الحمد لله شكرا بان في البشر — Malik Ibn Al Murahhal

الحمدُ لله شكراً بانَ في البشرِ

ودارَ في النسل من أنثى ومن ذكرِ

Praise be to God, in thanksgiving manifest among humankind,

and passing through offspring, female and male;

وخالقِ الخلق بدّاعاً بحكمته

وواهب العقل والأرواح والصورِ

to the Creator of creation, wondrously inventive through His wisdom,

and the Giver of intellect, souls, and forms;

وجاعلِ الناس فيما خوّلوا رتباً

لا تستوي رتبة الأحجال والغررِ

who placed people in ranks according to what they were granted:

white fetlock markings and forehead blazes do not hold equal rank.

تفاضلَ الناسُ في الحظ الذي رزقوا

كما تفاضلت الأشجارُ في الثمرِ

People differ in the portion they were allotted,

as trees differ in their fruit.

وخيرُ ما رزقوا دين يُطهّرهم

من كلِ رجس ويُصفيهم من الكدرِ

The best thing they were granted is a religion that purifies them

of every impurity and clears them of turbidity.

له علينا بمشروع النكاح ومم

نوعِ السفاح امتنان غير منحصرِ

We owe Him gratitude for lawful marriage and forbidden

fornication—a gratitude without limit.

فكمْ أنال بهذا الشرعِ من وطرٍ

وكمْ أزالَ بهذا المنع من قذرِ

How many desires He fulfilled through this law,

and how much filth He removed through this prohibition!

شكراً يكافىء ما أولاه من نعمٍ

والشكر من نعمةِ المولى على البشرِ

A thanksgiving matching the blessings He bestowed—

yet thanksgiving itself is a blessing from the Lord upon humankind.

ثم الصلاةُ على شمسِ النبوءة إن

كانَ النبيئون من نجم ومن قمرِ

Then blessings upon the sun of prophethood, if

the prophets were stars and moons;

والمُصطفى من قريش بعد خيرتها

من القبائل والمختارُ من مضرِ

the one chosen from Quraysh, after its selection

from the tribes, and the one chosen from Mudar:

محمدٌ خاتمُ الرسلِ الذي خُتمتْ

منه بطيبةً مِسكٌ طيب ذفرِ

Muhammad, Seal of the Messengers, through whom their succession was sealed,

with a fragrance from him of sweet, powerfully scented musk.

فكانَ أطيبهم نشراً وأكرمهم

نشراً إذا نشر الموتى من القبرِ

He was the sweetest of them in fragrance, and the noblest of them

in resurrection, when the dead are raised from the grave.

وكانَ آخرهم بعثاً وأولُهم

بعثاً إذا ما غدوا للعرض في زمرِ

He was the last of them to be sent, and the first of them

to be raised, when they go in groups to stand for judgment.

هو الذي أشرقت أنواره فهدت

ساري الظلام بفجر منه منفجر

He is the one whose lights shone forth and guided

the traveler through darkness with a dawn bursting from him.

فأوضحَ السنة المُثلى وبيّنها

بالذكر طولاً وبالصمصامةَ الذكرِ

He made the finest practice clear and explained it

through the Revelation at length, and through the keen, hard-tempered sword.

وحضَّ إذ خصَّ بالتشريف أمته

على النكاح لما قد جاء في الأثرِ

He urged his community, whom he singled out for honor,

toward marriage, in keeping with what has come down in tradition.

وبيّن القصْد في هذا وجملته

قرب من النفع أو بعد من الضررِ

He explained the purpose of this, whose sum is

drawing near to benefit or drawing away from harm.

فالبعدُ عن ضرر كالبعد عن غنت

والبعدُ من ألم التخييل والنظرِ

Avoiding harm is like avoiding hardship [reading uncertain],

and avoiding the pain of fantasy and gazing.

فالنفعُ إحراز نصف الدين أن لهم

بذاك إن حفظوه ربحَ متجرِ

The benefit is securing half the faith: they have

in that, if they preserve it, a profitable trade.

وكمّل القصد فيما خصّهم ودعا

إلى تحيّز أهل الدين والخيرِ

He completed the purpose in what he prescribed for them, and called

for choosing people of religion and goodness.

هذا لهم ولهُ قصدُ التكاثر في

يومَ القيامة اذ يأتي من النذرِ

This is for them; his own aim is greater numbers on

the Day of Resurrection, when he comes among the warners.

