Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/466)

(1) Can we, once that illustrious sage has departed, ever bestir ourselves to gather even a few of the jewels he once scattered among us?

(2) Taqi al-Din—endowed with scrupulous piety and vast learning—by him the gaping rents of the most intractable problems were stitched shut.

(3) He passed away, a lone prisoner, his heart wholly disinclined toward the life of this world.

Had people been present when his soul was taken, they would have seen the angels of bliss encircling him.

(4) He fulfilled his destined term without a peer; no swaddling-cloth has ever wrapped another of his like.

[ق 140] (5) A youth who grew singular in knowledge, so that the unraveling of knotty questions was entrusted to him.

(6) Even Iblis feared his resolute power, for his admonitions lashed the hearts like scourges.

(7) By Allah, what a treasure that grave now holds! By Allah, what a precious being the stone floor now conceals!

(8) To confine pearls within their shells is itself an honor,

(9) and, for the Shaykh, imprisonment was a source of gladness.

(1) This verse is not found in F or K. (2) F and K read: “Taqi al-Din Ahmad, the finest scholar.” (3) F and K: “while he is imprisoned …,” whereas the base manuscript has: “unique.” (4) F and K: “nor was a swaddling cloth ever wrapped for one his equal.” (5) After this, F and K add: “He used to summon mankind to piety, and forbid a faction that lapsed into debauchery and sodomy.” (6) F and K read: “with an admonition.” (7) After this, F and K insert: “They envied him when they could not attain his virtues, so they sinned and raged; They were sluggish toward his way, yet in harming him they were keen.” (8) The base manuscript mistakenly reads bahr (“sea”). (9) After this, F and K add: “He follows the example of the Hashimite family; they tasted death but never yielded.”

أينشطُ قطّ بعد وفاة حَبْرٍ ... لنا من نَثْر جوهره التقاطُ (١) تقيُّ الدين ذو وَرَعٍ وعِلمٍ (٢) ... خُروق المُعْضِلات به تُخاطُ توفي وهو محبوسٌ فريد (٣) ... وليس له إلى الدُّنيا انبساطُ ولو حضروه حينَ قَضى لألْفَوا ... ملائكةَ النَّعيم به أحاطوا قضى نَحْبًا وليس له قرينٌ ... وليسَ يَلُفّ مُشبِهَهُ القِمَاطُ (٤) [ق ١٤٠] فتًى في علمه أضحى فريدًا ... وحلُّ المُشْكلاتِ به يُناطُ (٥) وكان يخاف إبليسٌ سَطَاه ... لوعظٍ (٦) للقلوبِ هو السِّياطُ فيا لله ما قد ضَمَّ لَحْدٌ ... ويا لله ما غَطَّى البلاطُ (٧) وحَبْس الدرِّ في الأصدافِ فَخْرٌ (٨) ... وعندَ الشّيخ بالسَّجْن اغْتِباطُ (٩)

(١) هذا البيت ليس في (ف، ك). (٢) (ف، ك): «تقي الدين أحمد خير حبر». (٣) (ف، ك): «وهو مسجون ... »، وفي الأصل: «فريدًا». (٤) (ف، ك): «ولا لنظيره لُفّ القماط». (٥) بعده في (ف، ك): وكان إلى التُّقى يدعو البرايا ... وينهى فِرْقةً فسقوا ولاطوا (٦) (ف، ك): «بوعظٍ». (٧) بعده في (ف، ك): ... همُ حسدوه لمّا لم ينالوا ... مناقبه فقد فسقوا وشاطوا وكانوا عن طرائقه كُسالى ... ولكن في أذاه لهم نشاطُ (٨) في الأصل: «بحرٌ» خطأ. (٩) بعده في (ف، ك): بآل الهاشمي له اقتداءٌ ... فقد ذاقوا المنون ولم يواطوا