على خاطري يا شغله منك أشغال — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

على خَاطِري يا شُغْله منكَ أَشْغَالُ

وفي ناظِري يا نورَه منكَ تِمْثَالُ

On my mind, O you who occupy it, lie preoccupations with you.

And in my eye, O its light, is an image of you.

وفي كَبِدي مِنْ نارِ شُعلةٌ

وموضع ما أَخليتَ منها هو الْخَالُ

And in my liver is a flame of fire.

And the place you left vacant within it is the mole.

وما شبَّ نارِي منكَ صدٌّ ولا نَوىً

ولكن قبولٌ بزَّ عقْلي وإِقْبَالُ

Neither rejection nor separation from you kindled my fire,

But acceptance that robbed me of reason, and welcome.

ويقتلُ قومٌ بالصُّدودِ وإِنَّنِي

قتيلُ وصَالٍ شَدَّ ما اختلفَ الحالُ

Some people are killed by rejection, but I

Am slain by union—how greatly the circumstances differ!

وقد خُنْتُها في الوُدِّ إِذْ قِيل إِنَّها

كشمْسِ الضحى جَهْلاً فقلت كما قالوا

And I betrayed her in love when it was said that she

Was like the sun of midmorning; ignorantly, I said as they said.

غَنِيتُ بخدَّيْها وشُفِّعْتُ عِنْدَها

كبدرِ الدُّجَى لي عِنْدها الجاهُ والمالُ

I grew rich through her two cheeks, and my intercession with her was granted.

Like the full moon of night is she; with her I have standing and wealth.

وبُردِي منْها لا يزالُ بِحُسنها

جديداً وبُردُ ابن المفرَّغ أًسْمالُ

And my cloak from her, through her beauty, remains

New, while Ibn al-Mufarragh's cloak is tatters.

نشيطَةُ حسنِ القدِّ والخدِّ والحلِي

فَلِمْ زعموا أَنَّ المليحةَ مِكْسَال

She is lively in the beauty of her figure, cheek, and jewels;

Why, then, did they claim that a lovely woman is languid?

يحلُّ على عشَّاقها سوءُ ظنِّها

وما ظَنَّها إِلاَّ دَلالٌ وإِدْلال

Her mistrust falls upon her lovers,

Yet her suspicion is only coquetry and confident familiarity.

تَظُنُّ شحوبَ اللَّونِ في الوجه نُضرةٌ

وأَنَّ بِلَى جسم المحبين إِبْلاَلُ

She thinks a face's pallid complexion is a fresh bloom,

And that lovers' bodily wasting is recovery.

أَظلُّ على نُسْكِي بها جهلَ صبوتي

فيا رمضاناً قد أَظلَّكَ شوَّالُ

I remain, despite my piety, in the folly of my passion for her;

So, O Ramadan, Shawwal has already overshadowed you!

وإِنَّ التَّصَابِي بعد خمسين حجَّةً

مُحالٌ وخِصْبي بعد شَيْبيَ إِمْحَالُ

Indeed, acting young after fifty years

Is absurd; my fertility after gray hair is barrenness.

وإِنْ وقَفتْ بي بعد شَيْبيَ صَبْوةٌ

فما وقَفَتْ إِلاَّ لأَنِّيَ أَطْلاَلُ

And if youthful passion stops by me after my hair has grayed,

It stops only because I am ruins.

يمرُّ عليَّ الحوْلُ والحَوْلُ بعدَه

فقد غيَّر الأَحوالَ منِّيَ أَحْوَالُ

A year passes over me, and another year after it;

So years have changed my circumstances.

وقد نقضَتْ مِنِّي المآرِبُ كلُّها

ولكن لَها بالكاملِ الملكِ إِكْمَالُ

And all my hopes have come undone for me;

But they find fulfillment through King al-Kamil.

