عهد الشباب سقى أيامك الأولا — Ibn Alkhatib

عهْدَ الشّبابِ سَقَى أيّامَكَ الأُوَلا

سحٌّ منَ الدّمْعِ إنْ شحَّ الحَيا هطَلا

O season of youth, may your earliest days be watered

by a torrent of tears, pouring down if rain is withheld.

وإنْ حَيا اللهُ حيّاها مُزَيْناتِهِ

يوْماً وأُسْعِفَ طَلاّبٌ بِما سألا

And if God's rain should revive them through His little clouds,

one day, and a seeker be granted what he asked for,

فجادَ حيَّكَ منْها غيْرَ مُفْسِدِها

مُجَلْجِلٌ يَطأ الأوْهادَ والقُلَلا

then may one of them water your abode without spoiling it—

a thunderous cloud treading the hollows and the peaks,

يُغادِرُ الدّوْحَ منْ بعْدِ الذّوَى خضِلاً

يخْتالُ في حُلَلٍ مَوْشِيّةٍ وحُلا

leaving the great trees lush after withering,

strutting in embroidered robes and ornaments.

فكمْ لَنا فيهِ إذْ عهْدُ الهَوى كثِبٌ

وإذْ خِضابُ شَبابِ الفَوْدِ ما نصَلا

How many such times were ours there, when love's season was near,

and youth's dye upon the temple-locks had not faded,

منْ عهْدِ أنْسٍ تفيّأتُ السّرورَ لَدَى

روْضاتِهِ وجَنَيْتُ اللهْوَ والغَزَلا

times of companionship, when I took shelter in joy beside

its gardens and gathered pleasure and love-talk.

ومِنْ شُموسٍ وأقْمارٍ إذا طَلَعتْ

كانَتْ مَشارِقُها الأسْتارَ والكِلَلا

And how many suns and moons, which, whenever they rose,

had curtains and bed-canopies for their places of rising.

فاليوْمَ لا وصْلَ إلاّ أنْ تَرى لهُمُ

نُهْدي تحيّتَنا الأسْحارَ والأصُلا

Today no union remains, save that you see us

offering them our greetings before dawn and in the late afternoons.

يا لائِمَيَّ وقدْ لَجّ الغَرامُ ذَرا

لوْمي وإنْ كُنْتُما في مِرْيَةٍ فسَلا

O you two who reproach me—passion has grown relentless—leave

off blaming me; and if you doubt, ask.

قدْ أنّبَ اللّوْمُ قلْبي في تقلُّبِه

حوْلاً وراوَدَ بَثّي مرْبَعاً كَمَلا

Reproach has chided my heart through its turmoil

for a year, and wooed my grief for a whole spring.

لا الجَفْنُ منّي علَى شحْطِ المَزارِ جَفا

دَمْعي ولا القلْبُ منْ بعْدِ البِعادِ سَلا

Neither has my eyelid, despite the distant place of meeting, shunned

my tears, nor has my heart found solace after separation.

كمْ لُذْتُ بالدّهْرِ أنْ يُدْني النّوَى فأبَى

وبالتّعَلُّلِ أنْ يُجْدي فَما فعَلا

How often I turned to time to shorten the distance, but it refused,

and to self-consolation to help, but it did nothing.

وليْسَ تَرْوي غَليلاً أو تَعُلُّ صَدىً

ظِماءُ عزْمِكَ ما أوْرَدْتَها أمَلا

Nor will they quench burning thirst or water a parched throat again—

your resolve's thirsty longings—so long as you lead them to hope.

وفِتْيَةِ تخْرِقُ الفَلاةَ ضُحَى

بالعَزْمِ واتّخَذَتْ ظهْرَ الدُجَى جَمَلا

And young men pierce the desert in the morning

with resolve, taking the back of night as a camel.

أنْضاءِ أفْيَحَ إنْ ضلّوا وإنْ ظمِئوا

شامُوا النّدى واسْتَدلّوا البيضَ والأسَلا

Worn travelers of a vast desert: if they stray or thirst,

they watch for generosity's dew and take gleaming swords and spears as guides.

غالَتْ سوائِمَها شُهْبُ السّنينَ فَما

أبْقَتْ مِراساً ولا خَيْلاً ولا جَمَلا

Ashen years devoured their grazing herds, and did not

leave mettle, or horses, or camels.

تَبْغي النّدَى حيْثُ لُجُّ الجودِ موْرِدُهُ

عذْبٌ وتُنْتِجُ الأمْلاكَ والدُّوَلا

They seek bounty where generosity's deep sea has a watering place

of sweet water, and brings forth kings and dynasties.

