لو كنت تعلم منتهى برحائه — Al Imad Al Asbahani

لو كنتَ تعلمُ منتهى بُرَحائه

حابَيْتَ إبقاءً على حَوْبائهِ

If you knew the utmost extent of his anguish,

you would show favor, to spare his soul.

ولكنتَ تتركُ في الغرام ملامَهُ

كيلا يزيدَ اللّومُ في إغرائهِ

And you would cease reproaching him for love,

lest reproach further inflame him.

لا تنكرِنْ ضحكي أُريكَ تجلُّداً

ضحكُ الحيا بالبرقِ عينُ بكائهِ

Do not condemn my laughter; I show you fortitude.

The raincloud's laughter in lightning is its very weeping.

ما كنتُ أَعلمُ دمعَ عيني مفشياً

سِرّاً لهم أَشفقتُ من إفشائهِ

I had not known my eye's tears to be revealing

to them a secret whose disclosure I feared,

حتى جرى في الخدِّ منّي أَسْطُراً

فعرفتُ أَنَّ الشوقَ من إملائهِ

until they ran in written lines down my cheek;

then I knew that longing was what they dictated.

ما كان أَعذبَ بالعذيْب لدى الصبا

عيشاً أَمنتُ فناءَهُ بفنائهِ

How sweet at al-Udhayb, in youth, was

a life whose ending I felt safe from within its precincts!

إذ كاسمهِ ماءُ العُذيبِ وأَهلُه

في العزِّ تحسدُهم نجومُ سمائهِ

There al-Udhayb's water was sweet as its name, and its people

were envied in their glory by the stars of its sky.

والحيُّ شمسُ الأفقِ تخبأ وجهها

منه حياءً من شموسِ خبائهِ

And that encampment—the horizon's sun hides her face

from it, ashamed before the suns within its pavilion.

أَيامَ لم أُبصرْ جميلاً فيهمُ

إلاّ وفاءَ إلى جميل وفائهِ

In days when I saw no handsome man among them

but he turned to the beauty of his faithfulness.

ومقرطقٍ أَلفيتُ قلبي آبقاً

منّي له فالقلبُ قلبُ قبائهِ

And one in a short tunic—I found my heart a fugitive

from me to him: my heart is the heart of his robe.

قلق الوشاحِ محبُّه قلقُ الحشا

فكلاهما ظامٍ إلى أَحشائهِ

His sash is restless; his lover is restless at heart;

both thirst for his waist.

ويشدُّ عَقْدَ نِطاقهِ في خصْره

حَذرَاً عليهِ لضعفهِ ووهائهِ

He tightens his girdle's knot around his waist,

fearing for it because of its weakness and frailty.

بدرٌ فؤادي في محبّةِ وجههِ

بدريُّةُ المَعدودُ مِنْ شهدائهِ

A full moon—my heart, in loving his face,

is of Badr, numbered among his martyrs.

إشراقُ غُرَّةِ وجههِ في صدغهِ

يُبدي لكَ الإصباحَ في إمسائهِ

The radiance of his bright face against his temple-lock

shows you dawn within his dusk.

منشورُ إقطاعِ القلوبِ عِذارُه

فالحسنُ جندٌ وهو مِن أُمرائهِ

His cheek-down is the charter granting hearts in fief;

beauty is an army, and he is one of its commanders.

وله الشّبابُ الغضُّ أَبدعَ كاتبٌ

إذ خَطُّهُ المرقومُ مِن إنشائهِ

Tender youth is his most inventive scribe,

for his inscribed script is of its composition.

وشّى بخطِّ عِذارهِ وجناته

ما أَحسنَ الخضراءَ في حمرائهِ

It embroidered his cheeks with the line of his down:

how lovely the green amid his red!

دبَّ الدُّخانُ إلى حواشي خدِّه

إذ أَشعلتْ نارُ الصِّبا في مائهِ

Smoke crept to the edges of his cheek

as youth's fire blazed in his watery sheen.

في عارضيهِ سوادُ أَبصارِ الورى

قد شفَّ من ماءِ الصِّبا لصفائهِ

Upon his cheeks, the blackness of all people's eyes

has shown through youth's moisture because of its clarity.

والصُّدغُ منه لعارضيهِ معارضٌ

وسوادُ ذاكَ الخطِّ من أَفيائهِ

His temple-lock stands opposite his cheek-down,

and that line's blackness comes from its shadows.

ومن المحبِّ ولم يَدَعْ رمقاً له

هلا أَخذتَ زمامَهُ لذمائهِ

And from the lover—though he left him no breath of life—

why not take his reins to preserve his last spark?

أَعدى سقامُ اللّحظِ منه محبّهُ

يا محنتي منه ومن أَعدائهِ

The languor of his glance infected his lover.

Ah, my torment from him and from his enemies!

وسقامُ مقلته زيادةُ حسنها

وأَراهُ في جسمي زيادة دائهِ

The languor of his eye increases its beauty,

yet in my body I see it increasing its sickness.

