أتُنكِرُ بأسَ أحداقِ العَذارى
أمَا تدري بعربدةِ السُّكارى
I deny not the glance of the virgins’ eyes,
Know you not the babbling of the drunkards?
وتفتِنُكَ العُيونُ وما عهِدْنا
جريحاً قلبُه يهوى الشِّفارا
And the eyes tempt you whom we never knew
A smitten heart enamoured of the lips.
وتُغرَمُ في القُدودِ فهل طَعينٌ
هوى من قَبلِكَ الأسَلَ الحِرارا
And you fall in love with the bending branches. Is there then fault
In a passion preceding you for the torrid twigs?
وتُمسي في الذوائِبِ مُستهاماً
متى عشِقَتْ سلاسِلَها الأسارى
And you spend the night fascinated,
When did her chains fascinate the captives?
لَقَد فتكَتْ بنا الأجفانُ حتّى
شكَتْ ضعفاً لذلك واِنكِسارا
Indeed, the eyelids have destroyed us until
They complained of frailty and folding.
إلامَ بها نُلامُ ولا نُبالي
فتُوسِعُنا جِراحاً واِعتذارا
Why do we care or mind
So they make wide our wounds and excuse?
رأينا أنّ حبلَ الحُبِّ فينا
شُعورٌ فاِتّخذناها شِعارا
We saw the cord of love in us
An intuition, so we took it as a motto.
وهِمنا بالحِسانِ وما فهِمْنا
بَنات صُدورِها تلِدُ البَوارا
And we understood it was beautiful, but comprehended not
The daughters of their breasts begetting separation.
وهَبْنا العُذرَ للعُذّالِ لمّا
خلعنا في عذاراها العِذارا
So we pardoned the blamer when
We doffed concerning their temptation, all temptation.
علامَ عُيونُنا بالدّمع غَرقى
ومن وجناتهنّ تخوضُ نَارا
Why are our eyes drowned in tears
As fire traverses their cheeks?
ونسألُ من مراشفهنّ ريّاً
وبردُ برودِها يُوري الأُوارا
And we ask from their pillows a little water,
But the coolness of it shows the depths.
تؤرّقُنا ذوائِبُها ولَسنا
نرى لدُجى لياليها قُصارى
Their tresses make us sleepless,
And we see no end to their dark nights.
فهل تدري بغايتها المداري
فقد ضاقَتْ على المرضى السّهارى
So know you their gamut, oh my friend;
To the sick, the dawns have straitened!
لعَمرُك ليس من حُمرِ المَنايا
سوى الوجَناتِ تسلبُنا القَرارا
By your life! none but the roseate cheeks
Rob us of repose.
إذا لشقائِنا الآجالُ طالَتْ
تخلّصها الخُصورُ لنا اِختِصارا
If for our misery long life continues,
Its channels will summarize it for us.
وإن كَهُم الرّدى يوماً فمنهُ
يسنُّ لقتلِ أنفُسنا الغِرارا
And if annihilation persists one day, then through it
He facilitates killing ourselves openly.
تُحاذِرُنا المَنايا السودُ جَهراً
وتأتينا العُيونُ بها سَرارا
Their black hair warns us openly of death
And their eyes bring it to us secretly.
بروحي جِيرةٌ جاروا وقَلبي
لديهِم لم يزَلْ بالحَيّ جَارا
A neighbour who neighbours my soul are they
And never once to them has my heart been a neighbour.
مصابيحٌ إذا سَفَروا بليلٍ
حسِبْتَ ظلامَه لبسَ النّهارا
Lamps ― when they travel by night
You deem the darkness wearing its day.
بُدورٌ بالخيام ذَووا شموساً
بشِبهِ البيضِ تحملُها الغُبارا
Straying nomads whose tents have suns
Carried in the dust and of eggs their colour.
مرنّحةٌ معاطفُهم صُحاةٌ
تكادُ عُيونُهم تجري عُقارا
Cloaked in attire that almost
Makes you think their eyes dripping kohl.
لَهم صورٌ كأنّ الحُسنَ صبٌّ
تأمّل طرفُه فِيهم فحارا
Forms as if Beauty itself were molten to pour
And look at them meltingly and hotly!
وألفاظٌ إذا المَخمورُ فيها
تَداوى طبعُه فقدَ الخُمارا
Words when the intoxicated absorbs them
His nature medicates and the wine subsides.
وأسنانٌ تُفدّيها اللآلي
بأكبرِها وإن كانت صِغارا
Teeth the rubies would ransom
With their greatest though they be small.
