ما أومض البرق بين الطلع والبان — Almkazhon Singari

ما أَومَضَ البَرقُ بَينَ الطَلعِ وَالبانِ

إِلّا وَنابَ الغَوادي دَمعي القاني

Never did lightning flash between the palm blossoms and the ban trees

without my crimson tears replacing the morning showers.

وَلا شَدَّت ساجِعاتُ الوُرقِ في وَرَقِ ال

أَغصانِ إِلّا شَجَّتني فَوقَ أَشجاني

Nor did the cooing gray doves sing among the leaves of the

branches without wounding me, adding to my sorrows.

وَذَكَّرَتني بِنُعمانِ الأَراكِ هَوى

شَبيبَةٍ سَلَفَت في ظِلِّ نُعمانِ

And at Nuʿman of the arak trees they reminded me of the love

of youth gone by in Nuʿman's shade.

أَيّامَ أَركُضُ أَفارسَ المَسَرَّةٍ في

رَوضِ الأَماني وَرَوضُ اللَهوِ مَيداني

The days when I spurred the steeds of joy in

the garden of wishes, with pleasure's garden as my arena.

وَساكَنو الغَورَ مِن وادي الغَضا سَكَني

وَجيزَةُ العَلَمِ النَجدِيِّ جيراني

And the dwellers in the lowland of Wadi al-Ghada were my solace,

and those along the Najdi hill's flank were my neighbors.

وَالدَهرُ قَد رَقَدَت عَنّا نَوائِبُهُ

وَنَبَّهَت لِلتَصابي كُلَّ وَسِنانِ

And Time's calamities had slumbered away from us,

and roused every drowsy one to youthful dalliance—

أَغَنَّ تُغني عَنِ الصَهباءِ ريقَتُهُ

وَزَهرُ خَدَّيهِ عَن أَزهارِ بُستانِ

sweet-voiced, whose saliva sufficed in place of tawny wine,

and whose cheeks' bloom sufficed in place of a garden's flowers.

يُديرُ من طَرفِهِ سِحراً مِن يَدِهِ

خَمراً فَسَكَرُ النَدامى مِنهُ سَكرانِ

He passes round magic from his glance, and from his hand

wine: his drinking companions' intoxication from him is twofold.

أَطَعتُ في حُبِّهِ أَمرَ الهَوى وَعَصا

قَلبي عَلَيهِ نَهى مَن عَنهُ يَنهاني

I obeyed passion's command in loving him, and defiant

was my heart, for his sake, of the ban of whoever forbade me him.

بَدرٌ لِشَمسِ الضُحى مِن تَحتِ طِرَّتِهِ

لَيلٌ بَدا في الدَياجي مُشرِقاً ثاني

A full moon beneath his fringe, like the sun of forenoon,

his fringe a night, he appeared radiant amid the darkness, a second sun.

لَم أُلفَ غَيرَ حَليفٍ لِلغَرامِ بِهِ

وَلَم أَبِت مِن هَواهُ غَيرَ سَكرانِ

I was never found anything but a sworn ally of passion for him,

nor did I spend a night other than drunk on his love.

ما زالَ في غَفَلاتِ اللَيلِ يُتحِفُني

بِلُطفِهِ نازِحاً مَعَ وَصلِهِ الداني

He never ceased to bestow gifts on me in the unguarded hours of night,

with his tenderness, far away though his loving union was near.

حَتّى اِفتَرَقنا فيا لِلَّهِ ما سَفَحَت

بِجَفوَةِ البَينِ يَومَ السَفحِ أَجفاني

until we parted—O God, how much was shed

by my eyelids through separation's cruelty, on that day at the hillside!

فَأَيُّ نارٍ بِها أَذكى الهَوى كَبِدي

وَأَيُّ سُقمٍ لِحيني قَد تَواخاني

And with what fire did passion set my liver ablaze!

And what sickness had become my brother to bring my doom!

وَهَبتُهُ ساعَةَ التَوديعِ ما مَلَكَت

بِالوَهمِ نَفسِيَ مِن صَبرٍ وَسُلوانِ

I gave him, at the hour of farewell, whatever was held

by my soul in imagination—patience and consolation.

