تخافقت البروق على الغميم — Abn Razakh

تَخافَقَتِ البُروقُ عَلى الغَميمِ

شِفاؤُكِ يا مُقَيلَةُ أَن تَشيمِ

The lightning flashes flickered over al-Ghamim.

Your cure, O Muqayla, is to behold

مُخَيَّم جيرَةٍ شُمٍّ كِرامٍ

طَهارى أَوجُهٍ بيضٍ وَخيمِ

The camp of proud, generous neighbors,

Pure in their radiant faces and their natures.

أَعِزّاءُ القَنا حَيٌّ لَقاحٌ

يَرَونَ المَوتَ في عَيشِ المُضيمِ

Mighty of spear, a tribe owing no allegiance,

Who see death in the life of one oppressed.

مُسيموا الغَضيَياتِ بِكُلِّ أَرضٍ

حَماها الخَوفُ غاشِيَة المُسيمِ

They pasture ghada camels in every land

That fear has guarded from the herdsman's incursion.

فَوارِسُ يَركضونَ بَنات عوجُ

أَتَوا وَأَتَينَ بِالعَجَبِ الجَسيمِ

Knights spurring the daughters of ʿAwaj,

They and their mares have brought tremendous wonders.

حَقيقَةَ أَنَّ جِنسَ اللَيثِ يَعدو

إِلى الهَيجا عَلى جِنسِ الظَليمِ

Truly, the lion's kind runs

Into battle upon the ostrich's kind.

بُناتُ الرَيطِ في الفَلَواتِ يَبدو

عَلى الأَميالِ كَالرَملِ العَظيمِ

The daughters of fine cloth appear in the wastes,

Across the miles like towering dunes.

خِيامُ الناسِ لَكِن كُلُّ سَجفٍ

يُزاوِجُ بَينَ قَسوَرَةٍ وَريمِ

Human tents—yet every curtain

Pairs a lion with a gazelle.

سُقاةُ الضَيفِ ألبانَ المَهارى

وَمَن عادوهُ بِالآنِ الحَميمِ

They serve guests the milk of Mahri camels,

And their enemies seething, boiling water.

فَفي أَسيافِهِم حَتفُ الأَعادي

وَفي راحاتِهِم كَسبُ العَديمِ

In their swords lies their enemies' death,

And in their palms the destitute man's gain.

نَأَوا بِخَريدَةٍ غَيداءَ رَأدٍ

وَنيمٍ لِلغَواني أَيِّ نيمِ

They departed with a coy maiden, supple and tender,

And a peer of fair women—what a peer!

طَوَت كَشحي عَلى جَمرٍ تَلَظّى

غَضىً طِيانَةُ الكَشحِ الهَضيمِ

She folded my flanks around a blazing ember

Of ghada wood, she of the slender, hollow waist.

أَثيثَةُ وَحفِها الحاكي اِسواداداً

وَطولاً لَيلَ عاشِقِها السَليمِ

Thick-haired, her luxuriant locks resemble in blackness

And length the night of her stricken lover.

يَصولُ إِلى مُخَلخِلِها هُوِيّاً

لِيُنقِذَهُ مِنَ الحِجلِ الفَصيمِ

Her hair swoops down to her ankleted ankle,

To rescue it from the split anklet.

تُري عَينَ الفَتى جَنّاتِ عَدنٍ

وَتُصلي قَلبَهُ نارَ الجَحيمِ

She shows the young man's eye the gardens of Eden,

And burns his heart with the fire of Hell.

قَواطِعُ في حَشا المُصغي إِلَيها

مَقاطِعُ دُرِّ مَنطِقَها الرَخيمِ

Cutting blades in the vitals of one who listens to her

Are the pearl-like phrases of her melodious speech.

وَتَسري في حُشاشَتِهِ فَيَحيى

حُمَيّا الكَأسِ في قَلبِ النَديمِ

And through his vital spirit it courses, reviving him—

The cup's ardor in a boon companion's heart.

أَقَرَّ المُلكُ حُسناً في يَدَيها

وَتيرَةَ ذي الأَناةِ المُستَديمِ

The realm of beauty settled in her hands,

In the manner of one patient and steadfast.

أَردتُ وِصالَها طَمَعاً فَهِمنا

بِأَودِيَةِ الغَرامِ المُستَهيمِ

I desired union with her, hoping; so we wandered

Through the valleys of maddening love.

وَحالَت دونَ رُقباها خَيالاً

عَوارِضُ مِن عَذابِ هَوىً أَليمِ

And barring even the hope of her dream-image were

Afflictions from the torment of agonizing love.

