عسى وقفة بالركب يا حادي الركب

لأسأل ما بين المحامل عن قلبي

Would that the caravan might halt, O caravan-driver,

so I may ask among the litters after my heart.

فعهدي به لما استقلت ركابكم

وقد قال لنساري إلى طيبة سربي

For I last knew it when your mounts rose to depart,

and my company had said, 'Let us journey by night to Taybah.'

فناديتمو عند الأصائل بالسرى

سحيراً فلباكم على عجل لي

Then at late afternoon you called for travel by night,

shortly before dawn; it answered you hastily on my behalf.

وخلقتم المضني على صب دمعه

غراماً فقل ماشئت في الصب والصب

And you made the stricken one pour out his tears

in consuming love—say what you will of the lover and the outpouring.

ويمتموا أرض الحجاز فحسبكم

بلغتم مناكم والأسى بعدكم حسبي

You headed toward the land of the Hijaz—enough for you:

you attained your wishes; sorrow after your departure is enough for me.

كلانا سواء في السهاد وإنما

تناءى بكم دوني السهاد لي القرب

We are both alike in sleeplessness, yet

sleeplessness has borne you far, not me; nearness is mine.

غدا يبلغ الساري مناه وينقضي

عناه ويخلو بالأسى الوادع الجنب

Tomorrow the night-traveler will attain his wish, and end

his hardship; the man lying at rest is left alone with sorrow.

وهل وادع في القوم من عقد الجوى

بجفنيه ما بين الحواجب والهدب

But can one among the company rest who has bound his anguish

to his eyelids, between brows and lashes?

يقول الريح ظن أن قد سرت بهم

أرحت الجوى هبي على كبدي هبي

He speaks to the wind, thinking it has already journeyed with them:

'You have eased my anguish—blow upon my liver, blow!'

وقد تقعد الأقدار من قل حظه

على أنه وافى الهوى وافر الحب

Fate may hold back one whose fortune is slight,

though he has come to passion with abundant love.

ولكنني لم آتهم في تأخري

على كثرة الأسباب شيئاً سوى ذنبي

But in my being left behind I have blamed

nothing, despite the many causes, except my sin.

ولولاه ما نادى المنادي إلى الحمى

وما أنا في أولى الركائب والركب

Were it not for that, the caller would not summon others to the sanctuary

without my being among the foremost mounts and riders.

فإن تعتب الأيام لم تبق ليإذا

بلغت المني منهم على الدهر من ذنب

If the days make amends, they will leave me—when

I gain my wish through them—no fault to find with time.

وأبسط آمالي وأوقن باللقا

وأهتف من عجبي بحادي السرى عج بي

I shall unfold my hopes and be certain of meeting,

and cry in wonder to the night-journey's driver: 'Turn aside with me!'

فهل فيكم من حامل لي ضراعة

إلى شافعي في يوم حشري إلى ربي

Is there someone among you who will carry my supplication

to my intercessor on the day I am gathered before my Lord?

إلى خير مخلوق وأرأف مرسل

وأشرف مبعوث إلى العجم والعرب

To the best of creatures and the most compassionate messenger,

the noblest envoy to non-Arabs and Arabs;

إلى خير خاف في البرايا وناعل

وأكرم واط في الأنام على الترب

to the best among mortals, barefoot or shod,

the noblest among mankind to tread upon the dust;

إلى خير من تشدو الرفاق بذكره

فيسري الهوى والشوق منهم إلى النجب

to the best whose name the traveling companies sing,

so love and longing pass from them into their noble camels;

إلى صاحب الحوض الذي كان مؤمن

سيروي غدا من فرط منهلة العذب

to the master of the Pool, where a believer would

drink his fill tomorrow from its abundant, sweet watering place;

إلى شافع العاصين عند الهم

ومنقذهم في الحشر من غمرة الكرب

to the intercessor for sinners in distress,

who rescues them at the Gathering from overwhelming anguish;

ومن أنزل الرحمن ذكر صفاته

وأمنه الوسطي على ألسن الكتب

to him whose qualities the Merciful sent down in remembrance,

and his middlemost security [wording unclear], upon the tongues of the scriptures;

وصرح عيسى باسمه وكذلك الكليم

المناجي الرب بالجانب الغربي

Jesus plainly declared his name, as did the one spoken to by God,

who communed with the Lord on the western side;

