أتنكر بأس أحداق العذارى — Abn Matouk

أتُنكِرُ بأسَ أحداقِ العَذارى

أمَا تدري بعربدةِ السُّكارى

Do you deny the might of maidens' eyes?

Do you not know the brawling of the drunken?

وتفتِنُكَ العُيونُ وما عهِدْنا

جريحاً قلبُه يهوى الشِّفارا

Eyes enthrall you, though we have never known

a wounded man whose heart loves blades.

وتُغرَمُ في القُدودِ فهل طَعينٌ

هوى من قَبلِكَ الأسَلَ الحِرارا

You adore slender forms—has any pierced man

before you loved the keen-edged spears?

وتُمسي في الذوائِبِ مُستهاماً

متى عشِقَتْ سلاسِلَها الأسارى

You pass the evening lovesick over tresses;

when did captives fall in love with their chains?

لَقَد فتكَتْ بنا الأجفانُ حتّى

شكَتْ ضعفاً لذلك واِنكِسارا

Indeed, the eyelids have so ravaged us

that they themselves complain of weakness and brokenness.

إلامَ بها نُلامُ ولا نُبالي

فتُوسِعُنا جِراحاً واِعتذارا

How long shall we be blamed for them, yet pay no heed,

while they lavish wounds and apologies upon us?

رأينا أنّ حبلَ الحُبِّ فينا

شُعورٌ فاِتّخذناها شِعارا

We saw that love's cord within us

was hair, so we wore it against our skin.

وهِمنا بالحِسانِ وما فهِمْنا

بَنات صُدورِها تلِدُ البَوارا

We were smitten with beauties, not realizing

the daughters of their bosoms beget ruin.

وهَبْنا العُذرَ للعُذّالِ لمّا

خلعنا في عذاراها العِذارا

We granted the reproachers their excuse when

we threw off the bridle for their maidens.

علامَ عُيونُنا بالدّمع غَرقى

ومن وجناتهنّ تخوضُ نَارا

Why are our eyes drowned in tears,

yet wade through fire from their cheeks?

ونسألُ من مراشفهنّ ريّاً

وبردُ برودِها يُوري الأُوارا

We ask their lips for a quenching draught,

yet the chill of her cool saliva kindles burning thirst.

تؤرّقُنا ذوائِبُها ولَسنا

نرى لدُجى لياليها قُصارى

Her tresses keep us sleepless, and we

see no end to the darkness of their nights.

فهل تدري بغايتها المداري

فقد ضاقَتْ على المرضى السّهارى

Do the combs know where they end?

For those nights oppress the sleepless sick.

لعَمرُك ليس من حُمرِ المَنايا

سوى الوجَناتِ تسلبُنا القَرارا

By your life, no crimson deaths exist

but cheeks that steal our repose.

إذا لشقائِنا الآجالُ طالَتْ

تخلّصها الخُصورُ لنا اِختِصارا

If, to our misery, our lifespans stretch,

those waists bring them swiftly to an end for us.

وإن كَهُم الرّدى يوماً فمنهُ

يسنُّ لقتلِ أنفُسنا الغِرارا

And if death ever loses its edge, from him

it whets blades to slay our souls.

تُحاذِرُنا المَنايا السودُ جَهراً

وتأتينا العُيونُ بها سَرارا

Black deaths openly beware of us,

while eyes bring them to us in secret.

بروحي جِيرةٌ جاروا وقَلبي

لديهِم لم يزَلْ بالحَيّ جَارا

My soul ransom for neighbors who wronged me; my heart

remains their neighbor in the encampment.

مصابيحٌ إذا سَفَروا بليلٍ

حسِبْتَ ظلامَه لبسَ النّهارا

Lamps—when they unveil at night,

you think its darkness has put on daylight.

بُدورٌ بالخيام ذَووا شموساً

بشِبهِ البيضِ تحملُها الغُبارا

Full moons in tents, they made suns wither,

with egglike forms you burden with dust.

مرنّحةٌ معاطفُهم صُحاةٌ

تكادُ عُيونُهم تجري عُقارا

Their swaying forms are sober,

yet their eyes almost flow with wine.

لَهم صورٌ كأنّ الحُسنَ صبٌّ

تأمّل طرفُه فِيهم فحارا

They have forms as though Beauty were a lover

whose gaze contemplated them and grew bewildered.

وألفاظٌ إذا المَخمورُ فيها

تَداوى طبعُه فقدَ الخُمارا

And words with which, if a hungover man

treats his constitution, he sheds his hangover.

وأسنانٌ تُفدّيها اللآلي

بأكبرِها وإن كانت صِغارا

And teeth that pearls would ransom

with their largest, though those teeth are small.