بأعيُنِهم يَجولُ السحرُ حتّى
نَثيرُ الكُحلِ تحسَبُه غُبارا
Magic roams in their eyes until
The stirring of kohl you fancy dust.
لشوقِ سَنا الصّباحِ إلى لِقاهُم
تنفّس حسْرةً ورمى جِمارا
The dawn of youth gasped in longing
To meet them and tossed madly its embers.
إذا بقبابِهم سفرَتْ ظُباهُم
حسِبْتَ بُيوتَهم بِيَعَ النّصارى
When their tents ride on their fair mounts
You deem their homes the homes of the Christians.
سقَتْهُم أعينُ الأنواءِ دمعاً
يخُطُّ بخدِّ واديهم عِذارا
The clouds’ eyes poured on them copious tears
To tattoo humility on their valley’s cheek.
ولا درَسَتْ نوادي الحُسنِ منهم
ولا فصمَ البِلى منها سِوارا
Nor have the happy vales ever lacked them
Nor the years effaced any bracelet off them.
همُ بالقلبِ لا بالخَيفِ حلّوا
وفي جمَراتِه اِتّخذوا دِيارا
They lodged in the heart, not the tent,
And made its embers their dwelling place.
أقاموا فيه بعدَ رحيلِ صبري
فأضحَتْ مُهجَتي أهلاً قِفارا
They stayed on after my patience left
So my soul became an empty ruin.
إذا خطَروا بِبالي فرّ شوقاً
فلوْ حملَتْهُ قادمةٌ لَطارا
When they cross my mind, passion escapes me,
If a female messenger bore it, it would fly!
أروحُ ولي بهم روحٌ تلظّتْ
إذا اِستضرَمْتَها قدحَتْ شَرارا
I wander while a soul burnt for them,
When you kindle it, it sparks flames.
وأجفانٌ كسُحبِ نَدى عليٍّ
إذا اِستمْطرْتَها مطرَتْ نُضارا
Eyelids like showers ― clouds ― of Ali's lightning,
If you make them weep, fine rain they pour.
حليفِ المكرماتِ أبي عليٍّ
أجلِّ الناس قدْراً واِقتِدارا
My father Ali ― boon of bounties,
Most high of men in rank and ability.
أعزُّ بني المُلوكِ الغُرِّ نفْساً
وأشجعُهُم وأمنعُهُم ذِمارا
Proudest of souls among the noble kings
And their most valiant and impregnable in fights.
وأنجدُهم وأطولهم نِجاداً
وأفخرُهم وأطهرُهم إزارا
The most chivalrous and open-handed
And most proud and most virtuous in his modesty.
أخو شرفٍ تولّد من عليٍّ
وبضعةِ أحمدٍ فزَكا فَخارا
A brother of honour birthed of Ali
And of Ahmad’s daughter, so he excelled glamorously.
تلاقى مجمعُ البحرِ فيه
وشاركَ هاشمٌ فيه نِزارا
The sea of glory congregated in him
And in it, the Hāshimites gained a partner.
هو النّورُ الّذي لولاه لاقَتْ
بُدورُ المجدِ في التِمِّ السِّرارا
He is the Light, but for whom,
The Realms of Glory would meet in dark blindness.
مَحا إيضاؤهُ صِبغَ اللّيالي
فعسْجدَ لونَهنّ وكان قَارا
His brilliance erased the blackness of night
And humbled its hue, crushing and scattering it.
أتى الأيّامَ والأيّامُ غَضْبى
فأحدَثَ في مباسِمِها اِفتِرارا
Time came to him wrathfully
So at times he smiled, and incited discord.
ووافى والنّدى ثمِدٌ ففاضَتْ
مواردُه ولولاه لَغارا
And found the dew still, so he flooded over,
Else his springs would have perished for lack of rain.
رَسا حِلماً فقرّ الحوْزُ فيه
ولولا حِلمُهُ فينا لَمارا
He alighted with forbearance, so bounty pressed in,
And but for his forbearance towards us, we would have raged.
بصهوةِ مهدِه طلبَ المَعالي
وقبلَ قِماطِه لبسَ الوَقارا
In his lofty cradle he sought heights,
And before his swaddling robe, wore dignity.
وحازَ تُقىً ومعروفاً وفضلاً
وأَقداراً وبأساً واِصطِبارا
He gained piety, virtues and kindliness,
Providence, valour, and steadfastness.
وأصبحَ للعُلا بعْلاً كريماً
فأولدَها المَحامِدَ والفَخارا
He became to Highness a noble, magnanimous spouse,
So she delivered through him, glory and pride.
