صب يحاول من لماك الراحا — Suleiman Al Sawla

صبٌّ يحاول من لماك الراحا

مس الشقيق فورد التفاحا

Did a lovesick lover, seeking wine from your dusky lips,

touch the anemone and make the apples blush?

أم كلما بث الرحيق شعاعه

في فيك ضرج خدك الوضاحا

Or, whenever the nectar cast its rays

within your mouth, did it crimson your radiant cheek?

فدّيت من قمرٍ يطوف بكوكبٍ

صارت له شمس الظهيرة راحا

I would ransom such a moon, circling with a star,

for whom the noonday sun has become wine.

وكأنها من جلنار خدوده

خجلت فصار بهارها قدّاحا

And as though, at his cheeks' pomegranate blossoms,

it grew abashed, and its yellow blooms became orange blossom.

سيان خنصره الرقيق وخصره

لو شاء لاتخذ الختام وشاحا

His slender little finger and his waist are alike;

if he wished, he could wear a signet ring as a sash.

حاكت لواحظه النصال وإنما

وجت النفوس وعافت الأشباحا

His glances resembled blade-points, except

they pierced souls and shunned bodies.

وحكت بشاشته الرياض وإنما

ما أنبتت للعاشقين فلاحا

And his smiling brightness resembled gardens, yet

it brought forth no good fortune for lovers.

ترك الرقاد على العباد محرماً

لكنه جعل السهاد مباحا

He left sleep forbidden to mankind,

but made sleeplessness permissible.

لو شاهد السفاح لأْمة حسنه ال

وضاح بايع لحظه الجراحا

Had al-Saffah seen the armor of his beauty—

radiant—he would have pledged allegiance to his wounding glance.

خل الكؤوس وعاطني يا فاتني

قبل الشموس رضابك الفياحا

Leave the cups and offer me, my enchanter,

before the suns, your fragrant lip-nectar.

عرف اللمى قبل الفطام فخال ما

يعطاه من ريق المدام قراحا

He knew dusky lips before weaning, so thought whatever

he was given of wine's nectar mere pure water.

قلبي يحدثني بأنك واصلي

عجل ولا تدع الحديث مزاحا

My heart tells me you will unite with me;

hasten, and do not let these words be a jest.

ودع الدلال أو الملال فواحدٌ

يكفيك ألفاً إن أردت كفاحا

Give up coyness or weariness, for one alone

will serve you against a thousand if you seek combat.

هذي خدودك بالعذار تدرعت

لقتال من خال الهوى مزّاحا

These cheeks of yours have armored themselves in facial down

to battle whoever thought love a jester.

وكأن خالك تحت لحظك خادم

وافى ليحمل للأمير سلاحا

And your mole beneath your glance seems a servant

who has come to carry weapons for the prince.

ملك تتوج بالصلاح وبالتقى

نسخ الطلاح وأثبت الإصلاحا

A king crowned with righteousness and piety,

who abolished corruption and established reform.

ما فارق الغرب المفارق نوره

من راحتيه العارض السياحا

The West, though his light has left it, has never lost

the roaming raincloud from his two palms.

كلا ولا انقفلت بيوت أرامل

دامت لهن هباته مفتاحا

Never; nor have widows' homes been shut:

his gifts have remained a key for them.

كل البلاد بلاده إن أنصفت

وهو العهاد لها غدا أو راحا

Every land is his, if you judge fairly,

and he is its renewing rain, going forth at dawn or returning at dusk.

فتح القرائح للقريض بجوده

فغدت تسبح ربها الفتاحا

He opened creative minds to verse through his generosity,

so they came to glorify their Lord, the Opener.

وتطلبت إدراك كنه صفاته

فرأت هناك المعجز الفضاحا

And they sought to grasp the essence of his qualities,

and found there a marvel that baffled and exposed them.

فصفاته كالبحر يدرك بعضها

والبعض منها يغرق السباحا

For his qualities are like the sea: some can be fathomed,

while others drown the swimmer.

من مثل عبد القادر البطل الذي

ملأ البلاد مهابةً ونجاحا

Who is like Abd al-Qadir, the hero who

filled the lands with awe and success?

فهو الذي عرفت مراكش باسمه

لما غدت لمحاربيه جناحا

For he is the one through whose name Marrakesh became renowned,

when it became a wing for those who fought him.

لعبت بهامات اللئام سيوفه

وبنت لهم بجهنم صفاحا

His swords played with the heads of the base

and built stone slabs for them in Hell.

فكأن سلك البرق في صمصامه

للنار يقذف كل راس طاحا

As though a strand of lightning in his keen sword

hurls every fallen head into the Fire.

كم فارس غنى الحسام برأسه

ضحكت مطامعه عليه فناحا

With many a knight's head the sword sang;

his ambitions laughed at him, and he wailed.

لولا يمين أميرنا ما خضبت

بدمائه الهنديةُ الصحصاحا

But for our emir's right hand, it would not have dyed

the level plain with his blood—the Indian blade.

ولكم فتى عانٍ عفى عنه العنا

وجنى له جاني الصفا الأفراحا

And for many a distressed youth, hardship relented,

and the gatherer of serenity harvested joys for him.

ما نال لولا نال مولانا المنى

وثنى عنان عنائه وارتاحا

He would not have attained them had our lord not granted his wishes;

and he drew back the reins of his suffering and found rest.

يا مغضب اللاهي ومرضي اللَه ما از

دادت صفاتك بالثنا إيضاحا

O you who anger the heedless and please God, never

have your qualities grown clearer through praise.

لك من خلائقك الكريمة ألسنٌ

تثني عليك وتوجب التمداحا

Your noble qualities give you tongues

that praise you and make lavish praise a duty.

ملأت بطون الصحف إلّا أنها

قد أعيت الشعراء والشرّاحا

They have filled the depths of pages, yet

have baffled poets and commentators.

أكمدت يا ليث المعامع حاسدي

ودفعت عني الفاجر النباحا

You plunged my envier into grief, O lion of battle's tumult,

and drove the wicked barker away from me.

فلأمدحنك مدح سارٍ تائهٍ

مدت يد الهادي له مصباحا

So I will surely praise you with the praise of a lost night-traveler

to whom the guide's hand held out a lamp.

هذا المحرم جاء يا حرم التقى

يبغي رضاك ويطلب الإمناحا

This Muharram has come, O sanctuary of piety,

seeking your favor and asking for largesse.

فارسم عليه بكل عامٍ عودةً

يلقاك فيها واهباً منّاحا

So decree for it a return each year,

when it meets you, a giver unstinting in bounty.

دامت بك الأيام دائمة الصفا

وبقيت مصباحاً لنا وصباحا

May the days remain ever serene through you,

and may you remain a lamp and a dawn for us.