شفته تحيات العيون العلائل — Alarjani

شَفتْه تَحيّاتُ العيونِ العلائلِ

وأحيَتْه ألحاظُ الحسانِ القواتلِ

The greetings of languid eyes healed him,

and the deadly glances of beautiful women revived him.

وأسْعدَهُ أيّامُ شَرْخِ شَبيبةٍ

صَقيلةِ أطرافِ الضُّحَى والأصائل

The days of youth's first bloom gladdened him,

with mornings and evenings polished bright at their edges.

فقَصِّر مَلامي فهْي جِدُّ قَصيرةٍ

وأقْلِلْ عتابي فهْيَ جِدُّ قلائل

So shorten your blame of me, for those days are very short;

and lessen your rebukes of me, for they are very few.

ودَعْني أُغالِطْ في الحقائقِ ناظري

فما النّدْبُ غيرُ العاقلِ المُتَجاهل

Let me delude my sight about realities,

for the man of mettle is only the wise man feigning ignorance.

خَليليَّ هل أَثْني إلى الحَيِّ نظرةً

فأَشْفي بها قلباً طويلَ البلابل

My two friends, shall I turn a glance toward the encampment,

and thereby heal a heart long troubled by anguish?

ومِن نَظَري أُدهَي فما أنا صانعٌ

ويُحْيِينيَ الشّيْءُ الّذي هو قاتلي

Yet my looking brings me affliction—what am I to do?

The very thing that kills me also gives me life.

ومَحْجوبةٍ تُهدي إليَّ خيالَها

على خَوْفِ أحراسٍ وبُعْدِ مَراحل

Many a secluded woman sends me her phantom,

despite fear of guards and the distance of long stages of travel.

رأى النّاسُ إطْلاعَ المُقنَّع بَدْرُه

فظَنُّوه أقصَى الحِذْقِ في سِحْرِ بابل

The people saw al-Muqannaʿ bring forth his full moon,

and deemed it the utmost mastery of Babylon's magic.

وتَسْري بلَيلٍ وهْي بَدْرٌ خَفيَّةً

وكتمانُ حَقٍّ فوقَ إعلانِ باطل

She travels secretly by night, though she is a full moon;

and truth concealed surpasses falsehood proclaimed.

صِلي حبْلَنا يا ظبيةَ القاعِ أوْقفي

قليلاً ولا تَخْشَيْ تَعرُّضَ نابل

Join our cord, O gazelle of the plain; halt

a little, and do not fear an archer's assault.

فما يَطمعُ القَنّاصُ فيكِ وإنّما

تَعلّمَ من عينَيكِ رَمْيَ المَقاتل

The hunter has no designs upon you; he has only

learned from your eyes to strike the vital spots.

وإنّي لأرعاكُمْ على القُرْبِ والنَّوى

وأذْكُرُكمْ بينَ القَنا والقنابل

I surely watch over you, near and far,

and remember you amid spears and squadrons.

وأقْري بما تَحْوي جُفوني نَزيلَكمْ

إذا قَلَّ ما تَحْوي جِفاني لِنازل

I entertain your guest with what my eyelids hold,

when my bowls hold little for a visitor.

رُزِقْتُ منَ الدُّنيا نَباهةَ مُقْترٍ

وما العَيْشُ إلاّ في كِفايةِ خامل

From this world I was granted a pauper's renown,

yet true living lies in an obscure man's having enough.

وإنّي لأُخْفي عن صَديقيَ خَلّتي

وإن كنتُ أُصْفي للعَدوِّ شَمائلي

I keep my poverty hidden from my friend,

though I offer even my enemy my purest qualities.

وأعلَمُ ما في نَفْس دَهريَ كُلِّه

فما أنا عن أسرارِه بمُسائل

I know everything within the heart of my age,

so I need not question it about its secrets.

وهل ضائري أن كنتُ في العَصْرِ آخِراً

إذا كان نُطْقي فوق نُطْق الأوائل

Can it harm me to have come late in time,

if my speech surpasses the speech of the ancients?

