أعرفك راح في عرف الرياح — Abn Zaydun

أَعَرفُكِ راحَ في عُرفِ الرِياحِ

فَهَزَّ مِنَ الهَوى عِطفَ اِرتِياحي

Was it your scent that wafted in the winds' fragrance,

and stirred, through love, the flank of my delight?

وَذِكرُكِ ما تَعَرَّضَ أَم عَذابٌ

غَصِصتُ عَلَيهِ بِالعَذبِ القَراحِ

And was it remembrance of you that appeared, or a torment

over which I choked on sweet, pure water?

وَهَل أَنا مِنكِ في نَشَواتِ شَوقٍ

هَفَت بِالعَقلِ أَو نَشَواتِ راحِ

And am I, because of you, in raptures of longing

that swept my reason away, or in raptures of wine?

لَعَمرُ هَواكِ ما وَرِيَت زِنادٌ

لِوَصلٍ مِنكِ طالَ لَها اِقتِداحي

By the life of my love for you, no fire-sticks have sparked

for union with you, though long I have struck them.

وَكَم أَسقَمتِ مِن قَلبٍ صَحيحٍ

بِسُقمِ جُفونِكِ المَرضى الصِحاحِ

And how many a healthy heart have you sickened

with the sickness of your eyelids, ailing yet sound!

مَتى أُخفِ الغَرامَ يَصِفهُ جِسمي

بِأَلسِنَةِ الضَنى الخُرسِ الفِصاحِ

Whenever I hide my passion, my body describes it

with the tongues of wasting, mute yet eloquent.

فَلَو أَنَّ الثِيابَ فُحِصنَ عَنّي

خَفيتُ خَفاءَ خَصرِكِ في الوِشاحِ

Were my garments searched for me,

I would be hidden as your waist is hidden in its sash.

لَلُقّينا مِنَ الواشينِ حَتّى

رَضينا الرُسلَ أَنفاسَ الرِياحِ

We were so afflicted by the slanderers that

we accepted the winds' breaths as messengers.

وَرُبَّ ظَلامِ لَيلٍ جَنَّ فَوقي

فَنُبتِ عَنِ الصَباحِ إِلى الصَباحِ

And many a night's darkness closed over me,

and you took dawn's place until dawn.

فَهَل عَدَتِ العَفافَ هُناكَ نَفسي

فَدَيتُكِ أَو جَنَحتُ إِلى الجُناحِ

Then did my soul there overstep chastity,

may I be your ransom—or did I incline toward sin?

وَكَيفَ أَلِجُّ لا يَثني عِناني

رَشادُ العَزمِ عَن غَيِّ الجِماحِ

And how could I persist, my rein not turned back

by wise resolve from the folly of running wild?

وَمِن سِرِّ اِبنِ عَبّادٍ دَليلٌ

بِهِ بانَ الفَسادُ مِنَ الصَلاحِ

And from Ibn Abbad's inner nature comes a guide

by which corruption is distinguished from righteousness.

هُوَ المَلِكُ الَّذي بَرَّت فَسَرَّت

خِلالٌ مِنهُ طاهِرَةُ النَواحي

He is the king whose upright and gladdening

qualities are pure in every aspect.

هُمامٌ خَطَّ بِالهِمَمِ السَوامي

مِنَ العَلياءِ في الخِطَطِ الفِساحِ

A magnanimous man who, with soaring ambitions, marked out

spacious domains upon the heights of glory.

أَغَرُّ إِذا تَجَهَّمَ وَجهُ دَهرٍ

تَبَلَّجَ فيهِ كَالقَمَرِ اللِياحِ

Radiant, when the face of time grows grim,

he shines within it like the gleaming moon.

سَميعُ النَصرِ لِاِستِعداءِ جارٍ

أَصَمُّ الجودِ عَن تَفنيدِ لاحِ

His aid is attentive to a neighbor's appeal for redress;

his bounty is deaf to a censurer's reproach.

ضَرائِبُ جَهمَةٌ في العَتبِ تُتلى

بِأَخلاقٍ لَدى العُتبى مِلاحِ

Stern dispositions in reproach are followed

by gracious manners in reconciliation.

إِذا أَرِجَ الثَناءُ الرَوعُ مِنها

فَكَم لِلمِسكِ عَنهُ مِنِ اِفتِضاحِ

When splendid praise wafts fragrance from them,

then how often musk is put to shame by it!

هُوَ المُبقي مُلوكَ الأَرضِ تَدمى

قُلوبُهُمُ كَأَفواهِ الجِراحِ

He leaves the kings of the earth with bleeding

hearts, like the mouths of wounds.

رَآهُ اللَهُ أَجوَدَ بِالعَطايا

وَأَطعَنَ بِالمَكايِدِ وَالرِماحِ

God found him the most generous with gifts,

and most piercing with stratagems and spears,

وَأَفرَسَ لِلمَنابِرِ وَالمَذاكي

وَأَبهى في البُرودِ وَفي السِلاحِ

and most masterful on pulpits and seasoned steeds,

and most splendid in striped cloaks and in arms,

وَأَمنَعَهُم حِمى عِرضٍ مَصونٍ

وَأَوسَعَهُم ذُرا مالٍ مُباحِ

and the strongest of them in protecting the sanctuary of guarded honor,

and the broadest of them in the heights of wealth open to all.

