أَتَجْحَدُ قَتْلِي رَبَّةُ الشَّنْفِ والخرْصِ
وذَاكَ نَجِيعِي فِي مُخَضَّبِهَا الرّخْصِ
Do you deny slaying me, O mistress of coquetry and forwardness?
That was my close companion stained with the blood of permissiveness.
تَوَرّسَ مَا تَعْطُو بِهِ مِنْ عَبِيطِهِ
كَمَا طَلَعَ السّوسَانُ فِي صِبْغَةِ الحُصِّ
You lay in ambush with the weapon you attacked me with,
As the lily appears with the dye of purple.
وَتَسْفِكُهُ وَهوَ المُحَرَّمُ سَفْكُهُ
حَلالاً كَأَنَّ الظُّلْمَ لَيْسَ لَهُ مُحْصِ
You shed it while it was forbidden to spill it,
Making lawful what injustice has no share in.
أمَا عَلِمَتْ أَنَّ القِصَاصَ أَمَامَهَا
فَكَيْفَ أَرَاقَتْهُ عَلَى النَّحْرِ والقَصِّ
Don't you know that retaliation stands before you?
So how did you shed it through slaughter and butchery?
فَيَا لدَمٍ قَدْ أَهْدَرَتْهُ ثديُّهَا
وأَلحَاظُهَا بالهَبْرِ عَمْداً وبالْقَعْصِ
O blood that her breast spilled
And her glances intentionally with confusion and ignorance!
وَلَسْنَ صِفَاحاً أَوْ رِمَاحاً وَإِنَّما
غَنِينَ عَن الحَدِّ المُذَلَّقِ والخِرْصِ
Not with thin swords or spears but rather
Without need for a sharpened blade or knife.
عَلَى غَيْرِ ثَارٍ آثَرَتْ فَوْتَ مُهْجَتِي
قَنِيصاً وَمَازَالَتْ تُراعُ مِنَ القَنْصِ
You preferred loss of my passion over vengeance
A shirt, while you still fear the hunt.
عَرِينٌ وَلَيْثٌ لا كِنَاسٌ وَظَبْيَةٌ
لإتْلافِهَا العُشَّاقَ بالفَرْسنِ والْفَرْصِ
A she-lion, not a doe or gazelle,
Destroying lovers with separation and abandonment.
لَقَدْ قَلَبَتْ لِلْقَلْبِ ظَهْرَ مِجَنِّهَا
وَلا ذَنْبَ إلا أنْ أطَاعَ فَمَا يَعْصِي
You turned your heart against its shelter
With no fault but that it obeyed, so it cannot disobey.
وَفَيْتُ لِحِرْصٍ في هَوَاها فَخَانَنِي
وَقِدْماً أُصِيبَ النَّاسُ مِنْ قِبَلِ الحِرْصِ
It was loyal out of greed for your love, so it betrayed me,
And often people are afflicted by greed before it.
عُمُومٌ مِنَ البَلْوَى بِهَا عَامِرِيَّةً
أَبَى الْحُسْنُ أَنْ أُلْفَى بِها غَيْر مُخْتَصِّ
It has spread misery among the dwellers of your abode,
Beauty refused that I be singled out other than it.
لَهَا اللَّهُ مَاذا فِي القَلائِدِ مِنْ حُلىً
تَشِفُّ وَماذا في الشُّفُوفِ وفِي القُمْصِ
What jewelry is in necklaces and gowns and chemises!
It captivates while the sun hides in the presence of clouds and chemises.
نَهَار مُحَيّاً تَحْتَ لَيْلِ ذَوَائِبٍ
تُرِيهِ وَتُخَفِيهِ مَعَ النَّقْضِ وَالعَقْصِ
A day smiling beneath the night of long twisting tresses,
She shows and hides it with binding and unbinding.
وَذاتُ ابْتِسَامٍ عَنْ بُرُوقِ لآلِئ
مُؤَشَّرةٍ لَيْسَتْ برُوقٍ ولا عُقْصِ
A smiling visage, not mere scintillation of pearls,
Decorated, neither mere light nor chemise.
تَلوثُ عَلى بَدْرِ التَّمامِ لِثامَها
إِذا الوَشْيَ زَرّتْهُ على الغُصْنِ والدَّعُصِ
Covering her full moon were her wrappings
When she donned them over the branch and the broom plant.
