يا الله يا رب القدر يا خالق — Shibli Al Atrash

يا اللَه يا رب القَدر يا خالق

يا مُنجد المنضام يا رحماني

O God, O Lord of destiny, O Creator,

O Helper of the oppressed, O my Merciful One,

يا حي يا مَعبود ترحم ذلي

بِجاه النبي المُصطَفى العدناني

O Living One, O Worshipped One, have mercy on my abasement,

By the honor of the chosen Prophet of Adnan's lineage.

يا عالم السر الخفي تنقذني

بِحَق الأَقطاب وَسيدي سلمني

O Knower of the hidden secret, save me;

By the sanctity of the spiritual poles and my master, keep me safe.

لِأَني غَريب الدار مالي والي

وَلا خاب عبداً لا جَنابك عاني

For I am a stranger in this land, with no guardian.

And no servant who comes petitioning at Your presence has been disappointed.

هاج الغَرام وفاض مثل الوادي

مِن كثر ما في ضامري نيراني

Passion surged and overflowed like a valley stream,

From the abundance of fires within me.

أَبديت رتب في مَعاني فَني

في بُيوت عِندَ الناقدين أَثماني

I have displayed excellence in the meanings of my art,

In verses that the critics hold precious.

أَحلى من الشهد الزلال الصافي

وانفع من الترياق للوجعاني

Sweeter than clear, pure honey,

And more healing than an antidote for those in pain.

من خاص ما يجني النَحل جبناهم

بس أنت كون بلفظهم متعاني

We brought them from the choicest of what bees gather;

Only be attentive to their wording.

أَهل الذكا قالوا معاني بكر

يَكفيك شراً عَنهُ غفلاني

The discerning called these meanings virgin;

They ward off evil of which you are heedless.

ربك إِذا راد الخَراب بنملة

لِأَجل السَبب يخلق لَها جنحاني

When your Lord wills an ant's destruction,

To bring it about, He creates two wings for it.

ربك إِذا أَراد الخَراب بديرة

حكم بها الجهال وَالعياني

When your Lord wills the ruin of a land,

He makes the ignorant and incapable its rulers.

ربك إِذا قَوماً طَغوا وَتَمَردوا

سلط عليهم ظالماً غشماني

When a people grow tyrannical and rebel, your Lord

Sets over them a brutal oppressor.

ربك إِذا عَبداً تَعدى طوره

لا يد ما يرميه بالخسران

When a servant of your Lord oversteps his bounds,

He will surely cast him into ruin.

ربك إِذا قَوماً عَموا عَن حقهم

في مجمع التَوراة وَالقُرآن

Your Lord, when a people grow blind to their duty—

In the collected teachings of the Torah and the Qur'an—

اللَه حَكى في قَوله يا عَبدي

إِياك عطول المَدى تَنساني

God said in His words: 'O My servant,

Beware of forgetting Me throughout the course of time.

إِياك تنكر نعمَتي وَتجحدني

إِياك تَتَمادى عَلى عصياني

Beware of denying My blessing and disowning Me.

Beware of persisting in disobedience to Me.'

اللَه كَريم اللَه غيور احذره

جبار ربك واحداً فوقاني

God is generous; God is jealous—beware of Him.

Your Lord is all-compelling, the One on high.

سلط عَلى النَمرود لَما خالفوا

بَعوضة من أَضعف الحَيوان

He sent against Nimrod, when they disobeyed,

A mosquito, among the weakest of creatures.

أَهل المَداين يَوم عصيوا أَمره

لُوط النَبي طاهر بِلا عصيان

When the people of the cities disobeyed His command,

Lot the Prophet was pure, free of disobedience.

نَجاه رَبك من غضبه وَحده

وَربعو هفوا من الجُور وَالعدوان

Your Lord saved him alone from His wrath,

And his people perished through injustice and aggression.

للحين وَسَط المنتنا دُنياهم

بِالقبط وَالقَرميط وَالخلاني

To this day, their world lies amid the stench,

With the Copts, al-Qarmit, and the companions.

يُوم إِن طَغوا عادوا مداين صالح

ربك جَعلها أَسفلاً فوقاني

When the towns of Salih grew tyrannical and hostile,

Your Lord made their lowest part uppermost.

فَرعون مَع هامان وَالتابعهم

راحوا غَريق اليم بِالطُوفان

Pharaoh, with Haman and their followers,

Perished, drowned in the sea by the flood.

سَلط عَلى إِسرائيل بِأَرض المقدس

البخت نصر عسكر العجماني

He sent against Israel in the Holy Land

Nebuchadnezzar, with his foreign army.

مِن غير هدم القُدس وَكنيستها

خلوا الأَرض من دمهم غُدراني

Besides razing Jerusalem and its church,

They left pools of their blood upon the earth.

