أحبب بتياك القباب قبابا — Ibn Hani Andalusia

أحْبِبْ بتَيّاكَ القِبَابِ قِباباً

لا بالحُداةِ ولا الركابِ رِكابا

How dear are those domed canopies—canopies indeed!

Not the camel-drivers, nor the camels as camels.

فيها قلوبُ العاشقينَ تخالُها

عَنَماً بأيْدي البِيضِ والعُنّابا

Within them are lovers' hearts; you would think them

red ʿanam fruit in fair women's hands, and jujubes.

بأبي المهَا وحْشِيّةً أتْبَعْتُها

نَفَساً يُشيّعُ عِيسَها ما آبا

My father be ransom for those wild oryx-maidens! I sent after them

a sigh that escorted their pale camels and never returned.

واللّهِ لولا أن يُسفّهني الهوى

ويقولَ بعضُ القائلينَ تصابَى

By God, were it not that passion would make me foolish

and some speaker say, 'He is playing the youth,'

لكسْرتُ دُمْلُجَها بضيق عناقِها

ورشفتُ من فيها البَرودِ رُضابا

I would have broken her armlet with the tightness of my embrace,

and sipped sweet saliva from her cool mouth.

بِنْتُمْ فلولا أن أُغيّرَ لِمتي

عَبَثاً وألقاكمْ عليّ غِضابا

You departed; were it not that I would change my locks

in vain, and meet you angry with me,

لخَضَبْت شَيباً في عِذاري كاذباً

ومَحَوْت محْوَ النِّقسِ عنه شبابا

I would have dyed a false grayness into my sideburns,

and erased youth from them as one erases ink.

وخلعْتُه خلْعَ العِذارِ مُذَمَّماً

واعتَضْتُ مِن جِلبابِهِ جِلبابا

And cast it off, condemned, as one casts off a bridle,

and exchanged its robe for another robe.

وخضَبْتُ مُسْوَدَّ الحِداد عليكُمُ

لو أنّني أجِدُ البَياضَ خِضابا

And dyed the blackness of my mourning for you,

if only I could find whiteness as a dye.

وإذا أردتَ على المشيبِ وِفادَةً

فاجعلْ إليه مَطيّكَ الأحقابا

And if you wish to visit gray old age,

make long ages your mounts to reach it.

فلتأخذَنّ من الزمان حَمامَةً

ولتدفعنّ إلى الزّمانِ غُرابا

Then you will surely take a dove from Time,

and surely give a raven back to Time.

ماذا أقول لريبِ دَهْرٍ جائرٍ

جَمَعَ العُداةَ وفرّقَ الأحبابا

What can I say to the vicissitudes of an unjust age,

which gathered enemies and scattered loved ones?

لم ألقَ شيئاً بعدَكم حسَناً ولا

مَلِكاً سوى هذا الأغرّ لُبابا

After you, I found nothing beautiful, nor

any king of pure worth save this radiant one.

هذا الذي قد جَلّ عن أسمائهِ

حتى حسبناها له أَلقابا

This is he who has grown too great for his names,

until we supposed them merely titles for him.

من ليس يرضى أن يسمى جعفراً

حتى يسمى جعفر الوهابا

He who will not consent to be called Jaʿfar

until he is called Jaʿfar the Bestower.

يَهَبُ الكتائبَ غانماتٍ والمَهَا

مُستَردَفاتٍ والجِيادَ عِرابا

He bestows battalions laden with booty, and oryx-maidens

seated behind their riders, and purebred Arabian steeds.

فكأنّما ضرَبَ السّماءَ سُرادقِاً

بالزّابِ أو رَفعَ النّجومَ قِبابا

It is as though he pitched the sky as a pavilion

in al-Zab, or raised the stars as domed canopies.

قد نالَ أسباباً إلى أفلاكِها

وسيَبْتَغي من بَعدِها أسْبابَا

He has gained means of ascent to their celestial spheres,

and will seek further means beyond them.

لبِسَ الصّباحُ به صَباحاً مُسْفرِاً

وسقَتْ شَمائِلُه السّحابَ سحابَا

Morning, through him, has donned a radiant morning,

and his virtues have watered the clouds with clouds.

قد باتَ صَوْبُ المُزْن يسترِقُ النّدى

من كفّه فرأيتُ منه عُجابَا

The clouds' downpour spent the night stealing dew

from his palm; I saw a wonder in it.

