هذا الحمى يا فتى فانزل بحومته — Abn Matouk

هذا الحِمى يا فتى فاِنزِل بحَوْمتِه

واِخضَع هنالكَ تعظيماً لحُرمتِهِ

This is the sanctuary, young man; alight in its precincts,

And bow there in reverence for its sanctity.

وإن وصلتَ إلى حيٍّ بأيمنهِ

بعد البُلوغِ فبالِغْ في تحيّتِهِ

And if you reach an encampment on its right,

After arriving, be lavish in your greeting.

وحُلَّ بالحِلّ واِكحَل بالثّرى بصَراً

وقبّل الأرضَ واِسجُدْ نحو قِبلَتِهِ

Lodge in the unconsecrated ground, and line your eyes with dust,

And kiss the earth, and prostrate yourself toward its prayer-direction.

واِطمَع بما فوقَ إكليلِ النّجومِ ولا

ترجو الوصولَ إلى ما في أكلّتِهِ

Aspire to what lies above the crown of the stars, but do not

Hope to reach what lies within its canopies.

واحذَرْ أُسودَ الشّرى إن كُنتَ مقتنِصاً

فإنّ حُمرَ ظُباها دون ظَبيتِه

Beware the lions of al-Shara if you are hunting,

For their red blade-edges stand between you and its gazelle.

للّهِ حيٌّ إذا أوتادُه ضُرِبَتْ

يودُّها الصّبُّ لو كانت بمُهجتِهِ

By God, an encampment whose tent-pegs, whenever driven,

The lovesick lover wishes were driven into his own heart!

بجِزعِه كم قضتْ من مهجةٍ جزَعاً

وكم هوَتْ كبِدٌ حرّى بحرَّتِهِ

At its valley bend, how many a soul has perished in anguish,

And how many a burning liver has fallen on its lava plain!

لم يُمكِنِ المرءَ حِفظاً للفؤادِ به

يوماً ولو كان مَقبوضاً بعَشْرَتِهِ

There no man could safeguard his heart

For a single day, even were it gripped in all his ten fingers.

ما شِئتَ فيه اِقترِح إلّا الأمانَ على

قَرحى القلوبِ وإلّا وصلَ نِسوَتِهِ

Ask there for whatever you wish, except safety for

Wounded hearts, or union with its women.

ربُّ الحسامِ وذاتُ الجَفنِ فيه سوىً

كلٌّ غدا الحتفُ مقروناً بضربتِهِ

The master of the sword and the lady of the eyelid are equal there:

For each, death is coupled to their stroke.

لن تُخفيَ الحُجبُ أنوارَ الجمالِ به

فربّةُ السّجْفِ فيه كاِبنِ مُزنتِهِ

Veils will never conceal the lights of beauty there,

For its veiled lady is like its cloud-born crescent.

قد أنشأ الغُنجَ شيطانُ الغرامِ به

فقامَ يدعو إلى شيطانِ فِتنتهِ

The devil of passion has created coquetry there,

And risen to summon others to the devil of its enchantment.

والحُسنُ فيه لسلطان الهوى أخذتْ

يَداهُ في كلّ قلبٍ عقْدَ بَيعتِهِ

And beauty there, for the sovereign of desire, has taken

With its two hands, each heart's pledge of allegiance.

أقمارُه لحديدِ الهِندِ حاملةٌ

تحمي شُموسَ العَذارَى في أهلّتهِ

Its moons carry Indian steel,

Guarding the maiden suns among its crescents.

اللّهَ يا أهلَ هذا الحيّ في دنفٍ

يُجيبُ رجعَ أغانيكُم برنّتِهِ

For God's sake, people of this camp, pity one sick with love,

Who answers the echo of your songs with his lament.

ضيفٌ ألمّ كإلمامِ الخيالِ بكُم

إليكُمُ حملَتْهُ ريحُ زفرَتِهِ

A guest has come to you as a phantom comes;

The wind of his sigh has borne him to you.

صبٌّ غريقُ الهوى في لُجِّ مدمَعِه

فأينَ نوحُ رضاكُم من سفينتِهِ

A lover drowned by desire in the deep sea of his tears—

Where, then, is the Noah of your favor for his ship?

اللّهَ في نفس مصدورٍ بكم خرجَتْ

أمشاجُها كلَفاً فيكم بنفثتِهِ

For God's sake, pity a soul stricken in the breast by you, whose

Mingled humors have flowed out, yearning for you, in his breath.

فحبَّكم لتُحبّوهُ فهام وما

يدري محبّتَهُ تصحيف محنتهِ

He loved you so you would love him, and wandered distraught, not

Knowing that his love is his ordeal with its dots misplaced.

صُنتم صِغارَ اللآلي من مباسِمكُم

عنه وغِرتُم على ياقوتِ عَبرتِهِ

You kept the little pearls of your smiling mouths

From him, and were jealous over the ruby of his tear.

