عسى الطيف في جنح الدجى إذ يعوده — Ibn Farkoun

عَسى الطّيفُ في جِنحِ الدُجى إذ يعودُهُ

يجدِّدُ عهْداً للرّضَى ويُعيدُهُ

May the phantom, when it visits him beneath night's wing,

renew a covenant of favor and restore it.

نَرومُ اجتماعاً بالخَيالِ إذا سَرى

ليَدْنو وإنْ شطّ المَزارُ بَعيدُهُ

We seek a meeting with the phantom when it journeys by night,

so the distant one may draw near, though the meeting place is far.

عجبْتُ لهُ إذ لا يُلمُّ بمضْجِعي

وجَمْرُ الجَوى يُذْكَى بقَلبي وَقودُهُ

I marvel at it, for it does not visit my bed,

while the fuel of yearning's embers is kindled in my heart.

بنارِ فؤادي في الظلامِ اهْتداؤُهُ

وفي أدْمُعِ الأجْفانِ منّي وُرودُهُ

By my heart's fire it finds its way in the darkness,

and in my eyelids' tears it comes to drink.

دعُوا أدمُعي تهْمي متَى بخِلَ الحَيا

وأخْلَفَ ربعاً للحَبيبِ تجودُهُ

Let my tears pour whenever the rain withholds itself,

and fails the beloved's dwelling, which they water.

ألا بأبي تلْكَ المعاهِدُ إذْ بها

لنا عهْدُ أُنْسٍ قد تقضّى حَميدُهُ

Ah, my father be the ransom for those haunts, where

we had a time of companionship, whose happy days have passed.

على أنّ ربْعَ الصّبرِ بعْدَك قد عَفا

تَهائِمُهُ قد أقفَرتْ ونُجودُهُ

Yet patience's dwelling has vanished in your absence;

its lowlands lie deserted, and its highlands too.

رحَلتُ عن الأوطانِ فالدّمعُ لم تَجُدْ

مَعاهدَ ذاك الأنسِ إلا عُهودُهُ

I left my homelands; as for tears, nothing watered

the haunts of that companionship but their recurring showers.

رَماني زماني منكَ بالبُعْدِ عامداً

وأيُّ حَبيبٍ ليسَ يَشْقى عَميدُهُ

My fate deliberately struck me with separation from you;

and what beloved's lovesick lover does not suffer?

ومنْ عادةِ الأيامِ أن تمنَعَ المُنَى

وأن تمنحَ الشيءَ الذي لا نُريدُهُ

And it is the way of the days to deny wishes,

and grant the thing we do not want.

ولكنّ مولانا الخليفَةَ يوسُفاً

يَزيدُكَ عِزّاً كُلَّما تسْتزيدُهُ

But our lord, the caliph Yusuf,

increases your honor whenever you ask him for more.

ولا سيّما مِثلي فمَوْلايَ كَفُّهُ

لجودٍ وأفكاري لمَدْحٍ تُجيدُهُ

And especially one like me: my lord's hand

is for generosity, and my thoughts for praise they perfect.

فَيا ناصرَ الإسلامِ والملِكَ الذي

يعُمُّ نداهُ القاصدين وَجودُهُ

So, O champion of Islam, and king whose

bounty and generosity embrace those who seek him,

كأنْ بوَليّ الكُفْر قد خابَ سعْيُهُ

وقُدّتْ هوادِيهِ وقيدَ شَرودُهُ

it is as though unbelief's champion has already failed in his striving,

and his steeds' necks are slashed, his runaway fettered.

بك اسْتَنصرَ الدينُ الحَنيفُ فأصْبَحَتْ

تُجَدِّدُ عهْداً بالجِهادِ جنودُهُ

Through you the upright faith sought victory, and now

its armies renew their covenant of holy war.

ولا مثْلَ مبْنىً مُعْجِبٍ قد وضَعْتَهُ

يقرّبُ آمالَ المَروعِ بعِيدُهُ

And nothing equals the wondrous building you erected;

its distant reaches bring the frightened one's hopes near.

وباشرْتَ بالنّفسِ الكريمةِ أمْرَهُ

وذلكَ فخْرٌ ليسَ يَبْلى جديدُهُ

And you undertook its work in your own noble person;

that is a glory whose freshness never wears away.