فَاِستَخلَفَ السَقمَ في جِسمي وَغادَرَني

بِغَدرِهِ مِن دُموعي بَينَ غُدرانِ

So he left sickness as his successor in my body, and abandoned me

through his betrayal amid pools of my tears.

فَبَلَّ وابِلُ دَمعي ما عَدا كَبِدي

وَمَزَّقَ السُقمُ إِلّا ثَوبَ أَحزاني

So the downpour of my tears drenched everything but my liver,

and sickness tore apart everything but the garment of my sorrows.

وَسارَ وَالحَيُّ يَتلوهُ عَلى مَهَلٍ

وَأَقفَرَ الرَبعُ إِلّا مِن جَوٍ عانِ

And he departed, and the tribe followed him at a leisurely pace,

and the dwelling grew deserted, save for a lovesick captive.

وَقَفتُ بِالمَعهَدِ الباقي أُناشِدُهُ

عَنهُم وَأَندُبُ فيهِ عَهدَنا الفاني

I stood at the remaining haunt, earnestly questioning it

about them, and lamented there our vanished days.

وَأَشتَكيهِ صَباباتٍ لَبُعدِهِم

وَشَأنُ أَطلالِهِ مَن بُعدِهِم شاني

And I complained to it of longings born of their distance,

and the state of its ruins in their absence was my own.

وَلَم أَزَل بِوِشاحِ السُقمِ مُتَّشِحاً

أَغشى فُنونَ الأَسى طَوراً وَتَغَشّاني

And I remained girded with the sash of sickness,

now confronting sorrow's many forms, now enveloped by them,

حَتّى اِنتَهَيتُ بِأَصحابي إِلى حَرَمٍ

حُماتُهُ سادَةٌ مِن آلِ حَمدانِ

until I reached a sanctuary with my companions,

whose protectors are lords of the House of Hamdan.

قَومٌ أَقاموا حُدودَ اللَهِ وَاِعتَصَموا

بِحَبلِهِ مِن طُغاةِ الإِنسِ وَالجانِ

A people who upheld God's limits and held fast

to His rope against the tyrants of humankind and jinn.

وَاِستَأنَسوا بِالدُجى النارَ الَّتي ظَهَرَت

بِطَورِ سيناءَ مِن أَجبالِ فارانِ

And in the darkness they discerned the fire that appeared

on Mount Sinai, from the mountains of Paran.

لَم يُنسِهِم عَهدَها تَبديلُ مَعهَدِها

كَلّا وَلَم يَثنِهِم عَن حُبِّها ثانِ

Changing its abode did not make them forget its covenant;

no indeed! Nor did anyone turn them away from loving it.

وَفّوا لِعُلُوَةِ الميثاقِ وَاِتَّحَدوا

عَلى الحِفاظِ وَجافوا كُلَّ خَوّانِ

They fulfilled their covenant with ʿUlwa and united

in keeping faith, and shunned every traitor.

هُمُ الجِبالِ الرَواسي في عُلُوِّهِم

وَأَنجُمُ اللَيلِ تَهدي كُلَّ حَيرانِ

They are firmly rooted mountains in their loftiness,

and the stars of night, guiding every bewildered soul.

سَمّوا فَلَوا تَرَهُم عَينُ الجَهولِ بِهِم

إِلّا كَما نَظَرَت مِن شَخصِ كيوانِ

They rose high; if the eye of one ignorant of them saw them,

it saw them only as it beheld the form of Saturn.

هُم عِياذي إِذا ما مَسَنّي وَصَبٌ

وَذِكرُهُم في صَلاةِ اللَيلِ قُرآني

They are my refuge whenever pain touches me,

and remembering them in night prayer is my Qur'an.

وَقَصدُ بابِهِمُ حَجّي وَقُربُهُم

مَنّي أَراهُ إِلى الرَحمَنِ قُرباني

And seeking their door is my pilgrimage, and their nearness

to me I regard as my offering to the All-Merciful.

صَلّى الإِلَهُ عَلى أَرواحِهِم وَكَسا

أَشباحَهُم حُلَلاً مِن رَوضِ رَضوانِ

May God bless their souls and clothe

their bodies in robes from Ridwan's garden.