تخطى ركبه الظلل القواء — Al Shaqroui

تَخَطَّى رَكبُه الظلَلَ القَوَاءَ

وَلَم يَحبِس بِسَاحَتِهِ النِّواءَ

His caravan passed beyond the deserted shelters,

and did not halt the well-fed camels in their courtyard.

وَلَم يُسعِدهُ في التَّعرِيجِ حَتَّى

كَسته يَدُ الهَوَى العُذرِيِّ دَاءَ

It would not assist him in turning aside, until

the hand of chaste love clothed him in sickness.

فَعَاجَ على الطلولِ جَوَى وحَيَّا

ونادَاهَا فَلَم تُجِب النِّدَاءَ

So he turned toward the ruins, heartsick, and greeted them,

and called to them, but they did not answer his call.

فأذكَى النَّوى مُنثَلِماً وأغلَى

لَظَى زَفَرَاتِه فَبَكَى بُكَاءَ

Separation inflamed his wounded heart and set boiling

the blaze of his sighs; so he wept profusely.

فَصارَ مَصُونُ أدمُعِهِ مُذَالاً

كَأنَّ الجَفنَ قد جَفَن الصَّ

His once-guarded tears were freely shed,

as though the eyelid had enclosed [incomplete word].

وَمَدَّتُهُ شُؤونٌ حفلٌ مَا

تَرَى لأَتَىِّ ثَرَّتِهَا إنتَهاءَ

Brimming tear ducts replenished it; no

end to their abundant torrent could you see.

كَأنَّ هَتُونَها تَهتَانُ وَطفَا

تَؤُمُّ بها الجَنُوبُ الجِرباءَ

Their downpour seemed the downpour of a heavy cloud,

borne by the south wind toward the star-speckled sky.

فقال الركبُ صاحبُكم مُصَابٌ

أيَحجُو في البكاءِ له الشَّفَاء

The caravan said, 'Your companion is afflicted.

Does he suppose that weeping holds his cure?'

فَقَلتُ نعم إِخَالُ بِه شفائِي

أَأنتم خِلتُمالغَدَر الوَفَاءَ

I said, 'Yes, I believe my cure lies in it.

Have you mistaken treachery for fidelity?'

فقالوا ما الوفاءُ فقلتُ إلاَّ

تَكُونُوا طَالِبينَ يعتري العَزَاءَ

They asked, 'What is fidelity?' I said, 'Not

to seek the consolation that might visit you.'

ذكرتُ وقَد تَوانَى الركُبِ لُبنَى

ولُبنَاها المُقَتَّرَ والكِبَاءَ

I remembered Lubna when the caravan slowed,

and her smoldering storax and incense,

وأحورَهَا الغَضِيضَ الطرف الأَحوَى

وسهمَ لِحاظِ أجوِرِهَا المَضَاءَ

and her wide, dark eye, its gaze lowered,

and the sharpened arrow of her cruel one's glances,

وألمَاها السَّدُوسِىَّ المَنَدَارِى

غَدَائِرُهُ ومُؤتزَرَّ طِوَاءَ

and her dusky-lipped beauty, with jet-black, [unclear epithet]

tresses, and a slender waist.

فَما لُبنَى على العِلاَّتِ إلاَّ

غَزَالٌ بَينَ رَبرَبِهِ تَرَاءَى

For all her faults, Lubna is nothing but

a gazelle appearing amid its herd.

وإني واللَّيَالِى لاَعِبَاتٌ

بِمَن فِيهِنَّ أحسَنَ أو أسَاءَ

As for me—while the nights play

with whoever does good or ill within them—

تَقَضَّت أزمُنَ العَفَلاَتِ عني

ومَا خَرَّقتُ عن بصِرَى الغِطَاء

my years of heedlessness have passed,

yet I have not torn the veil from my sight.

