Sol 6.1

  1. هو الدهر يأتي صرفه بالعجائب

    يشوب بمر السلب حلو الموهب

    It is Time: its vicissitudes bring wonders;

    It mixes the sweetness of giving with the bitterness of taking.

  2. بلوناه طوراً سالباً إثر واهب

    يمر وطوراً واهباً إثر سالب

    We have tried it: sometimes a taker following a giver,

    It passes on, and sometimes a giver following a taker.

  3. فذاك حياة المجد من قد فقدتها

    وشكرا فقد كانت ختام المصائب

    That, O life of glory, is the one you have lost;

    And give thanks, for it was the last of calamities.

  4. ويهنيك بل يهنا بك المنصب الذي

    به ابتسمت تيها ثغور المناصب

    May the office congratulate you—rather, be congratulated on you—

    Through which the mouths of offices smiled with pride.

  5. جدعت به عرنين كل معاند

    وأقررت جفني كل خدن وصاحب

    Through it you cut off the nose of every stubborn foe,

    And gave repose to the eyelids of every friend and companion.

  6. وصلت على الأعداء صولة أروع

    كصولة آساد الشرى في الثعالب

    And charged the enemies with a gallant man's charge,

    Like the charge of al-Sharā's lions among foxes.

  7. تعرض قوم للعلى قد تعرضوا

    بكفي أشل لاقتناص الكواكب

    Some men sought the heights; they had reached out

    With a palsied man's two hands to snare the stars.

  8. تمنوا وحاشا المجد أن يتقدموا

    عليك وهاموا بالأماني الكواذب

    They wished—though glory forbids it—to advance

    Ahead of you, and wandered amid false hopes.

  9. تصدوا لما يذكي حشا المجد حرقة

    وتغدو به العلياء أغضب عاتب

    They undertook what kindles burning anguish in glory's heart,

    And makes eminence the angriest of reproachers.

  10. متى قنص البوم البزاة أم استوى

    حضيض الثرى فوق النجوم الثواقب

    When have owls hunted falcons, or have

    The depths of earth risen above the piercing stars?

  11. فجرعتهم ما الصاب أيسر طعمه

    وآيوا على الأعقاب أوبة خائب

    So you made them swallow what makes bitter sap taste mild,

    And they turned back on their heels, returning disappointed.

  12. نضيت لهم سيفاً من العزم ماضياً

    شكا غربه من فلق هام النوائب

    You drew against them a keen sword of resolve,

    Whose edge complained of splitting calamities' heads.

  13. فأصبح كل وهو أحجم هارب

    كأن لم يكن من قبل أقدم راغب

    So each became the most hesitant of fugitives,

    As though he had never before been the boldest of aspirants.

  14. رأوا منك ندباً يستعيذ ببأسه الز

    زمان وتخشاه صروف العواقب

    They saw in you a valiant man whose might is sought as refuge by

    Time, and whom the vicissitudes of fate fear.

  15. أخا عزمة لو كلفت صدم يذبل

    لأطرق مدحوراً ضئيل المناكب

    A man of resolve: were it charged to strike Yadhbul,

    It would bow its head, vanquished, its shoulders diminished.

  16. له سؤدد لو كان للشهب لم تفق

    شموس نهار أو نجوم غياهب

    His is a nobility which, were it the meteors', they could not be outshone

    By suns of day or stars of deepest darkness.

  17. ورأي سديد لاذكاء منيرة

    لديه ولا السهم السديد بصائب

    And sound judgment: Dhukāʾ, the sun, is not radiant

    Beside it, nor is the well-aimed arrow on target.

  18. ورقة خلق زانها الفضل والبها

    وجود به ينهل نوء السحائب

    And gentleness of character adorned by excellence and splendor,

    And generosity through which the clouds' rain pours abundantly.

  19. لذاك أتاه المجد أخطب راغب

    رووافت له العلياء أرغب خاطب

    For this, glory came to him as the most eloquent seeker,

    And eminence came to him as the most eager suitor.

  20. وان حساماً شيخ الإسلام ضارب

    به لجدير بافتلاذ المآرب

    And surely a keen sword wielded by the Shaykh of Islam

    Is truly fit to carve out the ends desired.

  21. جزاه إله العرش خيراً عن العلي

    فقد صانها عن موبقات المثالب

    May the God of the Throne reward him well on high honor's behalf,

    For he guarded it from the ruin wrought by blemishes.

  22. إليك ثنينا أحمد بن محمد

    عنان القوافي والثنا المتراكب

    To you, Ahmad son of Muhammad, we turned

    The reins of rhyme and praise piled high.

  23. أما لو تخذت البرق عضباً وطأطأت

    لبأسك أعناق الأسود الغوالب

    Indeed, if you took lightning for a keen blade and bowed

    Before your might the necks of conquering lions,

  24. وصغت هلال الأفق نعلا وسابقت

    مساعيك للعليا جياد الجنائب

    And forged the horizon's crescent into a horseshoe, and

    Your quests for the heights raced noble led horses,

  25. لما نلت الأدون ما أنت أهله

    ولو كنت من أضعافه في المراتب

    You would not attain even the least of what you deserve,

    Even were you many times higher in rank.

  26. ألست من القوم الأولى مكرماتهم

    بها تضرب الأمثال في كل جانب

    Are you not of the people whose noble deeds

    Are held up as examples in every quarter?

  27. يترجم عنها كل باد وحاضر

    ويقصر عنها كل ساع وطالب

    Every desert-dweller and townsman speaks of them,

    And every striver and seeker falls short of them.

  28. هم جذبوا ضبع المكارم واحتسوا

    ضريب المعالي من ضروع الرغائب

    They drew nobility up by the upper arm and sipped

    The mingled milk of lofty honors from the udders of desires.

  29. تحلى بهم جيد الزمان وأغدقت

    بنوء علاهم ناضبات المشارب

    Time's neck was adorned with them; and overflowed—

    With the rain of their eminence—the once-dry watering places.

  30. وراشوا سهام المكرمات وأشحذوا

    ظُباها كما فلوا سيوف النوائب

    And they feathered the arrows of noble deeds and sharpened

    Their edges, just as they blunted the swords of calamities.

  31. ليوث شرى في أجمة من يراعهم

    ملوك علا من كتبهم في كتائب

    Lions of Sharā in a thicket of their reed pens,

    Kings of high honor in battalions formed of their writings.

  32. وأنت الذي شيدت عالي منارهم

    وجددت ما أبلته أيدي الحقائب

    And you are the one who raised their lofty beacon,

    And renewed what the hands of ages had worn away,

  33. ورضت جموح الفضل بعد شتاته

    فلا زلت قيد الآبدات الشوارب

    And tamed the wildness of excellence after its scattering;

    May you ever remain the fetter of wild creatures that drink.