بزغت بالظلام شمس الديور — Abn Matouk

بزَغَتْ بالظّلامِ شَمسُ الدُيورِ

فأرَتْ بالشتاءِ وقتَ الهَجيرِ

The sun of the monasteries rose in darkness,

Showing winter the hour of scorching midday.

وشَهِدنا الهَباءَ كالنّقْعِ لَيلاً

حَولَها إذ بدَتْ منَ البلّورِ

We saw the floating dust like battle-dust by night

Around it, as it appeared from crystal.

وأرَتْنا السّماءَ ذاتَ اِحْمِرارٍ

ومَحا نورُها السّوادَ الأثيري

It showed us a sky suffused with redness,

And its light erased the ethereal blackness.

فحسِبْنا النُجومَ فيها فُصوصاً

منْ عَقيقٍ وجِرْمَها من حَريرِ

We thought the stars within it gemstones

Of carnelian, and its body to be silk.

وغشَتْ في شُعاعِها الأرضَ طُرّاً

فجرى ذَوْبُ لَعلِها في البُحورِ

It covered the entire earth with its radiance,

And its molten ruby flowed through the seas.

نارُ راحٍ ذكيّةٌ قد أصارَتْ

كرةَ الزّمهَريرِ حرَّ السّعيرِ

A blazing fire of wine had turned

The sphere of bitter cold into the heat of blazing fire.

خفِيَتْ من لَطافةِ الجرمِ حتّى

لا ترى في وِعائِها غيرَ نُورِ

It vanished through the fineness of its substance,

So that you see nothing in its vessel but light.

باينَ الماءُ لونَها فالأواني

كالمُساوي لها على المَشهورِ

Water differed from its color; the vessels

Were like its equals, as is commonly known.

تملأُ المُحتَسي ضِياءً إلى أنْ

تنظر العينُ سِرّهُ بالضّميرِ

It fills the drinker with radiance, until

The eye beholds his secret in his inmost heart.

لو حَساها بَنو زُغاوَةَ يوماً

من سَناها لَلُقّبوا بالبُدورِ

If the sons of Zughawa sipped it one day,

Its radiance would earn them the name of full moons.

ذاتُ نورٍ إذا جَلَتْها سُحَيْراً

في زُجاجِ الكُؤوسِ كفُّ المُديرِ

Luminous—when, just before dawn, it is unveiled

In the glass of the cups by the cupbearer's hand,

خِلتَهُ بالفَضيخِ مرّ جميعاً

ثمّ بالنارِ خاضَ بعدَ المُرورِ

You would think he had passed wholly through date wine,

Then waded through fire after that passage.

صاحِ قد راحَ وقتُنا فاِغتَنِمه

واِنتَهِبْ فرصةَ الزّمانِ الغَيورِ

Friend, our time has passed; seize it,

And snatch the opportunity of jealous time.

أَتخيّلْتَ أنّ وقتَك ليلٌ

سَفهاً إنّ ذا دُخانُ البَخورِ

Did you imagine your hour was night,

Foolishly? This is incense smoke.

فلقد شجّ في عَمودِ سَناهُ

فلَق الصبحِ هامةَ الدّيجورِ

For, within its shaft of radiance, a gash was cut

By daybreak in the skull of deepest night.

وبُحورُ الظّلامِ غُرن وعامت

حُوتُها من ضِيائِه في غَديرِ

The seas of darkness drained away, and there swam

Their whale, by its radiance, in a pool.

وغدَتْ تقطُفُ الأقاحَ يَداهُ

منْ رِياضِ المَلابِ والكافورِ

Its two hands began to pluck daisies

From gardens of saffron perfume and camphor.

وغَدا الكَفُّ والذّراعُ خَضيباً

وبَدا بالدُجى نُصولُ القَتيرِ

The palm and forearm grew dye-stained,

And blades of gray hair appeared in the gloom.

واِنثَنى القلبُ خافِقاً إذ تجلّى

مُصْلتاً صارِم الهِلالِ المُنيرِ

The heart turned fluttering when there appeared

The bright crescent's sword, unsheathed.

وشَدا الديكُ هاتِفاً وتغنّى ال

وُرقُ بالأيكِ خاطِباً للطّيورِ

The cock crowed aloud, and song arose from the

Gray doves in the thicket, calling to the birds.