وبعد هذا الذي قدّمت من كَلم

أرجو به النجح في ورد وفي صدرِ

After these words I have put forward,

through which I hope for success in coming to water and departing,

فإن عالمنا الأهدى وفاضلنا

الأتقى ووالينا الموعود بالظفرِ

for our most rightly guided scholar and our most virtuous man,

most God-fearing, and our governor, promised victory,

بحر الهدى مزنةَ الجود الذي شهدتْ

لطرفه حلبةُ الأجداد بالحصرِ

a sea of guidance, a rain cloud of generosity, whose

forefathers' racing field admitted it could not match his steed;

ومن به يقطع الساري مفازته

به الحداءُ وفيه لذةُ السمرِ

the one through whom the night-traveler crosses his desert,

with him the camel-driver's song, and in him the delight of evening talk;

ومن أتمت صلاة الحمد فيه فلا

يكونُ في سفر قصر ولا حضرِ

the one in whom the prayer of praise is completed, so that

it is never shortened, in travel or at home:

أعني أبا القاسم المقسوم نائلُه

في كل رفع وخفض قسمة المطرِ

I mean Abu al-Qasim, whose bounty is apportioned

to every height and lowland, as rain is apportioned;

محمدَ بن إمام الصالحين أبي

العباس أحمد قطب العلم والأثرِ

Muhammad, son of the leader of the righteous, Abu

al-Abbas Ahmad, the pole of learning and tradition;

المرتقى من ذرى نجم إلى شرف

تزلُّ عنه جميعُ الأنجم الزهرِ

who ascended from a star's summits to an eminence

from which all the shining stars slip away;

ومنْ حمى العزِّ من بيت الكرام إلى

بيت حكى البيت ذا الأركان والحجرِ

and from honor's sanctuary, from a house of noble men, to

a house resembling the House with its corners and the Stone.

دامت عُلاه ولا زالت مآثره

تُجلْى على الدهر أو تتلى مع الزبرِ

May his exalted rank endure, and his glorious deeds never cease

to shine through time or be recited alongside the writings.

لما رأى نجله الندبَ السريَ أبا

الوفاءِ بلغ ما يبغيه من وطرِ

When he saw his gallant, noble son, Abu

al-Wafa, attain the desire he sought,

قد نالَ رتبة آباءٍ له كرمُوا

في عنفوانِ الشباب الناعم الخضرِ

already reaching the rank of his noble forefathers

in the vigor of tender, green youth,

وأحرز المجدَ والعلياءَ منقطعاً

وإن يكن من حجاه لازم العذرِ

and winning glory and exalted honor in seclusion,

though his good sense kept him attached to his excuse,

وكان قرّةَ عينيه ونورهما

ولم يزلْ منه بينَ السمع والبصرِ

and he was the delight of his eyes and their light,

remaining to him between hearing and sight,

دعاهُ دعوةَ من يرجُو المزيد له

وأن يراه من الأبناء في نفرِ

he called him with the call of one who hoped for more for him,

and to see him among a company of sons,

إلى الذي حفظوا أحسابهم وحموا

منه العُلا من بطاح طيب الأزرِ

to that by which they safeguarded their lineages and protected

their high standing thereby: men of broad valleys, pure of garments [reading uncertain].

فقالَ أمركَ يا مولاي أملك لي

فالعبدُ في كبر كالعبدِ في صغرِ

He said, 'Your command, my lord, has greater claim upon me;

a servant in adulthood is as a servant in childhood.'

كذلك النجباءُ الأزكياء لهم

لله والأب تسليمُ وللقدرِ

Such are the noble and pure:

they submit to God, their father, and destiny.

فاختار صهراً كريماً واستخار له

مولى متى يستخره عبدُه يخرِ

He chose a noble in-law and sought for him the guidance of

a Lord who chooses well whenever His servant seeks His choice,

في خطبة خطبت فيها السّعود على

منابرِ العزِّ في حفل وفي حضرِ

in a betrothal where the lucky stars preached from

the pulpits of honor, amid a gathering and an assembly.

سعيدةُ صحب التوفيق خاطبها

وخطبها باقتراب اليمن واليسرِ

A fortunate match: success accompanied its suitor,

and its proposal brought good fortune and ease near.

غنَّت لها عرب الأشعار من طرب

كما شدت عجم الأطيار من حبرِ

The articulate voices of poetry sang for her in rapture,

as the wordless birds warbled in delight.

