أهوى بمرشفه الشهي وقال ها — Abn Nbath

أهوى بمرشفه الشهيّ وقال ها

ويلاه من رشاءٍ أطاع وقالها

He leaned down with his luscious lips and said, “Here!”

Woe is me for a gazelle fawn who yielded and said it!

وأمالت الكاسات معطف قدّه

بقصاص ما قد كانَ قبل أمالها

The cups bent the curve of his figure,

In retribution for his earlier tilting of them.

فمصصت من رشفاته معسولها

وضممت من أعطافه عسّالها

So I sucked the honeyed sweetness of his kisses,

And embraced the swaying curves of his body.

وظرفت في اليقظات منه بخلوة

ما كنت آمل في المنام خيالها

And awake I showed charm in a private meeting with him,

Whose image I had never hoped for in a dream.

ولرُبما أهوى بكأس مدامة

لولاه ما حملت يدي جرياً لها

And often he leaned down with a cup of wine,

Without him, my hand would never have hastened to carry it.

طبخت بنار خدوده في كفِّه

فقبلتها وشربت منه حلالها

It was cooked in his palm by the fire of his cheeks;

So I kissed it and drank from him its lawful portion.

حتَّى إذا هوت النجوم وأطفأت

في الصبح أنفاس النسيم ذبالها

Until, when the stars sank and were extinguished,

Their wicks snuffed at dawn by the breaths of the breeze,

ولى وأسأر في الجوانح حسرة

لو شاء عائد وصله لأزالها

He turned away, leaving a pang within my breast,

Which renewed union with him, if he wished, would dispel.

ومضى بشمس محاسنٍ لولا الهدى

ما كنت أمسك في الوفاء حبالها

And he departed with a sun of beauty; but for guidance,

I would not have held its cords in faithfulness.

ومن البليّة عذّلٌ قد ضمنت

ثقل الملام مقالها وفعالها

Among my afflictions are reprovers whose

Words and deeds carry the weight of blame.

يا ليت أرض العاذلين تزلزلت

أو ليتها لا أخرجت أثقالها

If only the land of the reprovers would quake,

Or had never brought forth its burdens!

والنجم من كأس الحبيب وخدِّه

لا زاغ فكري عن هواه ولا لها

By the star shining from the beloved’s cup and cheek,

May my thought never swerve from loving him, nor grow distracted.

بأبي مضيء الحسن ناءٍ شخصه

سلت الكواكب حسنها وجمالها

My father be ransom for a radiant beauty, distant in person;

The stars have forgotten their beauty and loveliness.

متلوّن الأخلاق إلا أنها

لشقاوتي ليست تملّ ملالها

Fickle in his ways—except that they,

To my misfortune, never tire of their weariness.

لو ذاق حالة مهجتي ما راعني

دعه يروع ولا يقاسي حالها

Had he tasted my heart’s plight, he would not have frightened me;

Let him frighten me, and not suffer its plight.

هي مهجة ليست يجاور صبرها

كيد المؤيد لا يجاور مالها

It is a heart in which patience does not dwell,

Like al-Mu’ayyad’s hand, in which wealth does not dwell.

جادت يدُ الملك المؤيد جودَ من

لم تخشَ بسطة كفّه إقلالها

The hand of King al-Mu’ayyad gave with the generosity of one

Whose open palm never feared its own impoverishment.

يا عاذل الملك المؤيد في الندى

هيَ صبوةٌ قد أتعبت عذَّالها

O reprover of King al-Mu’ayyad for his bounty,

It is a passion that has wearied its reprovers.

وشمائل مدّت يمين مكارمٍ

لم ترض أن يدعى الغمام شمالها

And noble traits that stretched forth generosity’s right hand

Would not allow the raincloud to be called their left.

سبقت سؤال عفاتها وتعمقت

في الجود حتَّى سابقت آمالها

They anticipated their petitioners’ requests and delved

Into generosity until they outpaced their hopes.

ما لابن شادٍ في العلى مثلٌ فدَع

علياه تضرب في الورى أمثالها

Ibn Shad has no peer in eminence, so let

His eminence set its examples among humankind.

