لمن الشموس غربن في الأحداج — Dhafer Al Haddad

لمنِ الشموسُ غَرَبْنَ في الأَحْداجِ

وَطَلَعْن بين الوَشْي والدّيباجِ

Whose are the suns that set within the camel-litters

and rose amid embroidery and brocade?

من كلِّ رائِقة الجمال كدُمْيةٍ

في مَرْمرٍ أو صورةٍ من عاج

Each one of exquisite beauty, like a statuette

in marble, or a figure of ivory.

حَفَّت بهن ذوابلٌ ومَناصلٌ

ومشَتْ بهن رَواتكٌ وَنَواج

Slender spears and blades surrounded them,

and trotting, fleet camels carried them.

تطفو وترسُب في السرابِ كأنها

سُفنٌ مشرَّعة على أَمواج

They float and sink in the mirage, as though they were

ships with sails spread upon waves.

ساروا ولم أْوذَن بوَشْكِ فراقِهم

إلا إشارةَ ناعبٍ شَحّاج

They departed; I had no warning of their imminent separation

save the signal of a harshly cawing raven.

فيهنّ هَيْفاء القَوامِ كأنها

غصنٌ ترنَّح في نَقاً رَجْراج

Among them is one slender-waisted, as though she were

a branch swaying on a soft, shifting sandhill.

تَجْلو الظلامَ ببارقٍ من ثَغْرها

فكأنما فَرَتِ الدُّجَى بسِراج

She dispels the darkness with a flash from her mouth,

as though she had cleft the night with a lamp.

وينمُّ ما ألقتْ عليه نِقَابَها

كالخمر راقَت في صَفاءِ زُجاج

What she has covered with her veil shows through,

like wine gleaming in clear glass.

بدرٌ يدوم مع النهارِ ضِياؤه

شمسٌ تَنُور مع الظلامِ الدّاجي

A full moon whose radiance endures through the day,

a sun that shines amid pitch-dark night.

لجمالِها خبرُ النساءِ ويوسفٍ

ولمُقْلتَيْها سيرةُ الحَجّاج

Her beauty recalls the tale of the women and Joseph;

her two eyes, the deeds of al-Hajjaj.

ولخدّها لونُ السُّلافِ وفِعْلُها

ونَسيمُها لكنْ بغيرِ مِزاج

Her cheek has the color of pure wine and its effect,

and its fragrance, though without dilution.

ولقَدِّها طولُ الرماحِ ولينُها

وفعالُها بلَهاذمٍ وزِجاج

Her figure has the length and suppleness of spears,

and their force, with sharp spearheads and butt-spikes.

مالي وللعُذّالِ في كَلَفي بها

قد دام فيه لَجاجُهم ولَجاجي

What have I to do with reproachers over my passion for her?

Their obstinacy and mine have persisted in it.

ألِفوا المَلامَ كما أَلِفتُ خِلافَهم

جُهْدي فصار مزاجَهم ومِزاجي

They grew used to reproaching, as I to opposing them

with all my might; this became their nature and mine.

ولقد وهبتهمُ السلوَّ فليتَهم

لزِموه في عَذْلي وفي إزْعاجي

I have granted them forgetfulness of love; would that they

kept to it when it came to blaming and troubling me.

لو أنصفوني في الغرامِ أجبتُهم

عنه ببعضِ أدلَّتي وحِجاجي

If they treated me fairly concerning passion, I would answer them

about it with some of my proofs and arguments.

ما باخْتياري كان بدءُ دخولِه

قلبي فأُلزَم فيه بالإخراج

Not by my own choice did it first enter

my heart—why, then, must I drive it out?

لي في فنونِ الحبِّ أعجبُ قصةٍ

جاءَتْ مفصَّلةً على اسْتِدْراج

Among love's many arts, I have the most wondrous tale,

unfolded in detail, step by step.

أَبصرتُ ثم هَوِيتُ ثم كتمتُ ما

ألقَى ولم يَعلمْ بذاك مُناج

I saw, then fell in love, then concealed what

I suffered, and no confidant knew of it.

ووصلتُ ثم قدرتُ ثم عَفَفتُ معْ

شوقٍ تَناهَى بي إلى الإنضاج

And I attained union, then had my chance, then stayed chaste, despite

a longing that brought me to the point of roasting.

حتى رأيت البينَ جَدَّ وأَعْرَبَتْ

نَغمُ الحُداةِ بهم عن الإدلاج

Until I saw that parting was in earnest, and

the camel-drivers' songs announced their journey by night.

فوَشتْ بيَ العَبَراتُ والزَّفَراتُ لل

واشي ودائِمُ لفظىَ اللَّجْلاج

Then tears and sighs betrayed me to the

informer, as did my ceaseless, stammering speech.

خانوا ودمتُ على الوفاء ولم أَحُل

في ذاك عن خلقي ولا منهاجي

They betrayed me; I remained faithful and did not depart

in this from my nature or my way.

خلق تقهقرَ عن طريق مَذلّةٍ

وتلوح أسبابُ العُلى فيُفاجي

A nature that recoils from the road of humiliation,

and strides forth when the means to greatness appear.