بأعيُنِهم يَجولُ السحرُ حتّى

نَثيرُ الكُحلِ تحسَبُه غُبارا

In their eyes magic roams until

you take the scattered kohl for dust.

لشوقِ سَنا الصّباحِ إلى لِقاهُم

تنفّس حسْرةً ورمى جِمارا

So eager was morning's radiance to meet them

that it sighed in sorrow and cast out embers.

إذا بقبابِهم سفرَتْ ظُباهُم

حسِبْتَ بُيوتَهم بِيَعَ النّصارى

When their gazelles unveil within their domed tents,

you think their dwellings Christian churches.

سقَتْهُم أعينُ الأنواءِ دمعاً

يخُطُّ بخدِّ واديهم عِذارا

May the eyes of rain-stars water them with tears

tracing a side-lock on their valley's cheek.

ولا درَسَتْ نوادي الحُسنِ منهم

ولا فصمَ البِلى منها سِوارا

May beauty's gathering places among them never fade,

nor decay break a single bracelet there.

همُ بالقلبِ لا بالخَيفِ حلّوا

وفي جمَراتِه اِتّخذوا دِيارا

They settled in my heart, not at al-Khayf,

and made their homes among its embers.

أقاموا فيه بعدَ رحيلِ صبري

فأضحَتْ مُهجَتي أهلاً قِفارا

They dwelt there after my patience departed,

and my heart became inhabited yet desolate.

إذا خطَروا بِبالي فرّ شوقاً

فلوْ حملَتْهُ قادمةٌ لَطارا

When they cross my mind, it bolts with longing;

had a flight feather borne it, it would have flown.

أروحُ ولي بهم روحٌ تلظّتْ

إذا اِستضرَمْتَها قدحَتْ شَرارا

I go at evening, my soul ablaze for them;

if you stir its fire, it strikes sparks.

وأجفانٌ كسُحبِ نَدى عليٍّ

إذا اِستمْطرْتَها مطرَتْ نُضارا

And eyelids like the clouds of Ali's bounty—

if you ask them for rain, they rain gold.

حليفِ المكرماتِ أبي عليٍّ

أجلِّ الناس قدْراً واِقتِدارا

Ally of noble deeds, Abu Ali,

greatest of men in rank and power;

أعزُّ بني المُلوكِ الغُرِّ نفْساً

وأشجعُهُم وأمنعُهُم ذِمارا

noblest in soul among the sons of illustrious kings,

their bravest and staunchest defender of honor;

وأنجدُهم وأطولهم نِجاداً

وأفخرُهم وأطهرُهم إزارا

their most valiant, and longest of sword-belt,

their most glorious, and most spotless of robe.

أخو شرفٍ تولّد من عليٍّ

وبضعةِ أحمدٍ فزَكا فَخارا

A man of honor, sprung from Ali

and Ahmad's own flesh, so his glory flourished.

تلاقى مجمعُ البحرِ فيه

وشاركَ هاشمٌ فيه نِزارا

The sea's gathered waters meet in him,

and Hashim shares with Nizar in him.

هو النّورُ الّذي لولاه لاقَتْ

بُدورُ المجدِ في التِمِّ السِّرارا

He is the light without whom

glory's full moons would meet moonless darkness at their full.

مَحا إيضاؤهُ صِبغَ اللّيالي

فعسْجدَ لونَهنّ وكان قَارا

His radiance effaced the nights' dye,

turning their color to gold, though it had been pitch.

أتى الأيّامَ والأيّامُ غَضْبى

فأحدَثَ في مباسِمِها اِفتِرارا

He came to the days while the days were angry,

and made smiles part their lips.

ووافى والنّدى ثمِدٌ ففاضَتْ

مواردُه ولولاه لَغارا

He arrived when bounty was a scant pool; then overflowed

its springs—without him it would have sunk away.

رَسا حِلماً فقرّ الحوْزُ فيه

ولولا حِلمُهُ فينا لَمارا

He stood firm in forbearance, and the realm rested secure in him;

without his forbearance among us, it would have swayed.

بصهوةِ مهدِه طلبَ المَعالي

وقبلَ قِماطِه لبسَ الوَقارا

Astride his cradle, he sought high honors,

and wore dignity before his swaddling bands.

وحازَ تُقىً ومعروفاً وفضلاً

وأَقداراً وبأساً واِصطِبارا

He gained piety, beneficence, and excellence,

and rank, valor, and endurance.

وأصبحَ للعُلا بعْلاً كريماً

فأولدَها المَحامِدَ والفَخارا

He became a noble husband to high glory,

and begot upon her praiseworthy deeds and renown.

