أحدث عنكم أن بعدكم دنا — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

أُحَدِّثُ عنكمْ أَنَّ بُعْدكُمُ دنا

فلا أَنتُم إِن صَحَّ هذا ولا أَنا

I report of you that your parting has drawn near;

if this is true, neither you nor I shall remain.

ولا صحَّ هذا أَو يَصحُّ من الضَّنى

جفونٌ لكم من أَجْلهَا خُلق الضَّنَى

May this never prove true—unless cured of languor are

eyelids of yours, for whose sake languor was created.

ولا يَدْخُل البينَ المُشِتُّ تطفُّلاً

فكَمْ ليلةٍ لم يَدْخُل الثوبُ بيننا

Let scattering separation not intrude uninvited;

how many a night no garment came between us!

إِلى ثَمَّ أَبْعِد يا سروري صبابةً

إِليهم ويا هَمِّي عليهمْ إِلى هُنَا

Go far over there, O my joy, in yearning

toward them; and O my sorrow for them, come here.

وفي مَنْ سرى واسْتَصْحب الوصْلَ والحَشَا

حبيبٌ سرى شَخْصاً وَوَصْلاً ومَسْكنا

Among those who journeyed by night, taking union and the heart along,

is a beloved who journeyed away in person, union, and dwelling.

أَهَمَّ به من كان سُرَّ ورُبَّما

أساءَ به الدَّهرُ الذي كان أَحْسَنا

Through him, one once gladdened was saddened; and perhaps

time, which had been kind, dealt harshly through him.

وما زالت الأَيامُ من لُؤْم طَبْعِها

تضر لتَفْدِي أَو تَسُرُّ لتُحْسنا

And days, from the baseness of their nature, have always

harmed to redeem, or gladdened to do good.

وقفنا على جَمْر الغَضا فكأَنَّما

وقَفْنا على أَوطانِهم من قلوبنا

We stood upon embers of ghada wood, as though

we stood upon their homelands within our hearts.

وباديةٍ للحُسْن أَما عقيقها

فخدٌّ وأَمَّا الصُّدْغُ فيه فَمُنحَنَى

And a wilderness of beauty—its Aqiq valley

is a cheek; the temple-lock there is a bend.

بها نَظَراتي أُوردَت ماءَ حُزنها

وما هِيَ مِمَّن أُورِدَت ماءَ مَدْينا

There my glances were led to the water of her sorrow;

yet she is not among those led to the water of Midian.

وغانيةٍ تَغْنَى فتطْغَى بِحُسْنِها

وأَشْهَدُ أَن الفقْرَ خيرٌ من الغِنى

And a beauty who is wealthy grows haughty through her beauty;

I testify that poverty is better than wealth.

من البِيضِ إِلاَّ أَن تَرَى سُمْرة اللَّمى

فتحلفُ حقّاً أَنَّها سمرةُ القَنا

She is among the fair, except that you see the dusky hue of her lips

and swear in truth it is the dusky hue of spear-shafts.

وقالوا أَيَحْكيها الهِلالُ إِذا بدا

فقلت ولا الْغُصْنُ الرًّطيبُ إِذا انْثَنَى

They said, 'Does the crescent resemble her when it appears?'

I said, 'Not even the supple branch when it bends.'

وما أَحْسَن الوردَ الَّذِي فوق خدِّها

ولو أَنَّني قبَّلتُه كان أَحْسَنا

How lovely is the rose upon her cheek!

And if I kissed it, it would be lovelier.

وتقبيلها في قلبيَ الماءُ والصَّدى

وجلَّ عن التَّشْبِيهِ بالنَّفْثِ والْجَنَى

Kissing her is water and thirst within my heart;

it transcends comparison with spittle and honey.

تلوَّنت الأَيَّام فيها فطالما

لبسْتُ عليها ثوبَ دمعي ملوَّنا

Days changed their colors concerning her; how often

I wore for her the many-colored garment of my tears.

