ذكر العقيق فسال من أجفانه — أبو المعالي الطالوي

ذكر العَقيقَ فَسالَ مِن أَجفانِهِ

وَاِشتفَّهُ وَجدٌ إِلى سُكانِهِ

He recalled al-‘Aqiq, and tears flowed from his eyelids;

and longing for its inhabitants consumed him.

وَاِشتَمَّ في ريح الصَبا أَرجَ الصّبا

فَصَبا حَليفَ جَوىً إِلى أَوطانِهِ

He inhaled youth's fragrance in the east wind,

and, bound to heartache, yearned for his homelands.

وَشَجاهُ مَسجور الفُؤادِ إِلى الحِمى

وُرقٌ سَواجِعُ هِجن مِن أَشجانِهِ

And, his heart aflame for the sanctuary, he was saddened

by cooing gray doves that stirred his sorrows.

تروى عَنِ الورقِ الغَرامَ وَطالَ ما

دَرَسَت فُنون العِشقِ في أَفنانِهِ

They tell of passion from the leaves, and long have

they studied love's arts among its boughs.

فيهِنّ سالِمَة الحَشا مِن لَوعَةٍ

لَم تَدرِ طَعمَ الوَصلِ مِن هِجرانِهِ

Among them is one whose breast is free of anguish;

she has not learned union's savor through separation.

تُمسي وَتُصبِحُ في أَرائِكِ أَيكَةٍ

مَع إِلفِها وَالعُمرُ في رَيعانِهِ

She spends evening and morning on the couches of a grove,

with her mate, while life is in its prime.

تَرتادُ رَوضَ الشامِ أَخصَب مَنزِلٍ

حَيثُ العرارُ صَغى إِلى حَوذانِهِ

She seeks al-Sham's garden, the most fertile abode,

where fragrant ‘arar leans toward its buttercups;

حَيثُ المَعالِم مُشرِقاتٌ بِالدُمى

وَالغانيات يَطُفنَ حَولَ مَغانِهِ

where the landmarks shine with statue-like beauties,

and lovely women circle its dwelling places.

في ظِلِّ مُنبَجِسِ اللُجَينِ جَرى بِهِ

ذَهَبُ الأَصيلِ يَسيلُ مِن قيعانِهِ

In the shade of welling silver, through which flowed

the gold of late afternoon, streaming from its hollows.

أَلمى الظلال كَأَنَّ سُمرَتهُ لَمىً

عَذبُ المَراشِفِ نَدَّ عَن غُزلانِهِ

Dark in its shadows, as though its brownness were a lip's dusky tint;

sweet-lipped, it has strayed away from its gazelles.

بَينا تراودُ فيهِ مِن عَذبٍ إِلى

عَذب يَفوق عَلى العُذَيبِ وَبانِهِ

While she roamed there from one sweetness to

another, surpassing al-‘Udhayb and its ban trees,

في صَفوِ عَيش إِذ رَمَتها نيّةٌ

لِلرُوم فاخِتُها بِسودِ رِعانِهِ

in life's serenity, a journey's intent cast her

toward Rum—its turtledove—among its black mountain-spurs.

هَبَطَت بِها الأَقدار أَرضاً لَم يَكُن

فيها نُزول الوَحي مِن فُرقانِهِ

Fate brought her down to a land where there had been no

descent of revelation from His Criterion.

سَوداءُ مُظلِمَةُ الفَضاء كَأَنَّها

قَلبُ الحَسود عَلَيهِ ظُلمَةُ رانِهِ

Black, dark in its expanse, as though it were

the envious man's heart, dark with its encrusting stain.

فَغَدَت تَنوحُ عَلى الدِيار بِمَدمَعٍ

سَحٍّ يُباري الغَيثَ في تَهتانِهِ

So she began lamenting the abodes with tears

pouring forth, matching the rain in its downpour.

ماسورةُ القَلبِ المُعنّى مِن جَوىً

مَسجورةُ الأَحشاءِ مِن نيرانِهِ

Her tormented heart held captive by heartache,

her innards set aflame by its fires.

تَبكي إِذا ذُكِرَ الحِمى حَيثُ الحِمى

رَوضٌ تَفَرَّد في ذُرى أَغصانِهِ

She weeps whenever the sanctuary is recalled, where that sanctuary

is a garden unrivaled in the heights of its boughs.

