تبسم عن واضح ذي أشر — Albohtry

تَبَسَّمُ عَن واضِحٍ ذي أُشُر

وَتَنظُرُ مِن فاتِرٍ ذي حَوَر

She smiles, revealing bright teeth with fine serrations,

and gazes from languid eyes, their black set against white.

وَتَهتَزُّ هِزَّةَ غُصنِ الأَرا

كِ عارَضَهُ نَشرُ ريحٍ خَصِر

And she sways like a branch of the arak tree,

brushed by the waft of a chilly wind.

وَمِمّا يُبَدِّدُ لُبَّ الحَليمِ

حُسنُ القَوامِ وَفَترُ النَظَر

And among what scatters a prudent man's wits

are beauty of figure and languor of gaze.

وَما أَنسَ لا أَنسَ عَهدَ الشَبا

بِ وَعَلوَةَ إِذ عَيَّرَتني الكِبَر

And whatever I forget, I shall not forget youth's days,

and Alwah, when she reproached me for old age.

كَواكِبُ شَيبٍ عَلِقنَ الصِبا

فَقَلَّلنَ مِن حُسنِهِ ما كَثُر

Stars of gray hair clung to youth,

and reduced its once-abundant beauty.

وَإِنّي وَجَدتُ فَلا تَكذَبَنَّ

سَوادَ الهَوى في بَياضِ الشَعَر

And I have found—so do not lie—

love's blackness in the whiteness of hair.

وَلا بُدَّ مِن تَركِ إِحدى اِثنَتَيـ

ـنِ إِمّا الشَبابِ وَإِمّا العُمُر

And one must relinquish one of two:

either youth or life.

أَلَم تَرَ لِلبَرقِ كَيفَ اِنبَرى

وَطَيفِ البَخيلَةِ كَيفَ اِحتَضَر

Did you not see how the lightning flashed forth,

and how the withholding beloved's phantom appeared?

خَيالٌ أَلَمَّ بِها مِن سِوىً

وَنَحنُ هُجودٌ عَلى بَطنِ مَرّ

An apparition visited her from Siwa,

while we were asleep in the valley of Marr.

وَماذا أَرادَت إِلى مُحرمي

نَ يَجُرّونَ وَهناً فُضولَ الأُزُر

And what did she want with consecrated pilgrims,

trailing, late at night, the excess folds of their waist-wraps?

سَرَوا موجِفينَ لِسَعيِ الصَفا

وَرَميِ الجِمارِ وَمَسحِ الحَجَر

They traveled by night, hastening to the ritual pacing at al-Safa,

and to cast the pebbles and stroke the Stone.

حَجَجنا البَنِيَّةَ شُكراً لِما

حَبانا بِهِ اللَهُ في المُنتَصِر

We made pilgrimage to the House, in gratitude for what

God bestowed on us in al-Muntasir:

مِنَ الحِلمِ عِندَ اِنتِقاصِ الحُلو

مِ وَالحَزمِ عِندَ اِنتِقاضِ المِرَر

forbearance when minds falter,

and firmness when twisted strands unravel.

تَطَوَّلَ بِالعَدلِ لَمّا قَضى

وَأَجمَلَ في العَفوِ لَمّا قَدَر

He showed generosity through justice when he judged,

and was gracious in pardoning when he had power.

وَدامَ عَلى خُلُقٍ واحِدٍ

عَظيمَ الغَناءِ جَليلَ الخَطَر

And he remained constant in a single disposition,

of great benefit and exalted worth.

وَلَم يَسعَ في المُلكِ سَعيَ اِمرِئٍ

تَبَدّى بِخَيرٍ وَثَنّى بِخَير

Nor did he conduct his reign in the manner of a man

who began with good and followed it with good.

وَلا كانَ مُختَلَفِ الحالَتَينِ

يَروحُ بِنَفعٍ وَيَغدو بِضَرّ

Nor did he have two contrasting dispositions,

bringing benefit at evening and harm at morning.

وَلَكِن مُصَفّى كَماءِ الغَما

مِ طابَت أَوائِلُهُ وَالأُخَر

But he was pure as the water of clouds,

its first portions and its last alike sweet.

