أظهر جمالك للعيون وأبده — Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani

أَظهِر جَمالَكَ لِلعُيونِ وَأَبدِهِ

وَصِلِ الوِدادَ لِمَن رضاكَ بوُدِّهِ

Reveal your beauty to the eyes and display it.

And sustain affection for one who seeks your favor with his love.

فحُسامُ هَذا الجفنِ مُذ جَرّدتَهُ

في الناسِ زادَ بِضَربِهِ عَن حَدِّهِ

For the sword of this eyelid, since you unsheathed it,

has exceeded all bounds with its blows among people.

وَإِلامَ صَبُّكَ بِالجَفا في عَكسِهِ

وَتَزيدُ عَن بابِ الرِضى في طَردِهِ

How long must your lover suffer adversity through your harshness,

while you increase his banishment from the gate of favor?

وَتَسيلُ أَدمُعُهُ إِذا فارَقتَهُ

وَإِذا وَصلتَ بَكى مَخافَةَ صَدِّهِ

His tears flow when you leave him,

and when you grant union, he weeps for fear of rejection.

فَعَلى كِلا الحالينِ طِفلُ غَرامِهِ

ما نالَ مِن وَصلٍ بلوغَ أَشُدِّهِ

Thus, in either condition, the infant of his passion

has gained no union to bring it to maturity.

أحصي لَيالي البينِ في حِسبانِهِ

فَأجِزهُ عَن بابِ الصُدودِ وَعَدِّهِ

I count the nights of separation in his reckoning;

so let him pass beyond the gate of rejection and lead him onward.

وَمهفهفٍ في عارضَيهِ جَنَّةٌ

نَبَتَت عَلى نيرانِ صَفحَةِ خَدِّهِ

And many a slender youth has a garden upon his cheeks,

grown upon the flames of his cheek's expanse.

لَمّا رأى الأَلحاظَ تَرشُقُ خَدَّهُ

جاءَ العذار مقدّراً في سَردِهِ

When he saw glances pelting his cheek,

his cheek-down arrived, its mail-links duly measured.

وَمِنَ المَصائِبِ أَنَّهُ نسلُ الخطا

وَهوَ الَّذي قتلَ المحبَّ بِعَمدِهِ

And one calamity: he is Khita's offspring, a child of 'error',

yet he is the one who killed the lover deliberately.

وَمِنَ العَجائِبِ أَنَّ سَيفَ لِحاظِهِ

جَرَحَ القُلوبَ وَما بَدا مِن غِمدِهِ

And among marvels: the sword of his glances

has wounded hearts without emerging from its sheath.

إِن ماسَ تَجري مُقلَتي بِدِمائِها

فَكَأَنَّني فيها طُعِنتُ بِقَدِّهِ

If he sways, my eye streams with its own blood,

as though I had been stabbed in it by his stature.

غَلَبَ النُحولُ عَليَّ حَتّى إِنَّني

حاكَيتُ رِقَّةَ خَصرِهِ أَو بَندِهِ

Wasting has so overcome me that I

rival the slenderness of his waist or wrist.

وَلَقَد نَثَرتُ مَدامِعي فَتَنَظَّمَت

في ثَغرِهِ أَو جيدِهِ أَو عِقدِهِ

Indeed, I scattered my tears, and they strung themselves

among his teeth, upon his neck, or in his necklace.

إِنّي بُليتُ بِمَن أَرومُ وِصالَهُ

وَأَخافُ والدَهُ وَسَطوةَ طَردِهِ

I am afflicted with one whose union I desire,

yet fear his father and the force of his driving me away.

وَالحسنُ صَيَّرَهُ يتيهُ بِحَظِّهِ

فَطَويلُ هَجري مِن أَبيهِ وَجَدِّهِ

Beauty has made him strut in his good fortune;

my long banishment is his father's and grandfather's doing.

عمري لَئِن تاهَ الحَبيبُ بِحُسنِهِ

فَالعاشِقُ المَهجورُ تاهَ بِسَعدِهِ

By my life, if the beloved glories in his beauty,

the forsaken lover glories in his Sa'd—

السَيّدُ الراقي عَلى أَنظارِهِ

شَرَفاً فَكَيفَ رُقيُّهُ عَن ضِدِّهِ

the lord who rises above his peers

in honor—how much higher, then, above his opponent!

