أوقد الحسن فوق خديك نارا — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

أَوقد الحسنُ فوقَ خدَّيكِ نارا

وأَطارَ الدُّموعَ مِنِّي شَرارَا

Beauty lit a fire upon your cheeks,

and sent my tears flying as sparks.

أَنتِ يا من أَذْكَتْ غَراماً وأَبْكَت

مُستهاماً بها وشَطَّتْ مَزَاراً

You, O you who kindled passion and made

a man lovesick for you weep, while staying far away to visit.

قد جعلتِ البدورَ منك حَيارَى

حُسَّداً والنجومَ مِنِّي غيارَا

You have made the full moons bewildered by you,

envious, and the stars jealous of me.

بأَبي مَنْ دفعتُ قَلبي إِلَيْهَا

باختيارِي فلمْ تَدعْ لي اخْتِيَارا

My father be ransom for her to whom I gave my heart

by my own choice, yet she left me no choice.

أَجْبَرتْني عَلى اختيارِ تَجنِّيـ

ـهَا فأَصبحتُ مجُبراً مُخْتَارَا

She forced me to choose her mistreatment,

so I became compelled, yet freely choosing.

الأَمانَ الأَمانَ فِيها ومِن نَا

رِ هَواهَا والفِرارَ الفَرارَ

Safety, safety in loving her, and from the fire

of love for her! Escape, escape!

وبِقَلبي مَنْ كَان عَهْدي بِقَلبي

مضغةً ثُم قَدْ أَحالُوه دَارَا

My heart be their ransom: I once knew my heart

as a morsel of flesh; then they made it a dwelling.

جيرةٌ أَحْسَنُوا إِليْنَا وإن جا

رُوا عَلَيْنَا وإِنْ أَساءُوا الجِوارَا

Neighbors who did us kindness, even when they wronged

us, and even when they were bad neighbors.

حَمَلوا الرَّاحَ في المباسِمِ لَكِنْ

هُم صحاةٌ مِنها ونَحنُ سُكَارَى

They carried wine in their smiling mouths, yet

they are sober from it, while we are drunk.

كم أَتَيْنا لها ورُحنا زمَاناً

وحَيينا بها ومِتْنا مِرَارا

How often, over time, we came to her and went away,

and through her lived and died time after time!

وبلغنَا بها الأَمَاني طِوالا

وقَطَعْنا بها اللَّيالي قِصارا

And through her we attained far-reaching hopes,

and with her passed the nights, made short,

ما جعلتُ العِناقَ مِنِّي دِثَاراً

أَو جعلتُ الشُّعورَ منها شِعَاراً

while I made my embrace an outer cloak,

or made her tresses a garment next to my skin.

بديارِي عَشِقْتُ لم أَنْدبُ الرَّبـ

ـعَ ذُهولاً ولا سَأَلْتُ الدِّيَارا

In my own land I loved; I did not mourn the campsite

in bewilderment, nor question the dwellings.

لحلفي قط لم يسافر ولا سا

رضي الله عنه غرا حي خلف الذي عنه سارا

By my oath, he never traveled, nor ... [text broken]

May God be pleased with him; [unclear word], alive, behind the one who departed from him.

ثم شَابَ العِذَارُ عَنيِّ ويكفيـ

ـكَ مشيبُ العِذَارِ عِنْد العَذارَى

Then my cheek-hair grayed for me; and enough

for you, before maidens, is the graying of cheek-hair.

فأَعرْتُ الشَّبابَ غَيْري وما زا

لَ شبابُ الإِنْسانِ ثَوباً مُعَاراً

So I lent youth to another; and still

a person's youth is a garment on loan.

أَطلعَ الشَّيبُ في عذَارِي نُجُوماً

فرأَيتُ النُجومَ مِنه نَهاراً

Grayness made stars rise in my cheek-hair,

so through it I saw stars by daylight.

ولَو أَنِّ حِين استَجَرتُ من الشِّيـ

ـبِ لَكَانَ العزيزُ مِنه أَجَارَا

And had I, at that time, sought shelter from gray hair,

al-Aziz would indeed have sheltered me from it.

ملكٌ لم يزَلْ يُجيرُ من الدهـ

ـرِ وأَحداثِه الَّتي لاَ تُجارَى

A king who has always given shelter from Time

and its calamities, with which none can contend.

ملكٌ صَيَّر الملوكَ ذوي المِقْـ

ـدَارِ جُنْداً لَه بَلِ الأَقْدَارَا

A king who made kings of lofty

rank his troops—nay, even the decrees of fate.

يهبُ المدْنَ والأَقالِيمَ لمَّا

جلَّ أَنْ يَجْعلَ الهبات نُضَارَا

He gives cities and provinces, since

he is too exalted to make his gifts mere gold.

جلَّ أَن يَمْنَحَ اللُّجينَ عُلُوًّ

عَنْه أَو ينظُر النُّضَار احتقاراً

Too exalted to bestow silver, loftily above

it, or to look on gold, which he scorns.

ملكَ الدَّهرَ هَيْبَةً وملوكَ الد

هرِ بأساً والعالَمين اقْتِدارَا

He mastered Time through awe, and the kings of

Time through might, and the worlds through power.

ولقد أَلبسَ الملوكَ بفضلِ الـ

ـبأْس ثَوبَيْن ذِلَّةً وصَغَارَا

Indeed, he clothed kings, through his surpassing

might, in two robes: abasement and humiliation.

