ما هزة الغصن إلا ملك هزته — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

ما هِزَّةُ الغُصْنِ إِلا مِلكُ هِزَّتِه

وذِلَّةُ الصَّبِّ إِلا طَوعُ عِزَّته

The bough’s sway is but the property of his sway,

and the lover’s abasement but submission to his pride.

قد أَشْبهَ البدرَ إِلاَّ في تبرُّجه

وأَشبهَ الظَّبْيَ إِلا في تَلَفُّتِه

He resembles the full moon, save in his display of beauty,

and resembles the gazelle, save in his turning glances.

وما رأَى الناسُ ناراً في توقُّدِها

كَنارِ قلبيَ إِلا نَارَ وجْنَتِه

People have seen no fire ablaze

like my heart’s fire, except the fire of his cheek.

أَهْوَى من العَربِ العَرْباءِ مِن سأَلَتْ

عنه الملاحَةُ أَو حلَّت بِحُلَّتِه

I love, among the Arabs of pure Arab stock, one whom

beauty asked after—or settled within his raiment.

ذلَّت له وأَطاعَتْه فهل عَلِموا

أَنَّ الملاَحةَ أَضْحتْ من أَحِبَّتِه

She humbled herself before him and obeyed him; so did they know

that beauty had become one of his beloveds?

أَثْرى من الحُسْن حتى قال عَاشِقُه ال

مهجورُ يا رَبِّ سِّل وقتَ عُسْرتِه

He grew rich in beauty, until his lover spoke—the

forsaken one: ‘O Lord, ask about his hour of hardship.’

يَشْتَاقُ بارقُ نجدٍ معْ ثَنِيَّتها

والصَّبُّ يشتاقُ برقاً في ثَنِيَّتِه

Najd’s lightning longs, along with its mountain pass,

and the lover longs for a lightning-flash in his front tooth.

ويعقِدُ الطَّبْعُ منه قافَ منطقهِ

ويَحْلُل السُّكْرُ منه سِبنَ طُرَّته

And his nature knots the qāf of his speech,

and drunkenness loosens the sīn of his forelock.

يأْوي إِلى بيت شَعرٍ لو شكا مَلَلاً

من مُكْثِه فيه لاسْتَغْنَى بشَعْرتِه

He shelters in a hair-cloth tent; were he to complain of weariness

from dwelling there, a single hair of his would suffice him.

وما رأَى الحسنَ من لم يرعَ ناظرُه

تلكَ الشمائلَ تَزْهو تَحْتَ شَمْلَتِه

And no one has seen beauty whose gaze has not grazed on

those graces blooming beneath his cloak.

ومَنْ يكُنْ بِبياضِ اللَّون ذا كَلفٍ

فإِنَّ قلبيَ مشغوفٌ بِسمْرتِه

Whoever may be enamored of a fair complexion,

my heart, for its part, is enthralled by his dusky hue.

إِن كان مِسكُ غزالِ الهند سُرته

فإِنَّ مسكَ غزالي سُؤرُ شَرْبته

If the Indian gazelle’s musk lies in its navel,

then my gazelle’s musk is the remnant of his drink.

هذا أَميرُ مِلاح الخلق قاطبةٌ

قولُوا لهم فليُطيعوا أَمْر إِمْرته

This is the prince of all the fair in creation.

Tell them to obey the command of his rule.

ولْيأْخُذوا بيْعةٍ منه مُطاوعَةً

فحُسْنُه قد تَوَلَّى أَخْذَ بَيْعَتِه

Let them willingly receive a pledge from him,

for his beauty has undertaken to secure allegiance to him.

ولْيقصِدوا قلبي المقصودَ قبلَهُم

مِنه فقلبي المُعَنَّى دارُ هِجْرَته

Let them seek my heart, already sought before them

by him; my anguished heart is the abode of his migration.

يَا ناعِسَ الطَّرفِ لاَ والله ما انْتَبهتْ

فيكَ المَحَبَّةُ إِلاَّ وَقْتَ نَعْسَتِه

O drowsy-eyed one—no, by God, love never awoke

for you except at the moment your gaze grew drowsy.

وكاسِرَ الجَفْنِ إِي والله ما انكسرت

فيكَ الجوانحُ إِلاَّ بعد كسرتِه

And you of drooping eyelid—yes, by God, the ribs never broke

for you except after your eyelid drooped.

ما لَحْظُ عينيكِ إِلا شاربٌ ثملٌ

وكسرةُ الجفْنِ إِلا عَيْنُ سَكْرَتِه

The glance of your eyes is but a drunken drinker,

and the eyelid’s droop the very essence of his drunkenness.

ملكتَ قلبي فصُل واقتدت عَاصِيه

فأَعْظِم وأَضْرمتَ فيه نارَه فَته

You have mastered my heart—so be imperious—and led its rebel captive;

so exalt yourself; you have kindled its fire within it—so strut.

إِنِّي لأَرْثي لدمعي من تَزاحُمه

كما رَثيتُ لِشَمْلي من تَشَتُّتِه

I truly pity my tears for their crowding,

as I pitied my unity for its scattering.

