ميلوا بنا نحو الحجون ونكبوا — Abn Matouk

مِيلوا بنا نحوَ الحجونِ ونكّبوا

حيثُ الهوى منه فثمّ المَطلَبُ

Turn with us toward al-Hajun, and veer

where love lies within it; there lies the goal.

أُمّوا بنا أُمَّ القُرى فلعلّنا

ندنو إلى لَيلى الغَداةَ ونقرُبُ

Lead us toward Umm al-Qura, so that perhaps we

may draw near Layla in the morning and come close.

وَصِفوا لسُكّانِ الصّفا كدَري عسى

أن يُنصِفوا يوماً فيَصفو المشرَبُ

Describe my distress to the dwellers of al-Safa; perhaps

one day they will grant justice, and the drinking water run clear.

وذَروا القُلوبَ الواجباتِ برَبْعِه

تقضي الحُقوقَ الواجبات وتندُبُ

Leave the throbbing hearts at his dwelling

to fulfill the duties owed, and lament.

وقِفوا على الجمَراتِ نسألُ مَنْ بها

عمّن لها بصُدورِنا قد ألهَبوا

Stop at the Jamarat; let us ask those there

about those who kindled their embers within our breasts.

واِرْعوا الجوارِحَ أن تصيّدَها المَها

فمنَ العُيونِ لها شِراكٌ تُنصَبُ

Guard the limbs lest the oryxes hunt them,

for snares made of eyes are laid for them.

وتجسّسوا قلبي فإنْ لم تظفَروا

فيهِ بها وأنا الضّمينُ فحَصِّبوا

Search my heart; if you do not find

them within it—I stand surety—then pelt me with pebbles.

واِنحوا يَمينَ منىً فثمَّ منَ المُنى

سرٌّ بأحشاءِ المَنونِ محجَّبُ

Head to the right of Mina; there, among desires,

lies a secret veiled within the entrails of death.

واِهْوُوا سُجوداً في ثَراهُ وصدّقوا الر

رُؤيا بنحرِكُمُ القلوبَ وقرّبوا

Fall prostrate upon its soil, and fulfill the

vision by slaughtering your hearts, and offer them up.

يا ساكني جمعٍ وحقِّ جميعكُم

لَهوايَ بين شِعابِكم متشعِّبُ

O dwellers of Jam', by the right of all of you,

my love indeed branches out among your ravines.

أظَنَنْتُم أنّي أمَلُّ عذابَكُم

وعذابكُم يحلو لديّ ويعذُبُ

Did you think I would tire of your torment,

when your torment is sweet to me and delightful?

وجّهْتُمُ تِلقاءَ مَدْيَنِ حبّكم

قلبي فأصبحَ خائِفاً يترقّبُ

You directed toward the Midian of your love

my heart, and it became fearful, keeping watch.

وأخذتُموهُ في قِصاص خُدودِكم

وهو البَريُّ وطَرفُ عَيني المُذنِبُ

You seized it in retribution for your cheeks,

though it is innocent, and my eye's glance is guilty.

إنّي لأعجَبُ من كِلام ظِبائِكُم

وطلوعُ أنجُمِكم ضُحىً هو أعجَبُ

I truly marvel at the speech of your gazelles,

yet your stars rising in broad daylight is more wondrous.

أستغربُ الأسنان تُنبتُ لؤلؤاً

وتصوّرُ الألفاظَ دُرّاً أغرَبُ

I marvel at teeth that sprout pearls,

but imagining words as pearls is stranger still.

والقلبُ تحرُسُهُ مَعاصمُ ريمِكُم

ويزيدُ في نُطقِ الوشاحِ الرَبرَبُ

The wrists of your gazelle guard the heart,

and the gazelle herd adds to the sash's speech.

يبدو بحبّكُمُ الغزالُ مبرقعاً

ويميلُ غصنُ البان وهو معصَّبُ

In your beloved, the gazelle appears veiled,

and the ban-tree's branch sways, wearing a headband.

