ألا فانتبه من أفقها طلع الفجر — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

أَلاَ فَانْتبه من أُفْقِها طلعَ الفَجْرُ

وحاشاك نَمْ مِنْ وَجْهها ضَحِكَ الثَّغْرُ

Lo, awaken: dawn has risen from her horizon.

And sleep—far be it from you!—the mouth has smiled from her face.

هو الثَّغْرُ إِلاَّ أَنَّه الصبحُ طالِعاً

على أَنَّه الكَافُورُ لكنَّه الدُّرُ

It is her mouth, yet it is dawn rising,

though it is camphor—yet it is pearls.

إِذا ابْتَسمت لم تُبق للشَّمْسِ آيَةٍ

وتغتاظُ منها الشَّمْسُ إِذْ يَفْرحُ البدرُ

When she smiles, she leaves the sun no sign of splendor,

and the sun is angered by her while the full moon rejoices.

وما رضيَتْ سودَ الليالي ضفائراً

عليها ولا أَنَّ الهلالَ لها ظُفْر

She would not accept the black nights as braids

upon her, nor the crescent moon as her fingernail.

ومحسودَةِ الأَنْفاسِ مغبوطةِ اللِّمى

فحاسدُ ذا مِسكٌ وغابِطُ ذَا خَمْرُ

And one whose breath is envied, whose dark lips are coveted:

musk envies the former, and wine covets the latter.

وشاطِرةِ العينين شَاطَرتِ المَهَا

فكَان لها مِنْ فَتْرها الشَّطرُ والشَّطْرُ

And she of cunning eyes, who shared with the oryxes,

so one half of their languor was hers—and the other half.

وساحرةٍ صَانَتْ سُلافَةَ ثَغْرِها

بكأْسٍ به كَسْرٌ وهَذَا هُو السِّحْرُ

And a sorceress who preserved the pure wine of her mouth

in a cracked cup—and this is the magic.

وشى المسْكُ إِذْ زَارت فلا كانت الظِّبَا

ونَمَّ عليها الحْليُ لاَ خُلِق التِّبرُ

Musk betrayed her when she visited—may gazelles never have existed!

And her jewelry gave her away—may gold never have been created!

قصيرةُ لحظِ الطَّرفِ من فَرْط عُجْبها

وأَمْضى السيوفِ الهندوانيةِ البُتْر

Her glance is brief from excessive self-admiration,

yet the keenest of the cutting Indian swords.

يعانقُ كفَّيها الخضابُ صبابةً

فلا رَاعَه ما رَاعَني وهْو الهَجْرُ

Henna embraces her palms with longing;

may it never fear what frightened me: estrangement.

وقد وطئَتْه حين أَصْبحَ عاشِقاً

كأَنَّ عليها وطءَ عُشَّاقها نَذْرُ

She trampled it when it became a lover,

as though she were vowed to trample her lovers.

فلا تُنكِروا مِنْها الخِضَابَ فإِنَّما

هي الغُصْنُ في أَطرافه الوَرَق الخضْر

So do not disapprove of her henna, for indeed

she is the branch, with green leaves upon its tips.

وكَمْ سَائِلٍ قَدْ قَال هل هي روضةُ

فقلتُ وَعِقْدُ الدُّرِّ في جيدِها النَّهْرُ

How many a questioner has asked, “Is she a garden?”

I replied, “And the pearl necklace upon her neck is its river.”

ومِنْ يوم أَن أَبصرْتُها بُعِثَ الْهَوى

ومِنْ يوم أَنْ فَارقْتُها دُفِن الصَّبْرُ

From the day I saw her, love was resurrected;

from the day I left her, patience was buried.

عجبتُ لِسَعْي الدَّهْر بيني وبينَها

فلمَّا انْقَضى ما كان لم يَسْكُنِ الدَّهْرُ

I marveled at Time's dealings between her and me;

when what had happened ended, Time still would not rest.

وأَكثرُ هَوْني في هَواهَا وذِلَّتِي

سلوبه تيه وصبر به كبر

The greatest part of my abasement and humiliation in loving her

is forgetfulness marked by haughtiness, and patience marked by pride.

أمتعبة عيني بدقة خصرها

لأَتْعبَ عيني مِنْ تَأَمُّلِه الخصرُ

Does she weary my eye with the slenderness of her waist?

Her waist has indeed worn out my eye with gazing at it.

متى تَستريحُ العينُ مِنيِّ بنَظْرةٍ

إِلى الْوَصْل يُثْني لي بها عيشيَ النضرُ

When will this eye of mine find rest in a glance

toward union, bringing my flourishing life back to me?

