ذكر المعاهد والدمن — أبو المعالي الطالوي

ذَكَرَ المَعاهِدَ وَالدِمَن

وَمَراتِعَ الظَبيِ الأَغَن

He remembered the familiar haunts and old dwelling-traces,

and the pastures of the nasal-voiced gazelle.

وَشَجاه مَسجور الفُؤا

د بعيدَ عَهدٍ بِالوَطَن

And, his heart aflame, he was grieved,

long absent from his homeland,

بِالرُومِ نوحُ حَمامَةٍ

وَرقاءَ تَهتِفُ في فَنَن

in Rum, by the lament of a dove,

ash-gray, calling from a branch.

عَجماء يُعرِبُ لَحنُها

سِرَّ الغَرام المُكتَمَن

Wordless, yet her melody reveals

the hidden secret of passionate love.

تُبدي عَلى فنَن الأَرا

كِ فُنونَ أَنواع الشَجَن

On a branch of the arak tree she reveals

the manifold forms and kinds of sorrow.

ما رامَ مَعبَدُ أَن يُضا

هي لَحنَها إِلّا لَحَن

Whenever Maʿbad sought to rival

her melody, he sang out of tune.

أَملَت مِنَ الأَوراقِ ما

دَرَستَهُ مِن طُرُقِ الحَزَن

She dictated from the leaves what

she had studied in the ways of sorrow.

وَرَوت أَحاديثَ الهَوى

بِصَحيحِ مُسنَدِها الحَسَن

And she narrated the traditions of love,

with her sound and fair chain of transmission,

عَن عَبرَةٍ مهرَاقَةٍ

تَهمي وَجسم مُمتَهَن

from a tear poured forth,

streaming, and a body brought low;

عَن لَوعَةٍ عَن زَفرَةٍ

عَن مُقلَةٍ قَرحى وَعَن

from anguish, from a sigh,

from a wounded eye, and from—

تُذري الدُموع وَلَيتَها

في شَجوِها تَدري بِمَن

She scatters tears—if only she

knew, in her sorrow, for whom.

طارَحتُها ذكر الحِمى

سَقى الحِمى غَيثٌ هَتَن

I shared with her memories of the cherished grounds;

may pouring rain water those grounds!

حَيثُ الدِيارُ فَسيحَةٌ

بِدِمَشقَ جَنّةُ مَن قَطَن

Where the dwellings are spacious,

in Damascus, a paradise for those who dwell there:

فَبَرادُها فَبَريدُها

فَفِناءُ جامِعِها الحَسَن

then its Barad, then its Barid,

then the courtyard of its beautiful congregational mosque,

فَرواقهُ حَيثُ الفُرو

ض تُقام فيهِ مَعَ السُنَن

then its arcade, where the obligatory prayers

are performed along with the Sunnah prayers;

فَصَفاء كَوثَر مائِها

مِن سَلسَبيلٍ ما أَجَن

then the clarity of its Kawthar waters,

from Salsabil, never stagnant;

فَمَقيل هاتيكَ الرُبى

فَظِلال هاتيكَ الفَنَن

then the noonday resting-place on those hills,

then the shade of those branches,

فَمَسيل باناسٍ إِلى

بِطحاءَ في رَوض أَغَن

then the watercourse of Banas, flowing to

a gravelly plain amid a lush garden.

شَوقي إِلى زَمَني بِها

سُقِيَ الغُوادي مِن زَمَن

My longing is for my time there—

may that time be watered by morning rains—

حَيثُ الشَبيبَةُ مَنزِلٌ

وَالغانِياتُ لَهُ سَكَن

when youth was a dwelling,

and beautiful women its inhabitants,

مِن كُلِّ مُخطَفةِ الحَشا

رودٌ كَما الرَشأ الأَغَن

each with a slender waist,

supple as the nasal-voiced fawn,

هَيفاءَ صَبَّ بِعِطفِها

ماءَ الصِبا شَرخُ الزَمَن

slender, upon whose flank was poured

the water of youth by the prime of time.

لَم أَنسَها يَومَ الوَداع

وَقَولَها عِندَ الظَعَن

I have not forgotten her on the day of farewell,

nor her words at departure,

وَالدَمعُ ينثرُ لُؤلُؤاً

مِن نَرجِسٍ يَسقي الدِمَن

as tears scattered pearls

from narcissus eyes, watering the old dwelling-traces:

يا مِحنَتي أَودى البِعا

دُ بِعاشِقٍ بِكَ مُمتَحَن

“O my torment! Separation has destroyed

a lover sorely tried by you.