هو الملكُ القَيْل الَّذِي خَضَعَتْ له

على الرَّغْمِ أَمَلاكٌ عِظَامٌ وأَقْيَال

He is the king, the sovereign, to whom have bowed

Against their will, mighty kings and sovereigns.

وأَسماؤُهم بَيْن البَرايا سِماَتُهم

وأَسماؤُه بين البريَّة أَفْعَال

Their names among humankind are their labels,

But his names among humankind are deeds.

لهمْ شُغُل باللَّهوِ واللعْبِ شَاغِلٌ

ولكن له بالأَمْرِ والنَّهْي أَشْغَالُ

They have a consuming preoccupation with diversion and play,

But his occupations are command and prohibition.

وقد خَرِبَتْ أَعمالُهم بعُتُوِّهم

وشادَت له الأَعمالَ بالعدْل أَعْمالُ

And their domains have been ruined by their tyranny,

While deeds have built up his domains through justice.

غدَا مُستَماحاً حينَ جادَ وأَمْسكُوا

وأَمْسَى عظيماً إِذ تَواضَع واخْتَالُوا

He became the one sought for bounty when he gave and they withheld,

And became great when he humbled himself and they swaggered.

أَجلُّ ملوكِ الأَرضِ قدْراً لأَنَّه

لما سِيلَ بذَّالٌ لمِا شاءَ فَعَّالُ

The greatest of earth's kings in rank, because he

Lavishes whatever is asked, and accomplishes whatever he wills.

وللمالِ منَّاحٌ وللملكِ مَانِعٌ

وللمجدِ طَلاَّعٌ وللقِرْنِ نزَّال

And a lavish giver of wealth, a defender of sovereignty,

And a climber to glory, a challenger of his rival in battle.

لشيئينِ في كَفَّيه حِلٌّ ورِحْلَةٌ

فللجودِ حِلٌّ حيثُ للمالِ تَرحَالُ

For two things in his palms there are a stay and a departure:

Generosity stays where wealth departs.

وما الجودُ إِلاَّ مَنزِلٌ منه آهِلٌ

وما الملكُ إِلاَّ مَرْبَعٌ منه مِحْلاَل

And generosity is but a dwelling inhabited by him,

And kingship is but a spring encampment where he dwells.

كريمُ السَّجايا والعطايَا أَجلَّه

وحلاَّه للعافين فُضلَى وإِفْضَالُ

Noble in character and gifts, he is exalted

And adorned by excellence and beneficence toward petitioners.

جوادٌ يفرُّ المالُ منه وإِنَّه

يميلُ إِلى قصَّادِه كَيفما مَالُوا

Generous: wealth flees from him, yet he

Turns toward his seekers, whichever way they turn.

فتىً يهبُ السِّرْبالَ في حَوْمَةِ الْوَغى

ودِرْعُ الفَتَى في ذَلِكَ الْيومِ سِرْبَالُ

A youth who gives away his tunic in the thick of battle,

And on that day a young man's armor is his tunic.

ويحبُوك مَاءَ الشَّنِّ وهْو على الصَّدى

بِدَوِّيَّةِ ماءُ الرِّكَابِ بها الآلُ

And he gives you the worn waterskin's water, though thirsty himself,

In a desert where the riding camels' water is mirage.

بأَسيافِه في الحرْبِ يُخترم الوَغى

وتُقْتَل أَقْيَالٌ وتَبْطلُ أَبْطَالُ

With his swords in war, battle is cut short,

And sovereigns are slain, and champions undone.

جنى عسلَ الفتحِ المبينِ بِرُمْحِه

ولا غَرْوَ أَنَّ اسْمَ الرُّدَيْنيِّ عسَّالُ

He harvested the honey of manifest victory with his spear,

And no wonder the Rudayni spear is called ʿAssāl—'quivering' and 'honey-maker.'

له صولةُ الرِّئْبالِ في مَائس القَنا

ولا ريْبَ أَنَّ ابْنَ الغَضَنْفَرِ رئْبالُ

His is a lion's charge amid swaying spear-shafts,

And no doubt a lion's son is a lion.

