حمامة الدوح في شدو وتلحين — Mufti Fathallah

حَمامةَ الدّوحِ في شَدوٍ وَتَلحينِ

حَتّامَ عاذِلَتي في الحبِّ تلحيني

O dove of the grove, in song and melody,

How long, my reproacher, will you reproach me for love?

وَكَيفَ أَحمِلُ مِنها العَذْلَ يا أَلَمي

وَالعَذلُ نارٌ بِها في القَلبِ تَكويني

And how can I bear her reproach—O my anguish!

And reproach is a fire with which she sears me in the heart.

عَلقتُ قَبلَ الهَوى وَالحبّ غانِيةً

فَصِرْتُ عاشِقَها مِن قَبلِ تَكويني

I became enamored of a beauty before passion and love,

And became her lover before my own creation.

عَشِقتُها قَبلَ تَكوينٍ لِصورَتِها

إِذ كانَ آدَمُ بَينَ الماءِ والطينِ

I loved her before her form was fashioned,

When Adam was between water and clay.

ما تِلكَ إِلّا جِنانُ الخُلدِ مَولدُها

أَما تَراها بَدَت مِن حُورِها العينِ

None but the gardens of eternity were her birthplace;

Do you not see she appeared among their wide-eyed houris?

ضلَلت عَنْ رُشدي مِن نورِ طَلعَتِها

وَكانَ لِلفيّ فيها النورُ يَهديني

I strayed from sound judgment through the light of her face,

And the light in her was guiding me toward shade.

هَيفاءُ كَالغُصُنِ المَيّادِ في فَننٍ

تَهتزُّ ليناً لِتَعليمِ الأفانينِ

Slender-waisted, like a swaying shoot upon a bough,

She sways gently to teach the boughs.

إِنَّ المَجانينَ قَيسٌ كانَ واحِدَهم

وَإِنّني في الهَوى كُلُّ المَجانينِ

Indeed, Qays was one of the madmen,

And in love I am all the madmen.

خَلَعت قَيدَ حَيائي حينَما ظَهَرت

حَتّى دَعَتني لِفَخري أَنتَ مَجنوني

I cast off the fetter of my modesty when she appeared,

Until, to my pride, she called me: 'You are my madman.'

وَبِعتُ فيها حَياةَ الرّوحِ في ثَمَنٍ

بَخْسٍ فَكُنتُ بِبَيعي غَيرَ مَغبونِ

And for her I sold the life of my soul for a price

Paltry—yet in my sale I was not cheated.

لَقَد جَفَتني جَفاءً ما لَهُ سَببٌ

فَأيُّ شَيءٍ ترى في هَجرِ مِسكينِ

She has indeed shunned me with a harshness without cause;

What do you see, then, in abandoning a wretched man?

لَعلّها قَد رَأَت ذَبحَ الكئيبِ بِهِ

حَيثُ الجَفا ذابحٌ مِن غَيرِ سِكّينِ

Perhaps she saw in it the slaughter of the sorrowful man,

For estrangement slaughters without a knife.

تَملّكتَ عَقلَ صَبٍّ فيهِ قَد لَعِبَت

وَأَودعَت قَلبَه في نارِ سِجِّينِ

You seized a lovesick man's mind, with which you had toyed,

And lodged his heart in the fire of Sijjin.

وَكانَ فيها أَخا وَجدٍ عَلى وَلَهٍ

إِذ خاطَبَته بِلفظِ الكافِ والنونِ

And for her he was a man of yearning, lost in love's bewilderment,

When she addressed him with the letters kaf and nun.

يا دُرَّةَ الحُسْنِ ما هذا البعادُ فَقَد

كوَيت قلبَ كئيبٍ فيكِ مفتونِ

O pearl of beauty, what is this distance? For indeed,

You have seared the heart of a sorrowful man enthralled by you.

وَأَنتَ دَوحَةُ إِحسانٍ إِذا عطَفت

تَهتَزُّ ناثِرَةً لِلرّفق وَاللّينِ

And you are a spreading tree of kindness; when you bend,

You sway, scattering gentleness and tenderness.

لَقَد سَجنتِ اِبنَ فَتحِ اللَّهِ يا أَسَفي

في سِجنِ هَجرٍ بِهِ إِذلالُ مَسجونِ

You have indeed imprisoned Ibn Fath Allah—alas for me!

In a prison of estrangement where a captive is humbled.

هاكِ القتالَ فَإِنَّ الفتحَ يَحمَدُهُ

إِنَّ القِتالَ أَتى في نُصرةِ الدّينِ

Take battle, for victory commends it;

Indeed, battle came to support the faith.

أَلَم تَري الفتحَ يَتلو الحَمدَ مُمتَدحاً

محمَّداً كيفَ يتلو آيَ ياسينِ

Have you not seen al-Fath reciting praise, extolling

Muhammad—how he recites the verses of Ya Sin?

مِن جَوهَرِ الحَمدِ مَأخوذٌ لَهُ علَمٌ

وَالاِسمُ يوضَعُ مَيموناً لِمَيمونِ

A name for him is drawn from the essence of praise,

And an auspicious name is given to an auspicious man.

مَنْ كُلُّ أَوقاتِهِ مِن حُسنِ رَونَقِها

وَقتُ الرّبيعِ وَلَو في شَهرِ كانونِ

He whose every hour, through the beauty of its radiance,

Is springtime, even in the month of Kanun.

لِلحلمِ فيهِ بِساطٌ لَيسَ مُنطَوِياً

وَلِلأَناءَةِ حُسنٌ طيّ تَحسينِ

In him, forbearance has a carpet never rolled up,

And deliberation has beauty enfolded in embellishment.

