طرقت أسماء في جنح الظلام — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

طَرَقَتْ أَسماءُ في جُنْح الظَّلام

مَرْحباً بالغُصْنِ والبَدر التَّمامِ

Asma came under the wing of darkness.

Welcome to the bough and the full moon!

وتحرَّت فرصةً تمكنها

حذر الواشي فزارت في المقام

And she sought an opportunity that would enable her,

fearing the tale-bearer, to visit the dwelling.

بتُّ منها والهوى يجْمَعُنا

باعتناق والتثام والتزام

I spent the night with her, love uniting us,

in embraces, kisses, and close clasping,

مستفيداً رشَفَاتٍ من فمٍ

لم تكنْ توجد إلاَّ في المنام

savoring sips from a mouth,

such as were found only in dreams.

حبَّذا طيفُ حبيبٍ زارني

والضيا يعثر في ذيل الظَّلام

How lovely, the apparition of a beloved who visited me,

while light stumbled in darkness's trailing hem.

باتَ حتَّى كَشَفَ الفجرُ الدُّجى

وبدا الصُّبحُ لنا بادي اللثام

He stayed until dawn dispelled the gloom,

and morning appeared to us, its face unveiled.

ونَظَرْنا فرأَينا كَرَّةً

لبني سامٍ على أَبناءِ حام

And we looked and saw a charge

by the sons of Shem against the sons of Ham.

يصرَعُ الزّقَّ ويُدمي نحْرَهُ

ويروِّيني بجامٍ بعد جام

He fells the wineskin and bloodies its throat,

and slakes my thirst, goblet after goblet.

بات يهدي بارد الرِّيق إلى

كبِدٍ حرَّى وقلب مستهام

He spent the night offering cool saliva to

a burning liver and a heart lost in love:

بابليّ اللّحظ معسول اللّمى

ليّن الأَعطاف ممشوق القوام

Babylonian in gaze, honey-sweet of dusky lips,

supple of flanks, slender of stature.

وترشَّفتُ شذًى من مرشف

عنبريّ الطيب مسكيّ الختام

And I sipped fragrance from a mouth,

ambergris-scented, with a finish of musk.

أنا بالسّفح وما أَدراك ما

كانَ بالسّفحِ وفي تلك الخيام

I am at the hillside—and how could you know what

happened at the hillside and in those tents?

زمنٌ مرَّ لنا في ظلِّه

يرقُصُ البان لتغريد الحمام

A time passed for us, beneath whose shade

the ban tree danced to the doves' song.

والندامى مثل أزهار الرُّبا

يُجتَنى من لفظها زَهْرُ الكلام

And the drinking companions were like flowers of the hills,

from whose speech the blossoms of words were plucked.

والظِّباء العُفْرُ من آرامها

ما بعينها بجسمي من سقام

And the tawny gazelles among its white antelopes—

the sickness in their eyes was in my body.

سَنَحَتْ أَسرابها قانصةً

ورماني من ظباء الغيد رام

Their herds appeared, hunting,

and an archer among the graceful gazelles shot me:

طاعنات بقدودٍ من قناً

راميات من لحاظٍ بسهام

thrusting with figures like spear-shafts,

loosing arrows from their glances.

حَدَّثَ الرّكبُ عنها وهَلْ يخفى الهوى

عن ولوعي بالتَّصابي وغرامي

The caravan spoke of her—and can love be hidden?—

of my passion for youthful dalliance and my ardent love,

حين ألفاني وألفى مهجتي

في ضِرامٍ ودموعي بانسجام

when it found me and found my heart

ablaze, and my tears flowing freely.

يا خليليَّ اكْفُفا لوْمَكُما

واذهبا عنِّي ومرَّا بسلام

O my two friends, cease your reproaches,

and leave me, and pass on in peace.

فلقد أعطَيْتُ من دُنكما

طاعةَ الحبّ وعصيانَ الملام

For I have given, apart from you two,

obedience to love and defiance of reproach.

أينَ حيٌّ بالفضا نعهَدُه

صُدعُوا بعد التئام والتيام

Where is the tribe we knew on the open plain?

They were scattered after reunion and affection.

لا جزى الله بخيرٍ أينقاً

قَذَفَتْها بالنَّوى أيدي المرامي

May God grant no good reward to she-camels

hurled into separation by the hands of far-off destinations.

كلَّما أسمَعَها الحادي الحدا

أجْفَلَتْ بالسَّير إجفال النعام

Whenever the camel-driver made them hear his song,

they bolted on their journey like startled ostriches.

ذهبت يا سعدُ أيَّام الصبا

ومَضَتْ بعد وِصالٍ بانصرام

Gone, O Sa'd, are the days of youth,

and after togetherness they passed into parting.

وصحا من سَكرةٍ ذو نشوة

لا يسوغُ الماءَ إلاَّ بالمدام

And the reveler sobered from drunkenness,

who could swallow water only with wine.

لا أذُمُّ الشَّيْبَ ينهاني به

وَرَعي حين بدا عن كلّ ذام

I do not blame gray hair; through it I am restrained,

by my piety, once it appeared, from every fault.

