نفسي الفِداء لِلحظِها من رامِ — Al Tohami

نَفسي الفِداء لِلَحظِها من رامِ

وَلطَرفِها من أَنصُلٍ وَسِهامِ

My soul be ransom for her glance—what an archer!

And for her eye—what blades and arrows!

وَلِثَغرِها من ضَوءِ بَرقٍ لامِعٍ

لَو أَتبعته لَنا بِصَوب غَمامِ

And for her mouth, the gleam of flashing lightning,

If only she followed it for us with a cloud's downpour.

قالوا تأسَّ بِجَفنِها في سُقمِهِ

شَتّان بَينَ سِقامه وَسِقامي

They said, 'Take comfort from her eyelid in its languor.'

How far apart its languor and my illness!

سقم الجُفونِ وَإِن تَزايَد صِحَّة

أَبَداً وَسُقمي كل يَوم نامي

The languor of eyelids, however much it grows, is health

Always; but my illness grows each day.

جُرحَ العُيون النُجل جرح كاتِم

لِدمائهِ أَشوى الجِراح الدامي

The wound of wide eyes is a wound that conceals

Its blood; the bleeding wound is the least deadly.

لَو لَم يَكُن هَذا الهَوى سِحراً لما

صادَ الليوثَ الغُلبَ بِالآرامِ

Were this love not sorcery, it would not

Have caught mighty lions with gazelles.

تَبَّعتهم يَومَ الرَحيل بِمُهجَتي

تبع الفَلاء الخَيل بَعدَ فِطامِ

I followed them with my heart on the day of departure,

As foals follow horses after weaning.

وَأَقَمت بَعدَ وَلِلزَّمان عَجائِب

منها ترحُّل مُهجَتي وَمُقامي

And I remained afterward; time has its wonders,

Among them, my heart's departure and my staying.

رَحَلوا بمثل البَدر إِلّا أَنَّهُ

عند المَحاقِ يَكون بدر تَمامِ

They departed with one like the full moon, except that it

At the moon's dark phase is still a moon in full.

وَجَلونَ من خَلَلِ البَراقِعِ أَوجُهاً

كالوَردِ بَينَ أَكنَّة الأَكمامِ

And through the openings of their veils they revealed faces,

Like roses within the coverings of their bud-sheaths.

كل الأُمور إِذا تَقادَم ناقِص

أَبَداً وَوِدّي كل يَوم نامي

All things diminish as they grow old,

Always; yet my love grows every day.

وَأَرى خَيال العامِريَّة أَنَّهُ

وآفٍ إِذا غَدَرَت بِعَقد ذِمامِ

And I find that al-Amiriyya's phantom is

Faithful when she betrays a pledged bond.

وَآفى إِليَّ الشَوق يَحدو غيره

حَتّى تَلاهُ وَأَهله بِالشامِ

And longing came to me, driving another onward,

Until it followed in its wake, though its people were in al-Sham.

فَلَثَمنَني فَجَعَلتُ ثَمَّ تَحرُّجاً

بَيني وَبَينَ اللَثمِ ثَنيَ لِثامي

They kissed me; so there, out of scruple, I placed

A fold of my mouth-veil between myself and the kissing.

وَهَجَرتُ رَشفَ رِضابهنَّ لأَنَّهُ

خَمرٌ وَلَستُ بِراشف لِمُدامِ

And I shunned sipping their saliva, because it is

Wine, and I do not sip aged wine.

وَهَبُوهُ غَيرَ الخَمرِ لَستُ بِذائِقٍ

مَع تَركِهِ الشُبَهات شبه حَرامِ

And suppose it is not wine: I will not taste

Anything akin to the forbidden, while shunning doubtful things.

عَفُّ الظَواهِرِ وَالضَمائِر لَم أَزَل

مُتَنَزِّهاً في يَقظتي وَمَنامي

Chaste in outward conduct and inward thoughts, I have always remained

Unsullied in my waking and my sleep.

