رمتني بلحظ واتقتني بمعصم — Alarjani

رَمتْني بلَحْظٍ واتَّقتْني بمِعْصَمِ

وهل تِلك إلاّ فتكةٌ بالمُتيَّمِ

She shot me with a glance and shielded herself from me with a wrist.

Was that anything but a treacherous blow against a love-struck man?

ولم أَر فيما عشْتُ لا مثْلَ جُنّةٍ

سَبتْني بها سَلْمَى ولا مثْلَ أسهُم

Never in all my life have I seen such a shield

as that with which Salma captured me, nor such arrows;

ولا سائفاً يوماً بعَيْنٍ كحيلةٍ

ولا تارساً يوماً بغَيْلٍ مُوشَّم

nor ever a swordsman wielding a kohl-darkened eye,

nor a shield-bearer using a rounded, tattooed forearm.

سلاحُ هوىً لم تَنْتشِبْ وقَعاتُه

فأَجلَيْنَ إلاّ عن مَصارعِ مُغْرَم

Love's weapons: their battles had scarcely begun

before they cleared to reveal the places where a lover fell.

ولا مثْلَ يومٍ للوَداعِ شَهِدْتُه

فحاملْتُ لمّا أنْ تَضايقَ مَقْدَمي

Nor have I witnessed such a day of farewell:

I braced myself when my way forward narrowed.

وقد خلَصتْ فيه نَجيّاً عيونُنا

فما غادرَتْ في القَولِ من مُتردَّم

Our eyes withdrew into secret converse that day,

leaving no gap in what they said.

عشِيّةَ صَانَعْنا الرّقيبَ بصَمْتِنا

وقُلنا لألحاظِ العيونِ تَكلَّمي

That evening we placated the watcher with our silence

and told the glances of our eyes, “Speak!”

وما كان إلاّ خطْفَ قلبٍ بنَظْرةٍ

إجابةُ سَلْمَى للمُحِبِّ المُسلِّم

It was only the snatching of a heart with a glance—

Salma's reply to the lover offering his greeting.

أأرجو شِفائي أنْ يكونَ بكفِّها

وقد أصبَحتْ مخضوبةَ العَشْر من دمي

Can I hope for my cure to lie in her hand,

when all ten of her fingers have become stained with my blood?

فلو كان ثأْري في قبائلِ تَكْتُمٍ

لَهانَ ولكنْ في أنامل تَكْتُم

Were my blood-vengeance among Taktum's tribes,

it would be easy—but it lies in Taktum's fingertips.

ولو شهِدَتْ فُرسانُ قَومي لأَوْقروا

قَرا الأرضِ دُوني بالقَنا المُتحَطِّم

Had my people's horsemen witnessed it, they would have burdened

the earth's back with shattered lances in my defense.

فلا تَسألاني عن دَمٍ قد وَهبْتُه

فما القتلُ في دينِ الهوى بمُحرَّم

So do not, you two, ask about blood I have given freely:

killing is not forbidden in love's creed.

أطاحَ دمي ما سُلَّ عن جَفْنِ شادنٍ

فلا عاد لا ما سُلَّ عن جَفْنِ ضْيغم

What was drawn from a gazelle's eyelid shed my blood—

may it never return!—not what was drawn from a lion's sheath.

تَحكَّمَ في أرواحنا سَيْفُ عَيْنها

ومَن حَكّمتْه دَولةٌ يتَحكَّم

The sword of her eye ruled our souls at will;

whoever fortune empowers rules at will.

كفَى حزَناً ألاّ أرى ليَ عاذلاً

من النّاسِ في وَجْدي وإنْ لم أكتِّم

It is grief enough that I find no one to reproach me

among people for my passion, though I do not conceal it.

فما مِنْ خليٍّ أحضَرَ القلْبَ ذِكْرَها

لِيَعذُلَني فيها فلم يتَتيَّم

No carefree man ever brought her memory into his heart

to reproach me for her without becoming love-struck himself.

لقد شَغلَتْ كُلاًّ عنِ العَذْلِ بالهَوى

فيا مَنْ رأَى حُبّاً بلا لَوْمِ لُوَّم

She has distracted everyone from reproach with love:

who has ever seen love without the blame of reproachers?

مُنىً كُنَّ لي أنْ أَسلُبَ الغُمْضَ غَيْرةً

على طَيْفها من كُلِّ جَفْنٍ مُهَوَّم

Among my wishes was to steal sleep, out of jealousy

for her phantom, from every drowsy eyelid.

