هاج القرام وهيجا بلبالي — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

هاج القرامُ وهيَّجا بلبالي

بَرْقٌ يمانيٌّ وريحُ شمال

The patterned curtain stirred, and the two roused my anguish—

Yemeni lightning and a north wind.

وترنم الورقاء في أفنانها

ما زاد هذا الصب غير خبال

And the gray dove's singing in her branches

Has added only madness to this lovesick man.

وأُشيمُ من برقِ الغُوَير لوامعاً

فإخاله تبسام ذات الخال

I watch flashes of lightning from al-Ghuwayr,

Imagining them the smile of the woman with the beauty mark.

زعم المفنِّد أنْ سلوت غرامها

زوراً وما خطر السلوّ ببالي

The reproacher claimed that I had forgotten love for her—

Falsely: forgetting love never crossed my mind.

ما بال أحداق المها من يعرب

فتكت بغير صوارم ونصال

What is with the oryx-eyes of Ya'rub's people,

That they slay without keen swords or spearheads?

يرمين في المهج الهوى فتظنها

ترمي القلوب بنافذات نبال

They shoot love into the heart's core, so you imagine them

Shooting hearts with penetrating arrows.

هيف من الغيد الحسان سوانح

من كل داء يا أميم عضال

Slender apparitions among the graceful beauties—

O Umaym, an incurable affliction among all ailments.

لله ما فعل الغرام بأهله

والحب في أهليه ذو أفعال

By God, what passion has done to its people!

And love works its deeds among its people.

ولقد أقول لأبلج لا أهتدي

إلاَّ بصبح جبينه لضلال

Indeed, I tell a radiant-faced one that I find no way

Except by the dawn of his brow when I am lost.

أبلى هواك حشاشتي وأذابها

لولاك ما أصبحت بالي البال

Love of you wore away my last spark of life and melted it;

But for you, I would not have become so broken in spirit.

بالله يا مؤذي الفؤاد بلومه

جَدّ الغرام فلا تمل لجدالي

By God, you who wound the heart with your reproach,

Passion has grown serious: do not incline to disputing with me.

حمّلتني ما لا أُطيق وإنَّما

حُمّلتُ أثقالاً على أثقالي

You burdened me with what I cannot bear; I have only

Been laden with burdens atop my burdens.

كيف احتيالك في سلوّ متيّم

أعْيَتْ عليه حيلة المحتال

How will you contrive forgetfulness for an enslaved lover,

For whom the schemer's stratagem has proved powerless?

إنّي أحِنُّ إلى مراشف ألعسٍ

تغني مذاقتها عن الجريال

I yearn for the lips of a dark-lipped one,

Whose savor makes red wine needless.

ويشوقني زمن غصبت سروره

رغماً على الأنكاد والأنكال

And I long for a time whose joy I wrested

In defiance of hardships and fetters.

أيام نتّخذ المَسرَّة مغنماً

فنبيت نرفل في برود وصال

Days when we took delight as booty,

Spending the night trailing proudly in robes of union.

ومليكة الأفراح تبرز بيننا

قد كُلِّلَت تيجانها بلال

And the queen of joys appears among us,

Her crowns already wreathed in pearls.

يسعى بها أحوى أغنُّ مهفهفٌ

فترى الغزالة في يمين غزال

A dark-eyed, lilting-voiced, slender youth bears her round;

So you see the sun in a gazelle's right hand.

ويحضّنا داعي السرور على طلاً

زفت على الندمان بالأرطال

And the caller to joy urges us toward wine

Bridally borne to boon companions in ratl measures.

ألهو فيطرب مسمعي من غادة

نغم الحليّ ورنة الخلخال

I revel, and from a graceful maiden my hearing delights in

The music of jewelry and the chime of an anklet.

وألذّ ما يلقى الخليع سويعة

خفيت عن الرقباء والعذال

The sweetest thing a libertine encounters is a brief hour

Hidden from watchers and reproachers.

أيامها مرّت ولا ندري بها

فكأنها مرّت مرور خيال

Those days passed without our knowing of them;

It was as though they passed like a phantom.

أين الأحبّة بعد أسنمة اللّوى

قد حال من بعد الأحبّة حالي

Where are the loved ones beyond al-Liwa's dune crests?

My state has changed since the loved ones went away.