يا صاحبيَّ الصّاحبين من الهوى

قد طالَ عهدُكما بكأس طلائهِ

O my two companions, companions through love,

long has it been since you knew the cup of its wine.

لا تطمعا في أَن أُفيق فإنني

يا صاحبيَّ سكرتُ من صهبائهِ

Do not hope that I shall regain sobriety, for I,

my two companions, am drunk on its red wine.

لا تسمعاني فيه ما أَنا كاره

إنَّ المحبَّ يصدُّ عن نصحائهِ

Do not make me hear about him what I loathe;

the lover turns away from his advisers.

ولقد أصمَّ عن الكلام تغافلاً

لأنزِّه الأسماعَ عن فحشائهِ

Indeed, I turn a deaf ear to speech, feigning inattention,

to keep ears free of its obscenity.

أَروي حديثَ الحادثات وخطبُها

لي يخطبُ الأهوالَ من أهوائهِ

I recount the tale of calamities; their ordeal

courts horrors for me out of its own whims.

يخفي الزَّمانُ سناي في إظلامه

إخفاءَ ألثغ سينه في ثائه

Time conceals my radiance within its darkness,

as a lisper hides his 's' within his 'th.'

لما مضيتُ له براني صرْفهُ

مثلَ اليراعِ فبرْيُهُ لمضائهِ

When I advanced through it, its vicissitudes whittled me

like a reed pen: its whittling gives it sharpness.

حتّامَ أَرضى الضيّمَ من أَدوانه

وإلى متى أُغضي على إقذائهِ

How long shall I accept oppression from its basest men,

and how long overlook its fouling of my eyes?

إحفظْ لسانكَ أَنْ يطولَ فإنّما

قصرُ اللِّسان يكُفُّ من غلوائهِ

Guard your tongue against growing long, for only

a shortened tongue restrains its excess.

والشّمعُ قطعُ لسانه من طوله

وحياتهُ سببٌ إلى إدرائهِ

The candle's tongue is cut because of its length,

and its life becomes a cause of its extinction.

ومقاسمٌ في ثروتي لما رأى

عدمي غدا مستأثراً بثرائهِ

And a sharer in my wealth, when he saw

my poverty, began keeping his riches to himself.

قوَّمتُ في زمن الشّدائد غصنَهُ

فاعوجَّ إذْ هبّتْ رخاءُ رُخائهِ

In times of hardship I straightened his bough;

then it grew crooked when the breeze of his prosperity blew.

ونفعتُهُ لمّا تناهى ضرُّهُ

فأعضته السّراء من ضرائهِ

I helped him when his affliction reached its utmost,

and gave him prosperity in place of his adversity.

قلبي من الإشفاق محترقٌ له

كالشّمعِ وهو يعيشُ في أضوائهِ

My heart burns with concern for him

like a candle, while he lives in its light.

متناومٌ عنّي إذا ناديتُهُ

ولطالما استيقظتُ عندَ ندائهِ

He feigns sleep to avoid me when I call him,

though how often I have awakened at his call!

إنْ أستزِدْهُ يزدْ كراهُ وزائدٌ

تحريكُ مهدِ الطِّفلِ في إغفائهِ

If I ask him for more, his sleep increases; and

rocking a child's cradle adds to its slumber.

ولئن جفاني الدَّهرُ في أحداثهِ

فلأَصبرنَّ على فظيعِ جفائهِ

Though time mistreats me through its events,

I shall surely endure its terrible harshness.

فاللهُ يفعلُ ما يشاءُ بخلقهِ

وجميعُ ما يجري لنا بقضائهِ

For God does as He wills with His creation,

and everything that happens to us is by His decree.

فاستعدِ من ريبِ الزَّمانِ بصاحبٍ

تعدي فضائله على عدوائهِ

So seek a patron's aid against time's vicissitudes,

whose virtues give aid against its hostility.

واشك الزَّمانَ إلى شهابِ الدِّين كي

يُبدي رياضَ الخصبِ في شهبائهِ

Complain of time to Shihab al-Din, so that

he may reveal gardens of abundance amid its barren grayness.

ونداهُ نادِ فإنَّ أنديةَ المنى

مخضرّةُ الأَكنافِ مِن أَندائهِ

Call upon his bounty, for the courts of hope

have green borders from his dews.

وهو الشّهابُ حقيقةً فالفضلُ من

أَنوارِهِ والطولُ من أَنوائهِ

He is truly the blazing star: excellence comes from

his lights, and bounty from his rain-bearing stars.

كالشّمسِ في آرائهِ كالغيثِ في

آلائه كالصُّبحِ في لألائهِ

Like the sun in his judgments, like rain in

his favors, like dawn in his radiance.

للهِ راحتُهُ ففيها راحةٌ

لمؤمّليهِ ومرتجي نعمائهِ

How wondrous his palm! Within it is repose

for those hoping in him and seeking his blessings.

