ألا عج بالمطي على المقام — Alkadawi

أَلا عُج بِالمطيِّ عَلى المقامِ

وَبثّ بسوحهِ شرح الغرامِ

Come, turn aside with the riding camels at the dwelling-place,

and pour out in its grounds the tale of passion.

وَقبّل تربهُ واِسكب رهاماً

عليهِ منَ المدامعِ كالرهامِ

Kiss its dust and pour a drizzle

upon it from your eyes, like gentle rain.

سعاد منهُ بانَت بل حذام

فَسائل عن سعاد وعن حذامِ

Su'ad has departed from it—rather, Hadham;

so ask after Su'ad and after Hadham.

بهِ بينَ السلام يلوحُ منه

سماة كالوحيّ على السلامِ

There among the acacias, there gleams from it

a mark like writing upon stones.

هناكَ لوشمهِ يبدو وشامٌ

لناظرهِ حكى رجع الوشامِ

There, in its markings, a tracery appears,

resembling, to its beholder, tattooing retraced.

وَقَد أنسَ النعام بهِ وأضحت

مَعالمهُ مَجالاً للنعامِ

The ostriches have grown familiar with it, and

its landmarks have become a roaming-ground for ostriches.

أمنتضد الرخامِ فَما أراني

أَرى سمة عليك سوى الرخامِ

O piled-up marble, I do not find myself

seeing any mark upon you but marble.

عَليك سلامنا وعلى سعادٍ

وَإِن ضنّت علينا بالسلامِ

Our greeting of peace be upon you, and upon Su'ad,

even if she begrudges us a greeting.

فَتاةُ أسقَمتني من سقامي

بِأعينها الصحاح من السقامِ

A maiden, my source of sickness, has made me ill

with her eyes, themselves untouched by sickness.

وَتزعم وَصلها أبداً حراماً

وليسَ دمي عليها بالحرامِ

She claims that union with her is forever forbidden,

yet shedding my blood is not forbidden to her.

تلاحظُني وترشُقني سهاماً

فيؤلم مهجتي رشق السهامِ

She glances sidelong at me and shoots arrows at me;

the volley of arrows pains my heart.

زمام القلبِ في يدِها فأضحت

تقودُ القلبَ منّي بالزمامِ

The heart's reins are in her hand, and she now

leads the heart within me by those reins.

حَكى جِسمي هلال النقص لمّا

حَكَت في حسنِها بدرَ التمامِ

My body resembled the waning crescent when

in her beauty she resembled the moon at its fullest.

فَعام وصلها عندي كيومٍ

وَيوم فراقها عندي كعامِ

A year of union with her is to me like a day,

and a day of separation from her is to me like a year.

إِذا لاثَ اللثام بوجنتيها

رأيت النورَ من تحتِ اللثامِ

When the veil wraps around her cheeks,

I see light from beneath the veil.

تَرى وسطَ الخيام لها شعاعاً

كأنَّ الشمسَ حلّت في الخيامِ

You see a radiance from her amid the tents,

as though the sun had settled in the tents.

أَضامرةَ الحشا رقّي لصبٍّ

إِلى ماءِ الوصال لديك ظامِ

O slender-waisted one, have pity on a lovesick man,

thirsting, in your presence, for the water of union.

كئيب ليس يردعهُ ملامٌ

وَإِن نصح الملوّم في الملامِ

Despondent, he is undeterred by reproach,

even if the reproacher counsels sincerely in his reproach.

أوامي منك فَاِنتفلي برشفٍ

أبلّ ببردهِ وهج الأوامِ

My burning thirst comes from you; grant me a sip,

that with its coolness I may quench the blaze of thirst.

وردّي في المنامِ عليَّ نومي

لعلّي أَن أراك لدى المنامِ

Restore my sleep to me in dreams,

so that perhaps I may see you while dreaming.

وَذارعةَ الموامى عنتريس

تجوبُ بدرعها عرضَ الموامِ

And a powerful she-camel, striding across the wastes,

crosses the desert's breadth in her armor.

أَطلت بها المسيرَ إِلى فلاح

سليل المحسن الملك الهمامِ

I prolonged the journey on her to Falah,

scion of al-Muhsin, the valiant king.

فلمّا جئتهُ أعلى محلّي

وَأَغناني نداه عن اللئامِ

When I came to him, he raised my standing,

and his bounty freed me from needing the ignoble.

وَقرّبني بدارٍ منه حتّى

ظننتُ دخلتُ في دار السلامِ

He drew me close, into a dwelling of his, until

I thought I had entered the Abode of Peace.

تبسّم برقُ عارضهِ فأضحى

ملجّاً في بكاءٍ واِبتسامِ

The lightning of his rain cloud smiled, and it became

unceasing in weeping and smiling.

وَأسحم كالغمام له غمامٌ

فعقّب فضله فضل الغمامِ

And, dark as a rain cloud, he has a cloud of his own;

so his bounty followed the bounty of the clouds.

سَما فَوق السما حتّى تساما

وحتّى جلّ جلّ عن المسامِ

He rose above the sky, ever rising higher,

until he grew great—too great for any rival.

كأنّ رجاءَ راجيه سوامٌ

وفيض نداه روض للسوامِ

The hope of those who seek him is like grazing herds,

and the flood of his bounty is a meadow for the herds.

فَما كعب يماثله نوالاً

وَلا أوس بن حارثة بن لامِ

So no Ka'b can match him in giving,

nor Aws ibn Harithah ibn Lam.

أباعثها مسوّمة عتاقاً

تدافع بِالكماة إلى الزحامِ

O you who send them forth, marked and nobly bred,

they surge with armored warriors into the press.

إِذا اِشتدّ اللطام وصار كبش ال

كتائبِ خائضاً بحرَ اللطامِ

When the clash grew fierce and the ram of the

battalions waded into the sea of blows,

وَلاحت كالكواكبِ في الدياجي

واِشتبك اللوامع في القتامِ

and they gleamed like stars in the darkness,

and flashing weapons interlocked in the battle-dust,

وشبّت في الوَغى نار لها في

تغيّظها ضرام كالضرامِ

and in battle a fire blazed, bearing in

its fury a blaze like a conflagration,

وَأظلم بالدياجي لي وألقى

ظلاماً حالكاً قبل الظلامِ

and it grew dark for me with night-gloom and cast

pitch-black gloom before nightfall,

فكنتُ على العِدا قدراً متاحاً

تُطالعهم ببأسٍ واِنتقامِ

then I was a fate ordained against the enemies;

you confront them with might and vengeance.

فلمّا جئتهم ورأوكَ أضحَوا

سكارى ذاهلين بلا مدامِ

Then when you came to them and they saw you, they became

drunk and bewildered, without any wine.

أَريتهمُ الحمام فكم حمام

لخوفك قد رأوا قبل الحمامِ

You showed them death; how many deaths

had they already seen for fear of you before death!

وَكَم زايلت في أعداك هاماً

فأصبحَ هامُهم أفراخ هامِ

And how many heads you severed among your foes,

so their heads became owlets.

إِذا سجدَ الحسامُ هناك أضحت

جباههمُ مساجدَ للحسامِ

When the sword prostrated itself there,

their foreheads became places of prostration for the sword.

لكَ الدنيا أَطاعت واِستقلّت

فَخُذ ما رمتَ منها من مرامِ

The world has obeyed you and risen for you;

so take from it whatever goal you have sought.

وَصار لجامُها بيديك حتّى

قهرت الرأس منها باللجامِ

And its bridle came into your hands, until

you subdued its head with the bridle.