أمن البروج تعد أكناف الحمى — Abn Matouk

أمنَ البُروجِ تُعدُّ أكناف الحِمى

فلقد حَوتْ منه المَلاعبُ أنجُما

Are the precincts of the protected retreat counted among the constellations?

For its pleasure grounds have indeed gathered stars.

مغنىً توهّمَتِ الحِسانُ بأرضِهِ

أنّ الهُبوطَ به العُروجُ إلى السّما

A dwelling on whose earth the beauties imagined

That descending there was ascending to heaven.

أكرِم بها من أوجُهٍ في أوجِه

طلعَتْ على جيشِ الدُجى فتصرّما

How noble those faces at its zenith,

Which rose against the army of darkness, and it dispersed.

فلكٌ تدلّى أطلَساً وإذا اِستوى

هبطَتْ به مصرٌ فصارَ منجّما

A celestial sphere descended starless; and when it settled,

Egypt descended into it, and it became star-studded.

في كلِّ سِربٍ من فرائِدِ سربِه

وضعَ الجمالُ من الفراقِدِ توأَما

In each flock among the peerless beauties of its company,

Beauty placed a twin of the Farqad stars.

حسدَ الهِلالُ به السِّوارَ فودّ أنْ

لو حالَ من بدَلِ الذِراعِ المِعصَما

The crescent envied the bracelet there, and wished

It could shift from the arm to the wrist instead.

حتّى إذا سطَعَتْ مجامرُ ندِّهِ

لبِسَ النّهارُ عليهِ ليلاً مُظلِما

Until, when the censers of its incense flared,

Day donned over it a dark night.

إن كان ما بينَ الدِيارِ قرابةٌ

فله إلى دارِينَ أطيبُ مُنتَمى

If there is any kinship between dwellings,

Its sweetest affiliation is with Darin.

حرَمٌ به يُمسي المهنّدُ مُحرِماً

وترى به الماءَ المُباحَ محرَّما

A sanctuary where at evening the Indian blade enters sacred restraint,

And you see freely available water forbidden there.

أروَتْهُ ضاحكةُ السّيوفِ بدَمْعِها

حتّى نهَتْ عن تُربِه المتيمّما

The smiling sword watered it with its tears,

Until it barred the seeker of dry ablution from its dust.

سقياً له من منزلٍ نزلَ الهَوى

بربوعِه وبنى الخِيامَ وخيّما

May rain bless that dwelling, where love descended

Into its quarters, built tents, and encamped.

وبمُهجَتي العرَبُ الألى لولاهُمُ

لم تُعرِبِ الأجفانُ سرّاً مُعجَما

I would ransom with my lifeblood those Arabs, without whom

Eyelids would never have made an obscure secret plain.

عربٌ إذا ما البرقُ ضاحكَ بينَهم

خجَلاً بأذيالِ السّحابِ تلثّما

Arabs among whom, whenever lightning smiled,

It veiled itself in the hems of clouds for shame.

يا قلبُ أينَكَ من بُلوغ بُدورِهم

ولو اتّخَذْتَ حِبالَ شمسِكَ سُلَّما

O heart, how far you are from reaching their full moons,

Even if you made the cords of your sun a ladder.

غُرٌّ تغانَوا بالقُدودِ عنِ القَنا

وكفاهُمُ حورُ العيونِ الأسهُما

Radiant ones whose slender forms spared them the need for spears,

And whose dark-eyed beauty was arrows enough.

لبِسَتْ أسودُهمُ الحَديدَ مُسرّداً

وظباؤهُم وشْيَ الحريرِ مسهَّما

Their lions wore iron wrought into linked mail,

And their gazelles, silk brocade patterned with arrows.

تبدو بحيّهِم الغزالةُ في الدُجى

والبدرُ يطلُعُ بالنّهارِ مغَمِّما

The sun appears in their encampment by night,

And the full moon rises by day, cloud-veiled.

من كُلّ ضِرغامٍ بظهرِ نعامةٍ

للطّعن يُمسِك في الأناملِ أرقُما

Each a lion upon an ostrich's back,

Holding a speckled serpent in his fingers for thrusting.

مَحَتِ السّوادَ خُدودُهُم فتورّدت

وجِفانهُم ممّا سفكْنَ من الدِّما

Their cheeks erased blackness, and rose-red grew

Their bowls, from the blood they shed.

تجري لَطافتُه بشدّةِ بأسِه

فيَلينُ خَطّيّاً ويَبْسِمُ مِخْذَما

His gentleness flows with the fierceness of his valor,

So he bends like a Khatt spear and smiles like a keen sword.

عشِقوا الرّدى فتطلّبوا أسبابَه

فلِذاكَ هاموا في العُيونِ تتيُّما

They loved death and sought its causes;

Thus they adored eyes with enslaving passion.

وترشَّفوا شَهْدَ الشِفاهِ لأنّها

تحكي اِسْمِرارَ اللُدْنِ في لَونِ اللَّمى

And they sipped the honey of lips, because they

Echo the brown of supple spears in their dusky hue.