مُبينَةُ خُلفِ عَرقوب وَحَقٌّ

لَدَيها واجِبٌ مَطلُ الغَريمِ

She displays ʿUrqub's broken promises; a duty

She holds binding is putting off her creditor.

ثَنا القُرطانِ أُذنيها وَأَصغا

هُما الشَنفانِ لِلواشي النَميمِ

The earrings bent her ears, and inclined

Them—the pendants—toward the gossiping slanderer.

لِرِدفَيها وَخِصريها اِختِلافٌ

رَجاجَةُ مُقعِدٍ وَضَوىً مُقيمِ

Her hips and flanks are opposites:

A full, quivering seat and a slender support.

وَأَنوارُ الدَراري وَالزَهاوي

تَلاشَت في مُحَيّاها الوَسيمِ

The lights of glittering stars and radiant ones

Faded into her lovely countenance.

رَداحٌ فَعمَةُ اللّاذِ اليَماني

رِوا ماء الشَّبيبَةِ وَالنَّعيمِ

Full-hipped, filling her Yemeni silk,

Lush with the water of youth and ease.

وَما أَدري أَعارَت أَم أُعيرَت

مَحاجِرها بَناتُ مَهى الصَريمِ

I know not which lent and which borrowed:

Her eyes, or the daughters of the thicket's oryxes.

أَأَلبَسَها الكَمالَ كَما اِكتَساهُ

مُحَمَّدٌ الكَريمُ بنُ الكَريمِ

Did he clothe her in perfection, as he wears it—

Muhammad the generous, son of the generous?

إِمامٌ بَلَّغَت يَدُهُ المَعالي

مَحَلّاً لَم تَرُمهُ يَدا أَريمِ

A leader whose hand raised lofty honors

To a station the hands of Arim never sought.

كَأَن قَد خوطِبَت فيهِ اِستَقري

لَدَيهِ كَيفَ شاءَ وَلا تَريمِ

As though they had been told concerning him: 'Remain

With him as he wills, and never depart.'

يُدافِعُ عَن حَقائِقِ كُلِّ مَجدٍ

مُدافَعَةَ الغَيورِ عَنِ الحَريمِ

He defends the true claims of every glory

As a jealous guardian defends his household.

لِآلِ الفاضِلِ الفُضَلاء أَيدٍ

شُدِدنَ عَلى عُرى المَجدِ الصَميمِ

The virtuous house of al-Fadil has hands

Firmly clasped upon the bonds of authentic glory.

كُسوا حُلَلَ التُقى الضُفيا وَأعطوا

تَمامَ الخَلقِ وَالخُلُقِ التَميمِ

They were clothed in ample robes of piety, and granted

Perfection of form and consummate character.

هُمُ الأَمثالُ في الآفاقِ سارَت

مَسيرَ الشَمسِ بِالضَوءِ العَميمِ

They are proverbial examples, traveling through the horizons

As the sun travels with its all-embracing light.

لِشَرحِهِمُ خَبايا كُلِّ فَنٍّ

جَهِلنا ما البَليدُ مِنَ الفَهيمِ

Through their unfolding the mysteries of every art,

We no longer know the dull-witted from the discerning.

فَما نَخشى الضَلالَ وَهُم نُجومٌ

تُرينا الهَديَ في اللَيلِ البَهيمِ

We fear no straying, for they are stars

Showing us guidance in the pitch-black night.

أَئِمَّةُ حِزبِ أَحمَدَ ما نَعيهِم

مَكايِدَ حِزبِ إِبليسَ الرَجيمِ

Leaders of Ahmad's party—we do not mourn them

For the schemes of accursed Iblis's party.

سَعَت في الخِدمَةِ الدُنيا عَلَيهِم

وَهُم في خِدمَةِ الدينِ القَويمِ

The world hastened to attend upon them,

While they attended to the upright faith.

ثِمالُ الناسِ في اللَّأواءِ يُسلى

بِهِم فقدانُ كُلِّ أَبٍ رَحيمِ

The people's refuge in hardship; eased

Through them is the loss of every compassionate father.

جَميلٌ لَيسَ مَعزُوّاً إِلَيهِم

بِلا حاءٍ وَلا دالٍ وَميمِ

A beautiful deed is not ascribed to them

Without ḥāʾ, dāl, and mīm.

