تلثم بالعقيق على اللآلي — Abn Matouk

تلثّمَ بالعقيقِ على اللآلي

فغشّى الفجرَ من شفَقِ الجمالِ

He drew a carnelian veil over pearls,

and shrouded dawn in the twilight glow of beauty.

وقنّعَ بالدُجى شمسَ المُحيّا

فبرقَعَ بالضُحى ليلَ القَذالِ

He veiled the sun of his face with darkness,

and masked the night at the back of his head with morning light.

وهزّ قَوامَهُ فثَنى قضيباً

إليهِ تنقّلتْ دولُ العوالي

He swayed his figure, bending a slender branch

to which the dominion of lofty spears had passed.

ودبّ عِذارُهُ فسعتْ إلينا

أفاعي الموتِ في صُوَر النِّمالِ

His cheek-down crept forth, and toward us sped

death's vipers in the shapes of ants.

بَدا فتقطّعتْ مُهَجُ الغواني

وخاضَتْ فيه أحداقُ الرجالِ

He appeared, and the hearts of beauties broke,

while men's eyes plunged into him.

وخُتِّمَ بالعقيقِ فزان عندي

بمعصَمِ وعدِه حَليَ المِطالِ

Ringed with carnelian, he made lovely in my eyes

the jewels of delay on the wrist of his promise.

لقد جرَحَتْ نواظِرُه فؤادي

فما لَك يا صَوارمَها وما لي

His eyes have indeed wounded my heart;

so what have you to do with me, O their keen swords, or I with you?

عمِلْتِ الجزْمَ بي وخفضْتِ منّي

محلّ النّصبِ ثمّ رفَعْتِ حالي

You cut me short and lowered within me

the seat of affliction, then raised my state.

بروحي منه شخصاً جُؤذَريّاً

يَصيدُ الأُسْدَ في فعلِ الغَزالِ

My soul would ransom his form, like a wild-ox calf,

that hunts lions while acting as a gazelle.

تَزاوَر عن خِباهُ فثمَّ شمسٌ

تبلّجَ حولَها فجرُ النِّصالِ

Turn aside from his tent: there is a sun there,

around which the dawn of blades has broken.

وخُذْ عن وجنتَيْهِ فثمَّ وردٌ

حَماهُ الهُدْبُ من شوكِ النِّبالِ

Turn from his cheeks: there is a rose there,

guarded by lashes made of the thorns of arrows.

إلامَ أُلامُ فيه ولا أُحاشي

ويرقُبُني الحِمامُ ولا أُبالي

How long shall I be blamed for him? I do not shy away,

though death watches me, and I do not care.

أورّي عنْ هواهُ بحبِّ ليلى

وفيه تغزُّلي وبهِ اِشتغالي

I conceal my love for him beneath love for Layla,

yet he is the subject of my love songs and my preoccupation.

وليلٍ كالبنفسجِ باتَ فيهِ

ينشّقُني رَياحينَ الوِصالِ

And on a night like violets, he stayed

making me breathe the fragrant herbs of union.

دخلْتُ عليه والظُلُماتُ تُرخي

ذَوائِبَها على صَلْتِ الهِلالِ

I entered his presence while the darkness let fall

its tresses upon the bare crescent.

فقدّم لي العَقيقَ قِرىً لعَيني

وقرّطَ سَمعي الدُرَرَ الغَوالي

He offered me carnelian as a feast for my eye,

and hung precious pearls as earrings upon my hearing.

وبات ضجيعهُ الضرغامُ منّي

ومنهُ مُضاجعي ريمُ الحِجالِ

The lion in me spent the night as his bedfellow,

while the gazelle of curtained chambers in him shared my bed.

وقام لديهِ من وَرَعي وعيظٌ

يعرّفُني الحَرامَ من الحَلالِ

An admonisher arose beside him from my piety,

teaching me the unlawful from the lawful.

إذا اِمتدّتْ إليه يَمينُ نَفسي

ثنَيْتُ عنانَها بيَدي الشِّمالِ

Whenever my soul's right hand reached toward him,

I drew back its reins with my left hand.

وإنّي فتىً أميلُ بلحْظِ طَرْفي

لمَنْ أهوى ويُغْضي عنهُ بالي

I am a youth whose eye's glance inclines

toward the one I love, while my mind looks away from him.