وليس الكَرى سِلْماً لعَيْنِ أخي هوىً

فما ليَ إلاّ فكْرةُ المُتَوهِّم

Sleep is no ally to a lover's eye,

so nothing is left me but an imaginer's thoughts.

نظرتُ وطَرْفُ الصّبِّ أصدْقُ رائدٍ

إلى مُنحنَي الوادى غداةَ الأُنَيْعِم

I looked—the lover's gaze is the truest scout—

toward the valley's bend, on the morning at al-Unay'im.

فلم أَر فيما نوَّر الرَّوضُ فاتَني

سوى أُقحُوانٍ في شقيقٍ مُكمَّم

Of all the garden's blossoms, nothing eluded my sight

except a daisy enclosed within an anemone,

يُفتِّقُه دَلُّ الصَّبا بتَبَسُّمٍ

إذا افترَّ لا ريحُ الصَّبا بتَنَسُّم

which youth's coquetry opens with a smile

when it parts—not the east wind with its breath.

فهل ثَغْرُ لَيْلَى عن سَنا البرقِ لامعاً

تَبسّمَ أو عن سِلْكِ عِقْدٍ مُنظَّم

Was it lightning's gleam that Layla's shining mouth

revealed in its smile, or a necklace's ordered string?

نعَمْ أَهدتِ البُشْرَى بعَوْدِكَ سالماً

فأَضْحَتْ بدُرٌ وهْيَ مملوءةُ الفَم

Yes—she brought glad tidings of your safe return,

and Badr came away with her mouth full.

طلَعْتَ معَ العلياءِ أسْعدَ طَلعةٍ

وأَقْدمَكَ الإقبالُ أيمنَ مَقْدَم

You rose with high honor in the most auspicious rising,

and good fortune brought you in the most blessed arrival.

وللنّاسِ إهْلالٌ بوَجْهِكَ طالعاً

لتَعْبيدِ آمالٍ عنِ الخَلْقِ صُوَّم

People raise joyous cries at your rising face,

as hopes become your slaves, fasting from all other men.

أشمسَ المعالي دعوةً مَنْ دَعا بِها

غدا مُشمِساً من أرضِه كُلُّ مُغْيِم

“O sun of noble heights!”—a cry which, when someone utters it,

makes every clouded part of his land shine with sun.

سَمِعْتُ قديماً أَنّ يُوشَعَ قد دَعا

فَرُدَّتْ عليهِ الشَّمسُ بعْدَ تَصرُّم

Long ago I heard that Joshua prayed,

and the sun was restored to him after setting.

ولكنْ رأَى ذاكَ الَّذي سَمِعوا به

بأَعينِهمْ قومٌ رُدِدْتَ عليهِم

But what they had heard of was seen

with their own eyes by people to whom you were restored.

فللّهِ يومٌ قد تلقّاكَ يُمْنُه

وأفناءُ ناسٍ من فصيحٍ وأَعْجَم

How wondrous the day whose good fortune greeted you,

and its throngs of people, Arabic-speaking and foreign-tongued!

يَشِيمونَ من جُودٍ سَحاباً مُطبِّقاً

أتاهمْ به غادي نَسيمٍ مُجَسَّم

They watch for an all-enveloping cloud of generosity,

brought to them by a morning breeze embodied

منَ الجُرْدِ لمّا سابقَ البرقَ خِلْتَهُ

أبى أن يُعَدَّ البرقُ كُفؤَ المُطَهَّم

in a sleek steed; when it raced lightning, I thought

it refused to let lightning be reckoned its equal.

فأقسمَ لا جاراهُ غيرَ مُشكَّلٍ

بفَضْلِ سناً منه وغيرَ مُلطَّم

It swore lightning could race it only with white-marked legs

from its surplus radiance, and a white blaze on the cheek.

وفارسُه قد ناطَ منه عِنانَه

بيُسرَى يدَيْ وَبْلٍ من الجوَّ مُثجِم

Its rider had hung its reins

on the left hand of a downpour streaming from the sky.

وقد ضمَّهُ والصَّحبَ لمّا تَسايروا

من النَّقْعِ ليلٌ ذو هلال وأنجم

As he and his companions rode together, they were enclosed

in a night of dust, with a crescent and stars.

وقد رَكبتْ بيضُ السُّيوفِ وراءه

تُواكِبُه من كلِّ أبيضَ مِخْذَم

Bright swords rode behind him,

escorting him—each a keen white blade.

