رأيت الفتى لا يمل الأمل — Malik Ibn Al Murahhal

رأيتُ الفتى لا يملُ الأملْ

وإن عمل الخيرَ ملَّ العملْ

I have seen the young man never tire of hope,

yet, if he does good, he tires of the work.

ويأمن دهراً يرى مكرَه

ويسمعُ عن فتكه بالأول

He trusts Time, though he sees its guile

and hears of its slaughter of earlier generations.

وهلْ طُررُ الصبحِ إلا ظبىً

وهلْ غُررُ الشهبِ إلا الأسلْ

Are dawn's fringes anything but blade edges?

Are the meteors' bright faces anything but spearpoints?

أتحسبُ دنياكَ هذي عروساً

تهادىْ إليك وتهدى الجذلْ

Do you imagine this world of yours a bride,

swaying toward you and bringing you joy,

وأن النجوم عليها حُلىً

وأن الدياجى عليها جُللْ

with the stars as jewels upon her

and the dark nights as her robes?

وإن أطلعتْ شفقاً خلته

على وجنتيها احمرار الخجلْ

And if she brings forth twilight, you imagine it

the blush of bashfulness upon her cheeks.

وما شفق الأفق لو أشفقت

سوى مُهجٍ سفكها لم يزلْ

But the horizon's twilight, were you wary,

is only lifeblood ceaselessly shed.

وذاكَ الغمامُ وتلكَ البروُق

دروع تُشُّق وقضبُ تُسلْ

Those clouds and those flashes of lightning

are armor torn apart and swords unsheathed.

إذا أحسنَ الدهر يوماً أسا

ء إليك وإن جدَّ يوماً هزلْ

If Time treats you kindly one day, it does harm

to you; if serious one day, it jests.

نحبُّ الزمانَ ولا نتقي

سطاه وآباءنا قد قتلْ

We love Time and do not guard against

its assaults, though it has killed our fathers.

رماهم عنالقوسِ رميَّ النجوم

بنبلِ مُطيح بها من نبلْ

It shot them from the bow as stars are shot,

with arrows, bringing down whoever was noble.

وما حملَ الرمحَ هذا السماك

إلا لقوم عليهم حملْ

This al-Simak bears its spear

only to charge against a people.

خليليَّ أينَ زمانُ الصبا

وأينَ الغزالُ وأينَ الغَزلْ

My two friends, where is the time of youth?

Where is the gazelle, and where is love poetry?

وهلْ كانَ إلا كطيف الكرى

ألمّ وما حلَّ حتى رحلْ

Was it anything but a vision of sleep

that visited, and scarcely arrived before departing?

تذكرت أيامنا بالسروج

وقد غفل الدهرُ فيمن غفلْ

I remembered our days in the saddles,

when Time was heedless among the heedless.

وقد طرحَ الحلمُ عنا العصا

فصارت لقى ورعيا هملْ

Self-restraint had laid its staff aside from us,

so it lay discarded, and our flock ran free.

وإما نزلنا فَبينَ الظلال

وإما مشينا فتحت الظللْ

When we rested, it was amid the shadows;

when we walked, it was beneath the canopies.

نرواحُ بينَ قيانِ الغصون

سمعاً وبينَ قيان الكِللْ

We went to and fro among the songstresses of the boughs,

listening, and among the songstresses behind the curtains.

ونهصرُ قضبَ الأماني اعتناقاً

ونقطفُ زهرَ القبولِ قُبلْ

We bent the branches of wishes into embraces

and plucked the blossoms of favor as kisses.

وقد كُنت أخشى الوغى خشية

على باذلِ الودِّ أن يبتذل

I used to fear warfare out of concern

lest one who gave his love be debased.

وما كُنت أحذر سمرَ القنا

كما كُنت أحذُر سمْر المُقلْ

I did not fear the brown spearshafts

as I feared the brown eyes.

وأين قدودٌ لها ناعماتُ

إذا قُويست من قدود النخلْ

Where do her supple figures stand,

when compared with the figures of palms?

