إذا الحمام على الأغصان غنانا — Alarjani

إذا الحَمامُ على الأغصانِ غنّانا

في الصُّبحِ هيَّج للمشتاقِ أحزانا

When the doves sing to us upon the branches,

at dawn, they stir the yearning lover's sorrows.

وُرْقٌ يُردِّدْنَ لحْناً واحداً أبداً

من الغِناء ولا يُحْسِنَّ ألحانا

Gray doves, forever repeating a single tune

of song, with no skill in other melodies.

ذَكَّرْنَنا زَمناً عِشْنا ذوي طَرَبٍ

لذِكْرهِ بعدَ أن قد مَرّ أزمانا

They recalled to us a time we lived through, and we thrill

at its remembrance, though it passed away ages ago.

ظُلْمٌ من الإلَفِ يَنسانا ونَذْكُرُه

حتّامَ نَذكُر إلفاً وهْو يَنْسانا

It is cruel of a beloved to forget us while we remember him;

how long shall we remember a beloved who forgets us?

قُلْ للبخيلةِ أن تُهدي على عَجَلٍ

تَسليمةً حينَ نلقاها وتَلْقانا

Tell the withholding woman to offer, without delay,

a greeting when we meet her and she meets us.

ماذا عليكِ وقد أصبحتِ مالكةً

أن تُخْرِجي من زكاةِ الحُسنِ إحسانا

What would it cost you, now that you hold sway,

to give kindness as the alms-tax on your beauty?

إن كنتِ عازمةً للوصْلِ فاغْتَنمي

مادام جارَيْنِ بالخَلْصاء حَيّانا

If you are resolved on union, seize the chance

while our two clans remain neighbors at al-Khalsa'.

فقد رمَى العِيسُ بالأبصارِ خاشعةً

ومَدَّتِ الخيّلُ للتَّرحالِ آذانا

For the pale camels have cast down their gaze,

and the horses have pricked their ears for departure.

للّهِ مَوْقفُنا والحَيُّ قد غَفَلوا

عنّا عشيّةَ حَلُّوا بَطْنَ نَعْمانا

How wondrous our tryst, while the clan was heedless

of us, the evening they encamped on Na'man's valley floor!

لمّا استَرقْنا منَ الغَيرانِ لَيلَتنا

وبات كلٌ بمَنْ يَهْواهُ جَذْلانا

When we stole our night away from the jealous one,

and each spent the night rejoicing beside the one he loved.

قالوا الرَّحيلُ غداً والصُّبْحُ مُقْتَربٌ

فقلتُ للَّيلِ أخْرِجْ طُولَكَ الآنا

They said, 'Departure is tomorrow,' and dawn drew near;

so I said to the night, 'Show your length now!'

طُلْ مَرّةً لي ودارُ الحَيّ دانيةٌ

منّي كما طُلْتَ لي في البُعْدِ أحيانا

Be long for me this once, with the clan's dwelling near

to me, as you have sometimes been long in separation.

كم من فؤادٍ غداةَ الجِزْعِ ذي جَزَعٍ

هاجَتْ له الجِيرةُ الغادونَ أشجانا

How many an anguished heart, that morning at the valley bend,

had its sorrows stirred by the departing neighbors!

أستودعُ اللهَ قوماً كيف أبعدَنا

تَقلُّبُ الدّهرِ منهمْ حينَ أدنانا

I entrust a people to God—how we were driven far

from them by Time's changes, just when it had drawn us near!

زَمّوا الغداةَ مطاياهُمْ لفُرقَتنا

لمّا أَنَخْنا لِلُقياهمْ مَطايانا

At dawn they bridled their mounts to part from us,

just when we made our mounts kneel to meet them.

لم تَشْتَبِكْ بعدُ أطنابُ الخيامِ لنا

ولا المنازلُ ضَمّتْهم وإيّانا

Our tents' guy ropes had not yet intertwined,

nor had the camping grounds embraced both them and us.

لكنّهمْ عاجَلونا بالنَّوى ومَضَوا

وخَلَّفوا الطَّرِبَ المشتاقَ حَيْرانا

But they surprised us with separation and departed,

leaving the love-tormented, yearning lover bewildered.

يُمناهُ بعدُ منَ التَّسليمِ ما فرغَتْ

إذ مَدَّ يُسراهُ للتَّوديعِ عَجْلانا

His right hand had not yet finished greeting

when he hastily stretched his left out for farewell.

لم يَملأِ العَيْنَ من أحبابِه نظَراً

إذ غادرَ الدَّمعُ منه الجَفْنَ مَلآنا

He had not filled his eyes with gazing at his loved ones

when tears left his eyelid brimming.

جيرانُنا رحَلوا واللهُ جارُهمُ

مُستَبدِلينَ بحُكْمِ الدَّهرِ جِيرانا

Our neighbors have departed; may God be their protector,

taking other neighbors at Time's decree.

