حياك يا ربع ليلى كل هطال — Al Burai

حياك يا ربع لَيلى كل هطال

يسقى بقية أَظلال وأَطلال

May every pouring raincloud greet you, O dwelling of Layla,

watering the remnants of shade and ruined dwellings.

وَباتَ رعد سواريه يحن إِلى

تجديد عهد بذاك المعهد البالي

And its night-clouds' thunder spent the night yearning to

renew its bond with that worn, familiar haunt.

سَقى الخَمائل من وادي الشام إِلى

سفح الخزام فشعبالشيح وَالضال

May it water the leafy groves, from Wadi al-Sham to

the foot of al-Khuzam, then the ravine of wormwood and wild lote trees.

مَلاعب اللهو لادَهري القَديم بها

دَهري القَديم وَلا حالي بها حالي

Playgrounds of delight! My former days there are no longer

my former days, nor is my state there what it was.

ذهبن أَيام أَهليها كَما ذهبت

نَسائم الريح بين المهمه الخالي

The days of their people have gone, just as vanished

the wind's breezes through the empty wilderness.

مَن لي برد نَعيم لا لحاق به

وَحيرة عَن يمن الحي حَلال

Who can restore for me a bliss now beyond reach,

and neighbors dwelling to the right of the encampment [reading uncertain]?

يَوم الغَرام غَريمي وَالحمى وَطَني

وأعين العين شغلي دون أشغالي

When passion was my creditor and the sanctuary my homeland,

and the eyes of wide-eyed beauties were my business above all others.

وَاللهو ديني وَدار الظاعنين الى

دارى وَفي الحمى أَعمامي وَأَخوالي

Pleasure was my creed; the travelers' dwelling stood beside

my dwelling, and in the sanctuary were my paternal and maternal uncles.

هَيهات ذاكَ زَمان فات أَطيبه

بالغور من غيرة تَفصيل واجمال

Alas, that was a time whose sweetest part has passed,

[Unclear wording: in al-Ghawr, from jealousy, in detail and in sum.]

اذا تذكرت أَيامي به وَكفت

عيني بعبرة ناكي العين مثكال

Whenever I recall my days there, tears pour

from my eye, the eye-searing tears of one bereaved.

ما الحب الا لقوم يَعرفون به

لا يشعرون بلوام وَعذال

Love is only for people known for it,

who pay no heed to reproachers and censurers.

وَراحة الصب أَن يَروى الصَبابة عَن

دمع يَسيل لدمع غير سيّال

The lovesick one's solace is to tell of passion through

flowing tears to tears that will not flow.

فَما عَلى القَلب أَن تَهفو نَوازعه

الى حَبيب بدين الحب مطال

What blame is on the heart if its impulses flutter

toward a beloved slow to repay love's debt?

لِلَّه در اللَيالي ما فصمن عرا

صَبري الجَميل وَلا همت باذ بالي

God bless the nights! They have not severed the bonds

of my gracious patience, nor sought to make me wither [reading uncertain].

وَالعز طود منيع لا يحل به

الا نزيل حمى أسد واشبال

Honor is an impregnable mountain, where none may lodge

except a guest within the sanctuary of lions and cubs.

المكد شبين سر الصالحين فهم

اهل الهُدى وَالندى وَالمفخر العالي

The Makdashis, the secret of the righteous—for they are

people of guidance, generosity, and lofty glory.

غَمائم الجود أَعلام الوجود فهم

سَهمي المعلى وَفألي اسعد الفال

Clouds of bounty, beacons of existence—they are

my winning arrow; my omen is the happiest of omens.

لزيمهم في رياض الخير مغتبط

وَجارهم في نَعيم ناعم البال

Their constant companion rejoices in goodness' gardens,

and their neighbor lives in bliss, his mind at ease.

يا رائِحا من ربا النيابَتين عَلى

وَجنا مجفرة الجنبين شمالال

O traveler leaving the heights of al-Niyabatayn upon

a stout, swift she-camel, broad in both flanks,

دَعها تنخ في ديار الغانمية في

روض أريض لدى جود وافضال

let her kneel in the dwellings of al-Ghanimiyya, in

a lush, spacious meadow, amid generosity and bounty,

في ريف رأفة قطب عالم علم

أغر يكثر فيه ضرب الامثال

in the fertile realm of a compassionate spiritual Pole, a scholar and beacon,

illustrious, about whom proverbial comparisons abound:

المكدشي الغياث المستغاث به

لحل منعقد أَو فتح أَفقال

al-Makdashi, the rescuer to whom appeals are made

to loosen knots or open locks.

فرد الحقيقة سنىّ الطَريقَة يا

لِلَّه من قائل بالحق فعال

Peerless in the Truth, radiant in the Way—O

God, what a man who speaks the truth and acts upon it!

غوث لِمُلتَجىء غيث لمنتجع

ليث عَلى ملة الاسلام ريمال

Refuge for one seeking shelter, rain for one seeking pasture,

a mighty lion defending the creed of Islam.

ان الفقيه جَمال الدين مدلنا

من سر مَعناه ظلا غير زوال

Indeed, the jurist Jamal al-Din has spread for us

from the mystery of his inner being a shade that never fades.

الصائم القائم المحيي الظلام وَما

ادراك ما سر ذاك القانت النالي

He fasts, keeps vigil, and enlivens the darkness—and what

can tell you the secret of that devoted reciter?

لما تمكن مه الحب من قدر

سقاه غبا بكأس من سلسال

When love took possession of him by decree,

it gave him drink at intervals, from a cup of sweet, flowing water.

