خطرت فمال الغصن وهو ممنطق — Abn Matouk

خطرَتْ فمالَ الغُصْنُ وهو مُمَنطَقُ

وبدتْ فلاحَ البدرُ وهو مطوّقُ

She sauntered, and the bough swayed, girdled at the waist.

She appeared, and the full moon gleamed, wearing a necklace.

وتبسّمَتْ فجلَتْ عَقيقاً نثرُه

كالعِقدِ في خَيطِ الصّباحِ منسَّقُ

She smiled and revealed carnelian, whose scattered beads

Were arrayed like a necklace on the thread of dawn.

وتحدّبَتْ فحسِبْتُ أنّ بمرْطِها

صَنماً يُخاطبُني وظبياً ينطِقُ

She inclined, and I thought that beneath her mantle

An idol addressed me, and a gazelle spoke.

ورنَتْ ففوّقَ لحظُها نَبلاً له

عندَ الرُماةِ على السِّهامِ تفوُّقُ

She gazed, and her glance nocked shafts that

Outrank ordinary arrows in archers' eyes.

وتدرّعَتْ حُمرَ الثِّيابِ فأشبهَتْ

شَمساً تورّد من سَناها المَشرِقُ

She donned red garments and resembled

A sun whose radiance made the east rosy.

مصقولةٌ صقلَ الحُسامِ كأنّما

بعجينِ طينتِها أُديفَ الزِّئبَقُ

Polished with the polish of a sword, as though

Quicksilver had been mixed into the kneaded clay of her being.

لم ندرِ قبل قوامِها أنّ القَنا

ممّا ينوّرُ في النُضارِ ويورِقُ

Before her stature, we never knew that spear-shafts

Could blossom amid gold and put forth leaves.

سَكْرى إذا اِنفتلَتْ للِين عِظامِها

أخشى على أوصالها تتفرّقُ

Intoxicated when she turns, so supple are her bones

That I fear her limbs might fall apart.

وأغضُّ طَرفي عن تموّجِ خدِّها

حذَرَاً يُراهُ فلا يعودُ فيغرَقُ

I lower my gaze from the rippling of her cheek,

Lest it behold it and never return, but drown.

هي آيةُ الحُسنِ الّتي قد بيّنتْ

كُفْرَ العَذولِ وغيَّ من لا يعشَقُ

She is beauty's sign, which has made clear

The censurer's unbelief and the error of whoever does not love.

تهوى زيارتَها وتحذَرُ قومَها

ريحُ الصَّبا فلِذا ترِقُّ وتصفُقُ

Longing to visit her, yet fearing her people,

The east wind therefore grows gentle and flutters.

بَيضاءُ منها الخِدْرُ يكنُفُ بيضةً

حُضِنَتْ لريشِ سِهامِ حتفٍ يُرشَقُ

A fair one, whose chamber shelters an egg

Brooded to feather the arrows of death that are shot.

لا الرّيحُ يُمكنُها تُبلّغُ نحوَها

منّي السّلامَ ولا خَيالٌ يطرُقُ

No wind can carry toward her

My greeting, nor can a phantom visit by night.

لم تخلُ كعبةُ خِدرِها من طائِفٍ

إمّا غَيورٌ أو محبٌّ شَيّقُ

Her chamber's Kaaba is never without someone circling it:

Either a jealous guardian or a yearning lover.

وكذاك لم تبرَحْ تُرفرِفُ حولَها

إمّا بُنودٌ أو قُلوبٌ تخفُقُ

And likewise, there never cease to flutter around her

Either banners or beating hearts.

تُمسي قُلوبُ العاشقين لنارِها

تَعشو كما يعشو الفَراشُ فتُحرِقُ

At evening, lovers' hearts, toward her fire,

Seek light as moths do, and she burns them.

كم في هواها مهجة من مُقلةٍ

تجري أسىً ويدٍ بكبدٍ تلصقُ

How much heart's blood, in love of her, from an eye

Flows in grief; how many a hand presses against a liver!

ولكَمْ ترى من ليثِ غابٍ دونَها

شاكي السِّلاحِ بلحظِ ريم ترمُقُ

How many a forest lion before her do you see,

Bristling with weapons, with a gazelle's gaze, you behold.

