أبى صدها أن يجمع الحسن والحسنى — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

أَبَى صدُّها أَن يَجْمع الحُسْنَ والحُسْنَى

ووجدِي بها أَن أَجمعَ الجَفْنَ والجَفْنَا

Her rejection refused to unite beauty with kindness,

and my passion for her refused to let eyelid meet eyelid.

بَدَتْ فَحَكَت بَدْرَ السَّماءِ ملاحةً

ونأْياً إِلى أَن صار أَعلاهما الأَدنى

She appeared, resembling the full moon of heaven in beauty

and remoteness, until the higher of the two was the nearer.

وآنسَ نَارَ الحَيِّ غَيْرِي وإِنَّني

لآنستُ نُوراً من سنَا ثَغْرهَا الأَسْنَى

Another glimpsed the encampment's fire, while I

surely glimpsed light in the radiance of her most radiant mouth.

تغنَّى عليها حَلْيُها طرباً بها

وفاحَتْ فقُلْنا هذه الرَّوضةُ الغَنَّا

Her ornaments sang upon her, enraptured by her,

and she breathed fragrance, so we said, 'This is the luxuriant garden.'

تُعِيرُ المعاني من معانِي جمالها

ففي كل مَعْنىً من مَلاحتِها مَعْنَى

She lends meanings something of her beauty's meanings;

in every meaning is a meaning drawn from her loveliness.

وكم رام مِنَّا قوْمُها أُنفساً لنا

وقد طلبُوا بَعض الذي أَخذَتْ منَّا

How often her people sought our lives from us,

though they sought only part of what she had taken from us.

وكم عاشقٍ هانَتْ عليه حياتُه

على وَصْلِها فاستعذبَ الضَرْبَ والطعْنَا

How many a lover held his life cheap

for union with her, finding blows and thrusts sweet.

يسدّدُ صدْرَ الرُّمْحِ إِن ماسَ قدُّها

ويَكْسِرُ جَفْنَ السَّيْفِ إِنْ كَسَرَتْ جَفْنا

He levels the spear's point when her figure sways,

and breaks the sword's sheath when she lowers an eyelid.

حكى الرُّمحُ منها لونَها مع لِينِها

أَلم ترهُمْ يُسْمُونَه الأَسمر الَّلدْنا

The spear copied her color and her suppleness;

have you not seen them call it 'the supple, dusky one'?

أُوَرِّي بنَجْدٍ والصبابةُ بالحِمَى

وأَكْنِي بسُعْدي واللُّبَانَةُ في لُبْنى

I veil my meaning with Najd, while my longing is for al-Hima;

I speak indirectly of Su'da, while my heart's desire is for Lubna.

وأَنْسَى سوى ربعِ الحبيبِ فإِنني

تسيل دموعِي حين أَذكرُه حُزْنا

I forget all but the beloved's dwelling, for

my tears flow in sorrow whenever I remember it.

وذلك ربْعٌ تُنْبِتُ الحسنَ أَرْضُه

تَرى الوردَ فيه الخدَّ والقامَةَ الغُصْنَا

That is a dwelling whose earth brings forth beauty:

there you see the rose as a cheek, the figure as a branch.

وصلَّى بنا فيه إِمَامُ ملاَحَةٍ

فلما انقضَتْ تلكَ الصلاةُ تفرقنا

There an imam of loveliness led us in prayer;

when that prayer was over, we parted.

ضللْنا وقد غابَتْ أَهِلَّةُ أَهلِه

فيا ليتَ لا كانوا ويا ليتَ لا كُنَّا

We lost our way when the crescent moons of its people vanished.

Would that they had never been, and would that we had never been!

سأَلتُ وقد بانوا وبانَ تَجَلُّدي

مَحلاَّ فيما أَحلى ومَعْنىً فما أَغْنَى

I questioned, after they had left and my composure left me,

an abode—what sweetness did it yield?—and a meaning that brought no gain.

ولكن سأَلتُ الناصرَ الملك النَّدي

فأَغْنَى وأَقْنَى ثم مَنَّ وما مَنَّا

But I petitioned al-Nasir, the generous king,

and he enriched and endowed me, then bestowed without reproach.

فِدىً لابن أَيوبَ الملوكُ لأَنهم

إِذا بَخِلو أَعْطَى وإِن أَفْقَرُوا أَغْنى

Let kings be ransom for Ibn Ayyub, for

when they are miserly, he gives; when they impoverish, he enriches.

