بكيت لبرق لاح بالثغر باسمه — Ibn Masum

بَكيتُ لبرقٍ لاحَ بالثغر باسمُه

فَكانَت جفوني لا السحاب غمائمُه

I wept at lightning whose smile shone upon the lips;

so my eyelids, not the clouds, became its rainclouds.

أَما وَالهَوى لَولا تَساجُمُ عبرتي

لَما لامَ قَلبي في الصَبابة لائمُه

Indeed, by love, were it not for my streaming tears,

no censurer would blame my heart for its longing.

كتمتُ خَفايا الحبِّ بين جوانحي

فنمَّت دموعي بالَّذي أَنا كاتِمُه

I concealed love's secrets within my ribs,

but my tears betrayed what I was concealing.

وَمن يُمسك الأجفانَ وهي سحائبٌ

إذا لمعت لمعَ البروق مباسمُه

And who can restrain eyelids when they are clouds,

when his smiling lips flash with lightning's gleam?

خَليليَّ قد أَبرمتماني مَلامةً

وأَلَّمتما قَلبي بما لا يلائمُه

My two friends, you have wearied me with reproach

and pained my heart with what does not suit it.

كأَنّي بدعٌ في مُلابَسة الهَوى

وَلَم يَكُ قَبلي مغرمُ القلب هائمُه

As though I were an unprecedented case in love,

and none before me had a lovesick, wandering heart.

تَرومانِ مِن قَلبي السلوَّ جهالةً

بما أَنا من سرِّ المحبَّة عالمُه

You seek forgetfulness from my heart, ignorant

of what I know of love's mystery.

وَكَيفَ سلوّي مَن أَلِفتُ وإنَّنا

لإِلفان مُذ نيطَت بكلٍّ تمائمُه

How could I forget the one I have loved, when we

have been companions since each had his amulets hung upon him?

سَقى اللَهُ أَيّامي بمكَّة والصِبا

تفتَّحُ عن نورِ الشباب كمائمُه

May God water my days in Mecca, when youth

opened its buds to the bloom of young manhood.

وَحَيّا الحَيا ربعَ الهوى بسوَيقة

وجاد بأَجيادٍ من الدَمع ساجمُه

And may rain greet love's dwelling in Suwayqa,

and flowing tears rain richly upon Ajyad.

لَياليَ أَغفو في ظِلال بَشاشةٍ

ولم ينتبه من حادثِ الدَهر نائمُه

Those nights I dozed beneath the shade of cheerfulness,

and the slumbering calamity of time had not awakened.

هنالكَ لا ظبيُ الصَريم مصارمٌ

ولا جَذَّ حبلَ الوصل من هو صارمُه

There, the gazelle of the sands did not forsake me,

nor had the one who severs it cut the cord of union.

أَجرُّ ذيولي في بُلَهنية الصِبا

وَرَوضُ شبابي ناضر الغُصنِ ناعمُه

I trailed my hems in youth's carefree ease,

and my youth's garden had fresh and tender branches.

يواصلُني بدرٌ إذا تمَّ ضوؤه

يواريه من ليل الذَوائب فاحمُه

A full moon kept me company, and when his light grew full,

the coal-black night of his tresses concealed him.

وَكَم لَيلَةٍ وافى على حينِ غفلةٍ

فبتُّ بها حتّى الصَباحِ أنادمُه

How many a night he came at an unguarded hour,

and I spent it in convivial company with him until morning.

وأَفرشتُه منّي الترائبَ والحشا

وَباتَ وسادي زندُه ومعاصمُه

I spread my breast and inward heart as his bedding,

and my pillow that night was his forearm and wrists.

وَنحّى لِلَثمي عَن لَماه لثامَه

وَلَم أَدرِ غيري بات وَالبَدرُ لاثمُه

He drew his veil away from his dusky lips for my kiss,

and I knew no other who slept with the full moon kissing him.

فَبِتنا كَما شاءَ الغرامُ يلفُّنا

هوىً وتقىً لا تُستحلُّ محارمُه

So we spent the night as passion wished, enfolded

by love and piety, whose sacred bounds were not transgressed,

إِلى حين هبَّت نسمةُ الفجر واِنبرَت

تجرُّ ذيولاً في الرياض نسائمُه

until the dawn breeze stirred, and out came

its breezes, trailing their hems through the gardens.

وَسلَّ على اللَيل الصباحُ حسامَه

فَقامَت حَماماتُ الغُصون تخاصمُه

Morning drew its sword against the night,

and the doves on the boughs rose to quarrel with it.

فَقمنا ولَم يعلَق بنا ظنُّ كاشحٍ

ولا نطقَت عنّا لواشٍ نمائمُه

We rose, and no spiteful man's suspicion clung to us,

nor did a talebearer's slanders speak about us.

