عفا الله عنكم ما لكم أيها الرهط — Al Imad Al Asbahani

عفا اللهُ عنكم ما لكم أَيُّها الرَّهطُ

قسطتمْ ومن قلب المحبِّ لكم قسْطُ

May God pardon you—what ails you, O company?

You have acted unjustly, though you have a share of the lover's heart.

شرطتمْ له حفظَ الودادِ وخُنْتُمُ

حنانيكمُ ما هكذا الوُدُّ والشَّرْطُ

You pledged to preserve his affection, yet you betrayed him.

Your mercy, please! Love and pledges are not like this.

جعلتم فؤادَ المستهامِ بكم لكمْ

مَحَطاً فعنه ثقْلَ هَمِّكُمُ حُطُّوا

You made the heart of the one enamored of you your

resting place; then lift from it the burden of care for you.

إذا كنتمُ في القلبِ والدارُ قد نأَتْ

فسيّانِ مِنْ أَحبابهِ القربُ والشَّحْطُ

If you are in his heart, though home has grown distant,

nearness to his loved ones and distance are alike.

ثوى هَمُّهُ لما ثَوَى الوجدُ عنده

مقيماً وشطَّ الصّبرُ في جيرةٍ شَطُّوا

His sorrow stayed when passionate longing settled beside him

to dwell, while patience went far with neighbors who departed.

وأَرَّقَهُ طيفٌ طَوَى نحه الدُّجَى

وقد كادَ جيبُ الليلِ بالصُّبحِ يَنْعَطُّ

A phantom kept him awake, traversing the darkness toward him,

when dawn was about to tear open the neckline of night.

تشاغلتمُ عنه وشوقاً بودِّهِ

كأنّ رضاكم عن محبكمُ سُخْطُ

You busied yourselves away from him, though yearning for his affection;

as though your approval of your lover were displeasure.

جزعتُ غداةَ الجزْعِ لمّا رحلتمُ

وأَسْقطني من بينكمْ ذلكَ السِّقطُ

I was distraught that morning at the valley bend, when you departed;

and that wretch cast me out from among you.

ملكتمْ فأنكرتمْ قديمَ مودَّتي

كأنْ لم يكن في البينِ معرفةٌ قَطُّ

You gained mastery, then disowned my longstanding affection,

as though no acquaintance had ever existed between us.

فَدَتْ مهجتي مَنْ لا يُذَمُّ لمهجتي

إذا حاكَمتْهُ وهو في الحُكْمِ مُشْتطُّ

May my lifeblood ransom one whom my lifeblood will not reproach,

when it brings him to judgment, though his ruling is unjust.

يُريكَ ابتساماً عن شتيتِ مُقَبَّلٍ

كَأنَّ نظيمَ الدرِّ أَلّفَهُ السِّمْطُ

He shows you a smile from a kissable mouth with well-spaced teeth,

as though a necklace-string had gathered its ordered pearls.

وما كنتُ أَدري قبل سطوةِ طرفهِ

بأَنَّ ضعيفاً فاتراً مثْلَهُ يَسْطو

Before the assault of his glance, I did not know

that anything so weak and languid could assault.

وهبْ أَنَّ بالقُرْطينِ منه مُعَلّقٌ

لذنبِ الهوى قلبي فَلمْ عُلِّقَ القُرْطُ

Suppose that from his two earrings there is suspended,

for love's offense, my heart—why, then, is the earring suspended?

وأَهيفَ للإشفاقِ من ضعفِ خصرهِ

محلُّ نطاقٍ للقلوبِ بهِ رَبْطُ

And a slender-waisted one—out of concern for his frail waist,

where his girdle lies, hearts are bound to him.

على قُربهِ في الحالتين مُحَسّدٌ

من الثّغرِ والشّعْرِ الأَراكةُ والمشطُ

Envied for their closeness to him, in either case,

are the arak twig by his mouth and the comb by his hair.