بَيانُ مُحَمّدٍ صُبحٌ مُنيرٌ

فَأَفحَمَ كُلَّ ذي جَدَلٍ خَصيمِ

Muhammad's eloquence is a luminous dawn,

Silencing every contentious disputant.

مُجَلّي حَلبَةَ الأَدَبِ المُسَمّى

مُسابَقَةَ المُبَرّزِ بِاللَّطيمِ

Champion of literature's arena—whose contest is named

'The front-runner's race against the ninth-place runner.'

أَبو الطُلّابِ لا يَنفَكُّ مِنهُم

حَنانُ الأُمِّ بِالطِفلِ الفَطيمِ

Father of students; never absent from them is

A mother's tenderness for her weaned child.

أَقولُ لِحاسِدٍ رامَ اِعتِسافاً

يُسابِقُهُ رَكِبتَ عَلى مُليمِ

I tell an envious man who rashly attempted

To race him: 'You have mounted a blameworthy course.'

تَيَقَّظ مِن كَرى حَسَدٍ مُخِلٍّ

شَبِعتَ بِهِ مِنَ البَنجِ المُنيمِ

Awaken from the sleep of ruinous envy,

With which you have gorged on sleep-inducing henbane.

فَأُمَّ كَوالِدَيكَ بِوالِدَيهِ

بِهِ أَمَّ الصِراطِ المُستَقيمِ

So, like your parents, follow his parents;

Through him, seek the straight path.

عَسيرٌ ما تُعالِجُهُ فَأَولى

عِلاجُكَ داءَ خاطِرِكَ السّقيمِ

What you attempt is difficult; more fitting is

Your treating the sickness of your ailing mind.

فَما ساعٍ إِلى مَجدٍ بِجِدٍّ

كَمُتَّكِلٍ عَلى عَظمٍ رَميمِ

One who strives earnestly toward glory

Is not like one relying on a decayed bone.

أَتَرضى وَيحَ أُمِّكَ ما يُؤَدّي

إِلى تَعقيبِ أَقضِيَةِ الحَكيمِ

Would you accept—alas for your mother!—what leads

To challenging the decrees of the All-Wise?

زَعَمتكَ بَينَنا مَلِكاً مُطاعاً

لِيَهنَئكَ الخَراجُ بِغَيرِ جيمِ

I took you for a king obeyed among us;

May you relish your 'tribute'—kharāj minus jīm: dung.

ظَنَنّاكَ الزَعيمَ وَما صَدَقنا

وَفُزنا مِنكَ بِالرَجُلِ الزَعيمِ

We thought you the leader, but we were mistaken;

What we gained from you was a lying man.

شَفى السُؤّالَ إِلّا حاسِديهِ

وَهَل يَشفي الزُلالُ غَليلَ هِيمِ

He satisfied the petitioners, except his enviers;

Can pure water quench the thirst of thirst-diseased camels?

أَسَيِّدي العَزيزَ عَلى قَدراً

رَضيتُ لَهُ بِمَسكَنَةِ الخَديمِ

O my master, exalted in rank,

For whom I accepted the humble station of a servant.

أَخلتَ فَتاكَ مَحظوطاً بِعِلمٍ

فَخِفتَ عَلَيهِ تَعلاكَ الشَكيمِ

Did you think your servant well endowed with learning,

And fear that he might champ the bit?

أَفادَكَ مَحضُ وُدِّكَ فيهِ ظَنّاً

جَميلاً صُنعَ ذي قَلبٍ سَليمِ

Your pure affection gave you an opinion of him

Favorable indeed—the act of one sound of heart.

فَلم وَلَدَيكَ رَوضُ العِلمِ غَضّاً

رَعاكَ اللَهُ تُعنى بِالهَشيمِ

Why, then, when learning's garden lies fresh beside you,

God preserve you, do you concern yourself with dry stubble?

وَكائِن حُزتَ مِن مَرعى مَرِيئٍ

فَأَيَّةُ حاجَةٍ لَكَ بِالوَخيمِ

How many wholesome pastures you have gained!

What need, then, have you of the unwholesome?

وَشَرُّ إِصابَةِ الدُنيا كَريماً

إِذا ما أَحوَجَتهُ إِلى لَئيمِ

The worst blow this world deals a noble man

Is when it makes him need a base one.

يَنالُ اِبنُ الكَريمَةِ شَرَّ خَطبٍ

وَلا يَرضى التَخَلُّصَ بِالذَميمِ

The son of a noble woman will face the worst calamity,

And never consent to escape by shameful means.