سارتْ ظُعونهم وما أدَّت لنا

حقًّا على الأَزماع والترحال

Their caravans departed, and they rendered us no

Due when resolving to journey and departing.

أَقمار أَفلاك الجمال تغيَّبت

بعد الطلوع على حدوج جمال

The moons in beauty's celestial spheres vanished

After rising upon camel-borne howdahs.

وما كنت أدري لا دريت بأنَّه

هول الوداع نهاية الأَهوال

I did not know—would I had never known—that

The terror of farewell is the utmost of terrors.

وجهلت يا لمياء قتل ذوي الهوى

حتَّى بليت بحبِّكِ القتَّال

I knew not, O Lamya, how lovers are slain

Until I was afflicted with your deadly love.

سكان وجرة والعذيب وبارق

تحريمكم للوصل غير حلال

Dwellers of Wajra, al-Udhayb, and Bariq,

Your forbidding union is not lawful.

أنتم أسرتم قلب كلّ متيّم

بلحاظ أحوى مائل لملال

You have captured every enslaved lover's heart

With the glances of a dark-eyed gazelle inclined to boredom.

أو يطلقون من الأسار عصابة

غلّتهم الأَشواق في أَغلال

Or will they release from captivity a company

Whom longings have shackled in fetters?

ما جرّدت فينا صوارمها النوى

إلاَّ لقطع حبالهم وحبالي

Separation unsheathed its keen swords against us

Only to sever their bonds and mine.

أسفي على عمرٍ تقضَّى شطره

في خيبة المسعى إلى الآمال

My sorrow for a lifetime half of which elapsed

In fruitless striving toward hopes!

وبنات أفكار لنا عربيَّة

رخصت لدى الأَعاجم وهي غوالي

And Arabic daughters of our thoughts

Were cheapened among non-Arabs, though they are precious.

يا هذه أينَ الذين عهدتهم

آساد معترك وغيث نوال

O you, where are those I once knew,

Lions of battle and rain of generosity?

عجباً لمثلي أنْ يقيم بمواطنٍ

متشابهِ الأَشراف بالأَنذال

How strange that one like me should dwell in places

Where the noble resemble the base!

تقذى نواظره بأوجه معشر

لا يعثرون بصالح الأَعمال

His eyes are irritated by the faces of people

Who never chance upon a worthy deed.

وَلِعَت بهم أيامهم من دوننا

ما أولعَ الأيامَ بالجهَّال

Their days fell in love with them, to our exclusion;

How enamored the days are of the ignorant!

لولا خبال الدهر ما نال الفنى

في الناس ذو بَلَهٍ به وخبال

Were it not for time's madness, wealth would not come

Among men to one who harbors stupidity and madness.

هم كالبحور الزاخرات وإنَّني

لم أنتفع من وردهم ببلال

They are like surging seas, yet I

Have gained no moisture from drawing at their waters.

ذهب الملوك الباذلات أكفّهم

بذل الغمام بعارض هطال

The kings have gone, whose palms gave freely

As clouds give through a pouring cloud bank.

حتَّى عفت أطلال كلّ فضيلة

فليبك من يبكي على الأَطلال

Until the traces of every virtue were effaced;

Let whoever weeps over ruins weep.

وأرى النقيصة شأن كلّ مبجلٍ

فكمال فضل المرء غير كمال

I see deficiency as the mark of every honored man;

Thus the perfection of a man's merit is no perfection.

وكأنَّما الأيام آلت حلفة

أن لا أرى في الدهر غير نكال

It is as though the days had sworn an oath

That I should see nothing in time but punishment.

وأنا الَّذي حَلَّيْتُ أجياد العُلى

بعقود ألفاظي ودُرّ مقالي

I am the one who adorned the necks of eminence

With necklaces of my words and pearls of my speech.

إنْ كنت من حلل الفضائل ناسجاً

أبرادها فانسج على منوالي

If you are weaving the vestments of virtue—

Their fine robes—then weave upon my loom.

ما فضل أبناء الزَّمان فضيلتي

كلاّ ولا أمثالهم أمثالي

The excellence of this age's sons is not my excellence;

No indeed, nor are their peers my peers.

إنَّا لنسمع بالكرام فأين هم

هيهات ما هم غير لمع الآلِ

We do hear of noble men—but where are they?

Far from it! They are nothing but a mirage's glimmer.