قطعتُ الزمانَ بوصلِ الحسانِ

فليتَ زماناً قطعتُ اتصلْ

I spent my time in union with beautiful women;

would that the time I spent had continued!

وقلتُ لعاذلتي في التصابي

محبُّ التصابي عدوُ العذلْ

I told the woman reproaching my youthful follies:

'The lover of youthful folly is the enemy of reproach.'

فلما بدا الشيبُ نبهنني

بإعراضهن على ما نزلْ

When gray hair appeared, they alerted me,

by turning away, to what had befallen me.

فتاركتهن لأني رأيتُ

خلال المودّة فيها خللْ

So I parted from them, for I saw

a breach within their affection.

كذاكَ الحقوقُ إذا لم توفَّ

فدعْها ولا تقتنع بالأقل

So it is with rights: if they are not fulfilled,

leave them, and do not settle for less.

وصرتُ أعافُ الصبا والمجونَ

وربَّ طباع تعافُ العسل

I came to shun youthful folly and wantonness;

many a disposition shuns honey.

وما زيَّن اللهوَ إلا الشبابُ

ولا حسّن الغيَّ إلا الثملْ

Nothing adorned amusement but youth,

and nothing beautified waywardness but drunkenness.

يدورُ الزمانُ كدور الرياح

فطوراً جنوباً وطوراً شمل

Time turns as the winds turn,

now southerly, now northerly.

فيوماً يُعزُّ ويوماً يُذل

فكم قد أعزَّ وكم قد أذل

One day it honors, another it humbles;

how many it has honored, how many humbled!

وما الناسُ إلا كمثل النجوم

وما طلعَ النجمُ إلا أفل

People are only like the stars:

no star rises without setting.

وما المرءُ إلا كمثل النبات

إلى النقص يرجع مهما اكتمل

A person is only like a plant:

however complete, he returns to decline.

فإن قلتَ هل للشباب ارتجاعٌ

فخلف من القول إن قلت هل

If you ask, 'Can youth return?'

your very 'can it?' is false talk.

تعودُ الدياجى إلى لونها

وليسَ يعودُ شبابٌ نصل

The dark nights return to their color,

but youth whose color has faded does not return.

ويبْلى على الروض ثوبُ الربيع

ولكنْ يُجدَّد من ذي قَبل

Spring's garment wears out upon the meadow,

but it is renewed in days to come.

أجل أجَلُ الروض مستأنف

وما للصّبا بعد فوت أجل

Yes, the meadow's term begins anew,

but youth has no further term once lost.

وآمرةٍ باطّلاب الغنى

ولم تدر أن الغنى قد حصَل

Many a woman urged me to seek wealth,

not knowing that wealth was already attained.

أبعدَ القناعة أرضى القنوع

فحل فالقناعة حسبي فحل

After contentment, should I accept begging?

Leave: contentment suffices me; leave.

وما ذاكَ إلا لبخل الزمانِ

فربَّ اقتناع جناه البخلْ

That comes only from Time's stinginess;

many an acceptance is a fruit of stinginess.

فإن قيلَ ذا كسلٌ قلْ نعم

إذا غلبَ اليأس كان الكسلْ

If they say, 'This is laziness,' say, 'Yes:

when despair prevails, laziness follows.'

وما نكلتْ همتي إنما

تبيّن لي أن حظي نكلْ

My ambition did not recoil; rather,

I discovered that my fortune had recoiled.

وما كلُّ سائلة أعطيت

مناها ولا كلُّ مُعطى سألْ

Not every woman who asks is granted

her wishes, nor has everyone given something asked.

ففي الرزق ساوى الذكي البكي

وفي الحين ساوى الجبان البطلْ

In sustenance, the clever and the dull are equal;

in death, the coward and the hero are equal.

ولكنه لو تكون الحظوظ

بقدر العقول إذاً لم أُبلْ

But if fortunes were

proportioned to intellects, I would not care.

على أنه إن تكن ناظراً

فدعوى العقول كلامٌ معلْ

Yet, if you look closely,

claims to reason are unsound talk.

