سرى الطيف من لبنى فهاج الضنى وهنا — Al Shaqroui

سَرَى الطَّيفًُ مِن لُبنَى فَهَاجَ الضَّنَى وَهنَا

وغَادَرَ مَسقِيَّ الهَوَى لِلهَوَى رَهنَا

A phantom from Lubna came by night, stirring wasting sickness late at night.

And left him who had drunk of love a hostage to love.

فَبَاتَ بِقَلبٍ خَافِقٍ وبِمُقلَةٍ

سَكُوبٍ يُحَاكِى وَدقُ أدمُعِهَا المُزنَا

So he spent the night with a throbbing heart and an eye

Streaming, its shower of tears resembling rain clouds;

وجَفنٍ كَأنَّ الصَّابَ في حِضنِ عَينِهِ

يُهَجهِجُ طَيفَ النَّومِ إِن طَرَقَ الجَفنَا

And an eyelid—as though bitter sap in his eye's hollow

Drove away sleep's phantom whenever it visited the lid.

فَبَاتَت أكُفُّ الوَجدِ تَمرِى شُئُونَهُ

إِذَا الدَّمعُ مِن شَانٍ تَقَضَّى امتَرَت شَأنَأ

So the hands of yearning spent the night milking his tear ducts;

When tears from one duct ran out, they milked another.

لأشعثَ أغفي بَعدَما سَئِمَ السُّرَى

وانضَى الهِبَلَّ الوَهمَ والعِرمِسَ الوَجنَا

For a disheveled man who dozed after tiring of night travel,

And exhausting the hulking, stout camel and the sturdy, thick-cheeked she-camel,

بِمَوزُونَةِ الوَهدانِ في العينِ والرُّبَى

بِها الكُدرُ عَن إتيَانِ أفرُخِهَا تُثنَى

In a tract whose hollows and hills were evenly balanced to the eye,

Where dusky sandgrouse were turned back from reaching their chicks.

إِذَا رَجَّعَ الفَيَّادُ لَحناً بِجَوزِهَا

تُجَاوِبُهُ أصداؤُهَأ ذَلكِ اللَّحنَا

When the male owl repeated a tune in its midst,

Its echoes answered him with that tune.

فَواعَجَباًَ أني اهتَدَت لِرِحَالِنَا

وقَد ألحَفَ اللَّيلَ البَهِيمَ الدُّجىَ رُدنَا

What a wonder! How did she find her way to our camp,

When darkness had draped a sleeve over the pitch-black night?

وعَهدِى بِهَا إِن تَخطُ صَرَّعَها الوَنَى

فَيَحبِسَهَا عَن بَيتِ جارَتِهَا الأدنَى

And I knew her as one whom languor felled if she took a step,

Keeping her from her nearest neighbor's house.

أَلَمَّت فَبَتَّت نَظمَ صَبرِى وأحكَمَت

نِظَامَ الجَوَى لُبنَى وهيَّجَتِ الحُزنَا

She visited, severed the thread of my patience, and tightened

The cord of heartache—Lubna—and kindled sorrow.

فَبَاتَت تُرِينِى الشَّمسَ واللَّيلُ أليَلٌ

وأليَلَ قَد غَشَّت غَدَائِرُهث المَتنَا

So she spent the night showing me the sun while the night was darkest,

And night-black hair whose tresses covered her back,

وأحوَرَ فَتَّاناً أعَدَّ بِسِحرِهِ

خَطَاطِيفَ للأَلبَابِ تَجدِ بها حِجنَا

And a bewitching, white-bright, dark-pupiled eye that prepared through its magic

Hooks for minds, in which you find curved barbs;

وجِيدَ خَذُولٍ مُطفِلٍ وتَرَائِباً

يَفُصنَ كَأنَّ جَمرَ الغَضَاهُنَّ إِذ فُصنَا

And the neck of a doe apart with her fawn, and collarbones

Gleaming—as though, when they shone, they were embers of ghada wood;

وألمَى شَتِيتًَ النَّبتِ عَذباً مُؤَشَّراً

كَنورِ أقَاحِى الرَّوضِ مُطلُولَةٍ حُسنَا

And a sweet, dark-lipped mouth, its teeth spaced apart and finely serrated,

As lovely as dew-damp daisy blossoms in the meadow;

وكَشحاً طِوَاءً لَيِّنَ اللَّمسِ مُونِقاً

غَدَا كُلُّ عُكنٍ مِنهُ مُشتَكِياً عُكنَا

And a slender waist, soft to the touch and lovely,

Each fold of flesh upon it having come to complain of another;

وَرِدفاً كَمَمطُورِ النَّقَى ومُذَالاً

سَقِيًّا كَانَ لِلحِجلِ مُستَبطِنٌ ضِغنَا

And hips like a rain-drenched sand dune, and a long calf,

Well nourished, it harbored a grudge against the anklet.

إِذَا مَا تَثَنَّت في الخَرَائِدِ خِلتُهَا

مِنَ ألبَانَةِ الخَضرَاءِ مَيَّادَها اللَّدنَا

When she swayed among the maidens, I thought her

A swaying, supple branch of the green ban tree.

فَقُلتُ لَهَا لا تَتركِينِي مُسَهَّداً

عَمِيداً مَشُوقَ القَلبِ حَيرَانَ آي لُبنَى

So I said to her: Do not leave me sleepless,

Love-stricken, yearning at heart, bewildered, O Lubna.

ألَمَّت فَهَبَّ الرَّكبُ مِن سِنَةِ الكَرَى

وَوَلَّت فَهَدَّت مِن تَصَبُّرِهِ الرُّكنَا

She visited, and the caravan awoke from sleep's drowsiness;

And she departed, shattering the pillar of its endurance.

