رشأ كأن بثغره البسام — Aloshari

رَشأ كَأَن بِثَغره البسام

وَرد الأَقاح يَلوح في الأَكام

A fawn, as though within his smiling mouth

Daisy blossoms gleam upon the hills.

يَسطو بِصارمه السَقيم فَلَم يَعد

إِلا بِقَلب الضَيغم الضرغام

He strikes with his languid blade, never returning

Except with the heart of the fierce, mighty lion.

لَم يَدر أَية حُمرة في خَده

أَدماء جَفني أَم لَهيب ضرامي

He knows not what redness stains his cheek:

Is it my eyelid's blood, or the blaze of my burning?

وَبِأَي جارحة أَصابَ جَوارِحي

أبسيف لَحظ أَم برمح قوام

And with which limb did he wound my limbs—

With the sword of a glance, or the spear of his stature?

وَبِأَي سُلطان أبيح لَهُ دَمي

بِطَريق حل أَم طَريق حَرام

And by what authority was my blood made lawful to him—

By a lawful path, or a forbidden one?

هيَ سنة العُشاق شاعَ بِأَنَّها

أَحكامها مَعكوسة الاحكام

Such is the lovers' custom, widely known to have

Rulings that reverse the usual rulings.

يسقون أَكباد العِطاش نضالها

وَيَرون قَتل النَفس في الاحرام

They give thirsty livers its arrows to drink,

And sanction slaying a soul in sacred consecration.

من لي بِشُرب سلافة مِن ريقه

بِكُؤوس غنج لا بِكَأس مُدام

Who will grant me a draught of pure wine from his saliva,

In cups of coquetry, not a cup of wine?

وَبَليلة تطفي لَهيب جَوانحي

ينثار دَمع أَو نَشيد نِظام

And a night to quench the blaze within my ribs,

With scattered tears, or a chant of ordered verse?

قم أَيُّها الظَبي الأَغن لرامة

فيها جَميع مَقاصدي وَمرامي

Rise, O sweet-voiced gazelle, and head for Rama;

There lie all my aims and desires.

فَلَقد لَثمت ثُغور كُل مَسَرة

وَنَزلت مِنها بِالمحل السامي

For I have kissed the mouths of every joy,

And settled in its exalted abode.

وَجررت أَذيال السَعادة رافِلاً

فَوق البَسيطة سامياً بِمقامي

And trailed the skirts of happiness, walking proudly,

Upon the earth, exalted in my station.

وَلَقَد نَشَقت مِن الزَمان وَعطره

ما فاق في الآفاق مسك خِتام

And I have breathed in, from time and its perfume,

What surpassed the musk of a seal throughout the horizons.

وَرَأَيت عَيني بَعد طُول سُهادها

قَرت بِحُسن صَنايع الأَيام

And I saw my eye, after its long sleeplessness,

Find comfort in the fair favors of the days.

ما ذاكَ عَن رَوض رَأَيت بِها وَلا

عَن وَصل غانية وَضم غلام

This was not from a garden I saw there, nor

From union with a beauty and the embrace of a youth.

لَكنها نَظرت لأَسعد طَلعة

طَلعت لَها مِن غيب الآرام

Rather, it beheld a most auspicious countenance,

Which dawned upon it from where the gazelles were hidden.

فَكَأَنَّما نَظَرت جَلالة آصف

وَمقامه في النَقض وَالإبرام

As though it had beheld the majesty of Asif

And his authority in annulling and ratifying;

أَو أَنَّها رَمقت جراءة عَنتر

يَوم الوَغى في الكر وَالإقدام

Or had glimpsed the daring of Antar

On battle's day, in charging and pressing forward;

أَو أَبصَرت كَرماً لحاتم طيئ

في سالف الأعصار وَالأَعوام

Or had seen the generosity of Hatim of Tayy

In ages and years long gone;

أَو أَنَّها شامَت سَحاباً مغدقاً

تروي سَحائبه المحل الظامي

Or had sighted a cloud pouring abundant rain,

Its rainclouds watering the thirsty, drought-stricken land;

أَو طالَعَت علماً رَسا في شامخ

نَهدي بِهِ في ظُلمة الأَوهام

Or beheld a landmark firmly set on a lofty peak,

By which we guide through the darkness of delusions.