تَلافى الرَعِيَّةَ مِن فِتنَةٍ

أَظَلَّهُمُ لَيلُها المُعتَكِر

He saved his subjects from a strife

whose murky night overshadowed them.

وَلَمّا اِدلَهَمَّت دَياجيرُها

تَبَلَّجَ فيها فَكانَ القَمَر

And when its dark depths grew pitch-black,

he shone forth within it and became the moon,

بِحَزمٍ يُجَلّي الدُجى وَالعَمى

وَعَزمٍ يُقيمُ الصَغا وَالصَعَر

with firmness that dispels darkness and blindness,

and resolve that straightens the bent and the stiff-necked.

سَدادٌ فَتَلتَ بِهِ يَومَ ذا

كَ حَبلَ الخِلافَةِ حَتّى اِستَمَر

Sound judgment with which, that day, you twisted

the rope of the caliphate until it held firm;

وَسَطوٌ ثَبَتَّ بِهِ قائِماً

عَلى كاهِلِ المُلكِ حَتّى اِستَقَر

and might with which you stood steadfast,

upon the shoulders of kingship until it was secure.

وَلَو كانَ غَيرُكَ لَم يَنتَهِض

بِتِلكَ الخُطوبِ وَلَم يَقتَدِر

Had it been someone other than you, he would not have risen

to those crises, nor proved capable.

رَدَدتَ المَظالِمَ وَاِستَرجَعَت

يَداكَ الحُقوقَ لِمَن قَد قُهِر

You redressed wrongs, and restored

by your hands were the rights of those who had been oppressed.

وَآلُ أَبي طالِبٍ بَعدَما

أُذيعَ بِسِربِهِمِ فَاِبذَعَر

As for the family of Abu Talib, after

their flock was scattered and fled in fright,

وَنالَت أَدانيهُمُ جَفوَةٌ

تَكادُ السَماءُ لَها تَنفَطِر

and harsh treatment befell their nearest kin,

at which heaven almost split apart—

وَصَلتَ شَوابِكَ أَرحامِهِم

وَقَد أَوشَكَ الحَبلُ أَن يَنبَتِر

you joined the interwoven ties of their kinship,

when the cord was about to be severed.

فَقَرَّبتَ مِن حَظِّهِم ما نَأى

وَصَفَّيتَ مِن شُربِهِم ما كَدِر

So you brought near what was distant of their share,

and cleared what had grown muddy in their draught.

وَأَينَ بِكُم عَنهُمُ وَاللِقا

ءُ لا عَن تَناءٍ وَلا عَن عُفُر

And how could you be far from them, when your meeting

is neither across distance nor between strangers?

قَرابَتُكُم بَل أَشِقّاؤُكُم

وَإِخوَتُكُم دونَ هَذا البَشَر

They are your kin—rather, your full brothers,

and your brothers, apart from the rest of humankind.

وَمَن هُم وَأَنتُم يَدا نُصرَةٍ

وَحَدّا حُسامٍ قَديمِ الأُثُر

And what are they and you but two hands of support,

and the two edges of a keen sword with ancient markings?

يُشادُ بِتَقديمِكُم في الكِتابِ

وَتُتلى فَضائِلُكُم في السُوَر

Your precedence is extolled in the Book,

and your virtues are recited in the chapters.

وَإِنَّ عَلِيّاً لَأَولى بِكُم

وَأَزكى يَداً عِندَكُم مِن عُمَر

And Ali surely has the greater claim on you,

and is more bountiful of hand toward you than Umar.

وَكُلٌّ لَهُ فَضلُهُ وَالجُحو

لُ يَومَ التَفاضُلِ دونَ الغُرَر

Each has his excellence; and unblazed horses,

on the day merits are weighed, rank below the blaze-fronted.

بَقيتَ إِمامَ الهُدى لِلهُدى

تُجَدِّدُ مِن نَهجِهِ ما دَثَر

May you remain the imam of guidance, serving guidance,

renewing what has been effaced from its path.