يا طرف من فتن الأنام بفتنة — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

يا طرفَ من فَتن الأَنامَ بِفِتْنةٍ

من فَتْرَةٍ من طرْفِهِ الوسنانِ

O eye of one who bewitched mankind with a spell

from the languor of his drowsy eye.

أَثْرَيْتَ مِنْ هَذَا الفتُورِ وربما

تَجب الزَّكاةُ عليك لِلْغِزْلاَن

You have grown rich from this languor, and perhaps

you owe obligatory alms to the gazelles.

مَا كَان ضَرّكَ لو مَنَنْتَ بِزَورةٍ

فَجَمعْت بين الحُسْنِ والإِحْسَان

What harm would it have done you had you granted a visit,

thus joining beauty with kindness?

بل كنتَ تنقُل عَزَّةً لكُثَيِّرٍ

في الحُبِّ أَو مَيّاً إِلى غَيْلاَنِ

Rather, you would have brought Azza to Kuthayyir

in love, or Mayy to Ghaylan.

كم ذا التَّلَوُّنُ في الطِّباع وليس ذا

يَعْدُوكَ فالطَّاووس ذُو أَلْوانِ

How much fickleness in your nature! Yet this

is not beyond you, for the peacock has many colors.

ولأَنْت عندي بل خَيَالُك إِنَّه

قد حَلَّ بل قد جلَّ عِنْدَ جَناني

Indeed you are to me—nay, your phantom, for it

has settled, nay, grown exalted within my heart—

كالنَّجم للحيرانِ بل كالسُّكر لل

سَّكرانِ بل كالماءِ للظمآنِ

like a star to the bewildered; nay, like intoxication to the

drunkard; nay, like water to the thirsty.

يا عاذلاً متنبئاً في عَذْلِه

أُوتيتَ مُعْجِزَةً من الهَذَيَانِ

O reproacher, posing as a prophet in your reproach,

you have been given a miracle of ravings.

أَيرُدُّ حقّاً ظاهراً برهَانُه

زورٌ تُلفِّقُه بِلاَ بُرهان

Can a truth whose proof is plain be refuted

by a falsehood you cobble together without proof?

فأَعِدْ حديثك يَا عَذُول فإِنَّما

هَيّجْتَ لي شَجَناً من الأَشْجَانِ

So repeat your words, O reproacher, for you have only

stirred in me a sorrow among sorrows.

واهاً لقلبٍ لم يزل متَنقِّلاً

مِنْ حُبِّ إِنسانٍ إِلى إِنْسَانِ

Alas for a heart that has never ceased wandering

from love of one person to another.

فيُجَنُّ بعد مقنَّع بمعمَّمٍ

وَيَهِيمُ بَعْدَ فُلانَةٍ بِفُلاَنٍ

It goes mad for a turbaned one after a veiled one,

and pines for such-and-such a man after such-and-such a woman.

بأَبي وأُمِّي من تبوّأَ مَسْكَناً

في القَلْبِ مُرتفِعَاً عن السُّكَّان

May my father and mother be ransom for him who took a dwelling

in my heart, high above its inhabitants.

يأْبى مجاورةَ الأَنَامِ لتيهِهِ

فَأَصَابَهُ وطَناً بِلاَ جِيرَانِ

He refuses to live beside mankind out of pride,

so he found it a homeland without neighbors.

ومِنَ العجائِب أَن يَقَرَّ بمنزلٍ

لا يُسْتَقَرُّ به من الخَفَقَانِ

One wonder is that he should settle in a dwelling

where no rest is possible because of its throbbing.

فَجَوارحي عظَّمْن قَلْبي إِذ غَدا

مَثْواه والأَوْطانُ بالقُطَّانِ

So my limbs honored my heart when it became

his dwelling; homelands are prized for their dwellers.

قبَّلتُه ولحَحْتْ في تَقْبِيلِهِ

حتَّى اسْتَحَالَتْ صِبْغَةُ الرَّحْمَنِ

I kissed him and persisted in kissing him,

until the All-Merciful's coloring changed.

ياخَدَّه عُذْراً إِليك فإِنَّني

أَذْبَلْتُ فِيكَ شَقائقَ النُّعْمَانِ

O his cheek, pardon me, for I

have wilted the anemones upon you.

ولقد تناسيْتُ الهوى فَنَسِيتُه

وأَتى الغرامُ فَضَاع في نِيْسَانِ

I feigned forgetting love, and then forgot it;

and passion came, then was lost in Nisan.