غَمامٌ صافحَ البيضَ المواضي
فأحدثَ في جوانبِها اِخضِرارا
A cloud competing with dawn’s immaculate expanse,
Greening on its edges, filled with life!
تكادُ الأرضُ يُنبِتُها حَريراً
حَيا كفّيْهِ لا شِيحاً وغارا
The ground nearly sows him silk,
For he touches it living, not abject and barren.
ويوشِكُ أن يعودَ النورُ تِبْراً
لوَ انّ الغيثَ نائلَهُ اِستَعارا
Radiance is about to revert to ambergris
If only its clouds could gain that rain.
وروضٌ من حمائِلِه اِلتقطْنا
دنانيرَ العطايا لا العَرارا
And a meadow of his presents we gleaned
Golden dinars of gifts ― not dry berries!
حكى فصلَ الربيعِ الطّلق خُلقاً
وفاقَ بجُودِ راحتِه القِطارا
He portrayed the colourful Spring, pure of nature
Beyond rain clouds in the calm of its peace.
كَسا قَتْلى أعاديه شَقيقاً
وبرقَعَ وجهَ حيّهم بَهارا
He clad the slain of his foes in brotherhood
And bandaged their living wounds with blossoms.
وهزّ على الكُماةِ قُطوفَ لُدْنٍ
فدلّتْ من جَماجِمهم ثِمارا
He shook off his spear-shafts winter’s fruits
And from their skulls dripped delicious produce.
وأحدثَ عهدُه فينا سُروراً
فأنبتَ في الخُدودِ الجُلّنارا
His new era caused us joy
And growth on cheeks the red anemones.
مُطاعٌ لو دَعا الصّفواءَ يوماً
سمعتَ لها وإن صُمّت خُوارا
Obeyed if he called the purest gold one day,
You would hear it even if it were deaf.
جوادٌ في ميادينِ العطايا
ومِضمارِ الفصاحةِ لا يُجارى
Open-handed at tournaments of giving,
None in the racecourse of eloquence rivals him.
فصيحٌ نُطقُه نَظماً ونثراً
يرصّعُ لفظُه الدُرَرَ الكِبارا
Eloquent in both prose and verse,
His words studding large pearls!
توَدُّ مِدادَهُ الأيّامُ تُمسي
بأعيُنِها إذا كتبَ اِحوِرارا
Gladly would days take his ink as kohl
When he pens, to wake as excited gazelles.
فكم في خطِّه من بِنتِ فكرٍ
لها نسجَتْ محابرُه خِمارا
So what lineages of thought through his hand,
Their veils woven for them curtains!
ذُكاءٌ من سَناها كادَ يحكي
ظلامُ مِدادِه الشّفقَ اِحْمِرارا
From their era a sagacity almost relating
The darkness of his ink sunrise’s redness!
له القلَمُ الّذي في كلّ سطرٍ
ترى في خطّه فلَكاً مُدارا
His is the pen which in every line
You see a orbiting sphere in its script.
يمجُّ على صباحِ السّطْرِ ليلاً
تكَوكَبَ في المعالي واِسْتَنارا
He surges over the morn of a line in the night
A cosmos sparkling in the heights, and luminous,
وأشرقَ منه في أندى يَمينٍ
فلجّجَ في أناملِها وسارا
Radiating from it in most amenable of hands
A scintillating blade, its thrust smooth.
ومَنْ يسعى إلى طلبِ المعالي
فلا عجبٌ إذا ركبَ البِحارا
And whoever strives to scale the heights
Would ride the seas ― no surprise!
يراعٌ روّعَ القُضُبَ المواضي
فأثبتَ في تقوّمِها اِزوِرارا
A pasturer whose spear-shaft startled the plains
And affixed their strappings with buttons.
ترى ثُعبانَه الأفلاكُ تسعى
فيخفِقُ قلبُ عقرَبِها حذارا
You see his snake the stars hastening after
With their scorpion hearts fluttering cautiously.
يردُّ حُسامَ جَوْزاها كَهاماً
ويطعنُ في عُطاردِها اِحتِقارا
He counters their Gemini blades refusing,
And in their Sagittarius, wounds sneeringly.
مؤيّدُ ملّةِ الإسلامِ هادٍ
إذا ضلّ الهُداةُ ولا مَنارا
Supporter of Islam when its guides went astray
Without their minaret, or any guiding lamps.
له كُتبٌ يعِزُّ النّضبُ عنها
إذا شنّت كتائِبُها مُغارا
Books ― their fjords none can traverse ―
When his squadrons charge, find no crossing place!
