أَعيدوا صَباحي فَهوَ عِندَ الكَواعِبِ
وَرُدّوا رُقادي فَهوَ لَحظُ الحَبائِبِ
Give back my dawn, for it resides with maidens fair,
And restore my slumber, stolen by the gazes of the dear.
فَإِنَّ نَهاري لَيلَةٌ مُدلَهِمَّةٌ
عَلى مُقلَةٍ مِن بَعدِكُم في غَياهِبِ
For truly my day has become a pitch-black night,
Upon an eye left wandering in shadows since you left.
بَعيدَةِ ما بَينَ الجُفونِ كَأَنَّما
عَقَدتُم أَعالي كُلِّ هُدبٍ بِحاجِبِ
My eyelids are kept wide apart, as though
You knotted every lash's tip unto the brow above.
وَأَحسَبُ أَنّي لَو هَويتُ فِراقَكُم
لَفارَقتُهُ وَالدَهرُ أَخبَثُ صاحِبِ
I deem that were I to desire our parting now,
I would have parted, for Fate is a spiteful friend.
فَيا لَيتَ ما بَيني وَبَينَ أَحِبَّتي
مِنَ البُعدِ ما بَيني وَبَينَ المَصائِبِ
Oh, would that the distance between me and those I love,
Were as vast as the gulf between myself and misery.
أَراكَ ظَنَنتِ السِلكَ جِسمي فَعُقتِهِ
عَلَيكِ بِدُرٍّ عَن لِقاءِ التَرائِبِ
You thought, it seems, the necklace thread my wasted body was,
And so you barred the pearls from resting on the breast.
وَلَو قَلَمٌ أُلقيتُ في شَقِّ رَأسِهِ
مِنَ السُقمِ ما غَيَّرتُ مِن خَطِّ كاتِبِ
If, like a pen, I were cast into the nib’s split cleft,
So thin am I from sickness, I would not change the script.
تُخَوِّفُني دونَ الَّذي أَمَرَت بِهِ
وَلَم تَدرِ أَنَّ العارَ شَرُّ العَواقِبِ
You frighten me with perils to stop me from your command,
Yet know not that disgrace is the foulest end of all.
وَلا بُدَّ مِن يَومٍ أَغَرَّ مُحَجَّلٍ
يَطولُ اِستِماعي بَعدَهُ لِلنَوادِبِ
There surely comes a blazing day, glorious and bright,
After which my ear shall long endure the mourners’ wail.
يَهونُ عَلى مِثلي إِذا رامَ حاجَةً
وُقوعُ العَوالي دونَها وَالقَواضِبِ
For one like me, when seeking glory’s prize,
Cares not for clashing spears or the falling of the sword.
كَثيرُ حَياةِ المَرءِ مِثلُ قَليلِها
يَزولُ وَباقي عَيشِهِ مِثلُ ذاهِبِ
A long life for a man is just the same as brief existence,
It passes, and the days to come are like the days now gone.
إِلَيكِ فَإِنّي لَستُ مِمَّن إِذا اِتَّقى
عِضاضَ الأَفاعي نامَ فَوقَ العَقارِبِ
Away! For I am not a man who, fearing viper bites,
Would choose instead to slumber upon a bed of scorpions.
أَتاني وَعيدُ الأَدعِياءِ وَأَنَّهُم
أَعَدّوا لِيَ السودانَ في كَفرِ عاقِبِ
The threats of false pretenders have reached my ears, claiming
They mustered troops against me in the lands of Kafr ‘Aqib.
وَلَو صَدَقوا في جَدِّهِم لَحَذِرتُهُم
فَهَل فيَّ وَحدي قَولُهُم غَيرُ كاذِبِ
Had they been true in courage, I might have taken heed,
But are their words, for me alone, exempt from being lies?
إِلَيَّ لَعَمري قَصدُ كُلِّ عَجيبَةٍ
كَأَنّي عَجيبٌ في عُيونِ العَجائِبِ
By my life, every wonder aims its path toward me,
As if I were a marvel in the eyes of marvels too.
بِأَيِّ بِلادٍ لَم أَجُرَّ ذُؤابَتي
وَأَيُّ مَكانٍ لَم تَطَأهُ رَكائِبي
In what far land have I not trailed the locks of pride?
And what place has not felt the tread of my traveling mounts?
كَأَنَّ رَحيلي كانَ مِن كَفِّ طاهِرٍ
فَأَثبَتَ كوري في ظُهورِ المَواهِبِ
It is as if my journey sprang from Tahir’s generous hand,
Who fixed my saddle firmly upon the backs of gifts.
فَلَم يَبقَ خَلقٌ لَم يَرِدنَ فِنائَهُ
وَهُنَّ لَهُ شِربٌ وُرودَ المَشارِبِ
No creature remains who has not sought his courtyard out,
Gathering there like thirsty herds seeking the watering hole.
فَتىً عَلَّمَتهُ نَفسُهُ وَجُدودُهُ
قِراعَ الأَعادي وَاِبتِذالَ الرَغائِبِ
A youth whose noble soul and sires have tutored him
To strike down foes and freely grant whatever hearts desire.
فَقَد غَيَّبَ الشُهّادَ عَن كُلِّ مَوطِنٍ
وَرَدَّ إِلى أَوطانِهِ كُلَّ غائِبِ
He has eclipsed all present men in every gathered place,
And brought the exile safely back to his ancestral home.
