تعشقته ظبي الكناس إذا عطا — Abn Nbath

تعشقته ظبيَ الكناس إذا عطا

وعلّقته ليث العرين إذا سطا

I loved him, a gazelle of the covert when he reached up to browse;

and became enamored of him, a lion of the lair when he attacked.

وأسكنته عيني فزادَ ملاحةً

وقد راحَ فيها بالدّموع مقرطا

I lodged him in my eye, and he grew more lovely,

going about within it with tears for earrings.

نصبت له من قبل أشراك هدبها

فباتَ بها طول الدّجى متورّطا

I had already set for him the snares of its lashes,

so he spent the whole dark night ensnared within them.

وخلفتها بالدَّمع شكراً لأنه

إليها من الجنَّات فرّ وأهبطا

And I repaid it with tears in gratitude, for he

had fled to it from the gardens and been brought down.

وكم من عذولٍ رامَ منيَ سلوةً

وأمسى كقلبي بالهموم مخلّطا

And how many a reproacher sought to make me forget,

and became, like my heart, confounded by sorrows.

فما زادني في الحبّ إلاَّ تسرُّعاً

وما زادني في الصبر إلا تثبُّطا

So he only increased my headlong haste in love,

and only increased my reluctance to be patient.

أأترك ذاكَ الريق كالشهدِ مخبراً

وأطلب صبراً ما أشرّ وأحبطا

Should I abandon that saliva, honey when tasted,

and seek patience—how much worse and more frustrating!

عليَّ يمينُ لا سلوت مهفهفاً

ولا بتُّ في رمَّان صدرٍ مفرّطا

An oath binds me: never shall I forget that slender one,

nor pass the night neglecting a breast's pomegranates,

ولا حلت عنهُ فاتر اللحظ أغيداً

يخرُّ له الغصن الرطيب إذا خطا

nor turn from him, languid-eyed and supple,

before whom the tender branch falls whenever he steps.

تصيدني من شعرهِ بحبائلٍ

غدوت بها عمَّا سواهُ مربطا

He ensnared me with snares made from his hair;

through them I became tethered, barred from all but him.

ولم أرَ مثل البند ما بين خصره

وأردافه من جورها قد توسطا

I have never seen a girdle like the one between his waist

and his buttocks, interceding because of their tyranny.

يطول إذا لم ألقَه عمرُ الدّجى

إلى أن أراهُ بالكواكبِ أشمطا

The lifespan of darkness lengthens when I do not meet him,

until I see it gray-haired with stars.

ليالٍ تولت ما أرقّ معاطفاً

وعيشاً تقضى ما ألذّ وأغبطا

Nights gone by—how tender their flanks!

And a life now spent—how delightful, how enviable!

رمى ثغرهُ كاللؤلؤ الرطب ساطعاً

علي جيده زاهي النظام مسمّطا

His mouth cast forth a gleam like fresh pearls,

upon his neck, splendidly strung into a necklace.

فيا حامي الإسلامَ من كلماته

بأجهد من حربِ الأسود وأربطا

O defender of Islam, whose words

are more forceful and firmer than warfare with lions!

أحاطَ به جيشُ السطور وإنما

أدارَ به الأمر الذي كانَ أحوطا

An army of written lines surrounded him; he only

used it to direct affairs by the most prudent course.

وسادَ البرايا كلَّما نال مصعداً

بأفق المعالي نال شافيه مهبطا

He surpassed all creation: whenever he gained an ascent

in the firmament of glory, his healer found a descent.

وما أن رأينا مثل أنهار طرسه

لدُرّ معانيه مغاصاً وملقطا

We have never seen anything like the rivers of his parchment

as a diving-ground and gathering-place for the pearls of his meanings.

تألَّق فيها كالكواكب لفظها

فلم تشكُ عينٌ في دُجى النفس مخبطا

Their wording glittered within them like stars,

so no eye complained of stumbling in the soul's darkness.

ولا عيبَ فيه إن تأمَّلت خلقه

سوى أنه يطغي الخليقة بالعطا

There is no flaw in him, if you examine his character,

except that his giving drives all creation to excess.

على مثله فليعقد المرءُ خنصراً

لإنا رأيناه لدى الجود مفرطا

For one like him, let a man bend his little finger in counting,

for we have seen him lavish to excess in generosity.

نوالٌ تلظى الغيث بالبرق حرقةً

لتقصيره عنه وبالرَّعد عيَّطا

A bounty at which the rain blazed with lightning in anguish,

because it fell short of it, and cried out with thunder.

وبشرٌ لدى العافين أحلى من المنى

ورأيٌ إلى العلياء أهدى من القطا

And a smiling welcome, sweeter to petitioners than wishes,

and judgment surer of the path to glory than sandgrouse.

