ضربوا القباب وطنبوها بالقنا — Abn Matouk

ضربوا القِبابَ وطنّبوها بالقَنا

فمَحَوا بأنجُمِها مصابيحَ المُنا

They pitched the domed tents and guyed them with spears,

and with their stars erased the lamps of hope.

وبَنوا الحِجالَ على الشّموسِ فوكّلوا

شُهْبَ السُّهاءِ برَجْمِ زوّارِ البِنا

They built curtained chambers over suns, and appointed

the meteors of Suhā to pelt visitors to the dwellings.

وجلَوْا بتيجانِ التّرائِبِ أوجُهاً

لو قابلَتْ جيشَ الدُّجنّةِ لاِنْثَنا

And they unveiled faces with crowns upon the collarbones,

which, facing darkness's army, would make it retreat.

وجرَوْا إلى الغايات فوقَ سوابِقٍ

لو خاضَ عِثيَرَها النهارُ لأوهَنا

They raced toward the goals upon swift steeds;

if daylight waded through their dust, it would grow faint.

للّهِ قومٌ في حبائِلِ حُسنِهم

قنصوا الكَرى لجفونِهم من عِندنا

By God, what a people—in the snares of their beauty

they captured sleep from us for their own eyelids.

غُرٌّ رَبارِبُهُم وأُسْدُ عرينِهم

سلّوا المَنونَ وأغمدوها الأجفُنا

Radiant are their gazelle-herds and the lions of their lair;

they unsheathed death and sheathed it in eyelids.

إن زارَهُم خصْمٌ عليه نضوا الظُّبا

أو مُدنفٌ سلّوا عليهِ الأعيُنا

If an enemy visited them, they drew blades against him;

or, if a lovesick one, they drew their eyes against him.

لم تلقَهُم إلّا وفاجاكَ الرّدى

من جَفنِ غُصْنٍ هُزَّ أو ريمٍ رَنا

You never met them without death surprising you

from the eyelid of a shaken bough or a gazelle that gazed.

تُثْنى الظُّبا تحتَ السّوابِغِ منهُمُ

سُمرَ الرِّماحِ وفي الغلائِلِ أغصُنا

The blades are bent beneath their ample coats of mail,

as tawny spears, and within fine tunics, as boughs.

من كلِّ محتجِبٍ تبرّجَ في العُلا

أو كُلِّ سافِرةٍ يحجِّبُها السّنا

From every veiled one who displayed himself in eminence,

or every unveiled woman whom radiance veils.

نُهدى بلَمعِ نُصولِهم لوصولِهم

ونرى ضِياءَ وجوهِهم فتصُدَّنا

The gleam of their blades guides us toward reaching them;

we see the radiance of their faces, and it repels us.

قسَماً بقُضْبِ قُدودِهم لخُدودِهم

كالوردِ إلّا أنّها لا تُجتَنى

I swear by the slender rods of their figures: their cheeks

are like roses, except that they cannot be plucked.

كم مات خارجَ حيّهم من مُدنَفٍ

والروحُ منه لها وجودٌ في الفَنا

How many a lovesick one has died outside their quarter,

while his soul still has its being in their courtyard.

أسكنْتُهُم بأضالِعي فبُيوتُهم

بطُوَيلعٍ وشُموسُهُم بالمُنْحَنا

I lodged them within my ribs, though their houses

are at Tuwayliʿ, and their suns at al-Munḥanā.

يا صاحِ إن جِئتَ الحجازَ فمِلْ بِنا

نحو الصّفا فهَوايَ أجمعُهُ هُنا

O friend, if you come to the Hijaz, turn with us

toward al-Ṣafā, for all my love is here.

فتّشْ عَبيرَ ثَراهُ إن شِئتَ الثّرى

فالدُّرُّ حيثُ به نثَرْنا عتْبَنا

Search the fragrance of its soil, if you seek riches;

for pearls lie where we scattered our reproaches there.

واِنشُدْ به قلبي فإنّ مُقامَه

حيثُ المَقامُ به الحجونُ إلى مِنى

And seek my heart there, for its dwelling

is where the Station is, from al-Ḥajūn to Minā.