حكَتْ زَهر الرّياضِ الغضّ حُسناً
ونشْرَ المِسكِ طيباً واِنتِشارا
They portrayed the bloom of tender gardens beautifully
And musk diffusing fragrance and celebrity.
وفَاقَتْ عينَ تسنيمٍ صفاءً
وعينَ الشمسِ نوراً واِشتِهارا
Beyond the eye of a soft breeze in clarity
And the eye of the sun in light and fame.
فواصلُها سُيوفٌ فاصلاتٌ
وهَدْيٌ بالضّلالةِ لا يُمارى
So their sections are deciding swords separating.
And guidance ― in being lost no comparison!
من الدّيباجِ ألبسَها ثِياباً
وصاغَ من النُضارِ لها فِقارا
He dressed them in robes of brocade
And forged them branches of star rubies.
إذا في إثْرِها الأفكارُ سارتْ
لتُدرِكَ ثارَها وقَفَتْ حَيارى
When thoughts on their trail hastened
To grasp their vengeance ― jumbled and lost!
فنورُ مُبينِها جمْعُ الدّراري
وخيرُ مَقالِها الدُرَرُ النِثارا
So the light of their symbol is the essence of wisdom
And the best of their speech, broadcast jewels.
وفي نُكَتِ البيانِ أبانَ فضلاً
بمُختَصرٍ حوى حِكَما غِزارا
In eloquence’s subtleties he shone excelling
By summary, comprising ample wisdom.
كتابٌ كُلُّ سِفرٍ منه سِفرٌ
من الإقهارِ في الأقطارِ دارا
A book ― every chapter from it a chapter ―
On ruling over nations in lands a house!
فلو أمُّ الكتاب أتَتْ بنجلٍ
لقُلنا فيه قد حملَتْ قِصارا
If Scripture’s mother bore a son,
We’d say she carried briefly in him.
إذا وَرَدَ العِدا منه كتابٌ
توعّدَهُم به طلَبوا الفِرارا
When from it they receive a missive in war
They seek escape ― so hazardous his threat!
كأنّ كتابَهُ جيشٌ علَتْهُ
دُجى أترابِه نقْعاً مُثارا
As though his epistle were a host who mounted
Their darkness steeds neighed and furious.
وإن صدرَتْ ظُباهُ عن الهوادي
حسِبْتَ حديدَها ذَهباً مُمارا
And when their coats of mail leave the plains
You fancy their iron turned to gold coins!
وَهوبٌ يوسِعُ الفقراءَ تِبراً
ولم يهبِ العِدا إلّا تَبارا
A rain-burst who aids the poor greatly,
And gave his enemies only cutting off.
ألا يا أيّها الملكُ المُرجّى
إذا غدرَ الزّمانُ بنا وجارا
Come! Oh coveted master
When Time betrays and wrongs us.
ويا غيثاً إذا الأنواءُ ضنّتْ
وطال جَفا الحيا حيّا وزارا
And rain-cloud when the clouds betray
The living, and lengthy grows the drought of life!
لعَمرُك إنّ قدرَك لا يُجارى
وقطرك بالسّماحةِ لا يُبارى
By your life! None equals your pre-eminence.
Your rain unmatched in generosity.
بطولِك تمّ نُقصانُ المعالي
فطالَتْ بعدما كانت قِصارا
By your height all glory's defects are complete
So they lengthened, once short they were
لئنْ أضحكْتَ بيضَ الهندِ يوماً
فقد أبكيتَهُنّ دماً جُبَارا
If your white swords one day smile
Their blood you made to flow plentifully red!
ليهْنِك بعد صومك عيدُ فطْرٍ
يُريكَ بقلبِ حاسدِك اِنفِطارا
To gladden you after your fast, days of feast
Expose your envious heart shredded.
أتاكَ وفوقَ غُرّتِه هِلالٌ
إذا قابَلْتَه خجَلاً توارى
The new crescent comes to you atop its hubris
When you face him, shy he hides.
يُشير به إليك هوىً كصبٍّ
إلى حِبٍّ بحاجبِه أشارا
With it he hints affection for you like a lover
By its eyebrow indicating ardour.
فعُدْتَ وعاد نحوَك كلَّ عامٍ
يحدِّدُ فيك عهداً واِزدِيارا
So every year you meet him returning to you
Renewing a pact and intimacy.
ولا برِحَتْ لك العَلياءُ داراً
ومتّعكَ الزّمانُ بمُلكِ دارا
Highness was not once without being your abode
And Time gifted you rule eternally!
