يا ليل الصب متى غده — Abou Al Hassan Al Housri

يا ليلُ الصبُّ متى غدُه

أقيامُ السَّاعةِ مَوْعِدُهُ

O night of the lovelorn, when will its dawn come?

Is the coming of the Last Hour its appointed time?

رقدَ السُّمَّارُ فأَرَّقه

أسفٌ للبيْنِ يردِّدهُ

The nighttime companions slept, but he was kept awake

by grief for parting, which he voices again and again.

فبكاهُ النجمُ ورقَّ له

ممّا يرعاه ويرْصُدهُ

The star wept for him and felt pity for him

for the way he watches it and keeps vigil over it.

كلِفٌ بغزالٍ ذِي هَيَفٍ

خوفُ الواشين يشرّدهُ

Enamored of a slender-waisted gazelle,

whom fear of talebearers drives away.

نصَبتْ عينايَ له شرَكاً

في النّومِ فعزَّ تصيُّدهُ

My eyes set a snare for him

in sleep, but catching him proved hard.

وكفى عجباً أَنِّي قنصٌ

للسِّرب سبانِي أغْيَدهُ

And wonder enough that I am the prey

of the herd, whose graceful one has taken me captive.

صنمٌ للفتنةٍ منتصبٌ

أهواهُ ولا أتعبَّدُهُ

An idol standing to tempt,

I love him, but do not worship him.

صاحٍ والخمرُ جَنَى فمِهِ

سكرانُ اللحظ مُعرْبدُهُ

He is sober, though wine is the fruit of his mouth;

his glance is drunken and riotous.

ينضُو مِنْ مُقْلتِه سيْفاً

وكأَنَّ نُعاساً يُغْمدُهُ

He draws a sword from his eye,

as though drowsiness were sheathing it.

فيُريقُ دمَ العشّاقِ به

والويلُ لمن يتقلّدهُ

With it he spills lovers' blood,

and woe to whoever girds himself with it.

كلّا لا ذنْبَ لمن قَتَلَتْ

عيناه ولم تَقتُلْ يدهُ

No indeed: there is no guilt for one whose

eyes have killed, while his hand has not.

يا من جَحَدتْ عيناه دمِي

وعلى خدَّيْه توَرُّدهُ

O you whose eyes deny shedding my blood,

though its red bloom lies upon his cheeks!

خدّاكَ قد اِعْتَرَفا بدمِي

فعلامَ جفونُك تجْحَدهُ

Your cheeks have confessed to my blood;

why, then, do your eyelids deny it?

إنّي لأُعيذُكَ من قَتْلِي

وأظُنُّك لا تَتَعمَّدهُ

I would surely shield you from killing me,

and I think you do not intend it.

باللّه هَبِ المشتاق كَرَى

فلعَلَّ خيالَكَ يِسْعِدهُ

By God, grant the yearning lover sleep,

so perhaps your phantom may bring him joy.

ما ضَرَّك لو داوَيْتَ ضَنَى

صَبٍّ يُدْنيكَ وتُبْعِدهُ

What harm would it do you to heal the wasting

of a lovelorn one who draws you near while you drive him away?

لم يُبْقِ هواك له رَمَقا

فلْيَبْكِ عليه عُوَّدُهُ

Your love has left him not a breath of life;

let his sickbed visitors weep for him.

وغداً يَقْضِي أو بَعْدَ غَدٍ

هل مِنْ نَظَرٍ يتَزَوَّدهُ

Tomorrow he will die, or the day after;

is there a glimpse he may take as provision?

يا أهْلَ الشوقِ لنا شَرَقٌ

بالدّمعِ يَفيضُ مَوْرِدُهُ

O people of longing, we are choking

on tears whose wellspring overflows.

يهْوى المُشْتاقُ لقاءَكُمُ

وظروفُ الدَّهْرِ تُبَعِّدهُ

The yearning lover longs to meet you,

but time's circumstances keep him far away.

ما أحلى الوَصْلَ وأَعْذَبهُ

لولا الأيّامُ تُنَكِّدهُ

How sweet and lovely is union,

if only the days did not embitter it

بالبَينِ وبالهجرانِ فيا

لِفُؤَادِي كيف تَجَلُّدهُ

with parting and estrangement! O,

my heart—how steadfast is its endurance!

الحُبُّ أعَفُّ ذَويهِ أنا

غيرِي بالباطِلِ يُفْسِدهُ

In love, I am the chastest of its devotees;

others corrupt it with falsehood.

كالدَّهْر أَجلُّ بَنِيهِ أبو

عَبْدِ الرَّحْمنِ مُحَمَّدهُ

So too with Time: its noblest son is Abu

Abd al-Rahman, its Muhammad.

العفُّ الطاهِرُ مِئْزرُهُ

والحرُّ الطَّيَّبُ مَوْلِدُهُ

The chaste one, whose waistcloth is pure,

the freeborn man, whose birth is unstained.