وما مقلةٌ فيها خيالُ مدامعٍ

ولكن فمٌ قد مدَّ بالْبثِّ أَلْسُنَا

It is no eye with a semblance of tears within,

but a mouth that has extended tongues in lamentation.

وقد كُنتُ أَشكُو بَيْنَها فشكرتُه

ببينٍ جَنَى منه الزمانُ بما جَنَى

I used to lament separation from her, then came to thank it

because of a parting through which time wrought the wrongs it wrought.

فأَثقلُ بينٍ مرَّ بي خفَّ عنده

وأَصْعَبُ بُعْدٍ ذقْتُه صار هيِّنا

The heaviest parting I endured grew light beside it,

and the hardest distance I tasted became easy.

بَعُدْتُ فيا شوقاه عن أَبيضِ الْجَدَى

وغِبْتُ فيا لهْفاه عن أَخْضَرِ الفنا

I am far—oh, my longing!—from him of white bounty,

and absent—oh, my anguish!—from him of the green courtyard;

عن المالك الأَملاكِ رأْياً وحِكْمَةً

وأَكْرَمِهِم أَصلاً وفرعاً ومَعْدِنا

from the master of kings in judgment and wisdom,

the noblest of them in root, branch, and stock;

وفاضِلهم بالْعِلْمِ والحِلمِ والحِجَى

وأَملكهم بالمدْحِ والحَمْدِ والثَّنَا

their foremost in knowledge, forbearance, and intellect,

and the one most entitled to praise, gratitude, and acclaim.

أَشِعْ مدحَه الغالي وذرني والعدي

وبُحْ باسْمِه العالي ودعْني من الكُنى

Spread his precious praise, and leave me with the foes;

proclaim his exalted name, and spare me honorific bynames.

ولا شَكَّ أَن الشَّمْسَ أَبينُ طلعةً

تَراها ولكن فضلُه كان أَبْينَا

No doubt the sun is clearest in appearance:

you see it, yet his excellence was clearer still.

ولا شَكَّ أَن الجُودَ قد حارَ قبلَه

من الناس لكن جودُه صَار دَيْدنا

No doubt generosity, before him, had been baffled

by people; but his generosity became a constant habit.

من النَّفرِ البيضِ الذين وُجُوهُهم

تَبين إِذا وجْهُ الزَّمانِ تلوَّنا

He is of those white-faced men whose faces

shine clearly when the face of time changes color.

وما دعت الأَضيافُ أَلسنَ نارِهم

ولكنْ دعتْهم للنَّدى أَلسُن الثَّنا

It was not the tongues of their fire that summoned guests,

but tongues of praise summoned them to bounty.

ولا الوجهُ مقبوضٌ ولا الصَّدرُ محرج

ولا العِرْضُ مبذولٌ ولا المالُ مقتنى

No face is scowling, no breast constrained;

no honor is squandered, no wealth hoarded.

يحومُ مديحُ الناسِ حول نَدَاهُمُ

وحَوْلَ النَّدى حام المديحُ ودَنْدَنا

People's praise circles around their bounty;

around bounty praise has hovered and hummed.

مَضوْا وجميل الذِّكْرِ باقٍ وصوّحُوا

ونِعْمَتهُم عِنْد الوَرَى غضَّةُ الجَنى

They passed, yet fair remembrance remains; they withered,

yet their beneficence among mankind bears fresh fruit.

ولما أَتى عبدُ الرحيم أَتى بهم

وأَنشأَهم فينا وأَحياهُمُ لنا

When Abd al-Rahim came, he brought them with him,

recreated them among us, and revived them for us.

وأَرْبى ولا نَقْصٌ عَلمْتُم عَليْهِمُ

وزيرٌ أَقام الملكَ والدينَ والدُّنَا

He surpassed them—no slight to them, as you know—

a vizier who upheld kingship, religion, and the world.

تمكنَّ في دَست الوزَارَة جالساً

وما كلُّ من رامَ الجلوسَ تمكَّنَا

He sat firmly established upon the vizierate's dais;

not everyone who sought that seat could establish himself.

