ألاح لبرق الشام وهو مليح — أبو المعالي الطالوي

أَلاحَ لِبَرقِ الشامِ وَهوَ مَليحُ

عَشيَّةَ وافى الرومَ وَهوَ طَليحُ

A flash of Syrian lightning appeared to him, lovely as it was.

At evening, it reached him in the lands of the Romans, weary as he was.

سَرى نَحوَهُ مَسرى الخَيال فَهاجَهُ

إِلى الرَبعِ وَجدٌ بارِعٌ وَسَنيحُ

It traveled toward him like a phantom and stirred in him

a brilliant, sudden longing for the old dwelling.

وَذكَّره مَسراه بِالشام رَبرَباً

نَسيمٌ بِأَكناف اللِوى وَتَريحُ

Its journey reminded him of a flock in Syria,

a breeze around the winding sands, and their cool air.

بِوادٍ عُلاهُ رَبوَة وَقَرارُه

لُجَينُ مِياهٍ في البِطاحِ تَسيحُ

In a valley whose heights are a hill and whose depths

are silver waters flowing across the flats.

إِلى ظلِّ أَحوى مِنهُ مُنبَجِس غَدَت

تُعَلُّ بِهِ الأَرواحُ وَهوَ صَحيحُ

Toward the shade of a dark green thicket from which a spring bursts, it went;

souls drink their fill there, and its water is wholesome.

يصِلُّ الحَصى فيهِ صَليلَ الحليِ في

نُحور الغَواني عَلَّهُنَّ صَبوحُ

The pebbles there ring like ornaments

on the necks of beauties, adorned for their morning drink.

وَتَخطو بِهِ الريحُ الشَمالُ فَتَنثَني

وَمِن جَيبِها المِسكُ الفَتيقُ يَفوحُ

The north wind steps through it, then turns away,

and aged musk wafts from its collar.

بِلادٌ بِها كُنّا زَماناً مَعَ الصِبا

نَرود وَنَغدو في الهَوى وَنَروحُ

A land where once, in our youth,

we wandered, going and returning in love.

فَبَدّلتُ عَنها غَيرَها لا رِضىً بِها

وَإِنّي وَمِثلي بِالدِيارِ شَحيحُ

I exchanged it for another land, without being pleased with that one;

I am sparing with beloved places, as anyone like me would be.

دِمَشقُ فَإِن تَغبب رُباكَ سَوافِحٌ

سَتَروي بِدَمعِ العَينِ مِنك سَفوحُ

Damascus, if pouring clouds pass your hills by,

streams of tears from my eyes will water you.

وَإِنّي لِتَعروني لِذكراكَ هزَّةٌ

كَما اِهتَزَّ مِن جِنِّ النَشاطِ مَروحُ

At the memory of you, a tremor seizes me,

as a spirited creature trembles with the force of its energy.

حِماكِ مَغاني اللَهوِ لا زالَ بِالدُمى

فَصيحاً وَمَغنى الغانِيات فَصيحُ

Your precinct is a place of delight; may it always be eloquent with beauties,

and may the gathering place of lovely women be eloquent too.

سَقاكِ أَخو جَفنِ السَحاب وَلا عَدا

رُباك الحَيا حَيثُ المَرادُ فَسيحُ

May the rain clouds water you and never pass by

your hills, where there is ample room for desire.

مَرادُ الفَتاةِ الرُودِ أَمّا قَوامُها

فَخِفٌّ وَأَما نَهضُها فَرَجيحُ

The desire is for a supple young woman: as for her figure,

it is slender, and as for her bearing, it is poised.

تَعلَّقَ مَهوى قُرطِها القَلبُ وَالحَشا

فَذا خافِقٌ مِن خافِقٍ وَجَريحُ

My heart and innermost self cling to where her earring falls;

one flutters at the fluttering earring, and the other is wounded.

تَذَكَّرتُها بِالرومِ وَالشامِ دارُها

فَكِدتُ بِمَكتومِ الغَرامِ أَبوحُ

I remembered her in the lands of the Romans, while her home is Syria,

and nearly spoke aloud the love I had concealed.