غَمامٌ صافحَ البيضَ المواضي

فأحدثَ في جوانبِها اِخضِرارا

A cloud that clasped the hands of keen bright swords,

making their sides grow green.

تكادُ الأرضُ يُنبِتُها حَريراً

حَيا كفّيْهِ لا شِيحاً وغارا

The earth almost sprouts silk

from his palms' rain, not wormwood and laurel.

ويوشِكُ أن يعودَ النورُ تِبْراً

لوَ انّ الغيثَ نائلَهُ اِستَعارا

And blossoms would almost turn to gold

if rain borrowed his bounty.

وروضٌ من حمائِلِه اِلتقطْنا

دنانيرَ العطايا لا العَرارا

And a garden: from his sword-belts we gathered

dinars of gifts, not oxeye daisies.

حكى فصلَ الربيعِ الطّلق خُلقاً

وفاقَ بجُودِ راحتِه القِطارا

In character he resembles radiant springtime,

and his palm's bounty surpasses the showers.

كَسا قَتْلى أعاديه شَقيقاً

وبرقَعَ وجهَ حيّهم بَهارا

He clothed his slain enemies in red anemones,

and veiled their living men's faces in yellow oxeyes.

وهزّ على الكُماةِ قُطوفَ لُدْنٍ

فدلّتْ من جَماجِمهم ثِمارا

He shook clusters of supple shafts above armored warriors,

and they dangled their skulls as fruit.

وأحدثَ عهدُه فينا سُروراً

فأنبتَ في الخُدودِ الجُلّنارا

His reign brought us gladness,

making pomegranate blossoms bloom upon our cheeks.

مُطاعٌ لو دَعا الصّفواءَ يوماً

سمعتَ لها وإن صُمّت خُوارا

So obeyed that, should he one day call to smooth stone,

you would hear it low, though it were deaf.

جوادٌ في ميادينِ العطايا

ومِضمارِ الفصاحةِ لا يُجارى

A generous steed in the fields of giving,

and unrivaled on eloquence's racecourse.

فصيحٌ نُطقُه نَظماً ونثراً

يرصّعُ لفظُه الدُرَرَ الكِبارا

Eloquent in speech, in verse and prose,

his words bejewel the largest pearls.

توَدُّ مِدادَهُ الأيّامُ تُمسي

بأعيُنِها إذا كتبَ اِحوِرارا

The days long for his ink, to become at evening

dark-eyed with it whenever he writes.

فكم في خطِّه من بِنتِ فكرٍ

لها نسجَتْ محابرُه خِمارا

How many daughters of thought are in his script,

for whom his inkwells have woven a veil!

ذُكاءٌ من سَناها كادَ يحكي

ظلامُ مِدادِه الشّفقَ اِحْمِرارا

Dhuka, the sun, whose radiance almost makes

his ink's darkness mimic twilight's red.

له القلَمُ الّذي في كلّ سطرٍ

ترى في خطّه فلَكاً مُدارا

He has a pen: in every line

you see in its writing a sphere set revolving.

يمجُّ على صباحِ السّطْرِ ليلاً

تكَوكَبَ في المعالي واِسْتَنارا

It pours night upon the morning of the line,

a night grown starry and radiant with high glories.

وأشرقَ منه في أندى يَمينٍ

فلجّجَ في أناملِها وسارا

From him it shone in the most generous right hand,

then sailed deep among its fingers and traveled.

ومَنْ يسعى إلى طلبِ المعالي

فلا عجبٌ إذا ركبَ البِحارا

Whoever strives in pursuit of high honors—

no wonder if he sails the seas.

يراعٌ روّعَ القُضُبَ المواضي

فأثبتَ في تقوّمِها اِزوِرارا

A reed-pen that frightened keen swords,

fixing a crookedness within their straightness.

ترى ثُعبانَه الأفلاكُ تسعى

فيخفِقُ قلبُ عقرَبِها حذارا

The spheres behold its serpent in motion,

and their Scorpion's heart trembles with fear.

يردُّ حُسامَ جَوْزاها كَهاماً

ويطعنُ في عُطاردِها اِحتِقارا

It blunts the sword of their Orion,

and thrusts at their Mercury in contempt.

مؤيّدُ ملّةِ الإسلامِ هادٍ

إذا ضلّ الهُداةُ ولا مَنارا

Upholder of Islam's faith, a guide

when guides go astray and no beacon remains.

له كُتبٌ يعِزُّ النّضبُ عنها

إذا شنّت كتائِبُها مُغارا

He has writings whose wellspring can hardly run dry,

when their battalions launch a raid.

