عهد هوى كنا عهدناه — Alarjani

عَهْدُ هوىً كنّا عَهِدْناهُ

يَفْنَي اصْطباري عند ذِكْراهُ

A time of love that we once knew—

my patience perishes when I recall it.

لا أنا أنْساهُ فأسْلو ولا

تَذكُرُه أنتَ فتَرعاه

Neither do I forget it and find solace, nor

do you remember it and cherish it.

لو كان يُفْدَى فيُرَى ثانياً

ماضٍ من العَيْش فَدْيناه

If a bygone time could be ransomed and seen again,

we would ransom that past life.

فَلْيَسْقِه دَمْعي بتَسْكابِه

فإنّه أوْلَى بسُقْياه

Let my tears water it with their outpouring,

for they have the greatest claim to water it.

يا قاتلي ظُلْماً بهِجْرانه

هَجْرُك ما أكثرَ قَتْلاه

O you who wrongfully slay me through your estrangement,

how many victims your estrangement has!

سنَنْثُرُ اليومَ العِتابَ الَّذي

كنّا زماناً قد طَويْناه

Today we shall unfold the reproach that

we had kept folded away for a time.

تَذْكُر كم لَيْلٍ لنا سالفٍ

قُرطُكَ قد كان ثُريّاه

Remember how many bygone nights were ours,

when your earring was their Pleiades.

سَهِرْتُه عندك لَهْواً وقد

خِيطَ من الغَيْرانِ جَفْناه

I spent the night awake beside you in pleasure, while

the jealous one's two eyelids were sewn shut.

ثَغْرُكَ معْ خَدِّكَ في جُنْحِه

ماءُ أخي الوَجْدِ ومَرْعاه

Your mouth and cheek, beneath its darkness,

were water and pasture for a man of passion.

فَبتُّ مِن وَصْلِكَ في لَذَّةٍ

حتّى جَلا الصُّبْحُ مُحيّاه

So I passed the night delighting in union with you,

until morning unveiled its face.

والنَّجمُ قد أطَبقَ أجفانَه

والنَّومُ قد أطْلَقَ أسْراه

The star had closed its eyelids,

and sleep had released its captives.

واللّيلُ سَيفُ الفَجْرِ في فَرْقِهِ

يَقْتلُه والدّيكُ يَنْعاه

And night, with dawn's sword at its head's parting,

was being slain, while the cock mourned its passing.

والحَيُّ قد حانَ انْطلاقٌ له

وقد حَدا الحادي مَطاياه

The tribe's time to depart had come,

and the camel-driver had urged his mounts with song.

ثار وراءَ الرَّكْبِ مُستَعْجلاً

يَلُفُّ أُولاهُ بأُخراه

He hurried up behind the caravan,

drawing its foremost ranks together with its rear.

والإلْفُ قد عانقَني للنَّوى

فالْتَفَّ خَدّايَ وخَدَاه

My beloved embraced me for our parting,

and my two cheeks and his came together.

كأنّه رامٍ إلى غايةٍ

تَناوَلَ السّهْمَ بيُمْناه

He was like an archer aiming at a mark,

who took an arrow in his right hand,

حتّى إذا أدناهُ من صَدْرِه

أَبْعَدَهُ ساعةَ أَدْناه

until, when he brought it near his breast,

he sent it far away the moment he drew it close.

يا مَنْ عَذيري مِن هَوى شادِنٍ

ما كنتُ نَهْبَ الوَجْدِ لَوْلاه

Who will plead my case against love for a young gazelle,

without whom I would not be passion's prey?

قد ضَمَّنا يومَ غدَوْا مَوقفٌ

ما كانَ لولا البَينُ أَحْلاه

A meeting-place joined us the day they left at dawn—

how sweet it would have been, but for parting!

وللهوَى كانتْ غداةَ النَّوى

رسائلٌ بَلَّغْتُها فاه

On the morning of separation, love had

messages I delivered to his mouth.

حينَ بدا كالبَدْرِ بَدْرِ الدُّجَى

يَنوسُ في خَدَّيه لَيْلاه

When he appeared like the full moon, the full moon of darkness,

his twin nights swayed upon his cheeks.

السِّحْرُ ما تُمليه أَلحاظُه

والحُسْنُ ما يَحْويهِ بُرْداه

Magic is what his glances dictate,

and beauty is what his two cloaks enclose.