جمعَ الشهامةَ والجَمالَ فتارةً

تخشى لقاهُ وتارةً تتشوّقُ

He combines gallantry and beauty: sometimes

You fear meeting him, and sometimes you yearn for him.

من كلِّ أبلجَ قدُّهُ من رُمحِه

أمضى وأوقعُ في النفوسِ وأرشقُ

Each a bright-faced man whose figure, compared with his spear,

Is keener, more piercing to souls, and more graceful.

حسَنٌ تشاكَلَ خدُّه وحُسامُه

فكِلاهُما بدَمِ القُلوبِ مخلَّقُ

A handsome one: his cheek and sword resemble each other,

For both are anointed with the blood of hearts.

يلقاكَ إمّا بالنُّضارِ مقرَّطاً

أو بالحديدِ يميلُ وهو مقَرْطَقُ

He meets you either wearing golden earrings,

Or sways in iron, clad in an armored jacket.

يفترُّ عن شنبِ الحبيبِ وإن رأى

خصماً فعن أنيابِ حتفٍ يصْلُقُ

He smiles to reveal a lover's cool, sweet teeth; but if he sees

A foe, he bares death's fangs and roars.

بيدَيهِ من نارِ المنيّة مارجٌ

وبخدِّه ماءُ الشّبابِ مرَقرَقُ

In his hands is a smokeless flame from death's fire,

And on his cheek the water of youth shimmers.

ولَرُبَّ ليلٍ زُرْتُ فيه كِناسَها

والموتُ يرقُبُني وحولي يُحدِقُ

Many a night I visited her gazelle's lair,

With death watching me and closing in around me.

بادَرْتُها أسعى على شوكِ القَنا

وأدوسُ هاماتِ الصِّلالِ وأسحَقُ

I hastened to her, running over the thorns of spears,

Trampling the heads of vipers and crushing them.

حتّى ظَفِرْتُ بدُرّةٍ مكنونةٍ

عنها محارةُ خِدْرِها لا تُفلَقُ

Until I gained a hidden pearl

Whose chamber's shell cannot be split open.

فكفَفْتُ عنها عفّةً وتورّعاً

عن وصمةٍ منها لعرضيَ تلحَقُ

Then I refrained from her, in chastity and scruple,

To avoid a stain from her that would cling to my honor.

لولا النّقى عن وصلِها لم ينثني

حُمرُ المَنايا والحديدُ الأزرقُ

Were it not for purity, I would not be turned from union with her

By crimson deaths or blue steel.

للَّهِ أيّامٌ تجمّعنا على

جَمعٍ وطرْفُ البينِ عنّا مُطرِقُ

Blessed were the days that gathered us into

One company, while separation's eye was lowered from us.

والدّهرُ يعكِسُ ما تحاولُه النّوى

منّا فيجمَعُ بيننا ويوفّقُ

Time reversed what separation sought

For us, bringing us together and reconciling us.

إذ عودُنا رطْبٌ وموردُ لهوِنا

عذبٌ وروضُ العيش خِصبٌ مؤْنِقُ

When our bough was fresh, and the spring of our pleasure

Sweet, and life's garden fertile and delightful.

وبمُهجَتي أقمارُ حيٍّ بالحِمى

ضرَبوا القِبابَ على الشّموسِ وسَرْدَقوا

With my life I would ransom the moons of a clan in the sanctuary,

Who pitched domed tents over suns and erected pavilions.

غُرُّ الوجوهِ كأنّهم من أنجُمٍ

أو من خِصالِ أبي الحُسينِ تلفّقوا

Bright of face, as though from stars

Or from Abu al-Husayn's virtues they were fashioned.

اِبنُ الوَصيِّ المرتَضى وسميّهُ

خلَفُ الكِرامِ السّابقينَ لمن بَقوا

Son of the appointed successor, al-Murtada, and his namesake,

Heir to the noble forebears for those still living.

غيثُ النّدى فلّاقُ هاماتِ العِدا

ربُّ المواهبِ والفصيحُ المُفلقُ

Rain of bounty, cleaver of enemies' skulls,

Lord of gifts, the wondrously eloquent speaker.

