حيتك غادية الحيا من مربع — Alarjani

حَيّتْكَ غاديةُ الحَيا من مَرْبَع

رجَعتْ عهودي فيك أم لم تَرجِعِ

May a morning rain-cloud greet you, O spring abode,

whether my old days return in you or never return.

إنّ الّذينَ وقَفتُ في آثارِهمْ

مُترسِّماً لمَصيفِهمْ والمَربَع

Those in whose tracks I stood,

tracing their summer quarters and spring abode,

ما أَسْأروا في كأسِ دَمْعِيَ فَضْلةً

عنهمْ فأجعلَها نَصيبَ الأَربُع

left no remainder in the cup of my tears

beyond their share, for me to allot to the deserted camps.

لم يُبكني إلاّ حديثُ فراقهمْ

لمّا أسرّ بهِ إلىّ مُودّعي

Nothing made me weep but the news of their departure,

when my farewell companion whispered it to me.

هو ذلك الدُّرُّ الّذي ألقيتُمُ

في مَسْمَعي ألقيتُه من مَدْمَعي

Those are the pearls that you cast

into my ear, which I cast from my tear ducts.

فدَعُوا التّجنِّيَ عاطِفينَ على فتىً

لوقوعِ ما تَعِدُ النّوى مُتَوقِّع

So abandon unjust blame, and show kindness to a youth

awaiting the fulfillment of separation's threats:

صَبٍّ لأسرارِ الأحبّةِ حافظٍ

ولمَوضعِ الأسرارِ منه مُضَيِّع

a lovesick keeper of the beloveds' secrets,

yet a squanderer of their repository within him.

أمّا الفؤادُ فإنّهم ذهَبوا به

يومَ النّوى فَبقِيتُ صِفْرَ الأَضلُع

As for my heart, they took it away

on parting day, leaving my ribs empty.

ونظَرتُ من بَعدِ الفؤادِ فلم أجِدْ

غيرَ الجفونِ لِسرِّهمْ من مَوْضِع

After losing my heart, I looked and found

no repository for their secret but my eyelids.

وهي الّتي لولا الغرامُ ولو خطَتْ

شُهُبُ الكتائبِ فوقَها لم تَخْشَع

Those eyelids, were it not for passion, even if

the battalions' blazing stars trod on them, would not bow.

لو كان خَيّم غيرُ سلطانِ الهَوى

في جُنْدِه بفِناء جَفْني المُودَع

Had anyone but the sovereign of love encamped

with his army in my entrusted eyelid's courtyard,

لرأيتَ طَرْفيَ وهْو مانعُ أَدْمعٍ

مثْلَ السّموأَلِ وهْو مانعُ أَدْرُع

you would have seen my eye withholding tears,

like al-Samaw'al withholding coats of mail.

نَفْسي فِداء السّائرِينَ من اللّوى

ولهمْ مُعرَّجُ ساعةٍ بالأَجْرَع

May my soul ransom those who journeyed from al-Liwa,

pausing an hour at al-Ajra',

السّالِبينَ فُؤادَ كُلِّ مُشيَّعٍ

أظعانَهمْ من صَدْرِ كُلِّ مُشَيِّع

who steal every bold man's heart

from the breast of everyone escorting their camel litters,

والباعثِينَ إلىّ طَيْفاً زائراً

أوصَوْه بي ألاّ يُفارِقَ مَضْجَعي

and send me a visiting apparition,

charging it to care for me and never leave my bed.

فكأنّنا لمّا عقَدْنا للنّوى

حِلْفاً بغَيْرِ رَهائنٍ لم تَقْنَع

It is as though, when we made with separation

a covenant, she would not accept it without hostages:

فرَهينتي معهمْ فؤاديَ دائماً

والطّيفُ من سَلْمَى رَهينتُهْم معي

my lasting hostage with them is my heart,

and Salma's apparition is their hostage with me.

بأبي الشموسَ الطالعاتِ عَشّيّةً

فوقَ الِركائبِ وهْي فُتْلُ الأذْرُع

May my father ransom those suns rising at evening

above the riding camels, sinewy of foreleg,

المُخرِجاتِ من الحريرِ تَحيّةً

أَطرافَ دُرٍّ بالعَقيقِ مُقمَّع

who draw from silk, in greeting,

pearl tips capped with carnelian:

من كُلِّ صائدةِ الرّجالِ بمُقْلةٍ

منها وصائنةِ الجَمالِ ببُرقع

each a huntress of men with an eye

of hers, and a guardian of beauty behind a veil;

وعزيزةٍ في الحيّ وهْي بخيلةٌ

بالوَصلِ إلاّ يَمنعوها تَمنَع

cherished in her clan, yet sparing

of union: if they do not forbid her, she withholds it herself.

