طار عن برقة برق فشم — Abn Qlaks

طارَ عَنْ بَرْقَةِ بَرْقٍ فَشِمِ

ضَمَّ سِقْطَيْهِ بِسِقْطَيْ إِضَمِ

Lightning flew from Barqa—watch it.

It joined its two edges to the two sides of Idam.

عارَضَ العارِضَ فافترَّتْ به

شفتاهُ اللُّعْسُ عَنْ مُبْتَسَمِ

It faced the rain cloud, and with it parted

Its dusky lips, revealing a smile.

وَسَرَى يَسْأَلُ عن وادِي الغَضَا

وهو يَسْتَنُّ هِضابَ الْمَوْسمِ

And it traveled by night, asking after the valley of al-Ghada,

As it raced over the heights of al-Mawsim.

كلما ضَلَّ جَرَتْ أدْمُعُهُ

في حواشِي وَجَنَاتِ الأَكَمِ

Whenever it lost its way, its tears flowed

Along the margins of the hillocks' cheeks.

أَيُّ عِقْدٍ للحيا مُنْتَشثرٍ

قَلَّدَ الدَّوْحَ حِلَى مُنْتَظِمِ

What a scattered necklace of rain

Adorned the great trees with neatly strung jewels!

جَرَّعَ الأَجْرَعَ من مُزْنَتِهِ

ضَرَبًا مُنْبَعِثاً عن ضَرَمِ

It made the sandy flat drink from its rain cloud

White honey issuing from a blaze.

وعلى السَّفْحِ عيونٌ جرحت

فَهْيَ لا تَسْفَحُ إِلا بالدَّمِ

And on the slope are eyes that have been wounded,

Which shed nothing but blood;

وفؤادٍ لم تَزَلْ نارُ الجوى

فيه تُذْكَى برياحِ اللُّوَّمِ

And a heart: the fire of yearning never ceases

To be fanned within it by the winds of reproachers.

وقف الشوقُ به في مَعْرَكٍ

نازحِ الأَجْرِ بعيدِ المَغْنَمِ

Longing stationed it upon a battlefield,

Remote from reward, far from booty.

إنما جَسَّر أَلْحَاظَ المَهَا

أَنها تُتْلِفُ ما لَمْ تَغْرَمِ

What emboldens the oryxes' glances is only

That they destroy what they pay no compensation for.

قَعْقَعَتْ أَبطالُه شِنْشِنَةً

وَجْدُهُ يَعْرِفُها من أَخْزَمِ

Its champions clattered—a familiar trait

That his passion recognizes from Akhzam.

فسلِ العَنْدَمَ في أَنْمُلِها

إِنْ تَوَصَّلْتَ إِليهِ عَنْ دَمِي

So ask the crimson dye on her fingertips,

If you can reach it, about my blood.

وَسَلامٍ حَمَلَتْ رِيحُ الصًّبا

منه ما هَزَّ فروعَ السَّلَمِ

And a greeting: the east wind carried

Enough of it to stir the branches of the salam acacia.

جاذَبَ الأَحْدَاجَ أَطرافَ البُرَى

فاستجارَتْ بالرَّسِيمِ المِيسَمِ

It tugged against the howdahs at the ends of the nose-rings;

So they sought refuge in the branding trot.

زارَني والبَدْرُ في جِنْحِ الدُّجَى

مَلَكٌ من فَوْقِ طِرْفٍ أَدْهَمِ

It visited me, while the full moon, in the wing of darkness,

Was an angel upon a jet-black steed.

وضعَ النَّثْرَةَ عنه نَثْرَةً

واكْتَفَى رَزْمَ سِنانِ المِرْزَمِ

He doffed al-Nathra like a coat of mail,

And was content to bind the spearhead of al-Mirzam.

فاستجابَتْ هِمَمِي مُوقِظَةً

طَرْفَ عزمٍ بَعْدَها لم يَنَمِ

My aspirations answered, awakening

The eye of resolve that thereafter never slept.

وأَذقتُ النفسَ من شُهْدِ المُنَى

ثم عرَّضْتُ لها بالعَلْقَمِ

And I gave my soul a taste of the honey of wishes,

Then hinted to it of bitter colocynth.

فانْثَنَتْ تُنْثَرُ من أَنْجُمِهِ

دُرَرٌ لولا العُلَى لم تُنْظَمِ

Then there began to be scattered from his stars

Pearls that, but for high achievement, would never have been strung.

بمعانٍ ماتَأَتَّى حَوْكُها

لِزُهَيْرٍ في مَعَالِي هَرمِ

With meanings whose weaving was never achieved

By Zuhayr in praising Haram's lofty virtues.

عَظُمَتْ قِيمَتُهَا مُذْ عَلِقَتْ

بأَميرِ المؤمنينَ الأَعظمِ

Their worth has grown great since they were attached

To the greatest Commander of the Faithful.

كَعْبَةِ المَنِّ التي مَنْ زارَها

باتَ في أَمْنِ حَمَامِ الحَرَمِ

The Kaaba of bounty: whoever visits it

Spends the night as safe as the sanctuary's doves;

قِبْلَةِ الدينِ التي يأْتَمُّها

عندما ينزِلُ عِيسى مَرْيَمِ

The qibla of faith, whom he follows as his guide

When Jesus, son of Mary, descends;

جَوْهَرِ النورِ الذي آنسَهُ

لَحْظُ موسَى في سوادِ الظُّلَمِ

The essence of the light perceived

By Moses' gaze in the blackness of darkness;

حُجَّةِ اللِه التي حَجَّ بها

خَلْقُهُ من كافرٍ أَو مُسْلِمِ

God's proof, with which He confounded

His creatures, unbelieving or Muslim;

دَوْحَةِ الفضلِ التي أَغصانُها

مثمراتٌ ببديعِ الحِكَمِ

The great tree of excellence, whose branches

Bear the fruit of wondrous wisdom;

قائِدِ الجَيْشِ الذي مَنْ راعَهُ

باسْمِهِ قَبْلَ التَّلاقِي يُهْزَمِ

Commander of the army: whoever he terrifies

With his name is routed before the clash.

