زار بعد الجفا وخلف الوعود — Ali Ghorab Sfaxien

زار بعد الجفا وخلف الوُعود

يا ليالي الوصال بالفوز عُودي

He visited after estrangement and broken promises.

O nights of union, return with triumph!

زارني والعيونُ قد كحلتها

راحُ أيدي الدّجى بميل الهجود

He visited me when eyes had been kohled

By the palms of darkness, with sleep's kohl-stick.

حامل الصّبح والدُّجى في محيّا

وفُروع عليه مثل البنود

Bearing dawn and darkness in a face

And locks above it like banners.

حين جلى الشّعور عنها شهدنا

طلعة الشمس في اللّيالي السّود

When he swept the tresses away, we beheld

The sun's rising in the black nights.

ساحرُ الطّرف ليس يُنكرُ منهُ

فعلُ سحر وقد أتى بشهود

Bewitching of glance—none can deny in him

The working of magic, for he has brought witnesses.

حُبّه بالفؤاد واللّحظ داع

وبنجم من خدّه مرصُود

Love for him lies in my heart, and his glance calls,

While a star upon his cheek keeps watch over it.

ذُو قوام من الأراكة أحنى

وفُؤاد أقسى من الجلمود

His figure is more supple than the arak tree,

His heart harder than solid rock.

تتهاوى البدُورُ في الأفق شوقا

لسنا وجهه هُويّ السّجود

Full moons tumble on the horizon in longing

For his face's radiance, falling in prostration.

فإلى كم أسرُّ وجدي فيه

وهواه يسرُّني في الوجود

How long, then, shall I conceal my passion for him,

While love for him delights me in this world?

جحدتني لامٌ جحدت هواها

من عذاريه فهي لامُ الجحود

A lām-shaped curl denied me; I denied my love for it,

From his two side-locks—thus, the lām of denial.

بات يجلو لنا حُميّا على رو

ض مُحيّا زها بورد الخدُود

All night he displayed potent wine before us above a garden—

A face blooming with the roses of cheeks.

أردُ العذب من لماهُ وأستق

طرُ لي بالحيا مياه الوُرُود

I drink sweet water from his dusky lips and draw down

For myself, with the rain, the waters of roses.

في رياض زهت بمزهر عُود

وهزار شدا بمزهر عُود

In gardens adorned with a flowering bough,

And a nightingale singing to an oud-lute.

وسواق بها جوار علينا

وجوار من السّواقي الغيد

And watercourses there flowing past us,

And maidens among the slender cupbearers.

وعليلُ النّسيم مرّ بآس

يشتفي من زلالها بورود

The ailing breeze passed by a myrtle,

Seeking a cure by drinking their limpid water.

لي قضى السّعدُ بالمنى وشُهودي

كلُّ عدل من غصنها أملود

Fortune has awarded me my wishes; my witnesses

Are all its upright, supple boughs.

ما سواها على القضاء شُهودٌ

أترى قاضيا بغير شُهود

No others testify to that judgment;

Have you seen a judge without witnesses?

أيّ يوم نظمته بجبيب

وزهير يطيب نظم العقود

What a day I strung together with Jabib,

And Zuhayr—how sweet the stringing of necklaces!

وغُصونُ الرّياض ترقُص وجدا

في حُلى زهرها بخضر البرُود

The garden branches dance in rapture,

In their floral jewels and green mantles.

لا بمرّ النّسيم ترقُص بل من

طرب هزّها ووجد شديد

Not at the breeze's passing do they dance, but from

Joy that shakes them, and intense passion,

لقدُوم الرّضا المليك علي

بابنا ابنُ الحسين سعد الوُجود

For the coming of the favored king, Ali,

Our gate, son of al-Husayn, the good fortune of existence.

ملكٌ ما انتشت غمائمُ حرب

عنهُ إلا انجلت بصرع الأُسود

A king from whom no clouds of war have risen

Without clearing as lions are felled.

ملكُ ما انثنى عن الطّرد إلا

بعدُوّ في إثره مصفود

A king who never turned back from pursuit except

With an enemy shackled behind him.

إن يسلّ الحسام تجمد عداه

وتسيلُ الدّماءُ بعد الجمود

If he draws his sword, his foes freeze,

And blood flows after freezing.

