أشاقك برق بالشآم يشام — Abn Alsaati

أشاقك برقٌ بالشآم يشامُ

فدمعك لو يطفي الغليلَ سجامُ

Has a lightning flash sighted over Syria stirred your longing,

so that your tears stream—if only they could quench the burning thirst?

تودُّ الحشى إيماضه وهو جذوة

ويشتاقه جفناي وهو حسامُ

The inmost heart desires its flashing, though it is a burning brand,

and my eyelids yearn for it, though it is a sword.

أأحبابنا بالغوطتين وجلَّقٍ

سلامٌ وهل يدني البعيدَ سلامُ

O our beloveds in the two Ghutas and Jilliq,

peace to you! But can a greeting bring the distant near?

ظننتم بنا السلوان لما سلوتم

وفي ظنَّكم بالعاشقين إثامُ

You thought us forgetful when you yourselves forgot,

yet thinking so of lovers is a sin.

لقد قضت الأيَّامُ بالبعد عنكمُ

وأخلقَ عهدٌ منكم وذمامُ

The days have indeed decreed our separation from you,

and your pledge and sacred bond have grown threadbare.

فلا ضرجت في الدوح للورد وجنةٌ

ولا اهتزَّ من هيف الغصون قوامُ

Then may no rose's cheek be dyed red among the trees,

nor any slender bough's graceful form sway.

تجلُّ صباباتي فأعذر فيكمُ

ويجهل ما بي في الهوى فألامُ

My longings are immense, and I am excused for loving you;

yet my plight in love is unknown, and I am blamed.

ولو أنني غيَّضت في النيل أدمعي

لأصبح ماءُ النيل وهو حرامُ

Were I to drain my tears into the Nile,

the Nile's water would become forbidden.

أسائل عنكم واالسَّؤالُ صبابةٌ

واستعذب التذكار وهو غرامُ

I ask after you, and asking is longing,

and savor remembrance, though it is love's torment.

لقد سرتُ خوف الضيم عمَّن أحبهُ

وواندمي والحبُّ حيث يضامُ

I departed from the one I love for fear of humiliation—

alas, my regret! Love lives where it is wronged.

وتالله ما أنفكُّ أذكر ناسياً

وأسهر في حلم الهوى وينامُ

By God, I never cease remembering one who forgets,

and stay awake within love's dream while he sleeps.

واستنقع الماء الزُّلال من الجوى

ويأبى ولوعي أن يبلَّ أوامُ

I drink deeply of limpid water against love's burning,

but my infatuation will not let my thirst be quenched.

يشيم الأماني برقكم وهو خلَّب

ويرجى سحاب الظنِّ وهو جهامُ

Hopes watch for your lightning, though it bears no rain,

and expectation's cloud is looked to, though it is rainless.

ومن كلفي اشتاقَ من في حشاشتي

وأظمأ فيه والجفون غمامُ

So besotted am I that I yearn for one within my heart,

and thirst for him while my eyelids are rainclouds.

أموت وأحيا بالصَّبابة والمنى

فلي في هواه عيشةٌ وحمامُ

I die and live through longing and hopes;

in his love are my life and death.

إذا ما سرحتَ الطرف في طرس خدّهِ

فإيَّاك ذاك الخال فهو ختامُ

When you let your gaze roam across his cheek's parchment,

beware that beauty spot, for it is a seal.

نزلتُ على حكم الغرام فسلوتي

كعلياء سيف الدين ليس ترامُ

I have submitted to love's judgment; my release from love

is as unattainable as Sayf al-Din's lofty rank.

إذا شيمَ قبل الرفد نشر محمَّدٍ

تألقَ برقٌ واستهلَّ غمامُ

When Muhammad's fragrant renown is perceived before his bounty,

lightning flashes and a raincloud pours.

شبيهُ أبيهِ في السَّماحة والتقى

كذلك أبناءُ الكرامِ كرامُ

He resembles his father in generosity and piety;

thus the sons of noble men are noble.

به للأعادي والنُّضار تشتُّت

وللوفد والمجد الأثيل نظامُ

Through him, enemies and gold are scattered,

while delegations and deep-rooted glory are brought into order.

إذا سيلَ في السَّراء فهو سحابةٌ

وإن سلَّ في الضرَّاء فهو حسامُ

When petitioned in prosperity, he is a raincloud;

when drawn in adversity, he is a sword.

أغرّ نقي عرضه وجبينهُ

أشمُّ طويلُ الساعدين همامُ

Radiant, with honor and brow unstained,

proud-nosed, long of arm, a man of mighty resolve.

يقوم إلى الأحداث والدهر قاعدٌ

ويجلس في حيث الملوكُ قيامُ

He rises to meet calamities while Time sits idle,

and sits where kings stand.

تفلُّ الظبي أقلامه وهو وداعٌ

وللشمس من ذيل العجاجِ لثامُ

His pens blunt sword-edges while he is at ease,

and the sun is veiled by the trailing hem of dust.

إذا صقلتْ بالمسح فهي صوارمٌ

وإن نصلت بالنقس فهي سهامُ

When polished by wiping, they are keen swords;

when tipped with ink, they are arrows.