إِذا صَالَ في يَوْمِ النِّزالِ تفصَّلت

لأَعدائِه بالرُّعْب والذُّعْرِ أَوْصَالُ

When he charges on the day of combat, sundered are

His enemies' limbs, through terror and dread.

ويُعْوِلُ جُرْح القِرْنِ مِنْه كأَنَّما

به صوتُ ضربِ السَّيْفِ للجُرْح إِعْوَالُ

And the wound he deals his rival wails, as though

The sound of the sword's stroke within it were the wound's lament.

ويُطرِبُه صوتُ القِراعِ وإِنَّه

له طَرباتٌ وهْو للقومِ أَهْوَال

And the sound of clashing swords delights him; it

Brings him raptures, while bringing the others terrors.

تجاوزَ حدَّ الجودِ والبأَسِ والنُّهى

ووُصَّافُ ما لا يشملُ الحدَّ جُهَّالُ

He has exceeded the bounds of generosity, valor, and wisdom;

And those who describe what no limit encompasses are ignorant.

وعنصُره في الخلْقِ نورٌ وحِكْمَةٌ

وعُنْصرُ هَذا الخلقِ طينٌ وصَلْصَالُ

And his substance in creation is light and wisdom,

While the substance of this creation is clay and dried clay.

أَيا ناصِرَ الدِّينِ الَّذي بسيوفِه

لذا الدِّينِ إِعْزَارٌ وللكفرِ إِذْلاَل

O Nasir al-Din, through whose swords

This faith finds support, and unbelief humiliation.

أَيادِيكَ في أَعناقِ قومٍ قلائِدٌ

فإِنْ جَحدُوا معروفَها فهْيَ أَغْلاَل

Your favors are necklaces around people's necks;

If they deny their kindness, those favors are shackles.

مدحْتُكَ أَرْجُو عندَك الجاهَ والغِنىَ

ويُشرَحُ لي صْدرٌ ويَنْعَم لي بالُ

I praised you, hoping to find standing and wealth with you,

And for my breast to open and my mind to be at ease,

ويَنهَلُ عطشانٌ وتَنهلُّ ديمةٌ

وتُنزَح أَوْجالٌ وتنجَحُ آمالُ

And for a thirsty one to drink deeply, and a steady rain to pour,

And for fears to be drained away, and hopes fulfilled.

وأَرجُو زوالَ النَّقصِ عنيِّ تفاؤُلاً

بنْعتِك حقّاً طَالما صَدق الفَالُ

And I hope deficiency leaves me, taking a good omen

From your rightful epithet—so often the omen has proved true.

ولا سِيَّما والصَّاحبُ النَّدبُ صَاحَ بي

إِليكَ فِلي دَلٌّ عليكَ وإِدْلاَل

Especially since the noble companion called me

Toward you; thus I have familiarity with you and confidence.

وأُهدِي إِلى البحر المحيطِ جَواهِري

كَلاماً وما كلُّ الجواهرِ أَشْكَال

And I offer my jewels to the encircling ocean,

As words; not all jewels are alike.

مَحبَّته أَهْدت إِليكَ غَرائبِي

وما هِيَ إِلاَّ جوهرٌ وهْو أَقْوَال

His love has presented my rarities to you;

They are but a jewel, and it is made of words.

رجاً مِنكَ لي أَنْ أَبْلغ السُّؤْلَ والمُنى

وتُسحَبَ لي فوقَ المجرَّةِ أَذْيَال

Hoping that, through you, I may attain my desire and wishes,

And that my robes' trains may trail above the Milky Way.

فما الصُّبحُ إِلاَّ مِنْ جبينِك طالعٌ

ولا الرِّزْق إِلاَّ من يمينِك هطَّال

For dawn rises only from your brow,

And sustenance rains down only from your right hand.