لعمرك ما يثني الركاب تربص — Ibn Farkoun

لَعمركَ ما يَثْني الرِّكابَ ترَبُّصُ

وشمسُ سُراها من دُجى البيدِ تخلُصُ

By your life, no tarrying checks the riding-camels,

and the sun of their night journey escapes the desert's darkness.

سرَتْ وبُدورُ الأوجُهِ الغُرّ فوقَها

لها من سِرارِ البُعْدِ للقُرْبِ مَخْلَصُ

They traveled by night, bright faces like full moons above them,

finding a passage from separation's moonless darkness to nearness.

تقولُ وقد رابَ الشّحوبُ وجوهَها

هلِ الذّهبُ الإبريزُ إلا المخلَّصُ

They say, as pallor troubles their faces:

“Is pure gold anything but gold refined?”

رحَلْنا بها طوْعَ النّوَى نقطَعُ الفَلا

وشرْعَتُها طوْعَ المُقامِ تُرَخّصُ

We journeyed on them, yielding to separation, crossing the wastes,

while their law permits yielding to repose.

وجاءَتْ لمعْنَى الجمْعِ أحْرُفُ سيْرها

وليسَ ذُنوبٌ عندَها فتُمَحَّصُ

The letters of their journey came to signify union,

though they bear no sins to be purged.

وقد ظنّتِ البيداءَ روضاً مُفوَّفاً

يُغنّي الصّدَى من جانبَيْها فترقُصُ

They thought the desert a richly patterned garden;

the echo sings on either side of them, and they dance.

فَيا طالِباً في الرّكْبِ أيسَرَ لحظةٍ

عُموماً ومعنَى القصْدِ فيها مُخَصَّصُ

O you who seek the slightest glance among the caravan,

for all alike, though your true intent singles out one:

ألمْ يانِ للشّخصِ الذي خفِيَ اسمُهُ

عنِ الوهْمِ أن يرْعاكَ والركْبُ يشخصُ

is it not time for the person whose name is hidden

from imagination to watch over you as the caravan departs?

سَل القومَ عنهُ والهَوى حيثُ أصبحتْ

جِيادُ أمانيهِ تَخُبُّ وتَقْلُصُ

Ask the company about him; love abides where

the steeds of his wishes now trot and race.

تَؤمُّ سُراها والصّبابةُ خلْفَها

فتَسْري بجسْمٍ قلْبُهُ متربِّصُ

They pursue their nightward course, with yearning behind them,

and carry through the night a body whose heart lingers.

إن استيْأسوا من وُدّهِ طوعَ بُعْدِهِ

فقدْ خلَصوا منهُ نجيّاً وأخلَصوا

If, yielding to his remoteness, they despair of his affection,

they have withdrawn from him in private counsel and remained sincere.

فللهِ كمْ وجْناءَ خفّتْ بمُثْقَلٍ

عَلا متْنَها طاوِي الحشا منهُ أخمَصُ

By God, how many a stout-cheeked she-camel sped lightly with a burdened rider,

his sole raised above her back, his belly hollow.

عزيزٌ علَيْها أن تَرى أربُعَ الهَوى

وأطْلالُها للوحْشِ والطّيْرِ مَفْحَصُ

It pains her to see love's dwelling places,

their ruins a haunt for wild beasts and birds,

وآثارُها تُخْفي مواقعَ أدمُعٍ

تُهينُ مَصونَ الدّرِّ منها وتُرْخِصُ

and their traces concealing the places where tears fell,

shed by her, putting treasured pearls to shame and cheapening them.

كأنّ الذي مالتْ بهِ سِنَةُ الكَرى

لدى أخرَياتِ الليْلِ في الرّحْلِ أوْقَصُ

As though the man whom sleep's drowsiness bends

in the saddle in night's last hours were short-necked.

كأنّ نجومَ الأفْقِ أزْهارُ دوحةٍ

على قَطْفِها باتَتْ يدُ الفجْرِ تحْرصُ

As though the horizon's stars were blossoms on a great tree,

which dawn's hand spent the night eager to pluck.

كأنّ ظلامَ الليلِ فيه غدائِرٌ

تُلاثُ على هامِ النّجومِ وتُعْقَصُ

As though the darkness of night held tresses

wrapped around the stars' heads and braided.

