من معيد لي من عهد الألى — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

مَنْ معيدٌ لي مِنْ عَهد الأُلى

زَمَناً فيه حَلا ثم خَلا

Who will restore to me, from the days of old,

a time that was sweet, then passed away,

ولياليَّ بجَمعٍ ومُنى

هطلَ الغَيثُ لها وانهملا

and my nights at Jam‘ and Mina,

upon which the rain fell and streamed?

علّلاني يا خليليَّ بما

مرَّ من أيام جَمْعٍ عَلّلا

Console me, my two friends, with what

passed of the days at Jam‘—console me!

وبما كانَ بأيام الصِّبا

أينَ أيامك يا سعد الألى

And with what was in the days of youth:

where are your days of old, O Sa‘d?

خَفّفا عن دَنِفٍ حمْل الأسى

فلقد أثْقله ما حملا

Lighten a lovesick man's burden of grief,

for what he bore has weighed him down.

كانَ لي صَبراً فلمَّا رحل ال

ركبُ بالأحباب عني رحلا

I had patience, but when the

caravan left with my loved ones, my patience left too.

نزلوا بالشِّعب واختاروا على

بُعْدِهم مني فؤادي منزلا

They settled in the ravine and chose, despite

their distance from me, my heart as a dwelling.

وبنفسي من رَماني عامداً

ما رَمَتْ عيناه إلاَّ قَتَلا

My life be ransom for him who deliberately shot me;

his eyes never shot without dealing death.

وتظَلَّمْتُ من الحبِّ إلى

جائرٍ في حكمه ما عدلا

I brought my complaint against love to

one unjust in his judgment, who never acted justly.

رميةٌ منك أصابت مقتلي

هي من عينيك يا ريم الفلا

A shot from you struck my vital spot;

it came from your eyes, O gazelle of the wilderness.

فاتَّقِ الله بأحشاءِ شجٍ

ما اتَّقى منك العيون النجلا

So fear God for the vitals of a sorrowing man

who did not shield himself from your wide eyes.

خضب العينين منه بدمٍ

في خضاب اللَّيل حتَّى نصلا

His eyes were stained with his own blood,

amid the dye of night, until it faded.

ساهر لو عرض الغمض على

جفنه طيب الكرى ما قَبلا

Sleepless—if slumber offered to

his eyelid the sweetness of sleep, it would refuse.

خلِّياني بعدَ سكَّان الغَضا

أنْدُبُ الرّبع وأبكي الطللا

Leave me, now the dwellers among the ghada trees are gone,

to lament the dwelling and weep over its ruins.

يا لها من وقفة في أربُع

أرخَصَتْ من أدمعي ما قد غلا

What a halt among the dwellings—

it made cheap those tears of mine once precious!

حدَّثَ الواشين جَفني في الهوى

عن دمِ الدمعِ حديثاً مرسلا

In love, my eyelid told the talebearers

a freely told tale of the blood in my tears.

سِرُّ وجدانٍ بدا لي صَوْنُه

باحَتِ العينَ به فابتُذِلا

A secret of the heart I had intended to guard—

my eye divulged it, and it became common knowledge.

ولحاني صاحبٌ يحسَبُني

أسمع النُّصحَ وأرضى العذّلا

A companion reproached me, imagining that I

would heed counsel and welcome the reproachers.

جادَل العاذلُ حتَّى إنَّه

كانَ لي أكثر شيء جَدَلا

The reproacher argued until he

was, to me, the most contentious of all.

لو رأى الحبَّ عَذولٌ لامني

عَرَفَ العاذلُ ما قد جَهِلا

If a reproacher who blamed me had seen love,

the reproacher would have understood what he had not known.

يا خليليَّ إذا لم تَعْلَما

ما أُقاسي من غرامٍ فاسألا

My two friends, if you do not know

what I endure of passion, then ask.

إنَّما أحْبابُنا يوم النَّوى

قطعوا في هجرهم ما وصلا

Indeed, our loved ones, on the day of parting,

severed in their abandonment what once was joined.

نقل الواشي إليهم سَلْوَتي

كَذِب الناقلُ فيما نقلا

The talebearer reported to them that I had ceased to pine;

the bearer lied in what he reported.

هل سألتم عن فؤادي إنَّه

ما سلاكم في الهوى حتَّى انسلى

Have you asked about my heart? It

has not forgotten you in love so as to find solace.

