ألاح وقد رأى برقا مليحا — Almaarri

ألاحَ وقد رأى بَرْقاً مُلِيحاً

سَرَى فأتَى الحِمى نِضْواً طَليحا

He grew thirsty, having seen a thirst-stirring flash of lightning,

and traveled by night to the protected grounds, wasted and weary.

كما أغْضَى الفَتى ليَذوقَ غُمْضاً

فصادَفَ جَفْنُه جَفْناً قَريحا

As a young man closes his eyes to taste sleep,

only for his eyelid to meet a wounded eyelid.

إذا ما اهْتَاجَ أحمَرَ مُستَطِيراً

حَسِبْتَ اللّيلَ زَنْجيّاً جرِيحا

Whenever it flares red, spreading everywhere,

you would think the night a wounded Zanj man.

أقُولُ لصاحِبي إذْ هامَ وَجْداً

ببَرْقٍ ليسَ يُثْبِتُه نُزُوحا

I say to my companion, when he is distraught with longing

for far-off lightning he cannot clearly discern,

وهاجَتْهُ الجَنُوبُ لوَصْلِ حَيّ

أقامَ ويَمّموا داراً طَرُوحا

and the south wind stirs him to rejoin a tribe—

he stayed behind, while they made for a distant home:

سِفَاهٌ لَوْعَةُ النّجْدِيّ لمّا

تَنَسّمَ من حِيالِ الشأمِ رِيحا

Folly is the Najdi's burning grief when

he breathes a breeze from the direction of Syria;

وَغَيٌّ لَمْحُ عينكَ شَطْرَ نجْدٍ

إذا ما آنسَتْ بَرْقاً لَمُوحا

and error is your eye's glance toward Najd

when it catches flickering lightning.

وأمْرَاضُ المَواعِدِ أعْلَمَتْني

بأنّ وَرَاءها سَقَماً صَحيحا

The maladies of promises have taught me

that behind them lies a sickness all too real.

متى نُصْبحْ وقد فُتْنا الأعَادي

نُقِمْ حتى تقُولَ الشّمسُ رُوحا

Whenever we reach morning having outstripped our enemies,

we shall stay until the sun says, 'You two, set out!'

بأرْضٍ للحَمامَةِ أنْ تُغَنّي

بها ولِمَنْ تأسَفَ أن يَنُوحا

In a land where the dove may sing,

and the grief-stricken may lament.

أعُبّادَ المَسيحِ يَخافُ صَحْبي

ونحنُ عَبيدُ مَنْ خَلَقَ المَسيحا

Does my company fear the worshippers of Christ,

while we are servants of Him who created Christ?

رأيْتُكَ واحداً أبْرَحْتَ عَزْماً

ومثْلُكَ مَن رَأى الرّأيَ النّجيحا

I found you peerless, extraordinary in resolve,

and one such as you knows the counsel that succeeds.

فلم تُؤْثِرْ على مُهْرٍ فَصيلاً

ولم تَخْتَرْ على حِجْرٍ لَقُوحا

You did not prefer a weaned camel calf to a colt,

nor choose a milch-camel over a mare.

رَكبْتَ الليْلَ في كَيدِ الأعادي

وأعْدَدْتَ الصّباحَ له صَبوحا

You mounted the night to outwit your enemies,

and prepared dawn as its morning draught.

وأعْظَمُ حادثٍ فَرَسٌ كَريمٌ

يكُونُ مَلِيكُهُ رجُلاً شَحيحا

The gravest misfortune is a noble horse

whose owner is a miser.

تُريكَ له سماءً فوْقَ أرْضٍ

فَرُوجُ قَوائِمٍ يُعْدَدْنَ لُوحا

The gaps between its legs show you a sky above an earth,

legs reckoned broad as planks.

أصِيلُ الجَدّ سابقهُ تَراه

على الأَيْنِ المُكَرَّرِ مُسْتَريحا

Noble in ancestry: race it, and you will see it

at ease despite repeated fatigue.

كَأنّ غَبوقَهُ مِن فَرْطِ رِيّ

أباهُ جِسمُه فغَدا مَسِيحا

As though, through overfullness, its evening draught

had been refused by its body, leaving it streaming with sweat.

