قرت لحاظ والفؤاد قرير — Nicolaos al Sayegh

قرَّت لحاظٌ والفؤَادُ قريرُ

لمَّا استقرَّ لسعدك التقريرُ

Eyes were gladdened, and the heart is content,

when the confirmation of your good fortune was secured.

هتفت لبُشراكَ الحَمامُ بأَيكها

مذ جاءَ في بُشرَى السُرور بشيرُ

The doves called out for your glad tidings in their groves,

since a herald came with tidings of joy.

واهتزَّت الأَعطافُ من أَلبابنا

طَرَباً وكادت بالحُبورِ تطيرُ

The folds of our hearts swayed

in rapture, and nearly flew with joy.

أَمِنَت بأَمنكمُ العِبادُ وآمنت

كلُّ البِلادِ بانك المنصور

The people were safe through your safety, and convinced

was every land that you are the one granted victory.

وصدعتَ عظمَ الدهر صَدعةَ فاتكٍ

فغدا يَئنّ وعظمُهُ مكسورُ

You shattered Time's bone with a deadly assailant's blow,

so it began to groan, its bone broken.

البابنا بكمالهِ مفتونةٌ

ولُبابنا بجَمالهِ مبهورُ

Our minds are entranced by his perfection,

and our very core is dazzled by his beauty.

افديكَ من سهمٍ سعيد الحظّ ما

ناواكَ الَّا جاهلٌ مغرورُ

I would ransom you, an arrow blessed with luck; none

opposed you but an ignorant, deluded man.

لما غدا وِترُ الوَرَى صَدرَ الوَرَى

صَدَرَ الحسودُ وصَدرُهُ موتورُ

When the peerless one of mankind became mankind's chief,

the envious man withdrew, his breast aggrieved.

فالمستميحُ سِواكَ ممطولٌ

ولكن مستميحك في الجَدَى ممطورُ

So whoever seeks bounty from anyone but you is kept waiting,

but whoever seeks yours is showered with gifts.

فالخيرُ في الدنيا لعمرك متجرٌ

وافي المكاسبِ فَهوَ ليسَ يبورُ

For goodness in this world—by your life—is a trade

rich in profits, for it never fails.

وكذا الصنيعُ من المحامد منهلٌ

عَذبُ المواردِ فهو ليس يغورُ

Likewise, beneficence is a wellspring among praiseworthy deeds,

sweet in its waters, and never running dry.

لكم التهاني ما صفا وِردٌ وما

بَسَمَت لحُكم العادلينَ ثغورُ

Congratulations to you, as long as waters run clear, and as long as

lips smile at the rule of the just.

ما زلتُ اثني عزمنا فيكم وان

زَعَمَ الحواسدُ انني لجسورُ

I have kept bending our resolve toward you, even though

the envious have claimed that I am indeed bold.

لو تعلم الشُعراءُ في شعري بكم

ذاب الفَرَزدَقُ غَيرةً وجريرُ

If the poets knew my poetry about you,

al-Farazdaq and Jarir would melt with jealousy.

وترى الحسودَ معذَّباً فكانهُ

ميتُ اتاهُ ناكرٌ ونكيرُ

And you see the envious man tormented, as though he were

a dead man whom Nākir and Nakīr have visited.

لكم البقا كَبِّر عليهم أَربَعاً

مُذ احرزتهم تُربةٌ وقُبورُ

Long life to you! Proclaim God's greatness over them four times,

since earth and graves have enclosed them.

انتم نسيمٌ ان هَبَبتُم شمأَلٌ

والغيرُ ريحٌ اذ يهبُّ حَرُورُ

You are a breeze, a north wind whenever you blow;

and another is a wind that, when it blows, is scorching.

لو ان حللتم في سِباخٍ اصبحت

خِصباً سميناً ليس فيها بورُ

If you settled in salt flats, they would become

fertile and rich, with no barren ground in them.

ما أَمَّ قومٌ مثلهُ يوماً ولا كبنيهِ

أَمَّ مصاحبٌ وعشيرٌ

No people ever sought his equal, nor the like of his sons

did any companion or kinsman seek.