أقمارُكم فوقَ الأهلّةِ طُلَّعٌ

وشُموسُكُمْ تحت الأكِلّة تَغرُبُ

Your moons rise above the crescents,

and your suns set beneath the canopies.

صُنتُم ثُغورَ الحُسنِ عن جُندِ الهَوى

فحميتُموها في جُفونٍ تضربُ

You guarded beauty's frontiers against love's troops,

and defended them within eyelids that strike.

للَّه مغنىً في الحِمى بخدورِه

يكفُلْنَ بيضاتِ النّعامِ الأعقُبُ

God be praised for a dwelling in the sanctuary, in whose chambers

eagles tend the ostriches' eggs.

مغنىً تُشاهَدُ في مواقف حيّه ال

آسادُ تمرَحُ والجآذِرُ تلعبُ

A dwelling where, in its tribe's gathering places, the

lions frolic and the oryx calves play.

نُزُلاً يُضيءُ كأنّ ملعَبَ سربِه

فلَكٌ بأقمارِ الظّلامِ مُكَوكَبُ

A radiant lodging, as though its herd's playground

were a sphere studded with the moons of night.

أفدي بُدورَ سَراةِ حيٍّ فوقَه

ضربوا القِبابَ على الشموسِ وطنّبوا

I would ransom the full moons of a tribe's nobles; above it

they pitched pavilions over suns and stretched the tent-ropes,

ونُجومَ حُسنٍ تحتمي بأهلّةٍ

أجرَتْ ضِياها في الشّبيبةِ أقضُبُ

and stars of beauty sheltered by crescents,

whose radiance branches sent coursing in youth.

ومعاشِرٍ فضلاتُ قصدِ رماحِهم

يومَ القِرى تكفيهِم أن يخطُبوا

and clans whose leftover spear splinters

suffice them, on hospitality's day, to make their requests.

نصبوا السّحابَ الصاعِقاتِ فقلّدوا

منها ومن فوقِ البُروقِ تنقّبوا

They raised thunderstriking clouds and adorned themselves

with them, and veiled themselves above the lightning.

يا حبّذا عصرٌ مضى لا عَيبَ في

عُقباهُ إلّا أنّه لا يُعقبُ

How lovely the age gone by! There is no flaw in

its aftermath, except that it never returns.

أزكى وألطَفُ من رسائِل عاشقٍ

آصالُه وأرقُّ ممّا يُنسَبُ

Purer and gentler than a lover's letters

were its evenings, and more delicate than love verses.

فإلى مَ يمطُلُني الزّمانُ بعَوْدِه

هيهاتَ ليس بعائِدٍ ما يذهَبُ

How long will time put me off with promises of its return?

Far from it! What departs will not return.

وعْدُ الزّمانِ إذا تحقّق صِدْقُه

فعساهُ من فلَقِ الدُّجنّة أكذَبُ

Time's promise, even when its truth is established,

may be falser than dawn's cleaving of the darkness.

عجباً لهذا الدّهرِ يغدُر بالفتى

ويَسوءُ نفسَ المرءِ وهْو محبَّبُ

How strange this age: it betrays a young man

and grieves his soul, though it is beloved.

لم يُرْوِ منتجِعاً رَشاشُ سحابةٍ

لولا نوالُ أبي الحُسينِ الصيّبُ

No cloud's spray would have slaked a pasture-seeker,

were it not for Abu al-Husayn's rain-pouring bounty.

ملكٌ تَزينُ الدّهرَ حِليةُ فضلِه

ويفوزُ بالشّرفِ الرفيعِ المنصبُ

A king whose virtue's ornament adorns the age,

and whose station attains lofty honor.

حرٌّ إذا نسبوا الكِرامَ يَفوحُ من

أنسابِه عبَقُ النّبيّ الأطيَبُ

A noble man: when noble lineages are traced, from

his ancestry wafts the Prophet's sweetest fragrance.

نسبٌ لوَ اِنّ الفجرَ حاز ضياءَهُ

عاش الضُحى أبداً ومات الغَيهَبُ

A lineage—if dawn possessed its radiance,

morning light would live forever, and darkness die.