وبه أَصْبَحوا صِغَاراً ومَازا

لُوا مُلوكاً مِنْ قَبلِ ذَاكَ كِبَارَا

And through him they became small, though they had always been

great kings before that.

هو أَندى يداً وأَكرَمُ أَفعا

لاً وأَسْمَى مُلْكاً وأَعْلَى مَنَارَا

He is the most generous of hand and noblest in

deeds, with the loftiest sovereignty and the highest beacon.

وأَقرُّوا بفضلِه بقلوبٍ

لا تُطيقُ القَرارَ والإِقْرَارَا

And they acknowledged his superiority with hearts

that can bear neither repose nor acknowledgment.

فمُناوِيه عَانَد الله جهراً

ومُعادِيه حَارَب المِقْدارَا

So his opponent openly defied God,

and his enemy made war on destiny.

كم أَرادَتْ عِداه إِطْفاءَ نورِ

اللهِ ظُلْماً فأَظْلَموا وأَنَارَا

How often his enemies sought to extinguish the light

of God unjustly! They grew dark, while he shone.

ركضوا جُهدَهُمْ وطَارُوا فلم يَلْـ

ـقَوْا مَجالاً ولاَ أَصَابُوا مَطَاراً

They galloped with all their strength and flew, but found

no room to run, nor any place to fly.

وانْثَنَوا حين أَفرد الملك عنهم

يندُبُون الأَعْمالَ والأَعْمَارَا

And they turned back when he shut them out of kingship,

lamenting their deeds and their lifetimes.

أَيُّ شَكٍّ في أَنَّه مَلكَ الخلـ

ـقَ ومَنْ ذَا في فَضْلِه يَتَمارَى

What doubt is there that he has mastered all

creation? And who disputes his excellence?

نبأٌ في السَّماءِ والأَرضِ قَدْ سَا

رَ وسعْدٌ في الخافِقَينِ اسْتطَارَا

Tidings that have spread through heaven and earth,

and good fortune that has flown through east and west.

وندىً ينقَعُ النفوسَ الصَّوادِي

وجَدىً يُبردُ القلوبَ الحِرارَا

And generosity that quenches thirsty souls,

and bounty that cools burning hearts,

ومعالٍ بذاتِها تَتَعالى

وأَيادٍ بِفَضْلها تَتَبارَى

and lofty merits that rise by their own worth,

and favors that vie in excellence.

أَنتَ يا سيِّدَ الملوكِ وَأَزْكَا

هُمْ نِصَاباً ومَنْصِباً وفَخَارَا

You, O lord of kings, and noblest

among them in lineage, station, and glory,

قد وَسِعْتَ الأَنَام عَدْلاً وضَيَّقْـ

ـتَ عَلى الجورِ أَنْ يَشِنَّ المغَارا

have embraced all people with justice, and hemmed

in injustice, keeping it from launching raids.

سارَ كالشَّمسِ ذكرُ عَدْلِكَ لكن

قَدْ تَوارَتْ والذكرُ لاَ يَتَوارى

The fame of your justice traveled like the sun, yet

the sun has vanished, while that fame never vanishes.

ولكَ البأْسُ كَمْ أَقَامَ مناراً

لَك الحِلْمَ كَمْ أَقَالَ عِثَارَا

Yours is the might—how many beacons it has raised!

Yours is forbearance—how many stumbles it has remedied!

لا يطيقُ الكلامُ حصرَ معاليـ

ـكَ وهَلْ يَحصُر الكلامُ البِحَارَا

Words cannot encompass your lofty merits;

and can words encompass the seas?

فتهنَّ الصِّيامَ زارَك بالأَكـ

ـرِ وأَكْرِمْ بزائرٍ منه زَارَا

So rejoice in the fast: it has visited you with [unclear word],

and how noble the visitor from it who came!

سوف يُثْنى عليكَ في الملإِ الـ

ـأَعْلَى بأَفْعالِكَ الَّتي تَتَبَارَى

You will be praised in the assembly

on high for your deeds, which vie with one another,

تتبارىَ حُسْناً وطِيباً ونُسْكاً

وخُشوعاً لِلَّه واسْتِغْفَارا

vying in beauty, purity, and devotion,

and humble reverence for God, and seeking forgiveness.

عملٌ صَالحٌ يُضِيءُ إِلى أَنْ

يجعلَ اللَّيلَ بِالضِّياءِ نَهَارا

Righteous work shines until

it turns night into day with its radiance.

لَمْ تَزلْ صَائِماً عن الإِثْم تَقْوى

فجمعتَ الصِّيامَ والإِفْطَارا

You have always fasted from sin out of piety,

thus uniting fasting with breaking the fast.

سوفَ يأْتيكَ فيه فتحُ خُراسا

نَ فَلاَ تَيْأَسَنَّ من سِنْجَارا

During it, the conquest of Khurasan will come to you,

so never despair of Sinjar.

وهْيَ قَدْ أَذْعَنَتْ وخَرَّت وأَلْقَت

بيديها تَذَلُلاً وانْكِسَارَا

And it has submitted, fallen, and thrown up

both its hands in abasement and defeat.

عِشْتَ فِيها مُمَلَّكاً نَافِذَ الحكـ

ـم عَلى الدَّهْرِ ناهِياً أَمَّارَا

May you live there enthroned, your rule

prevailing over Time, forbidding and commanding.

أَلفَ عام تبْقَى وعَفْواً فَإِنِّي

قلتُ والعامُ والسنونَ اختصارَا

May you remain a thousand years—and pardon me, for

I said 'year' and 'years' only for brevity.