يُعرّى عن العقل خلق كثير

الصنائع شتى الحيلْ

Creatures are deemed devoid of reason, though rich

in crafts, diverse in stratagems.

وتُعزى العقول إلى الناطقين

وباللّه أكثرهم ما عقلْ

Reason is ascribed to those who speak;

by God, most of them have not reasoned.

فكمْ قايس منهم لم يقس

وكمْ ناقلٍ منهم ما نقلْ

How many a reasoner among them has not reasoned!

How many a transmitter among them has transmitted nothing!

ولولا النبوةُ ضلَّ الورى

ومَنْ لم ير النجم بالليل ضَلْ

Without prophethood, humanity would have strayed;

whoever sees no star at night loses his way.

وأحمدُ أحمد آتٍ أتى

بخير وخير خيار الرسل

Ahmad is the most praiseworthy bringer

of good, the best of the choicest messengers.

هوَ المرتضى وهوَ المجتبى

هوَ المصطفى وهوَ المنتخل

He is the approved, he is the chosen;

he is the elect, he is the selected.

فأعظم بملّته في الملل

وأكرم بدولته في الدول

How great his creed among creeds!

How noble his dominion among dominions!

لقد كانَ مولدهُ رحمةً

سقينا بها كلَّ وبل وطل

His birth was indeed a mercy

through which we received every downpour and light rain.

لقد كان مولده رحمةً

أقمنا بها بين نهرٍ وظلْ

His birth was indeed a mercy

through which we dwelt amid rivers and shade.

له المعجزاتُ التي بيّنت

لعين البصير المُزاح العِلل

His are the miracles that made things plain

to the discerning eye, its doubts dispelled.

فمنْ قمرٍ شقّ حتى استبا

نَ من بين شقيه جرمُ الجبل

Among them, a moon split until there appeared

between its halves the mass of a mountain;

وإسراء روح وجسمٍ معاً

إلى حضرة القدس ذات الأزل

and a night journey of soul and body together

to the eternal presence of holiness,

إلى حيثُ لا فلكٌ يستدير

إلى حيث لا ملكٌ يستقلْ

to where no celestial sphere revolves,

to where no angel can ascend.

ولا سبق الدلو فيه الرشا

ولا تبع الثور فيه الحملْ

There the Bucket does not precede the Rope,

nor does the Ram follow the Bull.

ولا المشتري في ذُراه اشترى

ولا زُحل في مداه زحَلْ

Jupiter does not buy in its heights,

nor does Saturn withdraw in its expanse.

وقابله بالسلام الجمادُ

وأقبل يشكو إليه الجملْ

Inanimate things greeted him with peace,

and the camel approached to complain to him.

وحنَّ إليه غداة ارتقى

على المنبر الجدعُ حتى انتقلْ

The trunk yearned for him when he ascended

the pulpit, until it was moved.

وصدَّقه الذيبُ لما دَعاه

وقالَ أتشهد قال أجلْ

The wolf affirmed his truth when he called it;

he asked, 'Do you bear witness?' It answered, 'Yes.'

وأهدتْ إليه عجوز اليهو

دِ شاة شوتها فلما قبل

An old Jewish woman sent him a gift:

a sheep she had roasted; when he accepted it,

نهته الذراع وقالت له

سُمِمت فما ضرَّه أن أكل

the foreleg warned him and said to him,

'I have been poisoned'; yet eating did not harm him.

وجادَله المزنُ لما دعا

ودرَّ له الضرعُ لما نزل

The clouds poured generously for him when he prayed,

and the udder flowed for him when he alighted.

وراعَ قتادة من عاره

بأزرق زَاحَم منه الكَلل

The man who injured Qatada's eye alarmed him

with blue steel in which bluntness struggled.

فسالتْ على خدّه عينُه

ولكنّه ردّها في عجل

His eye slipped down upon his cheek,

but he restored it in haste.

فكانت كما ذكرَ الواصفو

نَ أحسنَ عينيه لما استقل

It became, as the describers related,

the better of his two eyes when he recovered.