أو في الدُجى عن نورِه كُشِفَ الغطا

قامت له الحِرباءُ ليلاً ترقُبُ

Or if the veil were lifted from its light in the dark,

the chameleon would rise at night to watch it.

من آلِ حيدرَةَ الغطارفةِ الأُلى

فرضوا على الذِمَمِ النّوالَ وأوجَبوا

From the house of Haydara, the highborn lords who

laid generosity upon consciences as a duty, and made it binding.

قومٌ همُ الأمطارُ إن فُقِدَ الحَيا

وهمُ الصّواعقُ في الورى إن حُوربوا

A people who are the rains when rain is lacking,

and thunderbolts among mankind when war is waged upon them.

الناثرو عِقدَ الطُلى إن قوتِلوا

والناظِمو دُرَّ العُلا إن خُوطِبوا

They scatter the necklace of necks when fought,

and string the pearls of eminence when addressed.

بشرٌ تكوّن من ندىً وسماحةٍ

فلِذا جوانبُه تَلينُ وتصعُبُ

A mortal fashioned from dew and generosity,

so his sides soften, yet grow hard.

ليثٌ يهزُّ يَداهُ شُعلةَ صارِمٍ

ماءُ المَنونِ يكادُ منها يشربُ

A lion whose two hands brandish a sharp sword's flame,

from which one might almost drink the water of death.

نهرٌ من الفولاذ أصبح جارياً

منهُ الفرِندُ وشبّ منه المضرِبُ

A river of steel, now flowing—

its watered pattern streaming, its striking edge ablaze.

عدلٌ له صفةُ الزّمانِ إذا قضى

بالسيف يخفِضُ من يَشاءُ وينصِبُ

A just arbiter with time's nature: when he judges

with the sword, he lowers and raises whom he wills.

يقضي بصرْفِ الجمعِ عادلُ رُمحِه

ولدَيه يَبني المجدَ ماضٍ مُعرَبُ

His upright spear decrees the host's dispersal,

and at his side a keen, eloquent blade builds glory.

هذا وحيدُ العصر فاضلُه فإن

شكّكْتُمُ فاِبْلوا الأنام وجرّبوا

This is the age's peerless man, its finest; if

you doubt, put mankind to the test and try them.

لا يُشكَرُ النادي ويعبَقُ طيبُه

إلّا إذا غنّى ثناهُ المُطرِبُ

The gathering is not praised, nor does its fragrance waft,

unless the singer sings his praise.

بحرٌ إذا سُئِلَ النّوالَ فدُرُّه

يطفو ودُرُّ البحرِ فيه يَرسُبُ

An ocean: when asked for bounty, his pearls

float, while the sea's pearls sink within it.

تَقفوهُ من فتحِ العقابِ عِصابةٌ

ويحفّ فيه من الضّراغِم موكِبُ

A band follows him from the eagle's conquest,

and within it a procession of lions encircles him.

غازٍ إذا في اللّيل صلّتْ قُضبُه

غنّى الحمامُ به وصاح الحُندَبُ

A raider: when his blades ring in the night,

Death sings through him, and the cricket cries out.

يفترّ مُبتسماً فيُصبحُ مالُه

يبكي ويرضى السيفُ لمّا يغضبُ

He parts his lips in a smile, and his wealth begins

to weep; the sword is content when he grows angry.

فطنٌ لفكرتِه بكلّ بديعةٍ

لفٌّ ونشْرٌ في الأمورِ مرتّبُ

Astute: his thought brings to every marvel

an ordered folding and unfolding of affairs.

يصفرُّ وجهُ التّبرِ خيفةَ بذلِه

فيكادُ جامدُه يسيلُ ويذهَبُ

Gold's face turns yellow, fearing his giving it away,

until its solid mass almost melts and departs.

لو كان شمساً لم يسعْهُ مشرقٌ

ولَضاقَ عن كتمِ الشُعاعِ المَغرِبُ

Were he a sun, no east would contain him,

and the west would be too narrow to conceal his rays.

أو حازَ وجهُ الدّهْر أدنى بشْرِهِ

ما بان فيه من الخُطوبِ تقَطُّبُ

Or if time's face gained the least of his cheer,

no frown of calamity would appear upon it.

