بحيث انعطف البان — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

بحيث انعطف البانُ

قويمُ القدِّ فتَّانُ

Where the bān tree bends,

a straight-figured charmer.

وللقامات أغصان

وفي الأرداف كثبان

And figures have branches,

and in the buttocks are dunes.

رويداً أيها السَّاقي

فإنِّي بك سكران

Gently, O cupbearer,

for I am drunk on you.

وهذا قدّك النشوا

ن من عينيك نشوان

And this intoxicated figure of yours

is intoxicated by your eyes.

فلي من روضك الزاهي

بروض الحسن بستان

So from your radiant meadow I have

a garden in beauty's meadow.

فمن وجنتك الوَرْدُ

ومن قامتك البان

For from your cheek comes the rose,

and from your stature, the bān tree.

ومن عارضك المخضرّ

لي رَوحٌ وريحان

And from your green-tinged cheek-down

I have solace and sweet basil.

وفي فيك لنا خمرٌ

وأنت الخمر والحان

And in your mouth we have wine,

and you are the wine and the tavern.

وإنِّي لجنى ريقتك

العذبة ظمآن

And for the harvest of your saliva,

so sweet, I thirst.

جنود منك في الحب

على قتليَ أعوان

Troops from you, in love,

are allies in killing me.

فمن جفنيك صمصام

ومن قدّك مرّان

For from your eyelids comes a keen sword,

and from your figure, ash-wood spears.

نعم في طرفك الموقظ

وجدي وهو وسنان

Yes, in your glance, which awakens

my passion, though the glance is drowsy.

وما أنتَ كمن يُسلى

وما لي عنك سلوان

And you are not like one who can be forgotten,

nor have I solace apart from you.

وجنّات دخلناها

فقلنا أين رضوان

And gardens we entered,

so we said, 'Where is Ridwan?'

وفيها من فنون الحُ

سْن في الدَّوحة أفنان

And there, of beauty's many forms,

are branches on the spreading tree.

وفيها اختلفت للز

هر أشكال وألوان

And there the flowers have varied

shapes and colors.

فللنرجس أحداقٌ

كما للآس آذان

For the narcissus has pupils,

just as the myrtle has ears.

وهذا الأٌقحوان الغضُّ

تبدو منه أسنان

And this tender chrysanthemum

reveals teeth.

وقد حضّ على شرب

المدام الصّرف ندمان

And urging the drinking

of unmixed wine was a boon companion.

وطافت بكؤوس الراح

والراحات غلمان

And bearing cups of wine

and comforts, youths went round.

وطاسات من الفضة

فيها ذاب عقيان

And bowls of silver,

in which pure gold had melted.

فما وسْوَسَ للهمِّ

بصَدْر الشَّرب شيطان

So no whisper of sorrow

did a devil stir in the drinkers' breasts.

وقال اشرب على حبّي

فإنَّ الحبَّ سلطان

And he said, 'Drink for love of me,

for love is a sovereign.'

وهذا القدح الفارغ

أضحى وهو ملآن

And this empty goblet

has become full.

رعى الله لنا في الحيّ

أحباباً وإن خانوا

May God guard for us, in the quarter,

loved ones, though they were faithless.

ذكرناهم على النأي

وإن شطوا وإن بانوا

We remembered them despite the distance,

though they went far away, though they departed.

وفي الذكرى تباريحٌ

وأشجان وأحزان

And remembrance holds agonies,

and sorrows and griefs.

كأنَّا في رياض الحزن

لا كُنَّا ولا كانوا

As though, in sorrow's gardens,

neither we nor they had ever been.

سقى عهدهم الماضي

مُلِثُّ القَطر هتَّان

May their bygone days be watered

by ceaseless, gently falling rain.

فما تغمض من بعدهم

للصبِّ أجْفان

For since their departure, there is no closing

of the lovelorn one's eyelids.

وأظمى كبدي الحرّى

بَرودُ الثغر ريَّان

And my burning liver was made thirsty

by one cool of mouth, whose thirst was quenched.

بذلنا أنفساً تغلو

لها في الحب أثمان

We gave up souls for which rise high

the prices paid in love.

ألا لا سَلِمَ المال

وفي الأنجاب سلمان

Ah, may wealth find no safety,

while Salman is among the noble-born.

قرين الشرف الباذخ

والأشراف أقران

A companion of towering honor,

and nobles are his peers.

على طلْعَته الغرّاء

للإقبال عنوان

Upon his radiant countenance

is the mark of good fortune.

همُ القومُ إذا عُدّوا

بهم تفخر عدنان

They are the people who, when counted,

give Adnan cause to boast.

أباةُ الضَّيْم أشراف

لغير الله ما دانوا

Nobles who refuse oppression,

to none but God have they submitted.

وها هم في سبيل الله

ما جاروا وما مانوا

And behold them on God's path:

they neither acted unjustly nor lied.

هم الصُّمُّ إذا يَقْسون

والماءُ إذا لانوا

They are solid rocks when they harden,

and water when they soften.

وإمَّا حَلَّقوا في جوِّ

علياءٍ فعُقبان

And if they soar in the air

of eminence, then they are eagles.

شيوخ لم تزل تسمو

إلى المجد وفتيان

Elders who have never ceased ascending

to glory, and young men.

أذلّوا عزّة المال

فما ذلّوا وما هانوا

They humbled wealth's pride,

yet were neither humbled nor demeaned.

وصانوا المجد في البذل

فما أحسَنَ ما صانوا

And they safeguarded glory through giving;

how splendid was what they safeguarded!

فَهُمْ للدِّين أطوادٌ

وهم للدِّين أركان

Thus they are mountains for the faith,

and they are pillars for the faith.

رجال كوشفت بالحقّ

لا يحجبها الرّان

Men made privy to the truth,

whom rust does not veil.

فيا عين العُلى أنْتِ

لعين العزّ إنسان

So, O eye of eminence, you

are the pupil of honor's eye.

وفي آثارك الغُرّ

من السادات أعيان

And in your radiant footsteps

come notables among the lords.

إذا ما وُزِنَ القومُ

ففي وزنك رجحان

When the people are weighed,

then your weight tips the balance.

وفي مدحك للأقلام

تغريدٌ وألحان

And in your praise, the pens have

birdsong and melodies.

وفي شكري لنعمائك

إعلامٌ وإعلان

And in my thanks for your favors

are announcement and proclamation.

أرادَ الله في شأنك

أن يُرْفَعَ لي شان

God willed, in matters concerning you,

that my standing be raised.

ومما زاد في حُسْنِك

عند النَّاس إحسان

And among what enhanced your beauty

in people's eyes was benevolence.

فمدحٌ لم يكن فيك

فتزويرٌ وبهتان

So praise not spoken of you

is fabrication and slander.

وربحٌ لم يكن منك

فذاك الربح خسران

And gain not coming from you—

that gain is loss.

وعن فضلك والصبح

وما يخفيه كتمان

And as for your merit and the dawn,

no concealment can hide it.

وسارت بثنائي لك

في الأقطار ركبان

And bearing my praise of you,

riders traveled through the lands.

فلا زِلْتَ بعلياءٍ

لها ينحطُّ كيوان

May you ever remain at a height

before which Kaywan descends.