نعم قد صَفا ذاكَ الوِصالُ وقد عَفا

وَلَم تعفُ آثارُ الهوى وَمعالمُه

Yes, that union was pure, and it has passed away,

yet love's traces and landmarks have not faded.

إليكَ نصيرَ الدين بُحتُ بلوعةٍ

براني بها بَرد الهَوى وَسَمائمُه

To you, Nasir al-Din, I have confided a burning anguish

with which love's cold and scorching winds have worn me away.

وَلَولا اِعتقادي صدقَ ودِّك لم أبح

بما لستُ أَرضى أَنَّ غيرَك واهمُه

Were I not convinced of your affection's sincerity, I would not reveal

what I would not wish anyone else to imagine.

لعمري لأَنتَ الصادقُ الودِّ وَالَّذي

تصدِّقني فيما اِدَّعَيتُ مكارمُه

By my life, yours is true affection, and you are the one

whose noble qualities affirm the truth of my claim.

وأَنَّك فردٌ في زَمانٍ غدت به

عن الخير عُجماً عربُه وأَعاجِمُه

You are peerless in an age in which

its Arabs and non-Arabs have grown mute concerning goodness.

إِلى اللَه أَشكو منهُمُ عهدَ معشر

تَحايدُ عن حِفظ الذِمام ذمائمُه

To God I complain of these people's pledges,

whose shameful traits shun the keeping of obligations.

إِذا سَرَّ منهم ظاهرٌ ساءَ باطنٌ

تدبُّ إلى نهشِ الصَديق أراقمُه

If their outward face delights, their inward nature grieves:

its vipers creep forth to bite a friend.

عجمتُهمُ عجَمَ المثقّف عودَه

فَما ظَفِرت كفّي بصلبٍ معاجمُه

I tested them as the spear-straightener tests his shaft,

but my hand found none whose tested parts were sound.

فأَعرضتُ عنهم طاوياً كشحَ غائرٍ

على الودِّ منّي أَن تَذلَّ كرائمُه

So I turned from them, drawing in my flank, jealous

for my affection, lest its precious gifts be debased.

فَحَسبي نَصيرُ الدين في الدَهر ناصراً

على الدَهر إِن أَنحَت عليَّ مظالمُه

Nasir al-Din suffices me as a champion through time,

against time, should its injustices bear down upon me.

لَقَد ظفِرَت كفّايَ منه بماجدٍ

فواتحه محمودة وخواتمُه

My two hands have indeed found in him a noble man

whose beginnings and endings are praiseworthy.

فَتىً ثاقبُ الآراء طلّاعُ أَنجُدٍ

حميدُ المساعي مبرماتٌ عزائمُه

A young man of penetrating judgment, a climber of heights,

praiseworthy in his endeavors, his resolves firmly bound.

له خُلقٌ كالرَوضِ يعبقُ نشرُه

وَتفترُّ عن غرِّ السَجايا بواسِمُه

His character is like a garden whose perfume wafts,

and his smiles unfold to reveal radiant virtues.

هُوَ الخضِرُ الأَكنافِ والخِضرم الَّذي

يَرى وَشَلاً كلَّ الخضارِم عائمُه

He is verdant on every side, and the vast ocean whose

swimmer sees all vast oceans as a mere trickle.

وَزيرٌ له دَست الوزارة قائمٌ

وَعرشُ المَعالي أَيِّداتٌ قوائمُه

A vizier whose seat of office stands firm,

and the throne of high honors rests on mighty pillars.

إذا صاوَلَ الأَبطالَ شاهدتَ صائِلاً

تَزيدُ عَلى المرّيخ سطواً صوارمُه

When he challenges heroes, you behold an assailant

whose sharp swords surpass Mars in force of assault.

وإِن نافَثَ الكتّاب أَلفَيتَ كاتِباً

عُطاردُ في فنِّ الكتابة خادِمُه

If he vies with writers, you find a writer

whom Mercury serves in the art of writing.

إذا ما اِمتطَت متنَ اليَراع بنانُه

حوى قصباتِ السَبق ما هو راقمُه

When his fingertips mount the back of the reed pen,

what he inscribes wins the prize-reeds of victory.

فَيهزأُ بالمنثور ما هو ناثرٌ

وَيُزري بنظم الدُرِّ ما هو ناظِمُه

His prose scoffs at pearls strewn loose,

and his verse puts strung pearls to shame.

به أَنجبَت أَبناءُ فارسَ فارساً

تقدَّت به خَيلُ العُلى ورواسمُه

In him the sons of Persia have brought forth a knight

whose lead the steeds of eminence and his swift camels follow.

أَقرَّ له بالسَبق سُبّاقُ غايةٍ

وأَعظَمه من كُلِّ حيٍّ أعاظِمُه

The front-runners for the goal acknowledge his precedence,

and the greatest men of every tribe hold him great.

