عج بالمطي فهذا السفح والعلم — Alkadawi

عُج بالمطيّ فَهذا السفح والعلمُ

وَهذه كلل الأحبابِ والخيمُ

Turn aside with the camels: here are the slope and the landmark hill.

And here are the beloved ones’ canopies and tents.

وهذهِ دمن الحيّ النزول بها

وَهذه في السوامِ الشاء والنعمُ

And here are the encampment traces of the tribe that settled here.

And here among the grazing herds are the sheep and cattle.

هم الأحبّة لا أَحبابَ بعدهمُ

نَرى وليسَ نرى في الحيّ بعدهمُ

They are the beloved; no beloved after them

do we see, nor do we see among the tribe, after them,

حيٌّ همُ تركوا الأجساد خاليةً

منّا وَأرواحُنا أصبحنَ عندهمُ

a living soul. They left the bodies empty

of us, while our spirits have come to dwell with them.

نَرى جَفاهم وفرقاهم لنا سقراً

وقَد نَرى جنّة الفردوس وصلهمُ

We deem their coldness and parting our Saqar,

and indeed we deem union with them the Garden of Firdaws.

رعياً لأيّامنا اللّاتي عهدت بها

سعداً تواصلنا والشمل ملتئمُ

Blessings on our days, in which I knew

happiness: we were united, our company whole.

إِذ نحنُ في غبطةِ الترفيه في جدلٍ

وَالعيشُ صافٍ وثغرُ الدهر مبتسمُ

When we enjoyed the bliss of ease, amid lively debate,

and life was untroubled, and time’s mouth smiled.

مِن حيثُ نَلهو وحبلُ الوصلِ متّصلٌ

منّي وَمِنها وحبلُ الصرم منصرمُ

As we dallied, the cord of union remained unbroken

between me and her, while the cord of severance was severed.

واللّه ما خطرت في القلبِ ذكرتُها

إلّا وَفي القلبِ نارُ الشوق تضطرمُ

By God, never has her memory crossed my heart

without longing’s fire blazing within it.

وَلا سنت مُقلتي يوماً ولا هَجعت

إلّا أَتاني لَها من طيفها لممُ

Nor has my eye ever grown drowsy or fallen asleep

without a fleeting visitation from her phantom coming to me.

وَلا عدلت إِلى سلوانِها أبداً

إلّا ونادَمني في ذلك الندمُ

Nor have I ever turned toward forgetting her

without regret becoming my companion at drink in that.

أستعذبُ السقمَ والتعذيبَ حيث أنا

وَالصبُّ يحلو لهُ التعذيب والسقمُ

I find sickness and torment sweet in my present state;

to the lovesick, torment and sickness taste sweet.

كأنّما وَجهُها مِن تحتِ بُرقعها

بدرٌ منيرٌ بغيمِ المزنِ ملتثمُ

It is as though her face beneath her veil

were a shining full moon, veiled in rainclouds.

تفترُّ عَن مبسمٍ عذبِ اللما رتلٍ

كأنّه لؤلؤ في الثغر منتظمُ

She smiles, revealing a sweet, dark-lipped mouth with even teeth,

as though pearls were strung within her mouth.

كأنّما ريقُها شهدٌ يمازجهُ

صوتٌ منَ المزنِ عذبٌ باردٌ شبمُ

It is as though her saliva were honey mingled with

a sweet, cold, icy sound from the rainclouds.

عجبتُ للردف منها كيف يحملهُ

خصرٌ نحيلٌ عليه الوشح منهضمُ

I marvel at her full hips: how can they be borne

by a slender waist, hollowed beneath its sashes?

لَم أَنسها يومَ قامت للوداعِ وقد

زمّت لوشكِ الرحيل الأينق الرسمُ

I have not forgotten her the day she rose to bid farewell, when

the swift-striding she-camels were haltered for imminent departure.

وَقَد رأت أعين الواشين ناظرةً

وَالركبُ في أهبة التِرحال مزدحمُ

She had seen the slanderers’ eyes watching,

while the caravan crowded together, ready for departure.

فَاستَخجلت خشيةً مِن أن يبوح من ال

أسرارِ ما هو في الأسرار منكتمُ

She grew bashful, fearing that there might be disclosed, among the

secrets, what lay concealed among those secrets.

حتّى وقفتُ على حالٍ وقد وقفت

خوف الوشاةِ وفيض الدمعِ منسجمُ

At last I stood as I was, while she stood,

in fear of the slanderers, tears flowing in a flood.

أَشكو وتَشكو جوى الفرقا وأدمُعنا

تُبدي وتفصحُ ما لا يفصح الكلمُ

I lamented, and she lamented, the burning anguish of parting; our tears

revealed and expressed what words could not express.

فيا لَها وقفة كادَت تذوبُ لها

أَكبادُنا مِن تباريح وتنقسمُ

Ah, what a stand it was! Because of it, nearly

did our livers melt with anguish and split apart.