وإيوان مسرى شق والنار أخمدت

لمولده والجن تقذف بالشهيب

Kisra's palace hall was split, and the fire extinguished

at his birth, while the jinn were pelted with shooting flames;

وشاهدت الغلمان شق فؤاده

فطيماً وتطهير الملائك للقلب

the boys witnessed his heart being opened

when he was newly weaned, and the angels' cleansing of his heart;

كذا شاهدت من بمنه أم معبد

شويههتا العجفا تعج على الحلب

likewise Umm Ma'bad witnessed, through his bounty,

her emaciated little ewe crying out to be milked;

وأنبا بظهر الغيب عن موت جيشه

ومن مات منهم من نسيب ومن صحب

he foretold, from beyond sight, the death of his army,

and those among them who died, whether kinsmen or companions;

وعن حالهم فيها إذا استشهدوا بها

كراماً وما خصوا به من رضا الرب

and their condition within it when they were martyred there,

honored, and the Lord's favor specially bestowed upon them;

وعما جرى من أمر تامير خالد

وسماه سيف الله للبأس والذب

and what came to pass in Khalid's appointment to command;

he named him the Sword of God for battle and defense;

وأنبأ عن موت النجاشي إذ قضى

وعن حاطب ذاك لمسامح بالذنب

he announced al-Najashi's death when he passed away,

and spoke of Hatib, that man forgiven for his sin;

وأن ليس كرسى بعج كسرى

لفارس يقوم ولا ملك بدور على قطب

and that after Kisra no throne

would rise for Persia, nor any kingdom revolve upon its axis;

وفتح القصور البيض من أرض بابل

لامته بعد اليسير من الحقب

and the conquest of the white palaces in the land of Babylon

for his community after only a short stretch of time.

نأسنة له الله الوسيلة في غد

وصلى عليه من نبي ومن منبي

May God grant him the station of nearness tomorrow [opening word unclear],

and bless him, prophet and bearer of tidings.

وجاؤه يوماً وهو يخطب فاشتكوا

إليه الذي هم فيه من شدة الخطب

One day they came while he was preaching and complained

to him of the grievous plight they were in,

وإن الحيا قد شح والزرع قد ذوي

وضرعهم بأمثال الجبال من السحب

that rain had grown scant and the crops had withered,

and their udders [wording unclear], with mountain-like clouds;

وجادت بصوب الغيث من كل جانب

وتمت إلى السبوع دائمة السكب

the clouds poured down rain from every side

and continued pouring without pause for a week.

فجاءوه يستصحونه فدعا لهم

فولت بسقياهم إلى الدوح والعشب

Then they came asking him for clear skies, and he prayed for them,

so the clouds carried their rainfall away to the great trees and grass.

وإن حنين الجذع أبهر آية

رآها جميع الصحب في المسجد الرحب

The trunk's yearning cry was a most dazzling sign,

which all the companions saw in the spacious mosque;

كذلك في شكوى البعير الذي أتى

إليه ونطق الذئب والعير والضب

likewise in the complaint of the camel that came

to him, and the speech of the wolf, the wild ass, and the spiny-tailed lizard;

وجاءت له الشجار لما دعا بها

وقال لها عودي فعادت على العقب

the trees came to him when he called them,

and he said, 'Return,' so they turned back on their heels.

وفي يوم بدر أنجدته على العدا

ملائكة الرحمن في موقف الحرب

On the day of Badr he was aided against his foes

by the Merciful's angels on the battlefield;

وأعطي ببدر عود نخل عكاشة

فألقاه من أمضى المهندة القضب

at Badr he gave 'Ukashah a palm stick,

and he found it among the sharpest Indian-forged blades;

وأعطي قضياً لابن ججش لدى الوغا

فصار حساماً صادق الهز والندب

he gave Ibn Jahsh a twig amid the battle,

and it became a sword true in the swing and the summons to action;

كذاك غدا عود حباه ابن أسلم

حساماً شديد الضرب لم يك عن ضرب

likewise a stick he bestowed upon Ibn Aslam became

a fiercely striking sword, though it had not come from hammering.

