قلبي وسمعي في شغل عن الفند — Ibn Alkhatib

قلْبي وسَمْعيَ في شُغْلٍ عنِ الفَنَدِ

فأقْصِرِ اللّوْمَ عَنّي اليومَ أوْ فزِدِ

My heart and hearing are too engrossed for foolish reproach.

So spare me blame today, or increase it.

قد كُنتُ أصْغي لما تُوحي إليّ بهِ

لوْ كانَ قلْبي قبْلَ اليومِ طوْعَ يَدي

I would have listened to what you whisper to me,

Had my heart, before today, been at my command.

وكمْ كتَمْتُ وأسْرَرْتُ الهَوى زَمَناً

طَيَّ الجوانِحِ حتّى خانَني جلَدي

How often I concealed love and kept it secret for a time,

Within the folds of my ribs, until my endurance betrayed me.

وشِيمَةُ النّفْسِ إنْ أخْفَتْ سَريرَتَها

بدَتْ شَواهِدُها يوْماً على الجَسَدِ

Such is the soul's nature: though it conceal its secret,

Its telltale signs will one day show upon the body.

قالُوا الهَوى بعْدَ بُعْدِ الدّارِ مُنْتَكَثٌ

فقُلْتُ هذا قِياسٌ غيرُ مُطَّرِدِ

They said, 'Love unravels when the dwelling is far away.'

I said, 'That analogy does not always hold.'

سَلوا عنِ الحُبِّ منْ قَلْبي مُجرِّبَهُ

فَما المُقَلِّدُ يوماً مثْلَ مُجْتَهِدِ

Ask my heart about love—it has experienced it;

For a mere follower is never like an independent reasoner.

سَقى الإلاهُ زَمانَ الوصْلِ صوْبَ حَيا

جَوْنِ الرّبابةِ لا نَزْرٍ ولا ثَمِدِ

May God water the days of union with pouring rain,

From dark clouds, neither scant nor meager.

وجادَ رَبْعاً على أكْنافِ كاظِمةٍ

كُنّا بهِ منْ لَذيذِ العيْشِ في رَغَدِ

And drench a dwelling on Kazima's outskirts,

Where we lived in ease amid life's delights.

والكأسُ تُجْلى عَروساً في مِنَصَّتِها

والرّوْضُ يرْفُلُ في أثْوابِهِ الجُدُدِ

The wine-cup was unveiled, a bride upon her dais,

And the garden strutted in its new robes.

وكلّما راشَ قبْلَ القَطْرِ عارِضُهُ

تدرّعَ النّهْرُ مَصْقولاً منَ الزّرَدِ

Whenever its cloud spread its plumes before the rain,

The river donned a polished coat of mail.

والسُّحْبُ تَبْكي وثغْرُ الزّهرِ مُبْتَسِمٌ

والنّرْجِسُ الغَضُّ ساهٍ والغَمامُ نَدي

The clouds wept while the flowers' mouth smiled,

And the tender narcissus was dreamy, the cloud dewy.

عُهودُ أُنْسٍ وأيّامٌ لَنا انْصَرَفَتْ

أخْنى علَيْها الذي أخْنى على لُبَدِ

Seasons of intimacy and days of ours have passed;

What laid Lubad low has laid them low.

ما للزّمانِ رَمَتْ نَحْوي نَوائِبُهُ

فأقْصَدتْني بِلا عَقْلٍ ولا قَوَدِ

What ails Time? Its calamities have shot at me,

And struck me down, with neither blood money nor requital.

وسَدّدَ الدّهْرُ دوني كلَّ شاحِبةٍ

زَرْقاءَ أصْمى شَباها فِلْذَةَ الكَبِدِ

And Time leveled every pallid lance at me,

Blue-bladed, its point mortally piercing a piece of my liver.

سَطا عليّ وقدْ قلَّ النّصيرُ وهَلْ

يُرْجى الغَناءُ لدَى كَفٍّ بِلا عَضُدِ

It assailed me when helpers were few; and can

Help be hoped for from a hand without an arm?

وسارَ أبْناءُ دَهْري فيَّ سِيرَتَهُ

ويُشْبِهُ الأبَ حقّاً مُنْجَبُ الولَدُ

The sons of my age followed its ways toward me,

And a worthy son truly resembles his father.

تَخِذتَهُمْ عُدّةً للدّهْرِ فانْقَلَبوا

وهُمْ عليّ لدَهْري أعْظَمُ العُدَدِ

You took them as a defense against Time, but they turned,

And were Time's greatest weapons against me.

مَن مُنْصِفٌ بيْنَ آمالي وغايَتِها

فقدْ تجاوزْنَ في مَطْلي على الأمَدِ

Who will judge fairly between my hopes and their fulfillment?

For they have put me off beyond the appointed term.

كأنّي لمْ أُنِطْ بالنّجْمِ منْ هِمَمي

ولمْ أسِرْ في المَعالي سيْرَ مُتّئِدِ

As though I had not hung my ambitions on the stars,

Nor advanced toward high honors with a measured step,

ولا اتّخَذْتُ منَ الأنْصارِ لي وَزَراً

فكانَ يوسُفُ بعْدَ اللهِ مُعْتمَدي

Nor taken a refuge for myself among the Ansar,

With Yusuf, after God, as my mainstay;

ولا نَظَمْتُ على لَبّاتِهِ مِدَحي

نَظْمَ الحُليِّ على لَبّاتِ ذي غَيَدِ

Nor strung my praises upon his breast,

As jewels are strung upon a graceful beauty's breast.