تَنفَكُّ تَنثُرُ لُؤلُؤاً مِن مَدمَعٍ

كَالدُرِّ ينظمُ في سُموط جُمانِهِ

She keeps scattering pearls from a tearful eye,

like pearls strung on strands of its pearly beads,

حَتّى تَرى رَوضَ الحِمى أَو تَجتَلي

رَوضَ اِبنِ بُستانٍ إِمامِ زَمانِهِ

until she sees the sanctuary's garden, or beholds

the garden of Ibn Bustan, the leader of his age:

قاضي العَساكر مَن تَبَوّأ مَنزِلاً

تُمسي النُجومُ الزُهرُ مِن أَخدانِهِ

the judge of the armies, who attained a station

where the radiant stars become his companions.

المُعتلي شَرَفَ العُلا بِبيانِهِ

المُجتَلي سِرَّ القَضا بِعِيانِهِ

He who ascends the heights of exaltation through his eloquence,

who discerns judgment's secret through direct vision.

ذُو غايَةٍ في المَجدِ رامَ بُلوغَها ال

فَلَكُ المُحيطُ فَجدَّ في دَوَرانِهِ

He has a goal in glory; seeking to attain it, the

encompassing sphere hastened in its revolutions.

سَبَقتهُ فَاِستَعدى عَلَينا طاوِياً

لِصَحائِف الأَعمالِ في سُرعانِهِ

His goal outstripped it; then it sought redress against us, folding

the scrolls of deeds in its haste.

لِلَّهِ مَولىً هامُ هِمَّتِه سما

هامَ السِماك فحلَّ فَوقَ مكانِهِ

God be praised for a lord whose ambition's crown overtopped

the crown of al-Simak, and settled above its station.

مولىً تَرَدّى الفضلُ أَبهى حُلَّة

تَوشيعُها المَعروفُ مِن إِحسانِهِ

A lord: excellence has donned the fairest robe,

its embroidery the kindness of his beneficence.

ظِلُّ المُحيّا لَو يُقابل نُورَهُ

بَدرُ الدُجى لِحِماه عَن نُقصانِهِ

The shade of his face—if its light were faced by

the full moon of night—would protect that moon from waning.

وِإِذا دَجى لَيلُ الخُطوبِ فَرَأيُهُ

فيها كَضوءِ الشَمس في لَمَعانِهِ

And when the night of calamities darkens, his counsel

shines amid them like sunlight in its brilliance.

ماضي العَزائِمِ خَيرُ مَولى أمَّه

رَكبٌ يَجوب البيدَ في رَمَلانِهِ

Resolute in his designs, the best lord, sought out by

a caravan crossing the deserts in its brisk stride.

في ثَني بُردَيه إِمامُ تَقىً وَفي

حِقوَيه رَضوى بانَ بَعدَ إِبانِهِ

In the folds of his two mantles is an imam of piety, and within

his loins, Radwa, revealed after its severance.

هُوَ مَن عَلِمتَ فَدَع سِواهُ وَمَن يُرِد

بِحرَ المَكارم صَدَّ عَن غُدرانِهِ

He is the one you know; leave all others. Whoever seeks

the sea of noble deeds turns away from its pools.

بَحرٌ لَنا مِن راحَتيهِ جَداوِلٌ

طَفَحَت فَسالَت مِن مَسيلِ بَنانِهِ

A sea from whose palms we have streams

that overflow and pour from the channels of his fingertips.

مُتَبَسِّمٌ يَومَ النَدى لعُفاتِهِ

كَالرَوضِ ضاحَكَهُ نَدى هَتّانِهِ

Smiling at his petitioners on the day of giving,

like a garden whose showering dew smiles with it.

ما رَدَّ يَوماً سائِلاً وَلَهُ سَطى

باس تَردُّ الدَهرَ عَن حَدَثانِهِ

Never has he turned away a petitioner, and his is a force

of valor that keeps Time from unleashing its calamities.

راوي حَديث العِلمِ عَن نُعمانِهِ

حاوي فُنون الفَضلِ مِن بُستانِهِ

Transmitting the lore of learning from his Nu‘man,

gathering excellence's arts from his garden, Bustan—

العالِمُ الطهرُ الَّذي ظَهَرَت لَهُ

كَشفاً شُؤون الحَقِّ في أَعيانِهِ

the pure scholar, to whom were revealed,

through unveiling, the workings of the Real in His entities.