وجَهِلْتُ في جَنْبِ السُّلُوِّ مَكَانَه

وعَرَفْتُ من عبدِ الرَّحِيم مَكَانِي

And beside forgetfulness I knew not its place,

but learned from Abd al-Rahim my own standing.

وأَخَذْتُ نائلَه بكل بَنَانٍ

وشكرت أَنعُمَهُ بِكُلِّ لِساَنِ

And I took his bounty with every finger,

and thanked him for his favors with every tongue.

وصَرَفْتُ إِلاَّ عنْ عُلاَه مَدَائِحي

وثَنَيْتُ إِلاَّ عن ذُرَاه عِنَاني

I turned my praises away from all but his eminence,

and turned my reins away from all but his heights.

وتَغَرّبَتْ وتَجَنَّبت أَموالهُ

أَوطانَها وأَتت إِلى أَوْطَانِي

His riches went abroad and forsook

their homelands, and came to my own.

وتَطَابَقَت وتجانَسَتْ أَفعالُه

بعلوِّ شاني وانخفاض الشَّاني

His deeds agreed and harmonized

in raising my rank and lowering my detractor.

أَغْنَى فأَبطرني غِنَاه وطَالَمَا

بَطِر الغَنيُّ فليت لا أَغْنَانِي

He enriched me, and his wealth made me arrogant; how often

the rich man grows arrogant! Would that he had not enriched me.

يا مَنْ سأَلتُ سَحَابَه رَيَّ الصَّدى

لما صَدِيتُ فَجاءَ بالطُّوفَانِ

O you whose cloud I asked to quench my thirst

when I was thirsty—and it brought a deluge.

أُكفُفْ ندى كفَّيْكَ رُبَّ زيادةٍ

نَقَصَتْ فَكَانَ الفضلُ للنُّقْصَانِ

Restrain the bounty of your hands: many an increase

has diminished, so the advantage lay in decrease.

والخدُّ بَهْجَتُه بِخَالٍ واحدٍ

وتَقِلُّ فيه بكَثْرة الخِيلاَنِ

A cheek owes its beauty to a single mole,

and that beauty dwindles when its moles are many.

إِنِّي لأُعْذِر من يَرَى في دِينهِ

أَن النَّوالَ عقيدةُ الإِيمَان

I surely excuse whoever holds within his religion

that giving is the creed of faith.

متكبِّرُ الكَرَمِ الذي من كِبْرِه

حَقَر اللُّجَيْنَ وجَاد بالعِقْيان

Proud in generosity, he who, out of pride,

scorned silver and lavished pure gold.

ورث المكارمَ عن كريمٍ دارُه

مأْوى العُفَاةِ ومنزلُ الضِّيفان

He inherited noble virtues from a generous man whose house

is a refuge for petitioners and a lodging for guests.

عالي منارِ المجْدِ مرتفعُ الذُّرى

يَدْعُو الوفودَ بأَلسُنِ النِّيرَانِ

High is his beacon of glory, lofty his summits;

he calls delegations with tongues of fire.

مذ شاد بنيانَ المكارِم ما وَهَى

ذاك البناءُ فبان فَضْلُ البَاني

Since he raised the edifice of noble virtues, unweakened

is that structure; thus the builder's excellence is clear.

ولئن رأَيتُ أَبَا عليٍّ أَوَّلاً

في مَجْدِه فأَبُوه كَانَ الثَّاني

And if I saw Abu Ali foremost

in glory, his father came second.

أَبدى لنا القَمرَ الذي بضيائِه

يَسْرِي ويسبح في الدُّجى القَمَرَانِ

He revealed to us the moon by whose radiance

the sun and moon journey and swim through the darkness.

فبهاؤُه مِلءْ العِيَانِ وَذِكرُه

ملءُ الزمانِ وَمِلءُ كُلِّ مَكَانِ

So his splendor fills the gaze, and his renown

fills time and every place.

إِن لم يكن مَلِكاً فإِنَّ زَمَانَه

مِنْ أَجْلهِ مَلِكٌ عَلى الأَزْمانِ

If he is not a king, then his age

because of him is king over all ages.

أَوْفَاتَه التِّيجَانُ إِنَّ برأْيِه

تَرْوِي الممالكُ عن ذوي التيجان

Or if crowns eluded him, it is through his counsel

that kingdoms tell of those who wear crowns.