لولا وجود ابن الجميل وجوده

قلت الزَّمان من الأكارم خالي

Were it not for Ibn al-Jamil's presence and generosity,

I would say the age is empty of noble men.

قرم لراحته وشدَّة عزمه

جود السحاب وصولة الرئبال

A chieftain whose palm and force of resolve possess

The clouds' generosity and a lion's onslaught.

يعطي ولم يُسأل نداه وهكذا

يعطي الكريم ولو بغير سؤال

He gives though his bounty has not been asked; thus

The generous man gives, even without a request.

وأحق خلق الله بالمدح امرؤ

كثرت عطاياه من الإِقلال

Most deserving of praise among God's creatures is a man

Whose gifts are abundant even from scant means.

خوَّاض ملحمة الأُمور بهمَّةٍ

جالت سوابقها بكلِّ مجال

He plunges into affairs' pitched battles with an ambition

Whose leading steeds have raced across every field.

ضربت به الأَمثال في عزماتها

حتَّى غدا مثلاً من الأَمثال

In its feats of resolve he became proverbial,

Until he himself became one of the proverbs.

لا زالَ يُطلِعُ في سموات العُلى

أقمار مجدٍ أو نجوم خلال

May he ever raise in the heavens of eminence

Moons of glory or stars of noble traits.

خُلُقٌ يمازجه الندى فطلاهما

كالرَّاح مازجها غير زلال

A nature blended with generosity: their mingled wine

Is like wine mixed with something other than limpid water.

يفتر عن وبل المكارم مثلما

يفتر عن وطفاء برق الخال

He unveils a downpour of noble deeds, just as

A raincloud's lightning unveils a thick-fringed cloud.

وعن المروءة وهي شيمة ذاته

ما حال عند تقلّب الأَحوال

And from chivalry—the trait of his very nature—

He has not swerved as circumstances change.

يحمي النزيل بنفسه وبماله

يسخو بها كسخائه بالمال

He protects his guest with his life and wealth,

As liberal with his life as with his wealth.

والخوف يوم الطعن من وشك الردى

كالخوف يوم البذل من إقلال

Fear of imminent death on the day of spear-thrusts

Is like fear of poverty on the day of giving.

إنَّ الشجاعة والسَّماحة حلَّتا

منه بأفضل سيِّد مفصال

Indeed, courage and generosity have both dwelt

In him, the finest, most decisive lord.

يرتاح للمعروف إذ هو أهله

فيهش للإِنعام والإِفضال

He delights in kindness, since he is suited to it,

And beams at bestowing favors and generosity.

مثل الجبال الرَّاسيات حلومه

أمنَ الأنام به من الزلزال

His forbearance is like firmly rooted mountains;

Through him, people are safe from earthquakes.

عوّل عليه في الشدائد كلّها

واسأل فثَمَّ محل كلّ سؤال

Rely on him through every hardship,

And ask: there lies the place for every request.

حيث المحاسن قُسِّمت أشطارها

فيه على الأَقوال والأَفعال

Where the graces have their portions apportioned

Within him between words and deeds.

ومهذب سبق المقال بفعله

حيث الفعال نتيجة الأَقوال

A refined man whose deeds have preceded his words,

Where deeds are the outcome of words.

ولطالما وعد العفاة فبادرت

يمناه الحسنى على استعجال

How often he promised petitioners; then hastened forth

His right hand with kindness, without delay.

ويمدّها بيضاءَ يهطلُ وبلها

ويسيل شامل برها السيال

He stretches it forth, white, its downpour pouring,

And its all-embracing, streaming kindness flows.

يعطي ولا منٌّ ويجزي بالذي

هو أهله وينيل كلّ منال

He gives without reproach, and rewards with what

Befits him, granting every sought-for gift.

سامٍ إذا ما قست فيه غيره

قست الهضاب بشامخات جبال

Lofty: if you measure another against him,

You measure hills against towering mountains.

قيل تعاظم كالرَّواسي شأنه

وكذاك شأن السَّادة الأَقيال

It is said his rank has grown great as the mountains;

Such is the rank of lordly princes.

عزّت أبوَّته وجلَّ فنفسه

في العزِّ ذات أُبوَّة وجلال

His lineage is exalted, and he is majestic; his soul

In honor possesses nobility and grandeur.

يمّم ذرى عبد الغنيّ فإنَّه

لمناخ مجد أو محطّ رحال

Make for the heights of Abd al-Ghani, for he is

An encampment for glory, a resting place for saddlebags.

