ضحكت فبان لنا عقود جمان — Abn Matouk

ضحكَتْ فبانَ لنا عُقودُ جُمانِ

فجلَتْ لنا فلقَ الصّباحِ الثّاني

She laughed, and necklaces of pearls appeared to us,

Revealing to us a second break of dawn.

وتزحْزَحَتْ ظُلَمُ البراقِعِ عن سَنى

وجَناتِها فتثلّثَ القَمَرانِ

The darkness of the face-veils withdrew from the radiance

Of her cheeks, and the two moons became three.

وتحدّثَتْ فسمِعْتُ لفظاً نُطْقُه

سحرٌ ومعناهُ سُلافةُ حانِ

She spoke, and I heard an utterance whose sound

Was magic, its meaning the choicest tavern wine.

ورنَتْ فجرّحَتِ القُلوبَ بمُقلةً

طرْفُ السِّنانِ وطرفُها سِيّانِ

She gazed, wounding hearts with an eye:

The spearhead's point and her glance are alike.

وترنّمَتْ فشدَتْ حمائِمُ حَليِها

وكذاكَ دأبُ حَمائِمِ الأغصانِ

She sang, and the doves of her jewelry sang;

Such is the habit of doves upon branches.

لم تلْقَ غُصْناً قبلَها من فِضّةٍ

يهتزُّ في ورَقٍ من العِقْيانِ

Never before her did you encounter a branch of silver

Swaying among leaves of pure gold.

عربيّةٌ سعدُ العشيرةِ أصلُها

والفَرْعُ منها من بَني السّودانِ

An Arab woman, with roots in Sa'd al-Ashira,

And her locks belong to Banu al-Sudan.

خودٌ تُصوَّبُ عندَ رؤيةِ خدِّها

آراءُ مَنْ عكَفوا على النّيرانِ

A maiden: the sight of her cheek proves right

The opinions of those devoted to the fires.

يبدو محيّاها فلولا نُطْقُها

لحَسِبْتُها وثَناً من الأوثانِ

Her face appears; were it not for her speech,

I would have thought her an idol among idols.

لم تصلِبِ القُرْطَ البريَّ لغايةٍ

إلّا لتنصُرَ دولةَ الصُّلبانِ

She crucified the innocent earring for no purpose

Except to uphold the realm of crosses.

وكذاك لم تضْعُفْ جُفونُ عُيونِها

إلّا لتَقوى فِتنةُ الشيطانِ

Likewise, the lids of her eyes did not grow languid

Except to strengthen the Devil's temptation.

خلخالُها يُخفي الأنينَ وقرطُها

قلِقٌ كقَلْبِ الصّبِّ في الخَفقانِ

Her anklet conceals its moaning, and her earring

Trembles like a lovesick heart in its beating.

تهوى الأهلّةُ أن تُصاغَ أساوِراً

لتحِلَّ منها في محلِّ الجاني

The crescents yearn to be fashioned into bracelets

To settle upon her in the culprit's place.

بخِمارِها غسَقٌ وتحت لِثامِها

شفَقٌ وفي أكمامِها الفَجرانِ

In her veil is dusk, and beneath her face-covering

Is twilight, while in her sleeves are two dawns.

سُبحانَ مَنْ بالخدِّ صوّر خالَها

فأزانَ عينَ الشّمسِ بالإنسانِ

Glory to Him who formed her mole upon her cheek,

And adorned the sun's eye with a pupil.

أمرَ الهَوى قلبي يَهيمُ بحبُّها

فأطاعَهُ ونَهَيْتُه فعَصاني

Love commanded my heart to wander madly in love for her;

It obeyed him; I forbade it, and it defied me.

هيَ في غَديرِ الشّهْدِ تخزِنُ لؤلؤاً

وأُجاجُ دَمْعي مخرَجُ المرجانِ

She stores pearls in a pool of honey,

And the brine of my tears is the source of coral.

كثُرَتْ عليَّ العاذِلونَ بها فلَو

عدّدْتُهم ساوَوْا ذُنوبَ زَماني

So many reproachers assail me over her that, if

I counted them, they would equal the sins of my times.

يا قلبُ دعْ قولَ الوُشاةِ فإنّهُم

لو أنصَفوكَ لكُنتَ أعذرَ جانِ

O heart, leave the slanderers' talk; for

Were they fair to you, you would be the most excusable offender.

أصحابُ موسى بعدَه في عِجْلِهم

فُتِنوا وأنتَ بأملَحِ الغِزلانِ

Moses' companions, after him, by their calf

Were enthralled—and you by the loveliest of gazelles.