مِنَ اللائِي يَهْوَى القَصْرُ لَوْ قُصِرَتْ بِهِ
فَتَأْبَاهُ لِلْبَيْتِ المُطَنَّبِ والخُصِّ
She whom the palace desires to confine within it
Yet she refuses it for the perfumed chamber and bedroom.
ويَدْعو بِها اليَنْبوعُ لِلعَبِّ وَسْطَهُ
فَتَهْجُرُهُ لِلْحَسْوِ مُؤْثِرَةَ الْمَصِّ
The spring invites her to frolic in its midst
Yet she spurns it for the courtyard, preferring the mosque.
شَمائِلُ أعْرَابِيَّةٌ في اعْتِياصِهَا
أمَطْنَ عَن الحُبِّ المبرِّحِ والمَحْصِ
Manners of a Bedouin woman in her natural disposition,
Sheltered from playful love and flirtation.
سَقَى اللَّهُ دَارَ المُزْنِ داراً قَصِيةً
عَلى الشَّدِّ والتَّقْرِيبِ والوَخْد والنَّصِّ
May God water the Dar al-Murrabi’s abode,
With firmness, drawing near, love, and aid.
يُسائِلُ عَنْ نَجْدٍ صَباها مَعَاشِرٌ
وأَسْأَلُ عَنْ حِمص النُّعامَى وأَسْتَقْصِي
They ask about Najd, her peers,
While I ask about Homs, the ostriches, inquiring.
ولَوْ كُنْتُ مَوْفُور الجَناحِ لَطَارَ بي
إِلَيْهَا ولَكِنْ حَصَّه البَيْن بِالْقَصِّ
If I had wings to fly, they would carry me
To her, but separation severed me with cutting off.
فَشَتَّانَ ما أيَّامِيَ السُّودُ أوْجُهاً
بِحسْمَى ومَا لَيْلاتِيَ البِيضُ في حِمْصِ
So different are my gloomy days in Homs
And my white nights in Damascus!
بِحَيثُ ألِفْتُ الوُرْقَ لِلشَّدْوِ تَنْبَرِي
عَلَى نَهْرِهَا والقُضْبُ تَهْتَاجُ لِلرَّقْصِ
Where I was accustomed the leaves rustling to poetry
By its streams, and reeds swaying to dance.
وَفي يَدِ تَشْبِيبي قِيَادُ شَبِيبَتِي
وَخِلِّي وَحِلْمي مُسْتَقِيد ومُسْتَعْصِي
In my youthful hand, leadership of my beloved,
And my reason and forbearance, led yet defiant.
كِلاَنَا عَلَى أقْصَى الهَوَادَةِ والهَوَى
فَلا عَذَلٌ يُقْصِي ولا غَزَلٌ يُفْصِي
We are both at the utmost intimacy and love,
So no humiliation excludes, nor does any twisting reveal.
كَأَنَّ جَنَاهَا مِنْ جَنَي العَيْشِ بَعْدَهَا
لِيَحْيَى بْنِ عَبْدِ الوَاحِدِ بنِ أبِي حَفْصِ
As if her heavens after her were for
Imam Yahya ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Abi Hafs.
إمَامٌ أجَارَ الْحَقَّ لَمَّا اسْتَجَارَهُ
وقَدْ رَسَخَ الإذْعَانُ لِلْغَمْطِ والغَمْصِ
An imam who protected truth when it sought refuge through him,
And submission to tyranny and oppression took root.
وهَبَّ هُبُوبَ المَشْرَفِيِّ مُصَمِّماً
لِتَأمِينِ ما يَخْشَى مِنَ الوَقْمِ والوَقْصِ
The blowing winds of Mashrafi awakened his determination
To secure what is feared from harm and injury.
رَجَاهُ وكَمْ يُرْجَى نُهُوداً لِنَصْرِهِ
ومَا شاءَ مِن قَصْلٍ شَفَاهُ ومِنْ قَلْصِ
He had hope in his aides for victory,
And whatever severing or binding he desired healed him.
وطائِفَةٌ في الحَرْبِ طائِفَةٌ بِهِ
عَلَى واضِحِ المِنْهَاجِ في الخَوْصِ وَالخَرْصِ
A group in war, a division through him
Upon the clear method in roughness and coarseness.
عَدَاها عَنِ الإتْرافِ خَوْفُ مَعَادِهَا
فَلا البُرْدُ مِن قَسٍّ وَلا البَيْتُ مِنْ قَصِّ
Fear of his requital barred them from excess,
So neither the cold of winter, nor a house without a shelter.
