قدحت في مزجها بالماء نارا — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

قَدَحت في مزجها بالماء ناراً

فأعادت ظلمةَ اللَّيل نهارا

I struck a flame while mixing it with water,

so it turned night's darkness into day.

شمس راحٍ في الدجى يحملها

طلعة البدر إذا البدر استنارا

A sun of wine, borne through the darkness

by a full-moon face when the moon shines bright.

عُتِّقَتْ في الدَّنِّ حتَّى إنها

لتعي ما كانَ في الماضي وصارا

So long was it aged in the jar that it

surely knows what was and came to be in bygone days.

فسلوها كيف كانت قبلنا

عادٌ الأولى صغاراً وكبارا

So ask it how, before our time,

the first ʿĀd were, both young and old.

أيّ نادٍ للهوى يومئذٍ

يوم نادينا إلى اللهو البدارا

What a gathering for desire that day,

when we called for haste toward revelry!

وجلوناها عروساً طالما

حبيب من حَبَب المزج نثارا

And we unveiled it as a bride, long

beloved, with mixing-bubbles strewn as bridal gifts.

وكسونا بالسَّنا جسم الدجى

وخلعنا في اللذاذات العذارا

And we clothed the body of darkness in radiance,

and cast off the bridle amid delights.

وسعى ساقٍ بها تحسبُه

غصناً يهدي إلينا الجلَّنارا

And a cupbearer hastened with it, whom you would think

a bough offering us pomegranate blossoms.

علَّمَ الغصن التثني والصّبا

طرب الأنفس والظبي النفارا

He taught the bough to sway, the east wind

to gladden souls, and the gazelle to flee.

وبما فُضِّل من بهجته

تفضل المرو على البيض العذارى

And for the beauty bestowed upon him,

you prefer marw to fair maidens.

سمحٌ ممتنعٌ قيل له

أدِرِ الكأسَ علينا فأدارا

Openhanded yet unattainable, he was told,

"Pass the cup around among us," and he did.

فترى الناس سكارى في هوى

ذلك الساقي وما هم بسكارى

Then you see people drunk with love

for that cupbearer, though they are not drunk.

يا شبيه الورد والآس وما

أحسن التشبيه خدًّا وعزارا

O you who resemble the rose and myrtle—how

lovely the likeness in cheek and cheek-down!

بأبي أنتَ وإن جلَّ أبي

عاطنيها مثل خدَّيك احمرارا

May my father ransom you, though my father is exalted;

hand it to me, as red as your cheeks.

واسقني من فيك عذباً سائغاً

إنَّ بي منك ومالسكر خمارا

And give me from your mouth a sweet, easy draught,

for my hangover comes from you, not drunkenness.

بين ندمانٍ أراقوا دَمَها

بنت كرم تسلبُ الشيخ الوقارا

Among drinking companions who spilled its blood,

a daughter of the vine that robs an old man of dignity,

حنفاءٍ حلَّلوا ما حرّمت

ورأوا في أخذها رأي النصارى

upright believers who made lawful what was forbidden

and, in drinking it, adopted the Christians' view.

ركبوا لِلَّهو في مضماره

أشقراً يصدم أجراهم عثارا

For revelry, upon its racecourse, they rode

a chestnut that trips up even their swiftest,

وكميتاً ما جرتْ في حلبةٍ

للوغى يوماً ولا شقَّت غبارا

and a dark bay that never ran in an arena

for battle, nor ever cleft the dust.

فكأَنَّ الكأسَ فيما فَعَلَتْ

أدركتْ عند عقول القوم ثارا

It is as though the cup, in what it did,

exacted vengeance upon the company's minds.

كلُّ مختال بها في عزَّةٍ

قد مضى يسحبُ في الفخرِ الإِزارا

Each swaggerer, through it, in proud grandeur,

went his way, trailing his waist-wrap in pride.

وإذا ما عاودته نشوةٌ

ألبسته تاج كسرى والسوارا

And whenever intoxication came over him anew,

it dressed him in Kisra's crown and bracelet.

خَفَّ بالراح فلو طارَ امرؤٌ

قبل هذا اليوم بالراح لطارا

He grew light with wine; had any man flown

on wine before this day, he would have flown.

وسمرنا بالذي يطربنا

من حديث وشربناها عقارا

And we talked by night of what delighted us

in conversation, and drank it as heady wine.

وتناشدنا على أقداحها

مِدَحاً تزهو نظاماً ونثارا

And over its goblets we recited to one another

praises splendid, strung as verse and scattered as prose,

بأغرٍّ أبلج من هاشم

أبلَجَ المحتد فرعاً ونجارا

of a radiant, bright-browed man from Hashim,

illustrious in ancestry, in branch and stock.

