صبر المحب أحق بالإحجام — Tamim Al Fatimi

صَبْرُ المحبّ أحقُّ بالإحْجامِ

والشوقُ أَولَى منه بالإقدامِ

A lover's patience is fitter for restraint,

And longing is fitter than it for bold advance.

مَنَعَ الكَرَى دمعٌ يفيض كأنما

نَثرتْ به العينان سِلْكَ نِظام

Flowing tears have banished sleep, as though

My two eyes had scattered through them a strand of beads.

وصبابةٌ مِلءُ الفؤاد يَزيدُها

لَهبَاً علَيّ مَلامةُ اللُّوّام

And yearning, filling the heart, is made

More fiery within me by the faultfinders' reproach.

إنّ الظعائن يومَ رَمْلَةِ عالجٍ

مَلّكن كلَّ حَشيً لكلّ غَرامِ

Indeed, the women in litters, that day on the sands of ʿĀlij,

Gave every heart over to every passion.

أَبْرزْنَ من خَلَل السُّتُورِ مَحاجِراً

مكحولةً بمَلاحةٍ وسَقامِ

They revealed through gaps in the curtains eyes

Kohl-lined with beauty and languor.

وأَردن تسليماً وخِفْنَ مُراقباً

فبعثْنَه بإشارةِ الإبهام

They wished to give a greeting, but feared a watcher,

So sent it with a gesture of the thumb.

وبَسَمْن عن كالدُّرّ أَلْعَسَ أَشْنَبٍ

وَسَفَرْنَ عن كالشمس تحتَ ظلامِ

And smiled, revealing dark-lipped mouths with pearly, lustrous teeth,

And unveiled faces like the sun beneath darkness.

غِيدٌ كمُحْمَرّ الشَّقيقِ خدُودُها

وعيونُها كَمطافِل الآرامِ

Supple women, their cheeks like crimson anemones,

And their eyes like those of white gazelles with fawns.

أَذهَلْنَني حتَّى ظَلِلتُ كأنّني

وأنا صريُع هَوىً صريعُ مُدام

They bewildered me until I seemed,

Though felled by love, to be felled by wine.

لو كنت أَقضي بالتَّناسُخ في الورى

لحِسبتُ أنّي عروةُ بنُ حِزام

If I believed in the transmigration of souls among humankind,

I would have thought myself ʿUrwa ibn Ḥizām.

وَمجُودَةٍ بالغيثِ صَفَّفَ نَوْرَها

دَمْعُ السَّحائب فارداً لِتُؤام

And a meadow blessed with rain, whose blossoms were arrayed

By the clouds' tears, setting paired blossoms apart.

باكرتُ فيها الخَنْدَريسَ بِفتْيةٍ

مِن هاشمٍ شُمِّ الأُنوفِ كِرامِ

I drank aged wine there at dawn with young men

Of Hāshim, proud-nosed and noble.

لا يهتدون إلى السَّبابِ ولا الخَنى

بل للنَّدّى ورواجِحِ الأحلام

They know no way to insults or obscenity,

But to generosity and weighty judgment.

يتَنازعونَ جَنَى الحديثِ ونَصَّه

بألدِّ تأدِيَةٍ وطيبِ كَلامِ

They exchange the fruits of conversation and its very wording,

With the most trenchant delivery and pleasing words,

جِدّاً وهَزْ لاً مُمْتِعاً وتصُّرفاً

في كلّ مَا فَنٍّ وحُسْنِ نِدامِ

In earnest and delightful jest, and with versatility

In every art and fine convivial companionship.

فُرسانُ أبكار الكلام إذا امتطَوا

رتبَ الخطاب فوارسُ الأقلامِ

Knights of virgin speech, when they mount

The ranks of discourse, they are knights of the pen.

عاطيتُهم كأساتها مذ فَرَّقَت

كفُّ الصباح دُجُنَّةَ الإظلام

I passed them its cups from the moment

Morning's hand dispelled the murk of darkness,

حتى رأيت الشمس جانحةً وقد

مالت مَمِيلَ خريدة لِلثام

Until I saw the sun inclining, already

Swaying like a shy maiden toward her veil.