فعداتُهُ يغنونَ مِن إعطابهِ

وعفاتُه يحيونَ من إعطائهِ

His enemies grow rich through the ruin he brings,

and his supplicants live by what he gives.

يُغضي حياءً والمهابةُ كلها

في أنفس الأَعداء مِن إغضائهِ

He lowers his gaze in modesty, and all the awe

within his enemies' souls comes from his downcast gaze.

ويغضُّ عيناً للوقارِ ونورُهُ

لتغضُّ عينُ الشّمسِ دونَ لقائهِ

He lowers an eye in dignity, and his radiance

makes the sun lower its eye before meeting him.

إنْ كان ما غَثّتْ معاني مدحه

منّي فما رَثّتْ حبالُ حِبائهِ

If the themes of his praise have not grown feeble

from me, then the cords of his gifts have not frayed.

أَبني المظفرِ ما يزالُ مظفراً

راجيكمُ أبداً بنيلِ رجائهِ

O sons of al-Muzaffar, ever triumphant remains

the man who hopes in you, always attaining his desire.

وإذا عرا خطبٌ ملمٌّ مؤلمٌ

داويتمُ بالجودِ من أَعدائهِ

And when an overwhelming, painful calamity befalls,

you heal, through generosity, those among its foes.

يا مَنْ علا يحكي أَباهُ وجده

زانَ العلاء بجدِّه وإبائهِ

O you who rose high, resembling his father and grandfather,

and adorned high rank with his resolve and pride!

يعني الزَّمانُ بمنْ عنيتُ بأمرِهِ

حاشاكَ تترك عانياً بعنائِهِ

Time concerns itself with the man whose affairs I have tended;

far be it from you to leave a captive in his misery.

فانصرْ أَبا نصرٍ على زَمَنٍ أَبى

نصري لفضلٍ أَنتَ من أبنائهِ

So help Abu Nasr against an age that refused

me help, for the sake of excellence, of which you are a son.

واشفعْ تشفّع وعده بنجازه

أَنّى يخيبُ وأَنتَ مِن شفعائهِ

Intercede—you will be heeded—and promise him fulfillment;

how can he fail when you are among his intercessors?

ذكِّرْ بحالي الصاحبَ المولى الذي

يقوى أَميرُ المؤمنينَ برائهِ

Remind the Sahib, the master, of my plight—the one

whose counsel strengthens the Commander of the Faithful.

وقل استجار كريمُ بيتٍ بي وذو ال

بيتِ الكريمِ يجدُّ في إحيائه

And say: a man of noble house sought my refuge, and a man of the

noble house strives to restore his life.

والمستجيرُ بنا مجارٌ لم يزلْ

ولو أَنَّ هذا الدَّهرَ من أعدائهِ

One who seeks our protection has always been protected,

even if this age is among his enemies.

شافِهْ أميرَ المؤمنينَ بحالهِ

فأَرى شفاهكَ موجبٌ لشفائهِ

Speak directly to the Commander of the Faithful about his plight,

for I see your lips as the means of his healing.

قلْ للإمامِ علامَ حبس وليّكم

أولوا جميلكمُ جميل ولائهِ

Say to the Imam: why is your loyal follower imprisoned?

Reward his fine loyalty with your kindness.

أو ليس إذْ حبسَ الغمامُ وليّه

خلّى أَبوكَ سبيلَهُ بدعائهِ

Or was it not, when the cloud held its friend captive,

that your father set him free by his prayer?

لولاكَ كان رويُّ شعري ظامئاً

لا يطمعُ الراوونَ في إروائهِ

But for you, my verse's rhyme-letter would be thirsty,

with no reciters hoping to quench its thirst.

والفضلُ بينَ بنيهِ أَوْكدُ نسبةً

فأغثْ كريماً أَنتَ من نسبائهِ

Excellence is the strongest bond of kinship among its sons;

so aid a noble man whose kinsman you are.

وأَفاضَ في شكر العوارف عارفاً

بقصور باعِ الشُّكرِ عن نعمائهِ

He poured forth thanks for the favors, knowing

that gratitude's reach falls short of his blessings.

وتأَمّلَ الخطَّ الكريمَ فأَشرقَتْ

أَنوارُ حُسن العهدِ من أَثنائهِ

He studied the noble writing, and there shone

the lights of faithful regard from within its folds.

وجرى معينُ الجود من تيّارهِ

وسَرَى نَسيمُ المجد من تلقائهِ

The flowing water of generosity streamed from its current,

and the breeze of glory wafted from its direction.

أَضحى ظهيرُ الدين أفضلَ صاحبٍ

يستمسكُ الرَّاجي بصدق ولائهِ

Zahir al-Din has become the finest patron,

to whose sincere loyalty the hopeful man clings.

والسّعدُ في آلائه والنجحُ في

آرابهِ والنّصرُ في آرائهِ

Good fortune is in his favors, success in

his aims, and victory in his counsels.