يَرومُ وليُّ النّظمِ والنّثْرِ وصْفَهُ

فيعجِزُ عنهُ سجْعُهُ وقصيدُهُ

The master of verse and prose seeks to describe it,

but his rhymed prose and odes fall short of it.

تبسّم ثغرُ الثّغْرِ عنهُ مسرّةً

بمظهَرِ عزٍّ منهُ عزَّ وجودُهُ

The frontier's mouth smiled, revealing it in delight,

with a display of its might, rare to be found.

ولاحَ بأعْلاهُ شِهاباً لمُهْتَدٍ

تُقابِلُ بَدرَ الأفقِ منكَ سُعودُهُ

And at its summit it gleamed, a blazing star for one seeking guidance;

its auspicious stars, from you, rival the horizon's full moon.

إذا ما عدُوُّ الدّين جاسَ خِلالَهُ

ورامَ اسْتِراقَ السّمْعِ كُفَّ مَريدُهُ

If ever the faith's enemy prowls through its midst

and tries to steal a hearing, his rebellious one is repelled.

كحسْناءَ تستجْلي العيونُ جمالَها

فتُبْدِئُ معْنى حُسْنِها وتُعيدُهُ

Like a fair woman whose beauty the eyes seek to behold,

she reveals her beauty's essence and reveals it again.

وقد أوْمأتْ بالكفِّ تدْعو ضراعةً

لمُلكِكَ أن يُفْني العُداةَ خلودُهُ

And she gestures with her hand, praying in humility

for your reign, that its eternity may annihilate the foes.

لدَى جبَلٍ بالشّهْبِ نِيطَتْ هِضابُهُ

فصافَحَتِ الكفَّ الخضيبَ نُجودُهُ

By a mountain whose crags are fastened to the stars,

its heights have shaken hands with the Henna-Dyed Hand.

أشمَّ بَعيدَ الصّيتِ بادٍ وقارُهُ

ومُرتاحةٌ أعْلامُه وبُنودُهُ

Lofty, far-famed, its dignity manifest,

and its standards and banners flutter joyfully.

تمرُّ به هُوجُ الرّياحِ فتَنثَني

وقد سدّ مسْراها الرفيعَ صُعودُهُ

Fierce winds pass by it, then turn back,

for its rising height has barred their lofty course.

ترومُ سُموّاً فوقَهُ وهْيَ دونَهُ

فتَقْصرُ عمّا تشتَهي وتُريدُهُ

They seek to rise above it, though they are below it,

and fall short of what they crave and desire.

دعوْتَ لهُ أهْلَ الجِهادِ فأهْطَعوا

كما زارَتِ البيْت العَتيقَ وُفودُهُ

You summoned those who wage holy war to it, and they hastened,

as the Ancient House was visited by its delegations.

ودارَتْ حواليْهِ الجُنودُ كأنّها

وِشاحٌ علَى خَصْرٍ يروقُ فَريدُهُ

And the armies circled around it, as though they were

a sash upon a waist, its choice pearl enchanting.

تَحُلُّ كأسْرابِ القَطا منهُ موْرِداً

يَطيبُ بجَدْوى راحتَيْكَ وُرودُهُ

They alight like flocks of sandgrouse at its watering place,

where the bounty of your two palms makes coming to drink a pleasure.

بمشْرَعهِ ارْتاحَتْ عواليكَ شُرَّعاً

تَرُدُّ العدوَّ المعْتَدي وتَذودُهُ

At its watering place your lances rejoice, leveled,

repelling the attacking enemy and driving him away.

فما هُو مَعْنىً حَلّ مغناهُ أهلُهُ

ولكنّهُ غيلٌ حمتْهُ أُسودُهُ

So it is no mere notion whose people have settled in its dwelling,

but a thicket guarded by its lions.

ودونكَ يا موْلايَ منها لآلئاً

فنَظميَ عِقْدٌ صفحَةُ الطّرْسِ جيدُهُ

And take, my lord, pearls from it:

for my verse is a necklace, the parchment's page its neck.

وأنتَ الذي مازلتَ للدّين ناصِراً

ومُلْكُكَ أمْلاكُ الزّمانِ عَبيدُهُ

And you are the one who has always championed the faith,

and the kings of the age are slaves to your dominion.