وأصبح الزهر في حِلْي وفي حُلل

على العقائد من آس ومن شجرِ

The flowers now wore ornaments and robes,

on garlands of myrtle and trees [reading uncertain].

فالنورُ في غسقٍ كالنور في فلقٍ

قد استوى طيُّب الآصال والبكرِ

The light at dusk was like the light at daybreak;

the sweetness of late afternoons and mornings was now equal.

فليس يعدو مدى الدنيا السرور بها

صدراً من الليل أو سحراً من السحرِ

Joy in this match does not outlast the span of the world:

a beginning of night, or one dawn among dawns.

زارتْ وقد أنفت من كلِّ محصنة

عقيلة الخير ذات الصدق والخفرِ

She came, too proud to be compared with any other chaste woman:

a noble lady of goodness, endowed with truthfulness and modesty.

كريمةُ من بني حجاج اصطفيت

منهم كما تُصطفى الأعلاق من دررِ

A noble daughter of Banu Hajjaj, chosen

from among them as precious treasures are chosen from pearls.

يدعونها فعلة الفعّال والدُها

كانوا يكنونه فيهم أبا عمرِ

They call her Faʿlah; her father, the man of deeds,

was known among them by the honorific Abu Umar,

نجلُ الفقيه الرضي القاضي أبي حكم

وهو كذلكَ من نجم من الغُررِ

son of the esteemed jurist, the judge Abu Hakam;

and he, likewise, is a star among the radiant ones.

فأحمدُ اللهَ بالتوفيق بينهما

عقد النكاح فأضحى موثق المررِ

So I praise God for bringing the two into harmony;

the marriage bond was tied, its strands firmly secured,

على الكتاب الذي بالحق أنزله

إلهنا وبتيسير لُمذّكرِ

according to the Book that He revealed in truth,

our God, and made easy for anyone who takes heed;

وسنةُ المصطفى المصفي لأمّته

مشارعَ الشرع إذحاموا على نهرِ

and the practice of the Chosen One, who purified for his community

the watering places of the Law when they gathered at a river.

صلّى الإلهُ عليه ما سرتْ إبلٌ

وطاف بالبيت ذو حج ومعتمرِ

May God bless him as long as camels travel,

and pilgrims of Hajj and Umrah circle the House.

على صداق دنانير وجملتُها

من المئين ثلاثُ صرفها عشرِ

For a dowry of dinars, totaling

three hundred, at an exchange rate of ten.

النقدُ من ذاكَ ثلثاه وقد برئتْ

مِنْ ذاك ذمتُه بالدفع فهو بريِ

The immediate payment is two-thirds of that; discharged

is his obligation by payment, so he is clear of it.

إلى ثلاث إماء فاثنتان من الس

ودان من وسط العالي من الصُورِ

In addition to three enslaved women, two from the

black peoples, of middling rank among those of fine appearance;

تتلونها من بنات الروم واحدةٌ

ليستْ إلى صغر تُعزى ولا كبرِ

following them [reading uncertain] is one woman of the daughters of Rum,

ascribed neither to youth nor to old age.

وصارَ ذلك في قبضِ المصونة أم

الزوجة الحرّة المرضية السيرِ

It all came into the keeping of the honored lady, mother

of the bride—free, with conduct deemed worthy;

بنتِ الكرام التي عزّت بمنصبها

في آل خلدون عزاً خالد الأثرِ

a daughter of noble men, ennobled by her standing

among the family of Khaldun, with honor enduring in its effects.

وفي أبي زكرياء الوزير لها

إذ كان والدُها فخراً لمفتخرِ

And in Abu Zakariya the minister, she found pride,

for her father was a glory to anyone who boasts of ancestry,

من حاضري الحضرميين الذين لهم

في المجدِ والجودِ نجم غيرُ مُنكدرِ

one of the resident Hadramis, who have

in glory and generosity a star that never dims;

لتورد الكلَّ في بيت البناءِ بها

مع الذي يشتري بالنقد من مهرِ

to bring it all to the house where marriage with her would be consummated,

with what is bought using the cash portion of the dowry.

وذاكَ عن إذن قاضينا الأجل أبي

عبيد الله أخي فهر بني النضرِ

That was by permission of our most distinguished judge, Abu

Ubayd Allah, a kinsman of Fihr among Banu al-Nadr,

وبعدما صحّ من محمودِ سيرتها

لديه ما أوجب التقديم للنظرِ

after her praiseworthy conduct had been established

before him, warranting her appointment to oversee it.