والدُّرُّ مِن فيهِ مدَى الدَّهرِ ما

يُسمِعْناهُ ويُريناهُ

And pearls from his mouth, for all time, are what

he makes us hear and lets us see.

أَفْدي الَّذي لم أسْتَجِرْ في الهَوى

إلاّ إليه منه شَكْواه

I would ransom him: in love I sought refuge

from him only with him, complaining of him.

أَدْنَى المُعنَّى منه حتّى إذا

تَيَّمَهُ في الحُبِّ أَقْصاه

He drew the tormented lover close, until,

once he had enslaved him in love, he cast him far away.

وكلُّ ما لاقَيْتُ من غَدْرِه

قالَتْه لي من قَبْلُ عَيْناه

And every betrayal I encountered from him

his eyes had already told me of.

يومَ صَبا قلبي إلى طَرْفه

فقلتُ إيّاكَ وإيّاه

The day my heart inclined toward his gaze,

I told it, 'Beware of him!'

فاليومَ لو هَمَّ بتَرْكِ الهَوى

ثنَتْهُ عن ذاك ثَناياه

Now, if it thought to abandon love,

his front teeth would turn it back from that.

فما تَرى يا بدْرُ في مُدْنفٍ

طَيْفُك لو حَيّاهُ أَحْياه

What say you, full moon, of a lovesick man

whom your phantom, if it greeted him, would revive?

بلْ يا أَخا الأزْدِ وأعني بها

أزْداً بحيثُ النَّجمُ عُلْياه

Rather, O brother of Azd—and by that I mean

Azd, whose loftiest heights are where the stars are—

لا يُنْكرُ المجدُ إذا ما سَما

أَنّا وإيّاكمْ جَناحاه

glory, when it soars, does not deny

that we and you are its two wings.

نحن بنو ماء السّماء الّذي

يَخْلُفُه في المَحْلِ جَدواه

We are the sons of Ma' al-Sama'—Heaven's Water—which

his bounty replaces in times of drought.

إن حُبِسَ القَطْرُ على مُجْذِبٍ

كَفاه أَن تُطلَقَ كَفّاه

If rain is withheld from one in a barren land,

it suffices him that those two hands be opened.

ما الأزْدُ إلاّ جِذْمُ كلِّ العُلا

ونحن يَومَ الفَخْرِ فَرْعاه

Azd is nothing but the root of all eminence,

and on the day of boasting we are its two branches.

لمّا دعا والنّاسُ أَتباعُنا

داعٍ إلى الحقِّ تَبِعْناه

When a call went out, while people were our followers,

we followed the one who called to truth.

فالمُلْكُ ما نحنُ سَبقْنا بهِ

والدِّينُ ما نحنُ نَصَرْناه

Sovereignty is what we were first to attain,

and religion is what we championed.

والعُرْبُ قد سارَتْ إثْرنا

فأدركَتْ سُؤْراً تَركْناه

The Arabs followed in our wake,

and found a remnant we had left.

أما كَفانا أنَّهمْ قَدَّموا

مَجْداً وطاروا بِقُداماه

Is it not enough for us that they advanced

glory and flew on its foremost wing-feathers,

وأنّ صدْرَ الدِّينِ في عَصْره

قد نصَر الدِّينَ وآواه

and that Sadr al-Din, in his own age,

has defended religion and given it refuge?

نَصْراً بهم ثُمَّ بهِ ثانياً

أَعادَه اللهُ وأَبْداه

A victory through them, then through him a second time,

God renewed and brought to light.

فقد غدا النّصْرُ لدينِ الهُدَى

أُخْراه منّا بَعْدُ أُولاه

Thus victory for the faith of guidance has become

ours in its latest triumph, as in its first.

جَدَّدَهُ ذو كرَمٍ غامرٍ

لا يَستَحِقُّ المَدْحَ إلاّه

It was renewed by a man of overflowing generosity,

who alone deserves praise:

عبدُ اللَّطيفِ المُجتلَى مَجْدُه

عن أَن يُرَى في النّاسِ شَرْواه

Abd al-Latif, whose radiant glory

is beyond any equal being found among men.

قَرْمٌ إذا عَنَّ لمَسْعاتهِ

أَعْشارُ حَمْدٍ فازَ سَهْماه

A chieftain: when there appear for his endeavors

shares of praise, his two lots win.

