Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/469)

Al-Uqud al-DurriyyaIbn Abd al-Hadi

Death was the bridal escort of his life’s wedding, (1)
and souls, together with tears, were cast about like scattered petals.

If he has been separated from family and neighbors, (2)
he has drawn near as a neighbor to the Lord of Majesty.

Should his journey have been away from the house of transience,
then in the Abode of Everlasting Life he already owns fine dwellings. (3)

If he was driven from the lofty heights of his homeland, (4)
he has found abiding rest in the immortal gardens.

He was but a rain-laden cloud of knowledge,
whose torrential drops refreshed every land it reached.

Like a beneficent shower whose clouds depart after a steady drizzle,
yet enduring traces remain in its wake.

He was a towering mountain of learning—
a single pebble of it would outweigh an entire qintar. (5)

He was an ocean of generosity; his open palm
sent forth waves of bounty that surged without cease.

He was a gentle, ceaseless rain of kindness, (6)
whose gifts poured abundantly upon the modest and the needy.

He was the full moon at the height of its perfection;
no night of waning ever dimmed its brilliance.

He was the very best of Muhammad’s community in his age;
the passing eras have never produced his like.

A sage, an ocean, of noble character and reverent piety—
within him seas of generosity and excellence swelled.

How lofty are the ranks of praise reserved for Ahmad;
minds shrink from grasping their vast expanse. (7)

(1) The base manuscript reads: kaanna (“as though”). (2) F, K, and T read: min (“from”). (3) F, K, and T read: fi (“in”). (4) F reads: dhawi (“people of / possessors of”). (5) F records: tawd hulm (“a mountain of forbearance”); K: min dunihi (“beneath it”); the base manuscript and F: duna razn (“without gravity/weight”). (6) K and T read: maʿruduha; a marginal note proposes: perhaps maʿrufuha. (7) K and T read: min. The accusative pointing of rutbah in the base manuscript is justified because it functions as a distinguishing accusative (tamyiz) after the declarative kam; according to the grammar of Banu Tamim, a singular noun in this position may indeed appear in the accusative.

كان (١) المماتُ زفافَ عُرسِ حياتِه ... وبه النفوسُ مع الدُّموع نِثَارُ إن كان عن (٢) أهلٍ وجيرانٍ نأى ... فلهُ دنا من ذي الجلالِ جِوارُ أو كان عن دار الفناء رحِيلُهُ ... فلديه من (٣) دارِ البقاء دِيارُ أو كان أُزْعِجَ عن ذُرَى (٤) أوطانِهِ ... فله بِخُلدٍ في الجنان قرارُ ما كان إلا مُزْنَ عِلمٍ رُوِّضتْ ... منهُ بِصَيِّبِ قطرِهِ الأقطارُ كالغيثِ أقلعَ بعدَ سحٍّ غيمُه ... وتخلَّفت مِنْ بعده الآثارُ ما كان إلا طَودَ عِلْمٍ باذخٍ ... من دون وَزْن حصاته القنْطارُ (٥) ما كان إلا بحرَ جُودٍ، كَفُّه ... تيَّارُهُ بنواله زخَّارُ ما كان إلا دِيمةً معروفُها (٦) ... بِهباته لعفاته مِدْرارُ ما كان إلا البدرَ عندَ كمالِهِ ... وافاه مِنْ نقصِ التّمامِ سِرارُ ما كان إلا خيرَ أُمة أحمدٍ ... في العصرِ، لم تسمح به الأعصارُ حَبْرٌ، وبحرٌ، للمكارم والتُّقى ... والجودِ، والإحْسَانِ فيه بحارُ وَلَكَمْ لأحمدَ في المحامدِ رتبةً ... عن (٧) طولِها تتقاصرُ الأفكارُ

(١) الأصل: «كأن». (٢) (ف، ك، ط): «من». (٣) (ف، ك، ط): «في». (٤) (ف): «ذوي». (٥) (ف): «طود حلم»، (ك): «من دونه»، الأصل و (ف): «دون رزن». (٦) (ك، ط): «معروضها» وفي هامشها: لعله معروفها. (٧) (ك، ط): «من». ووجه ضبط «رتبة» بالنصب كما في الأصل: أنه تمييز كم الخبرية؛ لأنه يجوز نصبه عند بني تميم إذا كان مفردًا.