بنا نجتلي صهباء بنت دهور — Salah Magdy

بَنا نجتلي صَهباء بنتَ دهورِ

بِرَوض التَهاني في زَمان حبورِ

Together, let us behold tawny wine, the daughter of ages,

in the garden of congratulations, in a time of gladness.

تَدور بِها بَين النَدامى كَواعبٌ

برزن شُموساً مِن خِلال خُدور

Full-breasted maidens circulate it among the drinking companions,

having emerged as suns from within their curtained chambers.

وَهَيا بِنا نُحيي رُسومَ خلاعةٍ

دَعَتنا إِلَيها داعياتُ سُرور

And come, let us revive the rites of revelry,

to which the summons of joy have called us.

وَنَختال تيهاً في مَلابس سُندسٍ

أَكاليلها مِن يانِعات زُهور

And let us strut proudly in garments of fine silk,

whose garlands are made of blooming flowers.

وَنَصبو إِلى دين الغَرام وَإِن جَفا

غَزال كِناسٍ مُولعٌ بِنفور

And let us yearn for the faith of passionate love, though we are shunned

by a gazelle of the covert, fond of fleeing.

وَنوقف مِنا غالياتِ نُفوسنا

عَلى عشق غيد حاليات ثغور

And let us dedicate our own precious souls

to loving graceful maidens with beautiful mouths.

وَفي ذمة اللذات نَخلع بِالرضا

شِعارَ الهَوى لَكن بِغَير فجور

And in pleasure's keeping, let us willingly cast off

the inner garment of love, but without debauchery.

وَنطوي بِساط النسك لا عَن ضلالة

وَلا عَن جحود طارئٍ وَقصور

And roll up the carpet of ascetic devotion, not out of error,

nor out of sudden denial or inadequacy,

وَلَكن لسقمٍ حلّ بِالجسم فَاِنبَرى

وَكَلَّ فلم يَنهض لِنيل أُجور

but because illness settled in the body, so it wasted away

and grew weary, and did not rise to earn rewards.

وَأَصبَح مِن فَرط النحول كَأَنه

خَيال تَوارى رَسمُه بستور

And from excessive emaciation it became as though it were

a phantom whose form had vanished behind veils.

فَلولا الهَوى ما كانَ أَودى بي الضَنى

إِلى ما تَرى مِن بَعد فَقد شُعوري

So, but for love, wasting sickness would not have brought me

to what you see, after I lost my awareness.

وَلَولا الهَوى ماذاع سري وَلا غَدَت

عَلى الخَدّ تَجري داميات بُحور

And but for love, my secret would not have spread, nor would

blood-stained seas have begun to flow down my cheek.

وَلا طالَ سهدي في لَيالي ذَوائبٍ

وَلا في لآلي مبسم وَنُحور

Nor would my sleeplessness have lingered amid the nights of tresses,

nor over the pearls of a smiling mouth and throats,

وَلا في شِفاهٍ سكريٍّ رَضابُها

لَهُ في زَوال العَقل فِعلُ خمور

nor over lips whose saliva is sugar-sweet,

with wine's power to take reason away.

وَلا في نُهود دُون مَن رام ضَمَّها

مِن النبل ما يُصمي بِدُون فُتور

Nor over breasts, where whoever seeks to clasp them faces

arrows that strike dead without faltering.

وَلا هَز عَطفي للنَسيب أَهلةٌ

تَلوح عَلى أَغصانِها كَبدور

Nor would crescent moons have stirred me to love poetry,

gleaming upon their branches like full moons.

وَلا حرّكتني في الصَبابة نَشوةٌ

إِلى غانيات ناحِلات خُصور

Nor would rapture, amid my yearning, have drawn me

to beautiful women with slender waists.

وَلا لان مِني قَبلَ مَيلي إِلى الظبا

فُؤادٌ يُحاكي قاسيات صُخور

Nor, before I inclined toward the gazelles, had there softened within me

a heart resembling unyielding rocks.

فُؤاد كَميّ في الوَرى بَيد أَنه

عَلى الكَرّ في الهجران غَير صَبور

A warrior's heart among mankind, except that it

cannot endure renewed charges amid estrangement.

وَلا بِتُ أَرعى كُلَّ نَجمٍ لناظري

بَدا في الدَياجي مِنهُ لامعُ نُور

Nor would I have spent the night watching every star that, to my eyes,

showed a gleaming light amid the darkness.

فَكَيفَ أُداري ما بَراني مِن الجَوى

وَشاحبُ لَوني ترجمانُ ضَميري

How, then, can I conceal the anguish that has wasted me,

when my pallor interprets my inner self?

وَنِيران وَجدي دُونَها بَين أَضلُعي

وَفي كبدي الحرّى شَواظُ سَعير

And less fierce than my passion's fires, between my ribs

and in my burning liver, are the flames of an inferno.

