أبدى السلو خديعة للائم — Ibn Al Qaysrani

أَبْدى السُلُوَّ خديعة للاّئِمِ

وَحَنا الضّلوعَ على فؤادٍ هائِمِ

He displayed forgetfulness to deceive the reproacher,

and bent his ribs around a heart distraught with love.

ورأَى الرّقيبَ يَحُلُّ ترجمةَ الهوى

فاستقبلَ الواشي بثغرٍ باسم

He saw the watcher deciphering the language of love,

so he greeted the talebearer with a smiling mouth.

ومضى يُناضِل دونَه كتمانه

ما الحبّ إِلاّ للمحب الكاتم

And his concealment went on fighting in his defense:

love belongs only to the lover who conceals it.

من فَضَّ خَتْمَ لسانِه عن سِرِّه

ختمت أَناملَه ثنيّةُ نادِم

Whoever unseals his tongue to reveal his secret

has his fingertips stamped by a penitent's incisor.

ومُهَفْهَفٍ لعِبَ الصِّبا بقَوامِه

لَعِبَ النُّعامى بالقضيب الناعم

And many a slender youth, whose figure youth has played with

as the south wind plays with a tender bough.

حَرَمَ الوِصالَ وأُرْهِفَتْ أَجفانُهُ

فأَتاك ينظر صارماً مِنْ صارم

He denied union, his eyelids sharpened,

and came to you gazing—a keen blade from a keen blade.

وَلَكَمْ جرى طرْفي يعاتِبُ طَرْفَه

لو يسمعُ السّاجي حديث السّاجِم

How often my eye streamed, reproaching his eye—

if only the languid eye could hear the weeping eye's words!

إِني لأرْحَمُ ناظريْه من الضَّنا

لو أَنّ مرحوماً يَرِقُّ لِراحم

I truly pity his two eyes for their wasting languor,

if only the pitied one would be tender toward the one who pities.

للهِ موقفُنا وقد ضرَب الدُّجى

سِتراً علينا من جُفون النائِم

How wondrous our meeting, when darkness spread

over us a veil made from the sleeper's eyelids!

وفمي يُقَبّلُ خاتِماً في كفه

قُبَلاً تغالط عن فمٍ كالخاتم

And my mouth was kissing a ring on his hand,

with kisses pretending to forget a mouth like a ring.

كيف السّبيلُ إِلى مَراشِفِ ثَغْره

عينُ الرّقيب قذاةُ عيْن الحائِم

How can I reach the lips of his mouth?

The watcher's eye is a mote in the hovering lover's eye.

نَلْحى الوُشاةَ وإِنّ بين جُفوننا

لَمَدامعاً تَسْعى لها بنمائِم

We blame the talebearers, though between our eyelids

are tears hurrying to them with whispered tales.

يا أَيُّها المُغْرى بأَخبار الهوى

لا تُخْدَعَنّ عنا لخبير العالم

O you enthralled by tales of love,

do not be misled about us by one who knows the world.

إِسْأَل فَدَيْتُك بالصبابة لِمَّتي

واسأَلْ بنُورِ الدين صَدْرَ الصارِم

Ask my locks about yearning—may I be your ransom—

and ask the keen sword's breast about Nur al-Din,

ومُعَطّفاتٍ ترتمي بأَجنَّةٍ

ومُثَقَّفاتٍ تهتدي بلَهاذِم

and curved bows that cast forth embryos,

and straightened spears guided by keen points,

ومُسَوَّمات لست تدري في الوغى

بقوائِم يُدْرِكْن أَم بقوادمِ

and marked steeds: in battle you cannot tell

whether they overtake with legs or with flight feathers.

كلُّ ابن سابقةٍ إِذا ابتدر المَدى

فلغير غُرَّتِه يمينُ اللاطم

Each son of a winning mare, when he races toward the goal—

the slapper's right hand falls on a forehead other than his.

يرمي بفارسه أَمامَ طريده

حتى يُرى المهزومُ خَلْفَ الهازم

He flings his rider ahead of his quarry,

until the vanquished is seen behind the victor.

يُنْمى إِلى مَلِكٍ إِذا قُسِم النّدى

والبأْسُ كان المُكتنى بالقاسم

He belongs to a king who, when bounty is apportioned

and valor, is styled al-Qasim—the Apportioner.

مُتَسَرْبِلٌ بالحزم ساعةَ تَلْتقي

حَلَقُ البِّطان على جواد الحازم

Clad in resolve at the hour when

the girth-rings meet on the resolute man's steed.

ما بَيْنَ مُنْقَطَع الرِّقاب وسيْفه

إِلاّ اتصالُ يمينه بالقائِم

Between the severing of necks and his sword

lies only his right hand's clasp of the hilt.

سامَ الشآم ويا لَها مِن صفقةٍ

لولاه ما أَعْيَتْ على يد سائم

He bargained for al-Sham—and what a bargain!

But for him, it would not have eluded a bidder's grasp.