والكالىء الثلث الباقي وفي حجج

معدودةٍ أربع تأتي على الأثرِ

The deferred portion is the remaining third, payable over years

numbered four, following in succession.

وأن تكون لديه بالأمانةِ والمأ

خوذِ عهداً على الأزواج في السيرِ

And she shall be with him under the trust and what is

taken as a covenant from husbands concerning their conduct.

وذاكَ معروفُ إمساك لمسكته

مرّت وإلافتسريح بلا غيرِ

That means honorable retention, with his hold

firmly secured [wording uncertain]; otherwise, release without harm.

وحسنُ صحبتها حقُّ عليه لما

إليه منْ ذاكَ من أمر لمؤتمرِ

Treating her well is a duty upon him, because of

the command addressed to him in this, for one who obeys.

ومثلُ ذاك عليها في الوجوب له

وللرجالِ شفوفُ في الكتاب قُري

She owes him the same obligation,

and men have precedence, as recited in the Book.

أمضى النكاحَ عليها عن مؤامرة

وعن حماة يؤدي الأذن في خفرِ

He concluded the marriage for her after consultation,

and on behalf of her protectors, conveying consent with modest reserve:

المقرىءُ الفاضلُ القاضي بسبتة قد

ذكرته عند ذكر الإذن في سطرِ

the learned teacher of Qur'an recitation, the judge in Ceuta—I have

mentioned him in a line when speaking of permission.

بكراً وقد بلغتْ في السن سالمةً

في العقل والجسم من وهم ومن ضررِ

A virgin, already of mature age, sound

in mind and body, free of delusion and injury;

يتيمة كنفيس الدُّر مهملةً

لا تحت حجر ولا تقديم ذي نظرِ

an orphan like a precious pearl, left without supervision,

under neither guardianship nor an appointed overseer;

خلواً من الزوج حلالاً ولى لها

في سبتة غير قاضيها من البشرِ

unmarried and lawfully eligible, her guardian

in Ceuta being none other than its judge.

وبعدَ أن صحَّ هذا الوصف أجمعه

لديه لم يلفَ من عذر لمعتذرِ

After this entire description had been verified

before him, no excuse remained for anyone offering one;

وأنها استؤمرت في ذاك سافرة

والقبض للنقد والإحراز للضررِ

and that she had been consulted on this, unveiled,

with receipt of the cash and protection against harm;

بذاكَ يشهدُ في هذا الكتاب على

القاضي الأُلى سمعوا الأشهادَ بالحضرِ

to this, in this deed, testify concerning

the judge those who heard his attestation in person.

وأشهد الزوجُ أبقى الله عزّته

إياهم بالنكاح فيه مستطرِ

The husband—may God preserve his dignity—called

them to witness the marriage recorded herein,

في صحة وجواز كالذي عهدوا

منهُ وحسنُ فعال طيِّب عطرِ

in health and legal competence, as they had known

of him, and in good conduct, sweet and fragrant.

في شهر ذي حجة يومَ الخميس ضحى

وذاكَ في سادس من عشرة الأخرِ

In Dhu al-Hijjah, on Thursday in the forenoon,

on the sixth day of the month's final ten;

في عام خمسين زدْ لها ثمانية

من بعد ست مئات كلُّها قمري

in the year fifty, with eight added,

after six hundred, all reckoned by lunar years.

واللّه يجمعُ هذا العقدَ مقترناً

بالآل والمالِ والنعماءِ والعمرِ

May God unite this marriage bond, joined

with family, wealth, blessings, and life.

فيه الذي مصلحاً والعز قد كتبا

فيه ببشر صحيح عنهما عدرِ

In it, 'which', corrected, and 'honor' have been written,

there over an erasure, valid for both [ending unclear].

فأحمدُ شاهد بالعقد فيه على

شقيقة الزوج إبراهيم بالمهرِ

Ahmad is a witness in this deed to the contract concerning

his brother, the husband Ibrahim, and the dowry [reading uncertain].

ومالكٌ عابدُ الرحمنِ والدُهُ

من الشهودِ بمنظوم ومنتثرِ

And Malik, whose father is Abid al-Rahman,

is among the witnesses, in verse and prose.