أجَلْتُ قِدْحَ سِفارِي في رِكابِهِمُ

ففازَ قِدْحي فيما رُمْتُهُ وعَلا

I cast my journey's lot-arrow among their mounts,

and my arrow won what I sought and rose high,

حتّى أنَخْنا المَطايا في حمَى ملِك

عنْ منْهَجِ العدْلِ والإحْسانِ ما عَدَلا

until we made our mounts kneel in the sanctuary of a king

who never swerved from the path of justice and beneficence.

للّهِ يوسُفُ في الأمْلاكِ إنْ ورَدَتْ

منْهُ العُفاةُ جَناباً للنّدَى خضِلا

To God be praise for Yusuf among kings, when

petitioners reach his domain, lush with bounty.

كانَتْ مَواهِبُهُ قبْلَ اللِّقاءِ لهُمْ

نَهْباً وكانتْ لهُمْ جَنّاتُهُ نُزُلا

Even before meeting him, his gifts were theirs

for the taking, and his gardens were their welcome lodging.

جزْلُ العَطاءِ لوْ أنّ البَحْرَ نائِلُهُ

لقَلّ في جودِهِ الفَيّاضِ ما بَذَلا

Lavish in giving: were the sea his bounty,

what he bestowed would be little in his overflowing generosity.

آراؤهُ شُهُبٌ تُهْدي وسيرَتُهُ

ما إنْ تَرَى عِوَجاً فيها ولا خَلَلا

His counsels are guiding stars; as for his conduct,

you see neither crookedness nor defect in it.

منْ دوْحَةِ الأزْدِ حيثُ الحَيُّ منْ يمَنٍ

بشَطِّ غسّانَ مِنْ بعْدِ السُرَى نزَلا

From the great tree of al-Azd, whose tribe came from Yemen

and settled on Ghassan's bank after traveling by night.

ثمّ اسْتَرادَ جَنابَ اللهِ خزْرَجُهُ

حتّى أحلّ بأعْلى يثْرِبَ الحِلَلا

Then its Khazraj sought out God's domain,

until it pitched its encampments in upper Yathrib.

منْ كلِّ أرْوَعَ تبْدو في أسرَّتِهِ

سِماتُ يعْرُبَ تأبى الشّوْبَ والدَّخَلا

Each a noble man, in whose brow's lines appear

the marks of Ya'rub, admitting neither mixture nor adulteration.

مِطْعامُ مَسْغَبَةٍ إنْ ضنّ صوْبُ حَيا

مِطْعانُ هيْجاءَ لا جُبْناً ولا بَخِلا

A lavish feeder in famine, when rain withholds its showers,

a fierce lancer in battle, with neither cowardice nor miserliness.

يأبَى المَوارِدَ أنْ تؤتَى مشارِعُها

حتّى إذا أرْسَلَتْ رُعْيانُها الرَّسَلا

He forbids the approaches to the watering places to be reached,

until, when their shepherds have sent forth the herds,

ترَى المُلوكَ وُقوفاً دونَ موْرِدِه

لا يورِدونَ بهِ إلا إذا نَهَلا

you see kings standing short of his watering place,

not bringing their beasts to water there until he has drunk.

حتّى إذا أنْزَلَ اللهُ الكِتابَ بِما

أنارَ أبْصارَ أرْبابِ النُهَى وجَلا

Then, when God sent down the Book with what

lit and cleared the eyes of those endowed with understanding,

آوَتْ نَبيَّ الهُدَى لمّا اسْتَجارَ بِها

والنّاسُ في فتْرَةٍ قدْ كذَّبوا الرُّسُلا

the tribe sheltered the Prophet of guidance when he sought its protection,

while people, in an age without prophets, had denied the messengers.

وجالَدَتْ دونَهُ الأحْزابَ جاهِدَةً

وجدّلَتْ بظُبَى بُرْهانِه الجَدَلا

And it fought the confederate hosts in his defense, striving hard,

and with the blades of his proof felled disputation.

فأصْبَحَتْ في نَوادِيها أدِلّتُهُ

تعْلو وملّتُهُ قدْ هاضَتْ المِلَلا

So his proofs came, in its assemblies,

to rise supreme, and his faith had shattered the other creeds.

يا ناصِرَ الدّينِ لمّا قلّ ناصِرُهُ

ومُطْلِعَ الجودِ في الدُنْيا وقدْ أفَلا

O defender of the faith when its defenders grew few,

and raiser of generosity in the world after it had set,

لوْلا التشهُّدُ والتّرْدادُ منْكَ لهُ

لمْ يسْمعِ الناسُ يوْماً منْ لِسانِكَ لا

were it not for the testimony of faith and your repetition of it,

people would never once hear 'no' from your tongue.