وما عابَ راجٍ راحةَ ابْنِ مُحمّدٍ

بأنْ خُلقَتْ بعدَ الغُيوثِ الهَواطل

No hopeful suppliant has faulted Ibn Muhammad's palm

for being created after the pouring rains.

وعَهْدُ الورَى بالبَدْرِ والبحرِ قَبْله

وقد فاق كُلاًّ في فُنونِ الفَضائل

Humankind knew the full moon and the sea before him,

yet he has surpassed both in every kind of excellence.

فما البَحرُ في كُلِّ البلادِ بفائضٍ

وما البَدْرُ في كُلِّ الخصالِ بكامل

The sea does not overflow in every land,

nor is the full moon perfect in every quality.

هُمامٌ تَراهُ في بني الدّهرِ غُرّةً

كذِكْرِ حَبيبٍ في مَقالةِ عاذل

A noble hero, you see him as a bright blaze among his contemporaries,

like a beloved's mention in a reproacher's speech.

يَزورُ العدا بالبيضِ تَدْمَى شِفارُها

وبالخَيْلِ تَجلو من ظَلامِ القَساطل

He visits his foes with white blades whose edges bleed,

and horses gleaming through the darkness of dust-clouds,

بذائبةٍ فوقَ الحَوامي جَوامدٍ

عليها ومن تحتِ النَّواصي سَوائل

with molten markings above their hooves, congealed

upon them, yet flowing beneath their forelocks.

إذا ما أَثَرْنَ النّقْعَ والصُّبْحُ طالعٌ

أعَدْنَ على صِبْغٍ من اللّيلِ ناصل

When they stir the dust as dawn is rising,

they renew the fading dye of night.

بَقِيتَ نصيرَ الدّينِ في ظلّ دولةٍ

وجَدٍّ لأقصَى كُلِّ ما رُمتَ نائل

May you remain the faith's champion beneath the shade of power,

and fortune that attains the utmost of all you seek.

تُصيبُ رماةُ السَّوْءِ عنك نُفوسَهمْ

كأنّك مِرآةٌ لعَيْنِ المُقاتل

The archers of malice strike themselves instead of you,

as though you were a mirror to the warrior's eye.

فلم يَرَ في الدُّنيا ولم يَرْوِ مُخْبِرٌ

عليمٌ بآثارِ المُلوكِ الأفاضل

No chronicler has seen in this world or recounted,

though versed in the deeds of noble kings,

كبِكْرَينِ من فَتْحِ وسَدٍّ تَرادَفا

وكانا مكانَ النَّجْمِ للمُتناول

the like of two maidens—a conquest and a dam—coming in succession,

both as far beyond reach as a star.

خطبتَهُما حتَّى أجابَ كِلاهما

ولا مَهْرَ إلاّ فضلُ بأْسٍ ونائل

You wooed them both until both answered,

with no dowry but surpassing valor and generosity.

وأفْكَرْتَ في حِصْنٍ تَمنَّعَ مُشْكِلٍ

وَثيقٍ له في الاِمتناعِ مُشاكِل

You pondered a fortress, defiant and daunting,

strongly built, with a counterpart in resistance.

فألقيتَ ذا من فوقِ أقْودَ شامخٍ

وأعلَيتَ ذا من قَعْرِ أخضرَ هائل

You cast this one down from a towering mountain ridge,

and raised that one from the depths of a fearsome green sea.

فأقبَلْنَ أيدٍ للنُّضارِ هَوائلٌ

لأيدٍ عليها بالتُّرابِ هَوائل

Then came hands that struck terror into gold,

to hands heaping earth upon it,

إلى أن رفَوْنَ الأرضَ وهْي كثيفةٌ

برِفْقٍ كما تُرفَا رِقاقُ الغَلائل

until they had stitched the earth, dense though it is,

gently, as delicate robes are mended.

كأنَّ انتساجَ الطِّينِ بالقصَب الّذي

نُظِمْنَ أكُفٌّ شابكَتْ بأنامل

As though the weaving of clay with reeds, which

were threaded together, were palms interlaced with fingers.

