هات ذكرى سعاد ذات العقود — Mufti Fathallah

هاتِ ذِكرى سُعاد ذاتِ العُقودِ

فهيَ أحلَى من اِبنةِ العُنقودِ

Bring me remembrance of Suʿad, she of the necklaces;

For it is sweeter than the daughter of the grape-cluster.

وَاِتْلُ أَذكارَها عَليَّ بشَدْوٍ

فَهيَ تَحلُو بِنَغمَةِ التغريدِ

And recite remembrances of her to me in song;

For they grow sweet with a warbling melody.

ثُمَّ رَدِّدْ حَديثَها لِكئيبٍ

فَحَياةُ الكئيبِ بِالترديدِ

Then repeat her story to a sorrowful man;

For the sorrowful man's life lies in repetition.

وَيْحَ صَبٍّ فيها اِعتَراهُ جُنونٌ

وَهوَ أَعمَى مِن كَثرَةِ التّسهيدِ

Alas for a lover overtaken by madness over her,

And blind from so much sleeplessness.

وَيلَ واشٍ وَشى لَها بِكَئيبٍ

عَذَّبته بِغايَةِ التبعيدِ

Woe to a tale-bearer who slandered a sorrowful man to her;

She tormented him by banishing him utterly.

أَيُّ صَبٍّ يَعيشُ بَينَ اِغترابٍ

وبعادٍ وجفوةٍ وصدودِ

What lovesick lover can live amid estrangement,

And separation, coldness, and rejection?

أَنا صَبٌّ وَفي هَواها قتيلٌ

وقتيلُ الغَرامِ خيرُ شهيدِ

I am lovesick, slain by love for her;

And one slain by passion is the best of martyrs.

إِنّني عَن وِصالِها في هُبوطٍ

غَيرَ أنّي إِلى الجَفا في صُعودِ

Indeed, I sink away from union with her,

Yet toward coldness I rise.

لَيتَني مِتُّ قَبلَ هَواها

ليتَني كنتُ لستُ بالمولودِ

Would I had died before loving her;

Would I had never been born.

إِنَّ ما بي لَو كانَ فَوقَ حَديدٍ

كانَ قَد ذابَ مِن أَقسى الحَديدِ

Indeed, if my suffering were laid upon iron,

Even the hardest iron would have melted.

قَد رَثى لِيَ الجلمودُ حينَ جَفتني

فَهيَ عندي أَقسى مِنَ الجلمودِ

The boulder pitied me when she shunned me;

To me, she is harder than the boulder.

ظَبيَةٌ تَألَفُ النِّفارَ وَتَرنو

بِلِحاظٍ أَلِفْنَ صَيدَ الأسودِ

A gazelle accustomed to flight, she gazes

With glances accustomed to hunting lions.

كلَّما الوردُ شامَ مِنها خُدوداً

مَنَحَتهُ الخدودُ بِالتوريدِ

Whenever the rose glimpses her cheeks,

Her cheeks bestow their rosy hue upon it.

تُطلِعُ الوردَ زاهِياً وَجْنَتاها

حينَ يُبدي الرُّمّانَ رَوضُ النهودِ

Her two cheeks bring forth radiant roses,

While the garden of her breasts reveals pomegranates.

لَو رَأَت جيدَها الثّريّا تَمَنَّتْ

أَنّها لَو تَصيرُ عِقداً لجيدِ

If the Pleiades saw her neck, they would wish

To become a necklace for that neck.

ذاتُ قَدٍّ يَميدُ حِينَ اِعتِدالٍ

مثلَ خَوطٍ إِذا اِنثَنى أُملودِ

She has a figure that sways even when upright,

Like a supple branch when it bends.

تَرقُصُ الخَمرُ بِعِطفَيها دَلالاً

حينَ أَبدى الدّلالُ رَقص البنودِ

Wine dances coquettishly in her two flanks,

When coquetry displays the dance of banners.

خَلقَ اللَّهُ غَمزَها بِعُيونٍ

فيهِ سحرُ النُّهى وَفَتكُ الكبودِ

God fashioned her wink through eyes;

In it lie spells upon minds and the rending of livers.

فَتَكَتني بِمُقلةٍ مثلِ سيفٍ

غمدُها الجفنُ مطبقاً بالرقودِ

She slew me with an eye like a sword,

Its sheath the eyelid, closed in sleep.

ما رَأَينا مِن قَبلِ ذا أَنَّ فَتكاً

كان يوماً بصارمٍ مغمودِ

Never before this have we seen a slaying

Ever wrought with a sheathed blade.

أَتَمنّى وِصالَها عَن قَريبٍ

فَهوَ في الحبّ لَم يَكُن بِبَعيدِ

I hope for union with her soon;

For in love it has not been far away.

رُبَّ لَيلٍ وصالُها كانَ فيهِ

فَهوَ عِندي قَد كانَ أَبركَ عيدِ

Many a night held union with her;

To me, it was the most blessed of feasts.

فَأَضاءَت نُجومُه وَتَولَّت

وَعَلَيها لِلخَسفِ سودُ البُرودِ

Then its stars shone and withdrew,

Draped for eclipse in black mantles.

قَد أَتَتني لِرَوضةٍ قَد أميتَت

فَعَلَيها مدَّت رواقَ السُّعودِ

She came to me, to a garden left lifeless,

And spread over it the canopy of good fortune.

وَاِزدَهَت ثمَّ أَزهَرَت وَأَبانت

كُلَّ زَهرٍ كَنَرجِسٍ وورودِ

And it grew radiant, then blossomed and displayed

Every flower, like narcissi and roses.

وَتَبدَّت كَجنَّةِ الخُلدِ تَزهو

لَو تَحَلَّت بِزينَةِ التخليدِ

And it appeared, resplendent, like the Garden of Eternity—

If only it were adorned with immortality.

سامَرتني ولا رَقيب يَرانا

حَيثُ عَنّا قَد غابَ كلُّ حسودِ

She kept me company at night, with no watcher to see us,

Where every envious person had vanished from us.

ثمَّ قالَت هَلِ اِمتَدحتَ جمالي

قلتُ فيهِ نَظَمتُ أَغلَى العقودِ

Then she said, 'Have you praised my beauty?'

I said, 'For it I strung the costliest necklaces.'

ثمَّ قالَت هَلِ اِمتَدحتَ عَذولاً

قُلتُ ما لي بِعاذِلي المَطرودِ

Then she said, 'Have you praised a reprover?'

I said, 'What have I to do with my banished reprover?'

إِنّ مَدحي غيرَ الكرامِ قَبيحٌ

إِنَّ مَدحَ اللّئامِ غَيرُ سَديدِ

Indeed, my praise of any but the noble is shameful;

Indeed, praising the base is not right.

إِنّما يَحسُنُ المَديحُ بِنَظمٍ

لو بَدا النظمُ في مديحِ حميدي

Only through verse does praise become beautiful,

If that verse appears in praise of Hamidi:

ذي السموِّ الّذي عَداهُ اِنتِهاء

ذي الكَمالِ الَّذي عَدا عَنِ التحديدِ

Possessed of loftiness that no limit can reach,

Of perfection that surpasses all bounds;

ذي الطّباعِ الكرامِ في كلِّ صنعٍ

ناشِئٍ عَن مَعروفِهِ المَحمودِ

Of noble dispositions in every deed

Arising from his praiseworthy kindness;

واحدِ النّاسَ في حِسانِ صفاتٍ

جَوهَرِ العزِّ عقدهُ المنضودِ

Unmatched among people in beautiful qualities,

The jewel of glory, its well-strung necklace;

الهِزَبرِ الصمصامِ مَن لا يُضاهى

المَهوبِ السّميدعِ الصِّنديدِ

The lion, the keen sword, the peerless one,

The awe-inspiring, generous lord, the valiant champion;

الأَديبِ الجزائِريِّ المُفدّى

الأريبِ المُهذَّبِ المَسعودِ

The Algerian man of letters, for whom one would give one's life,

The discerning, refined, fortunate one.

فَهوَ نَدْبٌ سَميُّ خَيرِ رَسولٍ

فَليهنَّأْ بِكَثرَةِ التّحميدِ

For he is a gallant man, namesake of the best of messengers;

So let him be congratulated with abundant praise.

حَسنِ السَّمْتِ صيتُهُ شاعَ فينا

مِثلَ مِسكٍ وَعَنبَرٍ ثمَّ عودِ

Of handsome bearing, his fame has spread among us

Like musk and ambergris, and then aloeswood.

طَبعُه الصّدقُ في وَفاءِ وُعودٍ

وَأَخو المَجدِ مُنجِزٌ لِلوُعودِ

His nature is truthfulness in keeping promises,

And glory's brother fulfills his promises.

لا تَعجَب مِن خُلفِهِ بِوَعيدٍ

إِنَّ شَأنَ الكِرامِ خُلفُ الوَعيدِ

Do not marvel that he breaks his threats;

For breaking threats is the way of the noble.

بِذَكاءٍ وَفِطنَةٍ ثمّ حِذْقٍ

قَد خَلا في زَمانِهِ عَن نَديدِ

With intelligence and discernment, then skill,

He has been without a peer in his age.

لَبِسَ المَجدَ وَالمَكارِمَ دِرعاً

كُلُّ فَخرٍ في دِرعِهِ المزرودِ

He donned glory and noble deeds as armor;

Every honor lies within his ring-linked mail.

حازَ خُلقاً مثلَ النسيمِ وَأَحلى

سَلَبَ الرّوضَ بَهجَةَ التوريدِ

He gained a nature like the breeze, yet sweeter;

He robbed the garden of its rosy splendor.

سُفنُ المَدحِ غِبَّ طوفانَ جودٍ

مِن نَداهُ اِستَوَت بِأَعلى الجودي

The ships of praise, after a deluge of generosity

From his bounty, came to rest atop Judi.

كُلّما قَد مَدَحته بِنظامي

فَنظامي يَقولُ هَل مِن مَزيدِ

Whenever I have praised him in my verse,

My verse says, 'Is there any more?'

دامَ يَرقَى عَلى سَماءِ المَعالي

أَبرجُ العزِّ وَالعُلى والسّعودِ

May there ever rise above the heaven of high attainments

The constellations of honor, eminence, and good fortune,

ما تَبَدّى مَخدومُ كلِّ فَخارٍ

لَيسَ يَفنى إِلى أَوانِ الخُلودِ

As long as he whom every glory serves appears,

Never perishing, until the time of eternity;

أَو تَحَلَّى بِمَدحِهِ جيدُ نَظمي

وَهوَ يَحلو بِهِ الغِنا كَالنّشيدِ

Or the neck of my verse is adorned with his praise,

And through it singing grows sweet, like a chant.