سفرت فبرقعها حجاب جمال — Abn Matouk

سفرَتْ فبَرْقَعَها حِجابُ جَمالِ

وصحَتْ فرنّحَها سُلافُ دَلالِ

She unveiled, yet a veil of beauty masked her;

she sobered, yet the pure wine of coquetry made her sway.

وجَلَتْ بظُلمةِ فرعِها شمسَ الضُحى

فمَحا نهارُ الشّيبِ ليلَ قَذالِ

With the darkness of her hair she revealed the morning sun,

and gray hair's daylight erased the night at the nape.

وتبسّمَتْ خلفَ اللّثامِ فخِلتُها

غيماً تخلّلَهُ وميضُ لآلي

She smiled behind her veil, and I imagined her

a cloud pierced by the flash of pearls.

ورنَتْ فشدّ على القُلوبِ بأسرِها

أسدُ المنيّةِ من جُفونِ غَزالِ

She gazed, and upon every heart there charged

the lion of death from a gazelle's eyelids.

ما كُنتُ أدري قبلَ سودِ جُفونِها

أنّ الجُفونَ مكامِنُ الآجالِ

I had not known, before her dark eyelids,

that eyelids are the lurking places of appointed deaths.

بِكرٌ تقوّم تحت حُمرِ ثيابِها

عرَضُ الجمالِ كجوهَرٍ سيّالِ

A virgin: beneath her crimson garments took form

beauty's accident, like a flowing substance.

ريّانةٌ وهَبَ الشّبابُ أديمَها

لُطْفَ النّسيمِ ورقّةَ الجِريالِ

Fresh and full, youth endowed her skin

with the breeze's gentleness and wine's delicacy.

عذُبَتْ مراشِفُها فأصبحَ ثغرُها

كالأُقحوانِ على غَديرِ زُلالِ

Her lips grew sweet, and her mouth became

like a chrysanthemum upon a pool of pure water.

وسَرى بوجنَتِها الحياةُ فأشبَهَتْ

ورْداً تفتّحَ في نَسيمِ شَمالِ

Life coursed through her cheek, and it resembled

a rose opening in a north wind.

وسخا الشقيقُ لها بحبّةِ قلبِه

فاِستعمَلَتْها في مكان الخالِ

The anemone lavished upon her the kernel of its heart,

and she used it in place of a beauty spot.

حتّام يطمعُ في نَمير وصالِها

قلبي فتورِدُه سَرابَ مِطالِ

How long will it crave the sweet water of union with her—

my heart—while she leads it to delay's mirage?

عُلّتْ بخمرِ رُضابِها فمِزاجُها

لم يصْحُ يوماً من خُمارِ مَلالِ

She was plied with her saliva's wine; her temperament

has never sobered from the hangover of boredom.

هي مُنيَتي وبها حُصولُ منيّتي

وضياءُ عَيني وهْي عينُ ضَلالي

She is my desire, and through her comes my death,

the light of my eye, yet the very source of my straying.

أدنو إليها والمنيّةُ دونَها

فأرى مَماتي والحياةُ حِيالي

I draw near her, with death barring the way,

and see my death while life stands before me.

تخفى فيُخفيني النُحولُ وينجَلي

فيقومُ في الليلِ التّمامِ ظِلالي

She hides, and wasting hides me; then it shines forth,

and the full moon raises my shadows in the night.

علِقَتْ بها روحي فجرّدَها الضّنى

من جِسمِها وتملّقَتْ بمِثالِ

My soul clung to her, and wasting stripped it

of its body, and it wooed her as an apparition.

فلوَ اِنّني من غيرِ نومٍ زُرْتُها

لتوهّمَتْني زُرتُها بخيالِ

Were I to visit her without being asleep,

she would imagine I had visited as a phantom.

لم يُبقِ منّي حُبُّها شيئاً سوى

شوقٍ ينازعُني وجذبةِ حالِ

Her love has left nothing of me except

a longing that wrestles with me and the pull of ecstasy.

من لم يصِلْ في الحبّ مرتبةَ الفَنا

فوجودُه عدمٌ وفرضُ مُحالِ

Whoever has not attained annihilation's rank in love,

his existence is nonexistence, an impossible supposition.

فكري يصوّرُها ولم ترَ غيرَها

عَيني ورسْمُ جَمالِها بخَيالي

My thought pictures her; no other has been seen by

my eye, and her beauty's image is in my imagination.