نَجلُ العُلا وَالفَخرِ نادِ بِفَضلِهِ

يَسمَع فَتَربَح يا خَسارَةَ نِدِّهِ

Son of eminence and glory: proclaim his excellence;

he will hear, and you will gain—alas for his rival's loss!

حامي المَعالي لَم يَزَل مُتَيَقِّظاً

مُذ كانَ طِفلاً راقِداً في مَهدِهِ

Guardian of lofty deeds, he has remained vigilant

since he was an infant sleeping in his cradle.

جَمَعَت مَهابَتُهُ سَخاءَ يَمينِهِ

كَالغَيثِ يَهمي مَع بَوارِقِ رَعدِهِ

His majesty unites with his right hand's generosity,

like rain pouring amid the lightning of its thunder.

مُتَعَفِّفٌ والأَريحيَّةُ خُلقُهُ

يَهتَزُّ لَكِن لَم يَغِب عَن رُشدِهِ

He is self-restrained, and generosity is his nature;

he is stirred, yet never strays from sound judgment.

مَولىً يَزيدُ تَرَقِّياً في غايَةٍ

نَقَصَ الوَرى عَنها وفاقَ بِجَدِّهِ

A patron who rises ever higher toward a goal

that others fall short of, surpassing them through his good fortune.

لَم يَقلِ طلّابَ النَدى مِنهُ وَلَم

يَرجِع مُسائِلُهُ بِكسرَةِ رَدِّهِ

He has never hated those seeking bounty from him, nor

has his petitioner returned broken by his refusal.

يَتَيَقَّنُ الراجي اليَسارَ لِقَصدِهِ

لِلبَحرِ أَن مَدَّ اليَمينَ لمدِّهِ

The hopeful seeker is assured of wealth in making

for the sea, if he stretches his right hand to its tide.

مِن أسرةٍ أَسروا الخُطوبَ وَأَطلَقوا

بِالجودِ مَن أَسَرَتهُ قلّةُ وُجدِهِ

Of a family who took calamities captive and freed

through generosity those imprisoned by scant means.

وَكفاهُمُ فَخراً بِسَعدِهمُ الَّذي

لَم يُبقِ مَكرُمَةً تَجي مِن بَعدِهِ

Their Sa'd is glory enough for them, he who

left no noble deed for anyone to bring after him.

يُفدى بِكُلِّ مُسَوَّدٍ في دَستِهِ

تَصفَرُّ خَوفَ الجودِ حمرةُ جِلدِهِ

Let every chief seated in state be his ransom,

whose ruddy skin yellows for fear of giving;

مِن كُلِّ بَسّامِ الثَنايا وَهوَ قَد

هاجَت بَلابِلُ صَدرِهِ من حِقدِهِ

every man whose teeth flash in smiles, although

his breast's turmoil has surged from his rancor.

حَسَدوا الفَتى إِذ لَم يَنالوا سَعيَهُ

غَيظَ الأَسيرِ عَلى قَساوَةِ قدِّهِ

They envied the young man when they could not rival his achievements,

with a captive's rage at the harshness of his leather bonds.

يا طالِباً لِلمَكرُماتِ مُجاهِداً

وَعَطاءُ سَعدِ الدينِ أَقصى قَصدِهِ

O seeker striving after noble gifts,

for whom Sa'd al-Din's bounty is the highest aim,

إِقصِد لَهُ واِسأَلهُ تُعطَ وَتَغتَنِم

وَتَعيشُ مَهما عِشتَهُ في رفدِهِ

go to him and ask: you will receive and gain,

and live, as long as you live, upon his bounty.

حَيثُ السَماحَةُ وَالحَماسَةُ وَالتُقى

كَالعِقدِ أَحسنَ ناظِمٌ في عَقدِهِ

Where generosity, valor, and piety

are like a necklace most skillfully strung;

حَيثُ النَدى وَالعِفَّةُ اِجتَمَعا كَما

مُزِجَ الزُلالُ بِخالِصٍ مِن شَهدِهِ

where bounty and chastity have united, just as

clear water is mixed with his pure honey;

حَيثُ الذَكا نارٌ يُقابِلُها النَدى

مِنهُ لِيَمنَعَ زندَها مِن وَقدِهِ

where keen wit is fire, met by bounty's dew

from him, to keep its fire-stick from catching fire;

حَيثُ اليَراعَةُ في المَهارِقِ أَشبَهَت

غُصنَ الرِياضِ تَفوحُ نسمةُ وَردِهِ

where the reed pen upon the parchments resembles

a garden bough, the breath of its rose wafting.