نهوى الظِباء وَلا نَصيد تَقيَّة

نَدَع الظِباء لِقانِصٍ أَو رامِ

We love the gazelles but do not hunt, out of pious caution.

We leave the gazelles to a hunter or an archer.

دَع عَنكَ ذكر العامِريَّة إِنَّهُ

وَأَبيك مَغناطيس كل غَرامِ

Put aside mention of al-Amiriyya: it is,

By your father, a magnet for every passion.

أَما فَضائلها عَلى أَترابِها

فَكَفضلِ حَيدَرَةٍ عَلى الحُكّامِ

As for her superiority over her peers,

It is like Haydara's superiority over the judges.

خَيرُ القُضاةِ عَلى القَضاء اِختاره

بَعدَ اختيار منه خَير إِمامِ

The finest of judges chose him for the judgeship,

After a choice made by the finest imam.

فَقَضى بِحُكمِ الجور في أَموالِهِ

وَقَضى بِحُكم اللَهِ في الأَيتامِ

So he passed an unjust judgment upon his own wealth,

And judged the orphans by God's law.

أَلفَ اِمتِثال العَدلَ في أَحكامِهِ

حَتّى بِتَقسيم الطُلى وَالهامِ

He grew accustomed to observing justice in his judgments,

Even in cleaving necks and heads.

تَتَيَقَّنُ الأَموال حينَ تَحُلُّ في

كفَّيه أَن لَيسَت بِدارِ مُقامِ

Wealth knows for certain, when it settles in

His palms, that it is not in a lasting abode.

وَإِذا أَتى مال خَزائنه بَدا

بوداعه الخَزّان قَبلَ سَلامِ

And when money comes to his treasuries, it begins

By bidding the keepers farewell before a greeting.

خرق يعد صِلاته كَصَلاته

فَرضاً يؤديه أَداء تَمامِ

A lavish giver, he regards his gifts, like his prayer, as

An obligation he fulfills in full.

طَلقَ الجَبين مَع اليَمين مُوقَّر

في الحالَتَينِ النَقض وَالإِبرامِ

Cheerful of brow and open-handed, held in honor

In both states—revoking and confirming.

وَمُهَذَّب الأَقوالِ وَالأَفعال

وَالأَخوالِ وَالآباء وَالأَعمامِ

And noble in his words and deeds,

And in his maternal uncles, fathers, and paternal uncles.

وَمَعين ماء الجودِ يَشرَبُ وَفده

فيهِ وَيَصدُر وَهوَ بَحر طامي

And a flowing spring of generosity's water: his visitors drink

From it and depart, while he is a surging sea.

وَتَرى بوجه أَبي الحُسَين بشاشة

مثل الفِرندِ بِصَفح كل حُسامِ

And on Abu al-Husayn's face you see cheerfulness

Like the watered pattern on the flat of every keen sword.

وَيَلوحُ منه عَلى أَسرَّة وَجهِهِ

نور الهُدى وَسَكينَة الإِسلامِ

And from him, along the lines of his face, shine

The light of guidance and the serenity of Islam.

بَحر الفَصاحَةِ وَالسَماحَةِ وَالنُهى

وَالبأس وَالآلاء وَالأَنعامِ

A sea of eloquence, generosity, and intellect,

And of might, favors, and beneficence.

يَخفي النَوال إِذا أَتاهُ تَظَرُّفاً

حَتّى كَأَنَّ الجود فعل أَثامِ

He conceals his giving when he gives, out of refinement,

As though generosity were an act of sin.

تَدنو سِهام الوَصفِ دونَ عُلائِهِ

أَوَهل يصيب الشَمس سَهم الرامي

The arrows of description fall short of his loftiness;

And can an archer's arrow strike the sun?

أَعدى نَدى كفَّيه صور وَأَهلها

وَالبَدرُ يَقلِبُ طبع كُلِّ ظَلامِ

The bounty of his palms has spread through Tyre and its people,

And the full moon transforms the nature of every darkness.