حُرٌّ لهُ شِيمٌ يُريكَ إذا اِنجلَتْ

في ليلِ حادثةٍ شُموساً تشرقُ

A noble man whose qualities, when revealed, show you

Suns rising in the night of calamity.

ومكارمٌ فيه تدلُّك أنّها

خُلُقٌ وفي طبعِ الغَمامِ تخلُّقُ

And virtues in him that tell you they

Are innate, but in the nature of clouds merely assumed.

أندى الملوكِ يَداً وأكرمُهُم أباً

وأبرُّهُم للمُسلمينَ وأرفَقُ

The most generous-handed of kings, and the noblest in fatherhood,

The kindest to Muslims, and the gentlest.

روحُ الزّمان وقلبُه ويمينُه

كفُّ السّماحِ وزَندُه والمرفَقُ

The spirit of the age, its heart and its right hand;

The palm of generosity, its forearm and elbow.

سمْحٌ إذا مطَلَ الزّمانُ فوعدُه

أوفى من الفجرِ الأخيرِ وأصدَقُ

Generous: when time delays, his promise

Is more faithful than the later dawn, and truer.

بحرٌ يُشَبُّ من الحَديدِ بكفّه

نارٌ يخِرُّ لها الكَليمُ ويصْعَقُ

An ocean: from the iron in his palm is kindled

A fire before which Moses falls down thunderstruck.

هو في النّديِّ على السّريرِ مسرّةٌ

وإذا اِستوى بالسّرْجِ خطبٌ مُونِقُ

In the assembly, upon the throne, he is a delight;

And when settled in the saddle, an astonishing calamity.

سبقَ الكِرامَ وقد تأخّرَ عصرُه

عن عصرهِم فهو الأخيرُ الأسبَقُ

He surpassed the noble, though his age came later

Than theirs: he is the last, yet the foremost.

قُل للأُلى جحدوا عُلاهُ وشكّكوا

فيهِ ألا فتأمّلوهُ وحقّقوا

Say to those who denied his eminence and doubted

Him: take heed, contemplate him, and ascertain.

وتصفّحوا صُحُفَ المعالي فهو في

صفَحاتِها المَعنى الأدقُّ فدقّقوا

Leaf through the books of lofty deeds, for he is, in

Their pages, the subtlest meaning: examine closely.

لا تُدرِكُ الساداتُ سُؤدده ولو

طاروا بأجنحةِ النّسورِ وحلّقوا

The lords cannot attain his lordship, even if

They flew on vultures' wings and soared.

كم يطلبونَ تشبُّهاً بخِصالهِ

أوَ يُشبِهُ الروضَ الأنيقَ الغلْفَقُ

How often they seek to resemble his qualities!

But can pondweed resemble a lovely garden?

ما في الكواكبِ منه أرفعُ رِفعةً

كلّا ولا في الأرض منه أحذَقُ

None among the stars is higher in rank than he;

Certainly not, nor on earth is anyone more adept.

لفظُ الجَوادِ على كريمٍ غيرِه

إلّا أباهُ حقيقةً لا يُطلَقُ

The word 'generous,' applied to any generous man besides him—

Except his father—is not used in its true sense.

رَيحانُهُ سُمْرُ الرّماحِ ووردُه

حُمرُ الصّوارمِ والبُنودُ الزّنبَقُ

His basil is tawny spears, and his roses

Crimson blades, while banners are his lilies.

عشِقَ المكارمَ فاِستهامَ فقلبُه

ولِعٌ بغيرِ حِسانِها لا يعْلَقُ

He loved noble deeds and became love-mad; his heart

Is impassioned, clinging to no beauties but theirs.

يلهو بنجدٍ في الحديث وقصدُه

نجْدُ المعالي لا النّقا والأبرَقُ

He delights in speaking of Najd, but what he means

Is the Najd of lofty deeds, not the sandhill and stony rise.

لولا اِشتباهُ البرقِ في ضحِكِ الظُّبا

ما شاقَهُ إيماضُهُ المتألّقُ

Were lightning not akin to the smiling of sword-edges,

Its brilliant flashing would not stir his longing.

ولَرُبَّ ملحمةٍ بلابِلُ نَصْرِها

تشدو وأغرِبةُ المَنايا تنعَقُ

Many a battle whose nightingales of victory

Sing, while the ravens of death croak!