وإنْ قامتْ إلى الفَحْشاءِ يوماً

بي الشّهواتُ تُقعِدُني خِصالي

And if one day toward indecency I am lifted

by desires, my virtues set me down.

أحبُّ الكِذْبَ في التشبيهِ هَزْلاً

وأهوى الصِّدقَ في جِدِّ المَقالِ

I love falsehood playfully in similes,

and cherish truth in serious discourse.

فلي وَعْظٌ أشدُّ من الرّواسي

ولي غزَلٌ أرقُّ من الشَّمالِ

Mine is admonition firmer than rooted mountains,

and mine is love poetry gentler than the north wind.

أنا الهادي إذا الشُعراءُ هامُوا

بوادي الشِّعرِ في ليلِ الضّلالِ

I am the guide when poets wander

through poetry's valley in the night of error.

مُجَلّي السابقين إلى المَعاني

وفارسُ بحثِها يومَ الجِدالِ

Foremost among those who race toward meanings,

and the champion of their inquiry on the day of debate.

تدلُّ لدى النّشيدِ بناتُ فِكري

على أذُني وتُنسيني فِعالي

At recitation, the daughters of my thought play coy

with my ear and make me forget my deeds.

ويشهدُ لي بدعْوى الفضلِ قُربي

لدى برَكاتِ نقّادِ المعاني

My closeness attests my claim to excellence

with Barakat, the discerning critic of meanings.

تملّكَني هواهُ فزِدْتُ فضلاً

وفضلُ العبدِ من شرَفِ المَوالي

Love of him possessed me, and I grew in excellence;

a servant's excellence comes from the nobility of his masters.

جمالُ الفضلِ مركزُ نيّرَيْهِ

كمالُ بُدورِ أبناءِ الكَمالِ

The beauty of excellence, the focus of its twin luminaries,

the perfection of the full moons of perfection's sons.

رفيعُ عُلاً إلى هامِ الثُريّا

رَقي بسلالِم الهِمَمِ العَوالي

Lofty in glory, to the crown of the Pleiades

he rose on ladders of high aspiration.

موقّى العِرضِ في سَنَنِ السّجايا

مُبيدُ المالِ في سَبْقِ النّوالِ

His honor kept safe on the path of virtues,

he exhausts wealth by racing to bestow gifts.

شُجاعٌ فيه تتّسعُ المنايا

إذا ما كرّ في ضيقِ المجالِ

Brave: through him death spreads wide

when he charges in a narrow field.

إذا بدُجى القَتامِ بَدا بدِرْعٍ

أرانا الشمسَ في ثوبِ الهِلالِ

When he appears in armor amid the darkness of battle-dust,

he shows us the sun in the crescent's robe.

هو العدلُ الّذي بالوَصْفِ يعنو

له العلَمُ المعرَّفُ بالجَلالِ

He is justice itself, before whose portrayal bows

the eminent figure renowned for majesty.

فكمْ لعِداهُ فيه منَ الصّياصي

بُروجٌ من كَواكبِها خوالِ

Through him, how many of his foes' fortresses are

towers emptied of their stars!

غَوامضُ فِكرِه تَحكي الدَّراري

وطيبُ ثَناهُ يَرخُصُ بالغوالي

The subtleties of his thought resemble brilliant stars,

and the fragrance of his praise makes precious perfumes seem cheap.

يرى الدُنيا وإنْ عظُمَتْ وجلّت

لديه أقلَّ من شِسْعِ النِّعالِ

He sees the world, though great and exalted,

as worth less to him than a sandal strap.

به اِنطلقَ السّماحُ وكان رَهْناً

وأضحى البُخْلُ مَشدودَ العِقالِ

Through him generosity was freed, though it had been held hostage,

and miserliness became bound fast with a hobble.

تَزينُ به عواطِلها القوافي

كما تتزيّنُ البيضُ الحوالي

Rhymes adorn their bare forms with him,

as fair, bejeweled women deck themselves.

فلوْ مسّ الصّخورَ الصُّمَّ يوماً

لفجَّرَهُنَّ بالعَذْبِ الزُلالِ

Had he touched the hard, mute rocks one day,

he would have made them gush with sweet, limpid water.