فوقي وقدّامي وعكسُهُما أرى

منها المِثالَ ويَمنَتي وشمالي

Above me, before me, and in their opposite directions, I see

her likeness, and to my right and left.

بانت فلا سجَعَتْ بلابلُ بانةٍ

إلّا أبانتْ بعدَها بَلبالي

She departed: no bulbuls have sung in a ben-tree

without revealing, after her departure, my turmoil.

أنا في غديرِ الكرختَيْن ومُهجَتي

معها بنجدٍ في ظِلالِ الضّالِ

I am by the pool of al-Karkhatayn, while my heart

is with her in Najd, beneath the wild lote trees.

حيّا الحَيا حيّاً بأكنافِ الحِمى

تحميهِ بيضُ ظُباً وسُمرُ عَوالي

May the rain greet a clan along the sanctuary's fringes,

guarded by white blades and tall brown spears:

حيّاً حَوى الأضدادَ فيه فنَقْعُهُ

ليلٌ يقابلُهُ نَهارُ نِصالِ

a clan that harbors opposites: its battle dust

is night, faced by the daylight of blades.

تلْقى بكلٍّ من خُدودِ سَراتِه

شمساً قدِ اِعْتَنَقَتْ ببَدْرِ كَمالِ

On each cheek of its noble ones you encounter

a sun embracing a perfect full moon.

جمعَ الضّراغِمَ والمَهى فخيامُه

كُنُسُ الغَزالِ وغابةُ الرّئبالِ

It gathered lions and oryxes; its tents are

the gazelle's retreats and the lion's forest.

وسَقى زَماناً مرّ في ظَهْرِ النّقا

وليالِياً سلَفَتْ بعينِ أثالِ

And may it water a time spent on the ridge of al-Naqa,

and nights gone by at Ayn Athal:

لَيْلاتِ لذّاتٍ كأنّ ظلامَها

خالٌ على وجهِ الزّمانِ الخالي

nights of delight, whose darkness was like

a beauty spot on the face of bygone time.

نُظِمَتْ على نسَقِ العُقودِ فأشبَهَتْ

بيضَ اللآلي وهْيَ بيضُ لَيالي

They were strung in the order of necklaces, resembling

white pearls, being themselves white nights.

خيرُ الليالي ما تقدّم في الصّبا

كم بين منْ جلّى وبين التّالي

The best nights are those that came first, in youth;

how far apart are the first finisher and the next!

للَّهِ كم لكَ يا زَماني فيَّ منْ

جُرحٍ بجارحةٍ وسَهْمِ وَبالِ

God! How many you have inflicted on me, O my time—

wounds in limbs and arrows of affliction!

صيّرتَني هدَفاً فلو يسْقي الحيا

جدَثي لأرْبَتْ تُربَتي بنِبالِ

You made me a target: were rain to water

my grave, my soil would sprout arrows.

ألِفَتْ خُطوبَك مُهجَتي فتوطّنَتْ

نفسي على الإقدامِ في الأهوالِ

My heart grew accustomed to your calamities, and

my soul resolved to venture into terrors.

وترفّعَتْ بي همّتي عن مِدحةٍ

لسِوى جَنابِ أبي الحُسينِ العالي

My aspiration raised me above offering praise

to anyone but Abu al-Husayn's exalted presence.

وقطعْتُ من كلِّ الأنامِ علائِقي

ووصَلْتُ فيه وفي بَنيه حِبالي

I severed my ties with all mankind,

and fastened my cords to him and his sons.

حُرٌّ تولّد طاهِرٌ من طاهِرٍ

فأتى بكلِّ مطهّرٍ مِفضالِ

A noble man, born pure of a pure man,

who brought forth sons, each pure and bountiful.

هو نيّرٌ كم قد أتى من صُلبِه

قمرٌ وكم من كوكبٍ مِفصالِ

He is a luminary: how often from his loins has sprung

a moon, and how many a discerning star!

من كلّ وضّاحِ الجبينِ كأنّما

مسحَتْ عليهِ راحةُ الإقبالِ

Each has a radiant brow, as though

the palm of good fortune had stroked him;

أو كلِّ مأمونِ النجيبةِ ماجدٍ

نَجِسِ الصّوارمِ طاهرِ الأذيالِ

or each magnanimous man of trusted noble stock,

with sullied swords and spotless hems.

صورٌ علينا بالنّجومِ تشابهَتْ

لتَناسُبِ الآثارِ والأشكالِ

Forms we can scarcely distinguish from stars,

so alike are their effects and shapes.