كأنَّ الشَّواقيلَ العظامَ ورَمْيَها

إذا القومُ حَطُّوها مُنيخو جَمائل

As though, when those mighty weights were cast down,

the men lowering them were making camel-herds kneel.

كأنّ عَصِيَّ الماءِ طِرْفٌ عنَنْتَهُ

فأصعَدْتَه في مُرتقىً مُتَطاوِل

As though the unruly water were a thoroughbred you had bridled,

and driven up a towering ascent.

كأنّ عُيونَ النّاسِ أضحَتْ نواظراً

إلى بَرزَخٍ ما بَيْنَ بَحْرَيْنِ حائل

As though the people's eyes had come to gaze

upon a barrier separating two seas.

فإن يَكُ مُوسَى شَقَّ بحراً لأُمّةٍ

بضَرْبِ عَصاً حتّى نَجْوا مِن غَوائل

If Moses split a sea for a people

with a stroke of a staff, until they escaped peril,

فبالقلَمِ العالي أشَرْتَ إشارةً

فأنشأْتَ في بَحْرٍ طريقَ السَّوابل

you made a gesture with your lofty pen,

and built through a sea a road for travelers.

وإن يك ذو القَرنَيْنِ أحكمَ سَدَّهُ

بما شاع من تَمكينِه المُتكامل

And if Dhu al-Qarnayn made his barrier strong

with the complete fortification for which he is famed,

فأنت الّذي وازَنْتَ بالتِّبْر قِطْرَه

على السِّكْرِ إنفاقَ امرئٍ غَيْرِ باخل

you matched his molten copper with gold,

spent upon the embankment as one who is no miser.

رأينا مَعادَ النّاسِ من قبلِ حَشْرِهمْ

بمَحْيا نواحي المَسْرُقانِ العواطل

We saw mankind's resurrection before their gathering,

in the revival of al-Masruqan's barren reaches.

وطالَتْ يدُ النَّهْرِ العظيمِ على القُرَى

فسَلَّتْ على كُلٍّ سُيوفَ الجَداول

The great river stretched its hand over the villages,

and unsheathed over each the swords of streams.

فما بَرِحَتْ إلاّ وفي كُلِّ غَلْوةٍ

تَسوُّقُ عُمّالٍ وسَوْقُ عَوامل

It never ceased: at every bowshot there were

workers buying provisions and draft animals being driven.

كذا اللهُ يُحيي الأرضَ من بعدِ مَوْتها

ويُنتجُ مَكْنونَ اللّيالي الحَوامل

Thus God revives the earth after its death,

and brings forth what pregnant nights conceal.

ولمّا عصَى الحِصْنُ الجَلاليُّ رَبَّهُ

وآوى من الأعداء أهْلَ الغَوائل

When the Jalali fortress defied its lord,

and harbored the treacherous among the enemies,

وصارتْ دماءُ المسلمينَ على الظّما

إلى القومِ أشْهَى من نِطافِ المَناهل

and the Muslims' blood, despite their thirst, became

sweeter to those people than the water of watering-places,

وعُوّدْنَ أن يَلْقَوْهُ لا بِمكائدٍ

يُطاقُ له ثَلْمٌ ولا بِجَحافل

they had learned, on encountering it, that no stratagems

could breach it, nor could massed armies.

تَمُرُّ عليهِ الحادثاتُ وصَرْفُها

كما مَرَّ بالمَبنيِّ فِعْلُ العوامل

Calamities and their upheavals passed over it

as the action of grammatical governors passes over an indeclinable word.

سَموْتَ إليها بالجِيادِ كأنّها

وقد طَلَعَتْ خُزْراً خِفافُ أجادل

You rose against it with thoroughbreds that seemed,

as they appeared with sidelong glares, swift falcons.

فما أصبحَتْ إلاّ منَ الجيشِ حالياً

لها الجِيدُ في يومٍ منَ الشَّمْسِ عاطل

By dawn it wore the army as an ornament

about its neck, on a day stripped of the sun.

وأنشأْتَ سُحباً للمَجانيقِ تحتها

فظلّتْ تَهامَى فوقها بالجَنادل

You formed clouds of catapults beneath it,

which kept pouring great stones upon it.

