يا خليلي الهوى برح بي — Dhafer Al Haddad

يا خَليليَّ الهوى بَرَّحَ بي

فاغْنما الفرصةَ في مُكتِئبِ

O my two friends, love has tormented me;

so seize your chance with one sunk in sorrow.

فإذا نوَّر حادِيهمْ غدا

عَرِّضا بأسمى لذاك الرَّبْربِ

When their camel-driver enters the dawn light tomorrow,

mention my name to that herd of gazelles.

واقْصِدا منه غزالا باسماً

عن شَتيتٍ كالأَقاحِي شَنِبِ

Seek among them a smiling gazelle,

revealing cool, spaced teeth like daisies;

وهلالا في قَضيبٍ ناعم

يَتثنَّى في نَقاً مضطرِب

and a crescent moon upon a tender bough,

swaying upon a quivering sand dune,

يُخجِلُ الشمسَ أضاءَتْ في الضُّحَى

ذاك ما زال وذِي لم تَغِب

shaming the sun as it shines at forenoon:

that one has not departed, nor has this one set.

فعَسَى وَحْىُ سلامٍ خلْسةً

ببَنانٍ من دمي مُختضِب

Perhaps a stolen signal of greeting will come

from fingertips stained with my blood.

آهِ من لوعةِ وجدٍ دائم

يَتلظَّى في حَشًى ملتهب

Ah, the burning ache of unending passion,

blazing within an inflamed heart!

هي أَسْيافٌ وتُدْعَى حَدَقا

يالقَومي من عيونِ العَرب

They are swords, though called eyes—

O my people, save me from Arab eyes!

فاتقِ الأَضْفَ منها فلقد

نَقَضت عاداتِها في الحَسَب

Beware the frailest among them, for they have

overturned their usual laws of reckoning.

واحْذَر الأضعف من أَجْفانها

فالمَنايا بين تلك الهُدُب

And beware the weakest of their eyelids:

death lies among those lashes.

أينَ ما كنا تنا جَيْنا به

وغَرابيبُ النَّوَى لم تَنْعب

Where is what we once whispered together,

when separation's black ravens had not yet croaked—

من حديثٍ عَذُبتْ ألفاظُه

كضَريبٍ كامنٍ في ضَرَب

those words whose utterance was sweet

as frost lying hidden in white honey?

رقَّ حتى لو سَرَى في يَذْبُلٍ

رقصتْ أكنافه من طرب

So delicate that, had it passed through Yadhbul,

its slopes would have danced with delight.

وتَرشَّفتُ رُضابا كُلّما عَلَّنِي

عُدتُ كأنْ لم أشربِ

And I sipped saliva that, whenever it gave me another draught,

I returned as though I had not drunk:

خمرة لكنّها بنتُ الَّلمَى

حَسَدتْها بنتُ ماءِ العِنَب

wine, yet born of dusky lips,

envied by the daughter of grape juice.

هي من كأسٍ عَلاها حَبَبٌ

وأُحاشِي مثلَه عن حَبَبِ

It comes from a cup crowned with bubbles,

yet I hold their like above mere bubbles.

عَجَبي منه وإنْ أكْثَرْتُ في

كلِّ ما أبصرتُ منه عَجَبي

How I marvel at it, though I have lavished,

on everything I have seen of it, my wonder!

لؤلؤٌ اَصْغرُه أَفْخَرُه

جلَّ في السِّلكِ وإنْ لم يُثْقَب

Pearls whose smallest are their finest,

magnificent upon their string, though never pierced.

ليتَ شِعْري والأماني راحةٌ

للمحبِّ النّازِح المُغْترِب

Would that I knew—and wishes are a comfort

to the lover far away, a stranger abroad—

هل تُغنِّينا حَماماتُ الحِمَى

في ظِلال الأَيْكِ بين الكُثُب

whether the doves of the sanctuary will sing to us

in the groves' shade among the dunes,

بغناءٍ أعجميٍّ لفظُه

يُفْهِم السّمْعَ وإنْ لم يُعْرِب

a song whose words are foreign,

yet speak to the ear, though not in clear Arabic,

يُطرِب السامعَ حتى أنه

يَقْتدى فيه بمُلْد القُضُب

delighting the listener until he

takes the supple boughs as his model in swaying.

