سود العيون أم المواضي البيض — Ibn Al Maqri

سودُ العيون أم المواضي البيضِ

تنضي علينا والنفوس تفيضُ

Are these dark eyes, or bright, keen blades,

drawn against us as our souls pour forth?

مقلٌ نفضن علي فضلة سقمها

وقذى العيون يثيرُ المنفوضُ

Eyes have shaken onto me the remnants of their languor;

what they shed stirs the grit in the eyes.

نفضته سقماً ممرضاً وسقامها

معه الشفآءُ لأَنه تمريضُ

They shed it as a sickness that sickens; yet their own languor

carries healing with it, for it is nursing.

مرضُ الجفون محببٌ بعيوننا

لكنَّه بجسومنا مبغوضُ

The languor of eyelids is lovely to our eyes,

but hateful in our bodies.

فاغضضْ إذا أقبلنَ طرفك إِنه

غضُّ وطرفُ السانحات غضيضُ

So lower your gaze when they approach, for it is

tender, while the gaze of those passing by is lowered.

فيهن من في خصرها خلخالها

جارٍ وفي الساق النطاق غضوضِ

Among them is one whose anklet, around her waist,

moves freely; around her calf, a girdle constricts.

وتهزلي رمحاً لأكعب صدره

طعن شهي والطعان بغيضِ

And she sways for me a spear whose chest's rounded buds

deliver a sweet thrust, though spear-thrusts are hateful.

وتريك نارا في الخدود وجنةً

طرف المحب عليهما معروضُ

And she shows you fire in her cheeks, and a garden;

the lover's gaze is exposed to both.

لانارها بالماء تطفي إن جرى

فيها ولا الما باللهيب يغيضُ

Her fire is not quenched by water, should it flow

within it, nor does the water dwindle in the blaze.

وإذا ضللتَ بشعرها فبثغرها

هادٍ يدلُّكَ من سناه وميضَ

And if you lose your way in her hair, then at her mouth

a guiding gleam of its radiance shows you the way.

ضحكت بها دراً بكيت بمثلها

دمعاً ولكن درُه مرفوضُ

She laughed pearls there; I wept their like

as tears, but their pearls are cast aside.

عقلي معي إن لامني فيها امرؤ

والكفُّ عن بطشٍ به مقبوضُ

My reason remains with me if a man reproaches me for her,

but restraint from striking him is withheld.

اللومُ إِغراءٌ إذا اشتدَّ الهوى

والعذل فيه إذا طغى تحريضُ

Reproach is enticement when love grows strong,

and censure in it, when it runs wild, is incitement.

آشقى العواذل من آتى متحبباً

جهلاً بما اتيانه تبغيضُ

The most wretched reprover is one who comes seeking affection,

unaware that his coming breeds aversion.

إِن سن موت الصَبِ في شرعِ الهوى

قبلي فموتي في الهوى مفروضُ

If the lover's death was ordained in love's law

before me, then my death in love is obligatory.

من يسمُ مطلبه يقع ان لم يقع

من أحمدِ بالضبع منه يهوضُ

Whoever aims high falls, unless there comes

from Ahmad help to raise him by the upper arm.

الناصر ابن الأشرفِ السامي إلى

ملك له ملك الملوك حضيضُ

Al-Nasir, son of Al-Ashraf, ascending to

a sovereignty beside which kings' dominion is low ground.

ملك ترى منه إذا انقطع الرجا

نهضات ليثٍ والملوك ربوضُ

A king from whom, when hope is cut off, you see

a lion's leaps, while other kings lie crouching.

كسب الكمال هوى وفيه مشقةٌ

غشيانها عند الورى مبغوضُ

Attaining perfection is his passion, though it holds hardship

whose undertaking is hateful to humankind.

يا من يحاول أن يحاربه اقتصر

عن مسنح البازي فأنت بعوضُ

You who attempt to fight him, desist

from crossing the falcon's path: you are a gnat.

ما أنت في كسب المكارم كفوه

أين القليبَ من الخضمِّ يفيضُ

You are not his equal in attaining noble virtues;

what is a well beside a surging ocean?

الفرقُ بين الشمس ظهراً والسها

في النور بادٍ ليس فيه غموضُ

The difference between the noon sun and Suha

in light is plain, without obscurity.

في كفه للجود خمسةُ أبحرٍ

تجرى ووكف الكف منك بضيضُ

In his palm are five seas of generosity,

flowing, while your hand's dripping is but a trickle.

الأسْدَ لم تكُ ارحياء من سطاً

والبحر من غيض يكاد يغيضُ

The lions were not [unclear description] after an onslaught;

and the sea, as it ebbs, almost dries away.

ملك يرى عرض البسيطة فرسخاً

ويرى البحار مخاضة فيخوضُ

A king who sees the breadth of the earth as one parasang,

and sees the seas as a ford, and wades through.