وَمِن غير هذا اللَه يا ما جازى

قَوماً عَموا عَن جادة السُلطاني

And beyond this, how often God has punished

Peoples blind to the Sovereign's path.

إِذا كُنت فَرز من الرِجال مهذب

انظر إِلى الدُنيا بِعين الفاني

If you are a distinguished, well-bred man,

Look upon the world through a mortal's eyes.

أَين المُلوك اللي قبل أَبنوها

وَسووا قصر بُصرى عَلى العمداني

Where are the kings who built it before,

And raised the palace of Busra upon pillars?

أَين الأَكاسِرَة الكِرام العَدل

وَأَيامهم وَاللي بَنوا الإِيواني

Where are the noble, just Khosrows,

And their days, and those who built the vaulted hall?

أَين التبابعة المُلوك بوقتهم

وَمقري الوَحش وَالحارث الغساني

Where are the Tubba', the kings of their time,

And the Feeder of Wild Beasts, and al-Harith al-Ghassani?

وَاللي بَنوا بصرة وَقَلعة صَلخَد

فَوق الحِجارة صوروا الصلباني

And those who built Basra and the citadel of Salkhad,

Depicting crosses upon the stones?

انظر بعلبك مَن بَنى قَلعتها

بالقبل قالوا السَيد سليماني

Look at Baalbek: who built its citadel?

In olden times, they said it was Lord Solomon.

راحوا وَخَلوا ما بَنوا للوارث

لا شك كل مَن هوَ عَلَيها فاني

They departed, leaving what they built to the heir.

Without doubt, everyone upon it must perish.

أَين النَبي المُصطَفى وَصحابو

وَالحيدر الكرار عالفرساني

Where is the chosen Prophet, and his companions,

And Haydar, the relentless charger against the horsemen?

أَينَ المُهلهل أَين ودوا عَنتر

أَين الحَسَن أَين الحُسين وَهاني

Where is al-Muhalhil? Where did they take Antar?

Where is Hasan? Where are Husayn and Hani?

أَينَ الفَتى المقداد وَالمياسة

أدعا العجم من غزوتو تنهاني

Where are the young hero Miqdad and al-Mayyasa?

He made the non-Arabs lament because of his raid.

أَين العَرَب أَهل الرتب خلوها

أَينَ العَبد هياف وَالنعماني

Where are the Arabs, men of high rank? They left it behind.

Where are the slave Hayyaf and al-Nu'man?

أَينَ الزناتي وَعزوته في بلاده

في تُونس الخَضرا بقي سُلطاني

Where are al-Zanati and his clan in his land?

In green Tunis he remained sultan.

المغل وَالفرمند لا تنساهم

وَشَبيب عالزرقا عمل دِيواني

Al-Mughl and al-Farmand—do not forget them.

And Shabib held court at al-Zarqa.

وَبو زيد قواد الظعون مغرب

وَزيدان وَالجهال وَالصبياني

And Abu Zayd, leader of the westbound camel caravans,

And Zaydan, and the young men and boys,

وَذياب وَالقاضي بدير الفايد

سُلطانهم ابن الملك سرحاني

And Dhiyab, and the judge Budayr al-Fayid,

Their sultan, the son of King Sarhan.

أَين الظَواهر بِالسَواحل كانوا

حُكام في ديرة عرب بُستاني

Where are the Zawahir, who were on the coasts,

Rulers in the garden-land of the Arabs?

الغز في مصر العَذية تملكوا

جاهم بلا محمد علي وَحداني

The Ghuzz took power in fair Egypt,

Muhammad Ali alone came upon them as a calamity.

في دورنا ياما هفت دنيانا

أَينَ الَّذي كانوا كبار العاني

In our time, how often our world has crumbled!

Where are those who were the great notables?

للمير بشير المالطي ما دامَت

عاود هفى في غربها الجواني

For Emir Bashir al-Malti, it did not endure;

He too perished in its western interior.

سَعيد بك الجمبلاطي حاكم

في دَوره عالمدن وَالخلياني

Sa'id Bey al-Jumblati was a ruler,

In his time, over the towns and the open lands.

وَعقيل وَالحَرفوش كانوا نمرة

سماعيل خيري بك حاكم ثاني

And Aqil and al-Harfush were tigers;

Isma'il Khayri Bey was another ruler.

أَين الشهابين وَابن الهادي

وَجرار مع طوقان وَالحمداني

Where are the Shihabis and Ibn al-Hadi,

And Jarrar, with Tuqan and al-Hamdani?

من غيرنا ياما هفتهم زينب

ما دام غير الواحد الوحداني

How many others besides us has Zaynab swept away!

None endured but the One, the Only One.

وَاختم كَلامي بِالشَفيع الهادي

ضابط نِظام الخَلق وَالأَكواني

And I close my words with the guiding intercessor,

Who governs the order of creation and the worlds.