حياك يا دار الهوى من دار — Ibn Zamrak

حيَّاكِ يا دار الهوى من دارِ

نوءُ السَّماك بديمةٍ مدرارِ

May you be greeted, O dwelling of love—what a dwelling!—

By al-Simak's rain-season, with steady, abundant rain.

وأعاد وجهَ رُباك طلقاً مشرقاً

متضاحكاً بمباسم النوّارِ

And may it restore the face of your hills, cheerful and radiant,

Smiling with the blossoms' smiling mouths.

أَمذكُري دارَ الصبابة والهوى

حيث الشبابُ يرفُّ غصن نُضارِ

O you who remind me of the dwelling of yearning and love,

Where youth sways like a bough of pure gold,

عاطيتني عنها الحديث كأنما

عاطيتني عنها كؤوسَ عُقارِ

You offered me talk of it, as though

You offered me cups of wine in its stead.

إيهٍ وإن أذكيت نار صبابتي

وقدحتَ زندَ الشوق بالتذكارِ

Say more, even though you kindle the fire of my yearning

And strike longing's fire-stick with remembrance.

يا زاجر الأظعان وهي مشوقة

أشبهتها في زفرة وأوارِ

O driver of the caravan, while it is filled with longing,

I resemble it in sighing and burning heat.

حنَّتْ إلى نجد وليست دارَها

وصَبتْ إلى هنديّهِ والغارِ

It yearned for Najd, though Najd was not its home,

And longed for its Indian wood and laurel.

لكنَّها شامَتْ به برق الحمى

واعتادها طيف الكرى بمزارِ

But it had glimpsed there the lightning of the protected pasture,

And a phantom of sleep kept returning to visit it.

هل تُبلغُ الحاجاتِ إن حُمُلتها

إنّ الوفاء سجيةُ الأحرارِ

Will you convey my needs, if entrusted with them?

Loyalty is the nature of the freeborn.

عرّضْ بذكري في الخيام وقلْ إذا

جئت العقيق مُبَلِّغ الأوطارِ

Allude to me among the tents, and say, when

You reach al-Aqiq, conveying my desires:

عارٌ بقومكِ يا ابنةَ الحيَّيْنِ أن

تلوي الديون وأنت ذات يسارِ

It shames your people, O daughter of the two clans, that

You delay your debts while you possess wealth.

أمتعت ميسورَ الكلام أخا الهوى

وبخلت حتى بالخيال الساري

You gratified the lover with readily offered words,

Yet begrudged him even your night-wandering phantom.

وأبان جاري الدمع عذرَ هيامه

لكن أضعتِ له حقوق الجارِ

His flowing tears revealed the excuse for his passion,

But you squandered his rights as your neighbor.

هذا وقومُكِ ما علِمتُ خلالهم

أوفى الكرام بذمةِ وجوارِ

All this, though your people, as I have known their character,

Are the most faithful of the noble to pledges and neighborly protection.

الله في نفس شُعاعٍ كلّما

هبّ النسيم تطير كل مطارِ

For God's sake, spare a scattered soul that, whenever

The breeze rises, flies in every direction.

باللهِ يا لمياءُ ما منع الصَّبا

أَلاَّ تهبَّ بعَرفِكِ المعطارِ

By God, O Lamya, what has kept the east wind

From blowing with your lavish fragrance?

يا بنتَ من تشدو الحداةُ بذكره

مُتَعَلِّلين به على الأكوارِ

O daughter of him whose name the camel-drivers sing,

Taking solace in him upon their camel-saddles,

ما ضر نسمة حاجر لو أنها

أهدتْ لنا خبراً من الأخبارِ

What harm would it do Hajir's breeze if it

Brought us some piece of news?

هل بانُه من بعدنا متأوّدٌ

متجاوبٌ مترنم الأطيارِ

Do its ban-trees still sway, since our departure,

Echoing with birds' melodious song?

وهل الظباء الآنسات كعهدنا

يصرعن أسْدَ الغاب وهْيَ ضوارِ

And do the gentle gazelles, as we remember them,

Still fell the forest's lions, fierce though they are?

يفتكن من قاماتها ولحاظها

بالمشرفية والقنا الخطَّارِ

Dealing death through their figures and sidelong glances,

With Mashrafi swords and swaying spears.

أشعرتُ قلبي ُبَّهُنَّ صبابةٌ

فَرَمَيْنَني من لوعتي بجمارِ

I clothed my heart in yearning for them,

And they pelted me with embers from my anguish.

وعلى الكثيب سوانحٌ حمرُ الحلى

بيض الوجوهِ يُصَدْن بالأفكارِ

And on the dune are passing gazelles, red in their ornaments,

White of face, captured in imagination.

أَدْنَى الحجيجُ مزارهنَّ ثلاثةٌ

بمِنّى لَوَاَنَّ مِنىَ ديارُ قرارِ

The pilgrims brought their visiting-place near for three days

At Mina—if only Mina were a lasting dwelling!