وأعطى عليَّاً لواءَ الفتوح

وأبرأ عينيه لما تفل

He gave Ali the banner of conquests

and healed his eyes when he spat.

وفي الغارِ كانتْ له آيةٌ

بنسج عناكبهِ اذْ دخل

In the cave there was a sign for him

in its spiders' weaving when he entered.

وقد سُبلت عنه تلك الفجاجُ

وقد نفضتْ عنه تلك السبل

Those mountain passes were veiled from him,

and those roads had shaken off his trace.

ومرَّ سراقةُ في إثره

فساخَ وما في الثرى من وحل

Suraqa followed in his tracks

and sank, though there was no mud in the earth.

وما أنقذته سوى دعوةٍ

دعاها له بعدِ عهد وإل

Nothing rescued him but a prayer

he offered for him after a covenant and pledge.

وحسبُك أن له معجزاتٍ

تزيدُ على الألف فيما نقل

It suffices you that he had miracles

exceeding a thousand in what has been transmitted.

قبل ميلاده أخبرتْ

بذاك قريشٌ وعبد الأشل

Before his birth, news had been given

of this to Quraysh and 'Abd al-Ashall.

فقومٌ بمكة قالوا عسى

وقومٌ بيثرب قالوا لعلْ

Some in Mecca said, 'Perhaps';

some in Yathrib said, 'Maybe.'

فمنْ قائِل نجمُه قد بدا

ومن قائلٍ عصرهُ قد أطل

One said, 'His star has appeared';

another said, 'His age has dawned.'

وقد كانَ في الفرسِ من قبله

على عهدِ كسرى حديثٌ جللْ

Before him, among the Persians, there had been

a momentous report in the reign of Kisra.

وأخبر سيف به حدّه

وأكرم مثواه حتى انفصل

Sayf told of him, describing his defining traits,

and honored his lodging until he departed.

وكانوا إلى وجهه شيقين

يقولون ياليته قد أظل

They yearned to see his face,

saying, 'Would that he had arrived!'

فلما أتى كذّبته قريشٌ

وآذته في نفسه فاحتمل

But when he came, Quraysh called him false

and harmed him personally; he endured.

وجاءهم بالكتاب المُبين

فقالوا افتراه وقالوا انتحل

He brought them the clear Book,

but they said, 'He fabricated it,' and, 'He appropriated it.'

فقل فيهم يوم بدر وقد

جزاهم بضرب الطلى والقُلل

Speak of them on the day of Badr, when he

repaid them with blows to necks and heads.

وجدَّل فيهم أباجهلهم

وعقبةَ والنضر أهل الجدل

He felled their Abu Jahl among them,

and Uqba and al-Nadr, men of disputation.

وسلْ فتح مكة عنهم وقد

أتاهمْ فماتوا لفرط الوجل

Ask the conquest of Mecca about them, when he

came upon them and they died of excessive fear.

وقالوا هبلنا ولو شاء لم

يغن عنهم هُبل

They cried, 'We are undone!' Even had he wished,

Hubal would not have helped them.

ولكنّه منَّ من الكريم

وأعطاهم الأمنَ بعدَ الوهل

But he bestowed a generous man's grace

and granted them safety after terror.

وسلْ عن هوازنَ إذ خادعوه

بوادي حُنين وضاقَ المسل

Ask about Hawazin, when they deceived him

in the valley of Hunayn, and the passage narrowed.

فجالتْ رجالٌ بها جولةً

وزالت بها أرجلٌ من زلل

Men wheeled about there in a turn,

and feet slipped there and lost their footing,

قليلاً وهبت من النصر ريحٌ

لتسنيم في حافتيها بلل

briefly; then a breeze of victory blew,

with moisture from Tasnim along its edges.

ونادى فخف به الصابرون

ومرَّ النداءُ فعالت ثُلَل

He called, and the steadfast hastened to him;

the call rang out, and companies surged up.

قد اقتحموا عن ظهور المط

يّ وازدحموا في صدور الأسل

They leaped down from the backs of their mounts

and pressed into the fronts of spearpoints.