وسلِ المضاجِعَ إن شكَكْتَ فإنّها

منّا لَتَعْلَمُ عفّةً وتديُّنا

Ask the beds if you doubt, for they

surely know chastity and piety from us.

يا أهلَ مكّةَ ليت مَنْ فلَقَ النّوى

قسمَ المحبّةَ بالسّويّةِ بينَنا

O people of Mecca, would that the One who split the date-stones

had divided love equally between us.

أطلقْتُمُ الأجسامَ منّا للشّقا

ولديكُمُ الأرواحُ في أسرِ العَنا

You released our bodies into misery,

while our souls remain with you, captive to suffering.

أجفانُكُمْ غَصَبَتْ سَوادَ قُلوبِنا

وخُصورُكم عنهُ تعوِّضُنا الضّنا

Your eyelids seized the dark cores of our hearts,

and your waists compensate us with wasting in their place.

عن رِيّ غُلَّتِنا منعتُم زمزَماً

ورمَيتُمُ جَمَراتِ وجدِكمُ بِنا

You withheld Zamzam from quenching our burning thirst,

and pelted the embers of your passion with us.

ظبياتُكُم أظمأنَنا وأُسودُكم

بجداوِلِ الفولاذِ تمنعُ وِرْدَنا

Your gazelles made us thirsty, and your lions

bar our access to water with streams of steel.

ما بالُ فجرِ وصالِكُم لا ينجلي

وقُرونُكم سلبتْ ليالي بُعدِنا

Why does the dawn of union with you not brighten,

when your tresses have stolen the nights of our separation?

أبِزَعْمِكُم أنّا يغيّرُنا النّوى

فوَحقِّكُم ما زالَ عنكمُ عهدُنا

Do you suppose that separation changes us?

By your worth, our pledge has not strayed from you.

أنخونُكُم بالعَهدِ وهْو أمانةٌ

قبضَتْ خَواطِرُنا عليهِ أرهُنا

Would we betray you in our pledge, when it is a trust

for which our hearts have taken pledges?

أُخفي مودَّتَكُم فيظهَرُ سرُّها

والرّاحُ لا تَخفى إذا لَطُفَ الإنا

I hide my love for you, but its secret appears;

wine cannot be hidden when the vessel is thin.

بِكُمُ اتّحدْتُ هَوىً ولو حيَّيْتُكُمْ

قلتُ السلامُ عليّ إذ أنتمْ أنا

I became one with you in love; and were I to greet you,

I would say, 'Peace upon me,' since you are I.

للّه أيّامٌ على الخَيْفِ اِنقضَتْ

يا حبّذا لو أنّها رجعَتْ لنا

By God, those days that passed at al-Khayf!

Oh, how lovely if they returned to us!

أيّامُ لهْوٍ طالما بوُجوهِها

وضَحَتْ لنا غُرَرُ المحبّةِ والهَنا

Days of pleasure, in whose faces so often

the bright blazes of love and happiness shone for us.

وسَقى الحيا غدَواتِ لذّاتٍ غدَتْ

فيها غُصونُ الأُنسِ طيّبةَ الجَنا

May rain water those mornings of pleasure, when

the boughs of companionship bore sweet fruit,

وظِلالَ آصالٍ كأنّ نسيمَها

لأبي الحسينِ يهُبُّ في أرَجِ الثَنا

and the shades of late afternoons, whose breeze seems

to blow for Abū al-Ḥusayn in the fragrance of praise.

ملِكٌ جلالتُه كَفَتْهُ وشأنُه

عن زينةِ الألقابِ أو حَلْيِ الكنى

A king whose majesty and stature suffice him

without the adornment of titles or the jewelry of bynames.

سمْحٌ إِذا أثنى النّباتُ على الحيا

قصدَ المَجازَ بلفظِهِ ولهُ عَنا

Generous: when vegetation praises rain,

it speaks figuratively, but means him.

قِرْنٌ لديه قِرى الجُيوشِ إذا به

نزلوا فُرادى الظّعنِ أو حِزبٍ ثُنا

A champion with hospitality for armies when they

alight upon him, marching singly or in paired companies.

