ثنى قدها ريح الصبا فتأودا — Aloshari

ثَنى قَدها ريح الصبا فَتأَودا

وَغَنى بِها طَير الغَرام وَغَردا

The east wind bent her figure, and it swayed;

and love's bird sang of her and trilled.

وَحَركها ريع الشَباب وَهاجَها

فَهَزَّت لَنا رُمحاً وَسَلت مهندا

Youth's vigor stirred her and roused her,

so she brandished a spear for us and drew an Indian blade.

نفور رَنَت بِالرقمتين مَطارفا

مِن الوَجد حاكتها النَواظر سهدا

A shy one at al-Raqmatayn gazed upon cloaks

that eyes had woven from longing in sleeplessness.

فَرد بِها غُصن رَطيب وَعاقها

كَثيب فَماجَت حيرة وَتَجلدا

So a supple branch swayed with her, while she was hindered

by a dune; she swayed in bewilderment and self-command.

أَلا بِأَبي تِلكَ النَواظر كَم رَمَت

فَباتَ بِها طَرف الصَبابة أَرمَدا

Ah, my father be ransom for those eyes—how often they shot!

So longing's eye spent the night inflamed by them.

نَواظر ضاقَت أَن تَرانا بربعها

وَما ذاكَ إِلا كانَ مَنعاً مُجَردا

Eyes that could not bear to see us in her dwelling—

and that was nothing but an outright refusal.

وَمرشف شَهد قَد فَقَدنا رضابه

وَيا طالما أَضحى لِقَلبي مَوردا

And a honey-sweet mouth whose nectar we have lost—

and oh, how often it became a watering place for my heart!

حوى عقد در لاح مِن تَحت خاتم

عَقيقته بالوشم صارت زبرجدا

It held a string of pearls gleaming from beneath a ring

whose carnelian, through tattooing, became chrysolite.

وَروض مُحياكم قَطَفنا وروده

صَباحاً فَصارَ الشَوق فيهِ مجددا

And the garden of your face—we plucked its roses

one morning, and longing there was renewed.

صَفيحة بَلور سَقاها بِمائه

نمير الحَيا حسنا فَعادَ موردا

A sheet of crystal, watered with its moisture

by sweet rain, became lovely and rose-tinted.

سَقى اللَه عَصراً قَد أَقمنا فُروضه

عَلى سنَن الأَصحاب جَمعاً وَمُفرَدا

May God water an age whose duties we fulfilled

in the companions' ways, together and singly.

وَقُرآن حسن قَد بَدت فيهِ آية

تَضيءُ فَأَصبَحنا مِن الوَجد سُجدا

And a Quran of beauty in which a verse appeared,

shining, so we fell prostrate in ecstasy.

لَيالي سعود قَد بَدَت في خلالها

نُجوم وَصال كل عُضو بِها اِهتَدى

Nights of good fortune, amid which appeared

stars of union, by which every limb found its way.

وَقائِلَة قَد أَسبَلَت در دَمعِها

عَلى شعل الياقوت نَثراً مُبَددا

And a woman speaking, who had let the pearls of her tears fall

upon ruby flames, scattered and dispersed.

رَأَتني وَقَد جَردت للسَير هِمة

حَكَت في مضاء العَزم سَيفاً مهندا

She saw me when I had unsheathed a resolve for travel

as keen in purpose as an Indian-forged sword.

إِلى أَين تَبغي السَير عَنا وَإِننا

غَرائر لا نَقوى عَلى البُعد وَالرَدى

Where do you intend to journey away from us, when we are

innocent maidens unable to endure separation and death?

قُلوب عَطفناها عَلَيك أَينبغي

لِمَعطوفِها يَنآى وَتَتركها سُدى

Hearts we have bound to you—is it fitting

for the one bound to them to depart, and for you to leave them forsaken?

وَأَخبار وَصل فيكَ كانَ ابتِداؤُها

أَتعقل أَخبار وَما ثم مبتدا

And tidings of union whose beginning lay in you—

can you conceive of predicates when there is no subject?

فَقُلت دَعيني وَالقِياس فَإِنَّني

سَأَتلو أَحاديث الأَماجد مسنَدا

I said: Leave me to analogy, for I

shall recite the noble men's accounts with their chains of transmission.

ظَمئت إِلى لُقيا الكِرام وَإِنَّما

يَطيب ورود الماء في الحر وَالصدى

I thirsted to meet the generous, for indeed

coming to water is sweetest in heat and thirst.

سَأَقصد بَحراً كُلما بانَ قاصد

لَهُ هاجَ بِالفَضل الجَزيل وَأزبدا

I shall seek an ocean: whenever a seeker appears

before him, he surges with abundant bounty and foams.

وَأنزل بَيتاً كُلما طُفت حَوله

تَسنمت مِن ظهر الفَراقد مقعَدا

And I shall alight at a house that, whenever I circle it,

I ascend to a seat atop the Farqad stars.

محلاً بِهِ توفى الحُقوق لأَهلِها

وَيَمتاز أَهل الفَضل شَيخاً وَأمرَدا

A dwelling where rights are paid in full to their owners,

and people of merit are distinguished, elders and beardless youths alike.

فَقالَت وَمَن يُعطيك حَقك كُله

وَيوليك عزاً قُلت وَالد أَحمَدا

She said: Who will give you your full due

and grant you honor? I said: Ahmad's father,

كَريم إِلى العَباس تنمى فُروعه

فَيلقى بِها بَدر التَمام محمدا

a generous man whose branches trace back to al-Abbas,

and through them he meets Muhammad, the full moon.