يخيَّل لي أن الكتاب كتيبة

إذ السطر صفٌّ والتراب قتامُ

It seems to me the writing is a battalion,

for each line is a rank, and the sand a battle haze.

يخفُّ إلى الداعي وفي السيف ونيةٌ

ويسهرُ حزماً والأنام نيامُ

He hastens to the summons while the sword is slack,

and keeps vigil out of prudence while mankind sleeps.

هو البدرُ لا ذاقَ السرار بنورهِ

وجوه الليالي الداجيات وسامُ

He is the full moon—may he never taste its dark phase! By his light,

the faces of pitch-dark nights are fair.

أبى أن يسود الناس إلاَّ بنفسهِ

وشأنُ عظامِ القومِ وهي عظامُ

He refused to lead men save by his own merit;

what worth have men's bones, mere bones as they are?

مطلٌّ على الأعداء من كل وجهةٍ

وغير عجيب أن يطلَّ شمامُ

He towers over enemies from every direction,

and it is no wonder that Shamam towers high.

إشاراتهُ تثني الخطوب ولحظهُ

يفلُّ شباةَ الجيش وهو لهامُ

His gestures turn calamities aside, and his glance

blunts the army's edge, though its host is vast.

يضيءُ محيَّاه وفي الصبح كبوةٌ

ويمضي وحدُّ المشرفي سهامُ

His face shines while morning still falters,

and he presses on while the Mashrafi blade's edge is dulled.

يجودُ فيجلو الفقر وهو دجنَّةٌ

تدور بدور النقد وهو تمامُ

He gives and dispels poverty, that pitch-dark gloom;

the full moons of coin circulate in all their fullness.

إذا شبَّ من دون العلى نار عزمهِ

فللملك بردٌ عندها وسلامُ

When he kindles his resolve's fire in defense of glory,

the king finds coolness and peace beside it.

وإن نشرت أفواهنا طيَّ نشرهِ

غدا ينشر الآمال وهي رمامُ

And if our mouths unfold his folded, fragrant renown,

he revives hopes, though they are decayed remains.

فهل سمعتْ أذناك قبل سماحهِ

بنشوانَ ما دارت عليه مدامُ

Have your ears, before his generosity, ever heard

of a man intoxicated though no wine was passed to him?

وهل كأياديهِ بكل مكانةٍ

نواطقُ لم يسمع لهنَّ كلامُ

And are there, like his favors everywhere,

speakers whose words have never been heard?

وأقسم لولا منعهُ ودفاعهُ

أذنُ جبَّ منَّا غاربٌ وسنامُ

I swear, were it not for his protection and defense,

our withers and hump would have been shorn away.

وما أنا ممن يجحد العرف أهله

وإن بعدت دارٌ وعزَّ لمامُ

I am not one to deny benefactors their kindness,

though home be distant and visits rare.

وما دام لم تصدع يدُ الدهر شملنا

فلا فضَّ للملك العزيز نظامُ

And so long as Time's hand has not shattered our union,

may al-Malik al-Aziz's order never be broken.

وما الدهر إلاَّ ليلةٌ وصباحها

وما العمرُ إلاَّ يقظةٌ ومنامُ

Time is only a night and its morning,

and life is only wakefulness and sleep.

وما ذبَّ عنَّا فالليالي حميدةٌ

وليس على صرف الزمان ملامُ

So long as he defends us, the nights are praiseworthy,

nor can the turns of time be blamed.

سأشكرهُ شكرّ الرياض يد الحيا

سرى خضلَ الشؤبوب وهو ركامُ

I shall thank him as gardens thank the rain's hand,

which passed by night in massed clouds, drenched with showers.

يرقُّ ويقسو فيه نظمي كأنَّه

نسيمٌ عرتهُ صحَّةٌ وسقامُ

My verse about him is tender and stern, as though it were

a breeze visited by health and sickness.

كصفح الحسام العضب ينهلُّ ماؤهُ

وفي شفرتيه للمضاءِ ضرامُ

Like the flat of a keen sword, its watery sheen pours forth,

while the fire of sharpness burns along both its edges.

وجدتُ أياديه على القربّ والنوى

سواءٌ عليها رحلةٌ ومقامُ

I have found his favors, whether near or far,

the same: traveling and staying are alike to them.

وحقّكَ قد أعلى بنات خواطري

نداك فأغلاها فليس يسامُ

By your honor, the daughters of my thoughts have been exalted

by your bounty, which made them too precious to be priced.

وما كلُّ من يشدو بنعماك محسنٌ

وما يتساوى هاشمٌ وهشامُ

Not everyone who sings of your favors sings well,

nor are Hashim and Hisham equal.

فخذها هديّاً أقبلت ووليُّها

وليٌّ له في راحتيك زمامُ

So take her, a bride drawing near; her guardian

is a loyal friend whose reins lie in your palms.

حباك بها طائيةً

وهلاَّ يشيبُ الدهر وهو غلامُ

He has bestowed her on you, a Ta'i maiden,

and why should Time not turn gray while still a boy?

تقدَّمها عصرُ الوليد بحفله

وجاءت أخيراً والأخير أمامُ

Al-Walid's age preceded her, with all its throng;

yet she came last, and the last is foremost.