كأنّ الضُحى إذ طالَ ليْلي مُغْرَمٌ

كمثلي يُرَجّي القُرْبَ والقرْبُ مُعْوِصُ

As though morning, while my night drags on, were a lover,

like me, hoping for nearness, though nearness is hard to attain.

كأنّ السُّرى للمُلتَقَى ظِلُّ داجِرٍ

إذا طلعَتْ شمْسُ الضّحَى يتقلّصُ

As though the night journey to the meeting were a dark shadow,

shrinking when the morning sun rises.

كأنّ توانيها نسيبٌ وحثُّها

لمَدْحِ الإمامِ اليوسُفيّ تخَلُّصُ

As though their lingering were a love-prelude, and urging them onward

a transition to praise of the imam al-Yusufi.

فإنّ سَحابَ الأفْقِ والغيثُ مُسْبَلٌ

لمجموع جودٍ من نَداهُ ملَخَّصُ

For the horizon's clouds, with rain pouring down,

are an epitome of the bounty gathered from his largesse.

تؤمّلُهُ الأمْلاكُ مَثْنَىً ومَوْحَداً

وقد محَضوا فضْلَ الوِدادِ وأخْلَصوا

Kings place their hopes in him, in pairs and singly,

having offered their finest affection, pure and sincere.

فتوسِعُهُمْ طَوْلاً خِلافَتُك التي

لها الفضْلُ أجْلى والمودةُ أخْلَصُ

So your caliphate lavishes bounty upon them,

whose excellence is clearest and whose affection purest.

لقد لاذَ مَن آوَى لخدمةِ يوسُفٍ

بجانبِ عزٍّ لم يرُعْهُ تنَقُّصُ

Whoever has sought shelter in Yusuf's service has taken refuge

under the protection of a might unshaken by detraction.

وهذي بلادُ الغرْبِ مادَتْ بأهْلِها

فباسِطُ أمْنٍ عندَها ومُقلِّصُ

These lands of the West have reeled with their people,

with one spreading safety there and another withdrawing it.

أترجو أماناً منْ سواكَ وإنّهُ

لأبعَدُ من نيْلِ النّجومِ وأعْوَصُ

Do they hope for safety from anyone but you, when it

is farther off than reaching the stars, and harder?

ومَن أمّل العُقْبَى لديكَ فضدّهُ

يُرَدُّ على الأعقابِ منهُ ويُنْكَصُ

Whoever hopes for final triumph with you—his adversary

is driven back on his heels before him and forced to retreat.

وظنّ الذي ناواكَ لا درَّ درُّهُ

بأنّ لذيذَ العيشِ لا يتنغّصُ

And he who opposed you thought—may his milk never flow!—

that life's sweetness would never be embittered.

فلا أفْقَ إلا جَوّهُ متغيّمٌ

ولا دوْحَ إلا ظلُّهُ متقَلّصُ

Yet no horizon but its sky is overcast,

and no spreading tree but its shade is shrinking.

لأقدَمَ حتّى ما لَهُ عنك مهْرَبٌ

وأحْجَمَ حتّى ما لهُ منكَ مخْلَصُ

Indeed, he advanced until no escape from you remained,

and held back until he had no way to break free of you.

ومنزِلِ عزٍّ جئتَهُ فخِلالُهُ

مجالٌ لأفْراسِ الجهادِ ومقْنَصُ

And many a dwelling of glory you reached—its open spaces

a field for the steeds of jihad and a hunting ground.

فكمْ قَنَصٍ مدّ الخُطا مُترامياً

إذا ما رَمى لمْ يُخْطِه المُتقنّصُ

How many a quarry lengthened its stride in a headlong dash,

yet the hunter did not miss it when he shot!

وكم جارحٍ يستقْبِلُ الطّيرَ جارحاً

إذا وثبَتْ في جوّها يتغمّصُ

And how many a raptor confronts the birds, wounding them;

when they spring into their sky, it swoops down.

لهُ عوْدَةٌ بعْدَ النّزوعِ فإنّه

أبيٌّ وفيٌّ للمودّةِ مُخلصُ

It returns after flying away, for it

is proud, faithful to affection, and sincere.

يمُدّ جناحَيْ عزْمِهِ وهْوَ مُعْجَبٌ

بعِطْفَيْه شَتْنُ الكفِّ أفتَخُ أقبَصُ

It spreads the two wings of its resolve, admiring

its flanks—thick-taloned, supple-jointed, large-headed.