لستُ أنساكم بذكرى غيركم

كيف أبغي بسواكم بدلا

I do not forget you by remembering others;

how could I seek a substitute in anyone but you?

إنْ علا جَدُّ امرئٍ في جِدِّه

فعليُّ الجَدّ بالجِدِّ علا

If a man's fortune rises through his diligence,

then ‘Ali, lofty in fortune, rose through diligence.

تَسبقُ الأقوالَ أفعالٌ له

وإذا قال بشيء فعلا

His deeds outstrip his words,

and when he says he will do something, he does it.

سيّد لو أمرَ الدهر بما

شاءَ من أمر المعالي امتثلا

A lord—if he commanded Time to do

what he wished in matters of greatness, it would obey.

وجد الدهر مزاياه حلىً

فتحلّى منه في تلك الحلى

Time found his virtues to be ornaments,

and adorned itself with those ornaments of his.

قرأ المجدُ على أخلاقه

سورةَ الحمد قديماً وتلا

Glory read over his character

the Surah of Praise long ago, and recited it.

وصعابٌ للمعالي لم تُقَدْ

قادها من غير كرهٍ ذُلُلا

And untamed steeds of greatness, never led,

he led them, docile and without compulsion.

طيّب الذات رفيعٌ قدرُه

ما يريك النجم إلاَّ أسفلا

Pure in essence, exalted in rank,

he shows you the star only beneath him.

سيّدٌ أشرَفُ من في هاشم

شبَّ في حجر العلى واكتهلا

A lord, noblest among Hashim,

he grew to youth and maturity in greatness's lap.

من أناسٍ بلغوا غاياتهم

من نوالٍ ونزالٍ وعُلى

Of a people who attained their utmost aims

in generosity, combat, and lofty glory;

سادةٍ قد أوْضحَ الله بهم

لجميع العالمين السُبُلا

lords through whom God made clear

the paths for all the worlds.

أنْزَل الله على جَدّهُمُ

سيّدِ الرسل الكتابَ المنزَّلا

God sent down upon their forefather,

the lord of the messengers, the revealed Book.

سادة لولا هداهم بَقيت

هذه النَّاس جميعاً هملا

Lords, without whose guidance there would have remained

all these people, untended.

ما رأينا أحَداً من قبله

لاح كالبدر هزبراً رجلا

We have never seen anyone before him

shine like the full moon, a lion of a man.

لاح للأبصار يبدو واضحاً

وتجلّى وبه الكرب انجلى

He shone before all eyes, plainly visible,

and appeared in splendor; through him distress was dispelled.

وَضَحَ الصُّبح إذا الصُّبح أضا

أو حسامٌ مشرفيّ صقلا

The brightness of dawn when dawn shines,

or a polished Mashrafi sword.

أو يَخفى عن عيونٍ أبْصَرَتْ

بوجود ابن ذكاء ابن جلا

Or could he be hidden from eyes that have seen,

in the presence of Ibn Dhuka’—dawn—an Ibn Jala, plainly revealed?

أنا من آلائه في نِعمةٍ

بالغٌ في كلٍّ يوم أملا

Through his favors, I live in blessing,

attaining a hope every day,

ونوالٍ من يدٍ مبسوطة

للعطايا أرْسَلَتْها مثلا

and in bounty from an outstretched hand

for gifts, which it sent forth as an example.

إنَّما أيديه أيدي ديمَةٍ

روَّضَتْ روضي إذا ما أمحلا

His hands are nothing but the hands of steady rain,

which made my garden flourish whenever it grew barren.

وصِلاتٍ من نَداه اتَّصَلَتْ

لا عَدِمْنا منه ذاك المنهلا

And gifts from his bounty kept arriving;

may we never lose that wellspring of his.

لا أبالي إن يكن لي مورداً

مرَّ يا سعدُ زماني أم حلا

I care not, if he is a wellspring for me,

whether my time, O Sa‘d, is bitter or sweet.

فجزاه الله عنَّا خير ما

جوزيَ المنعمُ فيما نوّلا

So may God reward him on our behalf with the finest

reward a benefactor receives for what he has bestowed.

إنْ يَرُمْ فيه مقالاً شاعرٌ

قال فيه شعره مرتجلا

If a poet wishes to speak of him,

he recites his verse about him without preparation.

دامت الأيامُ أعياداً له

وعليه السَّنْد وافى مقبلا

May his days remain festivals,

and may support come his way, drawing near.