قلبي كلف بظبية حسناء — Ibn Farkoun

قَلبي كلِفٌ بظبْيةٍ حَسْناءِ

يأتي وصْفُها بالرّوضةِ الغنّاءِ

My heart is enamored of a beautiful gazelle.

Her description evokes a luxuriant garden.

كمْ قد أطْلَعَتْ من غُرّةٍ غَرّاءِ

يلْتاحُ جَمالُها لعَيْنِ الرّائي

How many a radiant brow she has revealed!

Her beauty shines before the beholder's eye.

يا مَن لجُفونِ دمعِها ينسَكِبُ

ومَن لضُلوعٍ جمْرُها يلْتَهِبُ

O who will aid eyelids whose tears pour forth?

And who will aid ribs whose embers blaze?

عُذّالي إذْ بُحْتُ بوَجْدي عتَبوا

والشّمسُ عَنِ العُيونِ لا تحْتَجِبُ

My censurers reproached me when I disclosed my yearning.

Yet the sun does not hide itself from eyes.

جِسمي خافٍ والقلْبُ وجْداً خافِتْ

لعَهْدِ وصالٍ قدْ تقضّى فائِتْ

My body is scarcely seen, my heart faint with yearning,

For a time of union that has passed and gone.

يا لَيْتَ أُرَى في الحُسْنِ يوماً باهِتْ

ممّنْ حُسْنُها يُعْجِزُ وصْفَ النّاعِتْ

Would that one day I might be seen, dumbstruck by beauty,

By one whose beauty defies the describer's account.

ما كُنتُ أُطيقُ عنْ حِماها لُبْثا

حتّى ألْقِي الرّكابَ فيه حثّا

I could not bear to linger away from her sanctuary,

Until I brought the mounts to rest there in haste,

لوْلا أنْ جادَ لي النّوالُ غَيْثا

ممّنْ تُلْفِيه في التّلاقِي لَيْثا

Had bounty not poured rain upon me,

From one you find a lion in battle.

من غيثِ النّدى جُوداً وغوثِ الرّاجي

ومُسْعِفِ قَصْدِ الآمِلِ المُحْتاجِ

From him, generosity's rain in giving, and the hopeful one's succor,

And the helper of the needy hopeful one's quest,

ومُجْلي الدُّجى بنُورِه الوهّاجِ

ومَوْلَى مُلوكِها أبي الحجّاجِ

And the dispeller of darkness with his blazing light,

And the lord of its kings, Abu al-Hajjaj.

مَرآهُ يَلوحُ للعُيونِ صُبْحا

ثَناه كأزهارِ الرّياضِ نفْحا

His appearance shines before the eyes like morning;

His praise is fragrant as the blossoms of gardens.

حَمائِمُ فِكْري ردّدتهُ صَدْحا

غَواني الطُّروسِ قلّدَتْهُ وُشْحا

The doves of my thought have echoed it in song;

The beauties of the pages have adorned him with sashes.

أنصارَ الدّين لعُلاهُ سِنْخُ

عِقْبانُ وَغىً يومَ التّلاقي فُتْخُ

The champions of the faith are the root of his eminence;

Broad-winged eagles of war on the day of encounter.

ويُمْناهُ إذ للقاصدينَ يَسْخُو

شَريعةُ جُودٍ لمْ يرُعْها النّسْخُ

And his right hand, when he gives freely to those who seek him,

Is a law of bounty that no abrogation has shaken.

هذا لكِنْ جَفا فُؤادي البُعْدُ

فليْسَ بهِ إلا جوىً أو وجْدُ

All this—yet distance has been cruel to my heart;

So it holds nothing but burning grief or yearning.

أيُنْجزُ يوْماً للتلاقِي وَعْدُ

ويُغْمَرُ غوْرٌ للرّضا أو نَجْدُ

Will a promise of reunion one day be fulfilled,

And will lowland or highland be flooded with favor?

رَمى قَلْبي للبَيْنِ سهْمٌ مُنْفذُ

فالوَجْدُ على جَميعهِ مُسْتَحوذُ

Separation's piercing arrow has struck my heart;

So yearning has taken possession of it wholly.

فليس لهُ غيرُ الوصالِ مُنقِذُ

ولا سِوى مَوْلى الوَرى تعوُّذُ

It has no deliverer but union,

Nor any refuge but the lord of humankind.

