رعد البشائر — Mohammed Al Eid Alkhali…

بباتنة رعد البشائر لعلعا

فأطرب (أوراسا) بها (والشلعلعا)

In Batna, the thunder of glad tidings resounded,

delighting Aurès there, and al-Shalʿalaʿ.

وجادت غيوث البر كل رحابها

فجادت وعادت للمبرات مرتعا

Showers of benevolence watered all its expanses,

so it flourished and again became a pasture for good works.

وأخصبت الآمال فيها وأينعت

كما أخصب الروض الجديب وأينعا

Hopes grew fertile there and ripened,

as the barren garden grew fertile and ripened.

فلا غرو أن تزهى بعهد مبارك

لها وتهز الرأس فيه وترفعا

No wonder it should glory in a blessed age

of its own, shaking its head within it and raising it high,

بمدرسة دينية عربية

أعدت لإرواء المدارك منبعا

with an Arabic religious school,

established as a spring to quench the intellect.

نمت ونمى النشئ الصغير على الهدى

بها ووعى فيها من العلم ما وعى

It grew, and the young generation grew in guidance

through it, absorbing there what it absorbed of learning.

وشبت فأمست للشباب كقلعة

محصنة فيها الشباب تمنعا

It matured and became like a fortress for the young,

fortified, in which the youth found protection,

الى جامع لاذ الهداة بظله

وفاؤوا اليه قانتين وخشعا

beside a mosque whose shade the guides sought,

and to which they returned, devout and humble,

وناد بديع لو ينادى شبابه

الى المثل العليا للبى وأسرعا

and a splendid club: if its youth were called

to the highest ideals, they would answer and hasten.

وجو عجيب ينثر الثلج ناصعا

كذوب لجين أو يرى منه أنصعا

And a wondrous sky scatters dazzling white snow,

like molten silver, or seen even whiter than it.

وشمس خلال السحب تبدو وتختفي

حياء ويرجوها النبات لتسطعا

And the sun appears and disappears amid the clouds,

shyly, while the plants long for her to shine.

ودور لإكرام الضيوف تفتحت

وشعب الى صوت (البشير) تطلعا

Houses opened to honor the guests,

and a people looked expectantly toward al-Bashir's voice.

فأهلا وسهلا بالبشير متوجا

بتاج تحلى بالنهى وترصعا

A warm welcome, then, to al-Bashir, crowned

with a crown adorned with wisdom and richly studded:

إمارة عرفان يسوس أمورها

أمير على دست البيان تربعا

an emirate of knowledge whose affairs are governed

by an emir enthroned upon the seat of eloquence.

يواليه شعب للعروبة ينتمي

ويصبو كما والى اليمانون تبعا

A people belonging to Arabness pledges him loyalty

and yearns toward him, as the Yemenis were loyal to Tubbaʿ.

يبايع قلبي قبل كفي عالما

على الملك أربى قدره وترفعا

My heart, before my hand, pledges allegiance to a scholar

whose worth surpassed the king's and rose above it.

تغذى من الفصحى بمحض لبانها

وشب على آدابها وترعرعا

He was nourished on the pure milk of eloquent Arabic,

and grew and flourished upon its literature.

أدرك من فقه الشريعة سؤله

وأصل في شتى العلوم وفرعا

He attained his desire in the jurisprudence of sacred law,

and established foundations and branches in diverse sciences.

وسار الى الستين يحمل عبئها

وعبء المعالي ما ونى أو تزعزعا

He journeyed toward sixty, bearing its burden

and the burden of high endeavor, never flagging or wavering.

لقد عن لي من درسه أن عقله

بفلسفة دينية قد تشبعا

Indeed, his teaching made it apparent to me that his mind

had become steeped in a religious philosophy.

أراه بها يرقى المراقي فكرة

وينزع فيها (للغزالي) منزعا

I see him, through it, ascending the heights in thought,

and taking, within it, al-Ghazali's course.

ويكشف عن صوفية سلفية

الى وردها الصافي (القشيري) ألمعا

He reveals a Sufism of the early forebears,

toward whose pure spring al-Qushayri pointed.

وقد عن لي من لطفه أن قلبه

كمسك تزكى طيبة وتضوعا

And his gentleness made it apparent to me that his heart

is like musk, grown pure in fragrance and diffusing its scent.

أشاهد منه العطف مهما لقيته

وألمس فيه الرفق بي والرضى معا

I witness his kindness whenever I meet him,

and feel in him both gentleness toward me and approval.

ويرجز (كالعجاج) لي أو كرؤبة

وذاكرة في حفظ ما شئت أطوعا

He chants rajaz for me like al-ʿAjjaj or Ruʾba,

with a memory most obedient in retaining whatever you wish.

