هي البدر لكن تستر مدى الدهر — Al Tohami

هيَ البَدرُ لِكِن تستر مَدى الدَهرِ

وَكل سِرار البَدر يَومانِ في الشَهرِ

She is the full moon, but remains veiled throughout all time;

yet the full moon's entire concealment is two days each month.

هَلاليَّةٌ نيل الأَهِلَّة دونَها

وَكل نَفيس القدر ذو مطلب وَعرِ

A woman of Hilal: the crescents are easier to attain than she;

and everything precious in worth has a rugged path to attainment.

وَمِن دونِها سوران سُورٌ مِنَ النَوى

وَسورٌ مِنَ الأَسيافِ وَالأسل السُمرِ

Before her stand two walls: one wall of separation,

and one of swords and dusky lances.

وَدون ارتِشافِ الريق يَرشف بِالقنا

عَريض الدِماء ماء يُشَبَّه بِالثَغرِ

Before her saliva is sipped, one sips through spears

a broad spread of blood—a fluid likened to the mouth [wording unclear].

طَوى طيفها في النَوم نَحوي مَفاوِزاً

مِنَ الأَرضِ تنضي راكِب البَرِّ وَالبَحرِ

Her phantom crossed toward me in sleep over wastelands

of the earth that exhaust travelers by land and sea.

فيها لَيلَةً كانَت لَهُ بِسوادها

وَبَهجَتِها كالخالِ في وَجنَةِ البكرِ

In them, a night was to her phantom, in its darkness

and splendor, like a beauty spot on a maiden's cheek.

لَها سَيف طرف لا يزايل جفنه

وَلَم أَرَ سَيفاً قَطُّ في غمده يَغري

She has a sword of a glance that never leaves its eyelid-sheath;

I have never seen a sword entice while still within its sheath.

عُيونُ هِلالٍ في القُلوبِ ولحظها

أَحَدُّ وَأَمضى مِن سيوفِهِم البتر

Hilal's eyes dwell in hearts, and her glance

is sharper and keener than their cleaving swords.

لَها ريقة أَستغفر اللَهَ إِنَّها

أَلَذُّ وَأَشهى في النُفوسِ مِنَ الخَمرِ

Her saliva—I ask God's forgiveness!—is

more delicious and desirable to souls than wine.

أُعانِق مِنها صعدة راعبيَّة

تَرى زَجّها في مَوضِع النظر الشَزَرِ

I embrace in her a long Raʿibi spear-shaft;

you see its butt-spike where the sidelong glance lies.

وَيقصر ليلي إِن أَلمَّت لأَنَّها

صَباحٌ وَهَل لِلَّيلِ بقياً مَع الفَجرِ

My night grows shorter if she visits, for she is

morning—and can any night remain alongside dawn?

أَقولُ لَها وَالعيسُ تحدج لِلنَّوى

أَعدّي لِفَقدي ما استَطَعتِ مِن الصَبرِ

I tell her, while the pale camels are saddled for departure,

'Prepare all the patience you can for losing me.'

وَقَد كانَتِ الأَجفانُ لِلجزع مَعدِناً

فَصارَت لِفَيضِ الدَمعِ مِن صَدفِ البَحرِ

The eyelids had once been a mine of onyx;

then, with the flood of tears, they became seashells.

سَأَنفقُ ريعان الشَبيبَة آنِفاً

عَلى طلبِ العَلياء أَو طَلَبِ الأَجرِ

I shall proudly spend the bloom of youth

on seeking eminence or seeking reward.

أَلَيسَ مِنَ الخُسرانِ أَنَّ لَيالياً

تَمُرُّ بِلا نَفَعٍ وَتُحسَبُ مِن عَمري

Is it not a loss that nights

pass without benefit yet are counted as part of my life?

تَبَدَّل وَجه الأَرضِ مِن كُلِّ وِجهَةٍ

لِيأخُذ بِالتَعبيسِ مِن رَونَقِ البِشرِ

The earth's face has changed on every side,

to dim, with scowling, the radiance of its smile.

وَقَد كانَ ناونا فَآثَرهُ بِنا

بِذي كَرَمٍ بِالنَفعِ يُنجي مِنَ الضُرِّ

It had opposed us, then favored him through us [wording unclear],

with a generous man whose beneficence rescues from harm.