ولحبّهم سفكَ الدماءِ وشُربها

شربوا لخَمرَتِها المُدامَ توهُّما

And for their love of shedding blood and drinking it,

They drank aged wine, imagining its redness to be blood.

سجنوا العذارى في الخِيامِ فأشبهَتْ

خَفِراتُها بقبابِهم صُوَرَ الدُمى

They confined the maidens in tents, so that

Their bashful women in the pavilions resembled figures of dolls.

سدّوا الكَرى من دونِهنّ على الصِّبا

كيْلا يمرَّ بها النّسيمُ مُسلِّما

They barred sleep before them against youth,

Lest the breeze should pass by them with a greeting.

بوجوهِ فِتيتِهم مَلاحةُ يوسُفٍ

ومآزِرِ الفَتَياتِ عِفّةُ مَريَما

Their young men's faces bear Yusuf's beauty,

And the maidens' waist-wraps, Maryam's chastity.

ظهرَ الجمالُ وكان معنىً ناقِصاً

حتّى ألمّ بحيّهمْ فتتمّما

Beauty appeared as an incomplete idea,

Until it visited their encampment and became complete.

والدُرُّ في الدُنيا تفرّق شملُه

حتّى حوَتْهُ شِفاهُهُم فتنظّما

Pearls lay scattered throughout the world,

Until their lips gathered them into a string.

عذَلوا السُلوَّ عنِ القُلوبِ وحكّموا

فيهنّ سُلطانَ الهَوى فتحكّما

They rebuked forgetfulness from hearts and enthroned

Within them the sovereign of love, who ruled at will.

للّهِ كم في حيّهمْ من جُؤذرٍ

يَسطو بمُهجتِه فيصرَعُ ضَيْغما

By God, how many a wild-ox calf in their encampment

Assails his very heart and fells a lion!

ولكَمْ بهِم خدٌّ تورّد لونُه

جَدِلاً وخدٌّ بالدُموعِ تعَنْدَما

And how many a cheek among them flushed rose-red

In contention, while another turned blood-red with tears.

نظراتُهم تُردي القُلوبَ كما غدَتْ

يدُ مُحْسِنٍ تروي العِطاشَ الهُوَّما

Their glances slay hearts, just as

Muhsin's hand has come to quench the thirst-maddened.

غيثٌ لديهِ رياضُ طُلّابِ النّدى

تَزهو بنُوّارِ النُضار إذا هَمى

Rain, in whose presence the gardens of bounty-seekers

Bloom with flowers of gold whenever he pours.

سمْحٌ أيادِيه لنا كم أوضحَتْ

من غُرّةٍ بجَبينِ خَطْبٍ أدْهَما

A generous man—how often his favors have revealed for us

A bright blaze on the brow of a black calamity!

حسَنٌ أزيدَ به الزمانُ مَلاحةً

فحلَتْ مَلاحتُه وكانت عَلقَما

A handsome man through whom Time gained beauty,

So its loveliness grew sweet, though it had been colocynth.

تلقاهُ في الأيّامِ إمّا ضارِباً

أو طاعِناً أو مُعطِياً أو مُطْعِما

You meet him through the days either striking,

Or thrusting, or giving, or feeding others.

طَوراً تَراهُ لجّةً مَورودةً

عذُبَتْ وأونَةً شِهاباً مُضْرَما

At times you see him a deep pool sought for water,

Sweet to drink; at others, a blazing meteor.

لبِسَ العُلا قبل القِماطِ وقبل ما

خلعَ التّمائِمَ بالسّلاحِ تختَّما

He donned eminence before swaddling, and before

Shedding his amulets, he wore weapons as rings.

في وجهِه نورُ الهُدى وبغِمدِه

نارُ الرّدى وبكفِّه بَحرٌ طَمى

In his face is the light of guidance, and in his scabbard

The fire of death; in his palm, an overflowing sea.

لو أنّ بعضاً من سَماحةِ كفِّه

بيَمينِ قارونٍ لأصبحَ مُعدِما

If some of his hand's generosity

Were in Qarun's right hand, he would become penniless.

علَمٌ على ظهرِ الجَوادِ تظنّهُ

علَماً تعرّضَ للكتائِبِ مُعلَما

A mountain on his steed's back, you would think him

A marked banner standing before the battalions.

يهتزّ من طرَبٍ مهنّدُهُ فلَوْ

غنّى الجمادُ لكادَ أن يترنّما

His Indian blade quivers with delight; and if

Lifeless things could sing, it would nearly burst into song.

ويكادُ ينطِقُ في البنانِ يراعُهُ

لو أنّ مقطوعَ اللّسانِ تكلّما

His reed pen almost speaks between his fingers,

If one whose tongue was severed could speak.

وافى وطَرْفُ المجدِ غُضَّ على القَذى

دهراً فأبصرَ فيه من بعدِ العَمى

He arrived when Glory's eye had been shut upon a mote

For an age; through him it saw after blindness.

وأتى الزّمانَ وقد تقطّب وجهُه

غضَباً على أبنائِه فتبسّما

He came to Time, whose face had frowned

In anger at its children, and it smiled.