كَذا الفاطِمِيّونَ النَدى في بَنانِهِم
أَعَزُّ اِمِّحاءً مِن خُطوطِ الرَواجِبِ
Thus are the Fatimids: the dew of grace upon their hands
Is more indelible than lines engraved upon their palms.
أُناسٌ إِذا لاقَوا عِدىً فَكَأَنَّما
سِلاحُ الَّذي لاقَوا غُبارُ السَلاهِبِ
A people who, when meeting foes upon the battlefield,
Make the opponent’s arms seem naught but dust of galloping steeds.
رَمَوا بِنَواصيها القِسِيَّ فَجِئنَها
دَوامي الهَوادي سالِماتِ الجَوانِبِ
They charge the bows with horses' brows, which rush against the aim,
With bleeding necks, yet unscathed flanks, they plunge into the fray.
أولَئِكَ أَحلى مِن حَياةٍ مُعادَةٍ
وَأَكثَرُ ذِكراً مِن دُهورِ الشَبائِبِ
These men are sweeter to the soul than life restored anew,
And more remembered than the days of fleeing, golden youth.
نَصَرتَ عَلِيّاً يا اِبنَهُ بِبَواتِرٍ
مِنَ الفِعلِ لا فَلٌّ لَها في المَضارِبِ
You vindicated Ali, O his son, with severing blades,
Of deeds that know no dullness when they strike the target true.
وَأَبهَرُ آياتِ التِهامِيِّ أَنَّهُ
أَبوكَ وَأَجدى مالَكُم مِن مَناقِبِ
The Prophet’s most resplendent sign is that he is your sire,
And that your wealth serves virtue’s cause more than mere hoarded gold.
إِذا لَم تَكُن نَفسُ النَسيبِ كَأَصلِهِ
فَماذا الَّذي تُغني كِرامُ المَناصِبِ
For if the noble scion’s soul reflects not his descent,
Of what avail are high degrees and ancient pedigree?
وَما قَرُبَت أَشباهُ قَومٍ أَباعِدٍ
وَلا بَعُدَت أَشباهُ قَومٍ أَقارِبِ
The likenesses of distant folk do not grow kin by chance,
Nor do the traits of kinsmen fade, though they be far apart.
إِذا عَلَوِيٌّ لَم يَكُن مِثلَ طاهِرٍ
فَما هُوَ إِلّا حُجَّةٌ لِلنَواصِبِ
If any Alawid falls short of Tahir’s towering height,
He serves but as an argument for those who hate his line.
يَقولونَ تَأثيرُ الكَواكِبِ في الوَرى
فَما بالُهُ تَأثيرُهُ في الكَواكِبِ
Men say the stars exert their force upon the world of men;
How is it then his influence commands the very stars?
عَلا كَتَدَ الدُنيا إِلى كُلِّ غايَةٍ
تَسيرُ بِهِ سَيرَ الذَلولِ بِراكِبِ
He mounted the world’s shoulders to attain the highest peak,
Which bears him gently, as a mount submissive to its lord.
وَحُقَّ لَهُ أَن يَسبِقَ الناسَ جالِساً
وَيُدرِكَ مالَم يُدرِكوا غَيرَ طالِبِ
It is his right to strip the field while seated at his ease,
And grasp what others fail to reach, without a breath of toil.
وَيُحذى عَرانينَ المُلوكِ وَإِنَّها
لِمَن قَدَمَيهِ في أَجَلِّ المَراتِبِ
The noses of the kings are shorn to shoe his royal feet,
For feet that tread so high a path deserve the proudest soles.
يَدٌ لِلزَمانِ الجَمعُ بَيني وَبَينَهُ
لِتَفريقِهِ بَيني وَبَينَ النَوائِبِ
Time granted me a favor when it joined my life with his,
That it might sever me from all the sorrows I have known.
هُوَ اِبنُ رَسولِ اللَهِ وَاِبنُ وَصِيِّهِ
وَشِبهُهُما شَبَّهتُ بَعدَ التَجارِبِ
He is the scion of God's Messenger and his Trustee,
The image of them both, as proved by trials and by time.
يَرى أَنَّ ما ما بانَ مِنكَ لِضارِبٍ
بِأَقتَلَ مِمّا بانَ مِنكَ لِعائِبِ
He shows a visage to the foe who strikes him in the fight,
More deadly than the face he turns to one who brings him blame.
أَلا أَيُّها المالُ الَّذي قَد أَبادَهُ
تَعَزَّ فَهَذا فِعلُهُ في الكَتائِبِ
O wealth, which he has utterly destroyed by giving alms,
Take comfort! For he treats his foes exactly as his gold.
لَعَلَّكَ في وَقتٍ شَغَلتَ فُؤادَهُ
عَنِ الجودِ أَو كَثَّرتَ جَيشَ مُحارِبِ
Perhaps, O wealth, you briefly dared to occupy his heart,
Distracting him from charity, or swelling enemy ranks.
حَمَلتُ إِلَيهِ مِن لِساني حَديقَةً
سَقاها الحِجى سَقيَ الرِياضَ السَحائِبِ
I brought to him a garden woven by my tongue and mind,
Which intellect has watered as the clouds revive the bloom.
فَحُيِّيتَ خَيرَ اِبنٍ لِخَيرِ أَبٍ بِها
لِأَشرَفِ بَيتٍ في لُؤَيِّ بنِ غالِبِ
Be greeted by my verse, O noblest son of noblest sire,
The glory of the highest house of Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib.