نجار عَنت زَهر النُجوم لضوئه

نَعم وَحَكى شَمساً وَبَدراً وَفرقدا

A lineage before whose radiance the bright stars bow—

yes, and it resembles a sun, a moon, and a Farqad star.

هُم العرب الغُر الَّذين تَشَرفوا

بِخَير الوَرى أَزكى النَبيين محتدا

They are the illustrious Arabs who gained honor

through the best of creation, the purest of prophets in lineage.

لَقَد لَبِسوا ثَوب الخِلافة ضافياً

وَكانَ لَهُم ماء السقاية مَورِدا

They wore the ample robe of the caliphate,

and the water of the watering service was their wellspring.

بعم رَسول اللَه طالَ فَخارهُم

وَنالوا بِهِ مَجداً رَفيعاً وَسُؤددا

Through the Messenger of God's uncle their pride rose high,

and through him they gained lofty glory and lordship.

وَما أَنس وَالبَحر دَرويش نَجله

سوى لَمحة مِن نورِهم قَد تَوَقدا

And Anas and his son, the ocean Darwish, are nothing

but a gleam of their light that has blazed forth.

بِوالده في كُل فَضل وَمَشهد

تَأسى فَأضحى في المكارم سيدا

His father, in every virtue and gathering,

he emulated, becoming a master of noble deeds.

جَزيل أَياد أَخجل الغَيث وَبلها

فَأَحيا بِها رَوض النَوال وَأَوجَدا

Rich in benefactions whose downpour put the rain to shame,

he revived with them the garden of bounty and brought it into being.

تَعود أَسداء الجَميل وَإنما

لكل امرئ مِن دَهره ما تَعودا

He grew accustomed to bestowing kindness, and indeed

each person has from his lifetime what he has grown accustomed to.

بَنى بَيت مَجد أَسسته أُصوله

فَأَضحى لَهُ سوراً حَصيناً مشَيدا

He built a house of glory founded by his roots,

and became for it a lofty, impregnable wall.

وَقور إِذا طاشَت عُقول أولي النُهى

غَدا علما في قوة الرأي مُفرَدا

Dignified when the minds of the wise lose their balance,

he becomes a peerless standard in strength of judgment.

يُنير ظَلام الشك نير عقله

فَيرفَع مَخفوضاً وَينصب مُبتَدا

The luminary of his mind lights doubt's darkness,

raising what is lowered and putting a subject in the accusative.

جَرى في سَبيل الجود حَتّى علمته

جواداً وَمِن سَيل المَواطر أجودا

He ran in generosity's path until I knew him

as a generous steed, more bountiful than the torrent of rainclouds.

محط حال الوافِدين وَكَهفهم

إِذا جارَ فيهم جائر الدَهر وَاِعتَدى

A haven for visitors' affairs, and their refuge

when the tyrant of Time oppresses them and transgresses.

مَوائده للطارِقين تَمدها

أَياد لَهُ لَم تَعرف الجزر سَرمَدا

His tables for those who knock are supplied

by hands of his that have never known an ebb, ever.

فَيا مَظهر الجود الَّذي حَل روحه

بِهَيكله حَتّى عَرَفناه بِالنَدى

So, O embodiment of generosity, whose spirit has dwelt

in his frame until we recognized him by his bounty,

وَيا عَيبه الفَضل الَّذي لَم يَزَل بِه

معاناً عَلى أَهل الفَساد مُؤيدا

and O treasury of virtue, who has ever, through it,

been aided and supported against the people of corruption.

جعلت لِهَذا الدهر إِنسان عَينه

وَلَولاك أَضحى أكمه الجفن أَرمَدا

You were made the pupil of this age's eye;

without you, it would be blind and sore of eyelid.

وَطالَت بِكَ الفَيحا وَلَولاك لَم تطل

وَزانَت بِكَ الدُنيا وَذلت لَكَ العِدى

Al-Fayha rises high through you; without you she would not rise.

The world is adorned through you, and your enemies submit to you.

لَقَد صمت مَأجوراً وَأَفطرت شاكِراً

وَنلت مِن الرَحمن أَجراً مؤبدا

You fasted, earning reward, and broke your fast in gratitude,

and gained from the Merciful an everlasting reward.

فَهنيت بِالعيد الَّذي جاءَ زائِراً

إِلَيكَ يهنيك السعادة وَالهُدى

So congratulations on the Eid that came as a visitor

to you, congratulating you on happiness and guidance.

وَهَذا هِلال الشَهر قَد صيغ خنجَراً

فَقُم سالِماً وَانحر عَدواً وَملحِدا

This month's crescent has been fashioned into a dagger;

so rise unharmed, and slaughter an enemy and a heretic.

فَلا زالَ عَبد اللَه ما دامَت العلى

يَعود إِلى لُقياك عوداً مُجَددا

May Abd Allah, as long as high honors endure,

keep returning to meet you, time and time anew.

وَلا بَرحت أَقمار غرك تَرتَقي

إِلى فلك الأَفلاك عزاً مُخَلدا

And may the moons of your illustrious ones keep ascending

to the sphere of spheres in everlasting glory,

مَدى الدَهر ما هَب النَسيم مهينما

وَغَنى بِه طَير الغَرام وَغَردا

for all time, as long as the breeze blows murmuring,

and love's bird sings with it and trills.