وإنْ نَسِرْ فدَواعي الشَّوقِ تَأْمُرُنا

وإن نُقِمْ فعَوادي الدَّهرِ تَنْهانا

If we journey, longing's summons commands us;

if we stay, Time's adversities forbid us.

لو قَدْ قَدرْنا لسايَرْنا رِكابَكُمُ

لو أمكنَ السَّيرُ بالأبصارِ إمكانا

Had we been able, we would have kept pace with your mounts,

if traveling by eyesight were possible at all.

يا مَنْ غدا مُبدِياً شَكْوَى أحبَّته

لمّا رأَى حيثُ يُرجَى الوَصْلُ هِجْرانا

O you who have begun to complain of your loved ones,

on seeing estrangement where union was hoped for:

ما إنْ أرى سُحْبَ هذا الدَّمعِ مُقْلعةً

حتّى تُغادِرَ في خَدَّيكَ غُدْرانا

I do not see these clouds of tears clearing

until they leave pools upon your cheeks.

إنْ أبعدَ الدَّهرُ مَأْوانا وساكنَه

فقد جعَلْنا ظُهورَ العيسِ مَأوانا

If Time has put our dwelling and its dweller far away,

we have made the backs of pale camels our dwelling.

وما قضَى قَطُّ أوطارَ العلا رَجُلٌ

لم يَتَّخِذْ شُعَبَ الأكوارِ أوطانا

No man ever attained the goals of greatness

without making the forks of camel saddles his homelands.

ما زِلتُ أُعملُ في البَيداءِ يَعْمَلةً

رَوْعاءَ تَحمِلُ في الآفاقِ رَوْعانا

I have kept driving a tireless she-camel through the desert,

keen-spirited, bearing a keen-spirited man across the horizons;

حَرْفاً أُصَرِّفُها حَلاّ ومُرتَحَلاً

تَصرُّفَ الحَرْفِ تَحْريكاً وإمكانا

a lean, hardy beast I turn about, halting and departing,

as one varies a letter, moving it or fixing it in place.

في مَهْمَهٍ ما بهِ إلا تَنَسُّمُنا

أخبارَ أرضٍ إذا رَكْبٌ تَلَقّانا

In a trackless waste, with nothing there but our scenting out

news of a land whenever a caravan meets us.

أقولُ للنِّضْوِ إذ جَدَّ النَّجاءُ بنا

والخَوفُ يُلحِقُ أُولانا بأُخْرانا

I say to the worn-out mount when our flight grows urgent,

and fear joins our foremost to our rearmost:

أعِنْ بسَيْرٍ إلى المَولَى المُعينِ لنا

إن كنتَ تَبْغي على الأيّامِ أعوانا

Help us by traveling to the lord who is our helper,

if you seek allies against the days.

وَرِدْهُ يا طالبَ الإحسانِ بَحْرَ ندّى

تَعشْ بجُودِ يَديْهِ الدَّهْرَ رَيَانا

And come to him for water, seeker of kindness—a sea of bounty—

and live all your days quenched by the bounty of his hands.

ذو همّةٍ في سَماءِ المجدِ عالية

تَعُمُّ جَدْواه أدْنانا وأقْصانا

A man whose aspiration soars in the sky of glory,

his bounty embraces the nearest and farthest among us.

مَوْلىً متى تدعه المَولَى مُخاطبةً

تَجِدْ عُلاه على ما قلتُ بُرْهانا

A lord whom, whenever you address him as 'lord,'

you find his eminence proof of what I have said.

الدّهرُ وهْو أبونا عَبْدُه عِظَماً

فما عدا الصِّدْقَ مَنْ سَمّاهُ مَولانا

Time, our father, is his slave, such is his greatness;

so whoever names him our lord has not strayed from truth.

مَلْكٌ إذا نحن جِئْنا زائرينَ له

بِبِشْرِه مُوِسعٌ بالخيرِ بُشْرانا

A king who, when we come to visit him,

with his smiling welcome showers us with glad tidings of bounty.

كالمُشتري لعَطاء السَّعْدِ غرَّتَه

وإنْ تَجاوَزَ في العَلْياءِ كيوانا

His radiant brow is like Jupiter in bestowing good fortune,

though in exalted rank he has surpassed Saturn.

تَخالُه الشّمسَ وجهاً والسّماءَ ندىً

والغَيثَ عندَ الرِّضا واللَّيثَ غَضْبانا

You would think him the sun in countenance, the sky in bounty,

rain when pleased, and a lion when angered.

يُريكَ فَضْلاً وإفضالاً وأيُّ فتىً

يَرَى الورَى عندَهُ عُرْفاً وعِرْفانا

He shows you excellence and generosity—and what a man,

in whom mankind sees kindness and gratitude!