لكنّ يوم النفر جُدنّ لنا بما

عوَّدْنَنا من جفوة ونِفارِ

But on the day of departure they lavished upon us

Their accustomed coldness and aversion.

يا ابن الأُلى قد أَحرزوا فضل العلا

وسَمَوْا بطيب أرومةِ ونِجارِ

O son of those who attained the excellence of high rank,

And rose through noble stock and lineage,

وتنوب عن صوب الغمام أكفُّهم

وتنوب أوجُههم عن الأقْمارِ

Whose hands take the place of the clouds' downpour,

And whose faces take the place of moons,

من آل سعدٍ رافعي علم الهدى

والمصطَفَيْنَ لنصرة المختارِ

Of the house of Sa'd, raisers of the banner of guidance,

And those chosen to support the Chosen One.

أصبحتَ وارثَ مجدهم وفخارهم

ومشرَفَ الأعصار والأمصارِ

You have become the heir to their glory and their pride,

And the honor of ages and cities.

وجهٌ كما حَسَر الصباحُ نِقابَهُ

ويدُ تمدُّ أناملاً ببحارِ

A face like morning when it draws aside its veil,

And a hand extending its fingers with oceans of bounty.

جدّدت دون الدين عزمة أروعٍ

جدّدت منها سُنَّة الأنصارِ

You renewed, in defense of the faith, a valiant man's resolve,

And through it renewed the tradition of the Ansar.

حُطْتَ البلاد ومن حوته ثغورُها

وكفى بسعدك حامياً لذمارِ

You guarded the lands and those embraced by their frontiers,

And your good fortune suffices to guard all that must be protected.

للهِ رحلتك التي نلنا بها

أجرَ الجهاد ونزهة الأبصارِ

How wondrous, by God, your journey, through which we gained

The reward of struggle for the faith and a feast for the eyes!

أوردتنا فيها لجودك مورداً

مستعذبَ الإيراد والإِصدارِ

On it you brought us to a watering-place of your generosity,

Sweet both in coming to drink and in departing.

وأفضت فينا من نداك مواهباً

حسُنت مواقعُها على التكرارِ

And you poured upon us gifts from your bounty,

Whose bestowal was gracious, time after time.

أضحكت ثغر الثغر لما جئته

وخَصَصْتَهُ بخصائص الإيثارِ

You made the frontier's mouth smile when you came to it,

And singled it out for special favor.

حتى الفلاةُ تقيمُ يوم وردتها

سُنَنَ القِرى بثلاثةِ الأثوارِ

Even the wilderness, on the day you reached it, observed

The customs of hospitality with three bulls.

وسَرَتْ عُقاب الجو تهديك الّذي

تصطاد من وحش ومن أطيارِ

And the eagle of the sky traveled by night, offering you what

It caught of wild beasts and birds.

والأرض تعلمُ أنك الغوث الذي

تُضفي عليها واقيَ الأستارِ

The earth knows that you are the deliverer who

Casts protective veils over it.

وَلَرُبَّ ممتدِّ الأباطح موحش

عالي الربى متباعد الأقطارِ

And many a desolate tract of far-stretching pebbly valleys,

With lofty hills and widely separated bounds,

هَمَلِ المسَارح لا يُراعُ قنيصُهُ

إلا لنَبْأةِ فارسٍ مغوارِ

Its grazing grounds untended, its quarry never startled

Except by the shout of a daring horseman—

سَرَحَتْ عنان الريح فهي وربما

أَلْقَتْ بساحته عصا التّسيارِ

It loosed the wind's reins; the wind would sometimes

Lay down the staff of wandering in its open grounds.

باكرته والأفق قد خلع الدجى

مِسْحاً لِيلبَسَ حُلَّةَ الإِسفارِ

You reached it at dawn, while the horizon had cast off darkness

As a haircloth robe, to don the garment of daybreak.

وجرى به نهر النهار كمثل ما

سكب النديم سُلافةً من قارِ

And the river of daylight flowed through it, just as

A drinking companion pours choice wine from a flask.

عَرَضَتْ به المستنفرات كأنَّها

خيلٌ عِرابٌ جُلْنَ في مضمارِ

Startled beasts appeared there, as though they were

Purebred Arabian horses circling in a racecourse.

أتبعتها غُرَرَ الجياد كواكباً

تنقضُّ رجماً في سماء غُبارِ

You sent white-blazed steeds after them, like stars

Plunging as missiles through a sky of dust.

والهاديات يؤمُّها عبلُ الشَّوى

متدفّقٌ كتدفّق التيَّارِ

And at the head of the leaders was a thick-limbed beast,

Surging onward like a flowing torrent.

أَزْجَيْتَها شقراءَ رائقةَ الحلى

فرمَيْتَهُ منها بشعلةِ نارِ

You urged on a chestnut mare, lovely in her trappings,

And from her you struck him with a tongue of flame.

أثبتْ فيه الرمح ثُمَّ تركته

خَضِبَ الجوانح بالدَّمِ الموَّارِ

You planted the spear in him, then left him

With his ribs stained by surging blood.

