خَفَرَتْ بسيفِ الغُنج ذمّةَ مِغفَري
وفَرَتْ برُمح القدِّ دِرعَ تصبُّري
My guilt was diminished by the sword of forgiveness,
And my patience was armored by the spear of destiny.
وجلَتْ لنا من تحت مِسكةِ خالِها
كافورَ فجرٍ شقَّ ليلَ العنْبرِ
She revealed camphor of dawn that split the night of amber,
From beneath her musky mole.
وغدَتْ تذُبُّ عن الرُضابِ لِحاظها
فحمَتْ علينا الحورُ وِردَ الكوثرِ
She came melting away bashfulness from her cheeks,
Lighting upon us the hoor and cool water.
ودنتْ إلى فمِها أراقِمُ فرعِها
فتكلّفتْ بحِفاظِ كَنزِ الجوهري
She brought near to her mouth branches of her ringlets,
Adorning herself with treasure of jewels.
يا حاملَ السيفِ الصّحيح إذا رَنَتْ
إياكَ ضربةَ جفنِها المُتكسِّرِ
O bearer of the mighty sword, if her languishing eyelid brandishes,
Beware the stroke of her fragmented eyelid.
وتَوقَّ يا ربَّ القناةِ الطّعنَ إنْ
حملَتْ عليكَ من القَوامِ بأسْمَرِ
And beware, O lord of the slim spear, the stab, if
She attacks you with braids the color of dark grapes.
برزَتْ فشِمْنا البرقَ لاحَ ملثّماً
والبدرَ بين تقَرطُقٍ وتخمُّرِ
She came out, so we witnessed the lightning gleaming,
And the full moon peeking out from its hood.
وسعَتْ فمرّ بنا الغزالُ مطوّقاً
والغُصنُ بين موشّحٍ ومؤزّرِ
She walked by, so the antelope passed us adorned,
And the bough amidst garment and sash.
بأبي مَراشِفها الّتي قد لُثِّمتْ
فوق الأقاحي بالشّقيقِ الأحمرِ
By the nights I spent with her, perfumed
Above meadows with vermilion chamomile.
وبمُهجَتي الروضُ المُقيمُ بمُقلةٍ
ذهبَ النُعاسُ بها ذهابَ تحيّري
And by the garden of my love in the valley,
Where languor left it confused and wandering.
تاللَّهِ ما ذُكرَ العقيقُ وأهلُه
إلّا وأجراهُ الغرامُ بمِحجَري
By God! Neither carnelian nor its people were mentioned
Except that love drew it into my verse.
لولاهُ ما ذابتْ فرائدُ عَبرَتي
بعدَ الجمودِ بحرِّ نارِ تذكّري
If not for it, the frozen tears of my sadness
Would not have melted by the fire of recollection.
كم قد صَحِبْتُ به منَ اِبْناءِ الظبا
سِرباً ومن أسُدِ الشّرى من معشَرِ
How many gazelles and lions from the enemy's clan
I have accompanied, a flock and a group!
وضَللتُ من غسَقِ الشعورِ بغيهبٍ
وهُديتُ من تلك الوجوهِ بنيّرِ
I went astray in the darkness of intoxication,
And was guided by those faces with brilliance.
يا لَلعشيرةِ مَنْ لمهجةِ ضَيغمٍ
كمنَتْ منيّتُه بمقلةِ جُؤذرِ
O family with cheeks like perfectly cut carnelian,
You have built your abode in the forest of the rugged valley.
روحي الفِداءُ لظبيةِ الخِدرِ الّتي
بُنِيَ الكِناسُ لها بغابِ القَسْوَرِ
I will never forget her visit, nor the scents of dusk
Diffusing their musk when the simoons blow.
لم أنسَ زَورَتَها ووجناتُ الدُجى
تنباعُ ذِفْراها بمسكٍ أذْفرِ
She nodded and the slim spear shook its blade,
And dawn split the darkness with its dagger.
أمّتْ وقد هزّ السِماكُ قناتَه
وسَطا الضياءُ على الظلامِ بخنجرِ
The bow lies ready, its arrow guided
By the claws of the two eagles, the buyer's hands.
والقوسُ معترضٌ أراشَتْ سَهمَه
بقوادِم النَسرَينِ أيدي المُشتري
She began to trill jewels in my hearing,
Else, the composer of my verse would not have scattered them.
وغدَتْ تُشنّف مسمعيَّ بلُؤلؤٍ
لولاهُ ناظمُ عَبرَتي لم ينثُرِ
She draws me close, my cheek upon her shirt,
While I draw close to her, my palm upon her bracelet,
وتضمُّ منّي في القميص مهنّداً
وأضمّ منها بالنصيفِ السّمهري
At times I see my wrist, and at times
From her I see the rosy palm with bangles.