وبمَدْحي واليَ البصرة قد

راقَ بالصِّدق نثاري ونظامي

And through my praise of Basra's governor,

my prose and verse have grown pleasing through truth.

وثناءً طيِّباً ننشره

بالمنيب العادل القرم الهمام

And fine praise we proclaim

for the devout, just, noble, valiant chief.

أَلبَسَ النَّاسَ وَقاراً حكمُهُ

فهي من أَبهى وقار واحتشام

His rule has clothed the people in dignity,

so the city wears the finest dignity and decorum.

ما رأى البصرة من إنصافه

إذ أَتاها غيرَ أَطلال رمام

In his fair judgment, he found Basra,

when he came to it, nothing but crumbling ruins.

فسعى بالجهد في تعميرها

سَعْيَ من يبلُغُ غايات المرام

So he strove with all his might to rebuild it,

striving as one who attains his utmost aims.

لا تشيمُ البرقَ منه خلباً

لا ولا تسأَل وبلاً من جهام

In him you never watch for lightning that promises no rain,

no, nor ask a rainless cloud for a downpour.

فعسى أن يُنْجزَ الله به

عَدةَ اللُّطْف لخاص ولعام

May God, through him, fulfill

the promise of kindness to the elite and the common folk.

فرع سادات المعالي في العُلى

عَلَويُّ الأَصل عُلْويُّ المقام

A lofty scion of the lords of high distinction,

Alawi by descent, exalted in station.

كَرُمَتْ أعراقُه في ذاتها

وكِرامُ النَّاس أَناءُ الكرام

His roots are noble in themselves,

and the noble among people are offspring of the noble.

من أُناسٍ خُلقوا مُذْ خلقوا

سادةَ الدُّنيا وأَشراف الأَنام

Of a people created, from their very creation,

lords of the world and nobles of mankind.

تنقضي أيَّامه موصولةٌ

بصلاتٍ وصَلاةٍ وصيام

His days pass, linked together

by gifts, prayer, and fasting.

وإذا ما اضطرمتْ نارُ وغًى

يصطفي منها أشدَّ الاضطرام

And whenever the fire of battle blazes,

he chooses its fiercest blaze.

وإذا استلَّ ظُباً أَغْمدها

ثَمَّ في قمَّة مقدام وهام

And when he draws blades, he sheathes them

there, in the crowns and skulls of bold warriors.

وعلى منبَرِ هامات العدى

خطبت بالحتف والموت الزُّؤام

And upon the pulpit of his enemies' skulls,

they preached doom and swift death.

بطلٌ يفتك في آرائه

غير ما يفتك في حدِّ الحسام

A hero who deals death through his decisions,

besides the death he deals with his sword's edge.

كم وكم أَدْمَتْ بقومٍ مهجةً

هذه أَقلامه السُّمر الدَّوامي

How often, how often, have they bloodied a heart among men—

these brown, blood-dripping pens of his!

ما جرتْ إلاَّ بمجرى قدر

بحياةٍ لأُناسٍ وحِمام

They have flowed only in the course of fate,

bringing life to some people, and death.

كم له من كلماتٍ في النهى

نبَّهت للرُّشد أبصار النيام

How many of his words of wisdom

have awakened sleepers' eyes to right guidance!

قرَّت البصرة عيناً بالَّذي

حلَّ بالبصرة بالشَّهر الحرام

Basra's eyes were gladdened by the one who

arrived in Basra in the sacred month.

كلّ دارٍ حلَّ فيها ابتهجتْ

وحَلَتْ حينئذٍ دار السَّلام

Every dwelling in which he stayed rejoiced,

and then the Abode of Peace grew lovely.

فسقاها من نداهُ عارضٌ

مستطيرُ البرق منهلُّ الركام

So a raincloud watered it from his bounty,

its lightning spreading far, its heaped masses pouring rain.

وحماها بمواضيه ولا

خيرَ بالملك يُرى من غير حام

And he protected it with his keen blades; and no

good is seen in rule without a protector.

أصبَحَتْ آثار أَيديه بها

مثلما تُصبِحُ آثار الغمام

The traces of his hands upon it have become

like the traces left by rainclouds.

حَسُنَتْ أحوالها وانتظمتْ

لو تراها بعد هذا الانتظام

Its circumstances improved and fell into order—

if only you could see it after this ordering!

رَدَّ بالسَّيف بغاةٍ جَمَحَتْ

رَدَّك المُهرَ جَموحاً باللِّجام

With the sword he checked rebels who had run wild,

as you rein in a headstrong colt with a bridle.

وقضى بالعدل فيما بينها

فمضتْ في غيِّها لدُّ الخصام

And he judged justly in disputes among them,

so the obstinate disputants went on in their error.

واليدُ الطولى له من قبلها

أَخَذَتْ من كلّ آبٍ بزمام

And his far-reaching hand, even before that,

had taken every resister by the rein.

عِمْ صباحاً أيُّها المولى ودُمْ

وابقَ واسلمْ والياً في كلّ عام

Good morning, my lord; may you endure,

and remain safe as governor, year after year.