همْ عشرةٌ مثلُ الأصابعِ للعُلا

خُلِقَتْ لضرْبِ طُلىً وبَذْلِ نَوالِ

They are ten, like fingers made for glory,

created to strike necks and lavish gifts.

تَدري الليالي العَشْرُ أنّ بُدورَها

لوجوهِ تلك العَشرةِ الأقيالِ

The ten nights know that their full moons

are the faces of those ten princes.

فدعِ اليَمينَ بها وأقسِمْ فيهم

فلقد تحوّل فضلُها برجالِ

So leave off swearing by those nights, and swear by these men;

their distinction has indeed passed into men.

في العالم العُلوي عُقولٌ رُتّبتْ

وهمُ لها في الأرض كالأمثالِ

In the higher world, intellects are set in order,

and these men are their likenesses on earth.

ساوَتْهُمُ عدداً وساوَوْها عُلاً

فالفرقُ لا يخلو من الإشكالِ

Those match them in number; these match those in loftiness,

so distinguishing them is not without difficulty.

هي ثمَّ أشكالُ السّعادةِ والشّقا

وهمُ نتائجُ تلكُمُ الأشكالِ

They are, up there, the forms of happiness and misery,

and these men are the results of those forms.

جمْعٌ همُ عند الحقيقةِ واحدٌ

كاللّجِّ فُرِّقَ موجُهُ المتوالي

A company, yet in truth they are one,

like the deep sea, its successive waves divided.

نفرٌ إذا سُئلوا فأبحارٌ وإنْ

حفّ الكُماةُ فراسياتُ جِبالِ

Men who, when asked, are oceans; and when

warriors crowd around, firmly rooted mountains.

ركبوا الجيادَ فقلتُ رُبْدٌ فوقَها ال

عِقبانُ أو تحتَ الأسودِ سَعالي

They mounted their steeds; I said, 'Dusky creatures bearing the

eagles—or she-demons beneath lions.'

ونَضوا السّيوفَ فقلتُ غُرُّ مَلائِكٍ

هزّتْ يَدَيْها أنيبُ الأغوالِ

They drew their swords; I said, 'Radiant angels

whose hands were shaken by the fangs of ghouls.'

عزلوا عنِ السّمعِ المَلامَ وحكّموا

بيضَ العَطايا في رِقابِ المالِ

They banished reproach from their hearing and made

white gifts the judges over wealth's necks.

أُسدٌ لحبّهمِ الصوارمَ والقَنا

قطعوا بأنّ النّقْعَ ليلُ وِصالِ

Lions: loving swords and spears,

they were certain battle dust was a night of union.

قبلَ البُلوغِ لقوا العِدا وتقمّصوا

بالزّغفِ وهْيَ طويلةُ الأذيالِ

Before puberty they met the enemy and clothed themselves

in supple mail with trailing hems.

وتراضَعوا لبنَ الفصاحةِ والنُهى

فتكلّموا بالفصلِ قبل فِصالِ

Together they suckled the milk of eloquence and wisdom,

and spoke decisive words before being weaned.

نُتِجوا نِتاجَ الصّاعقاتِ على العِدا

من صُلبِ ذاكَ العارضِ الجَلْجالِ

They were begotten like thunderbolts against the enemy,

from the loins of that rumbling storm cloud.

فتخلّقوا في خُلقِه فتخلّقوا

بدمِ الأسودِ وأنفُسِ الأبطالِ

They adopted his character, and thus were fashioned

with lions' blood and heroes' souls.

وتتبّعوا الآثارَ منهُ فحاولوا

فوقَ النّجومِ مداركَ الآمالِ

They followed his traces, seeking

the attainments of their hopes above the stars.

ما زالَ يُرسلُهُمْ سَحائِبَ رحمةٍ

طوراً وطوراً بارِقاتِ نَكالِ

He has never ceased sending them forth as clouds of mercy,

at times, and at others as flashes of punishment.

فيه على الإجمالِ كلُّ فضيلةٍ

وهمُ مفصّلُ ذلك الإجمالِ

In him every virtue is contained in sum,

and they unfold that sum in detail.

أسرارُ لُطفِ اللَّه قد ظهرَتْ بهم

ومظاهِرُ الأسرارِ في الأفعالِ

The secrets of God's kindness have appeared through them,

and they are the secrets' manifestations in deeds.

من عِترةٍ عندي أعُدُّ ولاءَهم

وثناءَهُم من أعظمِ الأعمالِ

Of a lineage: I count devotion to them, for my part,

and praise of them among the greatest deeds.