وَقَد كانَ نِجماً واضِحاً كُمُحَمَّدٍ

وَمثل عَلاه أَو خَلائقه الغرِّ

And he was a shining star like Muhammad,

and like his eminence or his radiant virtues.

أَغَرَّ لَهُ باع تَقسَّمه العُلى

فَلِليَمَنِ يُمناهُ وَيُسراهُ لِليُسرِ

Radiant, he has a reach apportioned by eminence:

his right hand is for good fortune, his left for ease.

يَنوطُ نِجادي رَأيه وَحسامه

بِصَدرٍ كَمثل البَحرِ أَو سِعَة البَرِّ

He suspends the two sword-belts of his counsel and his blade

upon a breast as vast as the sea or the breadth of land.

وَيَحلُم عَن ذي الجَهلِ حَتّى كَأَنَّهُ

وَحاشاهُ مِن فَرطِ الوِقارِ أَخو وَقرِ

He forbears with the ignorant until he seems—

far be it from him!—from sheer dignity, to be deaf.

يُمَيِّزُهُ مِن كُلِّ شبهٍ فَضائِل

شَهرنَ لَه في الأَرضِ كالواو في عمرِو

Virtues distinguish him from every look-alike,

winning him fame on earth, like the waw in ʿAmr.

وَيعرف قَبلَ الخير بِالبشر فَضله

كَما يُعرَفُ الصِمضامَةُ العَضَب بِالأَثَرِ

His generosity is known from his smile before his gifts,

as the keen Ṣimḍāma sword is recognized by its mark.

فَلا تعجبا أَن يَلفظ الدُر قائِلاً

فَلَم يَخلُ بحر زاخر قَطُّ مِن دُرِّ

So do not marvel, you two, that he utters pearls when speaking:

no surging sea has ever been without pearls.

إِذا جَلَبَ الأَقلام نَحوَ يمينه

فَقَد جلبت مِن شَطِّ بَحرٍ إِلى بَحرِ

When he brings the pens toward his right hand,

they have been brought from a sea's shore into a sea.

يذكِّرُ أَعواد المَنابِرِ جده

وَأَباءه وَالأَمرُ يُذكَرُ بِالأَمرِ

He reminds the pulpit timbers of his grandfather

and his forefathers; one thing recalls another.

فَلَو أَنَّ أَعواد المَنابِرِ جده

وَأباءه وَالأَمرُ يُذكَرُ بِالأَمرِ

So if the pulpit timbers ... his grandfather [text incomplete],

and his forefathers; one thing recalls another.

تَبيَّنُ في الطِفلِ النَجابَة مِنهُم

كَما يَستَبين العتق وَالسَبق في المَهرِ

Nobility is evident in a child of their line,

as fine breeding and racing speed show in a foal.

رأيت العُلى تَحتاج أَصلاً وَبيئة

وَهَل يَطبع الدينار إِلّا مِنَ التِبرِ

I have seen that greatness needs roots and an environment;

and is a dinar minted from anything but raw gold?

تَجَرَّد هَذا الدَهر في نَصر أَهلِهِ

وَترك القَضا في كَفِّ خير أَولي النَصرِ

This age has devoted itself to supporting its people,

and left judgment in the hand of the best of helpers.

وَنيطَ بِهِ أَمر المَظالِمِ إِنَّما

يَنوطُ أَخو العزم الحَمائِل بِالصَدرِ

The redress of grievances was entrusted to him; indeed,

a man of resolve hangs sword-belts upon the breast.

فَأَضحى ظَلام اللَيلِ نوراً بِعَدلِهِ

وَهَل لِظَلامِ اللَيلِ نَفع مَع الفَجرِ

Thus night's darkness became light through his justice;

and what use has night's darkness alongside dawn?

وَزَيَّن أَقطارَ البِلادِ بِحُكمِهِ

وَأَحكامِهِ في الأَرضِ كالظَلم في الثَغرِ

He adorned the country's regions with his rule,

and his rulings on earth are like the gleam within a mouth.

