مصابك ما كر الجديدان سرمد — Ibn Al Zaqqaq

مُصابُكَ ما كرَّ الجديدانِ سَرْمَدُ

ويَوْمُكَ لا يُنْسيهِ يَومُ ولا غَدُ

Your loss is everlasting while night and day return.

No day or morrow can efface the day of your loss.

ثكلتك ثُكْلَ المَشْرَفِيِّ غُروبَهُ

وبالغَرْبِ يَسطو المشرفيُّ المهند

I lost you as a Mashrafi sword loses its cutting edges,

for by its edge the Indian-steel Mashrafi sword strikes.

فرحتَ كَمَنْ راحت بنانُ يمينِهِ

عنِ اليدِ فاعتلَّتْ لِفُرْقَتِها اليد

So you departed, like one whose right-hand fingers

have left his hand, which sickens at their parting.

وقد كنتَ كالعَذْبِ الزلال إذا صفا

فلم يصفُ لي مذ غبتَ في اللحدِ مَوْرِد

You had been like sweet, crystal-clear water when pure;

since you vanished into the grave, no spring has run clear for me.

ولا راقني سَهْلُ البلادِ وحَزْنُها

ولو أنَّ ما يخضرُّ منها زَبَرْجَد

Neither the land's plains nor its rugged heights delight me,

even if all its greenery were chrysolite.

أُقابلُ منها كلَّ حُسْنٍ وبهجةٍ

كما قابلَ الشمسَ المنيرةَ أَرْمَدُ

I face all its beauty and delight

as a sore-eyed man faces the shining sun.

وأَصرِفُ عنها آخَر الدهر أخدعاً

له نحوَ هاتيكَ الرجام تلدُّ

And till time's end I turn my neck away from it,

twisting it toward those gravestones.

سلامٌ على القبرِ الذي في ضميره

حبيبٌ يُواريه الصفيحُ المنضَّد

Peace upon the grave that holds within it

a loved one concealed by layered stone slabs.

ثوى بعد مثواهُ بمنزلِ غُربةٍ

تساوَى مَسُودٌ عندَهُ ومُسوّد

After his former home, he settled in an abode of exile,

where subject and chief are equal.

وحيداً من الخلاَّنِ إلاَّ عصابةً

رُمُوا عَنْ حنَيَّاتِ المنايا فأُقصِدوا

Alone, apart from friends, save for a band

shot from death's curved bows and slain outright.

لقد راح عنه رهطُهُ وعشيرُهُ

وغادَرَهُ خُلْطانُهُ وهو مُفْرَدُ

His clan and his companion have indeed departed from him,

and his intimates have left him all alone.

مجاورُ أَقْوامٍ كأنَّ بيوتَهُمْ

قبابٌ ولكنْ بالصفائحِ تُعْمَد

He neighbors a people whose houses seem

like domes, though supported by stone slabs.

أُعاوِدُ منها كلَّ يومٍ وليلةٍ

مَضاجِعَ أَمَّا النومُ فيها فَسَرْمَدُ

Every day and night I revisit among them

beds where sleep is everlasting.

يجودُ عليها الغيثُ سَحَّاً ووابلاً

وهطلاً ولكنْ دمعُ عينيَ أَجْوَد

Rain pours generously upon them, in torrents and downpours,

and streaming showers; yet my eyes' tears are more generous.

على حَسَنٍ أفني دموعيَ حَسْرَةً

وَمِنْ بعضِ ما أُفني العَزَا والتَّجُلُّدُ

For Hasan I exhaust my tears in anguish,

and among what I exhaust are consolation and fortitude.

سأبْكيهِ ما حجَّ الحجيجُ وما دعا

هديلاً على الأيكِ الحمامُ المغرِّد

I shall weep for him while pilgrims make pilgrimage, and while

the singing doves call their coos among the groves.

يقولون عاثتْ في أخيكَ يدُ البلى

فوا حرَّ قلبي مِنْ أسىً يَتَجَدَّد

They say, 'Decay's hand has ravaged your brother.'

Ah, how my heart burns with grief renewed!

لئن نَفِدَتْ أيَّامُهُ إنَّ لوعتي

على قِدَمِ الأيامِ ما ليس تَنْفَد

Though his days have run out, my anguish

will never run out, however old the days grow.

أفكِّرُ في نَأْيِ اللقاءِ وبُعْدِهِ

وأعلمُ أنَّ الصبرَ أنأى وأَبْعُد

I ponder the remoteness and distance of our meeting,

and know that patience is still more remote and distant.

ويخبرني وَشْكُ الرَّدى بلحاقِهِ

فأرتاحُ لليومِ

The nearness of death tells me I shall join him,

so I take comfort in the day...

وما زهرةُ الدنيا تفي بِذَهابِهِ

ولو قيلَ أَبْشِرْ أنت فيها مخلد

The world's splendor cannot make up for his loss,

even if I were told, 'Rejoice: you are immortal here.'

تَقَضى فأجفانُ السَّحابِ دوامعٌ

عليه وأنفاسُ الرياح تَصَعَّدُ

He passed away; the clouds' eyelids are weeping

over him, and the winds' breaths rise in sighs.

وللبرقِ ألهوبٌ وللرعدِ ضَجَّةٌ

تعبِّرُ فيها عن

Lightning has its blaze, and thunder its clamor,

giving expression therein to...

وما كنتُ أدري أنَّ للموتِ سَطْوَةٌ

على النَّجمِ حتَّى

I had not known that death had power

over the star, until...