عسكرٌ جالَ ولا نٌَْعَ له

أَيُّ نَقْعٍ والثَّرَى بَحْرُ دَمِ

An army wheeled about, raising no dust;

What dust, when the earth was a sea of blood?

بَنَتِ السُّمْرُ سماءً فوقَهُ

شُهْبُها ما حَمَلَتْ مِنْ لَهْذَمِ

The brown spears built a sky above it;

Its shooting stars were the sharp spearheads they bore.

وشَدَتْ أَلْسُنُ أَغمادِ الظُّبَا

بِفَصِيحٍ في ثُغورِ العِمَمِ

And the tongues of the blades' scabbards sang

With eloquent speech in the mouths of turbans.

طرِبَتْ من تحتِها الشمسُ فكَمْ

نَثَرَتْ من نُورِها من دِرْهمِ

The sun rejoiced beneath it—how many

Dirhams it scattered from its light!

وَتَبَدَّى عَلَمُ النَّصْرِ بهِ

خافِتًا كالنَّارِ فَوْقَ العَلَمِ

And the banner of victory appeared amid it,

Faint, like fire atop a mountain.

حَلَّقَتْ من خَلْقِهِ راياتُهُ

فَهْيَ أَمثالُ الحَمَامِ الحُوَّمِ

His banners soared from behind him,

Like doves wheeling in the air.

عّذَبٌ يَلْعَبُ فيها ذَهّبٌ

لَعِبَ البَرْقِ بذَيْلِ الدِّيَمِ

Streamers in which gold plays

As lightning plays in the trailing skirts of rain clouds.

وينودٌ جَعَلَ الجَوُّ بها

مَسْكَنَ الفَتْخاءِ مَأْوى الضِّيْغَمِ

And banners that turned the open sky—

The eagle's home—into the lion's lair.

من نُعُوشٍ رُوحُها الريحُ فما

تَأْتَلِي تَفْغَرُ أَرْجَاءَ فم

Of biers whose spirit is the wind, which

Never cease to gape their mouths wide.

كلُّ لُبٍّ صاعدٍ في صَعْدَةٍ

قابضٍ منها بِلِيْتَيْ أَرْقَمِ

Every heart rising upon a spear-shaft,

Grasping from there a speckled serpent by both sides of its neck;

وعُقابٍ كُلَّما حَوَّمَهَا

عارِضٌ رَوَّعَ سَيْرَ الأَنْجُمِ

And an eagle, whenever it is sent circling

By a cloud, terrifies the stars in their course.

في يَدَيْ كلِّ كميٍّ باسمِهِ

يخدُمُ الموتُ شِفارَ المِخْذَمِ

In every armored champion's hands, at his name,

Death serves the edges of the cleaving sword.

يَعْتَلِي من طَرْفِهِ في مَهْمَهٍ

دونَ أَنْ يُكْلَمَ مَعْنَى الكَلِمِ

From his steed he towers in a trackless waste,

Without the meaning of words being wounded.

فإِذا اسْتَطْرَدَ في معرَكَةٍ

عَلَّمَ الفارِسَ ما لك يَعْلَمِ

And when he feigns retreat in battle,

He teaches the horseman what he did not know.

وإِذا ريحُ نشاطٍ نَفَحَتْ

نَفَخَتْ منهُ بأَذْكَى ضَرَم

And when a breeze of vigor wafts,

It fans from him the fiercest blaze.

ذاك جيشٌ لو رَمَى أَبطَالَه

بالصّروفِ الدَّهْرُ لم تَنْهَزِمِ

That is an army: were its champions assailed

By Time with its reversals, they would not be routed.

هُوَ منه حيثُ ما دارَ بهِ

حيثُ حَلَّتْ غُرَّةٌ من أَدْهَم

His place within it, wherever he turns with it,

Is that of a white blaze on a jet-black steed.

قام للطيرِ وللوحشِ بما

عهدَتْهُ عنده من مَطْعَمِ

He supplied the birds and wild beasts with what

They had known from him as food;

فترى الذئبَ على لُوثَتِه

مُسْتَهَاماً بإِخاءِ القَشْعَمِ

So you see the wolf, despite his frenzy,

Enraptured by brotherhood with the old vulture.

فَرَحٌ سِيئَتْ له أَعداؤُهُ

رُبَّ عُرْسٍ كائنٍ عن مَأْتَمِ

A joy that brought his enemies grief—

Many a wedding springs from a funeral.

يا إِماماً خضع الدهرُ له

وأَطاعَتْهُ رِقابُ الأُمَمِ

O Imam, to whom Time has bowed,

And whom the necks of nations have obeyed:

دَعْوَةً رَجَّعَهَا مُسْتَمْسِكٌ

بِعُرَى القَصْدِ التي لم تُفْصَمِ

A call repeated by one who clings

To the bonds of purpose that have never broken.

كُلَّمَا رامَ نهوضاً حَصَّهُ

قَوْلُ زُغْبٍ عندَهُ لا تَرمِ

Whenever he tries to rise, he is cut short

By the nestlings beside him saying, 'Do not leave.'

قد سَطَا الخَطْبُ عليه فاشْتَكَى

من أَيادِيكَ لأَوفي حَكَمِ

Calamity has assailed him, and he has appealed

To the most faithful judge among your acts of bounty.