فكم أسيرِ رُقادٍ عنه رِقَّكُمُ

فادى جُفونَكمُ المرضى بصحّتهِ

How many a captive, sleep kept from him by bondage to you,

Has ransomed your ailing eyelids with his health!

يا حاكِمي الجور فينا من معاطِفِكم

تعلّموا العدلَ واِنحوا نحو سُنّتهِ

O rulers of injustice against us, from your supple forms

Learn justice, and follow its way!

قلبي لدى بعضِكم رهنٌ وبعضُكُمُ

هذا دمي صارَ مطلولاً بوجنَتِهِ

My heart is pledged to one of you; and as for another,

Here is my blood, shed unavenged upon his cheek.

وذا اِبنُ عينيَّ خالٌ في مورّدِه

وذاك نومِيَ مسروقٌ بمُقلتِهِ

And this one bears my eyes' offspring as a mole on his rosy cheek,

And that one has stolen my sleep with his eye.

أفدي بكم كلَّ مخصورٍ ذُؤابتُه

تتلو لنا ذِكرَ فِرعونٍ وفِرقتِهِ

I would ransom with you every slender-waisted beauty whose forelock

Recites to us the story of Pharaoh and his band.

كأنّما الخِضرَ فيما نال شارَكه

ففي المراشِفِ منه طعمُ جُرعَتِهِ

As though he shared in what al-Khidr attained,

For his lips hold the taste of al-Khidr's draught.

أُعيذُ نفسي بكم من سحرِ أعيُنكُم

فإنّ أصلَ بلائي من بليّتِهِ

I seek refuge with you for myself from the magic of your eyes,

For the source of my affliction lies in its calamity.

في كلِّ نوعٍ مُرادٍ من محاسِنكُم

نوعٌ من الموتِ يأتينا بصورتِهِ

In every desired kind among your charms,

A kind of death comes to us in its shape.

يكادُ قلبي إذا مرّ النّسيمُ بكُم

عليهِ في النارِ يَحمى من حميّتهِ

My heart almost, when the breeze passes by you

And over it, grows hot in the fire of its jealousy.

يا حبّذا غُرُّ أيّامٍ بنا سلَفَتْ

على منىً ولَيالينا بحمرَتِهِ

Ah, how lovely the bright days that passed with us

Amid wishes fulfilled, and our nights in its crimson glow!

أوقاتُ أُنسٍ كسَتْ وجهَ الزّمانِ سنىً

كأنّما هُنّ أقمارٌ بظُلمتِهِ

Hours of intimacy clothed the face of time in radiance,

As though they were moons within its darkness.

كم نشّقتنا رَياحينَ الوِصالِ به

يدُ الرِّضا وسقَتْنا كأسَ بهجَتِهِ

How often we were made to inhale the sweet herbs of union there

By the hand of favor, which gave us the cup of its delight!

كأنّ لُطفَ صَباها في أصائِلِها

لُطفُ الوزيرِ حُسينٍ في رعيّتهِ

As though the gentleness of their east breeze in their late afternoons

Were the gentleness of the vizier Husayn toward his subjects.

فُزْنا بها وأمِنّا كلَّ حادثةٍ

كأنّما نحنُ في أيّامِ دولتِهِ

We enjoyed them and felt safe from every mishap,

As though we lived in the days of his rule.

مضَتْ وللآنَ عِندي ليس يفضُلُها

شيءٌ من الدّهر إلّا يومُ نُصرتِهِ

They passed, and to this day, to my mind, nothing surpasses them

In all time, save the day of his victory.

يومٌ به أعيُنُ الأعداءِ باكيةٌ

والسّيفُ يبسِمُ مخضوباً بعزّتِهِ

A day on which the eyes of enemies weep,

And the sword smiles, dyed with his might.

والحتفُ يترعُ كاساتِ النّجيعِ به

والرُمْحُ يهتزّ نَشواناً بخَمرِتهِ

Death fills goblets of gore to the brim on it,

And the spear sways, drunk on its wine.

والذّنبُ أصبحَ مَسروراً ومُبتَهِجاً

واللّيثُ يندُبُ مفجوعاً بإخوَتِهِ

And sin has become glad and exultant,

While the lion laments, bereaved of his brothers.

لقد رَماها بموّارٍ ذوابلُهُ

مثل الصِّلالِ تسقّتْ سُمَّ عزمَتِهِ

He hurled against it a seething host whose slender lances,

Like vipers, had drunk the venom of his resolve.

جيشٌ إذا سار يكسو الجوَّ عِثْيَرُه

فتَعثُرُ الشّمسُ في أذيال هَبوَتِهِ

An army whose dust, whenever it marches, clothes the sky,

And the sun stumbles in the trailing skirts of its dust cloud.