فَراضَ لَهُ الوَرى حَتّى تَأَدَّت

إِلَيهِ إِتاوَةُ الحَيِّ اللِقاحِ

So He subdued mankind for him, until there came

to him the tribute of the independent tribe,

لِمُعتَضِدٍ بِهِ أَرضاهُ سَعياً

فَأَقبَلَ وَجهَهُ وَجهَ الفَلاحِ

for Mu'tadid, reliant on Him, who pleased Him by his striving;

so He turned his face toward success.

فَمَن قاسَ المُلوكَ إِلَيهِ جَهلاً

كَمَن قاسَ النُجومَ إِلى بَراحِ

So whoever ignorantly compares kings to him

is like one who compares the stars to Barah, the sun.

وَمُعتَقِدُ الرِياسَةِ في سِواهُ

كَمُعتَقِدِ النُبُوَّةِ في سَجاحِ

And one who believes sovereignty lies in anyone other than him

is like one who believes prophethood lies in Sajah.

أَبَحرَ الجودِ في يَومِ العَطايا

وَلَيثَ البَأسِ في يَومِ الكِفاحِ

O sea of generosity on the day of gifts,

and lion of might on the day of combat!

لَقَد سَفَرَت بِعِلَّتِكَ اللَيالي

لَنا عَن وَجهِ حادِثَةٍ وَقاحِ

The nights, through your illness, have indeed unveiled

to us the face of a brazen calamity.

أَلَستَ مُصِحَّها مِن كُلِّ داءٍ

وَمُبدي حُسنَ أَوجُهِها الصِباحِ

Are you not the one who cures them of every sickness,

and reveals the beauty of their lovely faces?

وَلَو كَشَفَت عَنِ الصَفَحاتِ شامَت

بُروقَ المَوتِ مِن بيضِ الصِفاحِ

And were they to bare their cheeks, they would behold

death's lightning from white sword-blades.

وَقاكَ اللَهُ ما تَخشى وَوالى

عَلَيكَ بِصُنعِهِ المُغدى المُراحِ

May God protect you from what you fear, and keep showering

His favor upon you, morning and evening.

فَلَو أَنَّ السَعادَةَ سَوَّغَتنا

تِجارَتَها المُلِثَّةَ بِالرَباحِ

And if good fortune had granted us

her trade, ever yielding profits,

تَجافَينا عَبيدَكَ عَن نُفوسٍ

عَلَيكَ مِنَ الضَنى حَرّى شِحاحِ

we, your servants, would have surrendered our souls,

burning with anguish for you and unwilling to lose you.

تُهَنَّأُ فيكَ بِالبُرءِ المُوَفّى

وَتُبهَجُ مِنكَ بِالأَلَمِ المُزاحِ

They are congratulated on your complete recovery,

and gladdened by your pain's removal.

فَدَيتُكَ كَم لِعَينِيَ مِن سُمُوٍّ

لَدَيكَ وَكَم لِنَفسِيَ مِن طَماحِ

May I be your ransom! How high my eye rises

in your presence, and how high my soul aspires!

أَلا هَل جاءَ مَن فارَقتُ أَنّي

بِساحاتِ المُنى رَفلُ المَراحِ

Ah, has word reached those I parted from that I

roam freely in the courtyards of wishes,

وَأَنّي مِن ظِلالِكَ في زَمانٍ

نَدي الآصالِ رَقراقِ الضَواحي

and that, beneath your shade, I live in a time

dewy in its late afternoons, shimmering in its sunlit hours?

تُحَيِّيني بِرَيحانِ التَحَفّي

وَتُصبِحُني مُعَتَّقَةُ السَماحِ

You greet me with the sweet basil of warm attention,

and generosity's aged wine is my morning draught.

فَها أَنا قَد ثَمِلتُ مِنَ الأَيادي

إِذِ اِتَّصَلَ اِغتِباقي في اِصطِباحي

So here I am, already drunk on favors,

as my evening draught merges with my morning draught.

فَإِن أَعجِز فَإِنَّ النُصحَ ثَقفٌ

وَإِن أَشكُر فَإِنَّ الشُكرَ صاحِ

So if I fall short, my devotion is discerning;

and if I give thanks, my gratitude is sober,

لِما أَكسَبتَ قَدري مِن سَناءٍ

وَما لَقَّيتَ سَعيي مِن نَجاحِ

for the splendor you have bestowed upon my standing,

and the success you have granted my striving.

لَقَد أَنفَذتَ في الآمالِ حُكمي

وَأَجرَيتَ الزَمانَ عَلى اِقتِراحي

You have indeed made my decree prevail in the realm of hopes,

and made time run according to my wishes.

وَهَل أَخشى وُقوعاً دونَ حَظٍّ

إِذا ما أُثَّ ريشُكَ مِن جَناحي

And should I fear falling short of good fortune

when your plumage has grown thick on my wing?

فَما اِستَسقَيتُ مِن غَيمٍ جَهامٍ

وَلا اِستَورَيتُ مِن زَندٍ شَحاحِ

For I have not sought rain from a rainless cloud,

nor sought a spark from a grudging fire-stick.

وَواصَلَني جَميلُكَ في مَغيبي

وَطالَعَني نَداكَ مَعَ اِنتِزاحي

And your kindness stayed with me in my absence,

and your bounty reached me despite my distance.

وَلَم أَنفَكُّ إِذ عَدَتِ العَوادي

إِلَيكَ رَهينَ شَوقٍ وَاِلتِياحِ

And I never ceased, when adversities assailed,

to be bound to you in longing and ardent yearning.

فَحَسبيَ أَنتَ مِن مُسدٍ لِنُعمى

وَحَسبُكَ بي بِشُكرٍ وَاِمتِداحِ

So you suffice me as a bestower of blessings,

and I suffice you in gratitude and praise.