فوق سبّاقة إذا صال عنها

في العدا فالبُروقُ تحت الرُّعود

On a swift mare, when he charges from her back

Into his foes, lightning lies beneath thunder.

إن يشبّ العدُوُّ نيران حرب

منهُ كانت عليه ذات وقُود

If the enemy kindles the fires of war,

From him, they blaze against the foe, full of fuel;

وغدا حرُّهُنّ بردا عليه

وسلاما كأنّها من خُمود

Their heat becomes coolness upon him,

And peace, as though extinguished.

ملكٌ ماجدٌ حليمٌ كريمٌ

جُودُهُ ناسخٌ لكلّ وُجود

A glorious, forbearing, generous king,

Whose bounty eclipses all existence,

ناشرُ العهدل وهو للجور طاو

واقفٌ في الأحكام عند الحدُود

Spreading justice, while folding oppression away,

Keeping within the bounds in his judgments.

مُقتف للهدى به الشّرعُ أضحى

وهو رحبُ الفنا رفيعُ العمود

Following guidance, through him sacred law has become

Broad of courtyard and lofty of pillar.

صالحُ الفعل صادقُ القول واف

بوفا العهد مُنجزٌ للوُعُود

Righteous in deed, truthful in speech, faithful

In keeping covenants and fulfilling promises.

يقطعُ الدّهر بين تدريس علم

ورُكوع لربّه وسُجود

He divides his time between teaching knowledge

And bowing and prostrating to his Lord.

بصحيح الحديث والعلم لاه

وعُلوم التّفسير والتّوحيد

Absorbed in authentic hadith and learning,

And the sciences of exegesis and divine unity.

قد تحلّى بعفّة ووقار

وتُقى وافر وفضل مزيد

He has adorned himself with chastity and dignity,

Abundant piety and ever greater excellence,

وبعزم مضى وقُوّة صبر

وعُلا همّة ورأي سديد

With determination that presses on, and strength of patience,

And lofty aspiration and sound judgment.

سار من تُونس بجيش كثيف

مُستمدّا بالنّصر والتّأييد

He marched from Tunis with a numerous army,

Drawing strength from victory and support.

همّهُ القطعُ للفساد وإصلاحُ

جميع البلاد بالتّمهيد

His concern is to cut off corruption and reform

All the lands through pacification.

وأتى والأنامُ تُثني عليه

بمديح الفعال والتحميد

He came while people praised him

For his deeds, with eulogy and acclaim.

أمنت سُبلهم من الخوف خليأ

من بها والدٌ على مولود

Their roads became safe from fear; carefree

Was every father there concerning his newborn.

نحنُ من روض أمن دولته في

خفض عيش به وظلّ مديد

In the garden of his reign's safety, we dwell in

An easy life, with far-reaching shade.

عجبا نحنُ منهُ في خفض عيش

وترانا من خفضه في صُعود

How wondrous! Through him we live in ease,

Yet you see us rising through that ease.

أيّها المالكُ الّذي يحتمي عن

حدّ أوصافه العلا بحدُود

O sovereign, who guards against

The confinement of his lofty qualities within bounds,

انت بالامن والسعادة مقرون

وبالفضل والمقام الحميد

You are joined to safety and happiness,

And to excellence and a praiseworthy station.

أنت من حصن ربّنا في أمان

من عُيون العدى وكيد الحسود

In our Lord's fortress you are safe

From enemies' eyes and the envier's guile.

تستمدُّ الكواكبُ السّعد منكم

حين تقضي على الورى بسعود

The stars draw good fortune from you

When they decree fortunate destinies for humankind.

لو دعوت النّجوم حال صُعود

لتهاوت إليك حال الصّعود

Were you to call the stars while they ascended,

They would fall toward you even in ascent.

لو دعوت الجبال وهي رواس

لسعت نحوكم بغير سُمود

Were you to call the mountains, firmly rooted,

They would hasten toward you, without standing aloof.

قد كفتك السّعود كلّ كريه

وكفتكم حرب العدوّ العنيد

Good fortune has spared you every hardship,

And spared you war with the obstinate enemy.

ما سعى في الخلاف عنك وإنعا

مُك عمّ البلاد غيرُ كنود

None sought to oppose you—while your bounty

Encompassed all the lands—except an ingrate.