وطاروا إليه بشهب الرماح

كمثل الرياح تطيرُ الشعل

They flew to him with star-bright spears,

like winds carrying flames aloft.

وعاق الزحامُ فألقوا بها

وسلُّوا السيوف وعقوا الخلل

The crush impeded them, so they threw the spears aside,

drew their swords, and tore through the gaps.

فكمْ ممتطٍ تاركٍ ما امتطى

ومعتقلٍ تاركٍ ما اعتقل

How many a rider abandoned what he rode!

How many a spear-bearer abandoned what he held!

وجاءوا إليه قليلاً فلمْ

يكنْ لهم بهم من قِبَلْ

They came to him few in number, yet

their foes could not withstand them,

كما صوبت أعصبٌ أبصرت

بضاح من الأرض سرب الحجل

as bands swoop down when they spy

a flock of partridges on open ground.

وأقبل جبريلُ في لمّة

يَصُكُّ وجوهَهم مِن قَبل

Gabriel approached amid a company,

striking their faces from the front:

جنود بهم نُصر المسلمون

فأمسى عدُّوهم قد خُذل

troops through whom the Muslims were aided,

so their enemy ended the day forsaken.

فمن هاربٍ باتَ يخشى البياتَ

ومن هالكٍ ظلَّ تحتَ الأَثل

Some fled, spending the night fearing a night attack;

some perished, lying beneath the tamarisks.

وخلوّا ذراريهم للسبا

هناك وأموالهم للنفل

They abandoned their offspring to captivity

there, and their wealth to the spoils.

وطافَ بطائفهم جيشُه

وفلُّهم في الذرا قد وقل

His army encircled their Taif,

while their routed survivors climbed the heights.

فباتوا وقد سمر السيف من

ذيولهم حيثُ باتَ الوعل

They spent the night with the sword pinning

their hems where the ibex beds down.

وأصبحَ دينُ الهدى ظافراً

يُثير الترابَ بذيل رفل

The religion of guidance became victorious,

stirring dust with a trailing hem.

ومن بعدها أقبلوا مصلحين

وقد أمَّلوه فنالوا الأمل

Afterward they approached seeking reconciliation,

having placed hope in him, and attained their hope.

وردَّ إليهم ذراريهم

ولولا المقاسمُ ردَّ الإبل

He returned their offspring to them;

but for the divisions, he would have returned the camels.

فعال عطوف رؤوف رحيم

كريم إذا قال قولاً فعل

The deeds of one affectionate, compassionate, merciful,

generous: when he says something, he does it;

صفوحٌ إذا أذنبوا واصلٌ

إذا قطعوا مُحسن لا يمل

forgiving when they sin, maintaining bonds

when they sever them, a benefactor who never tires;

جوادٌ جريءٌ تهون عليه

الألوف إذا ما التقى أو بذل

liberal and brave, to whom

thousands are slight, whether he meets foes or gives.

وليسَ يجادلُ من مبطلٍ

وليس يجالده من بطل

No advocate of falsehood can dispute with him;

no champion can cross swords with him.

وكمْ من غزاةٍ وبعث له

أذل بها اللّه من قد أضل

How many a campaign and expedition of his

God used to humble those who had led others astray!

فأما اليهودُ فلم تألُ في

أذاه ولا قصّرت في حيل

As for the Jews, they spared no effort in

harming him, nor fell short in stratagems.

فأنزل منهمْ بني قينقاع

بقاع وكانوا بأسنى محل

He brought Banu Qaynuqa down

to low ground, though they had held a lofty station.

وأجلاهم فجلوا آمنين

لأجل شفيعهم المقتبل

He expelled them, and they departed safely

because their intercessor was accepted.

وأما النضيرُ فلا نضرت

وجوهُهم أهل كيْدِ وغِل

As for al-Nadir—may no bloom ever grace

their faces, men of plotting and spite!

تراموا إلى قتله عازمين

فعاجلهم بعد طول المهل

They strove toward killing him, determined;

he acted swiftly against them after a long respite.