شفَعَتْ في الأَصْلِ وزارَتُه

وزكا فتفَوَّقَ سُؤْددُهُ

His vizierate reinforced his lineage;

it flourished, and his eminence surpassed all.

كَسَبَ الشَّرَفَ السامِي فغدا

فوْقَ الجوزاءِ يُشَيِّدُهُ

He won lofty honor, and came

to build it higher than al-Jawza.

وكفاه غلامٌ أَوْرَثَهُ

إِسْحَاق المَجْدِ وأَحْمَدهُ

And enough for him is a youth made heir by

glory's Ishaq and its Ahmad.

ما زالَ يجولُ مَدىً فَمَدىً

ويحلُّ الأَمْرَ وَيَعْقِدهُ

He kept ranging from one reach to another,

untying affairs and tying them.

حتّى أَعطَتهُ رئاسَتُه

وسياسَتُه ومهُنَّدهُ

Until he was rewarded by his leadership,

his statecraft, and his Indian-forged sword.

فاليومَ هو الملِكُ الأَعْلَى

مولَى مَنْ شَاءَ وسَيّدُهُ

Today he is the highest king,

patron and master of whomever he chooses.

ميمونُ العُمْرِ مبارَكُهُ

منصورُ المُلكِ مُؤيَّدهُ

His life is fortunate and blessed,

his kingship victorious and upheld.

هَيْنٌ لَيْنٌ في عِزَّتِهِ

لكن في الحرْبِ تَشَدُّدُهُ

Gentle and pliant in his might,

yet stern in war.

يطوِي الأيّامَ وَينْشُرُها

ويُقيمُ الدهرَ ويُقْعِدهُ

He folds up the days and spreads them out,

makes Time stand up and sit down.

شُهِرَتْ كالشّمسِ فضائِلُهُ

فأقرّ عداهُ وحُسَّدهُ

His virtues became famed like the sun,

so his enemies and enviers acknowledged them.

لا يُطرِبُهُ التَّغْريدُ ولَوْ

غَنَّى بالأَرْغُنِ مَعْبَدهُ

Song does not delight him, even if

his Ma'bad sang to the organ.

والخَمْرُ فلَيْسَتْ مِنْهُ ولا

لعبُ الشَّيْطانِ ولا دَدُهُ

Wine is no part of him, nor

Satan's games, nor his idle diversions.

تركَ اللَّذَّاتِ فهِمَّتُهُ

عِلْمٌ يَرْويهِ ويُسْنِدهُ

He left pleasures behind; his ambition is

knowledge he transmits and traces to its authorities.

وبداً في المُلْكِ تُرَغِّبُه

وبُقىً في المالِ تُزهّدهُ

And beginnings that draw him toward kingship,

and remnants that make him renounce wealth.

وذكاءٌ مثل النَّارِ جَلا

ظُلَمَ الشُّبُهاتِ تَوقُّدهُ

And intelligence like fire, dispelling

the darkness of doubts with its blaze.

وهُدَىً في الخيرِ يُرَغِّبُه

وتُقىً في المُلك يزهّدهُ

And guidance that draws him toward goodness,

and piety that makes him renounce kingship.

وحَواشٍ رقَّتْ مِنْ أَدَبِ

حتّى فَضَحت من يِنشدهُ

And traits made gentle by cultivation,

until they shamed whoever recited to him.

لا عُذرَ لمادِحِهِ إن لَمْ

يدفق بغرِيبٍ يَنْقُدهُ

His panegyrist has no excuse unless he

pours forth rarities for him to appraise.

غَيْلانُ الشِّعْر قُدَامَتُه

جَرْمِيُّ النَّحْو مُبَرّدُهُ

He is poetry's Ghaylan, its Qudama,

grammar's Jarmi, its Mubarrad,

وخَليلُ لُغاتِ الْعُرْبِ يق

فِي كتابَ الْعَيْنِ وَيَسْرُدهُ

and Khalil of the Arabs' tongues, following

the Book of al-'Ayn and reciting it.

لما خاطبتُ وخاطَبَنِي

لم يخفَ عَلَيَّ تَعَبُّدهُ

When I addressed him and he addressed me,

his devotion was not hidden from me.

فنزلتُ له عن طرف السَّبْ

قِ وقلتُ بكَفِّكَ مِقْوَدهُ

So I yielded to him the steed of the

race, and said, 'Its rein is in your hand.'

لو يعدَم عِلْمٌ أو كَرَم

أيقنتُ بِأَنَّكَ تُوجِدهُ

Were knowledge or generosity to vanish,

I am certain you would bring it into being.

من ذَمَّ الدهْرَ وزاركَ يا

مَلِكَ الدُّنْيا فَسَيَحْمَدهُ

Whoever reviles Time and visits you, O

king of the world, will come to praise it.

