أأقتل بين جدك والمزاح — Ibn Alwardi

أَأُقْتَلُ بينَ جدِّكَ والمزاحِ

بنبلِ جفونِكَ المرضى الصحاحِ

Am I to be killed between your earnestness and jest,

by arrows from your eyelids, ailing yet sound?

يكدِّرُني نواكَ وأنتَ صافٍ

ويسكرني هواكَ وأنت صاحِ

Your separation clouds me, while you are clear,

and your love intoxicates me, while you are sober.

وأبكي للغرامِ وأنتَ لاهٍ

وأُعذَرُ في الأُوامِ وأنتَ لاحِ

I weep for passion, while you are heedless,

and I am excused for burning thirst, while you reproach.

فما لسراحِ دمعي مِنْ إسارٍ

وما لإسارِ وجدي منْ سراحِ

My tears' release knows no restraint,

and my passion's captivity knows no release.

رضاكَ إلى رضابِكَ لي دليلٌ

أليسَ كلاهما روحي وراحي

Your favor guides me to your mouth's sweet moisture;

are not both my soul and my wine?

وما لصباحِ وجهِكَ مِنْ مساءٍ

وما لمساءِ شعركَ مِنْ صباحِ

The dawn of your face has no evening,

and the evening of your hair has no dawn.

ولي لحظٌ يطيرُ إليكَ شوقاً

فها قدْ طارَ مبلولُ الجناحِ

I have a glance that flies toward you in longing;

behold, it has flown with a wetted wing.

ووجهُكَ فوقَ قدِّكَ عرفاني

بإثمارِ البدورِ منَ الرماحِ

Your face above your stature—both have taught me

how full moons bear fruit upon spears.

عذارُكَ ملحةٌ بعد اختتامِ

يقولُ أقولُ منْ بعدِ افتتاحِ

Your cheek-down is a witticism after a conclusion;

it says, 'I say,' after an opening.

وثغرُكَ جوهريُّ النظمِ يُعزى

غريبُ الحسنِ فيهِ إلى الصحاحِ

Your mouth is al-Jawharī of pearl-stringing; ascribed

to al-Ṣiḥāḥ is the rare beauty within it.

لقدْ أصبحتُ من سرِّي ودمعي

لَقَىَ بينَ استتارٍ وافتضاحِ

Between my secret and my tears, I have become

a castaway between concealment and exposure.

وسمعي لا يعي بابَ الوصايا

وطرفُكَ عارفٌ بابَ الجراحِ

My hearing does not comprehend the chapter of counsels,

while your gaze knows the chapter of wounds.

فإنْ يكنْ اجترحتُ هواكَ ذنباً

فتكفيني جراحي باجتراحي

If loving you is a sin I have committed,

my wounds suffice me for my transgression.

يحقُّ لِمَنْ لحاني فيكَ ذمي

وحُقَّ لكاتبِ السرِّ امتداحي

Whoever reproaches me for you is entitled to censure me,

and the confidential secretary rightly deserves my praise.

ولستُ سوى ابنِ فضلِ اللهِ عني

شهابِ الدينِ ذي الغررِ الملاحِ

And I mean none other than Ibn Faḍl Allāh,

Shihāb al-Dīn, with his lovely, radiant distinctions,

أبي العباسِ بسَّامِ الثنايا

كفى الجيشَ التحاماً بالتماحِ

Abū al-ʿAbbās, whose front teeth shine in frequent smiles;

with a glance he spared the army close combat.

يعدُ نداه في إحياءِ ميْتٍ

كعدِّ سطاهُ في القدرِ المتاحِ

His bounty is reckoned in bringing the dead to life,

as his might is reckoned in allotted destiny.

جوادٌ كثَّرتْ يدُهُ أيادي ال

عفاةِ وقلَّلتْ أهلَ السماحِ

A generous man whose hand multiplied the hands of the

supplicants, and diminished the ranks of the generous.

وحيدٌ ما لقلبي عنهُ ثانٍ

ولا يعدوهُ في الدنيا اقتراحي

Unique: my heart has no second to him,

and my choice in this world does not pass beyond him.

قريرُ العينِ مضطربُ الأعادي

مصونُ العرضِ مبذولُ السماحِ

His eye is at peace; his enemies are troubled;

his honor guarded, his bounty freely given.

مهيبُ المنتمى طلقُ المحيَّا

خفيُّ المرتمى بادي الصلاحِ

His lineage inspires awe; his face is cheerful;

his aims are hidden; his righteousness is plain.

