ما في المَقامِ لِذي عَقلٍ وَذي أَدَبِ
مِن راحَةٍ فَدَعِ الأَوطانَ وَاِغتَرِبِ
There is no comfort in staying home for a person of intellect and refinement,
So leave your homeland and travel abroad.
سافِر تَجِد عِوَضاً عَمَّن تُفارِقُهُ
وَاِنصَب فَإِنَّ لَذيذَ العَيشِ في النَصَبِ
Travel! you will find a replacement for what you leave behind,
And strive hard, for the joy of life lies in striving.
إِنّي رَأَيتُ وُقوفَ الماءِ يُفسِدُهُ
إِن ساحَ طابَ وَإِن لَم يَجرِ لَم يَطِبِ
I have seen that stagnant water grows corrupt,
But if it flows, it becomes pure and good;
And if it does not run, it will not be good.
وَالأُسدُ لَولا فِراقُ الأَرضِ مااِفتَرَسَت
وَالسَهمُ لَولا فِراقُ القَوسِ لَم يُصِبِ
Were it not for leaving its land, the lion would not hunt;
And were it not for leaving the bow, the arrow would not strike its mark.
ما في المَقامِ لِذي عَقلٍ وَذي أَدَبِ
مِن راحَةٍ فَدَعِ الأَوطانَ وَاِغتَرِبِ
There is no comfort in staying home for a person of intellect and refinement,
So leave your homeland and travel abroad.
سافِر تَجِد عِوَضاً عَمَّن تُفارِقُهُ
وَاِنصَب فَإِنَّ لَذيذَ العَيشِ في النَصَبِ
Travel! you will find a replacement for what you leave behind,
And strive hard, for the joy of life lies in striving.
وَالشَمسُ لَو وَقَفَت في الفُلكِ دائِمَةً
لَمَلَّها الناسُ مِن عُجمٍ وَمِن عَرَبِ
And if the sun were to stand still in the sky forever,
People (both) non-Arabs and Arabs would grown tired of it.
وَالتِبرُ كَالتُربِ مُلقىً في أَماكِنِهِ
وَالعودُ في أَرضِهِ نَوعٌ مِنَ الحَطَبِ
Raw gold is like dust while it lies in its place,
And Oud, in its own land, is but a kind of firewood.
فَإِن تَغَرَّبَ هَذا عَزَّ مَطلَبُهُ
وَإِن تَغَرَّبَ ذاكَ عَزَّ كَالذَهَبِ
If this one travels afar, its worth becomes sought after;
And if that one journeys away, it becomes precious—like gold.
ما في المَقامِ لِذي عَقلٍ وَذي أَدَبِ
مِن راحَةٍ فَدَعِ الأَوطانَ وَاِغتَرِبِ
There is no comfort in staying home for a person of intellect and refinement,
So leave your homeland and travel abroad.
سافِر تَجِد عِوَضاً عَمَّن تُفارِقُهُ
وَاِنصَب فَإِنَّ لَذيذَ العَيشِ في النَصَبِ
Travel! you will find a replacement for what you leave behind,
And strive hard, for the joy of life lies in striving.
He is Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i (150–204 AH / 767–820 CE), the third of the four great imams in Sunni Islam and the founder of the Shāfiʿī school of Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded as the pioneering founder of the science of legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) through his seminal work al-Risālah. He was also a leading authority in Qur’anic exegesis and Hadith.
He was born in Gaza and was taken as a child to Mecca, where he grew up an orphan. He memorized the Qur’an at a young age and excelled in Arabic language and poetry. He later traveled in pursuit of knowledge to Medina, where he studied under Imam Mālik, then journeyed to Yemen and Baghdad, and finally settled in Egypt. There, his “new school” of legal thought fully matured, and he passed away in that land. He combined within himself profound legal insight, sharp intelligence, eloquence of expression, and poetic talent.
This poem is among his most famous didactic verses, in which he encourages traveling abroad in pursuit of knowledge and aspiring to high ambition. He explains that remaining confined to one’s homeland may deprive a person of intellect and refinement of opportunities for growth and distinction. The poem portrays noble souls as unable to find rest in stagnation, and presents exile and movement as causes of honor and elevated status. Though brief, the poem is rich and concentrated with wisdom.
هو أبو عبد الله محمد بن إدريس الشافعيّ المطلبيّ القرشي (051–402 هـ)، ثالث الأئمة الأربعة عند أهل السنة، وصاحب المذهب الشافعي في الفقه الإسلامي، ويُعد المؤسِّس الأول لعلم أصول الفقه من خلال كتابه «الرسالة»، وهو أيضًا إمام في علم التفسير وعلم الحديث.
وُلد في غزة، ثم نُقل صغيرًا إلى مكة حيث نشأ يتيمًا، فحفظ القرآن صغيرًا وبرع في اللغة والشعر، ثم ارتحل في طلب العلم إلى المدينة عند الإمام مالك، ثم إلى اليمن وبغداد، ثم استقر أخيرًا في مصر حيث نضج مذهبه الجديد وتوفي هناك، وقد جمع في شخصه بين قوة الفقه، وحدّة الذكاء، وبلاغة البيان، والشعر.
وتعد هذه القصيدة من أشهر مقطوعاته الحكَمية التي يحثّ فيها على التغرب في طلب العلم وعلوّ الهمة، ويبيّن أن ملازمة الوطن قد تحجب عن صاحب العقل والأدب فرص الكمال والرِّفعة. يصوّر فيها أن النفوس الكبار لا تستريح في السكون، وأن الغربة سبب لعزّ الطالب وعُلُوّ قدره، فالحركة والسفر سبب للقبول والتميّز. القصيدة قصيرة لكنها مكثّفة بالحِكمة.