في آية التطهير قد دخلوا ولو

سبقوا لضمَّهُم العَبا في الآلِ

They have entered the Verse of Purification; had they

come earlier, the cloak would have embraced them within the Family.

واليتُ والدَهم عليّاً فهو لي

مولىً ولا أحداً سواهُ أوالي

I pledged allegiance to their father, Ali; he is my

patron, and I give allegiance to none but him.

قلبي وكلُّ جوارحي ومفاصلي

تُثْني عليه وما حوى سِربالي

My heart, all my limbs and joints,

praise him, as does all that my robe holds.

فطِنٌ كأنّي إذ له أُهدي الثّنا

أضعُ اللآلي في يديّ لآلي

He is discerning: when I offer him praise, it is as though

I place pearls in a pearl dealer's hands.

سمْحٌ به اِنفرجَتْ عُيونُ قريحَتي

فجرَتْ وحلَّ به الزّمانُ عِقالي

He is generous: through him the springs of my inspiration opened,

and flowed, and through him time loosed my tether.

بنداهُ علّمني القريضَ فصُغتُه

فأتيتُ فيه مرصَّعَ الأقوالِ

By his bounty he taught me verse, and I fashioned it,

and produced about him jewel-studded sayings.

ولَهجْتُ فيه وكان دهراً عاطِلاً

فأزَنْتُهُ منه بحَلي خِصالِ

I dwelt on him; my verse had long been unadorned,

so I adorned it with jewels drawn from his qualities.

ولفظْتُ بعضاً من فرائِدِ لفظِه

فجعلْتُه وسَطاً لعقدِ مَقالي

I uttered some of the unique pearls of his speech,

and made them the centerpiece of my words' necklace.

أتلو مدائحَهُ فيعْبَقُ طيبُها

وكذا القوافي العالياتُ غَوالي

I recite his praises, and their perfume wafts;

so too lofty rhymes are precious perfumes.

يا زينةَ الدُنيا ولستُ مبالِغاً

وأجلَّ أهليها ولستُ أُغالي

O ornament of the world—and I do not exaggerate—

and noblest of its people—and I do not overstate—

هُنّيتَ بالأفراحِ يا أسدَ الشّرى

بخِتانِ سِبْطٍ أكرمِ الأشبالِ

may joy be yours, O lion of al-Shara,

at the circumcision of a grandson, the noblest of lion cubs.

سِبطٍ تشرّفَ في أبيه وجدّه

ونَجابةِ الأعمامِ والأخوالِ

A grandson ennobled through his father and grandfather,

and the noble breeding of paternal and maternal uncles.

ما في أبيه السيّدِ اللاوي به

من فتكةٍ وسماحةٍ ومَعالي

All that is in his lordly father, devoted to him—

of fierce prowess, generosity and noble attainments—

منذُ اِستهلّ به تبيّن ذا ولم

تلدِ الأفاعي الرُقْمُ غيرَ صِلالِ

was plain in him from his first cry; never

have speckled vipers borne anything but asps.

بالمَهْدِ قد أوتي الكَمالَ وإنّما

غلبَتْ عليه عادةُ الأطفالِ

In the cradle he was granted perfection; only

the habits of children prevailed over him.

نورٌ أتى من نَيّرَينِ كلاهُما

منكَ اِستفادا أيّ نُورِ جَلالِ

A light sprung from two luminaries, both of whom

gained from you—what a light of majesty!

سَعداهُما اِقترَنا معاً فتثلّثا

بجبينِ أيّ فتىً سعيدِ الفالِ

Their two fortunes joined together and became three

on the brow of so auspicious a youth.

يَجري الصِّبا في عُودِه فتظنُّهُ

نَصْلاً ترقْرَقَ فيهِ ماءُ صِقالِ

Youth runs through his stem, and you imagine him

a blade in which the water of polish shimmers.

ويلوحُ نورُ المَجْدِ وهْوَ بمَهْدِه

فيهِ فتَحْسَبُهُ شُعاعَ ذَبالِ

The light of glory gleams, while he is in his cradle,

within him; you take him for the radiance of lamp wicks.

فعساكَ تختُنُ بعدَه أولادَه

في أحسنِ الأوقاتِ والأعمالِ

May you circumcise his sons after him,

in the finest of times and deeds.

وعسى لك الرحمنُ يقبَلُ دعوتي

ويُجيبُ فيكَ وفي بَنيكَ سؤالي

And may the Merciful accept my prayer for you,

and answer my petition for you and your sons.