خلط الغرام الشجو في أمشاجه — Abn Matouk

خلطَ الغرامُ الشّجوَ في أمشاجِه

فبَكى فخِلْتُ بُكاهُ من أوداجِهِ

Passion mingled grief into his humors.

So he wept, and I thought his weeping came from his jugular veins.

ودعَتْهُ غِزلانُ العَقيقِ إلى السُّرى

فغدا يُساري النّجمَ في إدلاجهِ

And the gazelles of al-ʿAqīq called him to travel by night,

so he set out, journeying beside the star on his nocturnal way.

ودعَتْهُ ناحلةُ الخُصورِ إلى الضّنى

فكسَتْهُ صُفْرَ الوشي من دِيباجِهِ

And the slender-waisted maiden called him to wasting sickness,

so she clothed him in yellow embroidery from its brocade.

تُملي عُيونُ الغانياتِ عليه ما

يُملي النّديمُ به كؤوسَ زُجاجِهِ

The eyes of beautiful women dictate to him what

the boon companion fills his glass goblets with.

يا مَنْ لقلبٍ يَستضيءُ بقلبِه

فكأنّ جنّتهُ ذُبالُ سِراجِهِ

O who will aid a heart that draws light from its own core,

as though its shield were the wicks of its lamp?

دنِفٌ أعارَتْهُ الخُصورُ سَقامَها

أينَ الأطِبّا من عَزيزِ عِلاجِهِ

Love-sick: the waists have lent him their frailty.

Where are the physicians to accomplish his elusive cure?

قد ظنّ سكْبَ الدّمْعِ يُخمِدُ نارَه

سَفَهاً به فتأجّجَتْ بأُجاجِهِ

He had thought that pouring out tears would quench his fire,

foolishly on his part; instead, it blazed with their brine.

من لي بوصلِ غَزال خِدرٍ صادَني

في صادِ لحظٍ تحت نُونِ حَجاجِهِ

Who will grant me union with a gazelle of the curtained chamber that captured me

in the Ṣād of a glance beneath the Nūn of his brow?

وبياضِ ساعدِه المُساعدِ لوعَتي

للّه ما صنعَتْ يَدا اِعوِجاجهِ

And the whiteness of his forearm, which feeds my anguish—

By God, what the two hands of his curvature have wrought!

قرُبَتْ محاسنُه وعزّ وُصولُه

فبدا بُدوَّ البدرِ في أبراجِهِ

His beauties drew near, yet reaching him was hard,

so he appeared as the full moon appears in its mansions.

كم من ظلامٍ فيه قد نادَمْتُه

حتّى بدَتْ نارُ الصّباحِ بساجِهِ

How many a dark night I have spent drinking with him,

until morning's fire appeared in its dark cloak!

ولَرُبّ زائِر أيكَةٍ لو أنّه

يدعو الجَمادَ لزادَ في إبهاجِهِ

And many a visitor to a grove, if it

called to lifeless matter, would increase its delight.

ولقد تأمّلْتُ الزّمانَ وأهلَه

وأجَلْتُ عينَ النّقدِ في أفواجِهِ

And indeed, I have pondered the age and its people,

and cast an eye of scrutiny over its throngs.

فرأيتُ عربدةَ الزّمانِ عزيزةً

في حالِ سَكرتِه وصحوِ مِزاجِهِ

So I found the age's riotousness invincible,

both in its drunken state and the sobriety of its temper.

ولرُبّما ظنّ السّفيهُ بأنّه

يصحو بلى لكنّ لاستدراجِهِ

And often the fool imagines that it

is sobering up—yes, but only to lure him into a trap.

ويُسِرُّ قلبُ الدّهرِ كلَّ عجيبةٍ

لم يُفشِها إلّا بَنو أزواجِهِ

And the heart of time conceals every wonder,

which none but the sons of its spouses have revealed.

ورأيتُ أغلى ما عليهِ من الحُلى

أربابَه وعليَّ درّةَ تاجِهِ

And I found that the most precious ornaments it wears

are its lords, and ʿAlī is the pearl of its crown.

قَيْلٌ تواخى بالمكارمِ والتُقى

والجودِ والمعروفِ منذ نِتاجِهِ

A prince, bound in brotherhood with noble virtues and piety,

and with generosity and kindness, since his birth.

سمْحٌ إذا فقدَ الثّرى صوبَ الحَيا

وشكا الظّما يَسقيهِ من ثجّاجِهِ

A generous man: when the earth lacks the rain's downpour

and complains of thirst, he waters it from his torrent.

بطلٌ إذا هزّ القَنا بأكُفِّه

تُضحي القُلوبُ مَراجِزاً لزُجاجِهِ

A hero: when he brandishes the lances with his hands,

hearts become lodgments for his spear-ferrules.