رابَ الجَزيرةَ أمْرٌ لا تقَرُّ بِهِ

وهاجَ مِرجَلُها منْ فِتْنَةٍ وغَلا

An affair troubled the peninsula, leaving it no repose,

and its cauldron seethed and boiled with strife.

فقَرّ راجِفُها لمّا احْتَلَلْتَ بِها

ورُضْتَ بالعَدْلِ منْها المَيْلَ فاعْتَدَلا

Its trembling stilled when you settled there,

and with justice you tamed its crookedness until it straightened.

واهْتَزّتِ الأرضُ في رَيْعانِها ورَبَتْ

كأنّ مُلْكَكَ شمْسٌ حلّتِ الحَمَلا

The earth stirred in its fresh prime and swelled,

as though your reign were a sun entering Aries.

حتّى إذا برَقَتْ للرّوعِ بارِقَةٌ

أقْبَلْتَها البِيضَ والعسّالةَ الذُّبُلا

Then, when a flash of terror flared,

you met it with gleaming swords and slender, quivering spears.

وكلّما عذَلَتْكَ النّفْسُ رادِعَةً

جعَلْتَ سيْفَكَ فيها يسْبِقُ العَذَلا

Whenever your soul reproached you, seeking to restrain you,

you made your sword forestall its reproach.

في فِتْيَةٍ ذَمَرَتْ منْها العُلَى صُبُرا

قدْ ساغَ صِبْرُ المَنايا عندَها وحَلا

Among young warriors whose steadfast ranks high ambition spurred,

death's bitter aloe had become palatable and sweet to them.

تُضيءُ أوجُهُها والحَرْبُ كالِحَةٌ

قد شابَ مفْرِقُها بالنّقْعِ واكْتَهَلا

Their faces shine while war scowls,

its crown grayed with dust and grown aged.

لوْ رامَتْ الشُّهبَ في أقصى مَراكِزِها

لمْ تُبْقِ في الجَوِّ بَهْراماً ولا زُحَلا

Were they to seek the stars in their farthest stations,

they would leave neither Bahram nor Zuhal in the sky.

أرْسَلْتُ منْها علَى الأعْداءِ داهِيَةً

دَهْياءَ ما وجَدَتْ في دفْعِها قِبَلا

I sent from their ranks against the foes a calamity

dire indeed, which they found no power to repel.

حتّى إذا سألَتْكَ السِّلْمَ ماثِلَةً

حكّمْتَ فيها كِتابَ اللهِ مُمْتَثِلا

Then, when they stood before you asking for peace,

you made God's Book their judge, obeying it.

وصِرْتَ والدّينُ ضاحٍ في جَواهرِها

ظِلالَ أمْنٍ وسَلْمٍ أمّنَ السُبُلا

And you became, with the faith shining in their jewels,

a shelter of safety and peace that made the roads secure.

فكادَتِ الشّاءُ ترْعَى والذّيابُ مَعا

وكادَتِ الناسُ فيها تأمَنُ الأجَلا

So sheep and wolves could almost graze together,

and people there could almost feel safe from death.

فدُمْ ومُلْكُكَ للإسْلامِ خيْرُ حِمىً

ينْفي الخُطوبَ ويكْفي الحادِثَ الجَلَلا

So endure, your kingdom Islam's finest refuge,

warding off calamities and shielding against grievous events.

واسْعَدْ بعِيدٍ أعادَ الدّهْرَ مُبتَهِجاً

في ظِلِّ رَيْعانِهِ والسّعْدَ مُقْتَبِلا

And rejoice in a feast that restored joy to time,

in the shade of its fresh bloom, and gave good fortune a fresh beginning.

وازْلِفْ بصَوْمٍ حَبَيْتَ الذِّكْرَ وافِدَهُ

قِرىً وأخْلَصْتَ فيهِ القوْلَ والعَمَلا

And draw near through a fast whose visiting guest, remembrance, you honored

with hospitality, making both speech and deed sincere within it.

أثْني عليْكَ بِما أوْلَيْتَ من عمَلٍ

بَرٍّ وودَّعَ أرْضَى راحِلٍ رحَلا

I praise you for the deeds you bestowed,

righteous deeds; and it bade farewell, the most contented traveler to depart.

ودونَ مُلْكِكَ منْ روْضِ البَيانِ نُهىً

أرَحْتُ فيها القَوافِي فاغْتدَتْ مَثَلا

And before your kingship lie pools from eloquence's garden,

where I brought rhymes to rest, and by morning they were a model.

تَنْميكَ عنْ قدَمٍ في العُرْبِ راسِخةٍ

والطِّرْفُ يُعْرَفُ منْهُ العِتْقُ إنْ صَهَلا

They trace your lineage to a firmly planted foothold among the Arabs,

and a steed's noble breeding is known when it neighs.