تَرنو بناظرةِ المَهاةِ إذا بدَتْ

وتَنُصُّ سالفةَ الغزالِ الأتلَع

When she appears, she gazes with an oryx's eye

and lifts the neck of a long-necked gazelle.

إن تُمْسِ آفاقُ السّماء مُنيرةً

للنّاظرِينَ منَ النجومِ الطُّلَّع

If the horizons of heaven shine at evening

for gazers, lit by the rising stars,

فلِمُقلتي أُفُقٌ خُصوصاً شَمسُه

من وَجْهها ونُجومُه من أَدمُعي

my eye has a horizon uniquely its own, whose sun

is her face, and whose stars are my tears:

شُهُبٌ إذا غرَبتْ طلَعْنَ مَوالئاً

عَيني ولا يَغْرُبْنَ ما لم تَطلُع

blazing stars that rise when she sets, filling

my eye, and never set until she rises.

يا صاح مأْثورُ الحديثِ مُخلَّفٌ

فاصْبِرْ لِرَوْعاتِ الخُطوبِ أَوِ اجْزَع

O friend, the tale handed down has been left behind;

so endure the terrors of calamity, or be distraught.

إنّ الزّمانَ على تَطاوُلِ عَمْرِه

بَرْقٌ يَمُرُّ فخُذْ بحَظِّك أَو دَع

Time, despite the length of its life,

is a passing flash: take your share, or leave it.

عَطَلي لدى زَمَنٍ ومِنّىَ جِيدُه

في حِلْيَتْي ذِكْرٍ وشِعْرٍ مُجْزِعي

My unadorned state before an age whose neck I deck

with the twin jewels of renown and verse dismays me.

أَسعَى ليَرعَى آخَرونَ وما سعَوْا

قُلْ للّيالي ما بدا لكِ فاصْنَعي

I strive so others may graze, though they have not striven.

Say to the nights, 'Do whatever seems good to you.'

لهمُ الغِنَى وليَ العَناءُ ونافِذُ

يا دَهرُ حُكمُكَ إن تَضعْ أَو تَرفَع

Theirs is wealth, mine is toil; effective

is your decree, O Time, whether you lower or raise.

الكَرُّ يُعرَفُ للعُبَيدِ ورَبِّه

والنّهْبُ بينَ عُيَينةٍ والأَقْرَع

The charge is credited to al-'Ubayd and his master,

while the plunder lies between 'Uyayna and al-Aqra'.

بالجِّدِ والجَدِّ انتَجِعْ تَنَلِ المُنَى

فإنِ اجتزأْتَ بواحدٍ لم تَنْجَع

Seek prosperity with effort and luck, and attain your wishes;

if you make do with one, you will not prosper.

وإذا نَعَيْتَ على خليلٍ خَلّةً

في دينهِ فاهْجُرْه واحسِبْه نُعي

If you reproach a friend for a failing

in his faith, abandon him and count him as reported dead.

فلقد أُراني واجداً بذؤابتي

وبلَونها وَجْدَ المُحبِّ المُولَع

Indeed, I once saw myself enamored of my forelock,

and of its color, with an infatuated lover's passion,

حتّى إذا رفَضَ العِذارُ سوادَه

منّي وأصبحَ بالبياضِ مُروِّعى

until the hair upon my cheeks cast off its blackness

and began to frighten me with its whiteness.

ما سَرَّني معه بَقائيَ بعدما

أضحَى يَشوبُ تَسنُّناً بتَشيُّع

My continuing life with it no longer pleased me, once

it came to mix Sunnism with Shiism,

إلا بمدحِ ربيبِ دولة هاشمٍ

ما دام عُمْرِيَ بالكلامِ مُمتِّعي

except through praise of the ward of Hashim's dynasty,

as long as my lifetime lets me delight in words;

ووِفادَتي في كُلِّ عامٍ زائراً

وإفادتي شَرفاً رفيعَ المطْلَع

and through coming each year as a visitor,

and gaining honor lofty in its rise,

بنظامِ دينِ اللهِ والمُلْكِ الّذي

ما دامَ حامي سِلْكِه لم يُقْطَع

through the Order of God's faith and the realm, whose

thread cannot be severed while its protector endures.

عَضدُ الخِلافةِ ما يزالُ مُطاعِناً

من دونها برماحِ رَأْيٍ شُرَّع

The caliphate's supporting arm keeps jousting

in its defense with leveled spears of counsel:

بِقَناً إذا مَدَّدْتَ منها زَعزعَتْ

أَركانَ أعداءٍ ولم تَتزَعْزَع

lances that, when you extend them, shake

the foundations of enemies, yet are not shaken.