قد فاقَ الوَرى في منظَرٍ أو مَخْبَرِ

موْلىً هدْيُهُ يَروقُ عيْنَ المُبْصِرِ

He has surpassed humankind in appearance or inward worth;

A lord whose bearing delights the beholder's eye.

يَلوحُ سَناهُ كالصّباحِ المُسْفِرِ

فتَخفى نجومُ الأفْقِ حوْلَ المظْهَرِ

His splendor shines like radiant morning,

So the horizon's stars fade around his presence.

أنسَى مَن مَضى وكُلّ آتٍ أعْجَزا

وعْداً ووعيداً مُخْلِفاً أو مُنْجِزا

He makes those gone before forgotten and outstrips all to come,

In promise and threat, whether leaving them unfulfilled or carrying them out.

ما زالَ لأوْصافِ الكمالِ مُحْرِزاً

ومِنْ رِفْدِه لكُلِّ مُحْسِنٍ جَزا

He has never ceased to attain the qualities of perfection,

And from his bounty comes a reward for every doer of good.

موْلىً كالدّهْرِ بالأعادِي قدْ سَطا

أضْحى مُنْعِماً بالعَدْلِ فينا مُقسِطا

A lord who, like Time, has assailed his enemies;

He has become a benefactor among us, just and equitable.

يُفيضُ على قصّادِه سُحْبَ العَطا

فتُلْفيهِمْ ورْداً كأسْرابِ القَطا

He pours clouds of bounty upon those who seek him,

So you find them coming to water like flocks of sandgrouse.

مهْما نظَرتْ عينُك لي باللّحْظِ

أو فاتحْتَني بالكَتْبِ أو باللّفْظِ

Whenever your eye turns a glance upon me,

Or you address me in writing or in speech,

فكَم حُظْوةٍ تُفيدُها أو لحْظِ

للفَوْز منَ الدّنيا بأوفَى حَظِّ

How much favor or regard you bestow,

To win from this world the fullest share!

أيا يُوسُفاً في الحسْنِ أو في المُلْكِ

نظامِي كَدُرٍّ رائِقٍ في السّلْكِ

O Yusuf, whether in beauty or in kingship,

My verse is like lustrous pearls upon a string.

أزيلُ به صرْفَ الخُطوبِ الحُلْكِ

إذ قلتَ أبو الحسَينِ عَبْدي مِلْكي

Through it I dispel the vicissitudes of dark calamities,

When you said, “Abu al-Husayn is my servant, my possession.”

أنا المَمْلوكُ يا إمامَ العَدْلِ

ويا خَزْرَجيَّ المُنتَمى والأصْلِ

I am the bondservant, O imam of justice,

And O Khazraji by lineage and origin,

ويا جامِعاً ما للنّدى منْ شمْلِ

إذا لمْ تكُنْ لي في الزمانِ مَن لي

And O you who bring all generosity together,

If you are not for me in this age, who will be?

دمْعي وفؤادِي هائِمٌ أو هامِ

يهْفو وجْداً كخافِقِ الأعْلامِ

My tears and heart: the one streams, the other wanders in love;

It flutters with yearning like waving banners.

جَفْني وغَرامي دائِمٌ أو دامِ

كمِثْلِ حُسامِ ناصرِ الإسلامِ

My eyelid and passion: the one bleeds, the other endures,

Like the sword of the defender of Islam.

وجْدي ما أنْ ياخُذْهُ الإمْكانُ

هلّا يُحْصي شُهْبَ الدُجى حُسْبانُ

My yearning cannot be encompassed by what is possible;

Can any reckoning count the stars of night?

والحُبُّ أبانوا عندَ ما قد بانُوا

فآليْتُ تعودُ بالرِّضى الأزْمانُ

And they revealed love when they departed;

So I swore that days would return with favor.

بالقلْبِ من الغَرامِ ما لا يُحْصى

فكَمْ أمَدٍ بلغْتُ منهُ الأقصى

The heart holds passion beyond all counting;

How many times I have reached its furthest limit!

أُبْديه جَوىً يكلُّ عنهُ الإحْصا

معْنىً كيفَ شاءهُ الهَوى أو نصّا

I reveal it as burning grief that defeats all reckoning,

As meaning, however love wills it, or as explicit words.