شمائلُهُ حَمَتْهُ عنْ شمولٍ

فما دارَتْ لهُ راحٌ براحِ

His virtues shielded him from wine,

so no hand has passed round wine for him.

وما سمرُ القدودِ وإنْ سبتنا

أحبُّ إليهِ منْ سمرِ الرماحِ

Dusky figures, though they captivate us,

are not dearer to him than dusky spears;

ولا بيضُ الثغورِ إليه أشهى

وإنْ عذبتْ من البيضِ الصفاحِ

nor are white teeth more desirable to him,

though sweet, than white, broad-bladed swords.

ندى لانَتْ معاطفُهُ وبأسٌ

يذيبُ حشاشةَ الأسدِ الوقاحِ

A bounty whose folds have softened, and a valor

that melts the last breath of audacious lions.

وجودٌ لوْ تفرَّق في البرايا

خَلَتْ بابنِ الكرامِ عن الشحاحِ

And a generosity that, if shared among mankind,

would free them of misers through this son of noble men.

حرامٌ أنْ يُذمَّ وجوبُ ندبٍ

نفى المكروهَ بالمالِ المباحِ

It is forbidden to blame the bounden duty of a generous man

who banished the hateful with lawful wealth.

لهُ قلمٌ بفضلِ اللهِ يُحيي

لنا نحيا به بعدَ انتزاحِ

He has a pen that, by God's grace, gives life

to us: through it we live after estrangement.

فما أدري أنقشاً فوقَ طرسٍ

يطرزُ أم مساءً في صباحِ

I cannot tell: is it a design upon a page

that it embroiders, or evening within morning?

أسدُّ من السهامِ مضاءَ أمرٍ

وأجرى في الخطوبِ من الرياحِ

More unerring than arrows in carrying out commands,

and swifter amid crises than the winds,

كأسمرَ في قلوبِ البيضِ منهُ

شكاوى فَهْيَ شاكيةُ السلاحِ

like a dusky spear, against which white swords harbor in their hearts

complaints: they are armed and complaining.

هو ابن جَلا وطلاَّعُ الثنايا

متينُ المتنِ خفَّاقُ الجناحِ

It is Ibn Jalā, a scaler of mountain passes,

strong in its shaft, fluttering of wing.

أأحمدَ فاضلٍ وأجلَّ صدرٍ

وأسعدَ كاتبٍ وأعزَّ ماحِ

O Aḥmad, most praiseworthy of learned men, most eminent of dignitaries,

most fortunate of scribes, most honored of erasers,

أتاني فيكَ مدحٌ منْ إمامٌ

بقطرِ نباتِهِ يحلو انشراحي

a eulogy of you reached me from an imam,

the dew of whose growth sweetens my delight.

سكرتُ بلفظِهِ شكراً وحمداً

لقائلِهِ فقامَ مقامَ راحِ

His words intoxicated me with thanks and praise

for their speaker, taking the place of wine.

فواطربا للذةٍ ما سقاني

ويا طيبَ اغتباقي واصطباحي

Oh, my rapture at the pleasure he gave me to drink!

How sweet my evening draught and my morning cup!

فلا تسجحْ بمدحِكَ فَهْوَ صدقٌ

وبعضُ المدحِ أكذبُ مِنْ سجاحِ

Do not soften praise of you, for it is true;

some praise is more false than Sajāḥ.

وكمْ قدْ بلَّغوني عنكَ جبراً

وتأهيلاً يزيدُ بهِ مراحي

How often they have conveyed to me your kindness

and welcome, which increase my joy!

فدتْكَ عدى همُ الأعداءُ غياً

وقدْ كانوا ذوي لسنٍ فصاحِ

May foes be your ransom—foes through their wickedness—

though they were men of eloquent tongues.

فإنْ سالمتهم سلموا وساموا

وإن حاربْتَهم أضحَوا أضاحي

If you make peace with them, they are safe and graze freely;

if you fight them, they become sacrifices.

بني الفاروقِ بيتُكُمْ رفيعٌ

أثيلُ المجدِ محروسُ النواحي

Sons of al-Fārūq, your house is lofty,

deep-rooted in glory, guarded on all sides.

فما لكتابةِ الأسرارِ عنكُمْ

وأسرارُ الكتابةِ مِنْ براحِ

From you there is no departure for the writing of secrets,

nor for the secrets of writing.

