سرى بشبيه البدر آل هلال — Abn Nbath

سرى بشبيه البدر آلُ هلال

وهانَ على أهلِ المليحة حالي

The family of Hilal journeyed by night with one like the full moon,

And my plight meant little to the beautiful woman's kin.

خبى وجهها عنِّي وأُخليَ ربعها

فآهاً على وجهٍ ذكرت وخال

Her face vanished from my sight, and her dwelling was deserted.

Ah, for the face I recall, and its beauty spot!

وأخفت ليَ الأسقام جسماً كأنه

خلال الأسى والبين عود خلال

And illness has concealed my body, as though it were,

Amid grief and separation, a toothpick.

فما ضرَّ هندٌ لو طرقتُ خيامها

على أنني بالسقمِ طيف خيال

What harm would it do Hind if I visited her tents by night,

Given that, through sickness, I am a phantom of a dream?

هي الشمس بعداً في المكانِ وبهجةً

ولكنَّها في الفرعِ ذات ظلال

She is the sun in her distant station and her splendor,

Yet in her tresses she has shade.

أهيم بذكرى شعرها وعهودها

لقد همت من شمسِ الضحى بحبال

I am love-mad at the memory of her hair and her pledges;

Indeed, I have fallen in love with cords from the morning sun.

ولم أدرِ هل تسطو عليَّ لحاظها

بسود جفونٍ أم ببيض نصال

And I do not know whether her glances assail me

With black eyelids or with white blades.

حرامٌ على جفني المنام وحسبها

إذا رضيت أن السهادَ حلالي

Sleep is forbidden to my eyelids, and it is enough for her,

If she is pleased, that sleeplessness is lawful for me.

وأغيد قد خطّ العذار بخدّه

حروفاً نماها الحسن لابن هلال

And a graceful youth: the down has traced upon his cheek

Letters that beauty ascribed to Ibn Hilal.

لعمرك ما خدّ الحبيب معذّرٌ

ولكن بمسود النواظر جالي

By your life, the beloved's cheek is not covered with down,

But gleams with what darkens the eyes.

سمت نحوه الأنظار حتَّى كأنها

بناريه من هنّا وهنّ صوالي

Gazes rose toward him, until it seemed they were

Scorched by his two fires, from here and there.

أرى شعرات الشيب تؤذن بالردى

وينذرني منها طلوع هلال

I see strands of gray announcing death,

And the rising of a crescent among them warns me.

فما بال رأسي كلما ضاء شيبه

تجدّد في ذكرِ الحبيب ضلالي

What ails my head? Whenever its gray hair shines,

My straying revives at the memory of the beloved.

دعِ الرمح يسند عن قدودِ أحبَّتي

فإن قدودَ المالكين عوالي

Let the spear cite my beloveds' forms as its source,

For my masters' forms are lofty lances.

ودعنيَ والأيام ألقى صروفها

بصبرٍ على أيدي الحوادث عالي

And leave me with the days, to face their vicissitudes

With patience rising above the hands of calamities.

أرى لابنِ ريَّان اعْتلاءَ سيادةٍ

تخلص حظّ الشعر بعد مطال

I see Ibn Rayyan's ascent to eminence

Securing poetry's due after long delay.

رئيس إلى علياه تسري مدائحٌ

مواصلة ليست بذات كلال

A leader to whose lofty station praises journey by night,

Unceasing, untouched by weariness.

طربت إلى ضوء الجبين وإنما

طربت لضوءِ البارق المتلالي

They thrilled at the light of his brow, yet it was only

At the light of glittering lightning that they thrilled.

وقالت وقد زادت جمالاً بنعته

حمى الله من عينِ الزمان جمالي

And, made more beautiful by praising him, they said:

“May God guard my beauty from the eye of Time.”

أخو العلم والنعمى يرجَّى ويختشى

ليوم فعال أو ليوم مقال

A man of learning and bounty, hoped for and feared,

For a day of action or a day of speech.

له بركاتٌ تلوهنَّ مكارمٌ

فيا لمعالٍ أُيِّدت بمعالي

He has blessings, followed by noble deeds;

Ah, lofty virtues upheld by lofty virtues!

بكفَّيه يستسقى الحيا ودعائه

فتهمي بماءٍ حالتاه ومال

By his two palms and his prayer, rain is sought,

So his two states pour forth water and wealth.

ويندى وقد أندى الحياء جبينه

فلم ندرِ من فينا طلوب نوال

And he gives generously, while modesty has moistened his brow;

So we could not tell which of us was seeking a gift.

ولا عيبَ فيه غير سبق هباته

فما يتهنَّى مفصحٌ بسؤال

He has no fault, save that his gifts come first,

So no speaker can savor making a request.

له القلم الماضي الشبَّاة كأنما

يحادثه من فكرِه بصقال

His is a keen-pointed pen, as though

He converses with it through a polish drawn from his thought.

إذا وسَّع الأطراس حكت سطورها

كواعب في الأوراق تحت حجال

When he spreads his writing across the sheets, their lines resemble

Full-breasted maidens on the pages beneath bridal curtains.

وإن جهّز السمر الذوابل للوغى

فقل في قصير شدّ أزر طوال

And if he equips the dusky, slender spears for battle,

Then speak of a short one that strengthens the tall.

براحة من هبَّت نوافح ذكره

فأرخص في الآفاق نشر غوال

In the palm of one whose fame has sent fragrant breezes,

Cheapening the scent of precious perfumes across the horizons.

حلت للورى جدوى يديه فأصبحت

دُعاة الرجا من حوله كمال

His hands' bounty grew sweet to mankind, so

Hope's heralds around him became as good as wealth.

ووالى نداً قد سنَّ سنَّة حاتمٍ

فأهلاً بسنيّ الندى المتوالي

And he kept giving bounty, establishing Hatim's custom;

So hail one splendid in unceasing bounty!

من القوم فرسان البلاغة والوغى

على أنهم لله أيّ رجال

He is of a people, knights of eloquence and battle—

And yet—by God—what men they are!

يميتون أياماً من المحلِ بالندى

ويحيون من طولِ السجود ليالي

They slay days of drought with bounty,

And bring nights to life through prolonged prostration.

أأزكى الورَى نفساً وأكرم أسرةً

وأرفعهم عن مشبهٍ ومثال

O purest of mortals in soul, noblest in family,

And most exalted beyond any counterpart or likeness,

بقيت مدى الدنيا إلى الفضلِ سابقاً

وكلّ امرئٍ فيها بمدحِك تالي

May you remain, as long as the world lasts, foremost in excellence,

While everyone in it follows, reciting your praise.