كَذَبت فَلا وَاللَه لا أَرضى بِأَن

يَرث العُلى مِن تلكُم الأَقوام

I spoke falsely! No, by God, I will not accept that

He inherits eminence from those people.

بَل إِنَّما تِلكَ المَفاخر حازَها

عَن كُل زَخار وَغَيث هامي

Rather, he acquired those glories only

From every surging sea and pouring rain—

آباؤه الصيد الأَماجد من هم

عَين العُلى وَكَتيبة الإِسلام

His lordly, noble forefathers, who are

The essence of eminence and the battalion of Islam.

وَهُم هم هام الكَمال وَإِنَّهُم

كَالعَين مِنهُ في مَحل الهام

And they are the very heads of perfection; indeed, they

Are like its eye, placed where those heads belong.

لَو كُنت تَدري يا عَذولي من هم

لَعَذَرتَني وَعَرَفت صدق كَلامي

If you knew, O my reproacher, who they are,

You would excuse me and know the truth of my words.

وَاللَه لَست بِجاهل لِمحلهم

بَل أَنتَ أَعمى عَنهُ أَو مُتعامي

By God, you are not ignorant of their rank;

Rather, you are blind to it, or feigning blindness.

أَو من كَمال ظُهورهم ظهر الخَفا

فَعشت لَدَيه نَواظر الافهام

Or their utter visibility gave rise to concealment,

So the eyes of understanding grew dim before it.

هُم آل حيدرة وَبضعة أَحمَد

سامي الخَليقة بِالمقام السامي

They are the house of Haydara and of Ahmad's own flesh,

Exalted above creation in his exalted station.

فَكَماله وَجَلاله وَجَماله

غَيث أَتاه مِن العباب الطامي

Thus his perfection, his majesty, and his beauty

Are rain that came to him from the surging, overflowing sea.

سَبق الكِرام السابِقين بِفعله

وَالسبق بِالأَفعال لا الأَيام

He outstripped the noble men before him through his deeds,

And precedence is in deeds, not days.

مَهلاً فَقَد نَضبت مياه قَريحتي

عَن وَصفك العالي وَكُل نِظامي

Enough! The waters of my poetic gift have run dry

Before your exalted praise, and so has all my verse.

أَفحَمتَني عَن عد كُل فَضيلة

فَطَفرت عَنها طَفرة النظام

You have left me speechless, unable to count each virtue,

So I leapt beyond them with al-Nazzam's leap.

وَأَتَت إِليك قَصيدَتي تَمشي عَلى اس

تِحيائها وَتَخاف سَهم الرامي

And my ode has come to you, walking in

Its bashfulness, fearing the archer's arrow.

فَأَصخ لَها وَاسمع بَلابل رَوضها

وَارفع مَنابرها عَلى الأَقوام

So lend it your ear, and hear the nightingales of its garden,

And raise its pulpits above the peoples.

هب أَنَّها قَد قَصرت لَكنها

قَد أَصبَحت مِن جُملة الخدام

Grant that it has fallen short; nevertheless,

It has become one of the servants.

وَاهنأ بِطول سَعادة وَسَلامة

مَوصولة بِسَعادة وَسَلام

And rejoice in lasting happiness and safety,

Joined to happiness and peace,

ما لاحَ في أُفق الجَمال عَشية

رَشأ كَأن بِثَغره البَسام

As long as, at evening, on beauty's horizon there gleams

A fawn, as though his smiling mouth held

درراً وَقَد غرست عَلى ذهب حَكى

ورد الأَقاح يَلوح في الأَكمام

Pearls, planted upon gold, resembling

Daisy blossoms gleaming within their calyxes.