شرى البرق فالتاع الفؤاد المعذب — Tamim Al Fatimi

شَرى البرقُ فالتاعَ الفؤادُ المُعَذَّبُ

وحار الكَرَى في العين وهْو مُذَبْذَبُ

Lightning flashed, and the tormented heart burned with anguish.

Sleep faltered in the eye, wavering.

أرِقتُ لهذا البَرْقِ حتى كأنّما

شَرَى فبدَتْ منه لعينيَ زينبُ

I lay sleepless for this lightning until it was as though

it flashed and Zaynab appeared from it before my eyes.

يَلوح ويَخْبو في السماء كأنّه

سيوفٌ بأرجاء السماء تُقَلِّب

It flashes and fades in the sky, as though it were

swords being brandished throughout the reaches of the sky.

شَرى قبلَ صَبْغ الليل بالحلَكَ الرُّبَا

ووافَى وقد كاد الصباحُ يُثَوِّب

It flashed before night dyed the hills with blackness,

and came when dawn was almost sounding its summons.

يَؤُمّ رَعِيلَ الغَيْم عَمْدًا وإنّما

يؤمّ خيالاً من سُلَيْمَى ويَجْنُب

It deliberately seeks the vanguard of the clouds, yet really

it seeks a phantom of Sulayma and heads south.

وإلاّ فلِمْ وافَى كأنّ نسيمه

وما فيه طِيبٌ بالعبير مُطَيَّب

Otherwise, why did it come as though its breeze—

though bearing no perfume—were scented with fragrance?

ولم جاء والطّيفَ المُعاوِد مَضْجَعي

معاً ومضى لمّا مضى المتأوِّب

And why did it and the phantom revisiting my bed come

together, and depart when the nightly visitor departed?

وأنَّى اهْتدى طيفُ الخيال ودونَه

من البِيدِ مجهولٌ ودَوٌّ وسَبْسَبُ

And how did the dream-phantom find its way, with before it

uncharted wilderness, vast desert, and level waste?

فَواصَلَني تحت الكَرَى وهو عاتِبٌ

ولولا الكرى ما زَارَني وهو يَعْتِب

It joined me beneath sleep, although reproachful;

but for sleep it would not have visited me while reproaching me.

وبات ضجيعي منه أَهْيفُ ناعِمٌ

وأدْعَجُ نَسْوانٌ وأَلْعَسُ أَشْنبَ

Its slender-waisted, tender form spent the night beside me,

dark-eyed and forgetful, dusky-lipped and pearly-toothed.

كأنّ الدجَى من لون صُدْغَيه طالِعٌ

وشمسُ الضُّحَى في صَحْن خَدَّيْه تَغْرُبُ

As though darkness rose from the color of its temples,

and the morning sun set upon the breadth of its cheeks.

فلّما أجابَ اللّيلُ داعيَ صُبْحه

وكادتْ ثريّا نَجْمِه تَتَصوَّب

Then, when night answered the summons of its dawn,

and the Pleiades among its stars were about to sink,

ثَنَى عِطْفَه لمّا بدا الصّبحُ ذاهباً

وما كاد لولا طالعُ الصبح يذهب

it turned away to leave when dawn appeared,

and would scarcely have left but for the rising dawn.

إلى الله أشكو سِرَّ شوقٍ كتمتُه

فنمَّ به واش من الدّمع مُعْرِب

To God I lament a secret longing I concealed,

but an eloquent tale-bearer of tears betrayed it.

وإني لألقَى كلَّ خَطْبٍ بمهجةٍ

يهون عليها منه ما يَتَصعّب

I meet every calamity with a heart

to which whatever is hard in it becomes easy.

وأستصحِبُ الأهوالَ في كلّ موطنٍ

ويُمْزَجُ لي السّمّ الذُّعاف فأَشْرَبُ

I take terrors as companions wherever I go,

and deadly poison is mixed for me, and I drink.

وأُغضي على مِثل الأسِنّة صابراً

ولو شئتُ لم أصبِرْ وللسيف مَضْرب

I patiently close my eyes to hurts like spearpoints,

though, if I wished, I would not endure: the sword has room to strike.

ولستُ بإقبالٍ وإن سَرّ فارحاً

ولا من عجيبِ يُعْجِبُ الناسَ أعْجَب

I do not exult in good fortune, though it gladdens,

nor marvel at wonders that amaze others.

لأنّي بلوتُ الدهر ثم علمتُه

وجرّبتُ ما لم يَلْقَ قبلي مُجَرِّب

For I have tried time and then come to know it,

and experienced what no seasoned man before me encountered.