في كفِّهِ قَلمٌ بالرُّمْحِ تُشْبِهُه

إذا غدا في صُدورِ الخَيلِ طَعّانا

In his palm is a pen you would liken to a lance

when it becomes a tireless thruster into horses' breasts.

تَعلو قناكَ نُسورُ الجَوِّ آلفةً

إلْفَ الحَمامِ علَتْ للأيكِ أغصانا

The sky's vultures rise above your lances, at home,

as doves are at home aloft on the thicket's boughs,

حيثُ الغبارُ يَسُدُّ الجَوَّ ساطِعُه

والخيلُ تَحمِلُ للأقرانِ أقرانا

where billowing dust blocks the sky,

and horses carry warriors to confront their equals.

والطّعنُ يَحفِرُ في لَبّاتِها قُلُباً

تَظَلُّ فيها رِماح القومِ أشطانا

Spear-thrusts dig wells in their upper chests,

where the warriors' spears remain as well-ropes.

غُرٌّ تَظلُّ تَبارَى في أعنَّتِها

تَحمِلْنَ أغلِمةً في الرَّوْعِ غُرّانا

White-blazed steeds keep racing one another under rein,

bearing bright-faced youths amid battle's terror.

تَفُلُّ كُتْبُك إنِ سارَتْ كَتائبَهمْ

إذا العِدا عايَنوا منْهنّ عُنْوانا

Your letters, once dispatched, rout their battalions,

when the enemy catches sight of their superscription.

يداكَ هذي لأموالِ الملوكِ حِمىً

وهذهِ أبداً تُسْني عَطايانا

Your two hands: this one is a guard for the wealth of kings,

and this one ever lavishes gifts upon us.

مالاً منَعْتَ وأموالاً بذلْتَ لنا

يا أشكَر النّاسِ سُؤّلاً وسُلْطانا

You have guarded one fortune and lavished fortunes on us,

O most grateful of men, whether petitioning or ruling.

يَفْديك قومٌ كآلِ القاعِ إنْ خُبِروا

تَشابَهوا للورَى فَقْداً ووِجْدانا

May people ransom you who, when tested, are like a plain's mirage;

to mankind their absence and presence look alike.

لا يَسمعون ولا همْ يُبصِرونَ معاً

كأنّما خُلِقوا للخَلْقِ أوثانا

They neither hear nor see at all,

as though they were created as idols for mankind.

خلالكِ الجَوُّ يا خَيلَ النَّدى فخُذي

في صَيْدِكِ الشُّكْرَ أَيساراً وأيمانا

The field is clear for you, O horses of generosity, so set out

hunting gratitude to the left and to the right.

قد كان طُلاّبُه كُثْراً فقد تَركوا

منهم لكِ اليومَ ظَهْرَ الأرضِ عُرْيانا

Once its seekers were many, but now they have left

the earth's surface bare of themselves for you today.

فما سِوَى أحمدَ بْنِ الفَضْلِ ذو كرمٍ

تَغْدو مَواهبهُ للحَمْدِ أثمانا

For none but Ahmad ibn al-Fadl possesses generosity;

his gifts become the price paid for praise.

لا تَلْتَبسِ أن يُريكَ الدَّهْرُ ثانيَه

كَفى بهِ أن تَضُمَّ العَيْنُ إنسانا

Do not be misled into thinking Time will show you his equal;

he suffices: it is enough for an eye to hold one pupil.

ما فيكَ يا دَهْرُ إلاّ واحدٌ فَطِنٌ

وواحدٌ فَطِنٌ يكْفي إذا كانا

In you, O Time, there is only one discerning man,

and one discerning man is enough, if he exists.

ما ضَرَّنا أنّه فَرْدٌ بلا مَثَلٍ

وأنّه عَمّنا رِفْداً وأغْنانا

What harm is it to us that he is unique, without a peer,

when his gifts have embraced us all and enriched us?

إنِ اغتدَى واحداً فالشّمسُ واحدةٌ

وضَوؤها ملْءَ وجْهِ الأرضِ يَغْشانا

If he is one alone, the sun is also one,

and its light, filling the face of the earth, enfolds us.

فزِدْ نَزِدْكَ ثناءً لا انْقضاءَ له

كالمِسْكِ تَلْقَى بهِ الرُّكْبانُ رُكبانا

Give more, and we shall give you more praise without end,

like musk, with which riders meet other riders.

لولاكَ لم يَبْقَ رَسْمُ الجودِ في زَمَنٍ

ما كان يُوجَدُ فيه الحمدُ لَولانا

Without you, no trace of generosity would remain in an age

in which no praise would be found without us.

حكَيتَ أحمدَ في نَصْرٍ لنا كَرماً

ففي مَديحِك دَعْني أحكِ حَسّانا

You have matched Ahmad in nobly championing us;

so let me, in praising you, match Hassan.