لي سمع صد عن قول اللواح — Ibn Hamdis

ليَ سَمْعٌ صدّ عن قَوْلِ اللّواحْ

وفؤادٌ هامَ بالغيدِ الملاحْ

My ear turned away from the reprover's words,

and my heart became infatuated with graceful beauties.

أحْدَقَ الوَجْدُ بهِ مِنْ حَدَقٍ

كَحَلَتْ بالحسنِ مرضاها الصّحاح

Longing encircled it, stirred by eyes

whose languid yet healthy gaze was kohled with beauty.

وَيح قلبٍ ضاقَ من أسهمها

عن جراحٍ وقعها فوق جراح

Alas for a heart left straitened by their arrows,

unable to bear wounds whose blows fall upon wounds.

ما أرَى دمعيَ إلّا دَمَها

ربَّما احمَرّ على خَدّي وَساح

I see my tears as nothing but those wounds' blood;

at times it reddens on my cheek and flows.

كم أسيرٍ من أُسارى قَيدِهِ

في وَثَاقِ الحبّ لا يرجو سَرَاح

How many a captive among those held in its fetters

is bound by love, hoping for no release!

وعليلٍ لا يداوى قَرْحُهُ

من جنيّ الرشفِ بالعذبِ القراح

And how many a sufferer whose wound goes unhealed

by the sweet, pure nectar harvested from kisses!

والغواني لا غنىً عن وَصلها

أبِغَيرِ الماء يَرْوَى ذو التِياح

And lovely women—one cannot do without their union;

can thirst be quenched by anything but water?

صَفِرَتْ كَفّايَ من صِفْرِ الوشاح

وهَفا حلمي بِهَيفاء رداح

My hands were emptied by one whose sash hangs empty,

and my reason went astray for a slender-waisted, full-hipped beauty.

طَفْلَةٌ تسرَحُ في أعطافِها

لِلأَظانين وللدَلِّ مراح

A tender maiden, within whose graceful curves

conjectures and coquetry find room to roam.

لَوْ هَفَا من أُذْنِها القُرْطُ على

حبلِها من بُعْدِ مَهْوَاهُ لطاح

Were the earring to slip from her ear onto

her shoulder, the long fall would destroy it.

تُورِدُ المِسْواكَ عذباً خَصِراً

كمُجاجِ النّحلِ قد شِيبَ براح

She dips the tooth-stick into a mouth sweet and cool,

like bees' honey blended with wine.

وإذا ما لاثِمٌ قَبّلَها

شقّ باللّثمِ شقيقاً عن أقاح

And whenever someone kisses her,

the kiss parts an anemone to reveal daisies.

طارَ قلبي نَحوَها لمّا مَشَى

حسنُها نحويَ للقلبِ جناح

My heart flew toward her when there came walking

her beauty toward me—the heart has wings.

ما رأتْ عَينٌ قطاةً قبلها

تتَهادى في قلوبٍ لا بطاح

No eye before her had seen a sandgrouse

swaying through hearts, not open plains.

لا ولا شمساً بَدَتْ في غُصُنٍ

وهو في حقف يُنَدّى ويَراح

No, nor a sun appearing upon a bough,

set in a curved sand dune, bedewed and breeze-caressed.

وكأنّ الحُسْنَ منها قائِلٌ

ما على من عَبَدَ الحُسْنَ جُنَاح

And it is as though her beauty says:

'There is no sin upon one who worships beauty.'

في اقترابِ الدّارِ أَشكو بُعدها

واقترابُ الدّارِ بالهَجرِ انتِزاح

Though her dwelling is near, I lament her distance;

a dwelling's nearness, with estrangement, is remoteness.

وكَأَنّي لعبةٌ في يَدها

ما لها تُتلفُ جِدّي بالمزاح

And I am like a plaything in her hand;

why does she ruin my earnestness with jest?

أوَ هذا كلّه من لِمّةٍ

أبْصَرَتْ فيها بياضَ الشيبِ لاح

And is all this because of a lock of hair

in which she saw the whiteness of gray hairs gleam?

ما تريدُ الخود من شيخٍ غدا

في مدى السّبْعينَ بالعُمْر وراح

What would a fair maiden want with an old man

who has gone and returned through seventy years of life?

كان مِسْكُ اللّيلِ في مفرِقِه

فانجَلى عنهُ بِكَافورِ الصّباح

The musk of night once lay in the parting of his hair,

then vanished from it before the camphor of morning.

يا بَني الأَمجادِ هذا زَمَنٌ

رَفعَ الآدابَ من بعدِ اطّراح

O sons of the illustrious, this is an age

that has exalted letters after they were cast aside.

فَسحابُ الجودِ وكّافُ الحيا

ومَراد العيش مُخْضَرّ النّواح

For the cloud of generosity pours abundant rain,

and life's pasture is green on every side.