عقدَتْ عليها السّابحاتُ سحائِباً

تهمي بوارِقُها النّجيعَ وتُغْدِقُ

The swimming steeds massed clouds above it,

Whose lightning poured fresh blood in abundant showers.

تَحمي سوابقُها ضغائِنَ أُسْدِها

فيكادُ جامدُها يذوبُ فيدفُقُ

Its foremost steeds inflame its lions' rancors,

Till their solid mass almost melts and gushes forth.

عذراءُ منذ بحِجرِها وُلِد الرّدى

شبَّ الحديدُ وشابَ منها المفرِقُ

A virgin, since death was born in her lap:

Steel grew young, while crowns turned gray because of her.

دهماءُ بيضاءُ الثّيابِ كأنّها

من بعضِها في العينِ عبدٌ أبهَقُ

Dark, yet white-clad, as though

In part, to the eye, she were a slave mottled white.

ضاقَتْ فوسّعَها وإنّ فضاءَها

لولاهُ من سُمّ الخِياطِ لأضيَقُ

She grew cramped, and he widened her; indeed, her expanse,

But for him, would be narrower than a needle's eye.

وعَلا غياهِبَها ولولا سَيفُه

لوثِقْتُ أنّ صباحَها لا يُفلَقُ

He rose above her darkness; but for his sword,

I would be certain her morning would never break.

فرْدٌ ترى في كلِّ جارحةٍ به

يجري خضمُّ ندىً ويَسْطو فيلَقُ

Peerless: in each of his limbs you see

A vast sea of bounty flowing and an army charging.

ما حازَ صدرٌ قبلَهُ الدُنيا له

في جوفِه جمْعُ البريّةِ يُلحقُ

No breast before his ever encompassed the world;

Within his depths the whole of creation is gathered.

ربُّ الندى وأبو الغطارِفةِ الأُلى

فكّوا وِثاقَ المَكرُماتِ وأطلَقوا

Lord of bounty and father of the nobles who

Unfastened virtue's bonds and set it free.

خيرُ البَنينَ نُجومُ آفاقِ الهُدى

أقمارُ ليلِ النّقع لمّا يَغسقُ

The finest sons, stars on the horizons of guidance,

Moons of the night of battle-dust when it grows dark.

خُلَفا ندىً للسائلين عطاؤهُم

لا ينتهي عدداً ولا يتعوّقُ

Heirs to generosity: to petitioners their giving

Is boundless in number and never delayed.

شُمُّ الأنوفِ على قساوتِهم بهم

شِيَمٌ أرقُّ من النّسيمِ وأرْوَقُ

High-nosed with pride; despite their sternness, they have

Qualities gentler than the breeze, and more serene.

حمَلوا الأهلّةَ بالأكفِّ وجاوَلوا

فيها النّجومَ وبالبدورِ تدرّقوا

They carried crescents in their palms and jousted

With stars in them, using full moons as shields.

صِيدٌ إذا رَكِبوا الجيادَ حسِبْتَها

عِقْبانَ جوٍّ بالأسودِ ترنِّقُ

Proud lords: when they mount their steeds, you would think the steeds

Eagles of the air hovering with lions.

لو كَلّفوا الخيلَ العُروجَ إلى السّما

كادَتْ بهم فوقَ المجرّةِ تُعنِقُ

If they tasked their horses with ascending to the sky,

They would almost stride above the Milky Way with them.

قَسماً بِهِم وَبِمجدهم إنّي لَهَم

لسليم قلبٍ ودّهُ لا يمرقُ

By them and their glory I swear: toward them I am

Sound of heart, with a love that never strays.

إحسانُ والدِهم تملّك عاتِقي

فأنا له الرِّقُّ الّذي لا يُعتَقُ

Their father's kindness has taken possession of my neck,

So I am his slave who is never freed.

مولىً بخدمته تشرّف عبدُه

وتهذّبَتْ أخلاقُه والمنطِقُ

A master by whose service his servant was ennobled,

And his character and speech were refined.