مُحَلّىً كَلبّاتِ الغواني غُمودُها

وقد أُودِعَتْ مَرْهوبَ سرَّ مُكتَّم

Their sheaths were ornamented like the throats of beautiful women,

and held a dreaded, closely guarded secret.

وهُنَّ بأَيدي غلمةٍ يُشْبِهُونها

صِقالَ خدودٍ أو بريقَ تَبَسُّم

They were in the hands of youths resembling them

in polished cheeks or the glitter of a smile.

مُقلَّدةً تُجْلَى على كلِّ ناظرٍ

سوَالفُها في حَلْيِها المُترَنِّم

Necklaced, displayed to every watching eye,

were their necks in their tinkling ornaments,

قياماً على هاماتِها فَرْطَ طاعةٍ

لأبلجَ مَغْثى الرِّواقَيْنِ خِضْرِم

standing upon their heads in utmost obedience

to a radiant, bounteous lord whose twin porticoes are thronged.

وما إنْ رأَينا المشْرفىَّ مُشرَّفاً

سوى اليوم عند النّاظرِ المُتفهِّم

Never have we seen a Mashrafi sword so honored

as today, in the discerning observer's eyes.

عطايا سلاطينِ الزّمانِ تتابعَتْ

تَرى أَحْدَثاً منها على إثْرِ أَقْدم

Gifts from the age's sultans, coming in succession:

you see a newer one following an older.

يُخبِّرْنَ أنّ المُلكَ للدّينِ تابعٌ

فإنْ كنتَ لم تعلمْ بذا السِّرِّ فاعْلَم

They declare that kingship is subordinate to religion;

if you did not know this secret, know it now.

وفي إثْرِه زَوْجا رماحٍ تَصاحبا

وسارا معاً من كلِّ لَدْنٍ مُقوَّم

In his wake two companion lances came,

and traveled together, each supple and straight:

لَموعانِ مثْلَ الكوكبَيْنِ تقارَنا

بلَيلٍ أثارتْهُ السَّنابِكُ أَقْتَم

two gleaming shafts, like two stars conjoined

in a dusky night stirred up by hooves.

تَخالُ عيونُ النّاظرِينَ إليْهما

شهابَيْنِ كُلٌّ كالحريقِ المُضَرَّم

The eyes of those who look upon them imagine

two meteors, each like a blazing fire.

وليسا سوى السَّعدَينِ أمّا فِناءهُ

مَشوقَينِ لمّا كان خيْرَ مُيمَّم

They are none but the two Sa'ds, who sought his courtyard,

longing for it, since it was the best of destinations.

فَحلاّ وسارا خِدْمةً في ركابِه

ومَنْ يهَبِ العَلياءَ يُقْصَدْ ويُخْدَم

They alighted, then rode in service in his train;

he who grants high rank is sought and served.

ترَى كُلَّ سَعْدٍ حينَ أبدَى انْتِماءهُ

إلى واحدِ الدُّنيا أبيهِ المُكرَّم

You see each Sa'd, when he declares his descent

from the world's peerless man, his honored father,

أُتيحَ له قَدٌّ مُعارٌ منَ القَنا

ليهْتزَّ تِيهاً عِطْفُه حين يَنْتمي

granted a stature borrowed from the lances,

that his frame may sway proudly when he names his lineage.

وكلٌّ وإنْ وافَى ضُحىً وهْو كوكبٌ

أضاء لعَيْن النّاظرِ المُتَوسِّم

Each, though arriving at forenoon—a star himself—

shone to the discerning observer's eye,

وأصبحَ في ثوبٍ عليهِ مُزرَّرٍ

من اللّيلِ إلاّ أنّه غيرُ مُظلِم

and appeared in a robe buttoned upon him,

made of night, though it was not dark:

شِعارُ هدىً ما إنْ يَزالُ سوادُه

يُريكَ بياضَ النّصرِ في كُلِّ مَوْسِم

a badge of guidance whose blackness never ceases

to show you victory's whiteness in every season.

فبُوركتَ من طَودٍ على الدِّينِ ظِلُّه

وبَحرٍ منَ الإفضالِ والفَضْلِ مُفْعَم

Blessed are you—a mountain whose shade shelters the faith,

and an ocean brimming with beneficence and excellence.

نَدي الكفِّ طَلْقِ الوجهِ يَمطُرُ دائماً

سَماءُ النّدى منه بغيرِ تَغيُّم

Generous-handed, cheerful-faced: forever pours

his heaven of bounty, without gathering clouds.