وَلِلمَهابَةِ إِجلالٌ بِتَوريةٍ

وَلِلوَقارِ جَمالٌ ضِمنَ تَزيينِ

And majesty has reverence through double meaning,

And dignity has beauty within adornment.

وَإِنّهُ الأَمجَدُ المَرفوعُ في شَرفٍ

شِبلُ الأكارِمِ والغُرِّ الميامينِ

He is indeed the most glorious, raised high in honor,

A lion-cub of the noble, the illustrious, the blessed.

مَنْ مَجدُهُ حيكَ مِن عِزٍّ وَمِن شَرفٍ

وَإِنّ نَسجَ المَعالي خير مَوضونِ

He whose glory is woven of might and honor,

And the fabric of lofty virtues is the finest weave.

مَن داسَ رَأس ثُريّا العزِّ في قَدمٍ

وَذي الكَرامةُ لا دَوسَ البَراذينِ

He who trod the head of might's Pleiades underfoot,

And this is honor, not the trampling of packhorses.

لِلقُدسِ فَخرٌ بِما تَحويهِ مِن حَرمٍ

كَما تَبدّى بِهِ فَخرٌ لِدامونِ

Jerusalem takes pride in the sanctuary it contains,

Just as pride has arisen through him for Damun.

بَحرٌ مِنَ العِلمِ لا تُدرى سَواحِلُه

فُلكٌ بِهِ الفَضلُ يَبدو خَيرَ مَشحونِ

An ocean of learning whose shores are unknown,

A ship in which excellence appears as the finest cargo.

حَلّالُ مُعضِلَةٍ فَكّاكُ مُشكِلَةٍ

كَشّافُ غامِضَةٍ في حُسنِ تَبيينِ

A solver of difficulties, an untangler of problems,

An unveiler of obscurities with lucid explanation.

في العِقدِ واسِطَةٌ في الدَّهرِ جَوهَرةٌ

عَن قَدرِها عاجِزٌ تَقديرُ تَثمينِ

The central jewel of a necklace, a gemstone of the age,

Whose worth no valuation can adequately assess.

العالِمُ الفاضِلُ النحريرُ سيّدُنا

مؤصَّل الفضلِ في حُسنِ القوانينِ

The learned, virtuous, consummate scholar—our master,

His excellence firmly rooted in sound principles.

البارعُ الفردُ في حِذْقٍ وفي فِطَنٍ

فيه المعارفُ نالَت حُسنَ تمكينِ

The brilliant, peerless one in skill and discernment,

In him, the branches of knowledge have gained firm establishment.

العارِفُ الناسِكُ المَغمورُ في وَرعٍ

شَمسُ الحَقيقَةِ وَالدّنيا مَعَ الدّينِ

The gnostic, the ascetic, immersed in scrupulous piety,

The sun of Truth, of the world, and of the faith.

صافى فُصوفِيَ حتّى الصوفَ جَمَّلهُ

بِحلَّةِ الصّفوِ في حُسنٍ وتحسينِ

He offered sincere friendship and received it, until he adorned even wool

With a robe of purity, in beauty and embellishment.

فَاِنقُل حَديثَ التّقى عَن مِثلِ مُسنَدِهِ

تَروي حَديثَ التّقى عَن خَيرِ مأمونِ

So transmit the tradition of piety on an authority like his;

You will narrate the tradition of piety from the most trustworthy.

مَدَحتُه عاجِزاً عَن فَرضِ مِدحَتِهِ

كَالهمِّ يَعجِزُ عَن فَرضٍ وَمَسنونِ

I praised him, unable to fulfill the duty of praising him,

Like a decrepit old man, unable to perform obligatory or recommended acts.

لا بِدعَ في العَجزِ عَن مَدحي مَكارِمَهُ

فَالبحرُ أَمواجُه في العدِّ تَعييني

No wonder I fall short in praising his noble qualities:

For the ocean's waves weary me in the counting.

يا أَيّها البَحرُ في جودٍ وَمَعرِفَةٍ

مَن مِثلُهُ لَم يَكُن في الهندِ وَالصّينِ

O ocean of generosity and knowledge,

Whose like has existed neither in India nor in China,

إِلَيكَ أَهديتُ بِكراً بنتَ مُفتقِرٍ

فَاِقبَلْ خَدينَ العُلى إِهداءَ مِسكينِ

To you I have offered a virgin, daughter of a needy man;

So accept, companion of eminence, a poor man's gift.

جاءَت مُخدَّرةً وَالفتحُ يَستُرُها

عَمَّن سِواكَ فَخُذها غَيرَ ممنونِ

She came secluded, and al-Fath veils her

From anyone but you; take her without obligation.

وَالدرُّ يَحسنُ مَكنوناً وَمُستَتِراً

وَلَيسَ يَنقصُ حسناً غَيرَ مَكنونِ

And pearls look beautiful when hidden and concealed,

Nor do they lose their beauty when unconcealed.

وَاِسلَمْ وَدُمْ لا تَرى في الدَّهرِ مِن كدَرٍ

مُنعَّمَ البالِ في رِفقٍ وَفي لينِ

And be safe and endure, seeing no trouble through the ages,

At ease in mind, amid gentleness and tenderness,

ما ماسَ غُصنُ الرّبى بِالرّقصِ حينَ رأى

حَمامةَ الدّوْحِ في شدوٍ وتلحينِ

As long as the hills' bough sways in dance when it sees

The dove of the grove in song and melody.