بيانٌ مِنْ معانيكمْ بديعٌ

بهِ نمَّقْتم روضَ البطاحِ

A wondrous eloquence springs from your meanings;

with it you adorned the gardens of the plains.

فضرَّجتمْ بهِ للوردِ خداً

وفلَّجتمْ بهِ ثغرَ الأقاجي

With it you reddened a cheek for the rose,

and spaced the teeth in the daisies' mouths.

فخذْها بنتَ ليلتِها عروساً

تُزَفُّ إليكَ كالخوْدِ الرداحِ

Take her, born this very night, as a bride,

led to you like a full-figured young maiden.

قوامُ الغصنِ منها في ذبولٍ

ووجهُ البدرِ منها في افتضاحِ

Beside her, the branch's form is withered,

and the full moon's face is put to shame.

فإنْ يكُ عنْ مداكَ بها قصورٌ

فبذلُ الجهدِ عندي كالنجاحِ

If she falls short of your reach,

I count the utmost effort as success.

وما أنا شاعرٌ حاشا علومي

ولستُ أرى التكسُّبَ بامتداحي

I am no poet—far be that from my learning—

nor do I seek to earn a living through my praise.

فلي مِنْ نعمةِ الرحمنِ مالٌ

يصونُ عن احتياجٍ واجتياحِ

By the Merciful's grace, I have wealth

that protects me from need and devastation.

ولمْ أقصدْ بمدحِكَ غيرَ ودٍّ

أروضُ بهِ الزمانَ عن الجماحِ

In praising you I sought only affection,

with which I tame time and curb its unruliness.

لأعلمَ أنَّ في الدنيا وفياً

فأسلو عنْ نواحي في النواحي

That I may know there is a faithful man in this world,

and find solace from my lament throughout its regions.

ولولا الشعرُ بالعلماءِ يزري

لأتعبتُ القرائحَ باقتراحي

Were it not that poetry lowers scholars' standing,

I would have wearied inventive minds with my inventions.

أرى في العلمِ عنه ألفَ لاحٍ

يناديني بحيَّ على الفلاحِ

In learning I see a thousand reproachers turning me from poetry,

calling to me, 'Come to success!'

وكنتُ أطا على الشعرى بشعري

وأطفي الشُّهْبَ منْ شررِ اقتداحي

I would have trodden upon Sirius with my verse,

and quenched the meteors with sparks from my striking fire.

وها أنذا اطرحْتُ غبونُ دهري

فدهري للأفاضلِ ذو أطر احِ

Here I am: I have cast aside the deceits of my age,

for my age is given to casting the excellent aside.

حثوتُ بأوجِهِ الآدابِ تبراً

ولم أشرعْ لشارعِها جناحي

I have showered the literary arts' faces with gold dust,

yet never spread my wing for their wayfarer.

وخفتُ على بناتِ الفكرِ يتماً

فإنَّ الشيبَ ينذرُ بالرواحِ

I feared orphanhood for the daughters of my thought,

for gray hair warns of departure.

وعفْتُ شرابَ أمداحي فلما

وجدتُكَ أهلَها حَسُنَ امتداحي

I had shunned the wine of my panegyrics; but when

I found you worthy of them, my praise became fitting.

فساغَ لي الشرابُ وكنت قدْماً

أكادُ أغصُّ بالماءِ القُراحِ

The drink then went down easily, though formerly

I nearly choked on pure water.

ولو أني استطعتُ أتيتُ أسعى

إليكَ وفزتُ بالمجدِ الصراحِ

If I could, I would come hastening

to you and win unalloyed glory.

ومنْ لي أن أبيتَ قريرَ عينٍ

أعاطي كأسَ لفظِكَ للصباحِ

Who will grant me a night with a contented eye,

exchanging the cup of your words until dawn?

أشنِّفُ مسمعيَّ بدرِّ درٍّ

تناثَرَ مِنْ سحائبِكَ السحاحِ

Adorning both my ears with an outpouring of pearls

scattered from your pouring clouds?

بقيتَ لأمةٍ لو لمْ تصنْها

طحا بنفوسِها للبينِ طاحِ

May you endure for a people who, had you not protected them,

would have had their souls swept into separation by a destroyer.

ففعلُكَ للجميلِ اسمُ اختتامٍ

فَدُمْ ما دامَ ها حرفَ افتتاحِ

Your doing good is the noun with which I close;

so endure as long as hā remains an opening particle.