هَلّا رَجَعتَ فَإِنَّ لي

قَلباً بِحُبّك مُرتَهَن

Why not return? For I have

a heart held hostage by love for you.”

فَأَجَبتُها لا وَالَّذي

سِرّي لَدَيهِ كَالعَلَن

I answered her: “No, by Him

to whom my secret is as clear as the manifest,

أَو تَركَني لِظِلالِ مَن

ظِلُّ الإِلَهِ لَهُ رُكُن

or who left me in the shelter of one

for whom God's shadow is a pillar.”

الفائِض الأَنوار عَن

سِرٍّ إِلَهيّ عَلَن

The one whose lights overflow from

a divine mystery made manifest;

وَالمُستَفيظة مِن مبا

دئ عِلمِهِ أَهلُ الفِطَن

and drawing abundance from the principles

of his knowledge are those of discernment;

مَجلى الوُجود وَمُظهرُ ال

أَسماءِ عَن فَيضٍ كَمَن

the manifestation of Being, the revealer of the

Names from a once-hidden outpouring;

بَل نُقطَةُ الذات المُحي

طةِ وَالعَريَّة عَن زَمَن

rather, the point of the all-encompassing Essence,

and free from time;

أَعني بِهِ سَعدَ المَكا

رم وَالمَراحم وَالمِنَن

I mean by him Saʿd of noble deeds,

of mercies and favors,

سرّ الخَليفة وَالخَلي

قة وَالظُهور وَما بَطَن

the secret of the caliph and creation,

of manifestation and what lies hidden.

فَاِلجأ إِلى أَبوابِهِ

تَأَمن مِنَ الدَهرِ الفِتَن

Seek refuge, then, at his doors;

you will be safe from the trials of time.

وَاِلثِم ثَرى أَعتابِهِ

فَهيَ الأَمانُ مِنَ المِحَن

And kiss the dust of his thresholds,

for they are safety from afflictions.

وَاِعرفهُ حَقّاً قَبلَ أَن

تَنحلَّ أَجزاءُ البَدَن

And know him truly before

the body's parts fall apart.

فَهوَ الإِمام وَلا كِنا

ية في الخِطاب لِمَن فَطَن

For he is the Imam; there is no veiled allusion

in these words, for anyone who understands.

وَهوَ الَّذي أَضحى عَلى

سِرِّ الخِلافَة مُؤتَمَن

And he is the one who has become

entrusted with the secret of the caliphate.

أَوَ ما تَرى الروحَ الأَمي

نَ بِسِرِّهِ كَيفَ اِستَكَن

And do you not see the Trustworthy Spirit,

how he has taken refuge in his secret?

يَجري بِهِ في العَدلِ مِن

سُنَن النَبِيّ عَلى سَنَن

Through him he proceeds in justice,

along a path drawn from the Prophet's ways.

وَلَقَد عَطَفتُ لِبابِهِ

أَملي وَقَد ضاقَ العَطَن

And indeed, toward his door I turned

my hope, when my dwelling-space grew cramped;

وَظَنَنتُ خَيراً ذاكِراً

أَنا عِندَ عَبدي حَيثُ ظَن

and I expected good, remembering:

“I am with My servant as he expects.”

فَهوَ الَّذي يَهبُ المُنى

مِن راحَتيهِ وَلَيسَ مِن

For he is the one who grants wishes

from his two palms, with no reminder of favors.

مَدَّ الإِلَهُ ظِلالَهُ

في العالَمينَ مَدى الزَمَن

May God extend his shade

throughout the worlds for all time,

وَبَنيهِ أَقمارُ المَنا

زِلِ حَيثُ يَحويهم سَكَن

and his sons, moons of the mansions,

wherever a dwelling holds them,

الجامِعي طَرَفَ السَعا

دَةِ وَالسِيادَةِ في قَرَن

who join the ends of happiness

and lordship in a single bond.

صَرف الزَمان خُطوبَه

وَصُرُوفَهُ عَنهُم وَعَن

May time avert its calamities

and vicissitudes from them and from—

بِمُحَمَّدٍ وَبِآلِهِ

أَهلِ الفَصاحة وَاللسَن

by Muhammad and his family,

the people of eloquence and fluent speech.