كلا ولا الديباجُ ضمَّ نظيرَهُ

وكطِفلهِ ما ضمَّ قَطُّ سريرُ

No indeed; no brocade has enfolded his equal,

nor has a cradle ever held the like of his child.

فكانهُ شمسٌ بآفاق العُلى

وبنوهُ في أُفُقِ العَلاءِ بدورُ

So he is like a sun on the horizons of eminence,

and his sons are full moons on the horizon of glory.

شمسٌ اضت وبنوهُ زُهرٌ لُمَّعٌ

بمجرَّة المجدِ الاثيلِ تُنيرُ

A sun has returned; his sons are bright, gleaming stars,

shining in the Milky Way of deep-rooted glory.

قومٌ بعُرفهمِ بلوغ أَشُدِّهِم

حَزُّ الغلاصم والغبارُ يثورُ

A people for whom, by custom, the attainment of full strength

means slitting throats while the dust rises.

مجموعهم بالفضل جمعٌ سالمٌ

لكن سواهم جمعهم تكسيرُ

Their company, in virtue, is a sound plural,

but the company of others is a broken plural.

لهمُ باكباد العظائِم موردٌ

وعن الدنايا الهينات صدورُ

Their watering place is in the hearts of mighty trials,

and from base, easy things they turn away.

يجرونَ في يوم الوَغَى حتى ترى ال

أَرَضينَ راجفةً تكادُ تمورُ

They charge on the day of battle, until you see the

lands trembling, almost heaving.

واذا امتطَوا متنَ الخُيولِ كانهم

أُحُدٌ ورَضوَى يَذيلٌ وثبيرُ

And when they mount the backs of horses, they seem like

Uhud and Radwa, Yadhil and Thabir.

لا بِدعَ ان هَجَرَ الغمودَ نِصالُهم

فلها غمودٌ أرؤسٌ ونُحورُ

It is no wonder that their blades have abandoned their sheaths,

for heads and throats serve them as sheaths.

فكأنما الاسياف حَبُّ خرائدٍ

ضُمَّت عليهِ ترائبٌ وصدورُ

The swords seem like the beads of lovely maidens,

around which collarbones and breasts are drawn together.

سيماهمُ طولُ النِجادِ فقد يُرِي ال

مُرَّانَ مُعتقلُ السلاحِ يسيرُ

Long sword-belts mark them; indeed, one may behold the

ash spear-shaft walking in the bearer of arms.

وكأنما جَفن الغَزالةِ ارمدٌ

وافاهُ منهم في العَجاج ذَرُور

And it is as though the sun's eyelid were inflamed,

and a medicinal powder from them reached it amid the battle dust.

وتفردوا بالمجد حتى ان غدوا

تُومِي اليهم أَنمُلٌ وتُشِيرُ

They were unrivaled in glory, until they became

those to whom fingers gesture and point.

ان شئتُ أَبلُغَ شَأوَ نعتِ خِلالهم

هذا مُحالٌ والمُحال غرورُ

If I wished to reach the full extent of describing their virtues,

that is impossible, and the impossible is a delusion.

ويَبِينُ اني عاجزٌ مع ذا الورى

ولسانُ كلٍ عنهُ فيهِ قصورُ

And it is clear that I am incapable, alongside all mankind,

and every tongue has its shortcomings in speaking of him,

سيما قصوري المستعاذُ وإنما

سيماءُ مثلي العجزُ والتقصيرُ

especially my inadequacy, from which refuge is sought; for

the hallmark of one like me is only helplessness and falling short.

واذا رويتُ الخير عنكم مُسنِداً

ما فُهتُ زُوراً والشهودُ حضورُ

And when I report your goodness with due attribution,

I have uttered no falsehood, and the witnesses are present.

الفضلُ منكم والصِيانةُ والتُقى

والمَكرُماتُ مع الحِجَى والخِيرُ

From you come excellence, integrity, and piety,

and noble deeds, together with wisdom and goodness.

إني بليدٌ في مديح سواكُمُ

لكن بمدحك شاعرٌ نحريرُ

I am dull when praising anyone but you,

but in praising you I am a master poet.