ظَبْيٌ لا رِضىً إلا بما يقْضيهِ

ولا قصْدَ إلا الذي يُرْضيهِ

A gazelle: no contentment save in what he decrees,

And no aim except what pleases him.

للصّبْرِ حُسامٌ كلّما أُنضيهِ

يفُلُّ الهَوى ما عزْمُهُ يُمْضيهِ

Patience has a sword; whenever I unsheathe it,

Love blunts whatever its resolve makes keen.

يا لَيْتَ زَماناً قد مضى يرْتَجِعُ

والأُنْسُ لهُ شمْلٌ به مُجْتَمِعُ

Would that a bygone time might return,

And companionship's circle gather within it.

طمِعْتُ وهلْ في الحُبِّ يُجْدي الطمعُ

أو يُغْني الأسَى منْ بعدِه أو ينفَعُ

I hoped—but can hope avail in love,

Or can grief thereafter avail or be of use?

هذا قَلْبي صَبا إليْهِ وصَغا

لقد بلغَ الغرامُ منّي مَبْلَغا

Here is my heart: it yearned for him and inclined toward him.

Passion has indeed taken great hold of me.

هذا طمَعي لو نالِ منْهُ ما ابْتغَى

فالدّمعُ طَما وجمْرُ وجْدي قد طَغا

Here is my hope—if only it gained from him what it sought!

So tears have overflowed, and my yearning's embers have raged.

جادَتْ فحَكتْ صوْبَ الحَيا المُنْبَجِسِ

من كَفِّ إمامِ الغَرْبِ والأندَلُسِ

They poured freely, matching the torrent of gushing rain,

From the palm of the imam of the West and al-Andalus.

يُبْدي نورَ الصّباحِ للمُقْتَبِسِ

يبْدو أسَدَ السّرْجِ وبدْرَ المجْلِسِ

He reveals morning's light to the seeker of a spark;

He appears a lion in the saddle and a full moon in the assembly.

يجلو هَدْيُهُ جِنْحَ الدُجى إذ يَغْشى

تُرْجى كفُّهُ سَلْماً وحرْباً تُخْشى

His bearing dispels the dark of night when it descends;

His hand is hoped for in peace and feared in war.

قد أعْيا جَريراً وصْفُهُ والأعْشى

فكيفَ يَفي نظْمٌ به أو إنْشا

His description has baffled Jarir and al-A'sha;

How then can verse or prose do him justice?

خُذْهُ أدَباً كالرّوْضِ في ريّاهُ

أحْياهُ بغَيْثِ الجودِ إذ حيّاهُ

Accept it as a work of letters, fragrant as a garden;

He revived it with generosity's rain when he greeted it.

نظْماً شرّفَ العَبْدَ بهِ مَوْلاهُ

بالصُّنْعِ الجَميلِ قد حَباهُ اللهُ

Verse by which the servant was honored by his lord,

God has endowed him with gracious favor.

لهُ الرّكْبُ يُحْدَى والفَيافي تُطْوى

عنْ يُمْناهُ أخبارُ العَطايا تُرْوى

Toward him the caravan is urged on by song, and deserts are folded away;

Tales of gifts from his right hand are recounted.

من جَدْوى يديهِ كُلُّ ظامٍ يَرْوَى

يُلْقي حَمدَهُ في السِّرِّ أو في النّجْوَى

From the bounty of his hands every thirsty one is quenched;

He utters his praise in secret or in whispered converse.

مَوْلىً بالجميلِ يَشفَعُ الإجْمالا

ويوضِحُ منْ كافي النّدى الإكْمالا

A lord who joins gracious treatment with good deeds,

And reveals perfection through the fullness of his bounty.

بهِ عبْدُهُ قد بلغَ الآمالا

فالجاه يُفيدُ لحْظُهُ والمالا

Through him his servant has attained his hopes;

So his regard confers status and wealth.

موْلايَ الذي يُهْدي الوُجودَ الهَدْيا

ومَنْ وصْفُهُ كُلَّ الوَرى قد أعْيا

My lord, who bestows gifts upon creation,

And whose description has baffled all humankind,

لمّا نِلتَ رُتْبةَ الكَمالِ العُلْيا

نالَ العَبْدُ ما أمّلَهُ في الدُنْيا

When you attained perfection's highest rank,

The servant attained what he had hoped for in this world.