فَهل يعتري من يَدِ الأهوَا تَفصَّ

فَاخَتَلِبَ المَشَقَّةَ والعَنَاء

Can release from the grip of passions come to me,

so I may cut away hardship and suffering

واقتنَى إرعِواءً ليتَ شَعرِى

أمقدُورٌ أَن أقتني إرعوَاءَ

and acquire restraint? If only I knew:

is it ordained that I should acquire restraint?

مَحضتُ مَوَدَّتِى لبنَى فَكَانَت

إذَا ما خِلتُها تَدنُو تَناءَى

I gave Lubna my undivided love, but she,

whenever I thought her drawing near, would draw away.

وتَجعلُ وهو شِيمتُها إذَا مَا

أَتَيتُ أَزُورُهَا دُوني الدَّنَاءَ

And she sets—as is her habit, whenever

I come to visit her—disdain in my path.

فَقد ظلمتكَ بالإقصَاءِ لُبنَى

وأولَتكَ القَطيعَةَ والجَفَاءَ

Lubna has wronged you by rejecting you,

and dealt you estrangement and coldness.

وَبتَّت مِن مُمِرَّاتِ التَّصَابي

حِبَالكَ وأنتأت عنكَ إنتِئَاءَ

From the tightly twined bonds of youthful dalliance she severed

your cords, and withdrew far from you.

فَصَرِّمهَأ ولاتَكُ مُستَكِيناً

وأُمَّ الأتقياءَ الأذكِيَاءَ

So break with her, and do not be submissive;

seek out the godfearing and intelligent,

بني المِفضالِ سِيَدآمِينَ تَامَن

من الإقصَا وتَستَطِبِ التَّوَاءَ

the sons of generous Sid Amin: you will be safe

from rejection, and find your stay pleasant.

فَهُم ما بَينَ فَيَّاضٍ عُبَابٍ

تَوَلَّى فِي صُبَوَّتِهِ القَضَاءَ

Among them is an overflowing, surging sea

who assumed the judgeship in his youth,

تَعَلَّى الشِّيخَةَ العُلَمَاءَ طِفلاً

فَحازَ على مُعَاصِرِهِ العَلاَءَ

surpassed the elder scholars while still a child,

and won eminence over his contemporaries.

تَطَلَّبَ وَجهَ خَالِقِهِ فَمَا إِن

بِهِ طَلبَ الجِدَالَ ولاَ المِرَاءَ

He sought his Creator's face; never

did he seek argument or disputation through it.

حبي الأكوانَ يصرفها فَأَمسَى

بإِذنِ الله يفعل كيف شاء

He was granted the worlds to govern, and thus,

by God's leave, he acts as he wills.

وشيخٍ مَكَّ مِن شيخ تُدِيًَّا

مِنَ العِرفَانِ مُترَعَةً رِوآء

And a shaykh who suckled from a shaykh's breasts,

brimming with gnosis, full and thirst-quenching.

يُدِيرُ من الحقيقة كأسَ رَاحٍ

بِنَادِيهِ تُنَسِّيهش النِّسَاءَ

He passes round a cup of the wine of Truth

in his assembly, making him forget women.

فما الدنيا تُضِيعُ له صباحا

بزينتها البتولِ ولا مَساءَ

The world wastes no morning of his

with its virginal finery, nor any evening.

وَندبٍ حَائِزٍ قَصَبَ التَّبَارِى

شَآ سُبَّاقَ حَلبَتِه عَدَاءَ

And a noble champion who won the prize of competition,

outrunning the foremost racers in his field.

له الأسرَارُ قاذفةً جَنَاهَا

أسَرَّ بِحَسوِهِ مِنهُ ارتِغَاءَ

The mysteries cast their fruit before him;

he concealed his drinking of it beneath a skimming of foam.

نَدِىِّ الكَفِّ صَيَّرَ دَارَ الأُخرَى

أمَامَ وَصيَّرَ الدُّنيَا وَرَاءَ

Generous-handed, he placed the abode of the Hereafter

before him, and set this world behind him.