هل جُهدُ طرفِيَ إِلاَّ سُهْد نَاظِره

وجُهْدُ جَفْنِيَ إِلاَّ سَكْبُ عَبْرَتِه

Is my gaze’s exertion anything but its eye’s sleeplessness,

and my eyelid’s exertion anything but the pouring of its tears?

أَنا القويُّ بهمِّي والرشيدُ أَبي

هو الرئيسُ عَلَى الدُّنْيا بِهِمَّتِه

I am strong through my sorrow, and al-Rashid is my father;

he is the chief over the world through his resolve.

يا سائلاً عن مَعَاليه ليشهرَها

البْدرُ في الأُفْقِ يستَغْنِي بشُهْرَتِه

O you who ask about his lofty deeds to make them known,

the full moon on the horizon needs no herald, thanks to its renown.

ذاكَ الَّذِي يبسِمُ الدَّهْرُ العبوسُ به

تيهاً وتبتَهجُ الدُّنْيا بِبَهْجَتِه

He is the one through whom grim-faced Time smiles

in pride, and the world rejoices in his radiance.

هو العظيمُ وفيه مع تَعَاظُمِه

تواضُعٌ قد تَوَلَّى رَفْعَ رِفْعَتِه

He is great, yet in him, alongside his grandeur,

is humility that has undertaken to raise his lofty rank.

فما السَّماوَاتُ إِلاَّ مِنْ مَنازِله

ولا الكواكِبُ إِلاَّ من أَسِرَّته

So the heavens are nothing but some of his dwellings,

and the stars nothing but some of his couches.

ومن يكن وَسْطَ ذاك الصُّقْعِ منزلُه

فالبدرُ والشَّمسُ خضَّارٌ بحضْرَتِه

Whoever has his dwelling amid that region,

the full moon and sun are attendants in his presence.

آباؤه الغُرُّ لما كان مُنتَقِلاً

فيهم رأَوْا عزَّةَ الدُّنيا بِعَّزتِه

His illustrious forefathers, while he was passing

through them, saw the world’s glory in his glory.

لا عيبَ في جُودِه المُزْرِي بكثْرَتِه

على الغمائِم إّلاَّ فرطُ كَثْرَتِه

There is no flaw in his generosity, whose abundance shames

the clouds, except the excess of that abundance.

يسُّره السَّائِلونَ القاصِدون له

كأَنَّ أَفْواهَهم مَسْرى مسرَّته

Petitioners coming to him delight him,

as though their mouths were the channel of his delight.

قد طالَعُوا النُّجْحَ لما عَاينُوه فَما

طليعةُ النُّجحِ إِلاَّ بِشْرُ طَلْعَتِه

They beheld success when they saw him; for nothing

heralds success but the cheerfulness of his face.

لو لم يَنُمَّ عليه بِشْرُه لغَدا

ينِمُّ ذاكَ النَّدى مِنْه بنفحتِه

If his cheerfulness did not reveal him, then

that bounty of his would reveal him with its fragrance.

أَحْيا وأَنْشرَ ميْتَ المجْدِ مُجْتَهداً

في لَمِّ لِمَّته أَو رَمِّ رُمَّتِه

He revived and resurrected dead glory, striving

to gather its locks or mend its crumbling bones.

لا يُكْسَبُ المجدُ إِلاَّ من مَكارِمه

ويُقْبَس الفضلُ إِلاَّ من سَجيَّته

Glory is earned only from his noble deeds,

and excellence is kindled only from his innate nature.

فما المكارمُ إِلاَّ فيضُ راحَتِه

ولا الفضائِلُ إلا حَشْوُ بُردَتِه

Noble deeds are but the overflow of his palm,

and virtues but the filling of his mantle.

إِن امْتطى القلمُ العالي أَنامِله

يكادُ يَبْدو جَناه قَبْلَ مَنْبِتِه

If the lofty pen mounts his fingers,

its fruit almost appears before its sprouting.

ما أَظهرَ اللهُ هذا الفضلَ في بَشَرٍ

إِلاَّ وأُودع سِرّاً في سَريرَته

God has never manifested such excellence in a human being

without a secret being entrusted to his innermost self.

لا يَعجب الصَّدُّ من مَجْدي فإِنَّ يدي

لم تبتنِ المجدَ إِلاَّ مِنْ بُنُوَّته

Let no rival marvel at my glory, for my hand

has built glory only through my sonship to him.

وليقطع الشَّيبُ من فودَيَّ مَطْمَعه

فإِنَّني مُستَقِرُّ وسْط جَنَّتِه

Let gray hair give up its designs upon my temples,

for I am settled in the midst of his garden.

أَصبحتُ أَخْتالُ في حَالي ونُضْرتها

به وأَرْتَعُ في عَيْشِي وخُضْرَته

I now strut in my fortune and its bloom,

thanks to him, and graze in my life and its verdure.

وأَسعدُ الناسِ من لاقى بلا تَعَبٍ

مَبْدا السعادةِ في مَبْدا شِبيبَتِه

And the happiest of people is one who finds, without toil,

the beginning of happiness at the beginning of his youth.

إِنِّ تنَّمتُ من كَفَّيه في نِعَمٍ

حتى سَئِمتُ ولا كفْراً لِنِعْمَتِه

Indeed, I have luxuriated in blessings from both his palms,

until I wearied—but not out of ingratitude for his favor.