فَقام في مشهد التَوفيق ممتثلا

للحق بالحق لا بالحول وَالحال

So he stood in the presence of divine favor, submitting

to the Truth through the Truth, not through power or spiritual state.

صفه بما شئتمن علم وَمن عمل

وانزل بأغلب لا جاف وَلا غالي

Describe him however you wish, in knowledge and in deed,

and lodge with a mighty man, neither aloof nor extreme,

وَبابنه شرف الدين الَّذي وَصلت

به المحامد حرف الميم وَالدال

and with his son Sharaf al-Din, who has brought together,

through his praiseworthy qualities, the letters mim and dal.

تدر بالنعمة الخضر أَنامله

فَتَخجل السحب من جود باجزال

His fingertips stream with verdant blessings,

making the clouds blush at his lavish generosity.

وَصنوه عمر ماصنوه عمر

سامي الذَوائِب واقى العرض بالمال

And his brother Umar—what a brother is Umar!—

lofty of crest, shielding his honor with wealth.

ذو العلم وَالحلم وَالتبر يزان نجمت

بين العَوالم عميا ذات اشكال

Possessor of knowledge, forbearance, and distinction, whenever there arises

among the worlds an obscure, perplexing matter.

وَسابق الدين روض الرائدين له

فضل يقهقر عنه كل مفضال

And Sabiq al-Din, the meadow of pasture-seekers, has

an excellence before which every generous man retreats.

نيطت مَكارم أَخلاق الكرام به

فكل عنه لسان القبل القال

The noble traits of generous men are bound to him,

so the tongue of talk and chatter falters before him.

تلك الثَلاثة جاهى عند والدهم

وَحصن عزى وَكنزي عند اقلالي

Those three are my means of favor with their father,

my fortress of honor, my treasure in poverty.

لِلَّه در فروع طاب عنصرهم

زهر لزهر وأبدال لابدال

God bless the branches whose stock is pure:

flowers for flowers, and abdal saints for abdal saints.

يَقفون في أثرهم آثار وَالدهم

حكم التَوابع في عطف وابدال

They follow, in their footsteps, their father's tracks,

by the rule of grammatical dependents in conjunction and apposition.

أَولاهم الفَضل من صفى سَرائرهم

عَن فخر مفتخر أَو كبر مختال

He bestowed excellence on them, He who purified their inward hearts

of a boaster's vaunting or a swaggerer's pride.

وَفي المضيضا شموس ما قصدتهم

الا رأيت بقاع الارض تطوي لي

In al-Mudayda are suns; whenever I set out toward them,

I see the earth's expanses folding up for me.

غبار تربتهم تمحى الذنوب به

فَكَم بتربتهم من حط أَثقال

By the dust of their soil sins are erased;

how many burdens are cast off through their soil!

وَكَم هنالك من حاج وَمُعتَمر

بغير سعي واحرام واهلال

And how many there are pilgrims of hajj and umra,

without ritual running, consecration, or the pilgrim's invocation!

قوم جَرى حبهم مَجرى دَمي فهم

روح لروحي وأوصال لاوصالي

A people whose love flows along the course of my blood; they are

spirit for my spirit, and limbs for my limbs.

حلت مَحاسنهم جيد الزَمان فَما

أصفى الزمات وابها جيده الحالي

Their virtues have adorned time's neck—how

pure is time, how splendid its ornamented neck!

وَزَخرفت بهجة الدنيا صَنائعهم

للعرب وَالعجم في سهل وأَجبال

Their kindnesses have embellished the world's beauty

for Arabs and non-Arabs, on plains and mountains.

يا ظلمى القصد زرنيل النوالا وَلا

يسد عينك عنه لامع الآل

O thirsty seeker, visit the Nile of bounty, and do not

let a glittering mirage block your sight of it.

تَلقى بني مكدش الاجواد بحر غنى

يغنيك عَن ورد ضحضاح واوشال

You will find the generous sons of Makdash an ocean of wealth,

sparing you from drinking at shallows and scant pools.

يا سَيدي يوسف اسمع ما أَقول وَلا

تهمل جنابي فَلَستم أَهل اهمال

O my master Yusuf, hear what I say, and do not

neglect my welfare, for you are not given to neglect.

لي منك بل من بينك الغرواقية

بِاللَه تَغتال عَني كل مغتال

From you—indeed, from your radiant sons—I have a shield

that, by God, slays every treacherous assailant threatening me.

وَالبيت بيتكم وَالغرس غَرسكم

وَالدهر ما بين ادبار واقبال

The house is your house, and the planting is your planting;

time alternates between decline and prosperity.

فاِحموا حماكم وَقولوا لا تخف دركا

من اعتِداء عدوّ أَو قلى قالي

So protect your sanctuary, and say, 'Do not fear being overtaken

by an enemy's assault or a hater's malice.'

فَلي ظنون وآمال بكم حسنت

لا خيب اللَه منكم حسن آمالي

For fair are the expectations and hopes I hold of you;

may God not disappoint my fine hopes in you.

دمتم وَدامَت رياض الدين مسفرة

منكم بشيب وَشبان واطفال

May you endure, and may the gardens of religion remain radiant

through you—with grey-haired elders, youths, and children.

وَجادَ ترب المضيضا كل منسجم

يهمى بعارضتَعظيمواجلال

May every streaming raincloud water the soil of al-Mudayda,

pouring from a cloudbank of glorification and reverence.