عوجوا فحيّوا مَغاني ربّة الخالِ
وَاِقضوا مآربكم في رسمها الخالي
Tune your strings to sing of the charms of the lovely doe,
And accomplish your desires in her vacant lineaments.
وَجَلجلوا كلّ هطّال بعرصتها
يغنى مجلجله عن كلِّ هطّالِ
And make every torrent gush forth in her meadow,
Its turbulent flow replaces any torrent.
منازلٌ مِن حبيبٍ كم ظللت بها
أجرُّ أذيالَ تيهٍ بعد أذيالِ
How many abodes of a loved one have I visited,
Dragging along the skirts of one lost in error after error.
أطلال حيٍّ عَهِدناهم بهنَّ ويا
لهنَّ مِن أرسمٍ أقوت وأطلالِ
Ruins of a living man we once knew intimately,
To whom pertained fine legacies and ruins.
كأنَّ أحداجَهم يوم النوى سفن
في اليمِّ لمّا طفت في زاخر الآلِ
As though their party one day at eventide were ships
Sailing in a surging sea with billowing waves.
وَفي الظعائن ريمٌ أحور غنجٌ
يرمي القلوبَ بطرفٍ منه قتّالِ
Among the sand dunes are gazelles, lively, elegant,
That slay hearts with a mere glance of their slaying eyes.
خالي الموشّح مالي الردف راجحه
يا حبّ مَلقاه من خالٍ ومن مالِ
My imagination is bare of inventiveness, vacant of intimation,
Would that the one I met were of imagination and intimation!
ما بال روحيَ ما همّت أميمة بالت
ترحالِ إلّا وقد همّت بترحالِ
What ails my soul that it longs to roam aimlessly,
Except that it is inclined towards roaming?
أَسترشدُ الغيَّ مِن حبّي لها أبداً
طوراً وأستكُّ سمعاً بينَ عذّالِ
I seek guidance from love for her always,
Now eastwards, now straining my ears among censors.
إِن تسلُ عنّي وتنسى عهد ألفتنا
فلستُ في ذاك بالناسي ولا السالِ
If she forgets me and forgets our ancient covenant,
Then in that I shall not forget or neglect.
غيداء تهتزّ في برد الشباب كما
يهتزُّ عود النقا في كفِّ مختالِ
A slender gazelle quivering in the cold of youth,
As quivers the bough of the sandalwood in the hand of one who extracts its perfume.
كأنَّ ريقَتها في ثغر راشفها
صهباء صافية شيبت بسلسالِ
As though her spittle in her smiling mouth
Were clear white pearls with a chain of pearly teeth.
تقلّ ليلاً على بدرِ التمام على
غصنٍ منَ البان فوق الدعص ميّالِ
She passes the night singing to the full moon rising
Over a branch of ban wood above the thickets bent sideways.
ما آيست مُدنفاً يوماً بهجرتها
إلّا وقد أطمعت منه بإدلالِ
Never have I despaired of union with her
But that I hoped for favor and gentleness from her.
تشفي القلوبَ مَتى شاءت وتكلمها
مِن حيثُ شاءَت بمعسولٍ وعسّالِ
She heals hearts whenever she wishes and speaks to them
From wherever she wishes with sweet and bitter words.
ما للزمانِ يُريني من عجائبهِ
بدائعاً لم أكيّفها بأقوالِ
Why does time show me of its marvels
Such amazing things I cannot describe in words?
رضيتُ بالحكمِ منه بعد معرفتي
بهِ وصاحبتهُ في زيّ جهّالِ
I was content with its judgment after knowing it
And accompanying it in the guise of ignorance.
مَن يلبس الدهرَ لو طالت سلامتهُ
لا بدَّ يبلى وما الملبوسُ بالبالي
Whoever wears time, though his safety be prolonged,
Must perish while the worn remains unscathed.
ما أنعم العيش في الدُنيا لساكِنها
لَولا التقلّبُ من حالٍ إِلى حالِ
How pleasant a life for him who settles in the world,
Were it not for the fluctuation from state to state!
عرفت بالدهرِ حتّى كدتُ أعرف ما
يَجري به قبل أن يقضى بأفعالِ
I have come to know time until I almost know
What runs its course before it fulfills in deeds.
وَقَد أحطت وحكمُ الغيبِ مُبتدعٌ
بأوّلِ الحكمِ علماً منه بالتالي
I have contemplated the rulings of fate - beginning
With prior knowledge of the subsequent ruling.
وَجلت في جلبةِ الأفكارِ مُختبراً
بِخاطرٍ في خفيِّ الغيبِ جوّالِ
I roamed in thought's tumult probing
With a mind roaming through what is secret and unseen.
يا أيُّها الناس مَن لي أن يكون أخاً
أَسعى له سعيَ أبرار ويسعى لي
O people, who is there for me to befriend
As brothers, each striving for the other?