طوراً أرى طوقي الذراعَ وتارةً
منها أرى الكفّ الخضيبَ بمِسْوَرِ
Until the morning arose, and the troops
Of An-Najashi departed from Qaysar’s army.
حتّى بَدا كِسرى الصّباح وأدبرَتْ
قومُ النّجاشي عن عَساكر قيصَرِ
When she saw the garden of violets withering
From our night, and the meadows of sparrows blooming,
لمّا رأتْ روضَ البنفسجِ قد ذوى
من ليلِنا وزهَتْ رياضُ العُصفُرِ
The star fleeting upon a bay steed,
And dawn approaching on a blond mare,
والنجمُ غارَ على جوادٍ أدهمٍ
والفجرُ أقبل فوقَ صهوةِ أشقرِ
She panicked and snapped carnelian with pearls,
Her tears calmed in the flowing sap.
فزعَتْ فضرّسَتِ العقيقَ بلؤلؤٍ
سكنَتْ فرائِدُه غديرَ السُّكّرِ
She sighed in anguish, and her palm upon her breast
Affected me with a sight I'd never seen.
وتنهّدتْ جزَعاً فأثّرَ كفُّها
في صَدرِها فنظرْتُ ما لم أنظُرِ
Pens of coral wrote in amber
Upon a crystal page, five lines.
أقلامَ مَرجانٍ كتَبْن بعنبَرٍ
بصحيفةِ البِلّورِ خمسةَ أسطُرِ
She left, and the blush of her cheek from her dark beauty
Wore the ashes of musk after veiling.
ومضَتْ وحُمرةُ خدِّها من أدْمِها
لبسَتْ رَمادَ المِسكِ بعد تستُّرِ
Bless her beauty, from a visitor
Whose image my imagination drew in my mind.
للّهِ دَرُّ جَمالِها من زائرٍ
رسمَ الخيالُ مثالَها بتصوّري
I have not found sweeter delight than her company,
Except good news at the return of Al-Haydari.
لم ألقَ أطيبَ بهجةً من نَشرِها
إلّا البشارةَ في إيابِ الحَيدَري
Son of the gallant, brother of the clouds, father of dew,
Blessings of the secret sun of our day.
ابنُ الهُمامِ أخو الغَمامِ أبو النّدى
بركاتُ شمس نهارنا المَولى السّري
The famous suitor since his infancy,
The highest seeker, beyond estimation.
الخاطبُ المعروف قبلَ فِطامِه
والطالبُ العلياء غيرَ مُقدّرِ
The lantern of the generous, the dawn which
The night of stinginess would not have borne unless it shone.
مِصباحُ أهلِ الجود والصُبحُ الّذي
ما اِنجابَ لَيلُ البُخلِ لو لمْ يُسفِرِ
A spear, when swords are unsheathed, you would think it
A river flowing from the depth of five seas.
قِرنٌ إذا سلَّ الحُسام حسِبتَهُ
نهراً جرى من لُجّ خمسةِ أبحُرِ
He combined intelligence with courage, high morals,
Opinion with pardon and excellent planning.
قرَن البراعةَ بالشجاعةِ والنّدى
والرأيَ في عَفوٍ وحُسنِ تدبّرِ
His noble fathers and grandfather,
The best of people, Abu Shubayr and Shaybar.
آباؤهُ الغُرُّ الكِرامُ وجدّهُ
خيرُ الأنام أبو شُبيرَ وشَيْبرِ
If Moses had come to Pharaoh
With his great miracles, he would not have disbelieved.
لو أنّ موسى قد أتى فرعَونَه
في آي ذاتِ فقاره لم يَكفُرِ
Or if Adam had summoned Iblees by his name
At the prostration, he would not have been arrogant.
أو لو دَعا إبليسَ آدمُ باِسْمهِ
عندَ السُجودِ لديه لم يستكْبِرِ
Or if his perfection were like the full moon,
It would not have waned, nor the sun become wrapped.
أو كان بالبَدرِ المُنير كمالُه
ما غار أو بالشمسِ لم تتكوّرِ
Or if the might of his power were in the heavens,
On the day of resurrection, they would not have split.
أو في السماء تكون قوّةُ بأسهِ
في الروعِ يومَ البعثِ لم تتفطّرِ
How generous! He humbles the high mountain,
Fearing it may scorn him in its peaks.
سمحٌ أذلَّ الدرَّ حتّى أنّه
خَشيَتْ ثُغورُ البيضِ فيها يزدري
And he erased the darkness of tyranny with his white justice,
Until every squint-eyed one fears him.