نَصِيَّةُ أنْصارِ الهِدايَةِ تَنْتَقِي
صَوارِمُهَا هَامَ المُلوكِ وَتَسْتَنْصِي
The supporters of guidance carefully select
Its well-honed swords that behead kings and choose them.
لِرَايَتِهِ الحَمْرَاء حَيْثُ أَدَارَهَا
عَلَى المِلَّةِ البَيْضَاءِ مِنَّةُ مُقتَصِّ
For its red banner wherever he unfurled it
Over the white nation, a favor of the chosen.
ألَم يُورِدِ الأَعداء مُستَفظَع الرَّدى
لِعِيشَةِ مُغتَمٍّ بِمِيتَةِ مُغتَصِّ
Did he not drive the formidable enemy to desolation
For the life of a grieving man at the death of the chosen?
ويَصْمُدُهُمْ بالعَقْرِ في عَقْرِ دارِهِمْ
لِيُحْيِيَ فيهِمْ سُنَّة الحسِّ والْحَصِّ
He subdues them through killing the cores of their homes
To revive through them the law of reckoning and counting.
تَشَكَّى الهُدَى هَدَّ الضَّلالِ بِناءه
فَأَعْقَبَهُ مِن ذَلِكَ الهَدِّ بِالرَّصِّ
Guidance complained, so he guided misguidance's building,
Then reciprocated that guidance with firmness.
ودَوَّخَ أَصْقاعَ الشِّقاقِ وَسَكْنَهَا
بِصُيَّابَةٍ قُعْسٍ وعَسَّالَةٍ قُعْصِ
He quashed the regions of conflict and silenced them
With clamor of drums and cymbals clashing.
إِلى الفَصِّ والتَّكْسِيرِ ما جَمَعُوا لَهُ
ومَنْ لِمُصَابِ الْفَتِّ والفَصِّ بالرَّمْصِ
To breaking and smashing what they collected against him,
And what remains after smashing and crushing?
ولِلهَضِّ والتَّتْبيرِ مَا اعْتَصَمُوا بِهِ
وَماذَا الذِي يَبْقَى علَى الْهَضِّ والعَصِّ
You see them pass as war booty due to his vengeance,
And how much bitter life they endured patiently!
تَمُرُّ بِهِمْ صَرْعَى لِعَطْفِ انْتِقَامِهِ
وكَمْ صَابَروا عَيْشاً أمَرَّ مِنَ العَفْصِ
Eyes squint at them until as if at them
Is something glistening, though not a speck touched the dim eyes.
وتَنْبُو لَها الأَبْصارُ حتَّى كأَنَّها
بِها وَهْي لَم تَرْمَصْ قَذَى الأَعْيُنِ الرَّمْصِ
Tall, seeing the hills test its midst,
Because it tested, oh tester and field of testing!
طُلولاً تَرى الأَطْلاءَ تَمْحَصُ وَسْطَهَا
لأنْ مَصَحَتْ يا لَلْمصُوحِ وَلِلْمَحْصِ
It is unaffected by what afflicts the disobedient,
Neither collapsing nor disintegrating.
أَلَطَّ بِها ما بِالْعُصاةِ مِنَ البِلَى
فَلَيْسَ بِمُنْفَضٍّ وَلَيْسَ بِمُنْفَصِّ
The gray sunna did not reap its plants,
But noble steeds, neither barren nor harvested.
وَما السَّنةُ الشَّهْبَاءُ حَصّتْ نَبَاتَهَا
ولَكِنْ جِيادٌ غَيْرُ عُزْلٍ وَلا حُصِّ
Brandishing amid the blood-drenched meadows,
No sun to peer through fog or chemise.
تَخَايَلُ فِي قُمْصِ الدِّمَاء مَوَاضِياً
وَلَيْسَتْ بشمْسٍ عِنْدَ كَرٍّ ولا قُمْصِ
Successive kinsmen of the trustee's family enwrap
Under their red pennyroyal fragrance.
لَوَاحِقُ مِن آلِ الوَصِيِّ ولاحِقٍ
تَمَطَّرُ خُمْصاً تَحْتَ فُرْسانِها الخُمْصِ
For it among Suleym and Zanatah alike,
As well as Hawwara of conversation's weapons and shaking off.