ذو هِمّةٍ تُضْحي وتَمْسي عُلاً

والعِلْمُ والحِلْمُ خَليلاه

A man whose resolve is lofty morning and evening,

with learning and forbearance as his two companions.

فالدِّينُ في ظلِّ عُلاهُ حِمىً

يَحوطُ أَدْناهُ وأَقْصاه

Under the shade of his eminence, religion is a sanctuary;

he guards its nearest bounds and farthest.

والدَّهرُ قد راحَ له خادماً

يأمُرُه صُغْراً ويَنْهاه

Time itself has become his servant;

he commands it in its abasement and forbids it.

واليُمنُ واليُسرُ طَريقاهُما

للخَلْقِ يُمْناه ويُسْراه

Good fortune and ease have as their paths

to mankind his right hand and his left.

يا راحِلاً يَطلُبُ مَعْروفَه

فُزْ بالغِنَى أوّلَ لُقْياه

O traveler seeking his beneficence,

win wealth at your first meeting with him.

ما عنده عنك إذا جِئْتَه

يُذخَرُ لا مالٌ ولا جاه

When you come to him, nothing he has

is withheld from you, neither wealth nor standing.

ما بَرِحَتْ تَتْرى على حالةٍ

في اليَسْرِ والعُسْر عَطاياه

They have never ceased to come in steady succession,

his gifts, in ease and hardship.

قُلْ للإمامِ ابْنِ الإمام الَّذي

نَرجوه في الدَّهرِ ونَخْشاه

Say to the imam, son of the imam, whom

we look to and fear amid time's changes:

يا مَن عَلا مِنْ مَجْدِه باذخاً

مُهلَّبُ العَلْياءِ وَطّاه

O you who scaled a towering summit of glory

which al-Muhallab of high renown had trodden:

جَدُّك ما اخْتَارَ لأبنائهِ

غيرَ ثلاث مِن وَصاياه

Your forefather chose for his sons

only three of his counsels.

منهنّ أنْ قالَ اعْلَموا أنّكمْ

والفَضلَ لا تَرضَوْا بأَدْناه

Among them he said, 'Know that you,

in excellence, must not be content with the lowest.

ثيابُكمْ أحسَنُ ما أصبحَتْ

على سِواكمْ حينَ يُكساه

Your garments look their finest

on others, when they are clothed in them,

مَخْلوعةً منكمْ على كُلُّ مَنْ

يَلبسُ شُكْراً طال ثَوْباه

cast off by you upon anyone

who wears them gratefully, his two robes trailing long.

رُؤيتُه فيهنَّ مَدْحٌ لكمْ

فَسمْعُه للخَلْقِ مَرآه

Seeing him in them is praise of you;

what people hear from him is the sight of him.

وسَحبُه الأذيالَ سَحبانُكمْ

يَرتجِلُ الخُطبةَ مُمْساه

His trailing of their hems is your Sahban,

improvising an oration at evening,

يَتْلو ثناءً سابغاً حَشْوُها

إذ يتَثنَّى فيه عِطْفاه

reciting abundant praise that fills them,

as his two sides sway within.

كأنّها لَفْظٌ غدا رائقاً

للمَدْحِ واللآبسُ مَعْناه

It is as though they were words made lovely

for praise, and the wearer their meaning.'

وقال قولاً لهمُ ثانياً

ليَحْمَدوا في الدَّهر عُقْباه

He spoke to them a second counsel,

that they might praise its outcome throughout time:

لن تَبلُغوا السُّؤدَدَ أَو تَصْبِروا

إذا أطالَ الحَيُّ نَجْواه

'You will not attain lordship unless you endure,

when the tribe prolongs its private counsel,

على الشُّيوخِ القُلْحِ إن قُرِّبَتْ

منهم إلى الآذان أفواه

the yellow-toothed elders, if

their mouths draw close to ears.'

وثالثُ الأقوالِ ما قالَهُ

في آخِرِ العَهْدِ بدُنْياه

And the third of his sayings was what he spoke

at the close of his time in this world:

ألْقىَ لهمْ نَبْلاً وقال اكْسِروا

وما دَرَوْا مِن ذاك مَغْزاه

He cast arrows before them and said, 'Break them,'

and they did not grasp his purpose in that.

فلم يُطِيقوا كسْرَ مَجْموعه

واحْتقَروا كسْرَ فُراداه

They could not break them bundled together,

but thought breaking them singly a trivial thing.