كأنّ طريقَ الوفْدِ نحْوَ فِنائه

تَغيُّبُ سِلْكٍ في جُمانٍ مُنظَّم

The road of delegations toward his courtyard seems

a thread disappearing into ordered pearls.

فتىً رأيُه للمُلْكِ أمنَعُ مَعْقِلٍ

وأبوابُه للعلمِ أشْرفُ مَعلَم

A noble man whose judgment is kingship's strongest fortress,

and whose gates are learning's noblest landmark.

وهل يَفْخَرُ الإسلامُ إلاّ بزَيْنه

ويَسْفِرُ للأقوامِ بعْدَ تَلَثُّم

Does Islam boast of anything but its adornment,

and unveil its face to nations after being veiled?

فشِمْ ذِكْرَه سَيْفاً على الدَّهرِ مُصْلَتاً

ورُعْ باسمِه جيشَ المُلِمّاتِ يُهْزَم

Draw his renown like a sword unsheathed against Time,

and frighten calamities' army with his name: it will be routed.

مُقبَلُ آثارِ البَنانِ جَلالةً

إذا رقَمَ القرطاسَ مَشْقاً بأَرقَم

The traces of his fingers are kissed in reverence

when he inscribes the page in sweeping strokes with a speckled serpent.

وأقضَى قضاةِ الشّرقِ والغربِ كُلِّهمْ

فخاصِمْ به لُدَّ الحوادثِ تَخْصِم

The most judicious of all judges of East and West:

with him contend against stubborn calamities, and you will prevail.

وِلاياتُهمْ طُرّاً إليه وعَقْدُها

وآلاؤه تَتْرَى تُساقُ إلَيْهِم

Their offices, all of them, and their appointment rest with him,

while his favors are conveyed to them in succession.

وهل تَنقُصُ الشّمسُ المُنيرةُ في الضُحى

لنُورٍ على الآفاقِ منها مُقَسِّم

Does the shining sun diminish at forenoon

because its light is distributed across the horizons?

له هِمّةٌ تَستَصْغِرُ الأرضَ عنْدَها

إذا أخذَتْ في قُنّةِ المجدِ تَسْتَمي

His ambition deems the earth small beside it

when it begins to climb the summit of glory.

فلو نيطَ أيضاً بالبسيطةِ مثْلُها

وقيل له احكُمْ في الجميعِ وأحْكِم

Were another earth like this one joined to it,

and he were told, “Govern it all, and govern well,”

لأعملَ في تَهذيبِها بعضَ نظْرةٍ

وقال متى تُوصَلْ بأُخْرَى أُتمِّم

he would spend a fraction of a glance setting it right,

and say, “Join it to another, and I shall finish.”

فللّهِ سِرٌّ وهْو من عزَماتهِ

ومن رأيهِ في مثلِ جَيْشٍ عرَمرَم

What a divine marvel! Through his resolves

and his judgment he is like an immense army,

مُطِلٌّ على الآفاقِ يَرعَى قَصيِّها

فيَغْدو لديهِ مُنْجِدٌ مثْلَ مُتّهِم

overlooking the horizons, watching their farthest reaches,

so one in Najd is to him like one in Tihamah.

وللشَّمسِ عَينٌ يملأ الأرضَ نورُها

وإن كان فذّاً جِرمُها غيرَ تَوْأم

The sun has one eye whose light fills the earth,

though its orb is single, not twinned.

أيا غُرّةً بيضاءَ زانَ مكانَها

ولولاه كان النّاسُ جِلْدةَ أَدْهَم

O white forehead-blaze that adorns its place:

without it, mankind would be a black horse's hide.

فعُرْبُ الورَى كاللّفظِ ليس بمُعْرَب

وعُجْمُ الورَى كاللّفظِ ليس بمُعْجَم

The world's Arabs are like an uninflected word,

and its non-Arabs like a word without dots.

لك الخَيرُ أنعِمْ نظْرةً في مطالبي

فأنت إذا قيسَ الوَرى خَيرُ مُنْعِم

May good be yours; look carefully into my requests,

for, when mankind is measured, you are the finest benefactor.

ولستُ إذا عُدَّ المُوالونَ عندَهُ

ضعيفَ الدَّواعي أو طريفَ التّحرُّم

When his loyal followers are counted, I am not

weak in my claims, or new in seeking his protection.

حكَيتُ كنيّي معْ سَمِيّكَ خِدْمةً

شَرُفْتُ بماضي عهدِها المتُقدِّم

In service I have mirrored my byname's bearer beside your namesake,

honored by that service's long-established bond.