كأنّ الرّكضَ أبْدى المحْضَ منه

فمَجّ لَبانُه لَبَناً صَريحَا

As though galloping had brought out its pure milk,

and its chest spat forth unmixed milk.

وأرْبابُ الجِيادِ بَنو عليّ

مُزِيرُوهَا الذّوابِلَ والصّفيحا

The masters of fine steeds are the sons of Ali,

who bring them to meet supple spears and sword blades.

وخيرُ الخيْلِ ما ركبوا فجَنّبْ

غُراباً والنّعامةَ والجَموحا

The best horses are those they ride, so set aside

Ghurab, al-Naʿama, and al-Jamuh.

وأحْمَى العالَمينَ ذِمارَ مجْدٍ

بَنو إسْحاقَ إنْ مَجْدٌ أُبِيحا

The world's staunchest defenders of glory's sanctity

are the sons of Ishaq, when glory is violated.

ومَعْرِفَةُ ابنِ أحمَدَ أمّنَتْني

فما أخْشَى الحَقيبَ ولا النّطيحَا

Knowing Ibn Ahmad has made me safe,

so I fear neither the omen from behind nor the head-on omen.

إذا استبَقَتْ خُيولُ المجدِ يوْماً

جرَيْنَ بَوَارِحاً وجرى سَنيحا

If the horses of glory ever race,

they run as ill omens, while he runs as a good one.

ولو كَتَبَ اسمَه مَلِكٌ هَزيمٌ

على راياتِهِ وَا لى الفُتوحا

Were a routed king to write his name

on his banners, he would win victories in succession.

فيا ابْنَ محَمّدٍ والمَجْدُ رِزْقٌ

بقَدْرِكَ سُدْتَ لا قَدَراً أُتيحا

So, son of Muhammad—glory is an allotted gift—

you became a chief by your worth, not by an allotted fate.

وما فَقَدَ الحُسَينَ ولا عَلِيّاً

وَلِيُّ هُدىً رآكَ له نَصيحا

He has lost neither al-Husayn nor Ali—

the follower of guidance who found you his sincere adviser.

إليكَ ابْنَ الرّسولِ حُثِثْنَ شَوْقاً

ولم يُحْذَيْنَ من عَجَلٍ سَريحا

Toward you, son of the Messenger, they were urged by longing,

and, in their haste, they were not shod with leather straps.

همَمْنَ بدُلْجَةٍ وخَشِينَ جُنْحاً

فبِتْنا فوقَ أرجُلِها جُنوحَا

They planned a night journey, but feared the darkness,

so we spent the night leaning over their legs.

أشَحْنَ وقد أقَمْنَ على وَفَازٍ

ثلاثَ حَنادِسٍ يَرْعَينَ شِيحا

They pressed on, after a hurried stay

of three pitch-dark nights, grazing wormwood.

دُجًى تتشابَهُ الأشْباحُ فيه

فيُجْهَلُ جِنسُها حتى يَصيحا

Deep darkness, in which shapes look alike,

so their kind is unknown until one cries out.

فمَرّ العامُ لم تَطْرُقْ أنِيساً

بدارِهِمُ ولم تَسْمَعْ نُبوحا

So the year passed: they visited no human companion

at their dwellings, nor heard any barking.

ولا عَبَثَتْ بعُشْبٍ في ربيعٍ

ولا وَرَدَتْ على ظَمَإٍ نَضِيحا

Nor played with grass in the spring,

nor reached a watering basin in thirst.

فأُقْسِمُ ما طُيورُ الجَوّ سُحْماً

كَهُنّ ولا نَعامُ الدّو رُوحا

I swear the black birds of the sky are not

their equals, nor the desert's wide-legged ostriches.

ودُونَ لِقائِكَ الهَضْباتُ شُمّاً

تَفُوتُ الطَّرْفَ والفَلَواتُ فِيحا

Before meeting you stand towering hills

beyond the eye's reach, and vast open deserts.

فجاءَكَ كلّها بالرّوحِ فَرْداً

وقد سِرْنا به جَسَداً ورُوحا

So all of them brought you the soul alone,

though we had journeyed with it as body and soul.

تَبُوحُ بفَضْلِكَ الدّنيا لتَحظى

بذاكَ وأنتَ تَكْرَهُ أنْ تَبُوحا

The world proclaims your excellence, seeking favor

through that, while you dislike proclaiming it.