وإلى الوزيرِ ابنِ الوزيرِ سرَتْ بنا

خُوصٌ متى تَطُلِ المَهامِه تُذْرَع

To the vizier, son of the vizier, we rode by night on

sunken-eyed camels; however long the wastes, they are crossed.

ما زال يُطرِبُها الحُداةُ بمَدْحِه

حتّى أَتَتْه أَنسُعاً في أَنسُع

The camel-drivers kept delighting them with his praise,

until they reached him, strap-thin within their straps.

والوفدُ أَمرحُ ما يُرَوْنَ إذا همُ

نَزلوا إليه عنِ المَطيِّ الظُّلَّع

The visitors are seen at their most joyous when they

dismount before him from their limping mounts.

ومتى جَبُنْتَ عنِ الزّمانِ وصَرْفِه

فارْحَلْ إلى ابنِ أبي شُجاعٍ تَشْجُع

Whenever you fear time and its reversals,

travel to Ibn Abi Shuja', and you will grow brave.

مَلِكٌ أَغرّ سَميْدَعٌ ما يَعْتَزي

إلاّ إلى مَلِكٍ أَغرَّ سَميْدَع

A radiant, noble king who claims descent

only from a radiant, noble king.

عَلِقٌ بقاصيةِ الرّعيّةِ فِكْرُه

ما زالَ يَسهَرُ للعيونِ الهُجّع

His thoughts attend to the farthest of his subjects;

he keeps vigil for sleeping eyes.

وَرِثَ السّيادةَ عن أبِيهِ وجَدِّهِ

وسمَتْ ذَوائبُ دَوْحِه المُتفَرِّع

He inherited lordship from his father and grandfather,

and the highest boughs of his branching tree rose high.

والفَرعُ ليس يُريكَ حين تَهُزُّه

كرَماً له في الأصْلِ لم يستَوْدع

A branch does not show you, when you shake it,

a bounty that was not stored in its root.

ذو همّةٍ يُمضِي بسَطرٍ واحدٍ

قلماً فيُخجلُ ألفَ رُمْحٍ مُشْرَع

A man of high resolve, with a single line he sets moving

a pen that shames a thousand leveled spears.

يَزداد في الشّرَفِ الرّفيعِ تَراقِياً

ما دام منه ثَنِيّةٌ لم تُطلَع

He climbs ever higher in lofty honor,

as long as any pass in it remains unclimbed.

فإذا تَجاوزَ كُلَّ حَدٍّ في العُلا

قالتْ جلالةُ قَدْرِه لا تَقنَع

When he has surpassed every bound in glory,

the grandeur of his stature says, 'Do not be content.'

أمّا أميرُ المؤمنينَ فقدْ أَوَى

منه إلى الرُّكْنِ الأشَدِّ الأمنَع

As for the Commander of the Faithful, he has found refuge

in him, the strongest, most impregnable pillar.

مُستَظْهِرٌ لم يَرضَ غيرَ ظَهيرِه

ففِناؤه في الخَطْبِ أعظَمُ مَفزَع

Mustazhir accepts no one else as his supporter;

his courtyard is the greatest refuge in crisis.

لا تَخْلُ منه كَتيبةٌ وكتابةٌ

من مُوقِعٍ بعُداتِه ومُوقِّع

Let neither battalion nor chancery be without him,

striking at his enemies and signing.

غادرْتَهمْ وِرْداً لأطرافِ القَنا

وقِرىً لحائمةِ النُّسورِ الجُوَّع

You left them drinking-water for the tips of lances,

and a feast for circling, hungry vultures.

ومسَحْتَ ناصيةَ العُلا بأناملٍ

خُلقَتْ ضرائرَ للغُيوثِ الهُمَّع

You stroked glory's forelock with fingers

created as rivals to the pouring rainclouds.

فكأنَّ عَينَ الشّمسِ عَينٌ أصبَحتْ

لعُلاكَ وهْي على الطّريقِ المَهْيَع

It is as though the sun's eye had become a spring

for your lofty striving, set upon the broad highway.

أَوردْتَ خَيلَكَ ماءها فكرَعْنَ بال

جبَهاتِ فيه وخُضْنَهُ بالأكْرُع

You brought your horses to its water; they drank with their

foreheads in it, and waded through it on their legs.

ففَداكَ في الحُسّادِ كُلُّ مُدافِعٍ

دونَ العُلا والمكرماتِ مُدَفَّع

May every contender among the envious ransom you,

striving for glory and noble deeds, yet himself rebuffed:

عَلِقٌ بأطرافٍ المُنى ووراءه

جَدٌّ إذا ما طارَ قال له قَع

clinging to the edges of hope, with behind him

a fortune that, whenever he flies, says to him, 'Fall!'