ومَن كان يومَ الغارِ من أهلِ صُحبةٍ

فلا يَخْلُ يومَ الفَتْح من نَيْلِ مَغْنَم

Whoever was a companion on the day of the Cave

should not lack a share of spoils on the day of conquest.

وما طلَبي إلاّ برؤْياكَ رَقْيةً

إلى هَضْبةٍ للعزِّ لم تُتَسنَّم

All I seek through seeing you is an ascent

to an unscaled summit of honor.

وما راعني إلاّ قِراعُ نوائبٍ

ثناني كغَرْبِ الصّارمِ المُتَثلِّم

Nothing has daunted me but the blows of calamities,

which bent me like the chipped edge of a keen sword.

ولي سَنةٌ من بَعْدِ أُخرَى أَقَمتُها

أُمارسُ من أهوالها كُلَّ مُعْظَم

One year after another I have spent

grappling with every mighty terror they contain.

فإنْ كنتَ من دَرِّ الحوادثِ مُرْضِعي

فقدَ كمُلَ الحَولانِ يا دهرُ فافْطِم

If you have nursed me on the milk of calamities,

two full years are now complete, O Time: wean me!

ودُونكَ بِكراً أقبلَتْ من بدائعي

تبَختَرُ في وَشْيِ الكتابِ المُنَمَنْم

Take this maiden poem, come from my inventions,

strutting in the embroidery of finely patterned script:

من المُطمِعاتِ المُوئساتِ شَوارداً

متى ما يَرُمْ أمثالَها الفَحْلُ يُكْعَم

one of those elusive verses that tempt, then dash hope;

whenever a master poet attempts their like, he is muzzled.

فلو جُسِّمَتْ يوماً لكانتْ كواكباً

من الحُسْنِ إلاّ أنّها لم تُجَسَّم

If embodied one day, such verses would be stars

of beauty—yet they have not been embodied.

سبَقْتُ الأُلَى قَبلي بشِعرٍ أقولُه

ولاحُ به في جبْهةِ الدّهرِ مِيسَمي

With the poetry I speak, I have outstripped those before me,

and through it my brand shines on Time's brow.

كأنّيَ في أثناءِ ما خَطَّ كاتبٌ

مُؤخَّرُ سَطرٍ سابقٍ للمُقَدَّم

I seem, amid the writing a scribe has traced,

a line's last part outstripping its first.

فخُذْها تُحاكي نظْمَ عِقْدٍ مُفَصَّل

يُناسِبُها أو نَسْجَ بُردٍ مُسهَّم

Take it: it resembles the stringing of a spaced-gem necklace

befitting it, or the weave of an arrow-patterned mantle.

ودُمْ كثناءِ النّاسِ فيكَ مُخلَّداً

فلا شيءَ في الأيّامِ منه بأَدْوَم

Live on immortal, like people's praise of you,

for nothing through the days endures longer.

وما المجدُ إلاّ ذِروةٌ فترقَّها

وما الحمْدُ إلاّ فُرصةٌ فتَغنَّم

Glory is only a summit: climb it.

Praise is only an opportunity: seize it.

وما المالُ إلاّ ورْدةٌ إن حمَيْتَها

قِطافاً من الأيدي تَناثَرْ وتُعْدَم

Wealth is only a rose: if you guard it

against hands that pluck, it sheds its petals and is lost.

مَعاني النَّدى من عندِ كفِّكَ كلُّها

وللسُّحبِ إن جادَتْ لسانُ مُترجِم

All generosity's meanings come from your hand;

when clouds give freely, they are but its interpreting tongue.

وسُمْرُ القنا لمّا رأتْكَ تَقوَّمَتْ

ولولا اتِّقاءٌ منكَ لم تَتقَوَّم

The brown lances straightened when they saw you;

but for fear of you, they would not have straightened.

فعِشْ وابْقَ للدّينِ الحنيفِ ونَصْرهِ

بسَيْفٍ من الرَّأيِ الحنيفيّ واسْلَم

Live and endure for the upright faith and its defense,

with a sword of upright judgment, and remain unharmed.

وللفَضْلِ ما تَنفكُّ تُعنَى بأهلِه

عنايةَ مِفْضال كثيرِ التَكَرُّم

And for excellence—never ceasing to care for its people

with the care of a benefactor lavish in generosity.

سما بكَ فوقَ النَّجمِ أدْنَى منازلٍ

فجُدْني فإنّ السُّحبَ تحت مُخَيَّمي

The lowest of your stations has raised you above the stars;

so shower bounty on me: the clouds are beneath my tent.