وَحَسبي أَني ما هَمَمت بِسَلوة

لِتَعنيف عذَّال وَجَفوة حُور

And it is enough for me that I never thought of forgetting love

because of censurers' rebukes and dark-eyed beauties' coldness.

وَما لملالٍ مِلتُ عَنها وَإِنَّما

شُغفت بِمَدحي في أَجلّ مشير

Nor did I turn away from them out of boredom; rather,

I was enthralled by my praise of the most illustrious marshal.

هُوَ الشَهم تَوفيق المَعالي وَمَن بِهِ

يُفاخر ذُو تاج وَصَدر صُدور

He is the gallant Tawfiq of lofty honors, and the one through whom

the crowned ruler and the chief of chiefs take pride.

لَهُ اللَه مِن شبلٍ سَليل مملَّكٍ

يَردّ عَن الأَوطان بَأس هصور

God bless him, a lion-cub, scion of an enthroned king,

who wards a fierce lion's might away from the homelands.

فَمَن يَستَطيع الآن كتمانَ فَضله

وَشَمسُ علاه آذنت بِظُهور

Who, then, can now conceal his excellence,

when the sun of his eminence has announced its rising?

وَفي هَذِهِ الأَيام أَضحى بِعدله

لملك خديوي مَصر خَير ظَهير

And in these days, through his justice, he has become

the best support for the rule of Egypt's Khedive.

وَكُل امرئ أَثنى لِسان مَقاله

عَلَيه بِصدق في بَهيج عُصور

And every man's speaking tongue has praised

him sincerely, in joyous times.

وَآراؤه دَلت بِحُسن سَدادها

عَلى حازم سامي المَقام خَطير

And his opinions, in their admirable soundness, have revealed

a resolute man, lofty in station and of great consequence.

وَمُذ قامَ بِالتَوكيل في مَصر عَن أَب

جَليل مَليك العَصر حال مَسير

And since he served as deputy in Egypt for his father—

an illustrious ruler of the age—during his journey,

جَرى في مَيادين العَدالة طِرفُه

فَفازَ بِسَبق في جَميع أُمور

his steed has raced through the fields of justice

and won the lead in every affair.

تَصوّر مِن حلم وَعَزم وَرَأفة

وَأَوفر فَهم للعلوم نَصير

He was fashioned from forbearance, resolve, and compassion,

and the fullest understanding—a champion of the sciences.

وَقَد سرّت الأَمصار مِنهُ بِناهض

لإِنصاف مَظلوم وَجَبر كَسير

And the cities have been gladdened by him, a champion rising

to give the oppressed justice and mend the broken,

وَثاقب فَكر صَوب سامي عَزيمة

لِنَيل مُراد فيهِ قمعُ مبير

and by penetrating thought directed toward lofty resolve

to attain an aim in which a destroyer is subdued,

وَنصح خَليل مُخلص في وِداده

لِأَسمى مَليك بِالثَناء جَدير

and by the counsel of a friend sincere in his affection

for the most exalted sovereign, worthy of praise,

وَرفعة قَدر لا تَزال مُشيرةً

بِشُكر لِمَن أَولى أَجلّ سَرير

and by exalted rank that never ceases to express

gratitude to the one who bestowed the most exalted throne,

وَسَعيٍ إِلى نَفع الأَنام بِهمة

تُشير إِلى رشد النُهى بِوفور

and by striving to benefit humankind, with a zeal

that attests to abundant soundness of intellect,

وَفَصل خطاب في القَضايا دَليله

بِشارح قَول لَم يُقَس بِنَظير

and by decisive judgment in cases, whose proof lies

in lucid speech that has never been matched.

وَنَفس كَريم أَنبأتنا بِأَنَّهُ

عصام وَلا يُنبيك مثل خَبير

And a noble man's soul has told us that he is

an Isam—and none can inform you like one who knows.

فَيا اِبن خَديوي مَصر لا زلت راقياً

إِلى أَوج ملك للنجاح سَمير

So, son of Egypt's Khedive, may you ever ascend

to sovereignty's zenith, with success as your nightly companion.

وَلا زلت مَشمولاً بِعَين عِناية

مِن اللَه ما طابَ اِنتشاق عَبير

And may you ever be sheltered by the watchful eye of care

from God, as long as inhaling fragrance is sweet,

وَما أَشرَقت في مَصر شَمس تَمدّن

أَبوك لَهُ قَد شادَ أَرصن سُور

and as long as civilization's sun shines in Egypt,

for which your father has raised the strongest rampart,

وَأَحياه مِن بَعد اِندِراس وَلَم يَزَل

يُعاهده مِن طيه بِنُشور

and revived it after its effacement, never ceasing

to tend it, bringing it from its folded state to new life;

وَما قالَ مَجدي في التَهاني مُؤرّخاً

تَوكل تَوفيق أَحب وَزير

and as long as Majdi says in congratulation, recording the date:

"Tawfiq, the most beloved minister, assumed the deputyship."