إن ذَلَّ فجيْشُك ينْصرُهُ

أو ضَلَّ فرأْيُكَ يُرْشِدهُ

If he is humbled, your army aids him;

if he strays, your judgment guides him;

أو راحَ إلى أُمنيتِهِ

ظمآن فحَوْضُكَ يُورِدُهُ

or if he goes toward his heart's desire

thirsty, your basin brings him to water.

أنتَ الدنيا والدينُ لنا

وكريمُ العَصر وأَوحَدُهُ

You are our worldly life and our faith,

the generous one of the age, its peerless man.

لو أنَّ الصَّخْرَ سقاهُ نَدَى

كَفَّيْكَ لأَوْرَقَ جَلْمَدهُ

Were the rock watered by the dew

of your hands, its hard stone would put forth leaves.

والرُّكْنُ لو اِنّك لامِسُهُ

لاِبيَضّ بكفّكَ أَسْوَدُهُ

And the Corner—if you touched it,

its black stone would whiten beneath your palm.

يَطوي السُّفّارُ إليكَ مَدىً

باللَّيْلِ فَيسْهَرُ أَرمدُهُ

Travelers cross long distances toward you

by night; even their sore-eyed traveler stays awake.

ويهونُ عَلَيهِم شَحطُ نَوىً

يُطْوَى بِحَديثكَ فَدْفَدُهُ

Far-off journeys grow easy for them;

their wilderness is crossed with tales of you.

والمَشرِقُ أنبأَ مُتْهِمُهُ

بالفضلِ عليكَ وَمُنْجِدُهُ

The East's dwellers in Tihama have proclaimed,

along with its dwellers in Najd, your excellence.

والعينُ تراك فيُسْتَشْفَى

مطروفُ الجَفْنِ وَأَرْمَدُهُ

The eye sees you, bringing healing

to one with an injured eyelid, and to one with inflammation.

سعِدَتْ أيَّامُ الشَّرْقِ وما

طَلَعَتْ إِلّا بِكَ أَسْعُدُهُ

The days of the East grew fortunate, and never

did its lucky stars rise except through you.

وأَضَاءَ الحَقُّ لِمُرسِيةٍ

لَمَّا أَورَت بك أَزْنُدُهُ

Truth shone forth for Murcia

when its fire-sticks struck sparks through you.

بالعدْلِ قمعتَ مظالِمَها

وَبِحُسنِ الرأَيِ تُسَدِّدهُ

With justice you crushed its wrongs,

and with sound judgment you set it straight.

وجلبتَ لها العُلَمَاءَ فلمْ

تَترُك عِلما تَتَزَيَّدُهُ

You brought scholars to it, leaving

no branch of learning for it still to acquire.

وزرعتَ من المعروف لها

ما عند اللّه ستَحْصُدهُ

You sowed acts of kindness for it,

which you will harvest in God's presence.

واِهتَزَّ لإسْمِكَ مِنبَرُها

فليدعُ به من يَصْعَدهُ

Its pulpit stirred at your name;

let whoever ascends it invoke that name in prayer.

قد كان الشيخُ أخا كرم

ينهلُّ عَلَى من يَقْصِدهُ

The elder was a man of generosity,

lavishing it upon whoever sought him.

فمضى وبقِيتَ لنا خَلَفاً

من كُلِّ كريم نَفْقِدهُ

He passed away, and you remained for us a successor

to every generous man we lose.

فاللّه يقيكَ السّوءَ لنا

وبرحمتِهِ يتَغَمَّدهُ

May God protect you from harm for our sake,

and enfold him in His mercy.

ولقد ذَهَبَتْ نُعْمَى عَيْشِي

وطريفُ المالِ ومُتْلَدهُ

The comfort of my life has gone,

and both newly gained and inherited wealth.

أمُحِبُّكَ يدخُلُ مَجْلسه

فيقال أهَذَا مَسْجدُهُ

Must your admirer enter his sitting room

and hear, 'Is this his mosque?'

لا بُسْط به إلا حُصرٌ

فعسى نعماكَ تمَهِّدهُ

There are no carpets there, only reed mats;

may your bounty furnish it.

فاِبعَث لمُصَلٍّ أَبْسِطَةً

في الصَّفِّ لِيحْسُن مَقْعَدُهُ

So send rugs to a man at prayer

in the row, to grace his seat.

وَعساك إذا أنعَمْتَ به

من صاحِبِهِ لا تُفْرِدُهُ

And perhaps, when you grant it,

you will not part it from its companion.

باِثنين يُغَطّى البَيتُ ولا

يُكْسَي بالفرْدِ مُجَرَّدُهُ

With two the room is covered; not

with a single one is its bareness clothed.