لم أدْرِ أنّى ذاك إلاّ أنّني

قد رابَني من أمرِهِ ما رابَا

I did not know how that could be, save that I

was troubled by something troubling in its conduct.

وبأيّ أُنمُله أطافَ ولم يَخَفْ

من بأسِها سَوطاً علَيهِ عَذابَا

And around which fingertip did it circle without fearing

a punishing lash upon it from that fingertip's might?

وهوَ الغريقُ لئنْ توسّطَ موجَها

والبحرُ مُلتَجٌّ يَعُبُّ عُبابَا

It would surely drown if it entered the midst of its waves,

while the sea heaves and pours forth its surge.

ماضي العزائمِ غيرُه اغتَنَمَ اللُّهَى

في الحربِ واغتنَمَ النفّوسَ نِهابَا

Unwavering in resolve—others won riches

in war, but he won souls as plunder.

فكأنّه والأعوَجيَّ إذا انتَحَى

قمَرٌ يُصرّفُ في العنانِ شِهابَا

It is as though he, with the Aʿwaji steed when he charges,

were a moon guiding a meteor by the rein.

ما كنتُ أحسَبُ أن أرَى بشراً كذا

ليثاً ولا دِرْعاً يسمّى غابَا

I never thought to see a mortal so

lionlike, nor armor called a forest:

وَرداً إذا ألقَى على أكتادِهِ

لِبْداً وصرّ بحَدّ نابٍ نابَا

a tawny lion, when he casts upon his shoulders

a mane, and grinds a fang against a fang's edge.

فرَشَتْ له أيدي الليوثِ خدودَها

ورَضينَ ما يأتي وكنّ غِضابا

The lions' paws laid their cheeks flat before him,

and they accepted what he did, though they were enraged.

لولا حفائظهُ وصَعْبُ مِراسِهِ

ما كانتِ العرَبُ الصّعاب صِعابا

But for his protective zeal and formidable mettle,

the fierce Arabs would not have been fierce.

قد طيّبَ الأفواهَ طِيبُ ثنائِهِ

فَمِنَ اجلِ ذا نجدُ الثّغورَ عِذابا

The sweetness of praise of him has sweetened mouths,

and that is why we find lips sweet.

لو شَقّ عن قلبي امتحانُ ودَادهِ

لوجدتَ من قلبي عليه حجابا

If testing my love for him laid my heart open,

you would find a veil made of my heart over him.

قد كنتُ قبلَ نَداكَ أُزجي عارضاً

فأشيمُ منه الزِّبرجَ المُنجابا

Before your bounty, I used to drive a raincloud onward,

and watch its thin, gleaming cloud disperse.

آليتُ أصدُرُ عن بحارك بعدما

قِستُ البحار بها فكنّ سرابا

I swore to depart from your seas, after

I had measured the seas against them, and they proved mirages.

لم تُدْنِني أرضٌ إليكَ وإنّما

جِئْتُ السماءَ ففُتّحَتْ أبوابا

No land brought me near to you; rather,

I came to heaven, and its gates were opened.

ورأيتُ حولي وَفْدَ كلّ قبيلةٍ

حتى توهّمتُ العراقَ الزّابا

And I saw around me the delegation of every tribe,

until I imagined Iraq to be al-Zab.

أرضاً وَطئْتُ الدُّرَّ رَضراضاً بها

والمسكَ ترباً والرّياضَ جنابا

A land where I trod pearls as pebbles,

and musk as soil, and gardens as its surrounding grounds.

وسمِعْتُ فيها كلّ خُطبة فَيْصَلٍ

حتى حَسِبْتُ مُلوكَها أعْرابا

And there I heard every decisive oration,

until I thought its kings were Bedouins.

ورأيتُ أجبُلَ أرضها مُنقادةً

فحسِبْتُها مدّتْ إليكَ رِقابا

I saw the mountains of its land bowing in submission,

and thought they had stretched their necks toward you.

وسألتُ ما للدّهرِ فيها أشْيَباً

فإذا به من هوْل بأسكَ شابا

I asked why Time there was gray-haired,

and found it had turned gray from the terror of your might.

سَدّ الإمامُ بكَ الثغورَ وقبلَهُ

هَزَمَ النبيُّ بقوْمكَ الأحزابا

The Imam secured the frontiers through you, and before him

the Prophet routed the Confederates through your people.

لو قلتُ إنّ المُرهَفاتِ البِيضَ لم

تُخْلَقْ لغَيركُمُ لقُلتُ صَوابا

If I said that keen-edged, gleaming swords were not

created for anyone but you, I would speak truly.