أسدٌ إذا لقيَ الخميسَ فعندَهُ

كبشُ الكثيبةِ من أذلِّ نِعاجِهِ

A lion: when he meets the army, to him

the battalion's ram is among the humblest of his ewes.

جمْعُ الأسودِ إذا لَقيه لدى الوَغى

حذَراً يبدّلُ زأرَه بثؤاجِهِ

A host of lions, when it meets him in battle,

fearfully exchanges its roar for bleating.

لجَبُ الجيوشِ إذا يمرُّ بسمعِه

لجَبُ الذُبابِ يطنُّ في أهزاجِهِ

The tumult of armies, when it reaches his hearing,

is the din of flies humming their refrains.

يَقري بلحمِ الشّوسِ شاغبةَ الظُّبا

ويزيدُ حرُّ الضّربِ في إنضاجِهِ

He feasts the unruly blades on the flesh of fierce warriors,

and the heat of his blows cooks it still further.

تُرجى منافعُه ويُحذَرُ ضُرُّه

في يومِ نائِله ويومِ هَياجِهِ

His benefits are hoped for, and his harm is feared,

on the day of his bounty and the day of his fury.

كسدَ المديحُ وأكدَحوا نُظامه

حتّى أتى فأقامَ سوقَ زواجِهِ

Panegyric went unsold, and they wore out its versifiers,

until he came and established a market for its marriage.

يا اِبْنَ الّذي ساد الأنامَ ونجلَ مَنْ

فاقَ الملائِكَ في عُلا أدراجِهِ

O son of him who ruled mankind, and offspring of one who

surpassed the angels in the loftiness of his steps!

إنّ المديحَ إذا أردْتُ ثناءَكُم

تَهوي النّجومُ إليّ من أبراجِهِ

Indeed, when I wish to praise you in verse,

the stars descend to me from its mansions.

وإذا قصدْتُ سواكُمُ فيه فلم

تظفَرْ يَدي إلّا ببيضِ دَجاجِهِ

And when I aim at others in it, never

does my hand obtain anything but its hens' eggs.

أيّدْتَ دينَ الحقِّ بعد تأوّدٍ

وسدَدْتَ بالإحكامِ كلَّ فِجاجِهِ

You upheld the true faith after it had bent,

and firmly closed all its breaches.

وشفَيْتَ علّتَهُ بكُتبٍ قد غدَتْ

مثلَ الطّبائِعُ لاِعتدالِ مِزاجهِ

And you healed its sickness with books that have become

like natural elements that balance its constitution.

أسفارُ صِدْقٍ كلُّ خصمٍ مبطِلٍ

منها سيعلَمُ كاذِباتِ حِجاجِهِ

Volumes of truth: every adversary upholding falsehood

will learn from them how false his arguments are.

نورٌ مُبينٌ قد أنار دُجى الهَوى

ظلم الضّلالة في ضياءِ سِراجهِ

A clear light has illuminated the darkness of desire—

the darkness of error, in the radiance of its lamp.

وغديرُ ختمٍ بعدَما لعبَتْ به

ريحُ الشّكوكِ وآضَ من لجّاجِهِ

And a pool of sealing, after it had been toyed with by

the wind of doubts and had returned from its turmoil,

أمطَرْتَهُ بسحابةٍ سمّيْتَها

خيرَ المَقالِ وضاقَ في أمواجِهِ

you rained upon it from a cloud you named

"The Best Discourse," and it was cramped amid its waves.

وأبَنْتَ في نُكَتِ البيانِ عن الهُدى

فأرَيْتَنا المَطموسَ من مِنْهاجِهِ

And in the fine points of exposition you made guidance clear,

so you showed us what had been effaced from its path.

وكذاكَ منتَخَبٌ من التفْسيرِ لم

تنسِجْ يدا أحدٍ على مِنساجِهِ

And likewise, a selection from exegesis—never

have anyone's hands woven upon its loom.

للأعرَجينِ وإن بدَتْ شُرُفاتُه

لن يَبلُغا المِعشارَ من مِعراجِهِ

For the two Lame Ones, even if its battlements appear,

they will not reach a tenth of its ascent.

مولاي قد ذهبَ الصيامُ مودِّعاً

وأتاكَ شهرُ الفِطرِ باِستِبهاجِهِ

My lord, fasting has departed, bidding farewell,

and the month of breaking the fast has come to you with its joy.

شهرٌ نوى قتلَ الصيامِ هِزبرُه

فاِغتالَ مهجتَهُ بمِخلَبِ عاجِهِ

A month whose lion intended to kill fasting,

so it treacherously took its life with its ivory claw.