قَلَمٌ تَصَرَّفَ في المَمالِكِ صادِراً

عَن أَمرِ مالِكِهِ لأَصغى وردِهِ

A pen that wields power in kingdoms, issuing

at its master's command, for the least of his visitors [reading uncertain].

يا حُسنَهُ في كَفِّهِ قَصَباً حَلا

ذوقاً وَأَطربَ مسمعاً مِن وَفدِهِ

How lovely in his hand—a reed that is sweet

to taste, and enchants the ears of his visitors.

مُبيَضُّ وَجه القَصدِ محمرُّ الشَبا

يَخضَرُّ حينَ السَبحِ في مسوَدِّهِ

White-faced in its purpose, red at the points,

it turns green when swimming in its black ink.

وَإِذا عَلا شرفَ المَهارِقِ منبراً

خطبَ الغِنى في أَسوَدٍ مِن بُردِهِ

And when it mounts the parchment's heights as a pulpit,

it preaches wealth in the black of its cloak.

حَيثُ السُطورُ عَلى الطروسِ نَوافِذٌ

أَحكامُها وَالدهرُ أَوَّلُ جندِهِ

Where the lines upon the pages are binding

in their decrees, and Time is first among his troops.

مِن كُلِّ حَرفٍ مِثلِ سَيفٍ خاطِفٍ

بَصَر العِدا كالبَرقِ لَمعُ فرِندِهِ

Each letter is like a sword that snatches

the enemy's sight, its watered steel flashing like lightning.

حَيثُ البَلاغَةُ لا يَجوزُ مبهرجٌ

إِلّا وَيَظهَرُ زيفُهُ في نَقدِهِ

Where, in eloquence, no counterfeit can pass

without its falseness appearing in his assay.

وَلَهُ الفَضيلَةُ إِذ يبين صَوابنا

في مَدحِهِ فَكمالُنا مِن عِندِهِ

And the merit is his, since our sound judgment is revealed

in praising him; our perfection comes from him.

يا ناظِرَ الخاصِ الشَريفِ العامُ قَد

وافى إِلَيكَ بِمَدحِهِ وَبِحَمدِهِ

O overseer of the noble privy treasury, the year has

arrived before you with its praise and thanks.

هَنّاكَ وَهوَ بِكَ المعيّنُ لِلهَنا

وَبَقاكَ في نِعَمٍ تَدومُ بودِّهِ

It wishes you joy—itself destined for joy through you—

and continued life amid blessings enduring through its love.

مَولايَ هذي خدمَةٌ قَد قصّرت

فالصَفحُ يا مَخدومُ عَنها أَبدِهِ

My lord, this is a service that has fallen short;

so show it pardon, O master whom I serve.

مَدحٌ إِذا نُشِرَت حَواشي بُردِهِ

لَم يُستَمَع رأيُ الحسودِ برَدِّهِ

A praise-poem: when its cloak's borders are unfolded,

the envious man's call to reject it goes unheard.

السَمعُ والإِصغاءُ جائِزةٌ لَهُ

فأَجِزهُ يا مَولى المَديحِ بِقَصدِهِ

Hearing and attention are a reward for it;

so reward it, O lord of praise, for its intent.

وَإِذا أَحبَّكَ مَن يَراكَ تَسودُهُ

كانَ الدُعا وَالمَدحُ غايَةَ جهدِهِ

And if one who sees you as his master loves you,

prayer and praise are the utmost of his effort.

فاِنعَم ودُم واِغَنَم وَعِش في راحَةٍ

وَدَعِ الحَسودَ لِهَمِّهِ ولكدِّهِ

So enjoy blessings, endure, prosper, and live at ease,

and leave the envious man to his worry and toil.

فَرَجاي أَن يُبقيكَ رَبُّك سالِماً

وَاللَهُ أَقرَبُ مُرتَجى مِن عَبدِهِ

For my hope is that your Lord preserves you unharmed;

and God is His servant's nearest hope.

فَلِمَن غَدا يَشناكَ غايَةَ تَعسِهِ

وَلِمَن غَدا يَهواكَ غايَةَ سَعدِهِ

Thus, for whoever comes to hate you, the depth of his misery;

and for whoever comes to love you, the height of his good fortune.