أدارهم بين الأجارع فالسدر — Ibn Alkhatib

أدارَهُمُ بيْنَ الأجارِعِ فالسِّدْرِ

سقَتْكَ الغَوادي كلَّ مُنْسكِب القَطْرِ

O their dwelling between the sandy flats and the lote trees,

may morning rainclouds water you with every pouring shower!

أجيبي تجافَتْ عنْ رُباكِ يدُ الرّدَى

ولا نَضِبَتْ أمْواهُ موْرِدِكِ الغَمْرِ

Answer—may death's hand stay far from your hills,

and may the waters of your deep watering place never run dry.

ولازالَ ظِلُّ البانِ فيكِ منَعَّماً

يَميسُ منَ الأوْراقِ في حُلَلٍ خُضْرِ

And may the moringa's shade remain luxuriant within you,

swaying in green robes of leaves.

متَى ظَعنَ الحيُّ الجميعُ وأصْبَحوا

كَما افْتَرَقَ الحُجّاجُ في ليْلَةِ النّفْرِ

When did the whole tribe depart and come to be

like pilgrims scattered on the night of departure?

وأيْنَ استَقلّوا هلْ بهَضْبِ تِهامَةٍ

مُحِلّينَ أم حَلوا على قُنّةِ الحِجْرِ

And where did they journey? Are they in Tihama's hills,

encamped, or settled on al-Hijr's summit?

وإذا زجَروها مُعْرِقينَ فهَل سَروا

بشَطِّ دُجيْلٍ أم أجازوا على الجِسْرِ

And if they urged their mounts toward Iraq, did they ride by night

along Dujayl's bank, or cross over the bridge?

أم الشّامَ أمّوا أم على رمْلِ عالِجٍ

حدَوْا عابِرينَ النّيلَ قصْداً الى مِصْرِ

Or did they head for al-Sham, or over the sands of ‘Alij

drive their camels with song, crossing the Nile, bound for Egypt?

فقالَتْ سَروا واللّيْلُ مُرْخٍ سُدولَهُ

وجُنْحُ الدّياجي في اقْتِبالٍ منَ العُمْرِ

She said, “They traveled by night while night let down its curtains,

and the wing of darkness was in the first bloom of its life.

وشدّوا عُقودَ العَزْمِ فوقَ رِحالِهِمْ

فما راعَني إلا رَكائِبُهُمْ تَسْري

They tightened the knots of resolve above their saddles,

and nothing startled me but their mounts moving through the night.

فهَذا حَديثي قد بثَثْتُ شُجونَهُ

إليْكَ وما قد كان بعْدُ فلا أدْري

This is my tale; I have laid bare its sorrows

to you; what happened afterward I do not know.

ولوْلا نسيمٌ دلَّ طيبُ حَديثِهِ

عليَّ وآراجٌ تضَوَّعَ للسّفْرِ

Were it not for a breeze whose sweet speech pointed

to me, and fragrances wafting toward the travelers,

لمّا عرَفوا منّي المَكانَ ولا بدَتْ

مُثولُ طُلولٍ فوْقَ كُثْبانيَ العُفْرِ

they would not have known where I lay, nor would there have appeared

the standing ruins above my tawny dunes.”

يَميناً بربِّ الرّاقِصاتِ الى مِنىً

وحُرْمَةِ ما بيْنَ المَقامِ الى الحِجْرِ

I swear by the Lord of the mounts dancing toward Mina,

and by the sanctity of what lies between the Maqam and the Hijr:

لوَ انّني أعْطَيْتُ الصّبابةَ مِقْوَدي

وأمْكَنْتُ مُغْتالَ التشوُّقِ منْ صَدْري

had I given passionate longing my reins

and given longing's assassin power over my breast,

لمَا سُغْتُ منْ وِرْدِ الحَياةِ صُبابَةً

ولوْ سُغْتَها من بعْدِ ذاكَ فما عُذْري

I would not have swallowed one last drop from life's watering place;

even if you swallowed it after that, what excuse would I have?

ولكِنْ أبَتْ إلا التصبُّرَ همّةٌ

لها قَصباتُ السَّبْقِ في مَعْرَك الدّهْرِ

But my resolve would accept nothing save patient endurance;

to it belong the winning stakes in time's battlefield.

تعوّضْتُ أُنْسَ الصّبْرِ منْ وحْشَةِ النّوى

وفوّضْتُ للّهِ التصرُّفَ في أمْري

I exchanged separation's loneliness for patience's companionship,

and entrusted the ordering of my affairs to God.

أفَقْراً وقد أوْرَدْتُ في موْرِدِ الغِنى

وخوْفاً وقد أصْبَحْتُ جارَ بَني نَصْرِ

Poverty—when I have brought my mounts to wealth's watering place?