أَخذت بِمَجْلِسِه المهابةُ حَقَّها

فترى البريءَ لَديه مِثْلَ الجَانِي

Awe has claimed its due in his assembly,

so you see the innocent before him like the guilty.

يعفو عن الباغي عليه فِحلْمُه

مُغْنى الحقودِ ومُهْلِكُ الأَضغان

He pardons those who transgress against him; his forbearance

enriches the spiteful and destroys grudges.

ويَرَى بعين الرَّأْي كُلَّ مُغَيَّبٍ

فالسِّرُّ بَيْنَ يديه كالإِعلانِ

With the eye of judgment he sees every hidden thing,

so a secret before him is like a public declaration.

وَيَسُلُّ سَيفَ النصر من آرائه

فتَرى السُّيوفَ لديه كالأَجْفانِ

He draws the sword of victory from his counsels,

so you see swords before him like scabbards.

وبكفِّه القلمُ الذي هو فارِسٌ

في الطِّرسِ حيث الطرسُ كالميدَانِ

In his hand is the pen, which is a horseman

upon the parchment, where parchment is like an arena.

يحمي الأَنامَ ولا خفاءَ بِأَنَّه

قد كان يَحْمِي الأُسْد في خفَّانِ

He protects mankind, and it is plain that he

once protected the lions in Khaffan.

يَقْضِي وقد هَزَمَ الجيوشَ فنعتُه

قاضِي القضاةِ وفارسُ الفُرْسَانِ

He passes judgment, having routed armies; thus his title is

Judge of Judges and Knight of Knights.

وإِذا رأَيْتَ مُحَدِّثاً عنه فقلْ

حدِّث ولا حَرَجاً عن الحِدْثان

And if you see someone speaking of him, say:

Tell without restraint of the vicissitudes of time.

إِني لأَنزِفُ فيك بَحْر قَرِيحَتي

من بَعْدِ نزح الدَّمعِ بالهمَلانِ

Indeed, for you I drain the sea of my poetic gift,

after draining my tears by letting them flow.

أَشْتَاقُ قربك وهو عنِّي نازحٌ

وأَملُّ نأْيَكَ وهو منِّي دَانِ

I long for your nearness, though it is far from me,

and weary of your distance, though it is close to me.

وأَقولُ والأَشواقُ تَنْهبُ مُهجَتي

ما أَقْتل الأَشْواقَ للإِنسان

And I say, while longings plunder my heart's blood:

How deadly longing is to man!

أَبعدتني يَا دَهْرُ عنه ورُبَّما

فرَّقْتَ بين الماءِ والعطْشان

You have taken me far from him, O Time, and sometimes

you have parted water from the thirsty.

هيهات هيهات اللقاءُ ودونَنا

بيدٌ تكدُّ قَوادِم العِقْبَانِ

Far, far away is our meeting, and between us

lie deserts that wear out the eagles' flight-feathers.

دع ما أَقولُ فلوْ دَعَاني أَمْرُه

لبَّيْتهُ بالسَّعي حِينَ دَعَانِي

Leave aside what I say: if his command summoned me,

I would answer him with haste the moment he called me.

وخَطَوْتُ فوق ظُبَا المناصلِ مُسْرِعاً

وسعيت فوق أَسنَّة المُرَّانِ

And I would stride swiftly over the edges of sword-blades,

and hasten over the points of ash-wood spears.

ولقد أَتاني العِيدُ يا عبدَ الوَرَى

حقّاً فما أَلْوَيْتُ حِينَ أَتانِي

And the feast did come to me, O servant of mankind,

truly, yet I paid it no heed when it came.

وبَقِيتُ فيه كما تقدم قبله

فكأَن يَوْمَ العيد مَنْ رَمَضانِ

And on that day I remained as I had been before,

so it was as if the feast-day belonged to Ramadan.

فِطري على ماءِ الدُّموعِ ومَلْبسي

فِيه جَدِيدُ الهَمِّ والأَحْزَانِ

I break my fast with the water of tears, and my clothing

on it is fresh worry and sorrow.

فَتَهنَّهُ عيداً أَتاك مبشِّراً

من رَبِّه بالعَفْوِ والغُفْران

So enjoy it, a feast that came to you bearing glad tidings

from its Lord of pardon and forgiveness,

ومهنِّئاً لك بالبقاءِ وإِنك ال

بَاقِي وَسَائِرُ مَنْ عَدَاك الفَانِي

and congratulating you on enduring life; for you are the

one who endures, while all besides you pass away.