دُروعُه الحزمُ من تسديد سيّده

وبيضُ راياتِه آراءُ حِكمَتِهِ

Its armor is resolve, born of its commander's sound guidance,

And its white banners are the counsels of his wisdom.

إذا الجبالُ له في غارةٍ عرَضَتْ

إلى الرّحيلِ تنادَتْ عوفَ وطأتِهِ

When mountains stand in its way during a raid,

They call one another to depart, shunning its tread.

ترى به كلَّ مِقدامٍ بكلِّ وغىً

يرى حُصولَ الأماني في منيّتِهِ

You see in it every valiant warrior, in every battle,

Finding the fulfillment of his wishes in his death.

شهمٌ إذا ما غديرُ الدِّرعِ جلّلَهُ

منهُ توهّمتَ ثُعباناً بحِليتِهِ

A noble warrior—when the armor's rippling pool envelops him,

You imagine, from his appearance, a serpent in its adornment.

وإنْ تأبّطْتَ سيفاً خِلتَهُ قدَراً

يجري وتجري المنايا تحت قُدرتِهِ

And if you tuck a sword beneath your arm, you deem it fate,

Running on, with deaths running beneath its power.

فأصبحَ الحيُّ منها حين صبّحَها

يذري الدُموعَ على الصّرعى بعرْصَتِهِ

So their encampment, when he attacked it at dawn,

Came to shed tears over the slain in its courtyard.

قد توّجَ الضّربَ بالهاماتِ مَعقِلُهُ

وورّدَ الطّعْنُ منه خدَّ تُربتِهِ

Its stronghold crowned the blows with heads,

And spear-thrusts there reddened the cheek of its soil.

لم يدْرِ يفرحُ في فتحِ الحُسينِ له

إذ حازَهُ أم يعزّى في أعزَّتِهِ

It knew not whether to rejoice at Husayn's conquest of it

When he took it, or to receive condolences for its dear ones.

فتحٌ أتاهُ وكان الصومُ ملبسَهُ

فهزّ عِطفَيْهِ في ديباجِ خِلعَتِهِ

A conquest came to it, while fasting was its garb,

And it shook its flanks in the brocade of its robe of honor.

أشابَ فودَيْهِ بالأهوالِ أوّلُه

وعاد أوّلُ يومٍ من شَبيبتِهِ

Its beginning grayed its temples with terrors,

Yet became the first day of its youth.

فتحٌ تراه المعالي نورَ أعيُنها

ويكتسي المجدَ فيه يومُ زينتهِ

A conquest the heights of glory regard as the light of their eyes,

And its festal day robes itself in glory.

إذا الرّواةُ أتوا في ذِكره سطَعَتْ

مجامرُ النّدِّ من ألفاظِ قصّتِهِ

Whenever narrators come to recount it, there flare

Censers of incense from the words of its tale.

سلِ الهُفوفَ عن الأعرابِ كم ترَكوا

منَ الكُنوزِ وجنّاتٍ ببقعَتِهِ

Ask al-Hufuf about the Bedouins: how much they left

Of treasures and gardens upon its ground!

وسائِلِ الجيشَ عنهُم كم بهِم نسفَتْ

عواصِفُ النّصرِ طوقاً عندَ سطوَتِهِ

And ask the army about them: how often, among them, did

The storms of victory blast away a neck-ring at its onslaught!

ما هُمْ بأوّلِ قومٍ حيَّهُم فرَدوا

فأهلكوا برُجومٍ من أسنّتِهِ

They were not the first people he greeted who then rebuffed him,

Only to be destroyed by volleys from his spearheads.

يَضيقُ رحبُ الفضا في عينِ هاربِهم

خوفاً وأضيقُ منها دِرعُ حِيلتِهِ

The broad expanse narrows in the eyes of their fugitive

From fear, and narrower still is the armor of his cunning.

يا خالديّونَ خُنتُم عهدَ سيّدِكم

هلّا وفَيتُم وخِفتُم بأسَ صَولَتِهِ

O Khalidis, you betrayed your master's covenant.

Why did you not keep faith and fear the might of his onslaught?

يحيا دُعاكُم لمولاكُم لتقتَبِسوا

من نورِه فاِصطَلَيْتُم نارَ جَذوتِهِ

Yahya summoned you to your master, so that you might draw

From his light, but you were scorched by the fire of his brand.

من جيشهِ أحرقَتْكُم نارُ صاعقةٍ

فكيفَ لو تنجلي أنوارُ طلعتِهِ

From his army, a thunderbolt's fire burned you—

What, then, if the radiance of his face were unveiled?

عارَضتموهُ بسِحرٍ من تخيّلِكُم

فكان موسى ويَحيى مثلَ حيَّتِهِ

You opposed him with sorcery born of your imaginings,

But he was Moses, and Yahya was like his serpent.