بانَت وَلا صافَحت كفّي ولا اِلتقيا

عندَ الوداعِ لها منّا فم وفمُ

She departed without clasping my hand; nor did they meet

at farewell, her mouth and mine.

آها لتلكَ الليلاتِ الّتي سَلفت

كأنّما ما عهدنا عندها حلمُ

Ah, for those nights that have passed!

As though what we had known then were a dream.

وَفجوة تسمع الركبان إِن دلجت

للّحنِ فيها عريفاً ليس ينفهمُ

And many a wide waste, where riders traveling by night hear

a guide chanting within it, his tune beyond understanding.

كلّفت قطعَ فلاها كلّ علجزة

حرف سواء عليها البعاد والأممُ

I charged every sturdy she-camel to cross its deserts,

lean and hardy, to whom far and near are alike.

ما كانَ في قصدها المَسرى وقبلتها

إلّا الهمامُ الّذي نافت به الهممُ

Her night journey had no goal or destination

but the noble lord through whom high ambitions soared:

إِلى فلاح سليل المحسن الملك ال

قرم الّذي في جداهُ يعدم العدمُ

to Falah, scion of al-Muhsin, the king, the

noble lord, in whose bounty want itself vanishes.

متوّج في المَعالي ما مآربهُ

إلّا المفاخر والإجلال والكرمُ

Crowned in lofty honors, his aims are nothing

but glorious deeds, honor, and generosity.

وَتربُ نعليهِ للأملاك منتشقٌ

وَبسطُ معناه للأملاك مُلتثمُ

And the dust of his sandals is inhaled by kings,

and the expanse of his meaning is kissed by kings.

لَم تجرِ أقلامهُ في طرسه أبداً

إلّا تولّد منها البؤس والنعمُ

His pens have never run across his parchment

without bringing forth misery and blessings.

في كلِّ يومٍ منَ الأيّام تمطرنا

مِن جودهِ ديماً من بعدهم ديمُ

Every day, day after day, there rain upon us

from his bounty lasting showers, followed by more showers.

هوَ الجوادُ وما عاينت من سمنٍ

سواه فهوَ إِذا اِستيقنته ورمُ

He is the generous one; whatever fatness I have seen

in anyone but him proves, on examination, mere swelling.

خوّاضُ بحرِ المَنايا في الخميس إذا

تساقطت من كماة الحومة القممُ

He plunges into death’s sea amid the army, when

heads fall from the champions of the battlefield.

يُرجى ويُخشى وهذا كون مذهبهِ

مثل السحابةِ فيها الماء والضرمُ

He is hoped in and feared; such is the nature of his way,

like a cloud containing water and flame.

ليث غداة نزال ليس لبدته

إلّا دلاص من الماذي ومحتكمُ

A lion on the morning of battle, whose mane is nothing

but smooth mail of fine iron, stoutly wrought.

وصارمٌ مِن سيوفِ اللّه ليس له

مِن آلةِ الغمد إلّا الحلم والشيمُ

And a keen blade among God’s swords, with nothing

for a sheath but forbearance and noble character.

في درعهِ أسدٌ في تاجه قمرٌ

في كفِّه زاخرٌ بالموج ملتطمُ

In his armor, a lion; in his crown, a moon;

in his palm, a brimming sea of crashing waves.

يا مَن بِه اِفتخَرت عز المحامد وال

جرد المَذاكي معاً والسيف والقلمُ

O you in whom the glory of praiseworthy deeds takes pride, and the

sleek, seasoned steeds alike, the sword and the pen!

اِسمع مَقالي أبيتَ اللعنَ لا اِنكشفت

لكم شموسٌ ولا زالت لكم قدمُ

Hear my words—may you be beyond reproach! May none be uncovered

of your suns, nor may any foot of yours slip.

وَاِفخر بأجدادكَ الماضين إنّهمُ

قومٌ سَموا في سماء المجد مجدهمُ

Take pride in your forefathers of old, for they were

a people whose glory soared in the heaven of glory.

هم أسّسوا الملكَ في الدنيا بهمّتهم

حتّى اِستَقام مدى الأيام ملكهمُ

They founded kingship in the world through their resolve,

until their kingdom stood firm throughout the days.

بَنيتمُ سدّ يأجوج هناك وقد

دخلتم حيث لا تُستكشف الظلمُ

You built the barrier of Gog there, and

entered where the darkness cannot be fathomed.

وَقَد أقمتم مناراً بعد ذاك وقد

وافى إِلى بلد النسناس جيشكمُ

You raised a beacon after that, and

your army reached the land of the Nasnas.

وَفي الرسيلِ مَدى الدنيا لكم صنمٌ

يشيرُ بالكفِّ وحياً ذلك الصنمُ

And in al-Rasil, as long as the world endures, you have a statue;

that statue signals with its hand in silent signs.

وَاِسلم ودُم منعماً بالحمدِ منفرداً

يا خيرَ مَن قَد حواه الحلّ والحرمُ

Be safe, and remain in bliss, peerless in praise,

O best of all whom the lands outside and inside the Sanctuary embrace!