فلا تَيأَسَنْ يا قلبُ أَنْ تبلغَ المنَى

ولا تعجَبنْ إِنْ قِيلَ قَد أَوْرَق الصَّخْرُ

Do not despair, O heart, of attaining your wishes;

nor marvel if you are told that rock has put forth leaves.

نعم صَحَّ فأْلي قَدْ أَجَابت وأَنْعَمتْ

فلا لَوْعَتي سِرٌّ ولاَ دَمْعَتي جَهْرُ

Yes, my omen proved true: she answered and granted favor,

so I have neither secret anguish nor openly shed tears.

هنيئاً لمصرٍ أَنَّها حلَّها النَّدى

وبُشرى لمصرٍ أَنَّها جَاءَها الْبَحرُ

Blessed is Egypt, for generosity has settled within her;

and glad tidings to Egypt, for the sea has come to her.

هنيئاً لها أَنْ يَسَّر الله يُسرَها

فلا عسرَ إِلاَّ جاءَ مِن بَعْده يُسْرُ

Blessed is she, whose ease God has made easy;

for no hardship comes but ease arrives after it.

لقد جاءَ مصراً نيلُها في أَوَانِه

فليستْ تُبالي ضنَّ أَمْ سَمَح الْقَطْرُ

Egypt's Nile has indeed arrived in its season,

so she cares not whether the rain withholds or gives freely.

وعادَ إِلى صَدْرِ الأَقاليمِ قَلْبُه

فعاشَ ولولاَ الْقَلْبُ لَمْ يُخْلق الصَّدْرُ

And to the breast of the provinces its heart returned,

and it came to life; without the heart, the breast would not have been created.

وسارَ إِليها مَنْ له البَأْسُ والنَّدَى

وصارَ إِليْها مَنْ بِه النَّفْع والضُرُّ

To her traveled he who possesses might and generosity;

to her came he through whom come benefit and harm.

وزيرٌ ملوكُ الأَرضِ مِن وُزرائِه

يُصرِّفُهم مِن قوله النَّهيُ والأَمْرُ

A minister, with the earth's kings among his ministers,

his spoken prohibitions and commands direct them.

يَريشونَ أَو يَبرون عند حُضُورِه

فإِنْ غَاب عنهم لم يريشُوا وَلَمْ يبْرُوا

They feather or pare arrows in his presence;

if he is absent from them, they neither feather nor pare.

أَبانوا برفْع الفاضلِ النَّدب فَضْلَهُم

وأَعْلَوا لَهُ قَدْراً فَصارَ لهم قدْرُ

They displayed their merit by exalting the noble al-Fadil,

and raised his standing, thereby gaining standing themselves.

وما فاتَه إِلا الجيوشُ يَجُرُّها

وقد جَرَّ منها ما يَضيقُ بِه البَرُّ

Only armies to lead had eluded him,

yet he has led enough of them to make the land too narrow.

ولا فرقَ لولا اللَّونُ بين سِلاَحِهم

فآراؤُه بِيضٌ ورَاياتُهم صُفْرُ

But for color, there is no difference between their weapons:

his counsels are white, and their banners yellow.

وخاض بِهم في البَّر بحراً من الرَّدَى

طرائقُه سودٌ وأَمواجُه حُمْر

With them he waded, on land, through a sea of death,

its paths black and its waves red.

وجازَ طريقاً يرهَب النسرُ قَطْعَها

على أَنَّه نَسْرُ الكواكب لا النَّسرُ

He crossed a road that even the Eagle fears to traverse—

the Eagle among the stars, not the bird.

ويطلعُ فيها الصُّبح والَّليلُ بَعْدَهُ

وفي قلبٍ ذا خوفٌ وفي صدرِ ذَا ذُعْرُ

There dawn rises, with night following after it,

with fear in one's heart and terror in the other's breast.

تَهابُ الرِّياحُ الهوجُ مَسَّ تُرابِها

فما نَالَه ذُلُّ السِّباءِ وَلا الأَسْرُ

The raging winds fear to touch its dust;

so neither the shame of enslavement nor captivity has touched it.

وجازَ وأَنْفُ الكفْرِ في التُّربِ رَاغمٌ

ومَا زَال مِن إِيمانِه يُرغَمُ الكُفْرُ

He passed while unbelief's nose lay abased in the dust,

and his faith has ever brought unbelief low.

تحفُّ به من خلفِه وأَمامِه

مهنَّدةٌ بيضٌ وخطِّيةٌ سمرُ

Surrounding him, behind and before,

are white Indian swords and brown Khatt spears.