وبَدا الطَّلعُ ضاحكاً ثمّ أهدى الط

طَلُّ منظومهُ إِلى المنثورِ

The palm blossom appeared smiling; then the

Dew gave its strung beads to the scattered blossoms.

فاِصطَبحها على خُدودِ العَذارى

واِسقِنيها على أقاحِ الثغورِ

Drink it at dawn beside the cheeks of maidens,

And give me it beside the daisies of their mouths.

بينَ أبناءِ مجلسٍ لم يَزالوا

بين خُضر الرّياضِ بيض النُحورِ

Among companions of a gathering who have never ceased

To be white-throated amid the green of gardens.

كلّما فاكَهوا الجليسَ بلفظٍ

نظَمَتْهُ الحبَابُ فوقَ الخُمورِ

Whenever they amuse a companion with a phrase,

The bubbles string it above the wines.

طلبوا المجدَ بالرّماحِ ونالوا

بالظُبى هامةَ المحلِّ الأثيرِ

They sought glory with spears and attained,

With sword-edges, the summit of distinguished rank.

صبيةٌ زفّها الصّباءُ اِرتياحاً

للمَلاهي على بِساطِ السُرورِ

Youths whom youth escorted joyfully

To diversions on the carpet of gladness.

وبُدورٌ منَ السُقاةِ تُعاطي

في كُؤوسِ النُضارِ شمسَ العَصيرِ

And full moons among the cupbearers pass around,

In cups of gold, the sun of pressed juice.

ما سعتْ بالمُدامِ إلّا أرَتنا

قُضُبَ البانِ في هِضابِ ثَبيرِ

Never do they go about with wine without showing us

Ban-tree boughs amid the hills of Thabir.

كلُّ ظَبيٍ عزيزِ شكلٍ غَرير

يفضحُ البدرَ بالجَمال الغَزيرِ

Each gazelle, rare in form and guileless,

Shames the full moon with abundant beauty.

بل أصمٌّ وشاحُهُ منطقيٌّ

صحّ في جَفنِه حِسابُ الكُسورِ

Rather, a logician whose sash is deaf,

In whose eyelid the arithmetic of fractions holds true.

سُكّريٌّ رُضابُهُ كَوثَريٌّ

جنّةٌ عذّبَ الأنامَ بِحُورِ

Sugar-sweet, with saliva like Kawthar,

A paradise that torments mankind with houris.

كلّما هبّ بالمُدامِ نَشاطاً

كسّلَ النومُ جَفنُه بالفُتورِ

Whenever he springs up eagerly with wine,

Sleep slackens his eyelid with languor.

فرعُهُ والوِشاحُ سارا فهذا

كَ اِغتدى مُتهِماً وذا بالغُوَيرِ

His locks and sash set out: that one

Went at dawn toward Tihama, and this one to al-Ghuwayr.

كم غَزا الصبر باللّحاظِ كما قدْ

غزَتِ الشوسَ أنصُلُ المَنصورِ

How often he raided patience with his glances, just as

Al-Mansur's blades raided the fierce warriors,

يومَ غازَتْ جِيادُهُ آلَ فَضْلٍ

بِلُهامٍ على الكُماةِ قَديرِ

On the day his steeds attacked Al Fadl,

With a vast host, mighty against armored warriors.

كلما سارَ بالظُبى والعَوالي

بعثَ الذُعرَ قبلَهُ بالصُدورِ

Whenever he marches with sword-edges and lofty spears,

He sends terror ahead of him into breasts.

جحفلٌ يقتلُ الجنينَ إذا ما

سارَ في الأرض وقعُهُ في النُحورِ

A mighty host that kills the unborn whenever

It marches across the earth, its tread striking throats.

لجِبٌ من دويّه الخلقُ كادوا

يخرجوا للحسابِ قبلَ النُشورِ

Clamorous: from its roar all creation nearly

Comes forth for the reckoning before resurrection.

مارَ فيهِ السماء والأرضُ مادتْ

وتَنادَتْ جِبالُها للمَسيرِ

The sky surged within it, and the earth swayed,

And its mountains called one another to march.

سارَ وهناً عليهم وأقامت

خيلُهُ بالنّهارِ حتّى العَصيرِ

He marched against them late at night; then encamped

His horses by day until late afternoon.

وأتى منهلَ الدُّوَيرِقِ ليلاً

وسرى منْ مَعينه من سُحَيْرِ

He reached the watering place of al-Duwayriq at night,

And departed from its spring just before dawn.