أَجَل دَرَجاتُ أَهلِ العِلمِ شَتّى

تَناهيها إِلى اللَهِ العَليمِ

Yes, the ranks of the learned are diverse;

Their ultimate reach is God, the All-Knowing.

لأَمرٍ في اِزدِيادِ العِلمِ سارَت

إِلى الخَضِرِ العَزيمَةُ بِالكَليمِ

For a purpose of increasing knowledge, resolve traveled

To al-Khidr, bearing God's interlocutor.

عَدِمنا قَبلَ شِعرِكَ كَونَ شِعرٍ

قَوافيهِ مِنَ الدُرِّ اليَتيمِ

Before your verse, we knew no verse

Whose rhymes were made of peerless pearls.

جَوابٌ عَنهُ جُهدُ أَخٍ مُقِلّ

جَزاءَ التُربِ عَن تِبرٍ فَخيمِ

An answer to it is the effort of a brother with little to offer,

A payment of dust for magnificent gold.

تَرى العَينانِ في رَشّاتِ مِسكٍ

لِأَوّلِ وَهلَةٍ شَبَهَ الوَنيمِ

The eyes see, in scattered specks of musk,

At first glance, a likeness to fly-droppings.

فَتَفصِلُ مِسكَ تُبَّتَ دونَ لَبسٍ

مِنَ الحَتّيتِ جارِحَةُ الشَميمِ

Yet Tibetan musk is unerringly distinguished

From asafoetida by the organ of smell.

وَما العَرّارُ كَالرِئبالِ بَطشاً

وَإِن حاكاهُ في رَجعِ النَئيمِ

The male hyena is no lion in its attack,

Even if it imitates the echo of its roar.

إِلَيكَ فَأَغضِ جِحمَرِشٌ عَجوزٌ

تَقُصُّ مَعالِمَ الزَمَنِ القَديمِ

For you—so be indulgent—an ancient crone,

Recounting the landmarks of ancient times.

لَها في اللَهوِ ضَربٌ بَعدَ ضَربٍ

عَلى آذانِ أَصحابِ الرَقيمِ

For amusement she beats, stroke after stroke,

Upon the ears of the Companions of al-Raqim.

فَتاةٌ حينَ جُرهُمٌ اِستَعاذوا

وَطافوا بِالمَقامِ وَبِالحَطيمِ

She was a maiden when Jurhum sought refuge

And circled the Maqam and the Hatim;

وَإِذ بَكَرَت عَلى طِسمٍ جَديسٌ

وَإِذ خَرِبَت دِيارُ بَني أَميمِ

And when Jadis descended upon Tasm at dawn,

And when the dwellings of Banu Amim fell to ruin;

وَإِذ صَلِيَت تَميمٌ نارَ عَمرٍو

مُضيفِ البُرجُمِيِّ إِلى تَميمِ

And when Tamim burned in ʿAmr's fire,

Who added the Burjumi to Tamim.

هَدِيَّةُ عَبدِكَ البادِ المُساوي

فَغَطَّ مَساوِيَ العَبدِ الجَريمِ

A gift from your servant, whose faults are plain;

So cover the faults of your guilty servant.

خَدَمتُ مَقامَكَ الأَعلى اِمتِداحاً

أَتَيتُ بِهِ عَلى نَمَطٍ عَقيمِ

I served your lofty station with a panegyric,

Which I offered in a barren style.

لِشِعري مِنهُ عِزٌّ وَاِرتِفاعٌ

نَصيبَ السِلكِ مِن شَرَفِ النّظيمِ

My verse gains honor and elevation from it,

As the thread shares the nobility of its strung pearls.

وِدادُكَ في مَشيجِ دَمي وَلَحمي

وَفي عَظمي وَفي ضاحي أَديمِ

Love of you is mingled in my blood and flesh,

And in my bones and the exposed surface of my skin.

صَلاةُ اللَهِ أَزكى ما يُحَيِّي

زُجاجَةَ ذَلِكَ الوَجهِ الوَسيمِ

God's blessing is the purest salutation that greets

The crystal of that handsome face.

مَطايا الشَوقِ في قَلبِ المُعَنّى

إِلَيكَ الدَهرَ عامِلَةَ الرَسيمِ

The mounts of longing in the afflicted heart

Keep trotting toward you for all time.

وَفُضَّ تَحِيَّتَيكَ خِتام مِسكٍ

يُذيعُ أَريجُهُ طيبَ النَّسيمِ

And may a seal of musk be broken for your two greetings,

Whose fragrance spreads the sweetness of the breeze.