هبت الصبا فصبا — Mohammed Al Shazly

هبّت الصبا فصبا

لا جناح لا عتبا

The east wind blew, and he yearned.

No blame, no reproach.

خطرت النسيم غدت

للصبابة السببا

The breeze drifted past and became

the cause of longing.

ما أرق خطرته

كهربا بها انجذبا

How delicate its passing!

He was drawn by it, as by amber.

ألقح الهواء هوى

في النفوس واعجبا

The air sowed love

in souls—how wondrous!

لا عذول يعذلني

في الهوى ولا رقبا

No reprover reproaches me

for love, nor do watchers.

شب في الحشا لفح

منه شد ما التهبا

A searing heat flared in my heart;

from it—how fiercely it blazed!

لا أقول عذبني

بل أقول قد عذبا

I do not say, ‘It tormented me’;

rather I say, ‘It has grown sweet.’

طاب لي به أرج

بين سبب وربى

Through it, fragrance grew sweet to me

among paths and hills.

رحت في مجاهلها

سالكا لها حدبا

I went through their trackless reaches,

traversing their rising ground.

قام فوق أيكته ال

عندليب منتصبا

Upon its thicket stood the

nightingale, upright.

رق لي فشنف بالش

دو جاره الجنبا

It took pity on me and delighted, with its

song, its distant neighbor.

بينما أنا ثمل

منتش به طربا

While I was drunk,

intoxicated by it with delight,

غذ تسربت قطع

من شوارد لظبا

suddenly there slipped by herds

of wandering gazelles.

تذرع الفلاة خطى

تلو بعضها خببا

Their strides paced out the wilderness,

one after another, at a trot.

تملأ الفضاء مرحا

تبسط الشجى لعبا

They filled the open air with merriment,

spreading melancholy through their play.

دبجت خطوط خطى

طرزّت بها الكثبا

They embroidered lines of footprints,

with which they patterned the dunes.

صاغها الأصيل حلى

عسجديّة ذهبا

The late-afternoon light fashioned them into ornaments,

golden, wrought of gold.

فوق كل منعطف

كأس قرقف سكبا

Over every bend

it poured a cup of wine.

أهوت الغزالة في

مكنس الظبا هربا

The sun-gazelle plunged into

the gazelles’ covert, fleeing.

لاح نحو مغربها

نيرٌ جلا الحجبا

Toward its setting-place appeared

a luminary that swept the veils aside.

قلت مرحبا بهلا

ل السعادة اقتربا

I said, ‘Welcome to the crescent

of happiness, now drawing near!’

فاتح المحرم من

خير ما ترى حقبا

Ushering in Muharram, among

the finest times you may witness.

فالأحق حينئذ

بالهناء إذ وجبا

Thus the one most deserving then

of congratulations, since they were due,

الأمير ناصرنا

أكرم الورى حسبا

is the emir, our champion,

the noblest of humankind in honor.

من له ارتقى أدبي

في منصّة الأدبا

He for whom my verse has risen

to the dais of men of letters.

أشرقت به كلمي

من سمائه شهبا

Through him my words shone

from his sky, like shooting stars.

أسكر النهى قلمي

جير طالما خلبا

My pen intoxicated minds;

indeed, how often it has enchanted!

إيه سل منابره

فهو أخطب الخطبا

Ah, ask its pulpits,

for it is the most eloquent of orators.

أيها سألت تجد

آيها التي كتبا

Whichever of them you ask, you will find

their verses, which it wrote.

ما اشتكى القريض به

علّة ولا نصبا

Through it, verse has never complained of

sickness or fatigue.

لم تجده في سبب

للزحاف مرتكبا

You never found it, in a metrical sabab,

committing a zihaf alteration.

في الذي يرى حسنا

لا تراه مجتنبا

In what it considers beautiful,

you never see it turn away.

غاص فيه منسرحا

تارة ومقتضبا

It plunged into it in Munsarih,

at times, and in Muqtadab,

حيث قل وزنهما

في العروض مذ صعبا

for both their meters are rare

in prosody, having proved difficult.

فامتحدت سيدنا

بالأعز مطلبا

So I praised our lord

with what is hardest to attain.

وامتطيت صوتها

إيه عز من غلبا

And I mounted its voice—

ah, mighty is he who prevails!

إيه عشت يا ملك

كان للهدى سببا

Ah, long may you live, O king,

who has been a source of guidance!

ما اشتكى به أحد

شقة ولا وصبا

No one has suffered through him

hardship or sickness.

في الوفا له أرب

ما أجله أربا

His desire lies in faithfulness—

how noble a desire it is!

لا تمد منه يد

بيننا بغير حبا

No hand of his reaches out

among us without gifts.

إنه الخلاصة من

آل بيته النقبا

He is the finest essence of

the chiefs of his own house.

سلسبيل منطقه

كم به العقول سبى

His speech is Salsabil;

how many minds he has captured with it!

لا الشمول تحسبه

ف يالصفا ولا الضربا

Do not take it for wine

in its clarity, nor for honey.

اين حلم أحنف من

حلمه إذا حسبا

Where is Ahnaf’s forbearance beside

his, when the two are weighed?

مالك القلوب بما

خصه وما وهبا

He owns hearts through what

sets him apart and what he bestows.

كلنا البنون فلا

نرتجي سواه ابا

We are all his sons, and so

we seek no father but him.

زينة الحياة فقل

لا عدمتها نسبا

Life’s adornment—then say:

‘May you never lack it in your lineage.’

صانها الإله به

فهي خير ما اكتسبا

God has preserved it through him,

and it is the best thing he has gained.

دام للإبالة ما

في صلاحها رغبا

May he endure in governance, as long as

he desires its welfare.

بات للمهيمن في الحا

كمين مرتقبا

He remained, for the Almighty, among the

rulers, watchful.

اصطفى له سنة

ذو الجلال وانتخبا

For him a year was chosen

by the Lord of Majesty, who singled it out.

فالهلال مبتسم

يمتطي بها السحبا

So the crescent smiles,

riding the clouds with her.

أقبلت تبشرنا

حيث حظنا ولبا

She came to bring us glad tidings

where our good fortune made its entrance.

حيت الأمير بما

يبتغيه مطلبا

She greeted the emir with what

he seeks as his goal.

مرحبا بطلعتها

فالهنا بها رحبا

Welcome to her appearance!

For joy has spread wide through her.

كلنا بها جذل

نخب صفوها شربا

We all rejoice in her,

drinking a toast to her serenity.

السلام يصحبها

لن يزال مصطحبا

Peace accompanies her;

it will never cease accompanying her.

والسرور رائدها

ضمن ذيلها انسحبا

And joy is her guide,

trailing along within her train.

والمليك سيدنا

في قبولها رغبا

And the king, our lord,

was eager to receive her.

تونس تؤرخها

فليعش لها حقها

Tunis records her date:

‘So may he live for her, as is her due.’