وقال أنتمْ للعدا هكذا

فاجْتَمِعوا والنّاسُ أشْباه

He said, 'So are you before your foes:

unite, for people are alike.'

فالجُودُ والصّبرُ وجَمعُ الفتَى

شَمْلَ بني الجِنْسِ بنُعْماه

Thus generosity, patience, and a man's gathering

of his own people's ranks through his bounty

ثلاثةٌ هُنَّ إذا عُدّدَتْ

من شَرَفِ الأخلاقِ أَعْلاه

are three virtues that, when enumerated,

stand highest among noble traits.

وأنتَ لا تُدفَعُ عنها وقد

نَماكَ مَنْ هُنَّ سَجاياه

You cannot be denied these, for

you descend from one whose innate qualities they were.

يا أيهّا الصّدْرُ الّذي عنده

سِرُّ عُلاً أَوْدَعه الله

O chief, with whom resides

the secret of loftiness that God entrusted to him:

أوّلُ ظُلْم الدّهرِ لي أنّه

قد عاقَني عنك جَناياه

Time's first injustice to me was that

its misdeeds kept me from you.

من سَقَمَيْ جِسمٍ وحالٍ معاً

واصلَ تَعْويقي ووالاه

Through the twin sicknesses of body and condition alike,

it continued obstructing me, again and again.

وسادَةُ العَصْرِ جُفاةٌ لنا

من غَيْرِ ما جُرْمٍ جَنَيْناه

The lords of the age are harsh toward us,

though we committed no crime,

إلاّ قريضٌ رائقٌ رُبَّما

في نَفَرٍ منهمْ نَظَمْناه

except fine poetry that perhaps

we composed concerning some among them.

قومٌ مديحي لهمُ ضائع

لكنَّ طَبْعي يَتَقاضاه

A people on whom my praise is wasted,

yet my own nature demands it.

والسِّلْكُ يُكْسَى الدُّرُّ معْ أنّه

يَجهَلُ ما أصبَح يُكْساه

Thread is clothed in pearls, even though

it does not know what it has been clothed in.

وليس صَدْرُ الدِّينِ من شَكْلِهم

فَيقْتَضي قَوْليَ حاشاه

But Sadr al-Din is not of their kind,

so my words need no 'except him.'

وكيف يُسْتَثنى نَهارٌ إذا

ما ذُمَّ لَيْلٌ طالَ جُنْحاه

How could daylight need to be excepted when

one condemns a night whose wings stretch long?

دُمْ للمعالي ما همَتْ دِيمةٌ

رِيّاً لرَوْضٍ فاحَ رَيّاه

Abide for lofty deeds as long as steady rain falls,

watering a garden whose fragrance spreads.

وخُذْ ثناءً كأزاهيرِه

حُسْناً إذا ما الوُدُّ أمْلاه

And receive praise like its blossoms

in beauty, whenever affection dictates it.

حيّتْكَ من بُعْدٍ وقُرْبٍ معاً

شاقا فؤادي واسْتَحثّاه

It has greeted you from distance and nearness together,

both stirring my heart's longing and urging it on.

بُعْدُ ديارٍ كان لكنّنا

بقُرْبِ أسْرارٍ خَلَطْناه

There was distance between our dwellings, yet we

mingled it with the closeness of our inmost thoughts.

فلم أزَلْ أسحَبُ ذَيْلَ الدُّجَى

على بَعيرٍ مادَ ضَبْعاه

So I kept dragging the train of darkness

upon a camel whose two forelegs swayed,

أطْوي الفلا طَيَّ امرئٍ واصل

مُصْبِحَه سَيْراً بمُمْساه

folding up the wilderness as a man who joins

his morning journey to his evening.

فلم يَزَلْ بي طائشاً خَطْوُه

نِضْوِيَ حتّى حُلَّ نِسْعاه

It kept carrying me with a darting stride,

my worn mount, until its two girths were loosened,

إلى فتىً آمُلُ من عِنْدِه

عَوْداً على ما أَتَمنّاه

toward a young lord from whom I hope

for aid in gaining what I desire.

وكيف لا يَحْوي المُنَى مَنْ غدا

مثْلُكَ يا مَوْلايَ مَوْلاه

How could a man fail to attain his wishes when

one like you, my lord, is his patron?