ترى كلَّ من يعطي المئينَ عُفاتَه

فِدَى مَلكٍ يُعطى الأَقاليم والمُدْنا

You see everyone who gives his petitioners hundreds

as ransom for a king granted provinces and cities.

ولم يكْفِه أَن أَخجْلَ البيضَ بالدِّما

إِلى أَنْ أَرانَا جودَه أَخْجَل المُزْنا

It did not suffice him to make white blades blush with blood

until he showed us his generosity making rainclouds blush.

فسائلُه أَثْنى وقاصدُه اهتدى

ونائلُه أَحْيَا وصارمُه أَقْنى

His petitioner praised him; his seeker found the way;

his bounty gave life, and his keen sword brought riches.

أَنامَ بني الإِسلام في كهف أَمْنِه

وأَوسعَهُم عدْلاً وأَسكَنَهُم عَدْناً

He lulled the children of Islam to sleep in the shelter of his safety,

lavished justice on them, and settled them in Eden.

وعوَّضهم من بعد سُخْطهمُ رضىً

وبدَّلهم من بعد خوفهِمُ أَمْنَا

He replaced their discontent with contentment,

and exchanged their fear for safety.

وما شاقه صوتُ الحَمام إِذا شَدا

ويُطرِبُه سَجْعُ الحِمام إِذا غنَّى

The voice of doves singing stirred no longing in him,

but Death's cooing delights him when it sings.

له النَّصلُ يُجْلى والقناةُ بكفِّه

تقوَّمُ والقوسُ الشديدُ له يُحْنَى

For him the blade is polished, and in his palm the spear

is straightened, while the stout bow is bent for him.

أَقام بدارِ الكفر تُجْبى له الجِزَا

وتودَى له القَتْلى وتُسْبَى له الحُسْنى

He dwelt in the abode of unbelief, where tribute is collected for him,

blood-money for the slain is paid him, and the fairest woman taken captive for him.

يشنُّ عليها غارةً بعد غارةٍ

فقد أَصبحَتْ من شَنِّ غاراتِه شنَّا

He launches raid after raid against it,

until his raids have made it a tattered waterskin.

عفَتْ وخَلَتْ من ساكنِيها ديارُهم

فلا معقلٌ يُنْشَى ولا منزلٌ يَغْنى

Their dwellings were effaced and emptied of their inhabitants;

no stronghold is raised, no house inhabited.

زمانٌ على تِلْك المعاهدِ قد مَشى

ودهرٌ على تِلْكَ المعاقِلِ قد أَخْنَى

An age has passed over those familiar haunts,

and time has laid those fortresses waste.

أَصافَ وشتَّى بين عكَّا وعَرْفَةٍ

هُمامٌ يراها ساعةً وهو قد أَسْنَى

He summered and wintered between Akka and Arfa—

a hero who deems it an hour, though he has spent a year.

أَقمتَ بها التوحيدَ للهِ وحدَهُ

وأُنْسيتَ فيها الروحَ والأَبَ والابْنَا

There you established God's oneness, His alone,

and there you were made to forget the Spirit, the Father, and the Son.

ولما رأَوه أَدبرُوا حين عايَنُوا

أَعنَّةَ خيلٍ لا تعودُ ولا تُثْنَى

When they saw him, they turned their backs, once they beheld

the reins of horses that never turn back or are turned aside.

وقد وقَفُوا لكن لأَسْرِ رقابِهمْ

وقطْفِ رءُوسٍ منهمُ آنَ أَنْ تُجْنى

They stood their ground, but only for their necks to be taken captive

and heads among them plucked, their harvest-time now come.

ثبتَّ لهم والسَّيفُ قد كَرِه الطِّلَى

وجالدْتَهم والقِرْنُ قد سَئِم القِرْنَا

You stood firm against them when the sword had grown sick of throats,

and fought them when champion had wearied of champion,

بضربٍ يذيبُ الشمسَ في الأُفق حرُّه

ويَحْرِقُ ما بَيْن القُلوبِ من الشَّحْنا

with blows whose heat would melt the sun upon the horizon

and burn away the rancor between hearts.

مضى مَلْكُهم في أَوَّلِ الأَمرِ هارباً

يُحسُّ قفاه الطعنَ فيه ولا طَعْنَا

Their king fled at the very outset,

his nape feeling spear-thrusts where none had struck.