بَدأتَ بِأَمرٍ فأته قَبلَ فوته

وَما دمت بَل لا زِلت متمثل الأَمرِ

You have begun a task: accomplish it before its chance is lost;

and while you endure—rather, may you always embody command.

وَإِنّي وَإِذكاريك أَمري كَقائِل

لهذي النُجوم وَهيَ تَسري أَلا فاسري

In reminding you of my affair, I am like someone saying

to these stars as they travel by night, 'Come, travel on!'

رَعاكَ الَّذي اِستَرعاكَ أَمر عِبادِهِ

وَحَيّاكَ مَن أَحياكَ لِلنَّفعِ وَالضُرِّ

May He who entrusted you with His servants' affairs guard you,

and may He who gave you life for benefit and harm bless you.

لَهُ قَلم يَفري رِقاب عداته

وَهَل مخلب في إِصبَع اللَيثِ لا يَفري

He has a pen that cleaves his enemies' necks;

and does a claw upon a lion's toe not tear?

إِذا سحب القرطاس مِن وَقعِهِ بِهِ

تَجَلَّت وجوه الخَطبِ وَالخُطَبِ الغُرِّ

When the paper is drawn along by its strokes upon it,

the aspects of grave affairs and brilliant orations become clear.

تَجَمَّعَ أَقسام العُلى في كِتابِهِ

فَكانَ العُلى في الكُلِّ وَالشَطر في السَطرِ

The divisions of greatness have gathered in his writing;

so greatness lies in the whole, and half of it in a line.

الأئِمَة في الجود دعه فَإِنَّهُ

عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ يَعدِل البُخلَ بِالكُفرِ

The leaders in generosity [opening unclear]—leave him, for he

in every circumstance equates miserliness with unbelief.

إِذا لمته في لَج فِعلٍ فَقُل لَنا

أَتَعذِلَهُ بِالدَرِّ في الجود أَم تُغري

If you reproach him for persistence in an act, tell us:

do you rebuke him for his generous outpouring, or spur him on?

أَمُنتَجِعُ الغيث أَنتجع بحر كَفِّهِ

فَما الغَيثُ إِلّا في أَنامِلِهِ العَشرِ

O seeker of rain, seek the sea of his palm,

for rain resides only in his ten fingertips.

أَمُنتَجِعُ الماء القراح وَهذه

سَحائِبُ تَهمي بِاللُجَينِ وَبالتِبرِ

O seeker of pure water, these are

clouds pouring down silver and raw gold.

وَما المَجد إِلّا رَوضَة هوَ زهرها

وَلَيسَ يَروق الرَوض إِلّا مَع الزَهر

Glory is only a garden, and he is its blossom;

and a garden delights only when it has flowers.

عجبت لِهَذا الدَست كَيفَ جَفافه

وَقَد ضَمَّ بَحراً مِنكَ لَيسَ بِذي جَزرِ

I marvel at this seat of honor: how can it be dry,

when it embraces in you a sea that never ebbs?

وَقالوا لَنا في الدَهر بُخلٌ وَما سَخا

بِمثلك إِلّا أَهل ذا الزمن الحُرِّ

They told us that time is miserly, yet none have bestowed

one like you except the people of this noble age.

يَنُمُّ عَلَيكَ الفَضلَ في كُلِّ مَوطنٍ

نزلت كَما نَمَّ النَسيم عَلى العِطرِ

Excellence reveals your presence in every place

you settle, as the breeze reveals perfume.

فِداؤك حيٌّ مِثلَ مَيتٍ لبخله

يُظَنُّ اقتناء المالِ خَيرٌ مِن الذِكرِ

May a living man, like the dead through stinginess, be your ransom;

amassing wealth is thought better than renown.

يَموتُ لَئيم القَومِ مِن قبل مَوتِهِ

وَيقبُرُ مِن قَبلِ الدُخولِ إِلى القَبرِ

The ignoble man of a people dies before his death,

and is buried before entering the grave.

فَعِش عُمرَ مَدحي فيكَ إِنَّ مَدائحي

مِنَ الخالِداتِ الباقِياتِ إِلى الحَشرِ

So live as long as my praise of you, for my panegyrics

are among the immortal works that endure until the Gathering.