أبا هاشم هشمتني الشفار — Ibn Hamdis

أبا هاشم هشّمتني الشفار

فَللَّه صبري لذاك الأوار

O Abu Hashim, the blades have shattered me;

so, to God belongs my endurance of that blaze!

ذكرت شخيصك ما بينها

فلم يدعني حبّه للفرار

I recalled your little figure in their midst,

so love for him would not let me flee.

ليهنئ بني الإسلام أنْ أبْتَ سالما

وغادَرْتَ أنْفَ الكفرِ بالذلّ راغما

Let Islam's sons rejoice that you returned unharmed,

and left unbelief's nose humiliated, rubbed in dust.

كشفتَ كروباً عن قلوبٍ كأنّما

وَضَعْتَ عَلَيْها من هواك خواتما

You lifted sorrows from hearts, as though

you had placed upon them seals of love for you.

صبرتَ لحرّ الطعن والضربِ ذائداً

عن الدين واستصغرتَ فيه العظائما

You endured the heat of thrusts and blows, defending

the faith, and counted great ordeals in its cause as small.

تفسّحْتَ في صدرٍ رَحيبٍ بحيثُ لا

يلاقيك فيه القِرْنُ إلا مُصَادِما

You ranged at ease, broad of breast, where no

rival meets you there save in a clash.

رحمناكَ من وَقْعِ الصوارم والقَنَا

فكانَ لنا في حفظك اللّهُ راحما

We pitied you for the blows of keen swords and spears,

so God was merciful to us in keeping you safe.

وكم شَجّةٍ في حُرّ وجهك لم يَزَلْ

لك الحسنُ منها بالشجاعة واسما

And many a gash upon your noble face—never has

its beauty ceased to mark you with courage.

أجَبْتَ الهُدى لمّا دعاكَ لِنَصْرِهِ

وجَرّدْتَ عزْماً إذ تَقَلّدتَ صارما

You answered guidance when it called you to its aid,

and unsheathed resolve when you girded on a keen sword,

بجيشٍ تثيرُ الجردُ فيه قساطلاً

تريكَ بها وَجْهَ الغزالةِ قائما

with an army whose sleek steeds raise clouds of dust,

through which you see the sun's face standing still.

إذا بَرَقَتْ فيه الأسنّةُ خِلْتَها

كواكبَ تجلو في السُّكاكِ غمائما

When the spearheads flash within it, you imagine them

stars dispelling clouds in the upper air.

غدَتْ خلفَهُ وَحْشُ العراءِ عواسلاً

وَمِنْ فوْقِهِ طيرُ الهواءِ حوائما

The wild beasts of the open waste went trotting behind it,

and above it the birds of the air circled.

كأنّ عُقابَ الجوّ هَزّتْ خوافياً

حواليكَ منه للوغى وَقَوَادِما

As though the sky's eagle shook its inner wing-feathers

and outer feathers from the host around you, ready for battle.

كأنّ زعيم الرّومِ وَيْلٌ لنفسه

أثارَ عليهِ مِنْكَ ليثاً ضُبارما

As though the Romans' leader—woe to his soul!—

had roused against himself, in you, a mighty lion.

نَقَمْتَ على من آسفوك بيوسفٍ

وما زلتَ ممن خالفَ الحقّ ناقما

You took vengeance on those who grieved you over Yusuf,

and have ever taken vengeance on those who opposed the truth.

وآذنت عُمّار القفار بحربهم

فيا قُرْبَ ما شَقّوا إليك الخضارما

And you told the desert-dwellers of war against them;

how swiftly they cleaved the vast seas to reach you!

بنو الحرب غذّتْهم لَبَانَ ثُدِيّها

ولم يستطيبوا منه إلا العَلاقما

Sons of war, whom she nourished with her breasts' milk,

yet they relished nothing of it but bitter colocynth.

يَحُثّونَ للهَيْجاء جُرْداً سلاهباً

وَيُنْضُونَ في البيداءِ بُزلاً صَلادِما

They urge long-bodied, sleek steeds on to battle,

and wear out massive, full-grown camels in the wasteland.

إذا طَعَنوا بالسهريّةَ خِلْتَهُم

ضراغمَ تُغْري بالقلوب أراقما

When they thrust with Sahriyya spears, you imagine them

lions setting speckled serpents upon hearts.

وإن كرّ منهم ذو لثامٍ مُصَمِّمٌ

غدا لفم الهيجاء بالسيف لائما

And if a resolute, veiled warrior among them charges,

he rebukes the mouth of battle with his sword.

ولما التقى بالرّوم طارتَ قلوبُهُمْ

كأنْ لم تكنْ أوكارهُنّ الحيازما

And when he met the Romans, their hearts took flight,

as though their breasts had never been their nests.

كأنّكَ حرّمْتَ الحياة عليهمُ

غداةَ الوغى لما استحلّوا المحارما

As though you had forbidden them life

on battle's morning, because they had deemed forbidden things lawful.