حكَتْ زَهر الرّياضِ الغضّ حُسناً

ونشْرَ المِسكِ طيباً واِنتِشارا

They match the gardens' fresh blossoms in beauty,

and wafting musk in fragrance and diffusion.

وفَاقَتْ عينَ تسنيمٍ صفاءً

وعينَ الشمسِ نوراً واِشتِهارا

They surpass Tasnim's spring in clarity,

and the sun's orb in radiance and renown.

فواصلُها سُيوفٌ فاصلاتٌ

وهَدْيٌ بالضّلالةِ لا يُمارى

Their clauses are decisive swords,

and guidance that error cannot dispute.

من الدّيباجِ ألبسَها ثِياباً

وصاغَ من النُضارِ لها فِقارا

He clothed them in robes of brocade,

and fashioned spines of gold for them.

إذا في إثْرِها الأفكارُ سارتْ

لتُدرِكَ ثارَها وقَفَتْ حَيارى

When thoughts follow in their wake

to exact their revenge, they halt bewildered.

فنورُ مُبينِها جمْعُ الدّراري

وخيرُ مَقالِها الدُرَرُ النِثارا

The light of their lucid expression is a cluster of bright stars,

and their finest discourse is pearls strewn abroad.

وفي نُكَتِ البيانِ أبانَ فضلاً

بمُختَصرٍ حوى حِكَما غِزارا

In the subtleties of rhetoric he displayed excellence

through a compendium containing abundant wisdom.

كتابٌ كُلُّ سِفرٍ منه سِفرٌ

من الإقهارِ في الأقطارِ دارا

A book, each volume of it a volume

of conquest that has traveled through the lands.

فلو أمُّ الكتاب أتَتْ بنجلٍ

لقُلنا فيه قد حملَتْ قِصارا

If the Mother of the Book had borne a son,

we would say of him: her pregnancy was brief.

إذا وَرَدَ العِدا منه كتابٌ

توعّدَهُم به طلَبوا الفِرارا

When a letter from him reaches his enemies,

with which he threatens them, they seek flight.

كأنّ كتابَهُ جيشٌ علَتْهُ

دُجى أترابِه نقْعاً مُثارا

As though his letter were an army overhung

by its fellows' darkness, like stirred-up dust.

وإن صدرَتْ ظُباهُ عن الهوادي

حسِبْتَ حديدَها ذَهباً مُمارا

And when his blades withdraw from necks,

you would mistake their iron for molten gold.

وَهوبٌ يوسِعُ الفقراءَ تِبراً

ولم يهبِ العِدا إلّا تَبارا

A lavish giver, he showers the poor with gold,

yet gives his enemies nothing but destruction.

ألا يا أيّها الملكُ المُرجّى

إذا غدرَ الزّمانُ بنا وجارا

O king in whom our hopes are placed

when time betrays and wrongs us;

ويا غيثاً إذا الأنواءُ ضنّتْ

وطال جَفا الحيا حيّا وزارا

O rain that, when the rain-stars stint

and rain has long forsaken us, comes greeting and visiting;

لعَمرُك إنّ قدرَك لا يُجارى

وقطرك بالسّماحةِ لا يُبارى

by your life, your rank admits no rival,

nor can your rain be matched in bounty.

بطولِك تمّ نُقصانُ المعالي

فطالَتْ بعدما كانت قِصارا

Your bounty made good the shortfall of high honors,

and they grew tall after having been short.

لئنْ أضحكْتَ بيضَ الهندِ يوماً

فقد أبكيتَهُنّ دماً جُبَارا

If ever you made the bright blades of India laugh,

you also made them weep unavenged blood.

ليهْنِك بعد صومك عيدُ فطْرٍ

يُريكَ بقلبِ حاسدِك اِنفِطارا

May Eid al-Fitr gladden you after your fast,

showing you your envier's heart split open.

أتاكَ وفوقَ غُرّتِه هِلالٌ

إذا قابَلْتَه خجَلاً توارى

It has come to you, a crescent above its brow,

which hides in shame when you face it.

يُشير به إليك هوىً كصبٍّ

إلى حِبٍّ بحاجبِه أشارا

It gestures with it toward you in love, like a lover

signaling to his beloved with his eyebrow.

فعُدْتَ وعاد نحوَك كلَّ عامٍ

يحدِّدُ فيك عهداً واِزدِيارا

May you return, and may it return to you each year,

fixing anew its pledge and visit to you.

ولا برِحَتْ لك العَلياءُ داراً

ومتّعكَ الزّمانُ بمُلكِ دارا

May high glory never cease to be your home,

and may time let you enjoy the kingdom of Dara.