أنتُمْ ذَوُو التيجانِ من يَمنٍ إذا

عُدّ الشّريفُ أرومةً ونِصابا

You are the bearers of crowns from Yemen, when

nobility is reckoned by lineage and stock.

إن تمتثِلْ منها الملوكُ قصورَكمْ

فَلَطالَما كانوا لها حُجّابا

If kings take your palaces there as their model,

they have long served as their chamberlains.

هَلْ تشكُرَنّ ربيعةُ الفَرَسِ التي

أوْلَيْتُمُوها جَيئَةً وذَهَابا

Will Rabiʿat al-Faras give thanks—she whom

you have favored in coming and going?

أو تحمدُ الحمراءُ من مُضَرٍ لكُمْ

مَلِكاً أغَرّ وقادةً أنجابا

Or will the Red Ones of Mudar praise you for

a radiant king and noble-born commanders?

أنتُمْ منَحْتُمْ كلّ سيّد معشَرٍ

بالقُرْبِ من أنسابكم أنسابا

You have granted every chief of a people

lineage through nearness to your lineages.

هَبْكُمْ مَنحْتُمْ هذه البِدَرَ التي

عُلِمَتْ فكيف منحتُمُ الأنسابا

Suppose you granted those money-purses

that are known of—how did you grant lineages?

قلتم فأُصمِتَ ناطِقٌ وصَمَتُّمُ

فبلغتمُ الإطنابا والإسهابا

You spoke, and a speaker was silenced; you fell silent,

yet attained fullness and expansiveness of speech.

أقسمتُ لو فارقتُمُ أجسامَكم

لَبَقيتُمُ من بعْدها أحبابا

I swear, if you left your bodies,

you would remain beloved after them.

ولوَ اَنّ أوطانَ الدّيارِ نَبَتْ بكم

لَسَكنتُمُ الأخلاقَ والآدابا

And if the places you called home proved inhospitable,

you would dwell in virtues and refined manners.

يا شاهِداً لي أنّه بَشَرٌ ولوْ

أنبأتُهُ بخصاله لارتابا

O witness to me that he is human—if

I told him of his qualities, he would doubt it.

لكَ هذه المُهَجُ التي تدعَى الوَرَى

فأمُرْ مُطاعَ الأمْرِ وادْعُ مُجابا

Yours are these living souls that are called mankind;

so command and be obeyed, and call and be answered.

لو لم تكن في السلم أنطَقَ ناطقٍ

لكفاكَ سيفُك أن يُحيرَ خِطابا

If you were not the most eloquent speaker in peace,

your sword would suffice to return an answer.

ولئن خرجتَ عن الظنونِ ورجمِها

فلَقَدْ دخلْتَ الغيبَ باباً بابا

Though you have passed beyond conjectures and their guesswork,

you have indeed entered the unseen, gate by gate.

ما اللّهُ تاركَ ظُلْمِ كفّكَ للُّهى

حتى يُنَزّلَ في القِصاصِ كتابا

God will not let your hand's wrong against riches go unanswered

until He sends down a book concerning requital.

ليس التعَجّبُ من بحَارِكَ إنّني

قِسْتُ البحارَ بها فكُنّ سَرابا

The wonder is not at your seas; I

measured the seas against them, and they were mirages.

لكنْ من القَدَرِ الّذي هو سابِقٌ

إنْ كانَ أحْصَى ما وَهَبْتَ حسابا

But at fate, which runs ahead:

whether it has kept count of all you bestowed.

إني اختصرْتُ لك المديحَ لأنّه

لم يَشْفنِي فجعلْتُهُ إغبابا

I have shortened my praise for you, because

it did not soothe me, so I made it intermittent.

والذّنْبُ في مَدْحٍ رأيتُكَ فوقهُ

أيُّ الرّجال يُقالُ فيكَ أصابا

The fault lies in praise that I saw you surpass;

which man can be said to have hit the mark in praising you?

هَبْني كذي المحراب فيك ولُوّمي

كالخصْمِ حين تَسَوّرُوا المِحرابا

Count me, concerning you, as the man of the sanctuary, and my reproachers

as the disputants when they scaled the sanctuary.

فأنا المُنيبُ وفيه أعظمُ أُسْوةٍ

قد خَرّ قبلي راكعاً وأنابا

For I am repentant, and in him is the greatest example:

he fell bowing before I did, and turned back in repentance.