كَميٌّ لا تُقاتِلُهُ الأعادي

بأمضى من سُيوفِ الإبتهالِ

An armored warrior whom foes cannot fight

with anything keener than the swords of supplication.

إذا رَويَتْ صَوارِمُهُ نَجيعاً

ورَتْ بحُدودِها نارَ الوَبالِ

When his keen swords have drunk their fill of gore,

they kindle with their edges the fire of destruction.

كأنّ دَمَ القُرونِ لها سَليطٌ

وحُمرَ شِفارِها شُعَلُ الذُبالِ

As though the blood of champions were their lamp-oil,

and their red edges were wick-flames.

منَ القومِ الّذين سَمَوْا وسادوا

على العَرَبِ الأواخِرِ والأوالي

He is of the people who rose high and ruled

over Arabs, both later and earlier.

مُلوكٌ كالملائكِ في التّلاقي

عَفاريتٌ جِيادُهُمُ السّعالي

Kings like angels in encounters,

demons whose steeds are she-ghouls.

أثيلُ المجدِ منصورٌ عليهمْ

وصارَ العزُّ مَمدودَ الظِلالِ

Of ancient glory, he is victorious over them,

and honor has cast wide-reaching shadows.

تبيّن لي الحِجى والجودُ فيه

ونورُ المجدِ من قبلِ الفِصالِ

I discerned reason and generosity in him,

and the light of glory even before weaning.

غَنيتُ عن الكِرامِ به جميعاً

وصُنْتُ الوجهَ عن بذْلِ السّؤالِ

Through him I needed none of the generous men,

and spared my face the indignity of begging.

أأسْتَسقي السّحائِبَ نازِحاتٍ

وهذا البحرُ معترِضاً حِيالي

Should I seek rain from clouds far away,

when this sea lies spread before me?

وألقَيْتُ السِلاحَ وما اِحتِياجي

وفيه تدرُّعي وبه اِعتِقالي

I laid down my weapons—what need have I,

when he is my armor and the spear I hold?

ألا يا أيُّها البطَلُ المُرَجّى

لدَفعِ كتائِبِ النوَبِ العُضالِ

O hero in whom hope is placed

to repel the battalions of grievous calamities,

ويا سَيفَ المَنونِ وساعِدَيْها

وباري قَوسِها يومَ النِّضالِ

O sword of death and both her arms,

and carver of her bow on the day of archery combat,

ويا قمَر الزّمانِ ولا أُكَنّي

وشمسَ ضُحى المُلوكِ ولا أغالي

O moon of the age—I use no veiled expression—

and morning sun of kings—I do not exaggerate—

لقد غُبِطَ العُلا بخِتانِ شِبلٍ

أبوهُ أنت يا ليثَ النِّزالِ

High glory was indeed envied for a lion-cub's circumcision,

whose father is you, O lion of combat.

شَقيقُ الرُشْدِ تَسمِيةً وفألاً

سَليلُ المجدِ خيرُ أبٍ وآلِ

A brother to right guidance in name and omen,

a scion of glory, of the finest father and family.

نشا فنَشا لنا منه سُرورٌ

يكادُ يهزُّ أعطافَ الجِبالِ

He grew, and from him there grew for us a joy

that almost shook the flanks of mountains.

وحَمْحَمَتِ الجِيادُ مهلِّلاتٍ

وصالَ مكَبِّراً يومَ القِتالِ

The steeds neighed, proclaiming God's oneness,

and he charged, proclaiming God's greatness, on the day of battle.

وقرّتْ أعيُنُ البيضِ المواضي

ومِسْنَ معاطِفُ السُّمرِ الطِوالِ

The eyes of keen white swords were gladdened,

and the flanks of long, brown spears swayed proudly.

هو الولَدُ الّذي بأبيهِ نالَتْ

خُلودَ الأمْنِ أفئِدَةُ الرّجالِ

He is the son through whose father was won

everlasting safety for the hearts of men.

فدامَ ودُمْتَ ما اِكتَسَبَتْ ضِياءً

نُجومُ الليلِ من شمسِ النّوالِ

May he endure, and you endure, as long as radiance is gained

by the stars of night from the sun of bounty.

ولا زالَتْ لك الأيّامُ تَدعو

ولا بَرِحَتْ تُهنّيكَ اللّيالي

May the days never cease to pray for you,

and may the nights never stop congratulating you.