وكأنَّ الروضَ فيه غادةٌ

تَتهادَى في الثياب القُشُب

And the garden there seems a graceful maiden

swaying along in fresh new clothes.

والأَقاحِي كَلآلٍ نُظِمت

في حَواشِي كوكبٍ من ذَهَب

The daisies are like pearls strung

around the edges of a golden star.

وبَهارٌ باهر هيئته

مثل جِرْمِ الشمس عند المغرب

And the oxeye, dazzling in appearance,

resembles the sun's disk at sunset;

كالدنانير بَدَتْ ألوانه

تُعدِم الإعدامَ كفَّ التَّرِب

its colors appear like gold dinars,

freeing the poor man's hand from poverty.

وشقيق شُقِّقت أَطْمارُه

كدموعِ العارضِ المُنتحِب

And anemones, their tattered robes rent,

like the tears of a sobbing cloud:

أَسْودٌ في أحمرٍ تَحسَبُه

فَحَما في جَمْرِها الملتهِب

black amid red, so you would think them

charcoal among their blazing embers;

أو كخالٍ لاح في وَجْنة ذي

خجلٍ فَرَّط أو ذي غضب

or like a mole appearing on the cheek of one

overcome with shame, or one in anger.

وتخال السَّوْسَن الغَضَّ على

عَذبات الرَّملِ بِيض العَذَب

And you would take the fresh irises upon

the sand's fringes for banners with white tassels;

ونسيمَ الريحِ يسعى ظالعا

واهيَ الْخَطْوِ كَليلَ المَنْكِب

and the breeze moves as though lame,

feeble of step, weary of shoulder.

فإذا صافحَ أَرْدانَ الرُّبا

أَرِجتْ من ذيله المُنسحِب

When it shakes hands with the hillsides' sleeves,

they grow fragrant from its trailing hem.

وكأن الجدولَ الجاري بها

صارمٌ في راحتَيْ مضطرِب

And the stream running through them seems

a keen sword in a trembling man's two palms,

حيث لا واشٍ ولا لاحٍ ولا

خِيفةٌ من كاشحٍ مُرْتَقِب

where there is no talebearer, no reprover, nor

any fear of a lurking enemy.

ذاك عيشٌ لو تَمادَى خِلْته

شاملَ العدلِ الرَّحيبِ الأطْيَب

Such a life, had it lasted, I would have deemed

all-embracing in justice, spacious and most sweet,

في زمانِ الأفْضلِ المُحيْى الوَرَى

سِيّما فيه فنونُ الأدب

in the age of al-Afdal, who revives humankind,

and, above all, the varied arts of letters.

عاش فيه من عَفا حتى لقد

كاد يُحْيى أعْظُما من يَعْرُب

Those who had faded lived again in his age; he almost

brought to life bones of Ya'rub.

وأضاء العدلُ حتى لم تَجد

ظُلَمُ الظُّلْمِ له من سَبَب

Justice shone until

the darkness of oppression could find no means against it.

فلَياليه حَكَتْ أيامَه

فكأنّ الشمسَ لم تَحْتجب

His nights came to resemble his days,

as though the sun had never veiled itself.

وبغاثُ الطيرِ في أفنانها

آمنات من ذَوات المِخْلَب

And the weak birds upon their branches

are safe from birds with talons.

وتَوخَّى الليثُ إكرامَ الظِّبا

واتّقى السِّرْحانُ ظلمَ الثعلب

The lion seeks to honor the gazelles,

and the wolf shuns wronging the fox.

وأدالَ الحقَّ حتى أَخَذَتْ

آلُ بَكْرٍ ثَأْرَها من تَغْلِب

He gave truth the upper hand until

the house of Bakr took its vengeance on Taghlib.

هذه مِصرٌ وهذا يوسفٌ

خُلْقُه في خُلُق لم يذهب

This is Egypt, and this is Yusuf:

his character has not vanished, living on in yours.