وأمطَرْتَهم منها بطَلٍّ منَ الرَّدى

ولو ثَبتوا أمطَرْتَ أيضاً بوابل

From them you rained a drizzle of death upon its people;

had they held firm, you would have sent a downpour too.

وحَرَّمتَ فَضْلَ الزّادِ بُخْلاً عليهِمُ

وكَفُّك بالدُّنيا تَجودُ لسائل

You begrudged them even surplus provisions,

though your hand gives the whole world to a suppliant.

فلمّا جعَلْتَ الأرضَ وهْي فسيحةٌ

على شِيعةِ الإلحادِ كِفّةَ حابل

When you made the earth, vast as it is,

a fowler's snare for the faction of heresy,

وأشْبهَ حَرْفَ الرّاءِ مأْمَنُ مُلْحدٍ

وأشبهَ وجهُ الأرضِ خُطْبةَ واصل

and a heretic's refuge resembled the letter ra,

and the face of the earth resembled Wasil's sermon,

أذاعوا أماناً فيه عاجِلُ مَخْلَصٍ

وفي الدّهرِ ما يَقْضي عليهم بآجِل

they proclaimed safe-conduct, in which lay immediate escape,

though time held what would doom them later.

ولو لَمْ يَلُوذوا بالنُّزولِ ورُمتَهمْ

لَحطَّهُمُ منها صُروفُ النّوازل

Had they not sought safety by descending, when you sought them,

the blows of calamity would have brought them down from it.

سَمَوا كطُغاةِ الجنِّ حتّى تَسَنَّموا

مَكانَ استراقِ السّمْعِ أعلَى مَنازل

They rose like rebellious jinn until they mounted

the highest stations, the place for stealing a hearing.

فأَتْبَعْتَهُمْ قَذْفاً بشُهْبٍ ثَواقبٍ

منَ الرّأيِ رَدَّتْهُمْ لأسفَلِ سافل

You pursued them, hurling piercing meteors

of judgment that drove them to the lowest depths.

قَلعْتَ بتلكَ القلعةِ اليومَ شَوكةً

بها المُلْكُ دهراً كان دامي الشَّواكل

By uprooting that fortress today, you plucked out a thorn

that had long left the kingdom's flanks bleeding.

وكانتْ كقلْبٍ أُودِعَ الغِشَّ منهمُ

فشُقَّ عن الدّاءِ القديمِ المُماطل

It was like a heart in which they had lodged deceit,

then laid open to expose its old, lingering disease.

ولم تك إلاّ للقلاعِ كبيرةً

ففي كُلّها اليومَ احْتراقُ الثَّواكل

To the other fortresses, it was their elder;

today they all burn with bereaved mothers' grief.

يَوَدّونَ في الأحداقِ لو حَلّ منهمُ

ويَسلَمُ منها وَقْعُ تلك المَعاول

They wish it had lodged within their own eyes,

and so escaped the blows of those pickaxes.

هلِ المجدُ إلاّ ما بنَيتَ بهَدْمِها

وأمّنْتَ دينَ اللهِ من كُلِّ غائل

Is glory anything but what you built by razing it,

securing God's religion against every assailant?

وقد كان لا يَخْشَى منَ الكَيدِ حُصْنُها

سليماً على طولِ المَدى من غَوائل

Its fortress had feared no stratagem,

safe through the length of time from perils.

فمنْكَ على الإسلامِ مَنٌّ ولو أبَوْا

وأبقَوا أصابوا قلْبَه بطَوائل

Yours is a favor to Islam; had they refused

and held on, they would have struck its heart with grievous injuries.

وللهِ عينا مَنْ رأى مثْلَ يَومِها

ذَخيرةَ أعقابِ الدُّهورِ الأطاول

God bless the eyes that saw a day like its day,

a treasure for generations in the longest ages to come.

كأنّ ديارَ المُمطَرينَ حجارةٌ

جَعلْتَ أعاليها مَكانَ الأسافل

As though these were the homes of those showered with stones,

you put their heights where their depths had been.