ومَحا سَوادَ الجَورِ أبيض عدلِه
حتّى تخوّف كلُّ طَرفٍ أحوَرِ
He makes the white gazelles like white eggs,
And their shade by the meadows a song of beauty.
يجدُ الظِباءَ البيضَ كالبيضِ الظُبا
وصَليلها بالكَعْمِ نغمةَ مِزْمَرِ
After hardship, he attained the pleasures of sublimity,
One whose eyes have not lost sleep does not savor blindness.
بعد المشقّة نال لذّاتِ العُلى
لا يستلذّ الغُمضَ مَنْ لم يَسْهَرِ
Say to one who seeks glory in generosity,
"Were you raised in spuriousness? Cease overdoing it!"
قُلْ للّذي في الجودِ يطلبُ شأوَه
أربيْتَ في الغُلواءِ ويحكَ فاِقصِرِ
Charity was begun through him, so the acts of generosity
Do not flow except from his essence as a source.
بُدِئَ النّدى منه فأفعالُ السّخا
عن غيرِ مصدرِ ذاته لم تَصْدُرِ
While the people are of vile water, he is
Of clear, blessed, and purifying water.
فالناسُ من ماءٍ مَهينٍ وهوَ من
ماءٍ مَعينٍ طاهِرٍ ومُطَهِّرِ
O you whose name we seek for good fortune,
Through which the omen of the superstitious is removed.
يا مَنْ بكُنيتهِ نريدُ تيمُّناً
وبه يُزالُ تشاؤُمُ المتطيّرِ
If a glorious one were counted before you in generosity
He would have been beneath you in ancient times.
إنْ عُدَّ قبلَك في المكارم ماجدٌ
قد كان دونَك في قديم الأعْصُرِ
Just so, the thumb is foremost,
In counting, after the ring finger.
فكذلك الإبهامُ فهوَ مقدَّمٌ
عند الحِساب يُعدُّ بعد الخِنصرِ
Your father surpassed the masters of mankind in pride,
And without you, your father would have no pride.
بالفخرِ ساد أبوكَ سادات الورى
وأبوك لولاكَ ابنُه لم يفخَرِ
Like the eye with brilliant sight excelling,
And without its pupil, the eye would not see.
كالعين بالبصرِ المُنير تفضّلتْ
والعينُ لولا نَجلُها لم تُبصِرِ
I swear by the flashing lightning garlanding you,
And by the clouds of your generosity pouring forth.
قسَماً ببارقِ مُرهفٍ قُلِّدتَهُ
وبعارِضٍ من مُزنِ جودِك مُمطِرِ
If not for your return the peninsula would not have settled,
With its turbulent regions of insecurity calmed.
لولا إيابُك للجزيرة ما صفَتْ
منها مشارِعُ أمنِها المتكدِّرِ
You gave its inhabitants comfort, and long they endured
Inferno and the horror of the resurrection.
أسكَنْتَ أهليها النّعيمَ وطالما
شهدوا الجحيمَ بها وهَولَ المَحْشَرِ
You clothed it in robes of safety, else without you
It would have become exposed, with none to cover it.
وكسَوْتَها حُلَلَ الأمان وإنّها
لولاك أضحتْ عَورةً لم تُسْتَرِ
Blessings upon you, one who came resolved
Toward the heights, while lions cower.
بوركْتَ من شهمٍ قدِمتَ مشمّراً
نحو العُلى إذ يُحجِم الليثُ الشّري
You cut short the lights of empty boasts
With fingers of young men from the fresh green garden.
وقطعْتَ أنوار الفَخار بأنمُل ال
فِتيان من روضِ الجديد الأخضرِ
So may enduring glory make you delighted,
And the new holiday return you with greater nobility.
فليَهْنِكَ المجدُ التّليد وعادكَ الْ
عيدُ الجديد بنبلِ سعدٍ أكبرِ
Put on the garb of kingship, O Talut,
And drag the train of virtue with pride and conceit.
واِلبَس قميصَ المُلكِ يا طالوتَه
واِسحبْ ذيولَ الفضل فخراً وأجْرُرِ
And seek help from the prime of our eloquence, whose speech
Addled with its wisdom the magic of Buhutur.
واِستَجل بِكرَ ثَنا فصاحةِ لفظها
عبثَتْ بحِكمتِها بسِحرِ البُحتُري
If the Kufan were aware of it, he would not scorn,
Or if the Tayi heard it, he would versify.
لو يعلمُ الكوفي بها لم يزدَري
أو يشعرُ الطائي بها لم يشعرِ
You remain the crown of glory, the ornament of office,
The emblem of prestige, and decoration of the pulpit.
لا زِلتَ تاجَ عُلىً وحِليةَ مَنصِب
وطرازَ مَكرُمةٍ وزينةَ منبَرِ