لو رأى فرعونُها وجهَك ما

عَلق الدعوى بقولِ الكذب

Had its Pharaoh seen your face, he would not

have staked his claim upon lying words,

ورأى الأَوْلَى به أنْ يَدَّعِى

أنه عبدُك أعلى الرُّتَب

but would have deemed it fitter to claim

that being your servant was the highest rank.

ورأى النِّيلَ الذي اسْتَعْظَمه

قطرةً من نَيْلِك المُنْتهَب

He would have seen the Nile, which he thought so great,

as one drop of your bounty, there for the taking;

ورأى أضعافه من ذهبٍ

فاض من كَفَّيْك للمسْتَوهِب

and seen many times its measure in gold

flowing from your two hands to those asking gifts.

أين ماءُ النيلِ من كفِّك إذ

أخجل البحرَ ووَدْقَ السُّحب

What is the Nile's water beside your hand, when it

has shamed the sea and the rain of clouds?

ولهذا كان في العام له

وقفة من خجل أو رَهَب

That is why, each year, it has

a pause from shame or awe.

ثم حاكَى من أياديك نَدىً

فانْتَحَى الأرضَ بَجْرى مُغرِب

Then it imitated the largesse of your hands,

and swept across the land with a wondrous flow.

فهْو لولا خِيفة تَزْجُره

منك أَوْدَى فَيْضُه بالسُّحب

Were it not for a fear that restrains it

of you, its flood would have swept the clouds away.

بَركات منك لا نَعْدَمُها

قَصَّرت فيها صِفاتُ المُطْنِب

Blessings from you that we never lack,

which even the most prolix descriptions fail to encompass:

سائلٌ لا يَنْقِضى طولَ المَدى

ونَوال سائل لم ينضُب

a petitioner who never ceases, however long the years,

and flowing bounty that has never run dry.

يا بْنَ مُحْيى الملك من بعد التَّوَى

وهوى كل من يابي سحب

O son of him who revived kingship after ruin,

while all who refused fell, dragged away;

ومُجيرِ الدولةِ الغَرَّاءِ من

جورِ باغٍ رامَها بالسَّلَب

and of him who sheltered the radiant state from

the injustice of a rebel intent on despoiling it;

ومُنيرِ الأرضِ بالأمنْ وقد

أصبحتْ من خوفِها في غَيْهَب

and who lit the land with safety, when

its fear had left it in pitch-black night;

والذي لبَّى مجيبا صوتها

بعد أن نادتْ بمن لم يُجِب

and who answered, responding to its cry,

after it had called to one who would not answer.

ثم شامَتْ منه برقا صادقا

لم يكن منذ خَفَا بالْخُلَّب

Then it espied from him a truthful flash,

never rainless from the moment it first gleamed.

فأَتاها سَيْلُه محتِملا

كلَّ ذي لُبٍّ على ذي لَبَب

So his torrent came to it, carrying

every man of sense upon a breast-strapped steed:

من إذا رام السُّها مقتصِدا

طاعنا أو راشِقا لم يُعْزِب

one who, if he aimed straight at al-Suha,

with spear-thrust or arrow-shot, would not miss;

يسبق البرقَ وينأى وادِعا

عنه بالتقريب أو بالْخَبَب

he outruns lightning and draws effortlessly away

from it, at a canter or a trot.

شبَّ نار الحزمِ فيها فإذا

كلُّ باغٍ عندها كالْخَطَب

He kindled the fire of resolve within it, and then

every rebel before it was like firewood.

ما حَوَيْتُم ملككم ظُلْما ولا

دُفِعت منكم لمن لم يَجب

You did not obtain your kingdom unjustly, nor

was it ceded by you to one unentitled,

بل بحقٍ ظاهرٍ بُرهانُه

مُذْ أضاءتْ شمسُه لم تَغْرُب

but by a right whose proof is clear,

whose sun, once risen, has never set.

كلُّ من أَحْيا مكانا مَيِّتا

حازَه مِلْكا بفَتْوَى المَذْهَب

Whoever brings a dead tract of land to life

possesses it, by the ruling of the legal school.

ولقد أبقَى لها منك الذي

سَعِدتْ منه بأَوْفَى سَبَب

And he has left for it, in you, the one

through whom it rejoices in the surest bond:

بمُوَفِّى العدلِ فيها حَقَّه

كان بالأَسْهلَ أو بالأصعب

one who gives justice its full due within it,

whether by the easier course or the harder.