وأنزلهم من صياصيهم

وأزعجهم في هوانِ وذُل

He brought them down from their strongholds

and drove them out in abasement and humiliation.

وبالقرظيين حلَّ البلاءُ

وحقّ بهم حينها أن يحل

Calamity befell the people of Qurayza,

and it was fitting then that it should befall them,

لأنهم ألّبوا المشركين

عليه فشدّوا إليه الرحل

because they rallied the polytheists

against him, who packed their saddles toward him.

وجاءوا إلى الحرب من أجل ذ

لك فوقَ الصعاب وفوق الذلل

They came to war for that

reason, on unruly mounts and docile ones.

ففضّهم اللّه بعدَ اجتماع

وبدّد جمعَهم المحتفل

God scattered them after their gathering

and dispersed their assembled host.

وجازى قريظة بالسيف لم

يفت من رجالهم من رحل

He requited Qurayza with the sword; none

of their men who fled escaped.

وأخبار خيبر معلومة

وإني خبير بها إن تسل

The accounts of Khaybar are well known,

and I know them well, if you ask.

تولاهم بالحصار الشديد

فحلّت بهم عقدة لم تحل

He dealt with them through a severe siege,

and a knot befell them that could not be undone.

فقالوا نقرُّ على أننا

لكم عاملون ولا ننتقل

They said, 'We shall remain, on condition that we

work for you and do not move away.'

ومن بعدَ هذا خلا وجهُه

لمكة اذ كان فيهم شُغل

After this, his attention was freed

for Mecca, since they had occupied him.

فطاعَ له الشركُ طوعَ الشِراك

وصارتْ يهودٌ له كالخول

Polytheism yielded to him like a sandal strap,

and the Jews became like attendants to him.

وأنجز ربُك ميعادَه

وأصبحَ دينُ الهدى قد كمل

Your Lord fulfilled His promise,

and the religion of guidance became complete.

ولم يبقَ في الأرضِ شرك بعهد

سوى السيف أو سنةِ تمتثل

No idolatry remained on earth under a covenant

except the sword, or a law to be obeyed.

وبلّغ عن ربّه مُنذراً

وفصّل للفهم تلك الجمل

He conveyed his Lord's message as a warner

and explained those summaries for understanding.

ولم يبقَ للناس من حجّة

على من براهم تعالى وجل

No plea remained for people

against their Creator, exalted and majestic.

فحينئذٍ خصّه ربُّه

بتخييره في رحيل وحَل

Then his Lord singled him out

by granting him the choice to depart or remain.

فما اختار إلا رفيقاً علا

ولا اعتام إلا جواراً فضل

He chose only an exalted Companion

and preferred only a nobler nearness.

فيا حسرةً حسرتْ عن ذراع

وصارعت الصبر حتى انجدل

O grief that bared its arm

and wrestled patience until it fell!

ويا كربةً كربت أن تذوب

لها الراسياتُ بحر الغلل

O anguish that almost melted

the firmly rooted mountains with its burning torment!

ويا لوعةً أولعت بالقلوب

ولا قلبَ إلا بها يشتعل

O burning grief that clung to hearts!

No heart exists but burns with it.

ويا سيّدَ الناس أنت الشفيع

وأنت العماد إذا العبد زل

O master of mankind, you are the intercessor;

you are the support when the servant stumbles.

وأنت الرجاءُ غداة المخاف

وأنت الأمانُ غداةَ الوجل

You are hope on the day of fear;

you are safety on the day of dread.

فصلّى عليك إله السماءِ

صلاةً مُضاعفةً تتصل

May the God of heaven bless you

with a multiplied blessing that continues.

وصلّى عليك إله السماء

صلاةً مدى الدهر لا تنفصل

May the God of heaven bless you

with a blessing unbroken throughout all time,

صلاةً تطيبُ بها الشرفاتُ

إذا نفحت وتطيبُ الأُصُل

a blessing that makes the balconies fragrant

when it wafts, and makes the evenings fragrant.