من القومِ فاتوا الناس سبقاً إلى العلى

ألم ترهم أندى أكفًّا وأبسطا

From a people who outran mankind in the race to the heights—

have you not seen them, with palms more generous and more open?

كأنَّ لهم فيها طريقاً مفسراً

وعندهم فيها طريقاً مخبَّطا

As though they had a clearly marked path to the heights,

and a beaten path to them lay ready at hand.

إذا ابْتدروا غايات لفظٍ رأيتهم

من الروض أنشى أو من الريح أنشطا

When they hastened to the utmost reaches of expression, you saw them

more fragrant than gardens, or more vigorous than the wind.

مطاعين في الهيجا مطاعين في الورى

قريبين من رشدٍ بعيدين من خطا

Fierce with the spear in battle, obeyed among mankind,

near to right guidance, far from error.

كأنهمُ في السلم زهرٌ وفي الوغى

قتادة تأبى أن تلين فتحبطا

As though in peace they were blossoms, and in battle

a thorn-tree refusing to soften and thus be defeated.

أبى الله إلاَّ أن يذلَّ حسودهم

ويرضون في كلّ الأمور ويسخطا

God permits nothing but the abasement of their envier,

while they are pleased in every matter and he is angered.

إليكَ شهابَ الدين جدت ركائبٌ

كأنَّ لها في تربِ أرضك مسقطا

To you, Shihab al-Din, the riding-camels hastened,

as though their birthplace lay in the soil of your land.

فداكَ بخيلٌ لا يسود وإنما

قصاراه أن يخشى افتقاراً ويقنطا

May a miser be your ransom: he never becomes a lord, but

does no more than fear poverty and despair.

تهتك لمَّا ضنَّ بالمال عرضهُ

ألا إنَّ جودَ المرء للعرض كالغطا

His honor was torn when he was stingy with wealth;

indeed, a man's generosity is like a covering for his honor.

وما أنت إلاَّ البحر في كلّ حالةٍ

نوالاً وعلماً ما أبرّ وأقسطا

You are nothing but the sea in every condition,

in bounty and knowledge—how beneficent, how just!

تجاوزت في الإنعام كعباً وحاتماً

وطاولت في الإرغام عمراً وأحبطا

In bestowing favors you surpassed Ka'b and Hatim,

and outmatched 'Amr in humbling foes, more crushing still.

وفقهتهمُ إن كنت حقًّا مصححاً

وكانوا حديثاً في الأنام مغلّطا

And you surpassed them in understanding, if you were a verified truth,

while they were a report among mankind, judged erroneous.

وطالَ كما تختارُ قدرُكَ في الورى

لأبعدَ من شأوِ النجوم وأشحطا

Your stature among mankind rose as you wished,

far beyond the reach of the stars, farther still.

كأنَّ ثريا الأفق كفٌّ تطاولت

لتلقي له فرش الغمام وتبسطا

As though the Pleiades on the horizon were a hand reaching upward

to lay for him carpets of cloud and spread them out.

إذا حاق خطبٌ أو تطلَّع حادثٌ

سلكت من الأقلام عضباً مسلَّطا

If a calamity closes in or a misfortune looms,

you wield a keen, unleashed sword from among your pens.

يراع يربَى في سيول دوافق

وأغيال أسدٍ لا تفرّ تحمطا

A reed pen reared amid gushing torrents

and thickets of lions that do not flee the tuhmut trees.

فمن أجل هذا سرّ عافيه في الندى

ومن أجل هذا ساء شانيه بالسطا

Because of this, it gladdened its petitioner with generosity;

and because of this, it distressed its hater with its assault.

لك الله من حرٍّ يرى ليَ برّهُ

وقد مدَّ لي دهرِي الهموم ومطَّطا

God be with you, noble man, who deems his kindness my due,

while my days extended sorrows for me and stretched them long,

وشيد لي بالذكرِ قدراً ورفعةً

بعيد عليها أن تحول وتكشطا

and through acclaim built me stature and eminence,

beyond the chance of vanishing or being scraped away.

فخذْ مدَحاً تنشي لك الروض يانعاً

إذا شئت أو تبدِي لك الوصف أرقطا

So take praises that bring forth a flourishing garden for you,

if you wish, or show you a dappled portrait.

إذا أشرقت في محفلٍ ظنَّ أهله

سنا المشترى من ضوئها متقمّطا

When they shine forth in a gathering, those present imagine

Jupiter's radiance swaddled in their light.

وإن كنتَ فيها قد تفردت بالثنا

فإنَّك أيضاً قد تفردت في العطا

And if in them you alone have received the praise,

then you, too, have stood alone in giving.