وَلَو أَنَّ صوراً جنة ما اِستكثرَت

وَأَبيك مِن غِلمانِهِ لِغُلامِ

And even were Tyre a paradise, I would not deem it too much,

By your father, for one of his pages.

يَعفو فَيَفعل حلمه بِعَدوِّهِ

ما تَفعَل الأَسياف بِالأَجسامِ

He pardons, and his forbearance does to his enemy

What swords do to bodies.

وَالحلم في بَعض المَواطن نقمة

تَسطو بِها أَبَداً عَلى الأَقوامِ

And forbearance in some situations is a punishment

With which you always assail peoples.

وَاللَيثُ أَعبَس ما بَدا وَجهاً إِذا

أَبصَرته في صورَة البسّامِ

And the lion's face appears at its grimmest when

You see him in the guise of one who smiles.

وَإِذا تنمَّر مُغضِباً فاِنظر إِلى

جَيش عَلى ظهر الحِصانِ لهامِ

And when he turns tiger-like in anger, look upon

A ravening army on a horse's back.

جَيش لَهُ ظهر الحِصان مُعَسكر

ذو يَمَنَتينِ وساقه وَأَمامِ

An army whose camp is a horse's back,

With two right wings, a rearguard, and a vanguard.

وَكأَنَّما جَمَع الأَعادي جَوهَر

وَسِنانِهِ في الجَمعِ سِلك نِظامِ

And as though the enemy host were jewels,

And his spearhead, within that host, the thread that strings them.

لَبِق الأَنامِلِ بِالرِماحِ وَطالَما

أَغنى عَن الأَرماحِ بِالأَقلامِ

Deft-fingered with lances, and often

He has dispensed with spears by means of pens.

ما قَطَّ قَطُّ إِلى العدى قَلماً له

إِلّا وَنابَ بِهِ عَن الصِمصامِ

Never did he trim a pen of his against the foe

Without making it stand in for the keen sword.

قَلم يُقلم ظُفرَ كُلِّ ملمَّةٍ

وَيكفُّ كَفَّ نَوائِب الأَيّامِ

A pen that trims the claw of every calamity,

And stays the hand of the days' misfortunes.

وَتَرى بِحافَتِهِ المَنايا وَالمُنى

وَمقاتِل الأَعداءِ وَالإِعدامِ

And at its edge you see deaths and hopes,

And the destruction of enemies and destitution.

من آل حيدرة الَّذينَ شعارهم

فيض النَدى الهامي وَضرب الهامِ

Of the house of Haydara, whose emblem is

The flood of pouring bounty and the striking of heads.

قَهَروا بِحار الأَرض أَجمَع بِالنَدى

وَجِبالِها بِرجاحَةِ الأَحلامِ

They have vanquished all the earth's seas with bounty,

And its mountains with the weight of their wisdom.

يَتَسنَّمون مِنَ المَعالي مُرتَقىً

عَنه تَزِل مَواطىءَ الأَقدامِ

They ascend among the heights of honor to a summit

Where feet lose their foothold.

يَتَتابَعونَ إِلى العُلاء تَتابُعاً

كَتَتابُعِ الأَقدامِ في الإِقدامِ

They follow one another toward the heights,

As feet follow one another in bold advance.

يَقعونَ من هَذا الزَمان وَأَهله

كَمواقِعِ الأَعيادِ في الأَيّامِ

They stand in this age and among its people

As feast days stand among the days.

أَلفَيتَ مِنهُم في طَرابُلُسٍ نَدىً

ترك الكِرام لَديَّ غَيرَ كِرامِ

You found among them, in Tripoli, a bounty

That left the generous, in my eyes, ungenerous.

القَومَ جِسم أَنتَ روحهم وَهُم

في الناس كالأَرواحِ بِالأَجسامِ

The clan is a body; you are their soul, and they

Are among mankind as souls are in bodies.

لا زِلتَ في نِعَمٍ يُخلَّد ملكها

كَرمُ الإِلَهِ القادِرِ العَلّامِ

May you ever dwell in blessings whose possession is made everlasting

By the bounty of God, the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing.