نفسي الفداء لشادن مهما خطر — Ibn Zamrak

نفسي الفداء لشادن مهما خطرْ

فالقلب من سهم الجفون على خطرْ

My soul be the ransom of a young gazelle whenever he sways past;

for the heart is imperiled by the arrow of his eyelids.

فضح الغزالة والأقاحة والقنا

مهما تثنَى أو تبسّم أو نظرْ

He puts the gazelle, the daisy blossom, and the spear-shafts to shame

whenever he sways, or smiles, or looks.

عجباً لليل ذوائبِ من شعرهِ

والوجه يُسفر عنْ صباح قد سفرْ

How wondrous the night of tresses from his hair,

while his face reveals a dawn already shining!

عجباً بعِقدِ الثغر منه منظماً

والعِقد من دمعي عليه قد انتثرْ

How wondrous the necklace of his mouth, strung in order,

while the necklace of my tears has scattered over him!

ما رمتُ أن أجني الأَقاحَ بثغره

إلاّ وقد سلَّ السيوف من الحورْ

Never did I seek to gather daisies at his mouth

but he had already drawn swords from his dark eyes.

لم أنسَهُ ليلَ ارتقاب هلاله

والقلب من شك الظهور على غَررْ

I have not forgotten him on the night of awaiting his crescent,

my heart imperiled by doubt that he would appear.

بتنا نراقبه بأول ليلةٍ

فإِذا به قد لاح في نصف الشهرْ

We spent the night watching for him on the first night,

and behold, he appeared in the middle of the month.

طالعته في روضة كخلاله

والطيب من هذي وتلك قد اشتهرْ

I gazed upon him in a garden like his virtues,

the fragrance of this and that alike renowned.

وكلاهما يُبدي محاسن جمة

مِلْءَ التنسّم والمسامع والبصرْ

Both display abundant beauties,

filling the senses of smell, hearing, and sight.

والكأسُ تطلع شمسها في خدِّهِ

فتكادُ تُعشي بالأشعة والنظرْ

The cup makes its sun rise in his cheek,

almost dazzling with its rays and the sight of it.

نورية كجبينة وكلاهما

يجلو ظلامَ الليل بالوجه الأغرْ

Luminous like his brow, and both

dispel the night's darkness with a radiant face.

هي نسخة للشيخ فيها نسبة

ما إن يزالا يرعشان من الكبرْ

It is the old man's likeness, bearing a kinship to him:

the two never cease trembling from old age.

أفرغتَ في جسم الزجاجة روحها

فرأيتُ روح الأنس فيها قد بهرْ

You poured its spirit into the bottle's body,

and I saw the spirit of convivial delight shine dazzlingly within it.

لا تسقِ غير الروض فضلة كأسها

فالغصن في ذيل الأزاهر قد عثرْ

Give none but the garden what remains in its cup,

for the branch has stumbled in the train of blossoms.

ما هبَ خفاق النسيم مع السحرْ

إلا وقد شاق النفوس وقد سحرْ

Never did the fluttering breeze blow at dawn

without stirring souls to longing and enchanting them.

ناجى القولبَ الخافقات كمثله

ووشى بما تخفي الكِمام مع الزهرْ

It whispered to hearts that fluttered like itself,

and, with the flowers, disclosed what the calyxes conceal.

وروى عبد الضحاك عن زَهر الربُّى

ما أسند الزهري عنه عن مطرْ

And ʿAbd al-Ḍaḥḥāk related, from the flowers of the hills,

what al-Zuhrī transmitted through him on Maṭar's authority.

وتحملت عنه حديث صحيحه

رُسُلُ النسيم وصدّق الخُبُرُ الخَبَرْ

And his authentic account was transmitted from him

by the breeze's messengers; experience confirmed the report.

يا قصر شنّيل وربعك آهلٌ

والروض منك على الجمال قد اقتصرْ

O palace of Shannīl, your grounds are peopled,

and your garden has devoted itself solely to beauty.

لله بحرك والصِّبا قد سرَّدْتْ

منه دروعاً تحت أعلام الشجرْ

How wondrous your sea! The east wind has woven

from it coats of mail beneath the banners of the trees.

والآس حفَّ غداره من حوله

عن كلِّ من يهوى العِذارَ قد اعتذرْ

Myrtle has fringed its pool on every side,

excusing all who love the down upon a cheek.

قَبِّلْ بثغر الزهر كفَّ خليفة

يُغنيك صوبُ الجود منه عن المطرْ

Kiss, with the flowers' mouth, the palm of a caliph

whose downpour of generosity makes rain needless for you.

وافرشْ خدود الورد تحت نعاله

واجعل بها لون المضاعف عبد خفرْ

Spread the roses' cheeks beneath his sandals,

and there make the double rose's hue a slave to modesty.