كثيرُ الغِنَى بالعقل فخرٌ وإنه

لذي الجهل مُخْزٍ بالحياة ومُتْعب

Great wealth with wisdom is an honor; yet it

disgraces and wearies the ignorant in life.

سَيصْحَبُ نَصْلِي من يُرى مثلَ حَدّه

ويَحْمَد صحبي شيمتي حين أَصْحَب

My blade will befriend whoever proves as keen as its edge,

and my companions praise my character when I keep them company.

وما الحرُّ إلاّ من تَدرّع عَزْمَه

ولم يك إلاّ بالقنا يَتَكسّب

A free man is only one who wears his resolve as armor

and earns his living only with spears.

فإنّ القنا فيها لديّ فسيحة

وفي السيف عن دار المَذلّة مَهْرَب

For in spears I find ample scope,

and in the sword an escape from the abode of humiliation.

أَأَسأل حظًا من لئيم ومُقْرِفٍ

وأخْضَعُ للنِّكْسِ البخيل وأطلبُ

Shall I ask a share from a base man and a lowborn wretch,

and bow to a miserly weakling and beg,

وأتُرك بِيضَ الهند وهي شوافِعٌ

إذا جُرِّدت في حاجة لا تُخَيَّبُ

and abandon India's bright blades, those intercessors

that, when drawn for a need, never fail?

ومالي أخاف الحادثاتِ كأنّني

جهولٌ بأنّ الموتَ ما منه مَهْرَبُ

Why should I fear calamities, as though I were

ignorant that there is no escape from death?

إذا لم أَرِدْ وِرْدَ المنايا مُخاطِراً

بنفسي فلا جُنِّبتُ ما أتجَنّب

If I do not approach death's watering place, risking

my life, may I not be spared what I seek to avoid.

سأَثني دَراريَّ النجوم وأَنْثَني

وأَعْطِفُ أطرافَ الرِّماح وأركبُ

I shall turn aside the brilliant stars and wheel about,

and bend the spearpoints and ride.

وأحمل ما بين المَهالكِ حَملةً

يعود بها روضُ المُنَى وهو مُخْصب

I shall charge amid deadly perils with a charge

that makes the meadow of hopes grow lush again.

وإلاّ فما لي من أئمَة هاشمٍ

ولا لِيَ في الدَّهماء جَدٌّ ولا أبُ

Otherwise, I have no descent from Hashim's imams,

nor, among the multitudes, any grandfather or father.

خليليَّ ما في أكؤِس الرّاح راحتي

ولا في المَثاني لذّتي حين تُطْرِبُ

My two friends, my comfort is not in cups of wine,

nor my pleasure in lute strings when they delight.

ولكنّني للمجد أَرتاح والعلا

وللجود والإعْطاء أصبو وأَطرَب

Rather, I rejoice in glory and high rank,

and yearn and thrill to generosity and giving.

وللحلمِ يومَ البطش منّي حَمِيّةٌ

وللحِفْظ يوم الغَدْرِ فيّ تَغضُّب

I zealously defend forbearance on the day of violence,

and burn with anger for loyalty on the day of treachery.

ومَنْ بين جَنْبيه كنفسي وهمّتي

يَروح له فوق الكواكب مَوْكِب

Whoever bears a soul and ambition like mine within his ribs

has a procession journeying above the stars.

ومن أين لا أغدو ولي كّل مَفْخَرٍ

يَضِيقُ افتخار الناس عنه ويُحْجَبُ

How could I not go forth, when mine is every glory

that others' boasting cannot encompass or attain?

ولي من نِزَارٍ لُحْمَةٌ شدَّ نَسْجَها

مَعَدٌّ ويَحْويني وإيّاه مَنْصِب

I have with Nizar a bond whose weave was tightened

by Ma'add; one lineage embraces him and me.

وقُرْبَي تراضَعْنَا جميعاً لِبانَها

وصِنْوٌ إذا عُدّ الإخاء ومَنْسبُ

And a kinship whose milk we both suckled together,

and a brother when brotherhood is reckoned, and a shared descent.

فلا يتّهمني الحاسدون ببغيهم

فعِزِّيَ من عِزّ العزيز مُرَكبُ

Let not the envious accuse me in their malice,

for my might is compounded from al-Aziz's might.

إمامٌ له من كلّ نفس مُراقِبٌ

وفي كلّ أرض عقدُ عزّ ومِقْنَبُ

An imam who has a watchman in every soul,

and in every land a bond of might and a cavalry troop.