وَلَشَمَّرَتْ عنها الثّغور وأَصبحت

فيها العواصم وهي غيرُ عواصم

Its frontier forts would have drawn back, and

its protecting strongholds would have ceased to protect.

تلك التي جَمَحَتْ على مَنْ راضها

ودعوْتَ فانقادتْ بغير شكائم

She had bolted against whoever tried to tame her,

but you called, and she yielded without bits.

وإِذا سعادتُك احتَبَتْ في دوْلةٍ

قام الزّمان لها مَقام الخادم

And when your fortune sits with knees clasped within a realm,

Time stands before her in a servant's station.

يا ابن الملوك وحسبُ أَنصار الهدى

ما عندَ رأْيك من ظُبىً وعزائِم

O son of kings, sufficient for the champions of guidance

are the blades and firm resolves at your judgment's command.

قومٌ إِذا انتضت السيوفَ أَكفُّهم

قلتَ الصواعقُ في مُتون غمائِم

Men whose hands, when they draw their swords,

make you say: 'Thunderbolts in the backs of clouds!'

من كل منصور البيان بعُجمةٍ

وهل الأُسود الغُلْبُ غيرُ أعاجم

Each one's eloquence triumphs through speechlessness—

and are thick-necked lions anything but speechless?

أَو مُفْصِحٍ يَقْري الصّوارم في الوَغى

أَسخى هناك بنفسه من حاتِم

Or an eloquent man who feasts keen blades in battle,

more generous there with his life than Hatim.

حصِّنْ بلادك هيْبةً لا رهبةً

فالدِّرعُ من عُدَدِ الشجاع الحازم

Fortify your lands to inspire awe, not out of fear:

for armor is among the equipment of the brave and resolute.

وارْمِ الأَعادي بالعَوادي إِنها

كَفلَتْ بفَلّ قديمهم والقادم

And hurl charging steeds at the enemies; they

have guaranteed the rout of their veterans and newcomers.

أَهلاً بما حملتْ إليك جيادُهم

ما في ظهور الخيلِ غيرُ غنائِم

Welcome what their steeds have borne to you:

nothing rides on horses' backs but spoils.

واسأَل فوارسَ حاكموك إِلى القنا

في الحرب كيف رأَوْا لسان الحاكم

And ask the horsemen who sought judgment with you from the lances,

in battle, how they found the judge's tongue.

تلك العَواملُ أَيّ أَفعال العدى

ما سكّنتْ حركاتها بجوازم

Those governing spearheads—what hostile deeds

have they not stilled with their decisive cuts?

هيهاتَ يَطْمَع في محلّك طامعٌ

طال البناءُ على يمين الهادم

Far be it that any aspirant should covet your station:

the edifice towers beyond the demolisher's right hand.

كلّفتَ همتك العُلُوَّ فحلَّقتْ

فكأَنّما هي دعوةٌ في ظالم

You charged your ambition to rise, and it soared,

as though it were a prayer against an oppressor.

قَطَنَتْ بأَوطان النجوم فكمْ لها

من ماردٍ قَذَفَت إِليه براجم

It dwelt in the stars' abodes; how many

a rebellious demon has it pelted with a stoning star!

أَنشأْتَ في حلب غَمامة رَأْفَةٍ

أَمددت دِيمتَها بنَوْءٍ دائِم

You raised in Aleppo a cloud of compassion,

sustaining its gentle rain with an unceasing downpour.

أَلحقتَ أَهل الفقر فيها بالغِنى

أَمْنُ المؤمَّلِ ثروةٌ للعادِمِ

There you brought the poor to affluence;

assurance of what is hoped for is wealth to the destitute.

وأَظنّ أنّ الناس لمّا لم يرَوْا

عدلاً كعدلك أَرجفوا بالقائِم

And I think that, since the people had never seen

justice like yours, they spread rumors of al-Qa'im.

فَتَهَنَّ أَوصاف العُلى منظومةً

فالدُّرُّ أَنْفَسُه بكفّ الناظم

So enjoy these descriptions of lofty virtues, strung together:

for pearls are most precious in the stringer's hand.

جاءتك في حُلَلِ النّباهة حاسِراً

تختال بين فضائل ومكارم

It came to you in robes of distinction, bareheaded,

strutting among virtues and noble deeds.

عربية أَنسابُها لو أَنها

لحقت أُميّةَ لانْتَمَتْ في دارم

Arab in its lineage; had it

joined Umayya, it would have claimed descent from Darim.

وَتَمَلَّ غُرَّةَ كلِّ فِطْرٍ بعدهُ

مُتَسَرْبِلاً أَسنى ثواب الصائم

And long enjoy the bright opening of every Eid al-Fitr to come,

clad in the fasting man's most radiant reward.

لا زامل وجهُك في عقود سُعوده

بدرَ التَّمام مُقَلّداً بتمائم

May your face never accompany, amid its necklaces of good fortune,

the full moon, adorned with amulets.