وحَبرٍ مَاجِدٍ شَهمٍ ذَكِىِّ

كَأنَّ إيَّاسَ قَلَّدَهُ الذَّكَاءَ

And a noble scholar, high-minded and intelligent,

as though Iyas had invested him with intelligence,

بِما أبدَى مِن اللَّبِكِ المُعَمَّى

عَنِ العُلَمَا إبتَداءً وانتِهَاءَ

through his unveiling of tangled matters hidden

from scholars, from beginning to end.

وقُطبٍ دَاسَ أخمُصه الثَّرَيَا

فَجَاوَزَ في سُمُوَّتِهِ السماءَ

And a spiritual pole whose sole trod the Pleiades,

surpassing the sky in his loftiness.

إذَا مَا رَاءَ مكرُمةً تَوَخَّى

أوَاخِيَهَا أم أمَّ لَها إخَاءَ

Whenever he sees a noble deed, he seeks

its firm supports, or seeks fellowship with it.

وإن رَاءَ الهُوَينَا نَارَعَنها

نَوارَ الدَّلوِ صَرَّمَتِ الرَّشَاءَ

If he sees indolence, he springs away from it,

as a bucket plunges when its rope is severed.

وخَمرِىِّ الطِّبَاع عَلَيهِ سِيمَا

بِهِنَّ لِدَاتُه ارتَقَت ارتِقَاءَ

And one wine-like in temperament, bearing signs

by which his peers have risen high.

فَهذَا مِن مَنَاقِبهم قليلٌ

فَلَم يَسِعِ الثَّنَاءُ لها احتِوَاءَ

This is but a little of their virtues;

praise could not encompass them all.

أُلاَكَ النَّاسُ بالقُربِ استَبَدُّوا

وقَد جَفَوُا الضلالةَ والهَوَاءَ

Those people alone attained nearness to God,

having shunned error and desire.

وَلَمَّا يَعجَبُوا بِصَلاتِهممَا

يَرَونَ صَلاَتَهُم إلاَّ مُكَاءَ

They have never taken pride in their prayers; they do not

regard their prayers as anything but whistling.

ولَيسُوا مِثلَ أقوَامٍ تَوَخَّوا

بِهَا العُجبَ المُضَلِّلَ والرِّيَاءَ

They are not like people who sought

through prayer misleading vanity and ostentation.

رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ يَأتُونَ المُصَلَّى

ولاَ يَأتُونَهُ إلاَّ رِئَاءَ

They come to the prayer place to be seen by people,

and come there for nothing but show.

ثَنَائِي مَا حَيِيتُ لَهُم فَإني

أرَاهُم للثَّنَا أبداً حِجاءَ

My praise is theirs for as long as I live, for I

deem them forever worthy of praise.

فباركَ رَبَّنَا فِيهم وأولَى

لِشَانِىءِ قَد رَشَانِهمُ التَّواءَ

May our Lord bless them, and grant

ruin to anyone who hates their standing.

وأبقَاهُم نُجَومَ هُدىً لِسَارٍ

بليل لَم يُرَجِّ بِهِ اهتِدَاءَ

And preserve them as guiding stars for a night traveler

in a night in which he had no hope of finding his way.

بجَاهِ المصطفي طه المُصفي

من الأكوانِ مَن عَلاَ الأنبِيَاءَ

By the rank of the Chosen One, Taha, the pure elect

of all creation, who surpassed the prophets.

عليه الدَّهرَ ما سَجَعت وغَنَّت

مُطوَّقَةُ بَأيكتِهَا غِنَاءَ

Upon him, for all time, as long as there coos and sings

a ring-dove in its thicket,

صلاةُ اللهِ والشُّم الطهارى

صَحَابِته الألَى نَالَوا السَّنَاءَ

be God's blessings—and upon the noble, pure

Companions of his, who attained splendor.