عذُبَ العَذابُ بها لديّ فصحّتي

سُقْمي وعِزّي في الهَوى بهَواني

Torment for her grew sweet to me, so my health

Is my sickness, and my glory in love lies in my abasement.

للّهِ نُعمانُ الأراكِ فطالَما

نعِمَتْ به روحي على نُعْمانِ

God be praised for Nu'man of the arak trees! How often

My soul found bliss there at Nu'man.

وسَقى الحَيا بمنىً كِرامَ عشيرةٍ

كفَلوا صيانتَها بكُلِّ أمانِ

May rain water, at Mina, the noble members of a clan

Who guaranteed her protection in perfect safety.

أهلُ الحميّةِ لا تزالُ بُدورُهم

تحمي الشّموسَ بأنْجُمِ الخِرصانِ

A people of protective zeal: their full moons never cease

To guard the suns with the stars of their spears.

أُسْدٌ تخوضُ السّابِغات رماحُهُم

خوضَ الأفاعي راكِدَ الغُدْرانِ

Lions whose spears plunge through full coats of mail

As serpents plunge through stagnant pools.

تَروى بهم رُبْدٌ كأنّ سِهامَهم

وهَبَتْ لهنّ قوادِمَ العِقْبانِ

Gray birds slake their thirst through them, as though their arrows

Had given them the primary feathers of eagles.

كم من مطوّقةٍ بهم تَشدو على

رَطْبِ الغُصونِ ويابِسِ العِيدانِ

How many a collared dove, through them, sings upon

Fresh boughs and dry twigs!

لانَتْ معاطِفُهم وطابَ أريجُهم

فكأنّهم قُضُبٌ من الرّيْحانِ

Their figures grew supple, and their scent was sweet,

As though they were sprigs of sweet basil.

من كلِّ واضحةٍ كأنّ جَبينَها

قبَسٌ تقنّع في خِمارِ دُخانِ

Among them, each fair woman, whose brow is like

A flame veiled in a scarf of smoke.

ويْلاهُ كم أشقى بهِم وإلى متى

فيهِم يخلَّدُ بالجَحيمِ جَناني

Alas! How wretched I am through them, and how long

Must my heart dwell forever in hell because of them?

ولقد تصفَّحْتُ الزّمانَ وأهلَهُ

ونقَدْتُ أهلَ الحُسْنِ والإحسانِ

I have indeed surveyed time and its people,

And appraised the people of beauty and beneficence;

فقَصَرْتُ تَشبيبي على ظَبَياتِهم

وحصَرْتُ مَدْحي في عليِّ الشّانِ

So I confined my love-poetry to their gazelles,

And restricted my praise to Ali, exalted in station.

فهُمُ دَعوني للنّسيبِ فصُغْتُه

وأبو الحُسَيْنِ إلى المَديحِ دَعاني

They invited me to love-poetry, and I fashioned it;

And Abu al-Husayn called me to praise.

ملِكٌ عليّ إذا همَمْتُ بمَدْحِه

تُملي شمائِلُه بَديعَ مَعاني

A lofty king, Ali: whenever I intend to praise him,

His virtues dictate my finest meanings.

جارَيْتُ أهلَ النّظْمِ تحتَ ثَنائِه

فتَلَوْا وحلْبَتُهُم خُيولُ رِهانِ

I raced the poets in praising him;

They trailed, though their company were racing steeds.

مضمونُ ما نثرَتْ عليّ بنانُه

ولِسانُه أبرَزْتُه ببَيانِ

The substance of what his fingers showered upon me

And his tongue—I brought it forth in eloquent speech.

ناجَيْتُه فتشرّفَتْ بكلامِه

أُذُنُ الكَليمِ وحُلَّ عَقْدُ لِساني

I communed with him, and his words ennobled

Moses' ear; and the knot of my tongue was undone.

سَمْحٌ إذا ما شِئْتَ وصفَ نَوالِه

حدِّثْ ولا حرَجٌ عن الطّوفانِ

Generous: if you wish to describe his bounty,

Speak without restraint of the flood.

بالبحرِ كَنِّ وبالغَمامِ عن اِسمِه

والبدرِ والضِّرغامِ لا بفلانِ

Allude to his name with the sea and the cloud,

The full moon and the lion—not so-and-so.

صرعَتْ ثعالبُه الأسودَ فأصبحَتْ

محشوّةً بحواصلِ الغِربانِ

His foxes felled the lions, which became

Stuffed within the crops of ravens.

