ذكر الحمى فبكى لسجع حمامه — Al Tohami

ذُكِرَ الحِمى فَبَكى لسجع حَمامِهِ

وَغَدا غَريماً لِلنَّوى بِغَرامِهِ

The sanctuary was recalled, and he wept at its doves' cooing;

And through his passion he became separation's debtor.

يا مَنزِلاً ما كنت أَحسَبُ أَنَّني

أَحيا إِذا ما بِنتُ عَن آرامِهِ

O dwelling, I never thought that I

Could live if ever I parted from its gazelles.

مِنّي السَلام عَلى رباك تَحِيَّة

إِن كنت تَقنَع من جَوٍ بِسَلامِهِ

Peace from me upon your hills—a greeting,

If you are content with a lovesick man's salutation.

وَإِذا السَحابُ عَداكَ صوب غَمامِهِ

فَسَقاكَ دَمع العين صَوب سجامِهِ

And if the clouds' downpour passes you by,

May the eye's tears water you with their streaming rain.

مَغنىً غَنيتُ لضدى شُموسِ فِنائِهِ

وَنَعمتُ وَصلاً من بِدورِ خيامِهِ

A dwelling where I lived—[unclear word] the suns of its courtyard—

And enjoyed union with the full moons of its tents.

مِن كُلِّ مَعلول اللِحاظ أَعَلَّني

وَجَداً وَعَلَّلَني بِكأسِ مُدامِهِ

With each languid-eyed one who made me ill

With longing, and consoled me with a cup of his wine.

لَم أَنسَهُ إِذ زارَني مُتَلِّثماً

كالغُصنِ في حَركاتِهِ وَقَوامِهِ

I have not forgotten him when he visited me veiled,

Like a branch in his movements and his stature.

عانَقتُ غُصن البانِ تَحتَ وِشاحِهِ

وَلثمتُ بدر التَمِّ تَحتَ لِثامِهِ

I embraced a bough of the bān tree beneath his sash,

And kissed the full moon beneath his veil.

وَجَعَلتُ أَرعي العَينَ روض جَمالِهِ

مُتَمَتِّعاً وَالسَمع دُرّ كَلامِهِ

And I let my eye graze on the garden of his beauty,

In delight, and my ear on the pearls of his speech.

هَذا وَدون إِزارِهِ لي عِفَّة

صَدَّت بِحَمدِ اللَهِ عَن آثامِهِ

All this, yet before his waistcloth stood my chastity,

Which kept me, praise be to God, from the sins beneath it.

نِعمٌ شكرت بِها الأَمير لأَنَّهُ

خلع العَفاف عَليَّ في إِنعامِهِ

Blessings for which I thanked the emir, because he

Clothed me in chastity through his beneficence.

لَبِسَ العَفافَةَ قَبلَ لُبسِ نِطاقِهِ

واِعتاد بَذلَ الجودِ قَبلَ فِطامِهِ

He donned chastity before donning his belt,

And grew accustomed to lavishing bounty before his weaning.

وَرأى بِعَيني رأيه ما خلفه

ذُهناً كَرأي العين من قُدّامِهِ

And with the two eyes of his judgment saw what lay behind him,

By intellect, as plainly as the eye sees what lies before him.

مَلأ القُلوبَ مَهابَة وَمَحَبَّة

منه فَباتَ النَجم دون مَرامِهِ

He filled hearts with awe and love

For him, so that the star lay beneath his ambition.

وَأَنالَ من بَذلِ النَدى في يَومِهِ

ما لَم يَنَلهُ حاتِم في عامِهِ

And in a day he bestowed such lavish bounty

As Hatim did not achieve in a year.

وَسَخا فَأَدرَكَ قاعِداً مِن مَجدِهِ

ما لَم يَنَله سِواهُ عند قِيامِهِ

And through generosity he attained, while seated, such glory

As no other attained while standing.

ما باتَ يَنقُضه فَلَيسَ بِمُبرَمٍ

أَبَداً وَلا نقض عَلى إِبرامِهِ

What he spends the night unraveling is not securely bound,

Ever; nor can his binding be undone.