لَهَا فِي سُلَيْمٍ مَا لَهَا في زَنَاتَةٍ
وَهُوّارَة مِنْ عُدّةِ الهَصِّ والرّهْصِ
Ask his enemies, wolves and lionesses,
To inform you of what they faced of wildness and wasteland,
سَلُوا عَن أَعَادِيهِ ذِئاباً وأَنْسُراً
تُخَبِّرْ بِما لاقَتْ مِنَ الوَحْشِ والوَحْصِ
With the theft of she-wolves or the claws of lionesses!
What claws, moisture-filled and thieving!
بِلُصِّ نُيُوبٍ أوْ بِحُجْنِ مَخَالِبٍ
فَيَا لَك مِنْ حُجْنٍ رِوَاءٍ وَمِنْ لُصِّ
He blinded them with the heels of their thickets
And their eyes with oxen coupled with young camels.
قَراها بِأَعْقَابِ القِرَاعِ كُبُودهُم
وأَعْيُنهُمْ بِالبَقْرِ يُشْفَعُ بالبَخْصِ
When the pure new moons veil their light
With clouds of swaying branches, shaking and stirring,
إذَا الإِضْحِيانُ الطَّلْقُ حَجَّبَ نُورَهُ
سَحَابُ مُثَارِ النَّقْعِ بالدَّحْضِ والدّحْصِ
The twilights lurking therein with evasion
In the time of bitter fortune sweeter than fruits.
وأَضْمَرَتِ الأذْمَارُ فِيهِ تَمَلُّصاً
عَلَى حينِ مُرّ الحَيْنِ أحْلَى مِنَ اللمْصِ
The white reverberation shone, the veils fluttered,
For it to echo as in vessels of whey.
ولاحَ الصَّدَى البِيضَ الرِّقاق فَرَنَّقَتْ
لِتَكْرَعَ في مِثْلِ الأَضَاةِ مِنَ الدُّلْصِ
Its brilliant face gives guidance, so whoever sees it is guided
By its lights, and the sun hides at forenoon.
هَدَى وَجْهُهُ الوَضَّاحُ مَنْ حاصَ فَاهْتَدى
بِأَنْوارِهِ والشَّمْسُ خَافِيَةُ العَرْصِ
He who stands victorious in religion and life
And their essence among his elite folk of sincerity.
هُوَ القائِمُ المَنْصُورُ بِالدِّينِ والدُّنَى
وَصافِيهِما في قَوْمِهِ الصَّفْوَةِ الخُلْصِ
The sons of valor and audacity grew up with them,
And youths from lions and leaping Hafs.
بَنُو الكَرِّ والإِقْدَامِ شَبُّوا عَلَيْهِمَا
وَشَابُوا فَمِنْ لَيْثٍ هَصُورٍ ومِنْ حَفْصِ
Tame steeds, tamed riders armored
Seeing great disgrace in fleeing the small retreat.
مَطاعِيمُ أَجْوَادٌ مَطاعينُ بُسَّلٌ
يَرَوْنَ عَظيمَ النَّقْصِ في هَيِّنِ النَّكْصِ
They advanced high prices when they underestimated their resolve,
And most reasons for high prices are from low prices!
غَلَوْا قِيَماً إذْ أرْخَصُوا مُهَجَاتِهمْ
وأكْثَرُ أسْبَابِ الغَلاءِ مِن الرُّخْصِ
They did not neglect the command of the Desired Imam,
So excellent is the one who commanded, and the success of the commanded!
وَصَايا الإِمامِ المُرْتَضَى ما تَقَيَّلُوا
فَيَا رُشْدَ مَنْ وَصَّى ويَا فَوْزَ مَنْ وُصِّي
The lamp of guidance, the flaming torch, cast its rays
Upon one who grew, and the branch is of the origin's clay.
سِرَاجُ الهُدَى الوهَّاجُ أَلْقَى شُعَاعَه
عَلَى مَنْ نَمَى والفَرْعُ مِنْ طِينَةِ الأَصِّ
And the facilitator of the doors of success, how much
Did it bolster, while the closing of doors was solid!
وفَتَّاحُ أَبْوابِ النَّجاحِ وَكَمْ ثَوَتْ
وَإِطْبَاقُهَا مُسْتَحْكَمُ الرصِّ وَالنَّصِّ
Through it the darkness of misguidance was dispelled and removed,
For truth is a blazing light, the darkness of blindness.
بِهِ انْجَابَ دَيْجُورُ الغَوَايَةِ وانْجَلَى
وللحَقِّ نورٌ صَادِعٌ ظُلْمَةَ الخَرْصِ
His caliphate surpassed every caliphate,
Such is the falsehood of analogy with the definitive text.