فتحرسُه من جُنده البيض والقَنا

وتَحرسُها منه التِلاوَةُ والذِّكْرُ

The swords and spears of his troops guard him,

while his recitation and remembrance guard them.

وآبَ كَأَوْبِ النَّصْلِ للغمدِ سَالِماً

على أَنَّ ذاكَ النَّصْلَ مَا فاتَه النَّصرُ

He returned safe, as a blade returns to its sheath,

though that blade had not missed victory.

فأَقربُ شيءٍ بعد رُؤيَته الغِنى

وأَبْعدُ شيءٍ بَعْد رُؤْيَتِه الفَقْرُ

After seeing him, the nearest thing is wealth;

after seeing him, the farthest thing is poverty.

وأَنهضُ شيءٍ من أَناملِه اللُّهى

وأَعجزُ شيءٍ عَنْ مدائِحه الفكرُ

Nothing springs more readily from his fingertips than lavish gifts;

nothing is more helpless before his praises than thought.

فليسَ يُوفِّي كنهَه الوصفَ جَاهداً

وليس يُؤدّي حقَّ نعمته الشُّكرُ

Description, however hard it strives, cannot fully convey his essence,

nor can gratitude repay what is due for his favor.

ومن كان في الذكرِ الحكيمِ مَديحُه

فماذا يقولُ النَّظمُ فيه أَو النَّثرُ

And one whose praise is in the Wise Reminder—

what can verse or prose say of him?

إِذا قيل بيتٌ قد تَحلَّى بنَعْتِه

فما هو إِلاَّ مِنْ جَلالَتِه قَصْرُ

If a verse is said to be adorned with his description,

through his majesty it is nothing but a palace.

شريفُ المعالِي يَشْرُفُ المدحُ باسمِه

ويفخرُ في يومِ الفَخَار به الفَخْرُ

Noble in lofty deeds, he ennobles praise with his name;

on the day of boasting, pride itself boasts of him.

ولا عيبَ في إِنْعامِه غيرَ أَنَّه

يُعلَّم منه كيفَ يُستعبدُ الحُرُّ

There is no fault in his beneficence except that

one learns from it how a free man is enslaved.

جَرى النَّاسُ في آثارِه فتعثَّرُوا

ومِنْ قبلِهم ريحُ الجنائِب والقَطْرُ

People ran in his footsteps and stumbled,

as the south winds and the rain had done before them.

وإنْ أَشبهوه خِلْقةً لا سجيَّة

فلا عجباً قد يشبه العسجدَ الصُّفْرُ

If they resemble him in appearance, not in character,

there is no wonder: brass may resemble pure gold.

أَيا نعمةً من بعدِ أَنْ نالنا الأَذَى

ويا رحمةً من بعدِ أَنْ مَسَّنا الضُّرُّ

O blessing, after harm had reached us,

and O mercy, after affliction had touched us!

قدمتَ ربيعاً في ربيعٍ وفصلُنا

ربيعٌ فجاءَ النَّهر والشَّهرُ والزَّهْرُ

You came as a river in Rabi', and our season

was spring: thus came river, month, and blossom.

وذا السجعُ سجعٌ ليس في النثرِ مثلُه

وهذا جناسٌ ليس يُحسِنه الشِّعْرُ

This rhyming has no equal in prose,

and this is wordplay that poetry cannot master.

أُعيد لمصرٍ حين عدتَ لها الهُدَى

ودفعُ الرَّدى والحلمُ والكرمُ والوِتر

When you returned, guidance was restored to Egypt,

and the warding off of death, forbearance, generosity, and vengeance.

على كَبِدي من قُربِك البردُ والنَّدى

كما كان فيها قبلَ رُؤْيتِك الجَمرُ

Your nearness brings coolness and dew to my liver,

just as embers lay there before I saw you.

وإِني أَسرُّ العالمين لأَنَّنِي

تصوَّرْتُ حيّاً بعد أَنْ ضمَّني الْقبرُ

I am the happiest of all people, because

I pictured myself alive after the grave had enfolded me.

رفعتَ عِمادي في بِلادي وغيرِها

فقد صار لي صِيتٌ وقد صارَ لي ذكرُ

You raised my pillar in my homeland and beyond;

so I now have renown, and now my name is remembered.

فأَدنيتَ آمالي على أَنَّها عُلاً

وأَكمدتَ أَعْدائِي عَلى أَنَّهم كُثْرُ

You brought my hopes near, though they were lofty,

and grieved my enemies, though they were many.

فدامَت لك النُّعمَى وذَلَّت لك العِدى

ودانَتْ لك الدُّنيا وطالَ لك العُمْر

May your blessings endure and your enemies be humbled before you;

may the world obey you and your life be long.