وَأَرَّقَني بِالرومِ نَوحُ حَمامَةٍ

لَها رَنّة رَأد الضُحى وَصَدوحُ

In the lands of the Romans, a dove’s lament kept me awake;

she has a resonant call at midmorning and sings aloud.

أُطارِحُها وَالعَينُ شكرى بِمائِها

بِنَوحٍ وَذُو اللُبِّ الغَريب يَنوحُ

I answer her in lament, my eye generous with its water;

a discerning stranger, too, has cause to lament.

وَناحَت وَفرخاها بِحَيثُ تَراهُما

وَمِن دونِ أَفراخي مَهامهُ فيحُ

She lamented with her two chicks where she could see them,

while vast deserts lie between me and my children.

وَعامان قَد مَرّا وَذا العام ثالِثٌ

وَهُنَّ إِلى ذاكَ الجَناب جُنوحُ

Two years have passed, and this is the third;

they still incline toward that distant place.

عَسى فَضل سَعدِ الدينِ يَعطِفُ نَحوَهُم

عَناني وَقَصدي في عُلاهُ نَجيحُ

Perhaps Saʿd al-Dīn’s favor will turn my reins toward them,

and my aim in praising his greatness will succeed.

إِمامُ الهُدى سَعدُ البَرايا مُهَذَّبُ ال

سَجايا لِأَنواع العَطاء نَفوحُ

A guide of right conduct, Saʿd, the people’s good fortune, refined in

his character and fragrant with every kind of giving.

مُلَقّن ظِلِّ اللَهِ مُظهِرُ آيِهِ

بِرَقمٍ عَلى نَفسِ الذَواتِ يَلوحُ

He instructs God’s shadow and makes His signs manifest

in markings that shine upon the essence of things.

مُرادٌ حَباهُ اللَهُ مُلكاً مُخَلَّداً

وَعُمراً طَويلاً عَنهُ يقصرُ نوحُ

Murād, whom God has granted enduring dominion

and a long life before which Noah’s seems short.

هُوَ المُظهَر الذاتِ الَّتي قَد تَحَجَّبَت

بِمَجلى صِفاتٍ في حُلاه وُضوحُ

He is the manifestation of an essence that had been veiled,

revealed in an array of qualities that shine through his adornment.

هُوَ العُروَةُ الوُثقى لَدى مُتَمَسِّكٍ

هُوَ السِرُّ فَاِفهَم ما إِلَيهِ أتيحُ

He is the firmest bond for one who holds fast;

he is the secret—understand what is disclosed of it.

فَإِن تَحلُ مِنكَ العَينُ حَقّاً شَهِدتَهُ

وَأَيقَنتَ أَنّ الرَمزَ مِنهُ صَريحُ

If your eye becomes truly clear, you will behold him

and know that his symbolic language speaks plainly.

وَإِيّاكَ سِرّاً غامِضاً دونَ كَشفِهِ

صَوارِمُ شَرع لِلدِماءِ تُبيحُ

Beware a hidden secret: before its disclosure stand

the sharp swords of religious law, which permit blood to be shed.

وَقُل لِفَتى يَبغي الحَقيقَةَ طالِباً

إِذا كُنتَ ذا رُشدٍ وَفيهِ رَبيحُ

Say to a young man seeking the truth,

if you possess sound judgment and profit by it,

وَفيكَ لإِدراكِ المَعاني تَشَوُّفٌ

وَعَزمٌ إِلى نَيلِ العَلاء طَموحُ

and long to grasp meanings,

with ambition to attain eminence:

أَنِخ بِحِمى سَعدٍ لَهُ السَعدُ خادِمٌ

وَعَبداهُما بَدرُ السَماءِ وَيوحُ

Make your camel kneel in Saʿd’s precinct; good fortune serves him,

and the moon in the sky and Yūḥ are their servants.

