شَاقَتْكَ آرَامُ إِلْفِ
بَيْنَ الْعُذَيْبِ وَحِقْفِ
The white gazelles of a familiar realm filled you with longing,
between Al-Udhayb and the curving sand dune,
إِذْ وَاصَلَتْكَ الأَمَانِي
بَيْنَ ارْتِقَابٍ وَخَوْفِ
when hopes drew near to embrace you
between anticipation and fear.
فِي مَا حَوَى نُعْمَ عَيِنٍ
وَرَوْحَ أُذْنٍ وَأَنْفِ
Amidst all that holds delight for the eye,
and brings comfort to the ear and the nose,
مِنْ جَنَّةٍ ضَحِكَتْ مِنْ
بُكَاءِ أَجْفَانِ وُطْفِ
within a garden that laughed from
the weeping of heavy, rain-laden clouds.
إِنْ غَنَّتِ الْوُرْقُ فِيهَا
أَذْكَتْ مَجَامِرَ عَرْفِ
Whenever the ringdoves sing within it,
they kindle censers of fragrant scent;
وَأَوْجَسَ الْغُصْنُ أُنْساً
فَهَزَّ عِطْفاً لِعَطْفِ
and the branch, sensing an intimate joy,
sways its bending bough toward another.
وَنَبَّهَ الطَّلُّ نَوْراً
يَرْنُو بِأَجْفَانِ خِشْفِ
The morning dew awakens the blossoms,
gazing back with the eyelids of a fawn.
خَلَعْتُ فِيهَا عِذَارِي
بَيْنَ اجْتِنَاءٍ وَقَطْفِ
There, I cast off all my restraints,
between gathering and plucking the fruits,
وَلَثْمِ خَدٍّ لِوَرْدٍ
وَرَشْفِ خِلْفٍ لِقِطْفِ
and kissing the soft cheek of a rose,
and sipping sweet nectar from the hanging clusters.
وَرُضْتُ فِيهَا غَرَامِي
يَقُودُهُ طِرْفُ طَرْفِي
I gave free rein to my passion there,
led by the swift steed of my wandering gaze.
رَاقَتْ فَرَاقَ نَسِيبِي
فَهَامَ وَصْفِي بِرَصْفِي
It was so enchanting that my amatory verse grew enchanting,
and my descriptions fell in love with my poetic arrangement.
فَمَا التَّخَلُّصُ مِنْهَا
فِي وُسْعِ حِذْقِي وَظَرْفِي
Escaping from this reverie would not be
within the power of my skill and wit,
لَوْلاَ مَدِيحُ هُمَامٍ
مِنَ الْغَبَاوَةِ يَشْفِي
were it not for the praise of a magnanimous hero,
whose very presence cures one of ignorance;
لأِنَّهُ ذُو ذَكَاءٍ
مُبْدٍ لِمَا أَنْتَ تُخْفِي
for he is the possessor of a piercing intellect,
revealing the very thoughts you seek to hide.
وَشَمْسُ عِلْمٍ وَفَهْمٍ
وَظَرْفُ ظَرْفٍ وَلُطْفِ
A blazing sun of knowledge and understanding,
the very essence of elegance and grace:
مُحَمَّدُ الْحَبْرُ الأَسْمَى ال
فَاسِي الْمُحَلِّي لِوَصْفِي
Muhammad, the most exalted of scholars,
the Fasi who adorns my descriptive verse.
بَدْرٌ بَدَا نُورُهُ مِنْ
شُمُوسِ عِلْمٍ وَكَشْفِ
A full moon whose radiance has emerged from
the brilliant suns of knowledge and spiritual unveiling;
مَنْ قَدْ رَوَى عَنْ أَبِيهِ
مِنَ الْعُلاَ كُلَّ صِنْفِ
one who has inherited from his father
every form of nobility and eminence.
وَصَافَحَتْهُ صَغِيراً
أَكُفُّ أَمْرٍ وَكَفِّ
Even in his youth, he was greeted by
the commanding and forbidding hands of authority,
وَسَرْبَلَتْهُ السَّجَايَا
مِنَ الثَّنَاءِ بِزَعْفِ
and his noble character clothed him
in an impenetrable armor of praise.
يَرْتَاحُ إِنْ عَنَّ بَحْثٌ
مِنْ ذِي ذَكَاءٍ وَظَرْفِ
He delights whenever a scholarly debate arises
with a person of intelligence and wit;
وَيَزْدَهِيهِ ابْتِهَاجٌ
كَالْخَرْقِ يَحْظَى بِضَيْفِ
and he beams with a radiant joy,
like a generous man receiving an honored guest.
يُبْدِي بِأَعْذَبِ لَفْظٍ
مَا لاَ يُؤَدَّى بِأَلْفِ
He expresses in the most mellifluous words
what a thousand words could never convey,
إِلَى شُمُوسِ بَيَانٍ
تَضِيءُ مِنْ كُلِّ حَرْفِ
drawing upon the suns of eloquence
that radiate brilliantly from every letter.
بَيْنَ الْهُدَى وَنُهَاهُ
فِي النَّصْرِ أَوْثَقُ حِلْفِ
Between divine guidance and his own intellect
lies the firmest alliance in achieving victory;
وَبَيْنَ مَا يَقْتَفِيهِ
وَالْعُحْبِ غَايَةُ خُلْفِ
and between the righteous path he follows
and vain conceit lies the greatest divide.