بوجنتهِ نورُ المُدامةِ مُشْرِقٌ

ومقلته نَشْوَى وفي فيه إسْفَنْطُ

On his cheek the glow of wine shines;

his eye is tipsy, and in his mouth is spiced wine.

تزينُ عِذاريه كتابةُ حُسنهِ

ومن خاله في وجنتيه لها نَقْطُ

The script of his beauty adorns his two cheek-lines,

and his mole supplies its dots upon his cheeks.

فؤادكَ خالٍ يا خليلي فلا تَلُمْ

فؤاداً سباه الخالُ والخدُّ والخَطُّ

Your heart is empty, my friend, so do not reproach

a heart captured by the mole, the cheek, and the line of down.

يلازمُ قلبي في الهوى القبضُ مثلما

يلازمُ كفَّ النّاصرِ الملكِ البَسْطُ

Constriction clings to my heart in love, just as

openhandedness clings to King al-Nasir's hand.

مليكٌ حوى الملكَ العقيمَ بضبطه

كريمٌ وما للمالِ في يدهِ ضَبْطُ

A king who holds barren kingship in his firm grasp,

generous, with no restraint upon wealth in his hand.

ومولى سريرُ الملكِ حفَّ بشخصهِ

كما حفَّ بالإنسانِ من ناظرٍ وسْطُ

A lord around whose person the royal throne is arrayed,

as the center of an eye surrounds its pupil.

مليكٌ لنجمِ النُّجحِ من أُفْقِ عزِّهِ

سناً ولطيرِ السّعْدِ في وكرِهِ قَحْطُ

A king, from the horizon of whose glory the star of success has

radiance, while the bird of fortune finds famine in its nest.

إذا لُثمَتْ أيدي الملوكِ فعندَهُ

مدى الدَّهرِ إجلالاً له تَلْثمُ البُسطُ

When kings' hands are kissed, before him

rugs are kissed in reverence for him throughout time.

لنومِ الرَّعايا وادعين سهادُهُ

إذا وادِعوا الأملاك في نومهم غَطُّوا

His sleeplessness lets his subjects sleep in peace,

while carefree kings snore in their sleep.

أَكفُّ ملوكِ العصر لا وَكْفَ عندها

وكفُّ المليكِ النّاصرِ البحرُ لا الوقطُ

The hands of the age's kings have no trickle to give,

but King al-Nasir's hand is the sea, not a little rock-pool.

عطايا نقودٌ لا نَسايا فكلُّها

تُعَجِّلُ لا وعدٌ هناك ولا قَسْطُ

His gifts are cash, not deferred payments; all of them

come promptly—no promise there, nor installments.

أغرُّ لكفِّ الكفرِ كفٌّ ببأسهِ

كما لفقارِ الفَقرِ من جوده وَهْطُ

A radiant lord, whose might restrains unbelief's hand,

just as his bounty crushes poverty's spine.

أياديهِ غرٌّ وهيَ غيرُ مُغِبَة

وإحسانهُ غَمْرٌ وليس له غَمْطُ

His favors are radiant and never intermittent;

his kindness is abundant and suffers no belittlement.

يحب ضجيجَ الشّاكرين إذا دَعَوا

ويهوى سؤال المعتفين إذا أطوا

He loves the clamor of the grateful when they pray,

and delights in supplicants' requests when they come.

ويَعْبَقُ عَرْفُ العُرفِ والقِسط عندهُ

ونَدُّ النّدَى لا البانُ والرَّندُ والقسطُ

With him wafts the scent of goodness and justice,

and generosity's incense—not ben oil, laurel, or costus.

إلى طوله المعروفِ طولُ يدِ الرَّجا

وفي بحرِ جدواه لآمالنا غَطُّ

Toward his renowned bounty stretches hope's hand,

and our aspirations plunge into the sea of his gifts.