قمرٌ تَلوحُ بوجهِه سِمةُ العُلا

فترسّما آثارها وتوسّما

A moon whose face displays the mark of eminence:

Trace its signs, you two, and discern them;

وتأمّلاهُ فتمّ نورُ سعادةٍ

وسيادةٍ يأبى العُلا أن يُكتَما

And contemplate him: complete is the light of felicity

And sovereignty, which eminence will not let be concealed.

تَهمي براحتِه السيوفُ على العِدا

نِقَماً تعودُ على الأحبّةِ أنعُما

At his hand, swords rain upon the enemies

As vengeance, returning to loved ones as blessings.

نارُ الحديدِ لديهِ في حَرِّ الوغى

أشهى من الماءِ الزُلالِ على الظّما

The fire of steel, to him, in battle's heat,

Is sweeter than clear water in thirst.

ليسَ الحَيا طَبعاً خليقَتُهُ السّخا

بل علّمَتْهُ أكُفُّه فتعلّما

Generosity is not the rain's inborn disposition;

Rather, his palms taught it, and it learned.

لولا فصاحتُه ونسبةُ حَيدَرٍ

لظنَنْتُه يومَ الكريهةِ رُستما

Were it not for his eloquence and his lineage from Haydar,

I would think him Rustam on the day of battle.

ولدٌ لأكرَمِ والدٍ من معشَرٍ

ورِثوا المكارمَ أكرَماً عن أكرَما

A son of the noblest father, from a people

Who inherited noble virtues, one noble man from another.

عن جدِّه يروي أبوهُ مآثِراً

لأبيه وهوَ اليومَ يروي عنهُما

His father recounts, from his grandfather, glorious deeds

Of his own father; today he recounts them from both.

وكذاكَ إخوتُهُ الكِرامُ جميعُهم

نقلوا رواياتِ المحامِدِ منهُما

Likewise his noble brothers, every one of them,

Transmitted accounts of praiseworthy deeds from those two.

من كلِّ أبلج طلعةٍ من حقِّها

شرَفاً على الأقمارِ أن تستخدِما

Each with a radiant countenance, rightfully entitled

By its nobility to make the moons its servants.

مَنْ شئتَ منهُم تلقَهُ في حربِه

والسِّلْم ليثَ وغىً وبحراً مُنعَما

Whichever of them you choose, you find him in his war

And peace a battle-lion and a sea of bounty.

غُرٌّ بأخلاقِ الكِرامِ تشابَهوا

حتّى رأينا الفرْقَ أمراً مُبهَما

Radiant ones, alike in the manners of the noble,

Until we found their differences an obscure matter.

فهُمُ البُدورُ السّاطعاتُ وإنّما

بالعدلِ بينَهم الكمالُ تقسّما

They are the shining full moons; it is only that

Perfection has been divided equally among them.

مولايَ أنتم سادَتي وسيادتي

منكم وقَدْري في مدائِحِكُم سَما

My lord, you are my masters, and my eminence

Comes from you; my worth has risen through praising you.

قرّبتُموني من رفيعِ جَنابِكُم

فغدَوْتُ مرفوعَ الجَنابِ معظَّما

You brought me close to your exalted presence,

So I became exalted in standing and honored.

لو لم تُكلّفْني السّجودَ لشُكرِها

نَعماؤُكُم عندي بلغْتُ المِرْزَما

Had they not obliged me to prostrate in gratitude—

Your favors to me—I would have reached Mirzam.

للَّهِ دَرُّك من لَبيبٍ رأيُهُ

لم يُخطِ أغراضَ الزّمانِ إذا رَمى

God bless you, discerning man, whose judgment

Never misses Time's targets when it takes aim.

هُنّيتَ بالوَلَدِ السّعيدِ وخَتْنِه

ورَعاهُ خالقُه الحفيظُ وسلّما

Congratulations on your fortunate son and his circumcision;

May his Creator, the Preserver, guard him and keep him safe.

ولدٌ تصوّر يومَ مولدِه النّدى

والمجدُ عادَ إلى الشبيبةِ بعدَما

A son—on the day of his birth, generosity took form,

And Glory returned to youth, after

حملَتْهُ من قمرِ الدُجى شمسُ الضُحى

نالَتْ به نَجلاً تخيّلهُ هُما

The sun of morning bore him by the moon of night.

Through him she gained a son whom both had envisioned.

طهّرْتُهُ بالخَتْن وهو مطهَّرٌ

قبل الخِتانِ تشرُّعاً وتكرّما

I purified him by circumcision, though he was pure

Before circumcision, in observance of sacred law and in honor.

أنّى يطَهّرُ بالخِتان صبيّكُم

أو تنجُسونَ وأنتمُ ماءُ السّما

How can your little boy be purified by circumcision,

Or you be impure, when you are the water of heaven?

شهدَتْ لكم آيُ الكِتابِ بأنّكُم

منذُ الوِلادةِ طامِرونَ وقبلَ ما

The verses of the Book testify for you that

You are leaping upward from birth, and even before.

أنتم بَنو المختارِ أشرفُ عِترةٍ

فعليكمُ صلّى الإلهُ وسلّما

You are the Chosen One's sons, the noblest lineage;

May God send blessings and peace upon you.