تشرق الأقمار في غُرَّته

فهو الشمسُ التي لا تتوارى

Moons shine upon his brow,

for he is the sun that never hides.

سرّ رمز المجد مبنى بيته

علم السؤدد سرًّا وجهارا

His house's edifice is the secret of glory's emblem,

a banner of nobility, in secret and in public.

كالحيا المنصبِّ بل أندى يداً

والحسام العضب أو أمضى شفارا

Like pouring rain—nay, more generous of hand,

and like a keen sword—or sharper still of edge.

تلك أيديه التي إحداهما

تورثُ اليُمْنَ وبالأخرى اليسارا

Those are his hands: one of them

bequeaths good fortune, and through the other, wealth.

مستفاض الجود منهلُّ الندى

يوم لا تلقى به إلاَّ الأوارا

Abundant in generosity, pouring down bounty

on a day when you find nothing but burning thirst.

والقوافي الغرّ في أيَّامه

يجتنيها بأياديه ثمارا

And the radiant rhymes, in his days,

he gathers as fruit through his favors.

في زمانٍ مذنبٍ لم يعتذر

بكريم لبني الفضل اعتذارا

In a guilty age that has not made

amends to the sons of merit through a noble man,

ترك الدهر ذليلاً طائعاً

لمنيع من أعزّ الناس جارا

he left Time abased and obedient

to an unassailable man, among the strongest protectors of neighbors.

ولي الفخر بأنِّي شاعر

لأناس لبسوا التقوى شعارا

And mine is the honor of being a poet

to people who wore piety as their inner garment.

هم أقاموا عَمَدَ الدِّين وهم

أوضحوا في الحقِّ للخلق المنارا

They raised the pillars of religion, and they

made the beacon of truth plain to all creation.

كلّ حِلي من فخارٍ وعُلًى

كانَ حِلياً من حُلاهم مستعارا

Every ornament of glory and high rank

was an ornament borrowed from their adornments.

في سبيلِ الله ما قد أنفقوا

من أيادٍ فاسألوها نضارا

In God's path, all that they have spent

in benefactions—ask those hands for pure gold.

أمَّةٌ يستَنزَلُ الغيثُ بهم

وبهم تَستكشِفُ الناس الضرارا

A people through whom rain is called down,

and through whom people seek relief from harm.

فإذا استنجدتهم كانوا ظبا

وإذا استمطرتهم كانوا قطارا

When you call on them for aid, they are sword-blades;

and when you ask them for rain, they are showers.

جبروا كلّ مهيض للعُلى

وأنابوا الكفر ذلاًّ وانكسارا

They mended every broken wing for greatness,

and turned unbelief back, abased and broken.

أجَّجوا نيرانها يوم الوغى

بمواضيهم وإن كانوا بحارا

They kindled its fires on the day of battle

with their keen blades, though they were seas.

في مقامٍ قَصُرَتْ فيه الخُطا

بالطَّويلات وما كنَّ قصارا

In a stand where steps fell short,

with long blades—which were by no means short.

فعليهم صلوات أبَداً

تَتولاّهم غُدُوًّا وابتكارا

So may blessings forever be upon them,

attending them at daybreak and first light.

أو لستَ الآن من بعدهم

قبساً من ذلك النور أنارا

And are you not now, after them,

a spark from that light, shining forth?

طالما سيّرتها قافيةً

غرَّة لم تتَّخذ في الأرض دارا

So often I sent it traveling as a rhyme,

radiant, taking no dwelling on earth,

حاملات مثل أرواح الصبا

من شذى مدحك شيحاً وعرارا

bearing, like the breaths of the east wind,

wormwood and ʿarār from the fragrance of praise for you.

هذه أيَّام أنواء الحيا

إنَّ أنواءَكَ ما زالت غزارا

These are the days of the rain-bearing stars;

indeed, your rain-stars have always brought abundant showers.

فاسقني فيهنَّ سحًّا غدقاً

أجلب العزّ وأستقصي الفخارا

So drench me in these days with streaming, copious rain,

that I may gain honor and attain the utmost glory.

واتَّخذني لك ممَّن لم يجِد

عنك في معترض المدح اصطبارا

And count me yours, among those who find

no patience apart from you in the arena of praise.

وابق للعيد وحزْ في مثله

مفخراً يسمو وصيتاً مستطارا

And live on for the feast, and on one like it win

a distinction that soars and fame that flies abroad.