طلول الحي جادتك الطلال — Alablah Albaghdadi

طلولَ الحي جادتك الطلال

ومدت فوق دمنتك الظلالُ

O ruins of the tribe, may the dews water you generously,

and may shadows stretch over your ruined campsite.

ولا برحت دموع الغيث تهمي

عليك وذيل مزنتها مذالُ

May the tears of rain never cease to pour

upon you, with their raincloud's hem trailing low.

ففي مغناك تاب الهجر مما

جناه وطاب من سعدي الوصالُ

For in your dwelling, estrangement repented of what

it had wrought, and union with Saʿda grew sweet.

مهفهفة لها قد نبيل

وأجفان لواحظها نبال

A slender woman, with a graceful figure,

and eyelids whose sidelong glances are arrows.

صموت الحجل تشرقني بدمعي

وتشرق صين تبتسم الحجالُ

Her anklet is silent; she makes me choke on my tears,

and the bridal chambers shine when she smiles.

بدت ورنَت اليّ على اتقاءٍ

فغاب البدر وارتاب الغزالُ

She appeared and gazed at me cautiously;

the full moon vanished, and the gazelle grew uneasy.

أيجمل بي سماع العذل فيها

وقد سفرت وبرقعها الجمالُ

Would it be fitting for me to heed reproach about her,

when she has unveiled, and beauty is her veil?

تريك مقبلا عذبا لماه

ووجها في شبيبته اقتبالُ

She shows you a sweet mouth with dusky lips,

and a face whose youth is in its first bloom.

وحوراء المدامع ذات طرف

صحيح في تغزله اعتلالُ

And a dark-eyed beauty, endowed with a gaze

healthy, yet ailing in its flirtation.

تجور ولا تجير إذا تثنت

عليك بقامة فيها اعتدالُ

She wrongs you and grants no refuge when she sways

toward you with a perfectly proportioned figure.

تذل محبها وتدل حسنا

عليه وآفة الحسن الدلالُ

She humbles her lover and acts coyly through her beauty

toward him; beauty's bane is coquetry.

وقفت علي مغانيها ركابي

أسائلها وما يغني السؤالُ

I halted my riding camels at her dwellings,

questioning them—but what good is questioning?

وقد نشأت من الأجفان سحب

خفاف عندها السحب الثقالُ

Clouds had arisen from my eyelids,

beside which the heavy rainclouds were light.

وخرق قد خرقت باعوجي

نجي لا يلم به الكلالُ

And a vast wilderness I crossed on an Aʿwaji steed,

swift, untouched by weariness.

يكاد إذا تدفق في جراء

تشب على سنابكه الذبالُ

When he surges into a gallop, it is almost as though

wicks burst into flame upon his hooves.

فأربعة يقال هي الصبا

والدبور هي النعامى والشمالُ

His four hooves, they say, are the east wind

and the west—the south wind and the north.

إذا انطلقت فهن بكل ريم

وجازئة تجوز بها عقالُ

When they dash off, to every white gazelle

and water-shunning doe they pass, they are fetters.

إلى المولى أبي الفرج المرجى

فذاك مآل ذي أمل ومالُ

To the lord Abu al-Faraj, in whom hope is placed:

for he is the destination of one with hope and wealth.

يضيق بنا مجال الرزق حتى

نوافيه فيتسع المجالُ

Our scope for earning a living narrows until

we reach him, and that scope expands.

ونشرع في مدائحه فنطغى

ويمكننا إذا قلنا المقالُ

We embark upon his praises and overflow,

and speech comes readily to us whenever we speak.

بشير للعفاة بما رجوه

لديه بشره العذب الزلالُ

A herald to supplicants of what they hope for

from him is his smiling welcome, sweet and clear as water.

ورفد رائق ما فيه مطل

إذا ما الرفد كدره المطالُ

And clear bounty in which there is no delay,

when bounty is clouded by procrastination.

يصوب ندى إذا الأنواء ضنت

ويقدم أن تأخرت الرجالُ

He showers bounty when the rain-stars are miserly,

and advances when men fall back.

له حزم يسود به وعزم

طرير مثل ما شحذت نصالُ

He has prudence by which he leads, and resolve

keen as sharpened blades;

وعلم مثل ما انفجرت بحار

وحلم مثل ما ثبتت جبالُ

knowledge like seas bursting forth,

and forbearance like mountains standing firm.

حلفت إليه بمنى وجمع

وما يحويه من شرف الألُ

I swore to him by Mina and Jamʿ,

and by the honor that al-Al holds,

ووفد الله ما رميت جمار

بأيديهم وما دميت جمالُ

and by God's pilgrims, as long as pebbles are cast

by their hands and camels are bloodied,

بأنك يا ابن عبدالله مولى

صفت منه المواهب والخلالُ

that you, O son of Abd Allah, are a lord

whose gifts and virtues are pure.

له في كلّ يوم مكفهرّ

لنيران الحروب به اشتعالُ

He has, on every grim day

when the fires of war blaze,

دروع مثل ما مطرت نهاء

وسمر من دم القتلى نهالُ

coats of mail like rain-drenched pools,

and dusky spears sated with the blood of the slain.

وتسلكَ خيله في كل فجٍّ

مضيقا ليس يسلكه الخيالُ

And his horses take, through every mountain pass,

a narrow path that imagination cannot tread.

فيا عضد الدنا والدين يا من

ينال برأيه مالا ينالُ

O pillar of the worlds and the faith, O you who

attain through your judgment what cannot be attained:

نداك العد ما ليس يحصى

وكيف تعد أ تحصى الرمالُ

your bounty is a perennial spring, beyond all counting;

and how could you count it—can the sands be counted?

ألا يا ابن الألى طابوا أصولا

ونالوا الفرقدينعلى وطالوا

O son of those whose lineage was noble,

who reached the two Farqad stars in height and towered high:

مصاول حين يدهمهم جلاد

مقاول حين يحتد الجدالُ

warriors when combat overwhelms them,

eloquent speakers when debate grows heated.

محل لست ساكنه محيل

وقول لست قائله محالُ

A place you do not inhabit is barren,

and a saying you do not utter is absurd.

نراك تلين أحيانا وتقسو

ففيك العفو أجمع والنكالُ

We see you grow gentle at times, and grow stern;

in you are clemency in full and punishment.

تداركت الوحيد فأنت آل

له وسواك للظآن آلُ

You rescued the solitary one; you are kin

to him, while anyone but you is a mirage to the thirsty.

إذا ما الجود أضحى وهو خدّ

فجودك فوق ذاك الخد خالُ

If generosity becomes a cheek,

your generosity is the beauty mark upon that cheek.

فعيدوانحر الأعداء واسلم

لملك ما له أبدا زوالُ

So celebrate the feast, slaughter your enemies, and remain safe

for a dominion that will never pass away.

فاقسم صادقا ما أنتت إلاّ

يمين المجد والناس الشمالُ

I swear truthfully: you are nothing but

glory's right hand, and the people are its left.

فسارت نحوك الآمال عجلى

ولاوقفت مكارمك العجالُ

So hopes have hurried toward you;

and may your swift benefactions never halt.