محبّته حتمٌ على كلّ مسلمٍ

وطاعتُه فرضٌ من الله مُوجَبُ

Love for him is incumbent upon every Muslim,

and obedience to him an obligation enjoined by God.

كأنّ العطايا والمنايا نوافِلٌ

يجود بها في حين يَرْضَى ويَغْضَب

As though gifts and deaths were freewill offerings

which he lavishes in times of pleasure and of wrath.

رفيعُ المعالي في العيون مُعَظَّمٌ

كريمُ السجايا في النفوس مُحَبَّب

Lofty in eminence, revered in all eyes,

noble in character, dear to every soul.

أّلذَ من الشهد المُصَفَّى مذاقُه

وأطيبُ من نيل الأماني وأَعْذب

His savor is sweeter than clarified honey,

more pleasant and sweeter than wishes fulfilled.

وأمضَى من المِقدار عَزْماً وبَطْشةً

وأوسعُ لِلأيّام صَدْراً وأَرْحَبُ

More decisive than fate in resolve and assault,

and broader, more expansive of heart toward time.

مآثِرُه في حَلْبة الفخر سُبَّقٌ

وتدبيرهُ في ظُلْمة الليل كوكبُ

His glorious deeds lead the field in the race for glory,

and his planning is a star in the darkness of night.

وآراؤه يومَ اللِّقاء نوافِذٌ

مَواضٍ إذا كلّ الحديدُ المُضَرَّبُ

His judgments on the day of battle pierce through,

keen when well-forged steel grows blunt.

هينئاً لك الأعيادُ يا عيدَها الذي

به يُمْنَح العزُّ المنيعُ ويُوهَبُ

May the festivals bring you joy, O you who are their festival,

through whom unassailable might is granted and bestowed.

وملءُ فضاء الأرض حولك صاهلٌ

وأسمرُ خَطِّيٌّ وعَضْبٌ مُشَطًّب

Filling the earth's expanse around you are neighing steeds,

brown Khatti spears, and keen, grooved swords.

فَسِرتَ بهم مُسْتَعْصِماً بسكينةٍ

كأنك من لُبْس التقى مترقّب

So you proceeded with them, holding fast to serenity,

as though your garb of piety kept you watchful.

وقمتَ بهم في مِنْبَر المُلك خاطباً

بما لم يَقُمْ مَلْك سواك ويَخْطُب

You stood before them, preaching from the pulpit of kingship,

what no king besides you has stood to preach.

وأفصحتَ حتى ليس إلاَّكَ مُفْصِحٌ

وأسْهبتَ حتى ليس إلاّكَ مُسْهِب

You spoke so eloquently that none but you was eloquent,

and at such length that none but you was expansive.

تُبَشِّر طَوْرا بالإِلهِ وتارةً

تُخَوِّف من عِصْيانه وتُرَهِّب

At times you give glad tidings of God, and at others

you warn against disobedience to Him and inspire dread.

بَياناً ووعظاً قد تَناهيتَ فيهما

كأنّك لم يَسبِقْك قُسٌّ ويَعْرُبُ

In exposition and exhortation you reached the utmost,

as though neither Quss nor Ya'rub had preceded you.

وأَثبتَّ في الأسماع برهانَ حكمةٍ

يُقَصِّر عنها من يقول ويُطْنِب

You fixed in your listeners' ears a proof of wisdom

beyond the reach of those who speak at length.

لأنّك في بحر البلاغة مُغْرَق

وفي ساحَتَي أرِض النبوّة مُنْجِب

For you are immersed in the sea of eloquence,

and a sire of noble offspring in both courts of prophecy's land.

لَيهْنِك أنّ الفضَل أجمعَ كلَّه

إليك أبا المنصور وَحْدَك يُنْسَب

May it gladden you that excellence, whole and entire,

is ascribed to you alone, Abu al-Mansur,

وأنك أنتَ المصطفى المَلِكُ الذي

بطاعته مِنْ ربّنا نتقرّب

and that you are the chosen one, the king

by obeying whom we draw near to our Lord.

ولولاك كان المُلْكُ في غير أهله

وكان على أُفْقِ الشّريعة غَيْهَب

But for you, kingship would lie with those unworthy of it,

and deep darkness would cover the horizon of sacred law.

عليك صلاةُ الله ما طلعَ الضُّحى

وما حنّ للأوطان من يَتغَرَب

God's blessings upon you as long as morning rises,

and as long as those abroad yearn for their homelands.