كأنّ شَظايا الصَّخْرِ في كُلِّ نُقْرَةٍ

تَطايَرُ من لاتٍ وعُزَّى ونائل

As though the rock splinters at every blow

flew from Lat, ʿUzza, and Naʾil.

كأنّ نداءَ اليومَ أكملتُ دينَكُمْ

تِلاوةُ ذِكْرٍ يومَ فَتْحِكَ نازل

As though the cry, 'Today I have perfected your religion,'

were the recitation of revelation descending on your day of conquest.

يُقدِّرُ قومٌ أنّه فَتْحُ مَعْقِلٍ

وما هو إلاّ فَتْحُ كُلِّ المَعاقل

Some reckon it the conquest of a stronghold,

but it is nothing less than the conquest of all strongholds.

شَهِدْتُ لقد أُوتيتَ بَسْطةَ قُدْرةٍ

وَعزْمٍ بتَذْليلِ المَصاعبِ كافل

I bear witness: you have been granted ample power

and resolve that guarantees the taming of hardships.

فكيف إذا حاوَلْتَ أمراً وطالمَا

أتاحَ لك الإقبالُ ما لم تُحاول

What then when you deliberately pursue a goal, when so often

good fortune has granted you what you never pursued?

وهل فَلكٌ يُبدي خِلافَك بَعدَما

قضَى لك مُجريهِ بعِزٍّ مُواصل

Can any heavenly sphere oppose you after

its Mover has decreed unbroken might for you?

ودونَ قِرانِ العاليَيْنِ وحُكْمِه

قَرينا عَلاءٍ في الأمورِ الجّلائل

Besides the conjunction of the two high planets and its influence,

there are two partners in eminence in momentous affairs:

تَملُّكُ ماضٍ في السّياسةِ قاهرٍ

وتَدْبيرُ كافٍ في الوِزارةِ عادل

the sovereignty of one decisive in statecraft and conquering,

and the governance of one capable in the vizierate and just.

إذا اقْتَرنا كانا على الأمنِ والغنى

ونَيْلِ المُنَى واليُمْنِ أقْوَى الدَّلائل

When joined, they are, for security and prosperity,

for attaining desires and good fortune, the surest signs.

ألا أيُّها المَلْكُ الّذي أُفْقُ عَدْله

حَقيقٌ بإطْلاعِ الحقوقِ الأوافل

O king, the horizon of whose justice

is worthy to raise rights that have sunk from sight,

أعِدْ نَظراً في حالِ عَسكَرِ مُكْرَمٍ

تَجدْ عالَماً ألوىَ بهمْ ظُلْمُ عامل

look again at the condition of ʿAskar Mukram:

you will find a whole people laid low by a governor's oppression.

ويُزْهَى بما يأتي وكم رأسِ عاملٍ

من العَدْلِ أن يُجْلَى على رأسِ عامل

He exults in what he does—yet many a governor's head

deserves, in justice, to be displayed upon a spearpoint.

فإن تُحْظِ من نُعماكَ قوماً شَفاعتي

فعُنوانُ عِزّ السّيفِ حَلْيُ الحَمائل

If my intercession wins some people a share of your favors,

the ornament of the baldrics proclaims the sword's glory.

وإنْ نِلْتُ حَظّي عند مَن أنا آملٌ

فلم أنْسَ يَوماً حَظَّ مَنْ هو آملي

If I gain my share with the one in whom I place hope,

I have never once forgotten the share of one who hopes in me.

وأحسَنُ ما في الدّهرِ همّةُ مُفْضِلٍ

يُميّزُ بالإحسانِ خدمةَ فاضل

The finest thing in time is a benefactor's aspiration

that singles out a worthy man's service for kindness.

مَنَنْتَ ابْتداءً باصطناعي ولم أكنْ

لنَفْسي أرَى اسْتحقاقَ تلكَ الفواضل

You first bestowed favor by taking me into your patronage, though I did not

believe myself entitled to those acts of grace.

ولكن يَرى قَومٌ على النّاسِ واجباً

إذا شَرَعوا إتمامَهمْ للنَّوافل

Yet some hold it binding upon people,

once they begin, to complete their voluntary acts.