جرّبت دهري وما غادرتُ تجربةً
إلّا وَأَدخلتُها في بعض أمثالي
I have tested my time without omitting a test
Except I included it in one of my examples.
فَكَم عَليَّ بما يجري القضاء به
مِن نعجةٍ فتكت قسراً برئبالِ
How many events has fate decreed for me
Like a she-wolf suddenly attacking lambs!
إنّي ومِن خلق الإنسان من حمأٍ
وَأوصل العصر أبكاراً بآصالِ
Yet from the creation of man from fermented clay
I continued till old age capped the newborns.
لا تقضينّ مرامي كلّ ماريةٍ
إِن قدّر اللّه لي سؤلي وآمالي
Do not determine, O passerby, all my hopes -
If God has ordained my request and hopes.
يَسمو الفتى في معاليه بهمّتهِ
وَسعيه لا بسعيِ العمِّ والخالِ
The youth rises in his glories by his resolve
And effort - not through another's effort and maternal uncle.
لي عزمةٌ دونها ينبو الحسام ولي
نفسٌ منزّهة عن كلّ بطّالِ
I have a firm resolve by which swords are unsheathed and I have a spirit
Unblemished by any futile pastime.
لَولا المتوّج كهلان بن حافظ ما
عقبت من حلية الميدان أشكالِ
Had it not been for Ibn Hafiz,
None would have inherited the forms of fine horsemanship.
وَلا بلغت إلى ما قد حظيتُ بهِ
منَ المحلِّ المنيف السامكِ العالي
Nor would I have attained the rank
I have attained - eminent, sublime and high.
أَعلى محلّي في العبادِ وأَنزلني
مَنازلاً ما سَمت قَبلي بنزّالِ
He raised me to the most eminent station among worshippers
And lowered me to degrees none had lowered me before.
ممجّد قَد أحاطت في ممالكهِ
بِهِ سرداق من فخرٍ وإِجلالِ
Glorified - His dominion encompasses him
With a pavilion of pride and majesty.
يشقُّ جيشُ الأعادي غير مدّرع
بكلِّ أجرد سامي الجيد صهّالِ
The army of enemies breaks against him without armor
With every polished sword and long-necked steed.
يا خير مَن أرقلت يوماً بِراكبها
إليهِ كلّ أمون الظهر مرقالِ
O best of those carried one day by her mount -
To whom every safe bare hill flowed easily!
وَمن تخطّر مُذ جاء الزمانُ به
منَ المحامدِ في بردٍ وسربالِ
And whom time has always boasted of
With praise in prose and verse.
هذا أخوكَ أبو دهمان خير أخٍ
ندب أخو ثقةٍ حمّال أثقالِ
This is your brother Abu Duhaman, the best brother,
Called upon by a brother shouldering burdens.
يَصبو إِلى المجدِ والعليا ورغبته
في طارفِ المجدِ لا في طارف المالِ
His desire rising to glory and the heights - his inclination
Is to the edge of glory, not to the edge of wealth.
وَقائل فاعل ما قال محتسباً
فاِحمده من قائلٍ في الناس فعّالِ
A speaker, a doer of what he says with good intention -
So praise him for being among men both speaker and doer.
فَأنتَ أنت وإيّاه كأنّكما
موسى وهارون في سعيٍ وآمالِ
You are you and he is he, as though both of you
Were Moses and Aaron in effort and hope.
قَد صِرتُما في اِشتباه من جلالكما
بينَ الورى كاِشتباه الدال والذالِ
You have become - due to your majesty - confused
Among people like confusing dal and dhal.
وَلتهنَ في عيدك الأضحى فإنّ بهِ
شَوقاً إِليك فصله ناعم البالِ
May you have joy on the feast day of al adha
For longing for you has clad it in fine garb.
وَلم يزل كلّ علم ما الزمان بقى
يأت الزمانُ بإسعادٍ وإقبالِ
And every science has always accompanied time
With time coming in good fortune and prosperity.
واِنعَم بدولةِ عزٍّ قد حويت بها
ملكاً وافقت فيها أيمن الفالِ
And enjoy a state of honor you have encompassed
Wherein you have attained leadership and auspicious omen.
واِغفر ليَ الذنب في تقصير مدحكما
من ليس يلهو عن العليا بأشغالِ
And forgive me the sin of falling short in praising you
For one whose thoughts are not diverted from the heights by chores!
فَما مَقالي وما الموصوف متّصف
جلّت معاليك عن قيلٍ وعن قالِ
So neither are my words nor is the one described attributed -
Your glories are too lofty for saying and speaking.
قَد جاز شأوُك غايات العلا وعلا
فوقَ المديحِ فما قول ابن شوّالِ
Your repute has surpassed the limits of the heights and risen
Beyond praise - so what can the words of Ibn Shawwal avail?