رقمت بنو أيوب نسخة أصلها

وأتى فكان تمامها وكمالها

The sons of Ayyub inscribed a copy of its original,

And he came to be its completion and perfection.

ملكٌ تطاولت المطالب نحوه

لكنه بأقلِّ طولٍ طالها

A king toward whom aspirations reached high,

Yet with the slightest reach he outstripped them.

متطابق النعماء صانت كفّه

سرح القريض وشرَّدت أموالها

With bounty piled on bounty, his hand protected

The flock of verse, while scattering its own wealth.

أخذت براءته العفاة بدهره

ممَّا تخاف وقسَّمت أنفالها

In his time, petitioners received his assurance of safety

From what they feared, and divided their spoils.

نعماه في عصب قلائد حليها

فإذا بغت عصبٌ غدت أغلالها

His favors are necklaces adorning bands of men;

But if bands rebel, they become their fetters.

يا ربَّ مكرمةٍ وربَّ كريهةٍ

أضحى معيد حياتها قتَّالها

How many a noble deed, how many a dire ordeal,

He has revived the one’s life and slain the other!

ومسائلٌ في العلم أشكل أمرها

حلاًّ وحلَّ لطالبٍ أشكالها

And questions of learning whose matter was hard

To solve—he untied their knots for a seeker.

بيراع سيفٍ أو بسيف يراعة

فصل الأمور جلادها وجدالها

With a sword’s reed-pen or a reed-pen’s sword,

He settled affairs, in combat and debate.

قل للمثل في البسيطة وصفه

دَع سحبها وبحارها وجبالها

Tell the earthly likeness of his qualities:

Leave its clouds, seas, and mountains aside.

هاتيك أمثلة دنت عن قدره

فاطْلب لهاتيك الصفات مثالها

Those are examples that fall below his worth;

So seek a likeness worthy of those qualities.

لحماك يا ابن المالكين ترقبت

فكَر الرَّجا رقبى العيون هلالها

For your refuge, O son of rulers, kept watch

Hope’s thoughts, as eyes watch for their crescent.

أما حماه فنعم دار سيادة

نصبت بمدرجة الطريق جلالها

As for his refuge, what a fine abode of lordship,

Which planted its majesty on the well-trodden road.

يسعى لمكة وافدٌ ولأرضها

ولنعم أرضاً وافدٌ يسعى لها

A visitor journeys to Mecca and to its land;

And fine indeed is a land a visitor journeys to!

هاتيك قبلة من يروم رشادها

وحماه قبلة من يروم نوالها

That is the qibla of whoever seeks its guidance,

And his refuge the qibla of whoever seeks its gifts.

في كلِّ حالٍ حولها ليَ معجبٌ

لله ما أشهى إذاً أحوالها

In every state, I find something wondrous around it;

By God, how delightful, then, are its states!

شكرت لهاك فما أشكُّ بأنني

ثقَّلت وهي مطيقة أثقالها

I praised your gifts, and I have no doubt that I

Have laid weight on them, though they can bear their burdens.

أغنيتني عن كلِّ ذي قلمٍ فلم

أفتح يداً لسواك نداك ولا لها

You freed me from need of every wielder of a pen, so I have not

Opened a hand to any but you; nor has your bounty idled.

وكفيتني حتَّى قفوت معاشراً

كثر الندَى فاسْتكثرت أطفالها

And you met my needs until I followed groups of people:

Bounty grew plentiful, so they increased their children.

أيام مالي غير قصدكَ حيلة

تنجي وتنجح في الورى نصالها

In days when I had no recourse except seeking you,

Its arrowheads brought rescue and success among humankind.

لا زلت مقصود الحمى بقصائدٍ

أصبحت عصمة أمرها وثمالها

May you ever be sought in your refuge by odes,

Whose affairs you safeguard, and whose support you have become.

لولاك لم يخطر ببالِي نظمها

لا والذي يلقاك أنعم بالها

But for you, composing them would not have crossed my mind—

No, by what meets you, most at ease in heart!

سألت روايات الندى فتأخرت

عنها الورَى وأجزت أنت سؤالها

I asked for the traditions of bounty; behind them lagged

Humankind, while you yourself granted their request.