أضاءت به الدنيا زماناً لناظري

فقد عمَّها ليلٌ من الحزنِ سَرْمَدُ

For a time, through him, the world shone before my eyes;

now an everlasting night of sorrow has enveloped it.

ولم أَنْسَهُ والدهرُ طَلْقٌ جبينُهُ

وريحانُهُ

Nor have I forgotten him when time's brow was bright,

and its sweet basil...

يزيدُ على حُكْمِ الكهولةِ خُلْقُهُ

وغصْنُ صباهُ الغضُّ فَيْنَانُ أَمْلَدُ

His character surpassed the judgment of middle age,

while the tender bough of his youth was luxuriant and supple.

حليفُ عفافٍ والشبابُ غُرانِقٌ

وكيفَ به والصبحُ في الليل مُسْئِد

An ally of chastity, while youth was fresh and fair—

and what of him when dawn was journeying through the night?

أبيٌّ إلى أنْ قادَهُ الحَيْن في الثَّرى

وكلٌّ له في راحة البين مِقْوَدُ

Unyielding, until doom led him into the earth;

everyone's rein lies in the palm of separation.

ولم أَنْسَهُ والسُّقْمُ يَنْهَبُ جِسْمُهُ

وآلامُهُ في كلِّ يومٍ تَزَيَّد

Nor have I forgotten him as sickness plundered his body,

and his pains increased every day.

يجسُّ يداً منه الطبيبُ وَمَنْ له

بِدَفْعِ صُروفِ الموتِ عَنْ مهجةٍ يد

The physician feels his hand—but who has

a hand to ward death's vicissitudes away from a soul?

فما استصحبتْ إلاَّ الرجاءَ أقاربٌ

ولا استنجدتْ إلا المدامعَ عُوَّد

His relatives had only hope for company,

and his sickbed visitors sought aid only from tears.

ولم أَنْسَه والموتُ جاثٍ أمامَهُ

وعامِلُهُ ذَلْقُ الغِرارِ مسدّد

Nor have I forgotten him with death crouching before him,

its spearpoint keen-edged and aimed straight.

قعدت لديه معولاً وسِياقُه

يقومُ بنفسي تارةً ثم يَقْعُدُ

I sat beside him wailing, while his dying throes

lifted my soul at times, then cast it down.

أرى ساعدي الأقوى يُجذُّ وصارمي

يُثَلُّ وعَسّالي الأصمُّ يُقْصَّدُ

I see my strongest forearm severed, and my sharp sword

blunted, and my solid, quivering spear shattered.

أرى زهرةَ العَليا تجفُّ وماؤها

يغيضُ وأرواح البشاشة تركد

I see the flower of eminence wither, its water

recede, and the breezes of gladness grow still.

ولم أَنْسَه والنعشُ قد صار روضةً

تَبَسَّمُ عنْ ذِكرٍ يُغيرُ ويُنجد

Nor have I forgotten him when the bier became a garden,

smiling forth a renown that travels through lowlands and highlands.

تهاداه أعناقُ الرجال وإنما

يسيرُ على الآماقِ حَزْمٌ وسؤدد

Men's necks carried him gently onward, yet it was only

resolve and nobility that traveled upon the corners of their eyes.

إلى حَضْرَةٍ تَنْدَى بِنَشْرِ ثَنائِهِ

كأنَّ نثيرَ المسكِ فيها يُبَدَّد

To a precinct dewy with the fragrance of his praise,

as though scattered musk were strewn there.

وكان محلَّ النجمِ أرقى مكانِهِ

فأصبحَ يعلوهُ تُرابٌ وجَلْمد

His highest abode had been the star's station;

now dust and hard rock lie above him.

فيا أيها الخطبُ الذي قد أصابَهُ

إلا في سبيلِ اللهِ ما تَتَقَلَّد

O calamity that has struck him,

in God's cause alone is the burden you bear.

لمثلك من رزءٍ جليلٍ تَضَرَّجَتْ

خدودٌ بأسرابِ الدموعِ تَخَدَّد

For a grievous loss like you, stained

are cheeks, furrowed by streams of tears.

عجبتُ لمن يَلْقَى القبور بمَدْمَعٍ

بكيءٍ فتُبكيه طلولٌ ومَعْهَد

I marvel at one who faces graves with an eye

scant of tears, yet ruins and an old haunt make him weep.

سأبكي أخي مُسْتَيْقِناً أنَّ أدْمُعي

إذا طَلُّ دمْعٍ ذابه الناس يجمد

I shall weep for my brother, certain that my tears—

when the dew of tears melted by people freezes... [wording unclear]

لقد كنتُ أَسْتَسْقي الغمامَ لقبرِه

وأعهدُ منه غيرَ ما كنتُ أعهد

I used to ask the clouds for rain upon his grave,

and I find in him something other than I once knew.

سَقَتْه رِهامُ المُزْنِ مَثنى ومَوْحَداً

وقلَّتْ لهُ منهنَّ مثنى وموحد

May the clouds' gentle rains water him, in pairs and singly;

yet their paired and single showers are too little for him.

فيا شدةً أمسيتُ سيانِ بعده

أُرَدِّدُ من شوقي لما لا أُرَدِّد

O hardship! After him, I have come to find both alike.

I repeat myself, longing for what I cannot bring back.

كفى حَزَنَاً أنْ لا نلاقيَ مَيْتَنا

وَأَنْ ليس إلا موقفَ الحشر موعِدُ

It is grief enough that we cannot meet our dead,

and that our only rendezvous is the gathering-place of Resurrection.