خليفَةٌ منْ صَميم العُرْبِ دوْحَتُهُ

فيها انْتَهى المجْدُ مُسْتَوْفىً ومنها بُدي

A caliph whose tree is rooted in the Arabs' very heart;

In it glory reached its fullness; from it glory began.

في كَفِّهِ لبَني الآمالِ بحْرُ نَدىً

عذْبُ المَذاقَةِ هيْنٌ غيرُ ذي زَبَدِ

In his palm, for hope's children, lies a sea of bounty,

Sweet to the taste, gentle, and free of foam.

لوْ أنّ راحَتَهُ فاضَتْ أنامِلُها

في الغيْثِ لمْ يَقْتَصِرْ يوماً على بَلَدِ

If the fingertips of his palm were to overflow

Into the rain, it would never be confined to a single land.

إنْ أبْهَمَ الخَطْبُ أذْكى في دُجُنّتِهِ

رأياً يُفَرِّقُ بيْنَ الغَيِّ والرَّشَدِ

If a crisis darkens, he kindles in its gloom

A judgment distinguishing error from right guidance.

وإنْ عَدا الدّهْرُ أبْدى منْ أسرَّتِهِ

وكَفِّهِ رأْيَ حيْرانٍ ورَيَّ صَدي

And if Time attacks, he offers from his countenance

And his palm counsel for the perplexed and drink for the thirsty.

وإنْ نظَرَتَ الى لأْلاءِ غُرّتِهِ

يومَ الهِياجِ رأيْتَ الشّمْسَ في الأسَدِ

And if you look at the brilliance of his brow

On battle's day, you see the sun in Leo.

حتّى إذا محّصَ اللهُ القُلوبَ بها

ولا دِفاعَ لِحُكْمِ الواحِدِ الصّمَدِ

Until, when God put hearts to the test through it—

And none can repel the decree of the One, the Self-Sufficient—

وَقَفْتَ والرّوْعُ قدْ ماجَتْ جَوانِبُهُ

بحَيْثُ لا والِدٌ يلْوي على ولَدِ

You stood firm as terror surged on every side,

Where no father turned back for his child.

وصَلْتَ يوْمَ التَقَى الجَمْعانِ مُنْصلِتاً

كالصّقْرِ في السِّرْبِ أو كاللّيثِ في النّقَدِ

And you charged, the day the two hosts met, with sword drawn,

Like a falcon among a flock, or a lion among sheep.

فأصْبَحَ الدّينُ لا تَخْفى مَعالِمُهُ

وأصْبَحَ المُلْكُ مرْفوعاً على عَمَدِ

So the faith's landmarks were no longer hidden,

And sovereignty was raised upon pillars.

إنّ الحُروبَ سِجالٌ طالَما وَهَبَتْ

في اليومِ فُرْصَتَها واسْتَرْجَعَتْ لِغَدِ

Wars have alternating fortunes; how often they have granted

A chance today, then taken it back tomorrow.

لا يَغْرُرِ الرّومَ ما نالُوا وما فَعَلوا

فإنّ ذلِكَ إمْلاءٌ الى أمَدِ

Let not what they have gained and done delude the Romans;

For that is a reprieve until an appointed time.

فلِلقُلوبِ من الغَمّاء مُنْصَرفٌ

بِما تقدّمَ في بَدْرٍ وفي أحُدِ

For hearts there is a way out of anguish,

In what happened before at Badr and at Uhud.

وإنّ دونَ طِلابِ الثّأرِ أُسْدَ وَغَى

منْ قوْمِكَ الغُرِّ أو آبائِكَ النُّجُدِ

And on the path to vengeance stand lions of battle,

From your illustrious people or your valiant forebears.

قد أقْلَقوا كلَّ مَشْحوذِ الغِرارِ الى

شَنِّ الغِوارِ وسَلّوا كلَّ ذي مَيَدِ

They have roused every keen-edged blade to

Launch raids, and unsheathed every supple sword.

والعزْمُ بادٍ وصُنْعُ اللهِ مُرْتَقَبٌ

والفَتْحُ مُنْتَظَرٌ إنْ لمْ يَحِنْ فَقَدِ

Resolve is manifest, and God's work is awaited,

And victory is awaited—if its hour has not come, it all but has.

وعادَةُ النّصْرِ لا تَسْتَبْطِ مَقْدَمَها

إنْ لمْ تُوافِكَ في سبْتٍ فَفي أحَدِ

And do not think victory's customary return slow:

If it does not reach you on Saturday, then on Sunday.

وهاكَها منْ بَناتِ العُرْبِ ساحِرَةً

هيْفاءَ تَخْتالُ بيْنَ الدّلِّ والغَيَدِ

And take her—an enchantress among the Arabs' daughters,

Slender-waisted, she sways proudly between coquetry and languid grace.

ولسْتُ يوماً على شِعْرٍ بمُقْتَصِرٍ

ولا بأبْياتِ منْظومٍ بمُنْفَرِدِ

And I never confine myself to poetry,

Nor devote myself to lines of verse alone.

وإنّما أنا روْضٌ والعُلومُ لهُ

غيْثٌ فإنّي جَنى إنْ شِئْتَهُ تَجِدِ

Rather, I am a garden, and the sciences are its

Rain; for I am fruit—if you desire it, you will find it.

بَقيتَ في ظِلِّ مُلْكٍ غيْرِ منْصَرِمٍ

مُصاحَبٍ غيْرِ محْصورٍ الى أمَدِ

May you remain in the shade of an unending reign,

Kept in your company, bounded by no fixed term.