عتيقُ عتاقٍ ما نجا مَن نَجا بها

ولا فاز من كان الفرارُ له حِصْنَا

A freedman of thoroughbreds—yet no one who escaped on them was saved,

nor did anyone triumph who made flight his fortress.

وما زال أَعمى العين والقلْبِ فانْثَنَى

وقرْعُ الْعَوالي قدْ أَصَمَّ له الأُذْنا

Ever blind in eye and heart, he turned back,

the clash of lofty spears having deafened his ear.

وقد أَنِفَت منه المَواضِي لجُبْنِه

فلمَّا نَجَت حوباؤُه شكَرَ الجُبْنا

The keen blades disdained him for his cowardice;

when his soul escaped, he gave thanks to cowardice.

ولم يَقْرَع النَّاقُوسَ بعدَ انْهِزامِه

ولكنَّه من بَعْدِه قَرعَ السِّنَّا

After his defeat he did not strike the church bell,

but afterward he gnashed his teeth.

وأَضْحى أَسيراً بادَوِيل وغيرُه

قُرونُ ملوكٍ كَمْ أَبادُوا لهم قِرْنا

Badawil and others became captives—

peers of kings, who had destroyed so many a rival.

أَسارى جُبارى لا يُرَجُّون فديةً

ولا يأْملُون الدَّهْرَ فكّاً ولا أَمْنَا

Captive tyrants, hoping for no ransom,

nor ever expecting release or safety.

وهل زادهْم بالسِّجن ضيقاً عليهِمُ

وقَدْ جَعَلَ الأَرْضَ الفضاءَ لهم سِجْنا

Did he tighten their confinement by imprisoning them,

when he had already made the open earth their prison?

بكى الكِنْدُ واليَسْكَند لا وحشةً لهم

ولَكِنْ على نفسيْهما أَسْبَلا الجَفْنا

Al-Kind and al-Yaskand wept, not from missing them,

but for themselves they let tears fall from their eyelids.

غدا بادويل وهْو يَلْعنُ نفسَه

وحُقَّ لِتِلْكَ النَّفْسِ أَن تَرْبحَ الَّلعْنا

Badawil came to curse himself,

and rightly did that soul deserve to earn curses.

يُروِّعُه الصُّبحُ المنيرُ إِذا بَدا

ويُوحِشُه اللَّيلُ البهيمُ إِذا جنَّا

Bright dawn terrifies him when it appears,

and pitch-black night affrights him when it falls.

ويَشْربُ لكن إِن جرى دمعُه دماً

ويطرَبُ لكن إِن شدا قيْدُه لحْنَا

He drinks—but only if his tears run blood;

he delights—but only when his fetters sing a tune.

وقَدْ رَيْثَما زفَّت عليه قُيودُه

فحنَّت وأَنَّتْ مِثْل ما حنَّ أَوْ أَنَّا

And as his fetters were brought to him in bridal procession,

they moaned and groaned, just as he moaned or groaned.

وقد أَصبح الإِسْلامُ والكُفْرُ كُلما

بنيْتُ لِذَا رُكْناً هدَمْتُ لِذا رُكُنا

Now Islam and unbelief stand thus: whenever

I build a pillar for one, I demolish a pillar for the other.

وقد أَصْبَحتْ مذ سِرْتَ مصرُ وأَهْلُها

كمعنىً بلا لفْظٍ ولفظٍ بلا مَعْنى

Since you departed, Egypt and its people have become

like a meaning without words, and words without meaning.

غدت مثل يَعقوب النبيِّ وقد نأَى

سميُّكُ عنه تشتكِي البَثَّ والْحُزْنا

She has become like the prophet Jacob, from whom

your namesake went far away; she laments anguish and sorrow.

وما أَنْتَ إِلا الشَّمْسُ أَظلَم بعدَها ال

بلادُ وإِلا السُّحْبُ قد أَقْلعَتْ عنا

You are only the sun, whose departure darkened the

lands, or the clouds that have withdrawn from us.

فطوبى لعينٍ أَبصرتْها وحبَّذاً

محلُّك من مَثْوىً ومَغْنَاك من مَعْنى

Blessed the eye that has beheld it! How splendid

your place as a resting-place, and your abode as a theme!

فلا زِلْتَ تَبْقى للنبيِّ ودِينِه

وأُمَّتِه يَفْنَى الزمانُ ولا تفنى

May you ever remain for the Prophet and his religion,

and his community: time perishes, but you do not.