صنائعُهُ رُبْطُ الكرامِ وإنّها

لوفد أَياديهِ المصانعُ والرُّبْطُ

His benefactions are bonds for noble men, and indeed they are

cisterns and lodgings for the visiting company of his favors.

يَمُرُّ ويحلو حالةَ السُّخطِ والرِّضا

فنعمتُه دأبٌ ونقمتهُ فَرْطُ

He is bitter or sweet in anger or contentment;

his favor is habitual, his vengeance exceptional.

من القومِ تلقاهم عن النكرِ إن دُعوا

بطاءً وإن يُدْعَوا إلى العُرفِ لا يُبْطُوا

Of a people whom you find, if summoned to wrongdoing,

slow; but called to goodness, they do not delay.

هم رَضَعوا دَرَّ الحجَى في مهودهمْ

أَماجدُ وانضمتْ على السؤددِ القُمْطُ

They suckled the flowing milk of reason in their cradles,

noble men, their swaddling bands wrapped around lordliness.

يصبون فيما يقصدون فكم رَمَوا

بسهم الثّراءِ المملقين فلم يُخطوا

They yearn for what they pursue; how often they have shot

the destitute with wealth's arrow, and did not miss.

متى يَقدِروا ويَعفوا وإن يعدوا يَفوا

وإن يبذُلوا يَغْنوا وإن يسألُوا يُعطوا

Whenever they have power, they also pardon; if they promise, they fulfill.

If they give, they enrich; if asked, they bestow.

يصيبُ الذي يصبو إلى قصدِ بابهم

في غيرِ هذا القصدِ يُخْطِي الذي يخْطُو

Whoever yearns to make for their door hits the mark;

whoever steps toward any other goal misses.

وما أَسعدَ المَلْكَ الذي نحوَ بابهِ

مطايا بأَبناءِ الرَّجاءِ غدتْ تَمْطوا

How fortunate is the king toward whose door

mounts stretch forward bearing the sons of hope!

وما روضةٌ غناءُ حُسْناً كأنّما

لوارفها من نَسْج نُوّارِها مِرْطُ

No lush garden, so beautiful that it seems

its broad shade wears a mantle woven of its blossoms—

إذا قادني للنرجسِ النّضرِ ناضرٌ

تلاهُ عذارٌ للبنفسج مُخْتَطُّ

when a fresh bloom guides me to the vibrant narcissus,

a cheek-line follows it, traced for the violet;

وللوردِ خدُّ للحياءِ مُوَرَّدٌ

وللبانِ قَدٌ جيدُهُ أَبداً يَعْطو

the rose has a cheek flushed with modesty,

the ben-tree a figure whose neck forever reaches upward;

تلوحُ به الأشجارُ صَفّاً كأنّها

سطورُ كتابٍ والغديرُ لها كَشْطُ

the trees appear there in a row, as though

lines of a book, with the pool their erasure;

تُغَنِّي على أَعوادِها الوُرْقُ مِثْلَما

يرتِّلُ للتوراةِ أَلحانَها سِبْطُ

on their branches gray doves sing,

as a tribe chants the Torah's melodies;

كأنَّ سقيط الطلِّ عبرةُ مغرمٍ

وبارقَةُ من نارِ لوعته سِقْطُ

as though the fallen dew were a lover's tears,

and a glimmer a spark from the fire of his yearning;

ترى لمُحيّا الشمسِ من هامرِ الحيا

لثامِ حياءٍ دونه ليس ينحَطُّ

you see over the sun's face, from pouring rain,

a veil of modesty before it, never lowered—

بأزكى وأَذكى منكَ حُسْناً وإنّما

بحسناكَ لا بالرَّوضِ للعائذِ الغَبْطُ

is purer or more fragrant than you in beauty; rather,

your goodness, not the garden, gives the seeker of refuge his enviable lot.

لكَ الصدرُ والباعُ الرَّحيبان في العلى

وذاكَ المحيا الطلقُ والأنملُ السُّبْطُ

Yours are the broad breast and far-reaching arm in eminence,

and that cheerful countenance and those supple fingers.