حامت عليه الذابلات كأنَّها

طيرٌ أوَتْ منه إلى أوكارِ

The slender spears hovered over him as though they were

Birds finding nests within him to shelter in.

طفقت أرانِبُهُ غداة أثرتها

تبغي الفرار ولات حين فرارِ

Its hares, the morning you roused them, began

Seeking escape—but it was no time for escape.

هل ينفع الباعُ الطويل وقد غدتْ

يوم الطراد قصيرةَ الأَعْمارِ

What use was their long reach, when they had become,

On the day of the chase, so short-lived?

من كل منحفزٍ بملحمة بارق

فاتتْ خطاه مدارك الأبصارِ

Before each eager pursuer, flashing amid the slaughter,

Whose strides outstripped the reach of eyes.

وجوارح سبقتْ إليه طلابها

فكأنّما طالَبْنَهُ بالثّارِ

And hunting beasts that outstripped their own pursuit of it,

As though they were demanding blood-revenge from it.

سودٌ وبيضٌ في الطراد تتابعت

كالليل طارده بياضُ نهارِ

Black ones and white ones followed one another in the chase,

Like night pursued by the whiteness of day.

ترمي بها وهي الحنايا ضمّراً

مثل السهام نُزعن عن أوتارِ

You launched them, lean-bodied bows themselves,

Like arrows released from bowstrings.

ظننتُ بأن تنجو بها كلاَّ ولو

أغريتَه بأرانب الأقمارِ

I thought it might escape them—no, not even if

You set it on the hares of the moons.

وبكل فتخاء الجناح إذا ارتمت

فكأنها نجم السماء الساري

And every broad-winged hawk, when it launches itself,

Is like a star traveling through the night sky.

زجِلُ الجناح مصفق كمن الردى

في مخلب منه وفي منقارِ

Loud of wing, beating the air, with death lurking

In its talon and in its beak.

أجلى الطريد من الوحوش وإن رمى

طيراً أتاك به على مقدارِ

It flushed the quarry from among the beasts; and if it struck

A bird, it brought it to you in due measure.

وأريتنا الكسب الذي أعداؤه

ملأت جمالاً أعين النظارِ

And you showed us the catch, whose foes

Filled the watchers' eyes with beauty.

بيضٌ وصفرٌ خِلتُ مطرح سرحها

روضاً تفتّح عن شقيق بهارِ

White and yellow: I imagined the ground where they ranged

A garden blooming with anemones and chamomile.

من كل موشيّ الأديم مفوْفٍ

رقمت بدائعه يد الأقدارِ

Each one embroidered of hide and finely patterned,

Its wonders embroidered by the hand of fate.

خُلِطَ البياضُ بصفرة في لونه

فترى اللجين يشوب ذوب نُضارِ

Whiteness was mixed with yellow in its coloring,

So you saw silver mingling with molten pure gold.

أوْ أشْعلِ راق العيونَ كأنه

غَلَسً يخالط سُدفةً بنهارِ

Or a white-streaked one, pleasing to the eyes, as though it were

Predawn gloom blending darkness with daylight.

سَرَحَتْ بمخضرْ الجوانب يانعٍ

تنسابُ فيه أراقم الأنهارِ

They ranged through a lush place, green along its sides,

Where the rivers' spotted serpents glided.

قد أرضعته الساريات لبانها

وحَلَلْنَ فيه أَزِرْةَ النُّوّارِ

Night-traveling clouds had suckled it with their milk,

And there unfastened the blossoms' buttons.

أخذت سعودك حذرها فلحكمةِ

أَغْرَتْ جفون المزن باستعبارِ

Your lucky stars took their precautions, and wisely

Urged the rain-clouds' eyelids to weep.

لما أرتك الشمس صفرة حاسدٍ

لجبينك المتألق الأنوارِ

When the sun showed you the yellow pallor of one envying

Your brow, radiant with lights,

نفثت عليك السُّحُبُ نفث معوّذٍ

من عينها المتوقَّع الإضرارِ

The clouds breathed over you like one reciting a protective charm,

Against its eye, from which harm was feared.

فارفعْ لواء الفخر غيْرَ مدافعٍ

واسحب ذيول العسكر الجرارِ

Raise, then, the banner of pride, with no one to oppose you,

And trail the skirts of the vast, advancing army.

واهنأ بمقدمك السعيد مُخَوَّلاً

ما شئت من عز ومن أنصارِ

Rejoice in your fortunate arrival, endowed

With all the honor and supporters you desire.

قد جئتُ دارك محسناً ومؤملاً

مُتعت بالحسنى وعقبى الدارِ

I have come to your house, doing good and full of hope;

May you enjoy goodness and the reward of the final abode.

وإليكَها من روض فكري نفحةً

شفّ الثناء بها على الأزهارِ

Here for you is a fragrant breath from the garden of my thought,

In which praise surpasses the flowers.