حتى مدحتُ أجلَّ من وَطِىء الحصى

فأفادني أضعافَ ما أنا راج

Until I praised the most exalted man to tread the pebbles,

and he gave me many times what I hoped for:

الأفضلَ الملكَ الذي فاق العُلى

شَرفا فأَخْمصُه لها كالتاج

Al-Afdal, the king who surpassed loftiness itself

in honor, so his foot's arch is like a crown to it.

ملكٌ تَفيَّأتِ الملوكُ ظِلاله

في حَرِّ كلِّ مُلِمةٍ وهّاج

A king whose shade other kings have sought

in the blazing heat of every calamity.

وتَنافسَ الفَلكُ الأَثير وخيلُه

في السَّبقِ للإِلْجام والإسْراج

The ethereal sphere and his horses vied

to be first to be bridled and saddled.

راض الزمانَ سياسةً فبِقَصْدِه

تجري الكواكبُ في ذُرا الأبراج

He tamed Time through governance; at his will

the stars course through the heights of the zodiacal towers.

ويعوق صرفَ الحاثاتِ بلفظه

حتى يَمُنَّ عليه بالإفراج

And he checks the course of calamities with his word,

until he graciously grants it release.

ذو هيبةٍ يَثْنِى الجَحافلَ ذِكْرُها

فتعودُ ناكصةً على الأَدْراج

His is an awe whose mention turns vast armies back,

so they retreat, retracing their steps.

صَحِبتْ مخافُته العِدَا حتى اغْتَدتْ

رِمَما مُذ انْتُبِذَتْ من الأَمْشاج

Fear of him accompanied his foes until they became

decaying remains—ever since they were cast forth from mingled seed.

يَقْفُو الرَّدى في كل هَوْلٍ سيفه

فهو الدليلُ له بكل عَجاج

Death follows his sword through every terror,

so it is Death's guide through every cloud of battle-dust.

ويَرُوعه حتى يودِّعَ نفسَه

ويَقينُه أنْ ليس منه بناج

And it terrifies him until he bids his own soul farewell,

knowing for certain that he cannot escape it.

فلَكَمْ أعاد البحرَ برّا بالعِدا

والبرَّ بحرا من دمِ الأَوْداج

How often he has turned the sea to land with foes,

and land to a sea of blood from jugular veins!

ولَسوف يرشُف عن قريبٍ فَضْلةً

بقيَتْ له من أَنفُسِ الأَعلاج

And soon he will sip the remnant

left for him of the foreign foes' lives.

يا من يُرجِّى مَكُرماتِ يَميِنه

ليفوزَ منها بالثَّناءِ الراجي

O you who inspire hope of your right hand's bounties,

that the hopeful may gain a share of them through praise,

رِفْقا على الدنيا فإنّ جبالَها

غرِقتْ بفَيْضِ نوالِكَ الثَّجّاج

be gentle with the world, for its mountains

have drowned in the torrential flood of your bounty.

أغربتَ في استنباطِ كلِّ فضيلةٍ

تعيى الوَرى بأقلِّها وتحاجى

You have wrought wonders in drawing forth every virtue

whose least part baffles mankind and remains a riddle.

أخملتَ ذِكْرَ السابقين ببعِضها

فَمديحُهم مهما ذكرتَ أَهاج

With some of them you have eclipsed your predecessors' fame,

so whenever you are mentioned, their praises become satires.

أنتَ ابنُ من نَصر الخلافةَ عزمُه

بالسيف بين مُنافق ومُداج

You are the son of one whose resolve upheld the caliphate

with the sword, amid hypocrites and dissemblers.

وأصاب فيها الرأيَ والألبابُ لم

تظفرَ برأيٍ قبلُ غيرِ خِدَاج

He judged rightly in its affairs, while minds had not

previously attained any judgment but an abortive one.

وورثتَ هذا المُلكَ عنه لسَعْدِه

فأَتاك وهْو إليك أفقرُ راج

You inherited this kingdom from him, to its good fortune,

and it came to you as the neediest of those who hope in you.

فتَهنَّ هذا العيدَ فهْو مهنَّأُ

بوُرود زاخرِ فَضْلِك العَجّاج

Enjoy this feast, for it is itself congratulated

on the arrival of your surging, turbulent bounty.

لولا لقاؤُك ما تَحمَّل كُلْفةً

في السيرِ بين مَهامِه وفِجاج

But for meeting you, it would not have borne hardship

in traveling through desert wastes and mountain passes,

لينالَ في عَرفاتِ وجِهك وَقْفةً

يغدو بها من جُمْلة الحُجّاج

to stand awhile at the Arafat of your face,

and thereby become one of the pilgrims.

فلَنا بوجهِك كلَّ يومٍ مثلُه

عيدان عند تَوجُّهٍ ومَعاج

Through your face, each day brings us its like:

two feasts, when we approach and when we return.

لا تَعدمِ الأيامُ ظلَّك إنه

عَوْنُ اللَّهيفِ وملجأ المحتاج

May the days never lack your shade, for it is

help for the distressed and refuge for the needy.