لراجيكمُ ماءُ البشاشة والنّدَى

جميعاً وحظُّ الحاسد النارُ والنّفطُ

For those who hope in you are the waters of welcome and generosity,

together; the envier's portion is fire and naphtha.

عَنالكَ طوعاً نيلُ مصرٍ ودجلةُ ال

عراقِ ودانَ العُرْبُ والعُجْمُ والقِبْطُ

Bowing willingly to you are Egypt's Nile and the Tigris of

Iraq; Arabs, non-Arabs, and Copts have submitted.

وللنيل شطٌّ ينتهي سيبهُ به

ونَيْلُكَ للراجينَ نِيلٌ ولا شَطُّ

The Nile has a bank at which its flow ends,

but your bounty is a Nile to the hopeful, without a bank.

وعفوكَ وَرْدٌ والجناةُ جُناتُهُ

وبيضُكَ شوكٌ في العداةِ لها خَرْطُ

Your pardon is a rose, and offenders are its gatherers;

your bright swords are thorns that strip your enemies.

عدوُّكَ مثلُ الشّمعِ في نارِ حقدهِ

له عنقٌ إصلاحُ فاسدِه القَطُّ

Your foe is like wax in the fire of his rancor;

he has a neck whose corruption is cured by severing.

فداؤكَ ممتدُّ المِطالِ مُحجّبٌ

وحاجبُهُ للكُبرِ والعُجْبِ مُمْتَطُّ

May the secluded man, drawn out in his delays, be your ransom,

his eyebrow stretched high with pride and conceit.

فداؤكَ قومٌ في النّديِّ وفي النّدَى

وجوههم سُهْمٌ وأَسهمهم مُرْطُ

May a people be your ransom who, in assembly and in giving,

have grim faces and featherless arrows.

لتبكِ دماً عينُ العدو فقد جرى

على الأرضِ من أَوداجهِ دَمُهُ العَبْطُ

Let the enemy's eye weep blood, for already

his fresh blood has flowed from his jugulars onto the earth.

منعتَ حمى الإسلامِ للنصرِ معطياً

غداةَ عوتْ من دونهِ الأذؤبُ المُعْطُ

You defended Islam's preserve, granting victory,

on the morning when hairless wolves howled outside it.

وصُلْتَ وكم فرَّجْتَ عنّا مُلمّةً

بسهم الرَّزايا في الكرامِ لها لَهْطُ

You charged—how many a calamity have you lifted from us,

whose arrow of misfortune strikes into the noble!

بعودِكَ عادَ الحقُّ واتّضحَ الهدى

وهبَّ نسيمُ النّصرِ وانفرجَ الضّغْطُ

With your return, truth returned and guidance grew clear;

victory's breeze blew, and the pressure eased.

وأَنتَ أَجَرْتَ الشّامَ من شُؤْمِ جاره

ولم يكفِ رهطُ الكفرِ حتى بغى رهطُ

You sheltered al-Sham from its neighbor's ill omen;

the band of unbelief did not suffice, until another band rebelled.

أَجرتَ وقد جاروا ودنتَ وقد عدوا

وصلت وقد خاروا ولنت وقد لطُوا

You sheltered when they oppressed, and ruled when they transgressed;

you charged when they faltered, and softened when they cowered.

فلا يعبأ المولى بمن مِلءُ جأشهِ

هوىً وبقومٍ حَشْوُ جيشِهمُ زُطُّ

So let the lord disregard one whose breast is filled

with desire, and a people whose army is stuffed with Zutt.

كثيرٌ تَعدِيهمْ قليلٌ غَناؤهُمْ

وهمْ ولا أَصابوا رشدَهم هملٌ رَهْطُ

Their aggression is great, their usefulness slight;

they—may they never find their good sense—are an untended band.