وأتى الطيبَ والدُجَيلَ نَهاراً

تقتَفيهِ الأسودُ فوقَ النسورِ

He reached al-Tib and al-Dujayl by day,

Lions following him upon eagles.

وغدا يطّوي القِفارَ إلى أنْ

نشرَتْ خيلُهُ ثَراءَ الثُغورِ

He went on folding up the barren wastes, until

His steeds scattered the wealth of the frontiers.

واِنثنَتْ تَقلِبُ الفَلاةَ عليهمِ

بمَداري قوائمٍ كالدَّبورِ

They wheeled back, overturning the wilderness upon them,

With the rakes of legs like the west wind.

وغدَت عُوَّماً بدجلةَ حتّى

صار لُجّيُّ مائِها كالأسيرِ

They became swimmers in the Tigris, until

Its deep waters became like a captive.

وأتت بالضُحى الجزيرةَ تُردي

بأُسودٍ تَروعُها بالزّئيرِ

At forenoon they reached al-Jazira, dealing death

With lions that terrified it with their roaring.

فرَماها بها هُناكَ فأضحَوا

ما لهُم غيرَ عَفوهِ من نَصيرِ

He hurled them at it there, and they were left

With no protector but his pardon.

أسلَموا المالَ والعِيالَ وولّوا

هرَباً بالنفوسِ في كلِّ غوْرِ

They abandoned wealth and families and turned away,

Fleeing with their lives into every hollow.

وهوَ لو شاءَ قتلَهُمْ ما أصابوا

مهرَباً من حُسامهِ المَشهورِ

Had he wished to kill them, they would not have found

An escape from his unsheathed sword.

أينَ منجى الظِباءِ بالغورِ ممّنْ

يَقنِصُ العُصْمَ من قِنانِ ثَبيرِ

Where is refuge for gazelles in the lowlands from one

Who hunts white-marked ibex from the peaks of Thabir?

ذُعِرَتْ منهمُ القُلوبُ فأمسَتْ

بينَ أحشائهمْ كمَوتى القُبورِ

Hearts were terrified by them, and became

Within their entrails like the dead in graves.

سَفَهاً منهمُ عصوْهُ وتِيهاً

وضَلالاً رَماهمُ بالغُرورِ

In their folly they disobeyed him, and in arrogance,

And delusion that struck them with self-deception.

زعموا في بلادهمْ لن يُنالوا

من بَوادي العَقيقِ أهلُ السّديرِ

They claimed they could not be reached in their lands,

From the deserts of al-Aqiq—the people of al-Sudayr.

فنفى زعمَهُم وسارَ إليهمْ

ورَماهُمْ بجَيشهِ المَنصورِ

He disproved their claim and marched toward them,

And assailed them with his victorious army.

ملكٌ كلّما سرى لطِلابٍ

يحسَبُ الأرضَ كلّها كالنقيرِ

A king who, whenever he travels by night in pursuit,

Reckons the whole earth a date-stone's tiny pit.

هوّنَ البأسُ عندهُ كلَّ شيءٍ

والعظيمُ العظيمُ مثلُ الحقيرِ

Martial might made everything easy for him,

And the mighty, however mighty, were like the lowly.

لم نزلْ من نَواله في سَحابٍ

يُنبتُ الدرَّ في رياض الفَقيرِ

We have never ceased, through his bounty, to dwell in a cloud

That grows pearls in the poor man's gardens.

يا أبا هاشمَ المُظفَّر لا زلْ

تَ تُغيرُ العدوَّ طولَ الدُهورِ

O victorious Abu Hashim, may you never cease

Raiding the enemy throughout the ages.

فلقد جُزْتَ بالفَخارِ مَقاماً

شيّدَتْهُ الرِماحُ فوقَ العبورِ

For in glory you have surpassed a station

That spears erected above Sirius.

ذلّتِ الكائناتُ منكَ إلى أنْ

صارَ منها العزيزُ كالمُستجيرِ

All beings were humbled before you, until

The mighty among them became like seekers of refuge.

وعمَمْتَ العِبادَ منكَ بفَيضٍ

صيّرَ الزّاخراتِ مثلَ السُتورِ

You encompassed all people with a flood of your bounty

That made the surging seas like curtains.

دمتَ بالدهرِ ما بَدا البدرُ كَنزاً

لِفَقيرٍ وجابِراً لكَسيرِ

May you endure through time, as long as the full moon appears, a treasure

For the poor, and a healer of the broken.