هُنالِكَ تَلقى المَجدَ مُلقٍ رواقَهُ

لَهُ غُرَرٌ مِن رَأيهِ ووُضوحُ

There you will find glory spreading its pavilion,

bright with the finest parts of his judgment and its clarity.

وَيَلقاكَ مِنهُ بِالمَكارِم وَالعُلى

مُحَيّاً بِهِ وَجهُ العَطاءِ صَبوحُ

From him you will receive generosity and high honor;

through him, the face of giving greets you, radiant.

أَلا أَيُّها السَعدُ الرَفيعُ مَنازِلاً

وَأَنوارُهُ في الخافِقين تَلُوحُ

O Saʿd, exalted in rank,

whose lights shine across the eastern and western horizons:

أَرى الغُرَّ مِن شُوسِ القَوافي مُطيعَةً

مَتى رُمتُ مَدحاً فيكَ وَهيَ جُمُوحُ

I find the finest of my stubborn verses obedient

whenever I wish to praise you, though they are unruly.

وَقَد قادَها قَبلي لِبابِكَ مَعشَرٌ

وَكُلٌّ بِما أَثنى عَلَيكَ مشيحُ

Others before me have led them to your door,

each straining to offer you his praise.

وَما عَرَفوا أَنَّ القَريضَ لِذي النُهى

ضُروبٌ فَمِنها ناقِصٌ رَجيحُ

Yet they did not know that, to one of understanding, poetry

has many kinds, some deficient and some excellent.

فَخُذ مِنهُ حُسّانَ المَدائِحِ غادَةً

عَلى عِطفِها ماءُ النَسيبِ يَسيحُ

Take from it a beautiful maiden of praise,

the flowing waters of love poetry upon her form.

لَوِ اِستافَ مِنها الثَغر مِهيارَ باسِماً

غَدا ثَمِلاً وَالدارُ مِنهُ طَروحُ

If Mihyār caught the scent of her smiling mouth,

he would grow drunk, though his home lay far away.

غَرائِبُ مَدحٍ في عُلاكَ تَنَظَّمَت

غَرائِبُ فيها لِلمَديح مَديحُ

Rare praises of your eminence have been strung together,

wonders that themselves offer praise to praise.

عَلى صَفحاتِ الدَهرِ يَبقى مُخلَّد ال

ثَناءِ وَقَد ضَمَّ الأَنام صَفيحُ

Across the pages of time, praise will remain immortal,

though the earth’s surface gathers all humankind.

تُهَنِّيكَ بِالنَورُوزِ وَالعيدُ بَعدَهُ

يَعودُ بِما تَختاره وَيَروحُ

It congratulates you on Nowruz, and the feast after it

returns and departs according to your wishes.

تَرقَّت إِلى الشِعرى عَنِ الشِعرِ رِفعَةٌ

رَجاء تَرَقٍّ وَالرَجاءُ صَحيحُ

Raised by poetry, it has climbed to Sirius in height,

hoping to rise still further—and that hope is sound.

فَعَبدُكَ في طامي عُبابِك طامِعٌ

وَإِن يَكُ ذا ذَنبٍ فَأَنتَ صَفوحُ

Your servant, amid the surging sea of your bounty, is hopeful;

even if he has sinned, you are forgiving.

لِيَثني عَنان السَيرِ نَحوَ دِيارِهِ

فَقَد طالَ مِنهُ غُربَةٌ وَنُزوحُ

Let him turn his reins toward his own home,

for his exile and distance have lasted long.

وَدُم في سَماءِ المُلكِ سَعداً مُرادُهُ

يُشير بِما تَختارُهُ وَيُليحُ

May you remain in the sky of kingship, a source of good fortune; Murād

signals and makes known whatever you choose.

وَلا زِلتَ في أُفق الخِلافَة سَعدَها

لَكَ الدَهرُ عَبدٌ خادِمٌ وَمَسيحُ

May you remain the good fortune in the horizon of the caliphate;

time is your obedient servant, and so is the Messiah.