خِلافَتُهُ أَلْوَتْ بِكُلِّ خِلافَةٍ
كَذَلِكَ بُطْلانُ القِيَاسِ مَعَ النَّصِّ
Through him the caliphate settled in proper place,
And the nobility of essence suffices, no need to refine.
لَدَيْهِ اسْتَقَرَّتْ في نِصَابٍ ونَصْبَةٍ
وَلِلشَّرَفِ المَحْضِ اكْتِفَاءٌ عَن المَحْصِ
Knowledge and wisdom inclined it toward him, so it inclined,
Eulogizing his sublimity with praises that cannot be counted.
ثَنَاها إِلَيهِ العِلمُ وَالحِلْمُ فَانْثَنَتْ
تُشيدُ بِعَلْيَاهُ ثَنَاءً وَلا تُحْصِي
The state of kings was not conflated with his state.
Do you not see that merit is not of diminution?
وَما اشْتَبَهَتْ حَالُ المُلُوكِ وَحالُهُ
ألَمْ تَرَ أنَّ الفَضْلَ لَيْسَ مِنَ النَّقْصِ
More foolish than the owls in the ruins
Are his merits, difficult to quantify or limit!
أَغَرُّ مِن الغُرِّ الجَحَاجِيحِ في الذُّرَى
مَنَاقِبُهُ بُسْلٌ عَلى الحَصْرِ والخَرْصِ
He possessed individually all nobility and loftiness,
And did not leave in them a portion for ownership.
تَمَلَّكَ أَفْرَادَ المَكَارِمِ والعُلَى
وَلَمْ يُبْقِ لِلأَمْلاكِ فِيهِنَّ منْ شِقْصِ
Supported executor and annulment, blessed
Is he, victory a sincere gift, excellent the sincere victory!
مُؤَيّدُ إِبْرَامٍ وَنَقْضٍ مُبَارَكٌ
لَهُ النَّصْرُ خِلْصٌ حَبَّذَا النَّصْرُ مِن خِلْصِ
The rulings of destinies assist his judgment,
So it debases whom it debases, and excludes whom it excludes.
تُسَاعِدُ أَحْكَامُ المَقَادِيرِ حُكْمَهُ
فَتُدْنِي الذِي يُدْنِي وَتُقْصِي الذِي يُقْصِي
O Lord of an awe-inspiring compeller whom his assault frightens
So he refrains intimidated from advancing and assaulting.
ويَا رُبَّ جَبَّارٍ يهَابُ هُجُومَهُ
فَيُمْسِكُ إِرْهَاباً عَنِ النَّبْسِ والنَّبْصِ
In war and worship, departing and returning,
Going for the fifth prayer and coming at the afternoon.
عَلَى الحَرْبِ والمِحْرَابِ غَادٍ ورائِحٌ
يَرُوحُ إلى خَمْسٍ ويَغْدُو علَى خَمْصِ
Tributes of the penetrating armies with his pact
Are advantages of the alluring openings present at the text.
هَدَايَا الفُيوجِ النَافِذَاتِ بِعَقْدِهِ
مَزَايَا الفُتوحِ الفَاتِنَاتِ لَدَى النَّصِّ
The yellow silk spells the dye of his distinction,
Relieving the patterned damask and velvet.
تَخُطُّ اليَرَاعُ الصُّفْرُ إمْلاءَ سُمْرِهِ
فَتُسْلِي عَنِ الوَشْيِ المُرَقَّشِ والنَّمْصِ
In it the poetry of valor is composed to gentleness,
As rubies are strung next to each other.
ويَنْظُمُ فيهِ الشِّعْرُ بَأساً إلَى النَّدى
كَما يُنْظَمُ الياقُوتُ فَصَّاً إلَى فَصِّ
Hopes turn their faces toward his generosity,
And whoever exceeds grasping empties into clutching.
إلَى جُودِهِ تَثنِي الأَمانِي وُجُوهَها
ومَنْ يَتَعَدَّ القَبْضَ أَفْضَى إلَى القَبْصِ
So no thirsty person but him hopes for his drink,
Impossible is the generosity of shadow in the absence of a person!
فَلا يَرْجُ ظَمْآنٌ سِوَاهُ لِرِيِّهِ
مُحالٌ وُجُودُ الظِّلِّ في عَدَمِ الشَّخْصِ