أنت بِكْرُ الفضلِ لم يأتِ له

بأخٍ مذ كان عَدُّ الحِقَب

You are excellence's firstborn; it has never been given

a brother since ages first were counted.

راع بالْخَطِّىِّ والخط العِدَا

فالكَتيبات له كالكُتب

He terrifies foes with Khatti spears and written lines;

to him battalions are like books.

مادتِ الأرضُ به زَهْوا على

أنها من حلمه في نَصَب

The earth sways beneath him in pride, although

it labors beneath his forbearance.

ناب عنه الرعبُ حتى أنه

يقتل القِرن وإن لم يَضْرِب

Terror acts in his stead, so that he

slays his rival without striking.

وإذا عَنَّ فأقْصَى نظرةٍ

منه تُودِى بالْخَميس باللَّجب

And when he appears, a glance from afar

from him destroys the clamorous host.

أمُغيثَ الدين نَصْرا حين لم

يبقَ منه منكبٌ لم يُنْكَب

O you who came to religion's aid when

none of its shoulders remained unstricken,

وملوكُ الأرضِ كلٌّ غافلٌ

عنه في التقصيرِ أو في اللعب

while the kings of the earth were all heedless

of it, in neglect or play,

قمتَ لله احْتِسابا صادقا

ناهِضا فيه بعِبْءٍ مُتْعِب

you rose for God, sincerely seeking His reward,

shouldering, for its sake, an exhausting burden;

مستمرَّ الجِدِّ في اسْتِصْلاحه

آخذا منه بجمعٍ أرْحَب

unceasing in earnest effort to restore it,

taking it in hand with the broadest grasp.

ليس يُلْهيكَ مَرامٌ دونَه

لا ولا يَثْنيك طولُ الدَّأَب

No lesser aim distracts you from it,

nor does long toil turn you back.

جاهدا تُقْدم حتى رَدَّه

حَزْمُك الثَّبْتُ لأَعْلَى مَنْصِب

Striving, you pressed forward until it was restored

by your steadfast resolve to the highest station.

فجَزاك اللهُ عن إسلامه

خيرَ ما جازَى به مَن يَجْتَبي

May God reward you, on behalf of His Islam,

with the best reward He grants those He chooses.

فاهْنَ بالعيدِ الذي أَوْفَدَه

طالع أَبْدَى مُحَيّا رجب

Rejoice, then, in the festival brought

by the rising star that revealed Rajab's face.

جاء يَسْتَجْديك فَضلا مثل ما

عَمَّنا من جُودِك المُسْتعذَب

It came seeking bounty from you, like that

which encompassed us from your sweet generosity.

فهْو أولَى أن يُهنَّى بك إذ

نال ما شَرَّفْتَه من كَثَب

It is fitter, then, to be congratulated on you, since it

received the honor you bestowed on it, close at hand.

هو مع تِلْوَيْهِ في العامِ كما

أنت ما بين ابنِ أُمٍّ وَأَب

It and the two months following it in the year are as

you among brothers born of one mother and father:

أَشْهُرٌ خُصَّتْ بفضلٍ ظاهر

هو من فضْلِك مثل القُضُب

months singled out for manifest excellence,

an excellence like boughs sprung from yours.

ولها فخرٌ على أمثالها

وهو لا شكَّ لفَضْلٍ موجب

They take pride over their peers,

and that, without doubt, is warranted by their excellence.

من دَنا منك فمعذورٌ إذا

أدركتْه عزةُ المُعْتَجِب

Whoever comes near you is excused if

the proud man's self-esteem overtakes him.

فابْقَ مسرورا مُهنًّى كاسبا

لأيادي البيض أسْنَى مكسب

Remain joyful, felicitated, winning

for your white-handed favors the noblest reward,

أَبَدَا تَسْمُو وذكراك حُلَى

زِنِة الشعرِ وَسَجْعِ الْخُطَب

ever rising, your remembrance the ornaments

of poetry's meter and the rhymed cadence of speeches.