فلو شئت شأو (الشنفرى) لبلغته

ولم تقتنع حتى تبز (المقنعا)

Had you wished for al-Shanfara's reach, you would have attained it,

and not been content until you surpassed al-Muqannaʿ.

ولو شئت إحصاء لما قد حفظته

لفاخرت (حمادا) به (وابن أصمعا)

And had you wished to count what you have memorized,

you could have rivaled Hammad and Ibn Asmaʿ in boasting of it.

رحلت الينا فاحصا متفقدا

ضنانا وأحكمت الدواء لينجعا

You journeyed to us, examining and inspecting

our ailment, and perfected the remedy so it would work.

فيا ليتنا نرمي الدسائس جانبا

ويا ليتنا ننفي الخسائس أجمعا

Would that we cast intrigues aside!

Would that we banished every vile thing!

وجزت إلى (أرض النخيل) مبادرا

لها لتحل المشكلات وتدفعا

You hastened across to the Land of Palms,

to resolve its difficulties and ward them off.

فهل نخلت أرض النخيل شؤنها

وهل شرعت مشروعها المتوقعا

Has the Land of Palms sifted through its affairs, then?

And has it begun its anticipated project?

رفيقك معمار عرفناه ماهرا

تفنن في دار (الحديث) وأبدعا

Your companion is an architect whom we knew to be skilled;

he displayed artistry and excelled in Dar al-Hadith.

كأنك في استصحابه لك عارض

على نشئنا أعلى مثال ليتبعا

It is as though, by taking him along with you, you present

to our young generation the highest model to follow.

وما نال مجدا غير من كان دونه

تجرع مرا راضيا ما تجرعا

None gained glory except one who, before reaching it,

swallowed bitterness, content with what he swallowed.

ولا يلحق الأحرار من لم يكن إلى

منازلهم بالصالحات تذرعا

Nor does one join the free unless he has, toward

their stations, made righteous deeds his means of ascent.

وما الحر إلا من تيمم معهدا

ليقتبس العلم الصحيح فينفعا

The free man is only one who heads for a school

to acquire sound knowledge and thereby benefit others,

وإلا من اعلولى عن النفس همة

وأعرض عن أغراضها وتورعا

or one who rose in aspiration above his own self,

turned away from its desires, and practiced piety,

وإلا من اختاض الوغى في كتيبة

ليفتح مصرا أو يلاقي مصرعا

or one who plunged into battle within a battalion,

to conquer a city or meet his death.

فيا أيها الشعب الذليل أما ترى

لجارك هما بالسيادة مولعا

O humbled people, do you not see

your neighbor's ambition, enamored of sovereignty?

بنو الغرب حازوا عالم الأرض كله

وإن لهم في عالم النجم مطمعا!

The sons of the West have possessed the whole earthly realm,

and they even aspire to the realm of the stars!

فهل حزت في الأرض التي أنت نجلها

من الحكم شبرا أو من الملك إصبعا

Have you gained, in the land whose child you are,

a span of rule or a fingerbreadth of dominion?

بلادك في الدنيا تلادك فارعها

وحاذر على أكنافها أن تروعا

Your country is your ancestral inheritance in this world: tend it,

and take care lest its precincts be terrorized.

وأرضك في الأوطان أمك فاحبها

ببر ففي أخلافها عشت مرضعا

Your land, among homelands, is your mother: love her

with filial devotion, for at her teats you lived, suckled.

ودينك في الأديان كنزك فاحتفظ

به إنه ما انفك منك مضيعا

Your religion, among religions, is your treasure: hold fast

to it, for it has never ceased to be neglected by you.

حياتك حرب للضعيف فكن بها

قويا أبيا أن تذل وتخضعا

Your life is a war against the weak: within it be

strong, too proud to be humiliated and submit.

ولم أر فيها كالمصانع عدة

فيا ويح شعب ليس يملك مصنعا

I have seen no means of strength in it like factories;

alas for a people that owns no factory!

وحسن بأهل العلم ظنك إنهم

عطاش لكي تروى جياع لتشبعا

Think well of the learned: they are

thirsty so you may drink your fill, hungry so you may be sated.

معاذ الهدى أن يستطيب أخو الهدى

خبيثا وحاشا أن يخون ويخدعا

May guidance forbid that a follower of guidance should relish

what is foul—far be it from him to betray and deceive.

يهددنا ريب الزمان بخطبه

ولم نك من ريب الزمان لنفجعا

Time's vicissitudes threaten us with its calamities,

yet we were not to be devastated by Time's vicissitudes.

سل الدهر عنا كم صمدنا لشدة

بها شن غارات علينا وشنعا

Ask Time about us: how often we stood firm against hardship

with which it raided us and heaped abuse upon us.