للفخرِ جَرْحاهُ تلَذُّ بضَرْبه

والبُرُّ يُرضي الجُرْبَ في ألَم الهَنا

For glory, his wounded delight in his blows,

and wheat pleases the mangy amid the pain of tar.

تُمسي بأفواهِ الجِراحِ حرابُه

تُثْني عليه تظنُّهُنَّ الألسُنا

His spears spend the evening in the mouths of wounds,

praising him—you would think them tongues.

سجدَتْ لعزْمتِه النِصالُ أمَا تَرى

فيهنّ من أثَرِ السُجودِ الإنحِنا

The blades bowed to his resolve; do you not see

their bending, the trace of prostration?

وهوَتْ عواليه الطِعانَ فأوشَكَتْ

قبلَ الصّدورِ زجاجُها أن تطعَنا

His tall spears so loved thrusting that almost

their butt-spikes thrust before their spearheads.

بيتُ القصيد من المُلوكِ وإّما

يأبى عُلاه بوزنِهم أن يُوزَنا

The crowning verse among kings—and yet

his loftiness refuses to be weighed by their measure.

يَصبو إلى نُجُبِ الوفودِ بسَمْعِه

طَرَباً كما يَصبو التّريفُ إلى الغِنا

He listens eagerly to the choicest delegations,

delighted as the pampered yearn for song.

متسرِّعٌ نحو الصّريخِ إذا دعا

مترفِّقٌ فيه عن الجاني وَنا

Swift toward the distressed caller when he calls,

yet gentle in the matter, slow toward the offender.

فالوُرْقُ تُشفِقُ منه يُغرِقُها النّدى

فلِذاكَ نلجأُ في الغُصونِ لتأمَنا

The doves fear him: his dew would drown them;

so we seek refuge among the boughs, for safety.

والنارُ من فزَعِ الخُمودِ بصوبِه

فزِعَتْ إلى جوفِ الصخورِ لتكْمُنا

And fire, fearing extinction beneath his downpour,

fled into the hollows of rocks to hide.

والمُزْنُ من حسدٍ لجودِ يَمينه

تَبكي أسىً وتظنُّها لن تَهتِنا

The rainclouds, envious of his right hand's generosity,

weep in sorrow, and you think they will never pour.

بطلٌ تكادُ الصّاعِقاتُ بأرضِه

حذَراً لصوتِ الرّعدِ أن لا تُعلِنا

A hero in whose land the thunderbolts almost

dare not proclaim thunder's voice, for fear.

لو أكرَمَ البحرُ السّحابَ كوَفدِه

للدُّرِّ عنّا كادَ أن لا يخْزُنا

If the sea honored clouds as he honors his delegations,

it would scarcely hoard its pearls away from us.

أو يَقتَفيهِ البدرُ في سعي العُلا

لم يرضَ في شرفِ الثُريّا مَسكنا

Or if the full moon followed him in seeking eminence,

it would not settle for a dwelling at the Pleiades' height.

أو بِعْنَ أنفُسَها الأهلّةُ صفقةً

منه بنعلِ حذائِه لن تُغبَنا

Or if the crescents sold themselves in a bargain

for a sole from his shoe, they would suffer no loss.

حُرِسَتْ عُلاهُ بالظُّبا ففُروجُها

تحكي البُروجَ تحصُّناً وتزيُّنا

His eminence is guarded by blades, and its openings

resemble towers in fortification and adornment.

لا يُنكِرَنّ الأفْقُ غبطَتَهُ لها

أوَ ليسَ قد لَبسَ السّوادَ تحزُّنا

Let the horizon not deny its envy of it;

has it not worn black in mourning?

تقفُ المنيّةُ في الزّحامِ لديه لا

تسعى إلى المهجاتِ حتّى يأذَنا

Death stands amid the throng before him, and does not

rush toward living hearts until he gives permission.

نفذَتْ إرادَتُه وألقَتْ نحوَهُ الد

دُنيا مقاليدَ العُلا فتمكّنا

His will prevailed, and the world cast toward him

the keys of eminence, and he took command.