وَجَلا صَدا الأَلوان عَن مِرآتِهِ

وَرَأى وُجُودَ الحَقِّ في سَرَيانِهِ

He polished the rust of colors from his mirror,

and saw the Real's existence in His all-pervading flow.

فَأَتى عَلى عين اليَقينِ وَقَد مَضى

وَالقَومُ فيهِم غَفلَة عَن شانِهِ

Thus he attained the eye of certainty, and has passed away,

while the people remain heedless of his standing.

صَبَّ الإِلَهُ سَحابَ رَحمَتِهِ عَلى

ذاكَ الضَريح وَحاضِري جِيرانهِ

May God pour the clouds of His mercy upon

that tomb and those of his neighbors gathered there,

حَتّى يَعودَ ثَراه أَنضَر رَوضَةٍ

فيها جَميمُ النَبتِ مِن رَيحانِهِ

until his grave's earth becomes the freshest garden,

with luxuriant growth of its fragrant herbs.

وَغَدَت تَحايا الرَب كُلَّ عَشيَّةٍ

تُهدى إِلَيهِ عَلى يَدي رِضوانِهِ

And may the Lord's greetings, every evening,

be conveyed to him by the hands of His Ridwan.

فَبِحَقِّهِ رَبا عَلَيكَ وَوالِدا

وَبِحَق ما تَرعاه مِن رِضوانِهِ

So by his claim upon you as master and father,

and by the right of his good pleasure that you uphold,

أَلّا نَظَرتَ لِعَبدِ بابِكَ راحِما

فَالدَهرُ جارَ عَلَيهِ في عُدوانِهِ

will you not look mercifully upon the servant at your gate?

For Time has wronged him in its hostility.

عطفاً عَلَيهِ بِمَنصبٍ يَسمو بِهِ

بَينَ الأَنام وَمِزه عَن أَقرانِهِ

Show him kindness with an office that raises him

among mankind, and distinguish him from his peers.

فَلَقَد شَجاه جاهِلٌ في دَرسِهِ

يَرقى وَرَبُّ الفَضلِ في حِرمانِهِ

For an ignoramus has grieved him: in his teaching post

he advances, while the man of merit remains deprived.

حاشا لِما حَرَستهُ كَفُّ نَداك أَن

يَذوي وَفَيضُ نَداك في جَرَيانِهِ

Far be it that what your generous hand has guarded should

wither while the flood of your generosity still flows;

وَلِمثل فَيضِكَ أَو يُؤخِّر ساعَةً

عَنهُ وَهَذا الوَقتُ وَقتَ أَوانِهِ

or that bounty like yours should be delayed even an hour

from him, when this moment is its proper time.

وَاِستَجلها عَربِيَّةً أَوطانُها

شِعب الغَوير وَمُلتَقى كُثبانِهِ

And behold her unveiled, an Arab maiden whose homelands are

the ravine of al-Ghuwayr and the meeting of its dunes.

قَلَّدتَها دُرَّ المَدائِحِ لُؤلُؤاً

رَطبا يَكاد يَفوقُ دُرَّ عُمانِهِ

You have garlanded her with pearls of praise—pearls

fresh, almost surpassing Oman's pearls.

وَكَسَوتَها وَشيَ الثَناءِ مُحبَّرا

بُرداً يَفوحُ المسك مِن أَردانِهِ

And you have dressed her in praise's embroidery, a richly patterned

mantle, with musk wafting from its sleeves.

وَاِبسُط لَها كَفّ الرَجا وَأَقِم لَها

بِالروم وَزناً تَعلُ في ميزانِهِ

And extend to her the hand of hope, and establish for her

weight in Rum, so she may rise in its balance.

فَالشعر عِندَ القَومِ حاشا سَيّدي

لا فَرقَ بَينَ هَجينه وَهِجانِهِ

For, among those people—my lord excepted—as to poetry,

there is no distinction between its mongrel and its purebred.

وَاِسلَم وَدُم في نِعمَةٍ مَحسودَةٍ

طولَ المَدى وَالعَيشُ في رَيّانِهِ

Remain safe, and endure in an enviable blessing

for all time, with life in its luxuriant fullness.

وَبَنُوكَ أَقمارُ الفَضائل ما سَرى

بَرقٌ فَهاجَ الصَبّ في لَمَعانِهِ

And your sons be moons of virtue, as long as there courses by night

lightning, stirring the lovesick one with its gleam.