ألمت بنا بعد الهدو سعاد — Al Tohami

أَلَمَّت بِنا بَعدَ الهَدوِّ سُعاد

بِليل لباس الجو مِنهُ حِدادُ

Suʿad came to us after all had grown still,

on a night that clothed the sky in mourning black.

أَلَمَّت وَفي جَفني وَجفن مُهنَّدي

غِرارانِ ذا سَيف وَذاكَ رِقادُ

She came while my eyelid and my Indian sword’s sheath

held two edges—one a sword, the other sleep.

فَما برحت حَتّى تَجَلّى ليَ الدُجى

كَما فارَقَ العضب الحُسام غمادُ

She stayed until the darkness lifted before me,

as a sheath parts from a keen, cutting sword.

وَأَحدَق باللَيلِ الصَباحِ كَأَنَّهُ

بَياض بعين وَالظَلامُ سوادُ

Morning encircled the night, as though it were

the white of an eye, and darkness its pupil.

أَناة كَمِثلِ الشَمسِ نوراً وَعادَة

فَفيها دُنوٌ مطمعٌ وَبعادُ

A woman of measured grace, like the sun in radiance and habit:

in her are enticing nearness and remoteness.

فأن ترني أَخفي هَواها تجملاً

فَيا رُبَّما أَخفى الضِرام زِنادُ

If you see me hide my love for her to preserve my dignity,

ah, how often fire-sticks have concealed a blaze!

وَلَم أَنسَها وَالبَينُ يُجري دموعها

عَلى مشرق لِلعَين فيهِ مُرادُ

Nor have I forgotten her, as parting made her tears flow

over a radiant cheek where the eye finds its desire.

يَروق بِدَمعِ اللَهوِ وَالحزن خَدّها

فَما عَنه طرف إِن راهُ يحادُ

Her cheek enchants with tears of mirth and sorrow;

no gaze, once it sees it, turns away.

وَإِن سَفَحَت بِالكُحلِ دَمعاً فَخدّها

مِن النور طرسٌ وَالدموعُ مِدادُ

If she sheds tears mixed with kohl, her cheek

is a parchment of light, and the tears are ink.

بِها مَرَضٌ في لَحظِها وَهوَ صِحَّةٌ

وَلَكِن مَريض اللَحظِ لَيسَ يُعادُ

She has a sickness in her glance—and it is health;

yet the languid-eyed are not visited as invalids.

أَلَيسَ عَجيباً أَن تَصيدَ قلوبنا

مَهاةٌ وَعَهدي بِالمَهاةِ تُصادُ

Is it not wondrous that our hearts are hunted

by an oryx, though I have known oryx to be hunted?

سَقاها إِذا ما المزن أَخلف أَرضها

بنان عليِّ إِنَّها لَعِهادُ

May she be watered, when rain clouds fail her land,

by ʿAli’s fingers—indeed, they are recurring rains.

غَيوث وَلَكِن قطرة الغيث بدرة

مكملة أَو نبرة وَجوادُ

They are downpours, but a drop of this rain is a bag of coins,

filled completely—or a nabra [unclear term] and a steed.

أَغيث جداه الماء لا شيء غيره

كَغيث جداه طارِف وتلادُ

Can a rain whose bounty is water, and nothing else,

equal a rain whose bounty is wealth newly acquired and inherited?

بِنانٌ عَلى بَذلِ المَواهِبِ سبطة

وَلَكِن عَلى قَبض الرِماحِ جعادُ

Fingers open and supple when bestowing gifts,

but clenched tight when gripping spears.

يَجولُ بِهِ في الحَربِ نَهدٌ كَأَنَّهُ

عِقابٌ وَلَكِن الجَناحَ بدادُ

A sturdy horse carries him about in battle, as though it were

an eagle, though its wing is saddle-padding.

وَقَد خُضِّبَت أَسيافَه فَكَأَنَّها

مِنَ الدم جَمرٌ وَالغُبارُ رَمادُ

His swords have been dyed, so they seem

embers from the blood, and the dust is ash.

لَهُ كرم كالبَحر يَزداد كُلَّما

يُرجّى فَما يَخشى عَلَيهِ نَفادُ

His generosity is like the sea, increasing whenever

one hopes for it; there is no fear it will run dry.

عصيبت إِلَيهِ النَفسُ حَتّى أَتَيته

فَفزتُ وَعِصيان النفوس رَشادُ

I defied my own soul in seeking him, until I reached him,

and succeeded; defying one’s soul is right guidance.

وَأَعلقت أَسبابي لمختص دولَة

غراس الأَماني في ذَراهُ حَصادُ

I bound my fortunes to one favored by the realm;

under his shelter, the planting of hopes is harvest.

بِأَبلَج سوق الحَمدِ يَنفق عِندَهُ

وَفي سوقِهِ الألدية كَسادُ

To a radiant man with whom the market for praise thrives,

while al-aldiya [unclear term] is unsold in his market.

تَهُزُّ يَمين الملك مِنهُ مثقَّفاً

يَقيهِ لِسان كالسِنان حِدادُ

The king’s right hand brandishes in him a straightened spear;

a tongue sharp as a spearhead protects him.