حلمٌ يؤيّدَهَ اقتدارُ رأيه

في العفو رأى لا يليه نقيضُ

Forbearance upheld by power; his judgment

in pardoning is one no reversal follows.

وعزائم لك لو طبعن صوارماً

ما دوفعت بالبيض منها البيضُ

And resolutions are yours which, if forged as swords,

would yield bright blades no bright blades could parry.

ما آنت تنقضه فليس بمبرمٍ

أبداً ولا لك مبرم منقوضُ

What you undo is not firmly bound

ever; nor is anything you bind undone.

بالدين والدنيا كفلت فلم ينل

جفنيك عن حقيهما تغميضُ

You took charge of faith and the world; never did

your eyelids close in neglect of what is owed to both.

كتبٌ تدبر حكمها وكتائبٌ

أَرسلن رعباً في البلادِ ينوضُ

Books whose precepts you ponder, and battalions

that sent terror surging through the lands.

وعلا يقيمُ شعارها بمكارمٍ

وذكاً تسوسُ به الورى وتروضُ

And high distinction whose emblem he upholds through noble deeds,

and keen intelligence with which you govern and discipline humankind.

ملك عقيم واحتفال بالهدى

حقٌّ يقام وباطل مدحوضُ

Kingship that knows no kin, and devotion to right guidance:

truth upheld, and falsehood refuted.

أَفديك قد عُدَّت عليَّ محاسني

في السيئاتِ وفي الهجا التقريضُ

May I ransom you! My virtues have been counted against me

among misdeeds, and panegyric among lampoons.

لمتُ الزمانَ فلامني من لامني

وأبان عن تصريحه التعريضُ

I blamed time, and those who blamed me reproached me,

and insinuation disclosed its explicit intent.

ولقد فقدت وأنت أعلم منكم

أنساً ولطفاً ما به تعويضُ

Indeed I have lost—and you know best among you all—

companionship and kindness that nothing can replace,

ورضى وفقد رضاك ليس بهينٍ

عندي فيحسنُ منيَّ التفويضُ

and favor; the loss of your favor is not slight

to me, so resignation befits me.

والله لولا ما تحدثني المنى

عنكم وما علمي به ممحوضُ

By God, were it not for what my hopes tell me

of you—and my knowledge of it is not certain—

ما عشت إلاّ ريثما يمضي القضا

ويفي ينقض بنية تفويضُ

I would live only until fate runs its course,

and fulfills it; surrender undoes the body's frame [text unclear].

يسلوهُ خوّانٌ بعهد وارد

غدرانَ غدر مالهن مغيضُ

A betrayer of pledges forgets him, drawing water from

pools of treachery that have no drain.

اعلى الوفاء بملء فيك تلومني

سمعي للومك في الوفاء رفوضُ

Do you reproach me for loyalty, your mouth full of blame?

My ears reject your reproach of loyalty.

همي رضاه وهمكُم أموالهُ

كل إلى ما يشتهيه يفيضُ

My concern is his favor; yours is his wealth.

Each flows toward what he desires.

ولقد عجبتم إذ غنيتُ بمالهِ

من كونِ مفقودٍ سواه يهيضُ

Indeed you marveled, when I grew rich through his wealth,

that the loss of something else could break me anew.

ما المال مأسوفٌ عليه أيستوى

فيما ترونَ نوافلٌ وفروضُ

It is not wealth I mourn; are they equal,

in your view—voluntary devotions and prescribed duties?

لم تعرفوا مقدار ما أوتيتمُ

وأَتيته فأنا عليه حريضُ

You did not know the worth of what you were given

and what I was given; so I am wasted with longing for it.

لو كان فيكم عاقلٌ ما لامني

ولكانَ أصوب ما يرى التحضيضُ

Were there a sensible man among you, he would not blame me,

and the soundest course he saw would be encouragement.

أيهونُ عندك فقدُ عطفٍ مؤملٍ

روض الأَماني من رضاه أريضُ

Does losing hoped-for kindness seem slight to you?

The meadow of wishes is lush through his favor.

يا من يعيّرني بحالي غائباً

لا تامننًّ فالحادثاتُ عروض

You who taunt me for my condition while away,

never feel secure: calamities intervene.

فلسوف تعذرني وإن تكَ قائلاً

أَنا لست آسفُ فالبلاد تغيضُ

You will surely excuse me, even if you say,

'I do not grieve'; for the lands are drying up.

فور بهِ ما في بلادٍ موضعٌ

مغنٍ ولا في الأرض عنه معيضُ

Then veil it: nowhere in any land is there a place

that suffices, nor on earth a substitute for him.

عيرتَني فعسى يعافي مُبتلى

ويصيح مما يشتكيه مريض

You taunted me; perhaps an afflicted man will be healed,

and a sick man will cry out at what he suffers.