنها

بقومك تُزهى في الفخار وتشْرُفُ

Whoever questions the days, they tell him that they

take pride in your people and are ennobled by their glory.

وهل تهدُم الأيامُ بنيان مفخرٍ

تشيّده آيٌ كِرامٌ ومصحَفُ

Can the days demolish a monument of glory

built by noble verses and the Qur'an?

ولو كانت الأيام قبلُ تَنَكَّرَتْ

فباسمك يا بدرَ الهدى تَتَعَرَّفُ

Though the days once wore a hostile face,

by your name, O full moon of guidance, they make themselves known.

ألاَ إنْ تَرُعْنا الحادثات فإننا

عصابة توحيد به نَتَشَرَّفُ

If calamities alarm us, know that we

are a band devoted to God's oneness, through which we are ennobled.

وليس لنا إِلاَّ التوكلّ عادةٌ

وظنٌّ جميل وعدُهُ ليس يُخْلِفُ

We have no custom but reliance on God,

and good hope in Him, whose promise never fails.

فمَنْ مبلغٌ عنّا الغنيَّ بربه

وقد سار للفردوس يُحيا ويُتحفُ

Who will convey, on our behalf, to the one enriched by his Lord—

now that he has gone to Paradise, received with greetings and gifts—

بآية ما بلغت دين محمد

أمانيَّ للرحمن تُدني وتُزلفُ

with a sign of what you achieved for Muhammad's faith:

aspirations that draw you near and close to the All-Merciful?

وعنك يُروِّي الناسُ كلَّ غريبةٍ

يُروَّى لنا منها الغريبُ المصَنَّفُ

People recount every marvel of yours,

from which a compiled account of wonders is told to us.

فكسّرتَ تمثالاً وهدْمتَ بِيعَةً

وناقوسُها بالكفر يهوي ويهتفُ

You shattered an idol and demolished a church,

and its bell falls and cries out in unbelief.

وكم من منار بالأذان عمرتَهُ

فصارت به الآذان بعدُ تُشَنَّفُ

How many minarets you filled with the call to prayer,

so that ears thereafter were adorned with its sound.

وسرتَ وقد خلْفتّ خيرَ خليفةٍ

لك الفخر منه والثناءُ المخَلّفُ

You departed, having left behind the finest successor;

through him you have glory and the praise you left behind.

أيوسُفُ قد أَرْضَيْتَهُ أجمل الرضا

وكان بما ترضى وتختار يكلَفُ

O Yusuf, you gave him the fullest satisfaction,

and he was devoted to whatever you approved and chose.

وكنتَ له يا قُرَّةَ العين قرةٌ

على برّه المحتوم تحنو وترأفُ

You were his delight, O delight of the eye,

tender and compassionate in the kindness owed to him.

سَتجري على آثاره سابق المدى

فيُهدى له منك الثناءُ المضعَّفُ

You will run in his footsteps, outstripping the course,

so that doubled praise is offered to him through you.

سيلقى عدوُّ الدين منك عزائماً

إليه بجرّار الكتائب تزحفُ

The enemy of the faith will encounter your firm resolves,

advancing toward him with a vast host of battalions.

ويأسف لما يُبصر البَرَّ يرتمي

بفرسانه والبحرَ بالسفُن يقذفُ

He will grieve when he sees the land surge

with its horsemen, and the sea cast forth ships.

فما أرؤس الكفّار إلاّ حصائد

بسيفك سيف الله تُجنى وتُقْطَفُ

The unbelievers' heads are nothing but crops,

reaped and plucked by your sword, the sword of God.

حسامك رقراق الصفيح كأنه

بكفك من ماء السماء يُنَطّفُ

Your sword, shimmering of blade, is as though

it drips water from the sky in your hand.

ضعيف يَصِحُّ النصر من فتكاته

فيُروى لنا منه الصحيحُ المضعّفُ

Weak, yet its deadly strokes make victory certain,

so from it we hear a sound report deemed weak.

ورمحك مرتاح المعاطف هِزَّةٌ

كَأَنْ قد سقته من دم الكفر قَرْقَفُ

Your spear, lively in its bends, quivers,

as though wine from unbelief's blood had given it drink.

ولا عيبَ فيه غير أن سنانه

إذا شَمَّ ريح النقع في الحرب يرعُفُ

It has no fault except that its point,

when it scents battle-dust in war, bleeds at the nose.

فإن كعّت الأبطال في حومة الوغى

يشير لنا منه البنان المطَرْفُ

So if the champions recoil in the thick of battle,

its dyed fingertip signals to us.

لقد فخر الإسلام منك ببَيْعَةٍ

وزال بها عنه الأسى والتخوّفُ

Islam has indeed gloried in its pledge of allegiance to you,

and through it, grief and fear have left it.

وألبستّهُ بُرداً من الفخر ضافياً

على عطفه وشيُ المديح يُفوَّفُ

You clothed it in an ample mantle of glory;

along its side, praise's brocade is woven in stripes.

وقد نظمت فيه السّعود ميامناً

كما يُنظمُ العِقدُ النفيسُ ويُرصَفُ

In it good fortunes have been strung as auspicious omens,

as a precious necklace is strung and set in order.

قدمتّ قرير العين في كلِّ غبطةٍ

بما شئت من آمالِكَ الغُرِّ تُسعِفُ

You have arrived, content of eye, amid every joy,

granted whatever you wish of your radiant hopes.