Or fear, now that I am a protected neighbor of the Banu Nasr?

حطَطْتُ بآلِ اللهِ عُوجَ رَكائِبي

فلُقّيتُ بالتّرْحيبِ والسّهْلِ والبِرِّ

I brought my bent-legged mounts to rest with the household of God,

and was received with welcome, ease, and kindness.

ولذْتُ بهِمْ منْ صَوْلَةِ الدّهْرِ عائِداً

كما جنَحَ الطّيْرُ المَروعُ الى وَكْرِ

Returning, I took refuge with them from time's onslaught,

as a frightened bird turns toward its nest.

فمدّ جَناحَ الأمْنِ فوقَ مَخافَتي

وقد فرّ عنْها الذُّعْرُ منْ شدّةِ الذّعْرِ

He spread the wing of safety over my fear,

and terror fled from it out of sheer terror.

وأصبَحْتُ لا أخْشى الزّمانَ ودونَهُ

كَتائِبُ منْ قوْمٍ كِرامٍ ومِنْ وَفْرِ

Now I do not fear time, with between it and me

battalions of noble men and of wealth.

مُقيماً أرى الأحْداثَ منْ حيثُ لا تَرَى

فمَنْ مُبْلِغٌ عنْ منزِلي ربَّةَ الخِدْرِ

Securely settled, I see calamities from where they cannot see me;

who will tell the lady of the curtained chamber of my abode

بأقْدَمِ مَنْ يَمْضي إذا الخَيْلُ أحْجَمَتْ

وأحْلَمِ مَنْ يُغْضي وأكْرَمِ منْ يَقْري

with the boldest to advance when horses draw back,

the most forbearing to overlook offenses, the most generous to feed guests?

إذا نزلَ المَكْروهُ أو بخِلَ الحَيا

فغَيْثٌ لمُعْتَرٍّ وغوْثٌ لمُضْطَرِّ

When hardship descends, or the rain is stingy,

he is rain for a needy visitor, and rescue for the distressed.

فَدونَكِ يا آلَ الوَجيهِ فلاعِبي

ظِلالَكِ والدّيباجُ مِنْ مِدَحِ الشِّعْرِ

So take this, O house of al-Wajih, and play

with your shadows; brocade is made of poetic praises.

ويا بِدَرَ المالِ الصّموتِ تبرّجي

وشأنُكِ فابْيَضّي إذا شِئْتِ واصْفَرّي

And O bags of silent wealth, display your finery,

and do as you please: turn white, if you wish, or yellow.

ويا حِلَلَ الهَضْبِ اليَمانيّ فاخِري

نُجومَ الدُّجى أو حاسِني زمَنَ الزّهْرِ

And O robes of the Yemeni highlands, vie in splendor

with the stars of darkness, or rival the flowering season in beauty.

ويا طاعِناً نحْرَ الدُّجُنّةِ يَبْتَغي

طُلوعَ سَنى الخَيْماتِ في مَطْلَعِ الفَجْرِ

And you who pierce the throat of darkness, seeking

the rise of the tents' radiance where dawn breaks,

ألا حدِّثَنْ عنّي الأحبّةَ أنّني

حطَطْتُ بحَيٍّ لا يَلينُ على قَسْرِ

tell my loved ones on my behalf that I

have settled among a tribe that will not yield to force,

وأنّيَ مُذْ يمّمْتُ حضْرَةَ يوسُفٍ

تَقِلُّ مَقاديرُ الخلائِقِ عنْ قدْري

and that, since I turned toward Yusuf's court,

the stature of all mortals falls below my own.

بحيْثُ أتَيتُ الأرْضَ مِسْكاً تُرابُها

وأوطِيتُ من حَصْبائِها أنْفَسَ الدُّرِّ

There I came to a land whose soil is musk,

and was made to tread the finest pearls among its pebbles.

سُقيتُ بها ظمْآنَ منْ موْرِدِ الحَيا

وأُنْشِقْتُ في آفاقِها عنْبَرَ الشِّحْرِ

Thirsty, I was given drink there from rain's watering place,

and made to breathe, throughout its horizons, the ambergris of al-Shihr.

وحَيَّيْتُ شمْسَ المُلْكِ في مطْلَعِ الهُدى

وقبّلْتُ كفَّ اللّيْثِ في لُجّةِ البحْرِ

I saluted the sun of kingship where guidance dawns,

and kissed the lion's paw amid the sea's depths.

ووقّفْتُ آمالي على مَلِكِ الوَرى

فأعْدَيْتُ أرْباحَ الرّجاءِ على خُسْرِ

I fixed my hopes upon the king of humankind,

and marshaled hope's profits against loss.

