إيابا أيها المولى إيابا — Sharif Al Murtaza

إِياباً أَيّها المَولى إيابا

فعبدٌ إنْ أَساء فَقد أَنابا

Return, O my lord, return!

For a servant, if he has offended, has repented.

أَطاعكَ وَالشّبابُ له رداءٌ

فَكيفَ تَراه إِذ خلَع الشّبابا

He obeyed you while youth was his cloak;

How do you judge him when he has cast off youth?

وَكانَ على الهُدى حَدَثاً فإنّي

تظنّ بِه الضّلالة حينَ شابا

He followed guidance in youth—how, then,

Can you suspect him of straying when he has grown gray?

أبَعْدَ نَصيحَةٍ في الغَيب غِشّ

أَحَوْراً بعد كَوْرٍ وَاِنقلابا

After faithful counsel in your absence, deceit?

Unwinding after winding, and a reversal?

أَلا قُل للأُلى زمّوا المَطايا

وَعالوها الهَوادجَ والقِبابا

Come, tell those who bridled the mounts

And set howdahs and canopies upon them,

وَقادوا الخيلَ عارِية الهَوادِي

وما أوْكوْا منَ العَجَلِ العِيابا

And led the horses with their necks bare,

And in their haste did not tie their baggage bags:

خُذوا مِنّا التحيّة وَاِقرَؤوها

وَإِن لَم تَسمَعوا عَنها جَوابا

Take our greeting and recite it,

Even if you hear no answer to it,

عَلى ملكٍ تنَزّه أَن يحابِي

وَأَغنَتْه المَحامِدُ أَن يُحابى

To a king above showing favoritism,

Whose virtues spare him any need to be favored.

وَلَمّا أَن تَحَجَّب بِالمَعالي

عَلى أَعدائِهِ رفع الحِجابا

And when he veiled himself in lofty virtues

Against his enemies, he lifted the veil.

وَقولوا لِلَّذينَ رَضوا زماناً

فَردَّهمُ الوشاةُ بِنا غِضابا

And tell those who were once content with us,

But whom slanderers turned against us in anger:

عَدَتنا عَن دِياركم العَوادي

وَرابَ مِنَ الزّيارَةِ ما أَرابا

Misfortunes kept us from your homes,

And something about our visiting stirred suspicion.

فَلا جَوٌّ نَشيم بهِ بروقاً

وَلا أَرضٌ نشمّ لَها تُرابا

There is no sky in which we watch for lightning,

And no land whose dust we smell.

وَما كُنّا نَخافُ وَإِن جَنَينا

بِأَنَّ الهَجرَ كانَ لَنا عِقابا

We never feared, even if we sinned,

That estrangement would be our punishment.

أَقيلونا الذّنوبَ فَإِنَّ فيكُمْ

وَعِندَكُمُ لِمُجرِمِكُمْ متابا

Pardon our sins, for in you

And with you your offender has a way to return.

وَلا تَستَبدِعوا خَطأَ المَوالي

فَإِنَّ العَبدَ يُبدع إِنْ أَصابا

Do not find your servants' errors strange,

For a servant does something extraordinary if he does right.

بَعُدنا عَنكُمُ وَلَنا أعادٍ

يَزيدُهُمُ تَباعُدنا اِقتِرابا

We have grown distant from you, and we have enemies

Whom our separation draws ever closer.

فَرَوْنا بِالشِّفارِ فَما أكلّوا

لَهُم في فَرْينا ظُفْراً ونابا

They slashed us with blades, never blunting

A claw or fang of theirs in tearing us apart.

وَكُنّا إِذ أَمِنّاهُمْ عَلَينا

رُعاةَ البهْمِ إِذْ أَمِنوا الذّئابا

When we trusted them with our safety, we were

Shepherds of lambs who trusted wolves.

أَيا ملكَ المُلوكِ أَصِخْ لقولٍ

أُجِلّكَ أَن يَكونَ لَكُمْ عِتابا

O king of kings, listen to words

I honor you too much to offer as reproach.

تُسَكّنُنِي المَهابَةُ عَنهُ طَوراً

وَيُؤمِنني وَفاؤُك أَن أَهابا

At times, awe silences me from speaking them,

Yet your faithfulness assures me I need not fear.

وَلَولا أَنَّ حِلمَك عِدْلُ رَضْوى

فَرَقْتُكَ أَن أُراجِعكَ الخِطابا

Were your forbearance not the equal of Radwa,

I would fear to address you in reply.

خَدمتك حينَ أَسلمكَ الأَداني

وَخلّى الجارُ نُصرَتنا وَهابا

I served you when those closest to you abandoned you,

And our neighbor forsook our aid and grew afraid.

وَكُنتُ أَخوضُ فيما تَرتَضيهِ

عَلى الأَعداءِ أَيّاماً صِعابا

I would plunge, pursuing what pleased you,

Into hard days against the enemies.

أَخافُ الموتَ قدّاماً وخلفاً

وَأَرقُبُه مَجيئاً أَو ذَهابا

Fearing death before me and behind,

And watching for it whether coming or going.

وَأَكرع مِن عدوّكَ كلَّ يومٍ

وَما اِستَسقيتُه صَبراً وصابا

Every day I drank from your enemy

Aloes and bitter sap, though I never asked him for a drink.

وَكَم جَذب السُّعاة عَلَيكَ ضَبْعِي

فَما أَوسَعتُهم إلّا جِذابا

How often informers tugged my arm to turn me against you,

Yet I gave them nothing but a counter-tug.