بطلٌ يُريكَ إذا تحلّل دِرعُه

أسدَ العرين بحلّةِ الثّعبانِ

A champion who, when his armor comes undone, shows you

The lion of the lair clothed in a serpent's robe.

رشفُ النّجيعِ من الأسنّة عندَه

رشَفاتُ حُمرِ بوارِقِ الأسنانِ

Sipping gore from spearheads is, to him,

Sipping crimson lips with flashing teeth.

يرتاحُ من وقْعِ السّيوفِ على الطُلا

حتّى كأنّ صليلَهُنّ أغاني

He delights in the fall of swords upon throats,

As though their clangor were songs.

ويرى كُعوبَ السُّمرِ سُمرَ كَواعبٍ

وذُكور بيضِ الهِند بيضَ غَواني

He sees the knots of tawny spears as tawny, full-breasted maidens,

And India's virile white blades as fair beauties.

لم يستطِعْ وتَراً يلَذُّ له سوى

أوتارِ كلِّ حَنيّةٍ مِرنانِ

He could enjoy no string except

The strings of every resonant, curved bow.

قِرْنٌ يقارنُ حظَّهُ بحُسامِه

فيعودُ سعداً ذابحَ الأقرانِ

A matched warrior who joins his fortune to his sword,

And becomes good fortune, the slayer of his peers.

صاحٍ تدبُّ الأريحيّةُ للنّدى

فيهِ دَبيبَ السُّكْرِ بالنّشوانِ

Sober, the generous impulse toward giving spreads

Within him as drunkenness creeps through a drunken man.

ذو راحةٍ هي للعِدى جرّاحةٌ

أعيَتْ وأيّةُ راحةٍ للعاني

He has a palm that wounds his enemies

Beyond all cure—and what comfort for the captive!

أقوَتْ بُيوتُ المالِ منذُ تعمّرتْ

فيها رُبوعٌ للنّدى ومَغانِ

The treasuries have stood empty ever since there flourished

Within them dwellings and abodes of generosity.

للدّهرِ أفلاكٌ تدورُ بكفِّه

والنّاسُ تحسَبُها خُطوطَ بَنانِ

Time has spheres that revolve within his palm,

And people think them lines upon his fingers.

دارَتْ فعندَك ليلُها ونهارُها

نقْعٌ ولمْعُ مهنّدٍ وسِنانِ

They turn; in your presence, their night and day

Are battle-dust and the flash of Indian blade and spearhead.

أطواقُ فضلٍ كالخواتمِ أصبحتْ

بيَدَيْهِ وهْي طوارقُ الحِدْثانِ

Circles of bounty, like rings, have come to be

On his hands; they are the visitations of fate.

بالنّحسِ تقضي والسعادةِ فالورى

منهنّ بين تخوّفٍ وأمانِ

They decree misfortune and happiness, so mortals

Through them stand between dread and safety.

في سِلمِها تهَبُ البُدورَ وفي الوغى

بالشُّهْبِ تقذفُ ماردَ الفُرسانِ

In peace they give full moons, and in battle

They hurl meteors at the demon among horsemen.

قد أضحكَ الدُنيا سُروراً مثلَ ما

أبكى السّيوفَ وأعيُنَ الغِزلانِ

He has made the world laugh for joy, just as

He made swords and gazelles' eyes weep.

حُرٌّ تولّد من سُلالةِ مطلَبٍ

خلَف الأيمّةِ من بني عَدنانِ

A nobleman born of the lineage of Muttalib,

Successor to the imams of the sons of Adnan,

من هاشمٍ أهلِ المَفاخرِ والتُقى

والأمرِ بالمعروفِ والإيمانِ

Of Hashim, the people of noble deeds and piety,

Of enjoining what is right, and of faith;

بيتِ النبوّةِ والرسالةِ والهُدى

والوحيِ والتّنزيل والفُرقانِ

The house of prophethood, the message, and guidance,

Of revelation, the sent-down scripture, and the Criterion.

قَومٌ تقوّمَ فيهم أودُ العُلا

وَالدّينُ أصبحَ آبدَ الأركانِ

A people among whom glory's bent frame was set straight,

And faith came to have everlasting pillars.

قد حالَفوا سهرَ العيون وخالَفوا

أمرَ الهَوى في طاعةِ الرّحمنِ

They allied themselves with wakeful eyes and opposed

The command of desire in obedience to the Most Merciful.