يا اِبْنَ الّذي في عِلمِه وحُسامِه

عُرِفَ الإله وبان فيه المذهبُ

O son of him through whose knowledge and sword

God was known, and in whom the creed was made clear,

لم تتّخذْ غيرَ المهنّدِ في الوغى

إلْفاً ولا غيرَ المثقَّفِ تَصحَبُ

in battle you took none but the Indian-forged sword

as a companion, and consort with none but the straightened spear.

ولَرُبَّ معترَكٍ كأنّ قَتامَهُ

والبيضُ تلمعُ فيه نورٌ أشيَبُ

Many a battlefield whose dust seemed—

with white blades gleaming in it—a gray-haired light.

تبكي بموقفِه الطُلى وفمُ الرّدى

بالضّربِ يبسِمُ منه ثغرٌ أشنَبُ

Necks weep upon its ground, while the mouth of death

smiles amid the blows, revealing cool, gleaming teeth.

صامَتْ صوارمُه وصلّتْ قُضبُه

فالهامُ تسجدُ والمنايا تخطُبُ

His sharp swords fasted, and his blades prayed,

so heads bow in worship, and deaths deliver sermons.

كم فيه ألقى من غديرِ مُفاضةٍ

يبدو عليه من صَداها الطّحْلُبُ

How many a pool of ample chainmail lay cast down there,

with the algae of its rust showing upon it.

أورَدْتَ فيه السيفَ وهْو حديدةٌ

وصدرْتَ وهْو من النّجيع مذهّبُ

There you led the sword to drink, a mere piece of iron,

and returned with it gilded in gore.

وتركْتَ فيه من الرؤوس صوامِعاً

صلّى عليها القشْعَمُ المترهِّبُ

There you left hermits' towers made of heads,

upon which the aged vulture, turned monk, prayed.

وركبْتَ تلحقُك النسورُ وإنّما

يسري وراها في حشاها المقنَبُ

You rode, with vultures following you, while in truth

the cavalry troop travels behind them, within their entrails.

للّه دَرُّك من فتىً لم تترُكَنْ

شيئاً من المجدِ المؤثّلِ يُطلَبُ

God bless you, young hero! You have not left

anything of firmly founded glory still to be sought.

صيّرْتَ سيفَك يا عليُّ إلى العُلا

فركِبْتَ منه غضنْفَراً لا يُركَبُ

You turned your sword, O Ali, toward the heights,

thus riding in it a lion that cannot be ridden.

ما فوّق المِقدارُ سهماً صائِباً

فرمى به إلّا ورأيُكَ أصوَبُ

Never did Fate nock an unerring arrow

and shoot it without your judgment being surer still.

مولايَ سَمعاً من رقيقٍ مُخلصٍ

مدْحاً له الودُّ الصحيحُ يهذِّبُ

My lord, lend an ear to a devoted slave:

praise refined by genuine affection.

مدحاً غَدا هاروتُ عندَ نشيدِه

للسّحرِ من ألفاظِه يتكسّبُ

Praise at whose chanting Harut came

to acquire his sorcery from its words.

تَحكي فرائِدُه العُقودَ وإنّما

أبكارُها مكنونةٌ لا تُثقَبُ

Its rare pearls resemble necklaces, yet

their virgin gems lie hidden, unpierced.

فأجِلْ بها فِكراً ولا تغترَّ في

برقٍ سواهُ فإنّ ذلك خُلَّبُ

Turn your thought upon them; do not be deceived by

any other lightning: that is a flash without rain.

وتَهَنَّ بالعيد الّذي لولاكَ ما

عادَ الأنامُ فكرّروه ورحّبوا

Rejoice in the feast which, but for you, would not

be revisited by mankind, repeated and welcomed.

وتوفَّ أجْرَ صيامِه وفِطارِه

قلبَ العِدا واِلْبَسْ عَلالاً يُسلَبُ

Receive in full the reward of its fasting and fast-breaking:

the hearts of foes; and don glory that cannot be stripped away.