أضلّكُم عن هُداكُم سامريُّكُمُ

حتّى اِتّخذتُم إلَهاً عِجلَ ضِلّتِهِ

Your Samiri led you astray from your guidance,

Until you took the calf of his error for a god.

كُنتُم بفوزٍ وجَنّاتٍ فأخرَجَكُم

إبليسُ منها وحُزتُم خِزيَ لَعنتِهِ

You enjoyed prosperity and gardens, until you were driven out

By Iblis, and gained the disgrace of his curse.

بَرّاكَ ربُّك ما برّاكَ منهُ ولا

خُصِصْتَ في برَكاتٍ من عطيّتِهِ

Barrak, your lord granted you no favor of his, nor

Were you singled out for blessings from his gifts.

كفرْتَ في ربِّكَ الثاني وخُنتَ به

يَكفيكَ ما فيكَ من حِرمانِ نِعمتِهِ

You disowned your second lord and betrayed him;

Your deprivation of his favor is punishment enough.

يا زينةَ المُلكِ بل يا تاجَ سُوددِه

وحِليةَ الفخرِ بل يا طَرْزَ حُلّتِهِ

O ornament of kingship—rather, crown of its eminence!

And adornment of pride—rather, embroidery of its robe!

إن كان من فتحِ عمّوريّةٍ بقِيَتْ

ذُرّيّةٌ من بَنيه أو عَشيرتِهِ

If any descendants remained of the conquest of Amorium,

Among its sons or its kin,

فإنّ فتحَك هذا فذُّ توأمِه

وإنّ نصرَك هذا صِنْوُ نَخلتِهِ

Then this conquest of yours is its matchless twin,

And this victory of yours is the twin shoot of its palm.

لو كان يدري له في القَبرِ مُعتَصِمٌ

لَقامَ حَيا وعادَتْ رُوحُ غيرَتِهِ

If al-Mu'tasim knew of it in his grave,

He would rise alive, and the spirit of his jealous zeal would return.

فليَهْنِكَ اللّهُ في النّصرِ العزيزِ وفي ال

فتحِ المُبين وفي إدراكِ رِفعَتِهِ

May God grant you joy in the mighty victory and in the

Manifest conquest, and in attaining its eminence.

وليتَ والدَكَ المرحومَ يشهدُ ما

منكَ الحُضورُ رَواهُ حالَ غَيبتِهِ

And would that your late father could witness what

Those present have recounted of you during his absence.

مَنْ مُبلِغٌ عنكَ هذا الفتحَ مسمَعَهُ

لكَيْ تكونَ سَواءً في مسرّتهِ

Who will carry word of this conquest from you to his hearing,

So that you may share equally in its joy?

سَمعاً فديتُك مَدحاً من حليفِ ولاً

عليهِ صِدقُ وِلاءٍ من عَقيدتِهِ

Give ear—may I be your ransom—to praise from an ally in devotion,

Bearing true allegiance springing from his creed.

مدحاً على وجنتَيْهِ ورْدَتا خجَلي

منكُم وأوضحَ عُذري فوقَ غُرّتِهِ

Praise whose cheeks bear the two roses of my shame

Before you, and whose brow bears my clearest excuse.

بوجهِه من ظُنوني في مكارِمِكُم

آثارُ حُسْنٍ وبِشْر فوقَ بَشْرَتِهِ

Upon its face, from my expectations of your generosity,

Are traces of beauty, and cheerfulness upon its skin.

أحرَقْتَ بالصّدِّ عودي فاِسْتطابَ شذاً

أمَا تُشمُّ مَديحي طيبَ نفحتِهِ

You burned my aloeswood with rejection, and it became sweetly fragrant;

Do you not smell the sweet waft of my praise?

هذا الّذي كان في ظرفي نضحْتُ به

فاِرشُفْ طِلا كأسِه واِلذذ بشَهْدَتِهِ

This is what was in my vessel; I have sprinkled it forth,

So sip the wine of its cup, and delight in its honey.

واِغفِر فِدىً لك نفسي ذنبَ مُعتَرِفٍ

بفضلكِم مُستَقيلٍ من خطيئَتِهِ

And forgive—my soul be your ransom—the sin of one who acknowledges

Your bounty and seeks pardon for his fault.

كُنْ كيفَ شِئْتَ فما لي عنكَ مُصطَبَرٌ

واِرْفُقْ بمَنْ أنت مَلزومٌ بذِمّتِهِ

Be however you wish: I cannot endure being apart from you.

And be gentle with one whose covenant you are bound to honor.

لا زِلتَ يا اِبنَ عليٍّ رُكنَ بيتِ عُلاً

تهوي الوُجوهُ سُجوداً نحوَ كعْبَتِهِ

May you remain, son of Ali, a pillar of the house of eminence,

Toward whose Kaaba faces bow in prostration.