لَهُ حملات في المَكارِم مقدماً

إِلى جودِهِ والمَكرُماتِ طرادُ

He makes charges in noble deeds, advancing boldly

toward his bounty, while noble acts race in pursuit.

لَقَد أَنشر الطَيموم أَموات طيىء

بِعَليائِهِ وَالمَجدُ حينَ يُشادُ

Al-Taymum [unclear designation] has surely raised the dead of Tayy

through his eminence and glory, when it is exalted.

فَإِن لَم يَعُد مَن ماتَ مِنهُمُ فَذِكرُهُ

وَذِكرُ الفَتى قَبلَ المَعادِ مُعادُ

If one who died among them has not returned, his remembrance has;

and a man’s remembrance, before the Resurrection, is a resurrection.

رَأيتُ عَليّاً في الفَضائِلِ كاسمِهِ

عَليّاً لَهُ شُمُّ الجِبالِ وَهادُ

I found ʿAli in virtues as his name implies:

exalted—to him, the lofty mountains are lowlands.

فَإِن شارَكوهُ في اسمِهِ فَلَرُبَّما

يُشارِكُ في إِسم ناطِق وَجَمادُ

If others share his name, many a time

a speaking being and a lifeless thing share a name.

بَصيرٌ بِتَركِ الجودِ في مُستَحِقِّهِ

وَما كُلُّ مَن يُعطي الجَزيل جَوادُ

Discerning in placing generosity with its rightful recipient:

not everyone who gives lavishly is generous.

لَقَد زدتَ هَذا الدَهر حُسناً وَهيبَةً

كَأَنَّكَ في صَدرِ الزَمانِ نِجادُ

You have surely added beauty and majesty to this age,

as though you were a sword-baldric on the breast of Time.

فَلَو صَوَّرَ اللَهُ البَريَّةَ واحِداً

لصوَّرَهُم جِسماً وَأَنتَ فُؤادُ

If God fashioned all creation as one being,

He would make them the body, and you the heart.

حملت العُلى بِالجودِ حَتّى اقتَنصتَها

وَلِلمَجدِ وَحش بِالنوالِ يُصادُ

You pursued high honors with generosity until you captured them;

glory has wild game that is hunted with bounty.

فَقَد سُدَّت طياً وَهيَ لِلناسِ سادَة

وكل جَواد سَيِّد سَيُسادُ

You have become lord of Tayy, themselves lords of men;

and every generous lord will, in turn, be lorded over.

وَطيىءٌ عماد الناس في كُلِّ مَوطنٍ

وَأَنتَ لَها يا ابن الكِرامِ عِمادُ

Tayy are the people’s pillar in every place,

and you, son of noble men, are their pillar.

تَقودُ ذُرى قَحطان آل مفرجٍ

وَلَو لَم يَكُن آل المُفَرِّج قادوا

You lead Qahtan’s loftiest chiefs, the house of Mufarrij;

even had they not been the house of al-Mufarrij, they would have led.

إِذا أَسَّسوا شادوا وَإِن وَعَدوا وَفوا

وَإِن بَدأوا في المكرمات أَعادوا

When they lay foundations, they build high; when they promise, they fulfill;

and when they begin noble deeds, they repeat them.

أَفادوا مَديحي واستَفدت ثَوابهم

وَكل مُفيدٍ إِن رَأَيتَ مُفادُ

They gained my praise, and I gained their reward;

and every giver, if you consider, also receives.

رَأيت العُلى شَخصاً وَقَحطان وَجهِهِ

وطيىءُ لَهُ عين وَأَنتَ سَوادُ

I saw high honor as a person, with Qahtan its face,

Tayy its eye, and you its pupil.

إِلَيكَ فرت بي كل قَفرٍ وَمَهمَهٍ

مُضبَّرة مِثلَ العَلاة سِنادُ

Toward you she sped with me across every waste and trackless desert—

a powerfully built, tall she-camel, like an anvil.

ثَنى القَفر مِن أَخفافِها فَكَأَنَّما

عَلَيهُنَّ مِن ماءِ الدِماء جِسادُ

The wasteland wore down her hoof-pads, so it seemed

they bore a saffron-like dye of liquid blood.

وَعاذِلَةٍ قالَت تأنَّ فَرُبَّما

يَروقك بَعضُ النَبتِ وَهوَ كِبادُ

A reproving woman said, ‘Take your time; sometimes

a plant pleases you, yet brings sickness to the liver.’

فَقُلتُ لَها كُفّي فآل مُفرجٍ

بِحارُ نَدىً وَالعالَمون ثمادُ

I said to her, ‘Enough; the house of Mufarrij

are seas of bounty, while the world’s people are mere puddles.’

أَيَخلف ظَنّي مِن أَبوه مُفرِجٌ

أَلا إِنَّ أَولادَ الجِيادِ جِيادُ

Would one whose father is Mufarrij disappoint my hopes?

Surely the offspring of noble steeds are noble steeds.