ولما علا شَأْناً لقدْ زيَّن الْعُلَى

ولما بَنَى الحُسْنَى لقد أَحْسَنَ البِنَا

When he rose in rank, he indeed adorned the heights;

when he built goodness, he indeed built beautifully.

فلا يَقْدِرُ المقْدَارُ ينْقُضُ ما قَضَى

ولا يستطيع الدَّهْر يَهْدِمُ مَا بنى

Destiny has no power to undo what he decreed,

nor can time demolish what he built.

له عَزْمةٌ لا تَرتَضي الدَّهْرَ صارماً

إِلى هِمَّةٍ لا تَرْتَضي الأَرضَ مَوْطِنا

He has a resolve that will not accept time as a blade,

joined to an ambition that will not accept earth as a dwelling.

إِذا قال قولاً أَصبح الخَطْبُ صامتاً

وإِن صَالَ صوْلاً أَصْبح الدَّهر مذْعنا

When he speaks a word, calamity falls silent;

if he launches an attack, time becomes submissive.

يرى ما أَتى من قبلِ إِتيان وقْته

وكدْنَا وحَاشَاه نقُول تَكهَّنا

He sees what will come before its time arrives;

we almost said—far be it from him!—'He divined.'

مضيِّق صَدْر السَّيفِ بالْفكْرةِ التي

أَعادتْ لِسانَ السَّيف بالغمد أَلْكنا

He constricts the sword's breast with the thought that

rendered the sword's tongue inarticulate within its sheath.

علا شأَنَ شأَنِ الخلقِ حاز مدَى النَّدى

وأَفعالُه مثلُ الحديث تشحَّنا

He rose above mankind's highest stature, attaining bounty's utmost reach;

his deeds, like this discourse, are full to overflowing.

أَعُودُ إِلى همِّي بِبُعْدِك إِنَّه

أَباحَ الحَشَا للهمِّ والجسمَ للضَّنى

I return to my sorrow at your distance, for it

has surrendered my heart to sorrow, my body to wasting.

وليس شَجَاني من سُعادِيَ ما شجا

ولكن عَنَاني من بُعَادِك ما عَنا

It was not grief for my Suad that grieved me,

but distress at your distance that distressed me.

إِذا قيل أَشقى الناس زيدٌ فإِنَّما

عناني بهذا القولِ وَحْدِيَ مَنْ عَنَى

If they say, 'Zayd is the most wretched of men,' it is only

me alone that the speaker means by these words.

نأَيتَ فلا رشدٌ لدينا ولا هدىً

وغبتَ فلا ظلٌ علينا ولا جَنى

You have gone far; we have neither sound judgment nor guidance.

You are absent; there is no shade over us, nor any fruit.

فما أَوْحَش المصرَ كنتَ أُنْسَه

أَسَرَّ زَمَاناً وحدَه ثم أَعْلَنا

How desolate the city is—you were its solace!

It concealed this for a time, alone, then proclaimed it.

على مصرَ لما رحَلْتَ كآبةٌ

أَعادت بها وقتَ الظَّهيرَة مَوْهِنَا

A gloom lies upon Egypt since you departed,

turning the hour of noon there into deep night.

كساها السقامَ والحدادَ بِعادُه

فما أَنبَتَتْ إِلا بَهاراً وسَوْسَنا

His distance clothed her in sickness and mourning,

so she grew nothing but oxeye daisies and irises.

فأَنتَ هَواها لا تسلَّت عن الهَوَى

وأَنْتَ مُنَاها لا تخلَّت عن المُنىَ

You are her love—may she never find consolation for love!

You are her hopes—may she never relinquish hope!

ومن كلِّ شيءٍ كنتُ أَخشَى تحرُّراً

وما كنتُ أَخْشَى أَن أُقِيم وتَظْعَنا

I feared release from everything,

but never feared that I would stay while you departed.