والنجمُ يحتثّ الهلالَ كراحة

أومأ إليه بَنانُها بسلام

And the star urges the crescent onward, like a palm

Whose fingertips gesture toward it in greeting.

من كلّ شيء قد قضيتُ لُبانةً

إلا الخنى وقبائحَ الآثامِ

In everything I have satisfied my desire,

Except obscenity and the vile deeds of sin.

يا صاح قد عاد الزمان بحُسنِه

وارتدّ لينُ بشاشة الأيام

O friend, time has returned in its beauty,

And the gentle gladness of the days has returned.

وأرى الخلافة مذ حَمَى ساحاتِها

سيفُ العزيز عزيزةَ الأعلام

And I see the caliphate, since its precincts were defended

By al-ʿAzīz's sword, mighty in its banners.

ملك تفرّد بالعُلا وتوحّدت

كفّاه بالإفضال والإنعام

A king unmatched in glory, and peerless

Are his two hands in bounty and beneficence.

لا بالنَّؤوم عن العدا تَرَفاً ولا

بِمعرَّج عن نُصرة الإسلام

He does not sleep heedless of his foes in luxury, nor

Turn aside from coming to Islam's aid.

أبداً تراه عن الخلافة ذائدا

ما تَتّقي وعن الوليّ يُحامي

You always see him warding from the caliphate

What it fears, and defending the loyal ally.

أخليفةَ اللّهِ الّذي ظهر الهدى

في عصره والعدلُ في الأحكام

O Caliph of God, under whom guidance appeared

In his age, and justice in judgments:

حقَقتَ آمالي ورِشْت سِهامِي

وشددتَ أزري وانتضيتَ حُسامي

You fulfilled my hopes and feathered my arrows,

And strengthened my back and unsheathed my sword,

بوليّ عهد المسلمين محمد

والمرتجَى للنَّقْض والإبرام

Through Muḥammad, heir apparent to the Muslims,

And the one looked to for untying and binding.

ناولتَنيه رافعا قدري به

ومبيّنا للناس عقد ذمامي

You handed him to me, raising my rank through him,

And making plain to the people my bond of protection.

فحملتُ منه ليثَ غاب باسلاً

شهمَ العزيمة ماضيَ الإقدام

So in him I carried a valiant lion of the thicket,

Noble in resolve, unhesitating in bold advance,

وفطانةً نبويّةً وحَزامةً

عَلَويّة لم تتّفق لإمام

And prophetic discernment, and firmness

Of ʿAlī, never before united in an imam.

ما كنت أحسب قبل هذا أنني

أسعى بشمس ضحى وبدرِ تِمام

Before this, I had never thought that I

Would walk with a morning sun and a full moon.

حمّلتَني العلياءَ حين حملتُه

حتى عَظُمتُ به على الإعظام

You made me bear high glory when I carried him,

Till, through him, I rose beyond all exaltation.

الآن لاقيت الخطوب محارباً

وعلمت أني أفضل الأعمام

Now I have faced adversities as a warrior,

And learned that I am the best of uncles.

شكري لفضلك شكرُ من أوليتَه

محضَ الوداد وغاية الإكرام

My thanks for your bounty are those of one to whom you granted

Pure affection and the utmost honor.

ولَمِثلُك استعلَى بكلّ فضيلة

ورأى الحنوَّ على ذوي الأرحامِ

And one such as you indeed excels in every virtue,

And chooses tenderness toward blood relations.

ولَئن أصابَني اختيارُك إنني

من دونهمْ لأَرى بك استعصامي

And if your choice has fallen upon me, I

Apart from the others, surely find my refuge in you.

صلىَّ عليك اللّهُ من متعصِّب

للدين راعٍ للوفاء همام

May God bless you, a zealous champion

Of religion, guardian of loyalty, noble and resolute.