طلق المُحَيّا للعفاة وَإِنَّما

يَلقى العبوس به عَلى لُوّامِهِ

He is bright-faced toward suppliants, and only

Casts a frown from that face upon his reproachers.

تَتَقاصَرُ الأَفهام دونَ صِفاتِهِ

وَيُغضُّ عَنه الطَرفَ من إِعظامِهِ

Understanding falls short of his qualities,

And the gaze is lowered before him out of reverence.

يَقظان في كَسبِ العَلاء وَإِن يَنَم

فَكأَنَّهُ يَقظان عِندَ مَنامِهِ

Wakeful in pursuing eminence, even if he sleeps,

It is as though he remains awake in his sleep.

وَإِذا بَدا بِالأَمرِ أَتعَبَ نَفسَهُ

وَرأى الهَوى يَهواهُ في إِتمامِهِ

And when he begins a task, he wearies himself,

And sees desire itself enamored of him as he completes it.

يَلقى الوزارة وَهيَ دونَ مَحَلِّهِ

وَيَرى المخدّم وَهوَ من خُدّامِهِ

He encounters the vizierate, though it is beneath his station,

And sees the one served among his own servants.

تَنبو الصَفائِح عَن صَحائِف كُتبِهِ

وَتقلّم الأَقلام من أَقلامِهِ

Sword blades glance off the pages of his writings,

And pens are trimmed by his pens.

وَيَذُمُّ صَفوَ حَياتِهِ من لَم يَبِت

مِستَعصياً بِوَلائِهِ وَذِمامِهِ

And he scorns his life's sweetness who has not spent the night

Unassailable under his patronage and protection.

كالغَيث في إِسجامه وَاللَيث في

إِقدامه وَالسَيف في إِخذامِهِ

Like rain in his outpouring, and the lion in

His bold advance, and the sword in his severing.

عِزٌّ طَويل الباع لَم يضك خامِلاً

في جاهِليَّته وَلا إِسلامِهِ

Far-reaching glory, never obscure [verb unclear],

In its pre-Islamic days or its Islamic days.

إِن شاءَ عَدَّ العِزَّ من أَخوالِهِ

أَو شاء عدَّ العزَّ من أَعمامِهِ

If he wishes, he counts glory among his maternal uncles,

Or, if he wishes, counts glory among his paternal uncles.

قَوم إِذا ما المَجد أَصبَحَ قَسمَة

فَلَهُم أَعالي رأسه وَسَنامِهِ

A people who, whenever glory comes to be apportioned,

Have the heights of its head and its hump.

مِن كُلِّ مَن يَسمو بأَرثِ سَريره

وَالتاج عَن كسراه أَو بُهرامِهِ

Each one rising through the inheritance of his throne

And crown from his Kisra or his Bahram.

يَكبو زِناد الذَم عَن أَعراضِهِ

وَيُضيءُ طرز المَدح عَن أَكمامِهِ

The flints of blame fail to spark against his honor,

And the embroidery of praise shines from his sleeves.

نسب كمثل الصُبح عَمَّ ضِياؤُهُ

وَتَمَزَّقَت عَنه جُيوب ظَلامِهِ

A lineage like the dawn, whose light spreads everywhere,

And the collars of its darkness are rent away from it.

خلط الشَجاعَة بِالنَدى فَالرِزق

وَالآجالُ بَينَ بَنانِهِ وَحُسامِهِ

He mingled courage with generosity, so sustenance

And appointed deaths lie between his fingertips and his sword.

فَضلٌ لَو أَنَّ الدَهرَ قَدَّمَ عَصرَهُ

لأَبانَ نَقصُ زياده وَهِشامِهِ

Such excellence—had Time placed his era earlier,

The shortcomings of its Ziyad and Hisham would have become plain.

فاِسلم عَلى رَغم الحَسودِ وَلا تَزَل

لِلدَّهرِ رُكناً دائِماً بِدَوامِهِ

So remain safe despite the envier, and never cease

To be Time's pillar, enduring as long as it endures.

حَتّى يُسِرُّ بك الوَلي وَيَغتَدي

أَنف الحَسودِ به حَليف رُغامِهِ

So that your friend rejoices in you, and it becomes

An ally of the dust thereby—the envier's nose.