ستقودُ العصاة من سهل أرض

وجبال بالسّعد قبل الجنود

You will lead the rebels from the plains

And mountains by good fortune, before your armies.

هل لمنّاع امتناع حماها

منك إذ أفسدت بتلك الحشود

Did Mannaʿ have any defense to protect it

From you, when it wrought corruption with those hosts?

غرمت ضعف ضف ما نهبتهُ

وانثنت في سلاسل وقُيود

It paid double the double of what it had plundered,

And returned in chains and fetters.

وارتدت بالفساد عيّار فارتد

دت من العرى في ثياب الجلود

And ʿAyyar donned corruption, then turned back

From nakedness into garments of hides.

وأرى كلّ بلدة خالفتكم

قُورنت بالخلاء والتّهديد

I see every town that opposed you

Coupled with desolation and threats.

كلُّ عاص مُخالف لك لم ينجح

ولو كان يحتمي بثمود

No rebel who opposed you ever prospered,

Even if he sheltered among Thamud.

جرّأ المفسدين حلمك حتّى

طمعوا في الوُجُود بالمفقود

Your forbearance emboldened the corrupters until

They hoped for what exists through what is absent.

أفإن غرّ حلمك الغمر هلاّ

أرغم السّعدُ منك أنف الحقود

So if your forbearance beguiled the fool, why did not

Your good fortune rub the spiteful one's nose in dust?

بك ريض الزّمانُ فينا وأضحى

آنسا بعد نُفرة وشُروُد

Through you, Time was tamed among us and became

Friendly after aversion and flight.

فابشرن بالفتوح إثر فُتوح

لك واظفر بغاية المقصود

Rejoice, then, in victories after victories

For you, and attain your utmost aim.

فهلالُ السّماء يكملُ بدرا

إن بدا وهو آخذٌ في المزيد

For the sky's crescent grows into a full moon

When it appears and begins to wax.

وتهنّأ بمقدم لك فيه

موسمٌ للورى وأعظمُ عيد

And rejoice in an arrival of yours that brings

A festival to humankind, the greatest feast.

بعد أن شفّنا لك الشّوقُ حتّى

كل يشتاقُكم حشا الجلمود

After longing for you had worn us thin, until

The heart of hard rock grew weary yearning for you.

شقت كلّ الورى وشاقت إليكم

كلّ عجما وناطق ووليد

You filled all humankind with longing, and toward you yearned

Every speechless creature, every speaker, every child.

سرت نحو الخضراء فاخضرّ منها

كلّ ذاو بكم ويابس عُود

You traveled toward al-Khadra, and green there grew

Every withered thing and dry bough through you.

انت لو لم تسر إليها لسارت

لك بالدُّور والبناء المشيد

Had you not journeyed toward it, it would have journeyed

To you, with its houses and lofty buildings.

فلك الأرضُ بالزُّهور تحلّت

وهي من خُضر نبتها في بُزُود

For you the earth adorned itself with flowers,

And wears mantles of its green growth.

هاك منّي حسان خُود تهان

في علاكم تزري بحسن الخدود

Take from me congratulations, fair as maidens,

On your eminence, outshining the beauty of cheeks.

صُغتها من عليل فكر قريح

وجواري قريحتي في جُمود

I fashioned them from an ailing, wounded mind,

While the streams of my inspiration were frozen,

من زمان لهُ اجتهادٌ بقذفي

بين واش وجاهل وحسود

Because of a Time intent on casting me

Among a slanderer, an ignoramus, and an envier.

فمر الدّهر يا أمير البرايا

ينكفئ عن إساءتي ووعيدي

So command Time, O prince of all creation,

To turn away from wronging and threatening me.

عبدُك الدّهرُ لا تهبهُ أتخشى السّا

دةُ المالكون أمر العبيد

Time is your slave; fear it not. Do masters

Who own slaves fear their commands?

عهد الدهرُ لا يُخالف يوما

عنك أمرا وقد وفى العهود

Time pledged never, on any day, to disobey

A command from you, and it has kept its covenants.

فلو الدهرُ عنك خالف يوما

لرأى الخلف منهُ غير سديد

Were Time to disobey you for a single day,

It would judge its breach unwise.

ثق بأمن وعزّ ملك مُهنّا

بدوام البقا وطُول الخلود

Trust in safety and the might of a blessed reign,

With lasting life and long immortality.