منها اِكتسَبْتُ فصاحَتي فخلعتُها

مِلكاً له وأمانةً لا تُسرَقُ

From that service I gained my eloquence, then gave it over

As his property, a trust that cannot be stolen.

فإذا بِهم قلتُ المديحَ فإنّهم

من مالِ والدِهم عليهِم أُنفِقُ

So when I speak praise of them, it is

Their father's wealth that I spend upon them.

مولايَ لا برِحَتْ تهنّيكَ الوَرى

ولكَ الإلهُ بما تُريدُ يوفِّقُ

My lord, may humankind never cease to congratulate you,

And may God grant you success in what you desire.

بختانِ سِبطِكَ أحمدٍ وشقيقِه ال

محمودِ فاضَ على البريّة رونَقُ

At the circumcision of your grandson Ahmad and his brother al-

Mahmud, a radiance has overflowed upon humankind.

والوُرْقُ تصدَحُ بهجةً وتطرُّباً

والدّوحُ في ورقِ الغصونِ يصفِّقُ

The gray doves sing in joy and delight,

And the great trees clap amid the leaves of their branches.

سبطَينِ كالسِّمطَيْنِ في جيدِ العُلا

كُلٌّ مُناطٌ فوقَه ومعلّقُ

Two grandsons, like two necklaces on greatness's neck,

Each fastened above it and suspended.

للمجد كالقُرطَينِ لا بل مرفَعُ ال

عَينَينِ أمْسى فيهِما يتحدّقُ

For glory, like two earrings—no, the point toward which its

Two eyes are raised, as it now gazes intently on them.

قبَسَيْنِ من نورَين مشتقّينِ كالن

نسرينِ بين سناهُما لا يُفرَقُ

Two flames derived from two lights, like the two

Vulture stars, whose radiances cannot be told apart.

كالفرقدَينِ تلابَسا فكلاهُما

أسنى من القمرِ المُنيرِ وأفوَقُ

Like the two Farqad stars, entwined; both of them

Are more radiant than the shining moon, and higher.

درّينِ من بحرينِ كلٌّ منهما

لججٌ يتيهُ بخوْضه المتعمّقُ

Two pearls from two seas, each of which

Is deep water where the deep-plunging diver loses his way.

شهمينِ كالسّهمين عن كثبٍ ترى

كُلّاً به تُصمى العُداةُ وتُحرَقُ

Two gallant men like two arrows; close at hand you see

Each one, through whom foes are slain outright and burned.

ولَدَيْ حُسينٍ ذي المفاخِر والتّقى

قمر العُلا يا لَيتهُ لا يُمحَقُ

Two sons of Husayn, possessor of proud deeds and piety,

The moon of greatness—oh, would that he never waned!

حرٌّ له من بعدِ إحياءِ الثّنا

ذكرٌ جميلٌ يُستطابُ ويُنشَقُ

A noble man who, after bringing praise to life, has

A beautiful remembrance that is savored and inhaled.

أبقى لنا منه بُدوراً خمسةً

تمّوا وأوسطُهم أتمُّ وأليَقُ

He left us five full moons of his own,

All complete; the middle one more complete and more worthy.

فعليهِ ما شدَتِ الحمائِمُ رحمةً

تسقيهِ ديمتُها الصّبوحَ وتعبُقُ

May mercy rest upon him as long as doves sing,

Its gentle rain giving him a morning draught and spreading fragrance.

ملكَ السّلامةَ والأمانَ من الرّدى

وكفاكَ ربُّك ما يسوءُ ويُقلِقُ

He gained safety and security from death,

And may your Lord spare you whatever harms and troubles.

واِنشَق رياحينَ المكارم والعُلا

واِشمَم بجَيبكِ أيَّ فخر يعْبَقُ

Breathe in the basil of noble deeds and greatness,

And smell what fragrant pride your bosom holds.

واِرشف هنيّاً أيَّ شهدِ مسرّةٍ

شيمٌ تغصُّ بها العُداةُ وتشرقُ

Sip with pleasure the honey of joy—

Virtues on which foes choke and gag.

واِلبَس من الإجلالِ أشرفَ حُلّةٍ

يَبلى بجدَّتِها الزّمانُ ويخلُقُ

And don the noblest robe of reverence,

At whose freshness time wears out and grows threadbare.