صلني بهما واِغنَم شُكرِي

فثنائِي عليكَ أُخَلِّدهُ

Give me both, and win my thanks;

I shall make my praise of you immortal.

أَتُراكَ غَضِبتَ لما زَعموا

وطمَى من بحركَ مُزْبدهُ

Have you grown angry at what they claimed,

so that your sea's foam has surged,

وَبَدا من سيفِكَ مُبرِقُه

وَعلا من صوتك مُرْعِدهُ

your sword's lightning has appeared,

and your voice's thunder has risen?

هَل تأتِي الرّيحُ على رَضْوَى

فتقوّيه وتُصَعِّدهُ

Can the wind come upon Radwa,

strengthen it and lift it up?

أَنتَ المولى والعبدُ أنا

فبأَيِّ وَعيدِك تُوعِدهُ

You are the master, and I the slave;

with which of your threats would you threaten him?

ما لِي ذنبٌ فتعاقبُنِي

كذب الواشِي تَبَّتْ يدهُ

I have no sin for you to punish me;

the talebearer lied—may his hand perish!

ولو اِستَحقَقتُ مُعاقَبَةً

لأبى كرمٌ تَتَعَوَّدهُ

Even if I deserved punishment,

the generosity you practice would refuse it.

عَن غير رضايَ جَرَتْ أشيا

ءُ تُغيضُ سواكَ وتُجْمِدهُ

Without my consent, there occurred things

that would dry up anyone but you and freeze him.

واللّهُ بذاك قضى لا أنْ

تَ فلَسْتُ عليكَ أعدِّدهُ

God decreed that, not

you; so I do not count it against you.

لا تغد عليَّ بمُجْتَرِمٍ

لم يثْبُتْ عندك شُهَّدهُ

Do not assail me over an alleged offense

whose witnesses have not been established before you.

فوزيرُ العَصرِ وَكاتِبُه

ومرسِّلُه ومُقَصِّدهُ

The age's vizier and secretary,

its writer of letters and composer of odes,

يُبْدِي ما قلتُ بمجلِسِهِ

أَيضاً ولسوفَ يُفَنِّدُهُ

will disclose what I said in his gathering,

and will also surely refute it.

إِن كنتُ سببتكُ فُضَّ فمِي

وَكفرتُ برَبٍّ أَعْبُدهُ

If I insulted you, may my mouth be shattered,

and may I have denied the Lord I worship!

حاشا أدبي وسنا حسبِي

من ذَمِّ كريم أَحْمَدهُ

Far be my cultivation and my lineage's radiance

from reviling a generous man whom I praise.

سَتجودُ لعبدِكَ بالعفو

فيذيبُ الغَيْظَ ويطردُهُ

You will bestow pardon upon your slave,

and it will melt anger and drive it away.

وقديمُ الوُدِّ ستذكرُهُ

وتجدِّدُهُ وتؤَكِّدُهُ

You will remember our old affection,

renew it and confirm it.

أوَ ليسَ قديمُ فخارِكَ ين

شينِي وَعُلاكَ يُشَيِّدهُ

Does not your ancient glory intoxicate

me, while your loftiness builds it higher?

يا بدرَ التّمِّ نكحتَ الشَّمْ

سَ فذاك بُنيّك فَرْقَدهُ

O full moon, you have married the

sun; that little son of yours is its Farqad star.

فَاِسلَم للدين تُمَهِّدُهُ

ولِشَمْلِ الكفْرِ تُبدِّدهُ

Live safe, laying firm foundations for faith,

and dispersing unbelief's gathered ranks.

واِقبل غَيْداءَ محبَّرَةً

لفظاً كالدُّرِّ مُنَضّدُهُ

Accept a graceful maiden, artfully adorned

in words like pearls, neatly strung.

لو أَنّ جميلاً أَنشَدَها

في الحيَّ لذابتْ خُرَّدُهُ

Had Jamil recited her

among the clan, its bashful maidens would have melted.

أهديتُ الشِّعْرَ على شَحَطٍ

ونداك قريبٌ مَوْلِدهُ

I offered this poetry from far away,

though the source of your bounty is near.

ما أَجوَدَ شِعرِي في خَبَبٍ

والشعرُ قليلٌ جَيِّدهُ

How excellent my verse in khabab meter,

though good poetry is scarce.

لولاك تساوَى بَهْرَجُهُ

في سُوقِ الصَّرْفِ وعسْجَدهُ

Were it not for you, its counterfeit would equal

its gold in the exchange market.

وَلَضاع الشعرُ لذِي أدَبٍ

أو ينفقهُ من يَنْقُدهُ

And a man of letters' poetry would go to waste,

unless one who appraises it sets it in circulation.

فَعَليك سلامُ اللَّهِ مَتى

غنَّى بالأيك مُغَرِّدهُ

Upon you be God's peace whenever

the thickets' songbird sings among them.