فلم نتصنع غير ما في قلوبنا

ويأبى لنا الإسلام أن نتصنعا

We put on no show beyond what lies within our hearts,

and Islam forbids us to dissemble.

وبشر أخا يخشى الوعيد بما به

علمنا (جريرا) قبل بشر (مربعا)

And gladden a brother who fears threats with that by which

we know Jarir once gladdened Murabbaʿ.

رأينا ولم نعذل مخالف رأينا

فمن كان ذا رأي إليه تشيعا

We held our view, yet did not reproach those who opposed it;

whoever held an opinion rallied to it.

لقد خلق الله النفوس عنيدة

وفاضل ما بين العقول ونوعا

God has indeed created souls stubborn,

and made intellects unequal and diverse.

وكيف يروم الناس للطبع وحدة

وقد جعل الله الطبائع أربعا

How can people seek one uniform nature,

when God has made temperaments four?

جزى الله عنا من سعى لصلاحنا

ومن كان عونا في الصلاح لمن سعى

May God reward on our behalf whoever labored for our good,

and whoever aided those who labored for good.

لقد رضي الاسلام عن كل فاضل

(بباتنة) استدعى الضيوف فأمتعا

Indeed, Islam is pleased with every virtuous person

who invited guests in Batna and delighted them,

وعن محسن في المسلمين بداره

على العلماء المسلمين تبرعا

and with a benefactor among Muslims, whose home

was freely donated to the Muslim scholars,

وعن أي حر كان من أي فرقة

أعان على نشر العلوم وشجعا

and with any free person, of whatever group,

who aided the spread of learning and encouraged it.

وما نحن الا امة ذات نسبة

سماوية الأسباب لن تتقطعا

We are but a nation with a lineage

whose heavenly bonds shall never be severed,

وذرية للأطلس الفخم لو به

تصدت لنا ذرية ما تصدعا

and descendants of the majestic Atlas: were, upon it,

a lineage to confront us, it would not be rent.

اذا ما دعا (توقر) ابن أجابه

(بجرجرة) ابن ليس يخذل من دعا

Whenever Tawqar calls a son, he is answered

by a son in Djurdjura who never fails a caller.

وعفوا اذا عفنا القريض فلم نجب

صديقا دعانا للقريض فأسمعا

Pardon us if we have grown averse to verse and have not answered

a friend who called us to verse and made himself heard.

فيا أسفا يدعى الحمام عشية

ليسجع لكن لا يميل ليسجعا

Alas, the dove is called at dusk

to coo, yet has no inclination to coo.

ترى؟ خاف بعض الصائدين يصيبه

فيسقط مكسور الجناح مضعضعا

Do you suppose it feared some hunter might strike it,

so it would fall, broken-winged and shattered?

أم التاث من بعض الزوابع لوثة

بها لم يعد يدري الهديل المرجعا

Or did some whirlwind leave it deranged,

so that it no longer knew its trilling coo?

لقد صدنا عن قالة الشعر أننا

نرى جلهم قد خاب في جل ما ادعى

What has kept us from speaking poetry is that

we see most of them fail in most of what they claim.

وما الشعر إلا محنة طي منحة

لذا قل من بالشعر فينا تمتعا

Poetry is only an ordeal folded within a gift;

thus few among us have found enjoyment in poetry.

فقد جر قدما (لامرئى القيس) حتفه

وشتت فكر (ابن الحسين) ووزعا

Long ago it brought Imruʾ al-Qays his death,

and scattered and dispersed Ibn al-Husayn's thoughts.

أعرى من الأنس (المعري) فامترى

الى أن نعى حينا على الإنس ما نعى

It stripped al-Maʿarri of companionship, and he doubted,

until, at one time, he censured humankind as he did.

وعذرا اذا طال القصيد فإننا

وجدنا مجالا للتسابق أوسعا

And pardon us if the poem has grown long, for we

found a wider field for racing.

خببنا وأوضعنا على متن ضامر

ومن دخل المضمار خب وأوضعا

We trotted and galloped on the back of a lean steed,

and whoever enters the racecourse trots and gallops.

وأجدر خلق الله بالفوز مؤمن

إلى الله أدى فرضه وتطوعا

Most deserving of victory among God's creatures is a believer

who fulfilled his duty to God and freely did more.

ويا أيها الوفد الموفق رحلة

أراك من الجوزاء أبهج مطلعا

O delegation, favored in your journey,

I see your rising as more delightful than al-Jawzaʾ's.

وأقم في حمانا باللطائف مكرما

وغادر حمانا بالقلوب مشيعا

Stay in our sanctuary, honored with kindness,

and leave our sanctuary escorted by our hearts.