فَقَالَت لِى إجعَل مَا لامِينَ مُيَمَّماً

تُصَادِف لدَيهِ اليُمنَ والعَدلَ والأمنَا

Then she said to me: Make Ma al-Amin your destination;

With him you will find good fortune, justice, and safety.

فَقُلتُ وافَاه وَفدٌ بِذَمِّنَا

وأحجُوهُ لَم يَبرَح يُعَنِّفُ إِن جِئنَا

I replied: A delegation has reached him denouncing us,

And I expect he will not cease rebuking us if we come.

فَقَالَت جَهِلتَ الأمرَ وَيحَكَ إِنَّهُ

خًذُوفٌ لِتَرفِيشِ الأُلَى أُشرِبُوا الشَّحنَا

She said: You do not understand—poor man! He

Casts aside the incitements of those steeped in hatred,

وأحنَآ على الغِيابِ مِن أُمَّهَأتِهِم

فَهُوَّ الإِمَامُ الأَعدَلُ الأرأفُ الأحنَى

And is more tender toward the absent than their mothers.

For he is the most just, most compassionate, most tender imam.

نَسِيرُ بِهِ في كُلِّ أرضٍ نَؤُمُّهَا

ونَرجِعُ مِنهَا آمنين إِذَا أُبنَا

By his aid we travel through every land we seek,

And return from it in safety whenever we come back.

وكَانَ إِمَاماً مَاجِداً مُتَرَقِيًّا

مِنَ المَجدِ صَعبَ المُرتَقَى مُشرِفاً رَعَنا

And he was a noble imam, scaling

Glory's difficult ascent, towering above a mountain spur.

تَرَقَّى ِإلَى العَليَا عَلَى نُجبِ عَزمِهِ

وقَاسِي عَلَى إِدرَاكِهَا السَّهلَ والحَزنَا

He rose to the highest rank on the noble camels of his resolve,

And braved smooth and rugged ground to attain it.

فَمَا بَرِحَ الجَوَّابَ كُلَّ تَنُوفَةٍ

إلَيهَا إلى أن نَالَهَا أستَعذبَ المَهنَا

So he never ceased crossing every desolate wilderness

Toward it until he attained it, finding toil sweet.

كَأنَّ السُّعَاةَ المَجتوي قَرقَفَ الكَرَى

إلَى المَجدِ ألفَاظٌ وهوَ لهَا مَعنَى

As though those who strive, scorning slumber's wine,

For glory were words, and he their meaning.

إيَاسِىُّ مَقلٍ حَاتِمِىُّ نَوَافِلٍ

فَلَم يَخشَى سَبقاً في المَعَالِى ولاَ غَبنَا

Iyas-like in discernment, Hatim-like in gifts,

So he feared neither being surpassed in noble attainments nor being cheated.

أيَا ما الأمِينُ المَجدُ سَيفٌ مُهَنّدٌ

ولَيسَ لَهُ جَفنٌ وكُنتَ لَهُ جَفنَا

O Ma al-Amin, glory is a sword of Indian steel,

And it has no sheath—and you were its sheath.

سَخَاؤُكَ أفنَى كُلَّ مَا أنتَ كَاسِبٌ

ولَكِنَّهُ أبقَى مَحَامِدَ لاَ تفَنَى

Your generosity consumed everything you earned,

Yet it preserved merits that never perish—

مَحَامِدَ أعيَا اللُّسنَ إحصَاءُ بَعضِهَا

ولاَ غَروَ إِن أعيَت مَحَامِدَكَ اللُّسنَا

Merits whose partial tally exhausted the eloquent.

And no wonder if your virtues exhausted the eloquent.

فَقَد كُنتَ مَغنَاطِيسَ كُلِّ مَسَرَّةٍ

ومن كُلِّ مَا يَدعُو إِلَى كَدَرٍ حُصنَا

For you were a magnet for every joy,

And a fortress against all that brings distress.

وقَد كُنتَ جَالَينُوس كُلِّ مُلِمِّةٍ

مِنَ الدَّاءِمَا اسطَاعَ الأُسَاةُ لَهَا زَينَا

And you were a Galen for every affliction

Of illness for which physicians could find no remedy.

ومَلجَأنَا عِندَ الشَّدَائِدِ إِن دَهَت

ومَأمَنَنَا عند المَخَاوِفِ إن خُفنا

And our refuge amid calamities when they struck,

And our safe haven amid dangers whenever we feared.

فَرُبَّ امرِىءٍ فَرَّجتَ عَنهُ هُمَومَهُ

واطلَقتَهُ مِن بَعدِ ما استَوجَبَ السَّحنَا

For many a man, you dispelled his cares,

And freed him after he had incurred punishment.

ورُبَّ عُرَاةٍ كُنتَ غَيثَ جُسُومِهَا

فَأمرَعتَها الدِّيبَاجَ والعَصبَ والقُطنَا

And for many unclad people, you were rain upon their bodies,

So you made them flourish in brocade, tie-dyed cloth, and cotton.

وكًم وَهَبَت يُمنَاكَ ألفاً مُصَتَّماً

وكَم أعمَلتَ لُدناً وكَم نَحَرتَ بُدنَا

And how often your right hand gave a full thousand,

And how often you wielded supple spears, and how often you slaughtered great camels.

فَيُمنَاكَ مِنهَا اليُمنُ كَانَ إشتِقَاقهُ

ويُسرَاكَ مِنها اليُسرُ يُسرَاكَ كَاليُمنَى

From your right hand, then, good fortune took its name,

And from your left, ease—your left is like your right.