وما للمِسْكِ في أنْ فاحَ حَظّ

ولكنْ حظّنَا في أنْ يَفوحَا

Musk gains nothing by giving off its scent,

but we gain when its fragrance spreads.

وقد بَلَغَ الضُّراحَ وساكِنيهِ

نَشَاكَ وزارَ مَن سَكَنَ الضَّريحا

And al-Durah and its inhabitants have been reached

by your fragrance, which visited those dwelling in the grave.

يَفيضُ إليْكَ غَوْرُ الماءِ شَوْقاً

ويُظْهِرُ نَفْسَهُ حتى يَسيحا

Water in its hidden depths pours toward you in longing,

and reveals itself until it flows abroad.

ولو مَرّتْ بخَيْلِكَ هُجْنُ خيلٍ

وهَبْنَ لعُجْمِها نسَباً صريحا

Were crossbred horses to pass among your steeds,

your steeds would grant their foreign stock a pure lineage.

ولو رُفعَتْ سُرُوجُكَ في ظَلامٍ

على بُهُمٍ جَعَلْنَ لها وُضُوحا

Were your saddles mounted in darkness

on solid-colored horses, they would make them shine.

ولو سَمِعَتْ كلامَكَ بُزْلُ شَوْلٍ

لعادَ هَديرُ بازِلِها فَحيحا

Were mature, dry-uddered she-camels to hear your speech,

their mature bull's rumbling would become a hiss.

وقد شَرّفْتَني وَرَفَعْتَ إِسْمي

به وأنَلْتَني الحَظّ الرّبيحا

You have honored me and raised my name

through it, and granted me a prosperous lot.

أجَلْ ولو أنّ عِلْمَ الغيبِ عندي

لقُلتُ أفَدْتَني أجَلاً فَسيحا

Yes; and if knowledge of the unseen were mine,

I would say you had granted me a long span of life.

وكَوْنُ جَوابِهِ في الوَزْنِ ذَنْبٌ

ولكِنْ لم تَزَلْ مَوْلىً صَفُوحا

And a reply to it in meter is a fault,

yet you have always been a forgiving patron.

وذلكَ أنّ شِعْرَكَ طالَ شِعْري

فما نِلْتُ النّسِيبَ ولا المَديحا

And that is because your verse has surpassed mine,

so I have matched neither the love prelude nor the panegyric.

ومَنْ لم يَسْتَطِعْ أعْلامَ رَضْوَى

ليَنزِلَ بعضَها نَزَلَ السُّفوحا

And whoever cannot reach the peaks of Radwa

to dwell on some of them dwells on the slopes.

شقَقْتَ البحرَ مِن أدبٍ وفَهْمٍ

وغَرّقَ فكرُكَ الفِكْرَ الطّموحا

You cleft the sea of learning and understanding,

and your thought drowned ambitious thought.

لعِبْتَ بسِحْرِنَا والشّعْرُ سِحْرٌ

فتُبْنا منه تَوْبَتَنا النّصوحا

You made sport of our magic—and poetry is magic—

so we repented of it with wholehearted repentance.

فلو صَحّ التّناسُخُ كنْتَ موسى

وكان أبوكَ إسحقَ الذّبيحَا

So if transmigration were true, you would be Moses,

and your father would be Isaac, the one offered for sacrifice.

ويُوشَعُ رَدّ يُوحى بعضَ يومٍ

وأنتَ متى سفَرتَ رَدَدْتَ يُوحى

And Joshua brought back Yuha, the sun, for part of a day,

while whenever you reveal your face, you bring Yuha back.

فنالَ مُحِبُّك الدّارَيْنِ فَوْزاً

وذاقَ عدُوُّك المَوْتَ المُريحا

Thus the one who loves you won success in both worlds,

and your enemy tasted death that brings relief.

ومَنْ لم يَأتِ دارَكَ مُسْتَفِيداً

أتاها في عُفاتِكَ مُسْتَميحا

And whoever did not come to your house seeking knowledge

came there among your petitioners seeking gifts.

فكُنْ في المُلْكِ يا خيرَ البَرايا

سُليْماناً وكُنْ في العُمْرِ نوحا

So be in sovereignty, O best of creatures,

Solomon, and in length of life be Noah.