فلم تَبقَ من أهل الضّلالِ بَقِيّةٌ

لقد عادتِ الأعراسُ فيهم مآتما

So not a remnant of the people of error survived;

their weddings had indeed become gatherings of mourning.

جعلتَ ثيابَ المشرفيّةِ منهم

دماءً وتيجانَ الرماح جماجما

You made the Mashrafi swords' garments of their

blood, and the spears' crowns of skulls.

فلا عجبٌ أن قَدّتِ البيضُ هامَهُمْ

فتلك حروفُ اللين لاقتْ جوازما

No wonder the bright swords cleft their heads:

for those were weak letters that met apocopating agents.

أرى الفُنْشَ ولّى يومَ لاقى فوارساً

مَغافرُهُمْ لاثُوا عليها العمائما

I see Alfonso turned away the day he met horsemen

with turbans wound over their mail-coifs.

يلومُ صليبَ العود وهو يلومه

ومن يَغْوَ لا يَعْدَمْ على الغيّ لائما

He blames the wooden cross, while it blames him;

and whoever strays will never lack a reprover for his error.

نَوى خدعةً في الحرب والحرب خَدعةٌ

فأدْبَرَ مهزوماً وقد كان هازما

He intended a ruse in war—and war is a ruse—

so he fled defeated, though he had been victorious.

ومعتادةٍ أكْلَ الكماةِ جيوشها

أعاربُ تدعو للنّزال أعاجما

And many a battle accustomed to devouring champions, whose armies

were Arabs summoning non-Arabs to combat!

إذا اختصموا في اللّه كانت قضاتُهُمْ

قواضبَ تَقْضي بينهم ولهاذما

When they disputed over God, their judges were

cutting swords passing judgment between them, and keen spearheads.

علوجٌ حَشَوْا في الكفر بالغيظ أعيناً

وقد ملؤوا منها قلوباً سخائما

Foreign infidels filled their eyes with rage in unbelief,

and from those eyes filled their hearts with rancor.

أفاضوا من الماذيّ ماءً عليهمُ

ليطفئ عنهمْ من لظى الحرب جاحما

They poured over themselves water from fine mail,

to quench for them the raging blaze of war.

أدَرْتَ رحاها دَوْرَةً عَرَبِيّةً

تَرَكتَ عظامَ الروم فيها هشائما

You gave its millstone an Arab turn,

leaving the Romans' bones shattered within it.

كأنّ كراتٍ وَهْيَ هامُهُمُ غَدَتْ

صوالجها بيضاً تحزّ الغلاصما

As though balls—their very heads—now had

bright swords for polo-mallets, slicing throats.

وأيدٍ بنت في القفر منها صوامعاً

وكانت لها بالمرهفات هوادما

And hands built hermit-towers of them in the wilderness,

and had been their destroyers with keen blades.

علاهُنّ للتأذين كلّ مُكَبّرٍ

تكادُ له كفٌّ تَمَسّ الغمائما

Every caller of 'God is greatest' climbed them for the call to prayer,

his hand almost touching the clouds.

وتحسبُها في كلّ بيداءَ عُنْصُلاً

تَرَى ناثراً فيها لهنّ وناظما

And you would take them in every desert for squill bulbs;

you see one scattering them there and one stringing them together.

لواؤك نادى للقِرى من لحومهم

خوامعْ من آفاقها وَقَشاعِماً

Your banner called, to feast upon their flesh,

limping beasts from their horizons, and old vultures.

كأنّ عُفاةً منهما يَوْمَ أقْبَلَتْ

بذَلْتَ لها قَتْلَ العلوجِ مكارماً

As though they were supplicants from both kinds, on the day they came,

you bestowed on them the slaying of foreign infidels as generous gifts.

هناك ثنيتَ الكفرَ خزيانَ باكياً

نعم ورددت الدينَ جذلانَ باسما

There you turned unbelief back, disgraced and weeping;

yes, and restored the faith, joyful and smiling.

حلمتمْ مراجيحاً وَجُدْتُمْ أكارماً

وسدتمْ بهاليلاً وصلتمْ ضراغما

You showed forbearance as men of sound judgment, and gave as noble men;

and ruled as illustrious chiefs and charged as lions.

سكنتمْ قلوبَ العارفينَ محبّةً

كما سكنَ الزهرُ الذكيّ الكمائما

You dwelt, through love, in the hearts of those who know,

as fragrant blossoms dwell within their bud-sheaths.

نَذرْتُ نذوراً فاقتضاني قضاءها

إيابُكَ من يوْمِ العروبة سالما

I made vows, and their fulfillment was demanded of me by

your safe return from the day of al-ʿAruba.

ولمّا وجدتُ الوفرَ أعوزَ راحتي

سجدتُ لربّي ثمّ أصبحْتُ صائما

And when I found that wealth eluded my palm,

I prostrated myself to my Lord, then began the morning fasting.