ونادَيْتُ بالآمالِ منْ هَضْبَةِ العُلا

هَلمّوا الى ورْدِ السّماحَةِ والبِشْرِ

From the heights of glory I called out with hopes:

“Come to the watering place of generosity and gladness!”

أميرَ الطِّوالِ السُّمْرِ والقُضُبِ البُتْرِ

وحافِظَ دين اللهِ في نازِحِ الثّغْرِ

O commander of the long brown lances and keen-edged swords,

guardian of God's faith upon the distant frontier,

خَبَتْ نار حرْبٍ لمْ تهِجْها وأقْفَرَتْ

منازِلُ قوْمٍ لمْ تبِتْ منْكَ في خَفْرِ

the fire of a war you did not kindle died out, and desolate became

the dwellings of a people, unguarded by you through the night.

وفُلَّتْ جُموعٌ ناصَبَتْكَ فإنّها

تُقارِعُ سيْفاً في يدِ الصَّمَدِ الوِتْرِ

Armies that opposed you were shattered, for they

strike at a sword in the hand of the Self-Sufficient, the One.

ترَكْتَ أبِيّاتِ المَفارِقِ منْهُمُ

تُراباً وأنْهارُ السّيوفِ بِها تجْري

You left their proud crowns

as dust, while rivers of swords flowed through them.

فللّهِ ما أعْزَزْتَ منْ مِلّةِ الهُدى

وللّهِ ما أذْلَلْتَ منْ مِلّةِ الكُفْرِ

God be praised for how you have exalted the faith of guidance,

and God be praised for how you have humbled the creed of unbelief!

وللّهِ عيدٌ فاتَحَتْكَ سُعودُهُ

تُحيّيكَ بالفتْحِ القَريبِ وبالنّصْرِ

And God be praised for a feast whose happy omens greeted you,

saluting you with imminent conquest and victory.

وللّهِ منْ صوْمٍ قضَيْتَ حُقوقَهُ

وزوّدْتَهُ المَتْلوَّ منْ مُحْكَمِ الذِّكْرِ

And God be praised for a fast whose duties you fulfilled,

and provisioned with recitation from the definitive verses of Revelation.

وصَلْت بهِ ليْلَ التّمامِ بيَوْمِهِ

وناجَيْتَ منْهُ الرَّوْحَ في ليْلَةِ القَدْرِ

Through it, you joined the full-length night to its day,

and communed with the solace it brought on the Night of Decree,

الى أن تقضّى عنْكَ لا عنْ مَلالةٍ

فبوركَ منْ صوْمٍ زكِيٍّ ومِنْ فِطْرِ

until it passed from you, though not through weariness.

Blessed, then, the pure fast and the breaking of the fast!

أمَوْلايَ لو كانَ النّهارُ صحيفَتي

وكان ظلامُ اللّيلِ منْ دونِها حِبْري

O my lord, were daylight my page,

and the darkness of night my ink beneath it,

وكانت حديداتُ الجَوارِحِ ألْسُناً

تقصّرْتُ في حَمْدي عُلاكَ وفي شُكْري

and the pointed tips of my limbs all tongues,

I would still fall short in praising your loftiness and giving thanks.

أعَدْتَ لنا منْ عهْدِ أسْلافِكَ الرِّضا

عُهوداً فَيا طيبَ الوصالِ على الهَجْرِ

You restored for us, from the days of your worthy forefathers,

covenants—how sweet reunion after estrangement!

وجدّدْتَ فينا نِعْمَةً طالَ عهْدُنا

بِها فاجْتَلَيْنا غُرّةَ الزّمَنِ النّضْرِ

You renewed among us a blessing long unseen

by us, and we beheld the radiant brow of flourishing time.

خَليليَّ إنّ الشِّعْرَ سِحْرٌ وإنّني

إذا شِئْتُما تَحقيقَهُ بابِلُ السِّحْرِ

My two friends, poetry is magic, and I,

if you wish to see it proven, am magic's Babylon.

وما الدُّرُّ إلا ما أراني قائِلاً

فساحِلُهُ نظْمي ولُجّتُهُ فِكْري

Pearls are nothing but what I find myself uttering;

my verse is their shore, and my thought their deep sea.

جعَلْتُ امتِداحي فيكَ أشْرَفَ حِلْيَةٍ

أُباهي بِها الأقْوامَ في مَحْفِلِ الفَخْرِ

I have made my praise of you the noblest ornament,

with which I outshine the peoples in the assembly of pride.

وأعْدَدْتُ حُبّي في عُلاكَ وسيلَةً

أُلاقي بِها الرّحْمانَ في موقِفِ الحشْرِ

And I have prepared my love for your highness as a means

to meet the All-Merciful at the gathering of resurrection.