شَيْخٌ غَذَتْهُ الْمَعَالِي
بِدَرِّ أَفْضَِلِ خِلْفِ
A master nourished by high virtues,
nursing upon the milk of the greatest excellence.
فَهْيَ بِهِ خَيْرُ رِيمٍ
لِأَنَّهُ خَيْرُ خِشْفِ
Through him, virtue becomes the finest of white gazelles,
for he is undeniably the finest of fawns.
يُبْدِي شَمَائِلَ زُهْراً
لِذِي خَلاَئِقَ غُلْفِ
He displays luminous, radiant traits
even to those of coarse and covered manners;
مَا إِنْ يَغِيظُ حُلاُهُ
وَهْوَ الأَذَى بَحْثُ جِلْفِ
his sweet composure is never ruffled,
though the argumentation of a boor is an annoyance.
بَلْ وَجْهُهُ يَتَلاَلاَ
بِشْراً عَلَى كُلِّ عَوْفِ
Rather, his face gleams
with a cheerful glow in every circumstance,
كَالشَّمْسِ تَقْذِفُ نُوراً
لِذِي ثَنَاءٍ وَقَذْفِ
just as the sun casts its radiant light
upon both the one who praises and the one who slanders.
نَعَمْ إِذَا سَامَ أَمْرٌ
حَقَّ الإِلَهِ بِخَسْفِ
Yet indeed, if any matter were to subject
the rights of God to humiliation or loss,
تَهْفُو رِيَاحُ انْتِصَارٍ
مِنْهُ بِعَصْفٍ وَقَصْفِ
the winds of his defense would fiercely blow
with a tempestuous and shattering gale.
وَيَمْتَطِي طِرْف رَدْعٍ
وَيَنْتَضِي سَيْفَ عُنْفِ
He mounts the swift steed of deterrence
and draws the unsheathed sword of forceful might;
سَجِيَّةٌ قَدْ حَوَاهَا
عَنْ كُلِّ أَرْوَعَ عِفِّ
a righteous disposition he has inherited
from every brave and virtuous forebear.
مِنْ مَعْشَرٍ قَدْ أَحَاطُوا
بِكُلِّ مَدْحٍ وَوَصْفِ
He comes from a noble lineage that has encompassed
every conceivable praise and exalted description,
مُذْ أَسْرَجُوا لِلْمَزَايَا
مِنَ الْهُدَى كُلَّ طِرْفِ
ever since they saddled, in the pursuit of virtue,
every swift steed of divine guidance.
وَظَاهَرُوا بَيْنَ زَعْفِ
مَجْدٍ وَزُهْدِ وَخَوْفِ
They layered the chainmail armor of
glory, asceticism, and the fear of God,
فَأَوْقَعُوا بِالْمَخَازِي
وَالُّلؤْمِ فِي كُلِّ زَحْفِ
and struck down all disgrace
and baseness in every advancing battle.
أَوْتَادُ فَاسٍٍ فَفَاسٌ
تَلُوذُ مِنْهُمْ بِكَهْفِ
They are the very pillars of Fes, and Fes
finds a protective cave of refuge within them.
لأَِنَّهُمْ قَدْ حَمَوْهَا
بِالْعِلْمِ مِنْ كُلِّ رَجْفِ
Because they have steadfastly protected it
with knowledge against every tremor of doubt.
فَلَمْ يَهُمُّوا بِنَقْصٍ
وَلَمْ يَفُوهُوا بِخَلْفِ
They never harbored thoughts of deficiency,
nor did they ever utter a broken promise,
وَمَا ابْتَغَوْا قَطُّ أَمْراً
يَحْكِي سَحَابَةَ صَيْفِ
and never did they pursue an endeavor
as fleeting as a passing summer cloud.
بَلْ حَرَّرُوا كُلَّ عَدْلٍ
مِنَ الْخِلاَفِ وَصَرْفِ
Rather, they firmly established every just law,
free from contradiction and distortion,
وَأَوْضَحُوا لِلْمَعَالِي
كُلَّ اصْطِلاَحٍ وَعُرْفِ
and they clarified, for the sake of eminence,
every profound terminology and custom.
حَلَّوْا صَحِيحَ الْبُخَارِي
بِحَلْيِ أَنْفَسِ صُحْفِ
They adorned the Sahih of Al-Bukhari
with the jewels of the most precious pages.
فَهْوَ بِهَا خَيْرُ أًذْنٍ
لأَِنَّهَا خَيْرُ شَنْفِ
Thus, it serves as the finest ear,
for their commentary is the finest earring;
وَهْوَ بِهَا خَيْرُ زَنْدٍ
لأَِنَّهَا خَيْرُ وَقْفِ
and it serves as the finest wrist,
for their work is the finest bracelet.
وَأَنْجَبُوا بِإِمَامٍ
أَبْدَى سَنَاهُ بِضَعْفِ
They brought forth an Imam
whose brilliance my weak words can barely reveal,
يَضِيقُ عَنْ عُشْرِ مَا قَدْ
حَوَى رَوِيِّي وَحَرْفِي
falling short of even a tenth of the merits
that my rhymes and letters strive to contain.
لأَِنَّ مُجْتَثَّشِعْرِي
يُدْلِي بِعَيِّي وَضَعْفِي
Because the Mujtath meter of my poetry
only betrays my faltering tongue and my frailty.
أَبْقَى سِيَادَتَهُ مَنْ
يَبْقَى بِلاَ نَقْصِ كَفِّ
May his mastery be prolonged by the One who
remains forever without decrease or bound.