آل الجميل وأهله ومحلّه

سادوا البريَّة في جميل خصال

Al-Jamil's family, his people and his household

Have surpassed humankind in beautiful qualities.

الصائنون من الخطوب نزيلهم

والباذلون نفايس الأَموال

Those who protect their guest from calamities,

And bestow the treasures of wealth.

فغلت نفوسهم ببذل مكارم

للوفد ترخص كلّ شيء غال

Their souls grew precious through bestowing noble gifts;

For delegations, they make every precious thing expendable.

فترى على طول المدى أيَّامهم

يومين يوم ندى ويوم نزال

So throughout the length of time you see their days

As two days: a day of generosity and a day of battle.

يا من سرت عنه سباق محامد

تجتاب بين دكادك ورمال

O you from whom swift-racing praises have traveled,

Crossing level tracts and sands,

فَسَرَت كما تسري نسايمها الصبا

عبقت بطيب نوافج وغوالي

They spread as the east wind wafts its breezes,

Fragrant with musk-pods and costly perfumes,

عن روضة غنَّاء باكرها الحيا

فوهت بقطر الصيّب المنهال

From a lush garden visited early by rain,

Which breathed fragrance with the pouring raincloud's drops.

ولقد قربت من المعالي قربك ال

داني من العافين بالإِيصال

Indeed, you drew near lofty honors, as near as your

Close approach to petitioners through the giving of gifts.

فبعدت عن قرب الدنيَّة في الدنى

بعد المكارم من يد الأَرذال

So you kept far from approaching baseness in earthly realms,

As noble deeds are far from the hands of the vile.

وترفَّعت بك شيمة علويَّة

لم ترضَ إلاَّ بالمحلِّ العالي

An exalted disposition has lifted you,

Content with nothing but the highest station.

سبق الكرام الأَوَّلين فقولنا

سبق الأُلى هذا المجلّي التالي

He surpassed the noble men of old; thus we say:

This later champion has outstripped the first.

ممَّن يذلّ لديه صعب خطوبها

بأساً ويبطل غيلة المغتال

One before whom the harshness of life's trials yields

To valor, and who thwarts an assassin's treachery.

فكأنَّ حدَّة عزمه صمصامه ال

ماضي وفيصل عضبه الفصَّال

As though his resolve's sharpness were his sword,

Keen-edged, and the decisive edge of his cleaving blade.

طلاّب شأو الفخر بين الورى

في المجد بين صوارمٍ وعوالي

A seeker of glory's utmost reach among humankind,

In greatness amid keen swords and tall spears.

والمجد يطلب في شفير مهنَّد

ماضي الغرار وأسمرٍ عسَّال

Glory is sought on the edge of an Indian-forged sword,

Keen-bladed, and on a quivering brown spear.

والفخر في فضل الفتى وكماله

والعزّ صهوة أشقرٍ صهَّال

Glory lies in a young man's excellence and perfection;

Honor is the back of a neighing chestnut steed.

لك منطقٌ يشفي القلوب كأَنَّه

بُرْءٌ من الأَسقام والإِعلال

You have speech that heals hearts, as though it

Were a cure for diseases and ailments.

ومناقب كست القوافي بردة

في الحسن ترفل أيّما إرفال

And noble qualities have clothed the rhymes in a mantle

Trailing in beauty with the utmost splendor.

أضحى يغرِّد فيك مطرب مدحها

لا بالعقيق ولا بذات الضال

The singer of their praise now warbles of you,

Not at al-Aqiq, nor at Dhat al-Dal.

فاقبل من الدَّاعي قصيدة شعره

لأعدها من جملة الإِقبال

Accept, then, this supplicant's poem,

So I may count it among instances of your favor.

فعليك يا فخر الوجود معوَّلي

وإليك من دون الأنام مآلي

On you, O pride of existence, rests my reliance;

To you, beyond all other people, is my resort.

لولا علاقتنا بمدحك سيِّدي

لتعلَّقت آمالنا بمحال

Were we not bound to praising you, my lord,

Our hopes would have clung to the impossible.

فاغنم إذَنْ أجر الصّيام ولم تزلْ

تهنا بعَوْرِ العيد من شوال

Reap, then, the reward of fasting; and may you ever

Rejoice at the feast's return in Shawwal.