أَلا لا تَغبُننّ الحلمَ رأياً

صَواباً في اِمرِئٍ غبِنَ الصّوابا

Do not deny forbearance a judgment

That is sound toward a man who missed the right course.

وَقُلْ لِلمُجلِبينَ علَيَّ مهْلاً

فَقَد أَدركتُمُ فيهِ الطِّلابا

And tell those clamoring against me, 'Enough—

You have already attained your aim concerning him.'

أَسُخطاً بَعدَ سُخطٍ وَاِزوِراراً

وَنأياً بَعد نأيٍ وَاِجتِنابا

Anger after anger, and turning away?

Distance after distance, and avoidance?

وَأَنتَ أَرَيتَنا في كلِّ باغٍ

غَفرتَ ذنوبَهُ العَجَبَ العُجابا

Yet you have shown us, in every rebel

Whose sins you forgave, wonders beyond wonder.

فَما لِي لا تُسوّيني بِقَومٍ

رَقَوْا في كيدِ دَولَتك الهِضابا

Why, then, do you not treat me like men

Who climbed the hills in plotting against your realm?

وَدَرّوا بَعد ما رشحوا فَأَضحَوا

وَقَد مَلأوا مِنَ الشرّ الجِرابا

And gushed after trickling, and came forth

Having filled the sack with evil.

هَنيئاً يا مُلوكَ بَني بُويهٍ

بِأنّ بهاءَكُمْ ملك الرّقابا

Rejoice, O kings of the sons of Buwayh,

That your Baha has mastered every neck!

وَحازَ المُلكَ لا إِرثاً وَلَكِنْ

بِحَدّ السيفِ قَسْراً وَاِغتِصابا

He won the kingdom not by inheritance,

But by the sword's edge, through force and seizure.

وَلَمّا أَن عَوى بِالسيفِ كَلبٌ

وَجَرَّ إِلى ضَلالَتهِ كِلابا

When a dog howled with a sword,

And dragged other dogs into his error,

وَظنّكَ لاهياً عَنه ويُرمى

قَديماً بِالغَباوةِ مَن تَغابى

And thought you heedless of him—though long has

The man who feigns stupidity been accused of it—

رَأى لِيناً عَليهِ فَظَنَّ خَيراً

وَيَلقَى اللّينَ من لَمس الحُبابا

He saw gentleness toward him and expected good;

Yet whoever touches a serpent also finds softness.

دَلَفتَ إِلَيهِ في عُصَبِ المَنايا

إِذا أَمّوا طِعاناً أَو ضِرابا

You advanced against him amid bands of death,

When they aimed at spear-thrusts or sword-blows:

وجوهاً مِن ندىً تُلفى رِقاقاً

وَعِندَ ردىً تُلاقيها صِلابا

Faces you find tender with generosity's dew,

But amid death you find them hard.

وَأبصرها عَلى الأهوازِ شُعثاً

تَخال بِهنَّ مِن كَلَبٍ ذآبا

He saw them at Ahwaz, disheveled;

In their ferocity you might take them for wolves.

عَلَيها كُلّ أَروعَ شمّريٍّ

يهاب من الحميَّة أن يَهابا

Upon them rode every gallant, tireless warrior,

Whose pride makes him fear being afraid.

فولّى في رهيطٍ كان دهراً

يُمنِّيهم فَأَورَدَهم شَرابا

He fled with a little band whom, for years,

He had filled with hopes—then brought them to a draught.

وَتَحسَبُهم وَقَد زَحفوا لُيوثاً

فَلَمّا أَجفَلوا حسِبوا ذِئابا

You would have thought them lions as they advanced,

But when they fled, they were thought wolves.

أَعدّهُم لهُ صحباً فَكانوا

هُنالكَ في مَنيّتهِ صِحابا

He had prepared them as his companions, and they were

Companions there in his death.

فَأَصبَح لا يرى إِلّا اِبتِساماً

وَأَمسى لا يَرى إِلّا اِنتِحابا

At dawn he was seen only smiling,

By evening he was seen only wailing.

وَباتَ معلّقاً في رَأسِ جذعٍ

إِهاباً لَو تركتَ لهُ إِهابا

He spent the night hanging atop a tree trunk,

A hide—had you left him any hide.

وَحَلَّق شاحب الأَوصالِ حتّى

عُقابُ الجوّ تحسبهُ عُقابا

He soared aloft, pale-limbed, until

The eagle of the sky took him for an eagle.

تعافُ الطّير جيفتَه وَتَأبى

عراقَتَه وإن كانت سِغابا

Birds loathed his corpse and refused

To gnaw his bones, even when famished.

وَما تَرَكَ اِنتِقامُك فيه لمّا

سَطوتَ بِهِ طَعاماً أو شرابا

Your vengeance left in him, when

You struck him down, neither food nor drink.

فَدُم يا تاجَ مُلكِ بَني بُويهٍ

تَخَطّاك المقادِرُ أن تُصابا

Endure, O crown of the kingdom of Buwayh's sons;

May the fates pass you by, leaving you unharmed.

وَلا ملك الأَنامَ سِواك مولَى

وَلا قَصدوا سِوى نُعماكَ بابا

May no lord but you rule humankind,

And may they seek no door but that of your bounty.

وَضلّتْ نائِبات الدّهر جَمْعاً

شِعابكَ أَن تلمّ بها شعابا

May time's calamities, all together, lose the way

To your passes, finding no paths to descend upon them.

وَطابَت لي حَياتُكَ ثُمَّ طالَتْ

فَخَيرُ العَيشِ ما إِن طالَ طابا

May your life be sweet to me, and then be long;

For the best life is one that stays sweet when long.