فإذا اِقتضى إحداثَ أمرٍ رأيُه

لو كان ممتنِعَ الوجودِ لأمكَنا

When his judgment requires a thing to be brought into being,

even if its existence were impossible, it would become possible.

يا مَنْ بطَلعَتِهِ يَلوحُ لنا الهُدى

وبيُمنِ رؤيتِه نَزيدُ تيمُّنا

O you through whose countenance guidance shines for us,

whose blessed sight increases our good fortune.

ما الروحُ منذُ رحلْتَ إلّا مُهجةٌ

بكَ تُيِّمَتْ فخُفوقُها لن يَسْكُنا

Since you departed, the soul is nothing but a heart

enthralled by you, whose beating will never grow still.

أضناهُ طولُ نَواكَ حتّى أنّه

دلّ النحولُ على هَواهُ وبرهَنا

Your long absence wasted it, until

its thinness revealed its love and bore witness.

أخفى الهُدى لمّا اِرتحَلْتَ منارُه

فحلَلْتَ فيه فلاحَ نوراً بيّنا

Its beacon hid guidance when you departed;

then you settled there, and it shone as a clear light.

قد كنتَ فيه وكان صُبحاً مشرِقاً

حتّى اِرتحلْتَ فعاد ليلاً أدكَنا

You had been there, and it was a radiant dawn,

until you departed, and it became a dusky night.

سلبَ البلا مُذ غِبْتَ ملبَسَ أرضِه

فكسَتْهُ أوبَتُكَ الحريرَ ملوَّنا

Since you were absent, calamity stripped its land of its garment;

your return clothed it in multicolored silk.

فارَقْتَه فأباحَ بعدَك للعِدى

منهُ الفُروجَ وجِئتَه فتحصّنا

You left it, and afterward it exposed to enemies

its breaches; you returned, and it became fortified.

أمسى لبُعدِكَ للصّبابةِ مَحزَناً

والآن أصبحَ للمسرّةِ مَعْدِنا

Your absence made it an abode of lovelorn sorrow,

and now it has become a mine of joy.

لا أوحشَ الرحمنُ منكَ رُبوعَهُ

أبداً ولا برحَتْ لمجدِكَ موطِنا

May the Merciful never leave its quarters desolate of you,

nor may they ever cease to be a home for your glory.

مولاي لا برِحَ العِدى لكَ خُضَّعاً

رَهَباً ودانَ لك الزّمانُ فأذْعنا

My lord, may your enemies ever remain submissive to you

in fear, and may time yield to you and submit.

هبْ أنّهم سألوكَ فاِحسِنْ فيهم

لِرِضا الإلهِ فإنّه بكَ أحسَنا

Suppose they have petitioned you: then treat them kindly

for God's pleasure, for He has treated you kindly.

لا تعجبنّ إذا اِمتُحِنْتَ بكَيدِهم

فالحُرُّ ممتَحَنٌ بأولادِ الزِّنا

Do not wonder if you are tried by their schemes;

the noble are tried by sons of fornication.

فاِغضُضْ بحِلمِكَ ناظراً متيقّظاً

واِجْمَعْ لرأيكِ خاطِراً متفطِّنا

So lower, through your forbearance, your vigilant gaze,

and summon a discerning mind for your judgment.

واِغفِرْ خطيئَةَ مَنْ إذا عُذْراً بَغى

وهْو الفَصيحُ غَدا جباناً ألْكَنا

Forgive the fault of one who, when seeking an excuse,

though eloquent, becomes timid and tongue-tied.

إنّي لأعْلَمُ أنّ عنكَ تخلُّفي

ذَنْبٌ ولكنّي أقولُ مُضمِّنا

I surely know that my staying away from you

is a sin; yet I say, borrowing a verse:

أضحى فراقُك لي علَيْهِ عُقوبةً

ليس الّذي قاسَيْتُ منه هيّنا

Separation from you has become my punishment for it;

what I have suffered from it is no small thing.

لا زالَ فيكَ المجدُ مبتهِجاً ولا

فَجعَتْ بفُرقَتِكَ العُلا نُوَبُ الدُّنا

May glory ever rejoice in you, and may not

the world's vicissitudes bereave eminence through parting from you.