مَخْدوعُ طَرْفِ العَينِ يَبسُط كَفَّه

مِمّا يَظُنُّ النّجمَ قيدَ الإصْبَع

Deceived by his own eyesight, he stretches out his palm,

imagining the star to be within a finger's reach.

يَبْغي مَكانَك في العلاءِ وما لَه

عن نَيلِ مَجْدك غَيرُ عَضِّ اليَرْمَع

He seeks your station in glory, yet has nothing,

instead of attaining your renown, but to bite white pebbles.

فَبقِيتَ في حُلَلِ المَناقبِ رافِلاً

ما شاقَ إيماضُ البُروقِ اللُّمَّع

May you remain trailing the robes of virtue,

as long as the flashing of bright lightning stirs longing:

من ماجدٍ لثَرائِه وثنائِنا

طُولَ الزّمانِ مُفَرِّقٍ ومُجَمِّع

a noble man who, with his wealth and our praise,

forever scatters the one and gathers the other.

أَرِحِ المنائحَ والمدائحَ ساعةً

من طُولِ مَمضىً في الأنام ومَرْجِع

Give gifts and praises an hour's rest

from their long going forth among mankind and returning.

فلقد أَنَلْتَ من المُنَى ما لم يُنَلْ

وسَمعْتَ للمُدّاحِ ما لم يُسْمَع

You have granted wishes never granted before,

and heard from panegyrists what was never heard.

وتَركْتَ عَصرَكَ من تَضاعُفِ فَخْرِه

بين العصورِ بفَضلكَ المُستَجمع

Through its multiplied pride, you have placed your age

among the ages, by your all-embracing excellence,

ما بين عَصرٍ سابقٍ مُتَلفِّتٍ

شَوقاً إليهِ ولاحِقٍ مُتطلِّع

between an earlier age turning to gaze

longingly toward it and a later one looking eagerly.

يا مَن إذا زُرْنا رفيعَ جنابهِ

صنَع الجميلَ لنا ولم يَتَصنَّع

O you who, when we visit your exalted presence,

do us kindness without affectation,

أَيَروعُني صَرْفُ الزّمانِ بجُنْدِه

وأنا بمَرأىً من نَداكَ ومَسْمَع

can time's reversals frighten me with their army

while I am within sight and hearing of your bounty?

أنت الّذي عقَل الرّجاءُ مَطِيّتي

بذُراك حتّى قُلتُ هذا مَربَعي

You are the one for whom hope hobbled my mount

at your heights, until I said, 'This is my spring abode.'

واصلْتَ رِفْدَك بعد ما أغنيْتني

جَوْدَ الغمامِ على الغديرِ المُتْرَع

You continued your aid after enriching me,

like the bounty of rainclouds upon a brimful pool.

ورفَعْتَني كرَماً فلم أُحوَجْ إلى

أن أَستعيرَ نباهةً لترفُّع

You raised me generously, so I had no need

to borrow distinction for high standing.

وتَركْتَني عند الزّمانِ وليس لي

إلاّ بقاءكَ دائماً من مَطْمَع

You have left me facing time with nothing

to hope for but your enduring life.

أنا مِن نَداكَ وفَرْطِ عَجْزي شاكراً

في مَوقِفٍ من حَيْرتي مُستَبْدع

Grateful for your bounty, yet utterly helpless to thank you,

I stand in a strange state of bewilderment.

فإذا حلَلْتُ تقول خَجْلتيَ ارتَحِلْ

وإذا مضَيتُ تقولُ هِمّتُكَ ارْجِع

When I settle, my shame says, 'Depart!';

when I leave, your noble resolve says, 'Return!'

فاسْلَمْ لسائمةِ الرّجاءِ تَحوطُها

فلدَيكَ قد ظَفِرَتْ بخِصْبِ المَرتَع

Remain safe for the grazing herd of hope you guard;

with you it has found a fertile pasture.

واسْعَدْ بصَومِكَ واصلاً ومُفارِقاً

ومُعاوِداً عَوْدَ المَشوقِ المُسْرِع

Rejoice in your fast, as it arrives and departs,

and returns like the swift return of one yearning.

فتَملَّ في ظلِّ الإمامِ بدولةٍ

عُمُرَ الزّمانِ طَويلةِ المُستَمْتَع

Enjoy, beneath the Imam's shade, a reign

as long as time, enduring in its delights.

فَلَكَ الجَلالُ وأنت منه دائماً

كالشمس تَنزِلُ بالمَحَلِّ الأرفَع

Majesty is yours, and in it you are always

like the sun, alighting in the highest station.

فتَداومَا أبداً حَليفَيْ رِفْعةٍ

ما تَأْمُرا يُعْطِ الزَّمانُ ويمنَع

May you both endure forever, allies in exaltation;

whatever you both command, Time gives and withholds.