عَدلْتَ فلا ظلمٌن وطُلْتَ فلا مدىً

وقُلتَ فلا مَينٌ وجُدتَ فلا قَحطُ

You acted justly, leaving no injustice; rose so high, no limit remained;

you spoke without falsehood and gave without scarcity.

فميِّزْ مكانَ المخلصين فإنّما ال

أَعادي أُناسٌ في رؤُوسهمُ خَلْطُ

Distinguish the standing of the sincere, for the

enemies are people with muddle in their heads.

وقرِّب وليّاً صحَّ فيكَ ضميرُهُ

ولا يأمنِ التمساحَ مَنْ دأبُهُ السَّرطُ

Bring near a loyal friend whose heart is true toward you;

nor trust the crocodile, whose habit is swallowing.

نَبا بي مقامُ الجاهلينَ فَعِفْتُهُ

وقد نَضْنَضَتْ للنهش حَيّاتُهُ الرُّقطُ

The abode of the ignorant repelled me, so I loathed it,

when its speckled snakes flicked their tongues to bite.

همُ مَنَعوا رِفْدَيْ قبولٍ ونائلٍ

وذا وَشَلٌ بَرضٌ وذا أُكُلٌ خَمطُ

They withheld both gifts: acceptance and bounty;

one is a scant trickle, the other bitter fruit.

وكم مُطْمعٍ في خيره بشرُ وجهه

ومشتملٍ منه على شَرِّهِ الإبْطُ

How many a man whose cheerful face inspires hope in his goodness,

yet whose armpit conceals his evil!

لأَبدى بلا عذر حظوظَ فضائلي

نفارُ العَذارى من عذارٍ به وَخْطُ

The fortunes of my virtues would surely be revealed, without excuse,

by maidens' aversion to a beard flecked with gray.

وجئتكَ ألقى العزَّ عندك مُلْقياً

قلائدَ للأَسماعِ من دُرِّها لَقْطُ

I came to you to find honor with you, casting forth

necklaces for the ears, their pearls choice gleanings.

أَعرْني جميلاً واصطنعنيَ واصفُ لي

جميلَكَ حتى يشمتَ الحاسدُ المِلْطُ

Lend me kindness, make me your protégé, and reserve for me

your kindness, until the shameless envier gloats.

أَعنّي فعينُ الفضل عانٍ مُقيَّدٌ

بعُقلةِ حرمانٍ نداكَ لها نَشطُ

Help me: the very essence of merit is a fettered captive,

bound by deprivation's shackle, which your generosity can loosen.

وأَوْعزْ بتشريفي ورسمي فإنّهُ

لحمدي جزاءٌ قد تقدَّمَهُ الشّرْطُ

Order my honors and my stipend, for it

is recompense for my praise, with the condition laid down beforehand.

إلامَ زماني لا يزالُ مُسَلّطاً

على نابهٍ من أَهلهِ نابُهُ المّلْطُ

How long will my age keep unleashing

its bare fang against a distinguished man of its own people?

سَعَتْ نحوكم منّي مطايا مطالبٍ

لأَنْسعُها في النّجح عندكم مَغْطُ

From me toward you have hastened mounts of requests;

with you, their girth-straps stretch toward success.

فَدُمْ ظافراً أَبا المظفر بالعِدَى

حليفَ قبولٍ لا يكون لها حَبْطُ

Remain victorious over enemies, Abu al-Muzaffar,

allied with acceptance, with no frustration for them.

بقيتَ ولا زالتْ عداكَ مُفيدةٌ

سعوداً ولا تُحْسنْ صعوداً ولا هَبْطُ

May you endure, and may your enemies ever bring you

good fortunes, knowing neither how to rise nor how to descend.

ولو كنتَ جاراً للمعريِّ لم يقل

لمن جيرةٌ سيموا النوالَ فلم يُنْطوال

Had you been al-Ma'arri's neighbor, he would not have said:

“Who has neighbors asked for bounty, yet giving none?”