من كلّ مَنْ كالبَدرِ كلّفَ وجهَهُ

أثرَ السّجودِ فزادَ في اللّمعانِ

Each one, moonlike, marked his face

With the trace of prostration, increasing its radiance.

أشباحُ نورٍ في الزّمانِ وجودُهم

روحٌ لهذا العالَمِ الجِسماني

Forms of light: their presence in time

Is a soul for this corporeal world.

أقرانُ حربٍ كلّما اِقترَنوا لدى ال

هَيجاءِ تحسَبُهم لُيوثَ قِرانِ

Warriors matched in combat: whenever they meet in the

Fray, you would take them for lions fighting in pairs.

لبِسوا سوابغَهُم لأجل سلامةِ ال

أعراضِ لا لسلامةِ الأبْدانِ

They donned their full coats of mail to protect their

Honor, not to keep their bodies safe.

وتحمّلوا طعنَ الرِّماحِ لأنّهم

لا يحملون مطاعِنَ الشّنآنِ

They endured the thrusts of spears because they

Will not bear the barbs of hatred.

بوركْتَ من ولدٍ جرَيْتَ بإثرِهم

فبلَغْتَ غايتَهُم بكلِّ مَكانِ

Blessed are you as a son: you raced in their footsteps

And reached their goal in every place.

جدّدْتَ آثارَ المآثرِ منهمُ

ووَرِثْتَ ما حفِظوا منَ القُرآنِ

You renewed the traces of their noble deeds,

And inherited what they had memorized of the Quran.

مولايَ لا برحَتْ تُهنّيكَ العُلا

بخِتانِ غُرٍّ أكرمِ الفتيانِ

My lord, may high glory ever congratulate you

On the circumcision of radiant youths, the noblest lads.

نُطَفٌ مطهّرةُ الذواتِ أزَدْتَهم

نوراً على نورٍ بطُهر خِتانِ

Drops of seed, pure in essence: you have added to them

Light upon light through circumcision's purity.

خُلَفاءُ مجدٍ من بَنيكَ كأنّهم

للأرضِ قد هبَطوا من الرُّضوانِ

Heirs to glory among your sons, as though they

Had descended to earth from divine favor.

أقمارُ تِمٍّ لا يُوَقّى نقصها

إلّا بلَيلِ عجاجَةِ المَيدانِ

Full moons whose waning is warded off

Only by the night of dust upon the battlefield.

وفِراخُ فتح قبلَ ينبُتُ ريشُها

همّتْ بصيدِ جوارحِ الشُجعانِ

And fledglings of victory, before their feathers grow,

Resolved to hunt the raptors among the valiant.

مثل اللآلي لم تزلْ محمولةً

فوقَ التّراقي أو على التّيجانِ

Like pearls, they have ever been carried

Above collarbones or upon crowns.

بلغوا وما بلغوا الكلامَ فأدرَكوا

رُشْدَ الكُهولِ بغرّةِ الصِّبيانِ

They attained maturity before attaining speech, and grasped

The wisdom of elders in the first bloom of childhood.

ما جاوَزوا قدرَ السِّهامِ بطولِهم

فتطوّلوا وسمَوْا على المُرّانِ

In height they did not exceed the measure of arrows,

Yet they excelled and rose above ash-wood spears.

شررٌ توارَتْ في زِنادِك إذ وَرَتْ

أمسَتْ شُموسَ مسرّةٍ وتَهانِ

Sparks hidden in your fire-steel, when they flared,

Became suns of delight and congratulations.

قبَساتُ أنوارٍ تعودُ إلى اللِّقا

شُعَلاً تُذيبُ مواضِعَ الأضغانِ

Gleams of light that return to the fray

As flames that melt the seats of rancor.

ستردُّ عنكَ المشرفيّةَ والقَنا

ولدَيْكَ تشهَدُ كلَّ يومِ طِعانِ

They will repel from you Mashrafi swords and spears,

And at your side witness every day of spear-combat.

وستضْحَكُ البيضُ الظُّبا بأكفّهم

ضحك البُروقِ بعارضٍ هتّانِ

The bright sword-edges will laugh in their hands,

As lightning laughs in a rain-laden cloud.

وتَميلُ من خَمر النّجيعِ رماحُهم

مثلَ السُّكارى في سُلافِ دِنانِ

Their spears will sway with the wine of gore,

Like drunkards in the choicest wine of casks.

فاِسْلَمْ ودُمْ معهم بأسبغِ نعمةٍ

وألذِّ عيشٍ في أتمِّ تَدانِ

So be safe, and remain with them in fullest blessing,

And sweetest life, in the most perfect closeness.