فأعجب بها أسياف قدرة قادر

غت قضيباً في فعلها وهي من قضب

Marvel, then, at them—swords of the power of the Almighty,

keen blades in action, though made from twigs [opening word uncertain];

ويوم حنين إذ رمت كفه العدا

بحصبة عمت سائر القوم بالحصب

and on the day of Hunayn, when his palm pelted the foes

with a handful of pebbles, the pelting reached the whole company.

فولوا وأطراف القنا في ظهورهم

تنوشهم ما بين جنب إلى صلب

They fled, spearpoints in their backs,

assailing them from flank to spine.

وفضلة ماء في إناء تدفقت

أنامله منها بمنهمر عذب

And from a little water left in a vessel there flowed

from his fingertips a torrent of sweet water;

فروى بها جيش الصحابة فاكتفوا بما

وردوه للوضوء وللشرب

he quenched the companions' army with it; they had enough of what

they drew for ablution and drinking.

وخص بأن عمت رسالته الورى

فسارت مسير الشمس في الشرق والغرب

He was singled out in that his message embraced all creation,

traveling like the sun through east and west;

وكانت له الأرض الفسيحة مسجداً

يصلي بها في السهل منها وفي الهضب

the spacious earth was made a mosque for him,

where he could pray upon its plains and uplands;

وصار تراب الأرض طهراً لنا به

فمن لم يجد ماء تميمم بالترب

and the earth's dust became our means of purification,

so whoever found no water could purify himself with dust.

وكان لدي الهيجا يؤيد بالصبا

وينصر من شهر على الكفر بالرعب

Amid battle he was strengthened by the east wind,

and aided against unbelief by terror a month's journey away;

وعمت كما عمت رسالته الورى

شفاعته العظمى على كل ذي ذنب

and, just as his message embraced all creation, so did

his supreme intercession extend to every bearer of sin.

له معجزات لو يقابل نورها

بشمس الضحى اضحت من السحب في نقب

He has miracles whose light, if compared

with the morning sun, would leave that sun merely shining through a gap in the clouds.

ومن ذا يعد الفطر أويحصر الحصي

ويحصي بذهن ثاقب عدد الشهب

Who could count the raindrops or number the pebbles,

or reckon with a piercing mind the number of meteors?

فبالله بلغة تحية قاعد

غدا من خطاياه على مركب صعب

So, by God, convey to him the greeting of one left behind,

who, through his sins, now rides an unruly mount;

وأد إليه شوق القلب مد له

وعين غدت بالدمع هامية الغرب

convey to him the longing of a heart stretched toward him,

and of an eye whose bucket overflows with tears.

وكرر سلامي وأسأل الله لي به

لأقضي مرامي قبل أن ينقضي نحجي

Repeat my greeting, and ask God for me through him,

that I may attain my aim before my allotted life runs out,

ويكشف عن قلبي حجاب حظوظه

فإن حظوظ النفس من أمنع الحجب

and that He lift from my heart the veil of its desires,

for the self's desires are among the most impenetrable veils.

عسى نفخة يضفو بها ظل جاه

علي ويصفو لي بموردها شربي

Would that a breath might spread the shade of his standing

over me, and clear my draught at its watering place;

وعلى أن أحظي بلثم ترابه

واصبح بعد البعد من جيرة الشعب

and may I be blessed to kiss his dust,

and, after being far away, become one of the mountain pass's neighbors;

واشكو دواء الذنوب الذي وهي

بها جسدي إلى العارف القلب

and complain of the malady of sins [probable reading] that has weakened

my body through them, to the knower of the heart.

وتذهب أدوائي وتبرد لوعتي

وأدرك آمالي وآمن في سربي

May my ailments vanish and my burning anguish cool,

and may I attain my hopes and be safe among my people.

وإن مت من قبل اللقاء بغصتي

فكم مات من قبلي بها من أخي حب

If I die before the meeting, choked by my grief,

how many a brother in love before me has died of it!

عليه سلام الله ما هبت الصبا

وما افتر ثغر النور من أدمع السحب

God's peace be upon him as long as the east wind blows,

and the mouth of blossoms smiles from the clouds' tears,

وما ناح محزون وما حن نازح

وما شدت الورقاء في غصن رطب

as long as the sorrowful lament and the distant yearn,

and the gray dove sings upon a tender bough.