تبا لدهر خاين غدار — Niqula Al Turk

تبا لدهرٍ خاينٍ غدارِ

منكٍ مكيد مهتكٍ مكارِ

A curse upon a faithless, treacherous age,

harm-dealing, scheming, dishonoring, deceitful!

الشر شيمتهُ ومن أخلاقه

خلق الأسى وتولد الاضرارِ

Evil is its nature, and among its traits

are creating sorrow and engendering harm.

في كلّ لمحة ناظرٍ يبدى الردى

ويري الفتى كدراً من الاكدارِ

In every glance of an eye, it reveals death,

and shows a young man one sorrow among many.

كم بات يرشقنى بنبل خطوبه

ويذيقني منه كؤوس مرارِ

How often it has spent the night pelting me with its calamities' arrows,

and made me taste its cups of bitterness!

بل كم بليت بمحنةٍ منه وكم

قد زجني في أبحر الأخطار

Nay, how often I have suffered a trial from it, and how often

it has thrust me into seas of danger!

واليوم فوّق سهمه نحوي وأر

ماني به متعمّدا ادماري

And today it aimed its arrow at me and shot—

me with it, intent upon my destruction.

لكن يد المولى كفتني شرهُ

وتلطَّف القدر المعد الجاري

But the Lord's hand protected me from its evil,

and the appointed, unfolding fate dealt gently.

لما ابتليت بسقطةٍ سقطت على

جنبي اليمين وأثرت بيساري

When I was afflicted by a fall, I fell upon

my right side, and it injured my left.

وغدوت ملقىً في الفراش مكسحاً

أشكو المصيبة ليلتى ونهاري

And I lay cast upon the bed, crippled,

lamenting the calamity by night and by day.

أتنفس الصعداء من قلب شجٍ

شاكي الوبال مبلبل الأفكارِ

I heave deep sighs from a sorrow-stricken heart,

complaining of affliction, my thoughts in turmoil.

قبحاً لها من سقطةٍ قد عطَّلت

قدميّ عن سعيي وعن أسفاري

Accursed is that fall, which has kept

my feet from my pursuits and my travels!

وعدمت انس أحبتي وزيارتي

ذاك المقام ورحب تلك الدار

And I lost my loved ones' companionship and my visits to

that abode and the spacious expanse of that house.

دارٌ بها فلك التهاني لم يزل

أبداً يدور على مدى الأدوار

A house where the sphere of rejoicing has never ceased

to revolve forever through the course of ages.

وعزيزها لا زال يرفل في بها

حلل البقا وينال خير فخارِ

And may its cherished one ever walk proudly in the splendor of

robes of enduring life, and attain the finest glory.

ذاك الحبيب أبو البشارة من حوى

أدباً عجيباً فايق المقدار

That beloved one is Abu al-Bishara, who possesses

wondrous learning of surpassing worth.

وزها بحسن مناقبٍ ومحامدٍ

بين الأنام زكّية المعطار

And he shines with fine virtues and praiseworthy qualities,

pure and fragrant among humankind.

وسما وفاق برقةٍ وظرافةٍ

وسخاوةٍ محمودة التذكار

And he rises high and excels in gentleness and grace,

and in generosity praised whenever recalled.

وخلا بلطف شمايلٍ تثني على

مدد الزمان ودورة الإعصار

And he stands apart in gentle qualities praised throughout

the spans of time and the cycle of ages.

وجميع أرباب الحجى في فضله

شهدت وأوفت صحة الأقرار

And all the masters of intellect, concerning his excellence,

have testified and given full, truthful acknowledgment.

بيمينه قلم الحساب كأنه

رمحٌ تلاعبه يدُ المغوار

In his right hand is the pen of reckoning, as though it were

a spear toyed with by a bold warrior's hand.

أيوب نصر الله دام لهُ ولا

برحت تلاحظه عيون الباري

Ayyub Nasr Allah—may it endure for him, and may

the Creator's eyes never cease watching over him,

ما قد شدا شادى الربى مترنما

وتغنت الأطيار بالأسحار

as long as the hills' songster sings melodiously

and the birds sing in the hours before dawn.

والترك يختم معرباً ومنضّداً

درر المديح بأفصح الأشعار

And al-Turk concludes, expressing clearly and stringing together

pearls of praise in the most eloquent verse,

داعٍ له حتى إلى يوم اللقا

بالارتقا في السر والاجهار

praying for him even until the Day of Meeting,

for advancement, in private and aloud.

وإلى الغصون الينع يفترض الدعا

في نشوهم وبطولة الأعمار

And for the flourishing branches he deems prayer a duty,

for their growth and the lengthening of their lives.