لعيْنيهِ في جوّ السّماءِ تقلُّبٌ

بهِ لظِلالِ الأمْنِ عنْها تقلُّصُ

Its eyes roam through the expanse of the sky,

making the shadows of safety shrink away from the birds.

وتنْحَطّ أحياناً إلى الأرضِ يرْتَجي

نجاةً فيَثْنيها الجَوادُ المُقلِّصُ

Sometimes they descend toward the earth, hoping

for escape, but the swift, lean steed turns them back.

وذو أرْبَعٍ لا تخْتَفي عنه كلّما

يفتّشُ عنها في الرّوابي ويفْحَصُ

And a four-footed hunter, from whom they cannot hide whenever

he seeks them among the hills and searches thoroughly.

وطِرْفٌ يفوقُ الطَّرْفَ سبْقاً إذا ارتَمى

ترَى عينَهُ قبْلاء في الرّوعِ تشْخَصُ

And a noble steed that outstrips the eye when it darts forth;

you see its inward-turned eye staring in alarm.

أغَرُّ بعيدُ الخطْوِ يُنْمَى للاحِقٍ

لهُ في المَدى جِدٌّ وجيدٌ مُنَصَّصُ

White-blazed, long-striding, descended from Lahiq,

it shows resolve on the course and holds its neck high.

يُجيلُ الإمامُ المرْتَضى منهُ سابقاً

له مُطرِبٌ من ذِكْرِ عُلْياهُ مُرْقِصُ

The chosen imam sets this racing steed wheeling;

the mention of his lofty glory thrills it and makes it dance.

فمَن مثلُهُ والأنجُمُ الزُهْرُ دونَه

إذا ما عَلا أفْق العُلى منه أخمَصُ

Who is his equal, while the radiant stars lie beneath him,

when his very sole rises above the horizon of glory?

وإن عُدّ آل المُلْكِ صيتاً ورفْعةً

وجُوداً يعمُّ المجْتَدي ويُخصّصُ

And if the royal house is reckoned by renown and rank,

and bounty that reaches all petitioners and favors each,

فإنّ وليّ العهْدِ أرفَعُ مظْهَراً

فليسَ على نيْلِ العُلى منهُ أحْرَصُ

then the crown prince is loftiest in splendor,

for none is more eager than he to attain glory.

هِلالٌ بأفْقِ المُلْكِ راقَ فَنُورُه

يَزيدُ كَمالاً والأهلةُ تنقُصُ

A crescent lovely on kingship's horizon, whose light

grows ever fuller while other crescents wane.

أتى فتلقّتْهُ الوُفودُ وفوقَها

ظِلال من الآلاءِ لا تتقلّصُ

He came, and delegations welcomed him, with above them

shades of blessings that never shrink away.

وسُرّوا فما صفْوُ الحياةِ مكدَّرٌ

لدَيهِمْ ولا العيشُ الهنيُّ منغّصُ

They rejoiced; life's serenity is not clouded

for them, nor is their pleasant living embittered.

فهُنّئْتَ أن وافَيتَ حضرتَكَ التي

لدين الهُدَى فيها البِناءُ المرصّصُ

So may you be congratulated on reaching your court, where

the faith of guidance has its firmly bonded edifice.

وهُنِّئَتِ الدنيا قُدوماً غدَتْ لهُ

تحرّكُ عِطفَيْها سُروراً وتُرْعِصُ

And may the world be congratulated on an arrival that set it

swaying its flanks in joy and quivering.

ودونَ إمامِ الهَدْي منْها قلادةً

يَروقُك منْها الجوهَرُ المتخلِّصُ

And take, Imam of Guidance, a necklace from it,

whose refined jewels delight you.

أتَتْكَ على قُرْبِ المَدى عربيّةً

لَبيدٌ بَليدٌ عنْ حُلاها وأحْوَصُ

It came to you, over a short span, an Arabic ode,

before whose ornaments Labid is dull, and Ahwas too.

فأعْلَيْتَ منها القدْرَ وهْو مخفَّضٌ

وأغْلَيْتَ منها السّوْمَ وهْو مُرَخَّصُ

You raised its worth when it was held low,

and raised its price when it was valued cheaply.

فلا زالتِ الدّنيا تُخلّدُ ذِكْرَ ما

تُجيرُ به منْ خَطْبِها وتُخَلِّصُ

May the world forever preserve the memory of that

by which you shelter others from its calamities and deliver them.