بَنى لَهُمُ بَيتاً من المجد باذخاً

له شَرَفٌ باقٍ رَفيعٌ دعائمُه

He built them a towering house of glory

whose honor endures and whose pillars rise high,

إلى مكرماتٍ كالشموسِ منيرةٍ

تَجَلّى بها من كُلِّ لَيلٍ أداهمُه

alongside noble deeds, luminous as suns,

through which the blackest darkness of every night is dispelled.

فَلِلَّه هاتيكَ المكارم إِنَّها

علائمُ مكنون العُلى وعيالمُه

God be praised for those noble deeds: they are

signs of hidden eminence and its deep oceans.

وَلِلَّه هاتيك الشمائِل إِنَّها

نوافجُ طيبٍ نشَّرتها لطائمُه

And God be praised for those qualities: they are

musk-pods of perfume that its caravans have spread abroad.

أَتَتني نَصيرَ الدين منكَ قصيدةٌ

تباري فُرادى الدَهر منها توائمُه

A poem from you has reached me, Nasir al-Din,

its paired verses rivaling time's solitary marvels.

تأَرَّج رَبعي من ذكا طيبِ نَشرِها

وَفاحَت علينا من شذاها نواسمُه

My dwelling grew fragrant with the richness of its sweet scent,

and gentle breezes of its aroma wafted over us.

كأَنَّ سحيقَ المِسكِ كانَ مدادَها

ومن عَذَب الريحان كانَت مراقمُه

As though powdered musk had been its ink,

and its pens had been made from sprigs of basil.

نشرتَ بها بُرد الشبابعلى اِمرئٍ

وحقِّك لا تثنيه عنك لوائمُه

With it you spread youth's mantle over a man

whom, by your honor, his reproachers cannot turn from you.

يُصافيكَ ودّاً لو مزجتَ بعذبه

أجاجاً حَلَت للشاربين علاقمُه

He offers you pure affection: were you to mix its sweet water

with brine, its bitter colocynths would taste sweet to drinkers.

وَيوليكَ عَهداً لا اِنفصامَ لعَقدهِ

وَلَو بلغ المجهودَ في السَعي فاصمُه

He grants you a pledge whose knot cannot be severed,

though its would-be breaker strain to the utmost.

فكن واثقاً منّي بأَوثق ذمَّةٍ

يلازمُني فيها الوفا وأُلازمُه

Be assured, then, of my most steadfast pledge,

in which loyalty clings to me, and I to it.

فَلَستُ كمن يَحلو لدى الودِّ قولُه

وَتُشجى بمرِّ الفعل منّي حلاقمُه

I am not like one whose words are sweet in friendship,

while his throats choke on the bitterness of deeds from me.

فإن شئتَ فاِخبُرني على كُلِّ حالة

تجد سيفَ صدقٍ لا يخونُك قائمُه

If you wish, then test me in every circumstance:

you will find a sword of truth whose hilt will not betray you.

أَبى أَن يُلمَّ الغَدرُ منّي بساحةٍ

عَلى نسبٍ طالَت فروعاً جَراثمُه

Treachery is barred from approaching any precinct of mine,

by a lineage whose roots have risen in lofty branches.

عزاه إلى العَليا لؤيُّ بن غالبٍ

وَعَبدُ مَناف ذو العَلاء وهاشِمُه

Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib traced it to the highest glory,

and Abd Manaf, possessor of eminence, and his Hashim;

وَشيبةُ ذو الحمد الَّذي وطئت به

عشائرُهُ فوق السُها وأقاومُه

and Shayba, possessed of praise, through whom

his clans and kinsfolk trod above al-Suha;

وَذو المجد عبدُ اللَه أَكرمُ والدٍ

لأكرم مَولودٍ نمته أَكارِمُه

and glorious Abd Allah, the noblest father

of the noblest child, brought forth by his noble forebears;

وَأَحمَدُ خَيرُ المرسَلين وصِنوهُ

عَليٌّ أَبو ريحانَتيه وَفاطِمُه

and Ahmad, best of the messengers, and his peer,

Ali, father of his two sweet-basil blossoms, and his Fatima;

وأَبناؤُه الغرُّ الجحاجحةُ الألى

بهم أَكملَ الدينَ الإلهيَّ خاتمُه

and his radiant sons, the mighty chiefs, those

through whom its Seal perfected the divine faith.

هم سادةُ الدُنيا وَساسةُ أَهلها

فمن ذا يناوي فخرهم وَيُقاومُه

They are the world's masters and the governors of its people:

who, then, can rival their glory and stand against it?

عليهم سَلامُ اللَه ما هلَّ عارضٌ

وَما شامَ برقٌ بالأُبيرق شائمُه

God's peace be upon them whenever a raincloud pours,

and whenever a watcher spies lightning at al-Ubayriq.