ويمينُ ابنِ تميمٍ عَلّمَتْ

صنعةَ المعروفِ أيْمانَ الشّحاح

And the right hand of Ibn Tamim has taught

the right hands of misers the art of kindness.

مَلكٌ في البَهو منه أسَدٌ

يضعُ التّاجَ على البدر اللّياح

A king who is a lion within the hall,

setting the crown upon the radiant full moon.

حالفَ النّصرَ منَ اللّه فإن

لقيَ الأعداءَ لاقاهُ النّجاح

He has allied himself with victory from God; if

he meets his enemies, success meets him.

كلّما هَمَّ بأمْرٍ جَلَلٍ

أتعبَ الأيّامَ فيه واستراح

Whenever he resolves upon a mighty task,

he wearies the days with it and rests himself.

يهبُ الآلافَ هذي هِمّةٌ

ضاقَ عنه دهرهُ وهي فياح

He gives by the thousand—such is his lofty resolve;

his age is too narrow for him, while that resolve is vast.

لَستُ أَدري نشوَةً في عِطفه

للقاءِ الوفد أم هزّ ارتياح

I cannot tell: is there intoxication in his bearing

as he greets the delegation, or a shiver of delight?

لو غَدت جَدوَى يَدَيه قَهوةً

ما مَشى مِن سُكرِها في الأَرض صاح

If the bounty of his hands became wine,

its intoxication would leave no sober man walking the earth.

من ملوكٍ شُنّفَتْ آذانُهُمْ

بأغاريدَ من المدح فِصَاح

He is of kings whose ears have been adorned

with eloquent songs of praise.

تَكحُلُ الأَبصارُ مِنهُم بِسنا

أوجهٍ مثلِ الدّنانير صِباح

Eyes take their kohl from the radiance

of their faces, bright as dinars.

قرّ طبعُ الجود في شيمَتِه

ما لِطَبعِ المَرءِ عَنهُ مِن بَراح

The instinct of generosity is settled in his character;

a man's nature never departs from him.

بَعضُ ما يُسديهِ مِن إِحسانِهِ

جلّ عن كلّ تَمَنٍّ واقتِراح

Even a part of the kindness he bestows

surpasses every wish and request.

مِحْرَبٌ يَخرُجُ مِن أَغمَادِهِ

خُلُجاً توقدُ نِيرانَ الكِفاح

A fierce warrior who draws from his scabbards

streams that kindle the fires of combat.

يَتحَفُ الحَربَ جناحَيْ جَحْفَلٍ

يَقذِفُ الأَعداءَ بالمَوتِ الذّباح

He presents war with the two wings of a mighty host

that pelts the enemy with slaughtering death.

كُسِيَتْ قُمْصَ الأفاعي أُسُدٌ

تُوِّجَتْ فيه بِبيضات الأدَاح

Lions have been clad in vipers' shirts,

crowned within it with eggs from ostrich nests.

تحسبُ الورد نثيراً حَوْلَهُ

وهو مُحْمَرّ مُجاجاتِ الرّماح

You would think roses had been scattered around him,

but it is the red spittle of spears.

بَطَلٌ تَشْهَقُ مَنْ لهذمِهِ

في جباهِ الرّوعِ أفواهُ الجراح

A hero whose keen spear makes gasp

the mouths of wounds upon the brows of terror.

جاعِلٌ للقِرْنِ إنْ عانَقَهُ

سَيْفَهُ طوقاً وكفَّيْهِ وِشاح

For an adversary, if he embraces him, he makes

his sword a neck-ring and his two hands a sash.

يا وَهُوبَ العيدِ في بَعضِ النّدى

والغنى والجودِ والكُومِ اللّقاح

O you who bestow a feast-day with but part of your largesse,

and wealth, bounty, and high-humped milch camels!

إنَّ بَحرَيْك عَلى عَظمِهِما

حَسَدا كفَّيك في فيضِ السّماح

Your two seas, despite their vastness,

have envied your two hands for their overflowing generosity.

فإذا مُوّجَ هذا وطَما

برياحٍ جاشَ هذا برياح

When this one is churned to waves and swells

with winds, the other surges with the joy of giving.

حكيا جُودكَ جَهْلاً فهما

لا يزيدانِ به إلّا افتضاح

Ignorantly they have imitated your generosity, so they

gain from it nothing but disgrace.

كَثُرَ الخُلْفُ ومن دانَ به

وعلى فضلِكَ للنّاسِ اصطلاح

Disagreement abounds, as do those who profess it;

yet people are in accord about your excellence.

وإذا الفخرُ تسمّى أهلُهُ

كنتَ منهم في فمِ الفخر افتتاح

And when glory's people name themselves,

you are first among them upon glory's lips.