وانظمْ غناء الطير فيه مدائحاً

وانثر من الزهر الدراهم والدررْ

Weave the birds' singing into praises of him,

and scatter from the flowers silver coins and pearls.

المنتقى من جوهر الشرف الذي

في مدحه قد أنزلت آيُ السورْ

The chosen one from the essence of nobility,

in whose praise verses of the surahs were revealed;

والمجتبى من عنصر النور الذي

في مطلع الهَدي المقدس قد ظهرْ

and the elect of the substance of light

that appeared at the dawning of sacred guidance.

ذو سطوة مهما كفى ذو رحمة

مهما عفا ذو عفة مهما قدرْ

Mighty whenever he protects, merciful

whenever he pardons, restrained whenever he has power.

كم سائل للدهر أقسمَ قائلاً

والله ما أيامُهُ إلا غُرَرْ

How many a questioner of Time has sworn, saying,

"By God, his days are nothing but radiant days!"

مولايَ سعدك كالمهنّد في الوغى

لم يُبق من رسم الضلال ولم يَذَرْ

My lord, your good fortune is like an Indian sword in battle:

it has left no trace of error, nor spared any.

مولاي وجهُك والصباحُ تشابها

وكلاهما في الخافقين قد اشتهرْ

My lord, your face and morning resemble one another,

and both are renowned from east to west.

إن الملوك كواكبٌ أخفيتها

وطلعت وَحْدَك في مظاهرها قمرْ

The kings are stars you have obscured,

and you alone have risen, a moon, where they appear.

في كل يوم من زمانك موسمٌ

في طَيّهِ للخلق أعيادٌ كُبَرْ

Every day of your reign is a festival,

within whose folds are great feasts for all people.

فاستقبل الأيام يندَى روضها

ويرف والنصر العزيز له ثمرْ

So welcome the days: their garden grows dewy

and sways, bearing glorious victory as its fruit.

قد ذهَبتْ منها العشايا ضعف ما

قد فضَّضَتْ منها المحاسن في السحرْ

Their evenings have gilded twice what

their beauties have silvered at dawn.

يا ابن الذين إذا تُعَدُّ خلالهم

نفِدَ الحسابُ وأعجزت منها القدرْ

O son of those whose qualities, when counted,

exhaust reckoning and defy all measures!

إن أوردوا هِيمَ السيوف غدائراً

مصقولةٌ فلطالما حَمِدُوا الصِّدَرْ

If they bring their thirsty swords to pools,

polished—how often they have praised the return from watering!

سائلْ ببدرٍ عنهمُ بدرَ الهدى

فبهم على حزب الضلال قد انتصرْ

Ask, at Badr, the full moon of guidance about them;

through them he triumphed over the party of error.

واسألْ مواقفهم بكل مشهّر

واقرَ المغازي في الصحيح وفي السِّيَرْ

And ask of their stands with every unsheathed sword;

read the campaigns in the Ṣaḥīḥ and in the biographies.

تجد الثناء ببأسهم وبجودهم

في مصحف الوحي المنزل مُستطرْ

You will find praise of their valor and generosity

inscribed in the book of revelation sent down.

فبمثل هديك فلتُنِزْ شمس الضحى

وبمثل قومِكَ فليفاخر من فَخَرْ

So let the morning sun be outshone by guidance like yours [uncertain reading];

and let whoever boasts boast of a people like yours.

ماذا أقول وكل وصف معجزٌ

والقول فيك مع الإطالة مختصرْ

What can I say, when every description exceeds my power,

and speech about you, for all its length, is brief?

تلك المناقب كالثواقب في العلا

من رامها بالحصْرِ أدركه الحَصَرْ

Those virtues are like piercing stars on high:

whoever tries to number them is left tongue-tied.

إن غاب عبدُك عن حماك فإنه

بالقلب في تلك المشاهد قد حضرْ

If your servant is absent from your protected domain, he

has attended those scenes in his heart.

فاذْكُرْهُ إن الذكرَ منك سعادةٌ

وبها على كل النام قد افتخرْ

So remember him: remembrance from you is happiness,

and through it he has boasted above all humankind.

ورضاك عنه غايةٌ ما بعدها

إلا رضى الله الذي ابتدع البشرْ

Your pleasure with him is an utmost end beyond which

there is only the pleasure of God, who brought mankind into being.

فاشكر صنيع الله فيك فإنه

سبحانه ضمن المزيد لمن شكرْ

So thank God for what He has done for you, for He—

glory be to Him—has guaranteed increase to whoever gives thanks.

وعليك من رَوْح الإله تحيةٌ

تهفو إليك مع الأصائل والبُكَرْ

And upon you be a greeting from God's refreshing mercy,

wafting toward you with the late afternoons and early mornings.