أيا ريع ذات الخال لا بت خاليا — Alablah Albaghdadi

أيا ريع ذاتِ الخالِ لا بت خاليا

وأصبحت من نور الخمائل حاليا

O hill of Dhat al-Khal, may you never pass a night deserted,

and may you awaken adorned with the groves' blossoms.

ولا برحت تحنو عليك غمائم

تغص شعابا باللوى ومجانيا

May clouds never cease bending tenderly over you,

filling the ravines and fruit gardens at al-Liwa to overflowing.

ولا ونت الأنواء فيك وحبذا

نسيما في ظل الأصائل وأنيا

May the seasonal rains never slacken over you; how lovely

a languid breeze in the shade of late afternoons.

على أنني رضت الهوى فيك جامحا

فلان ونلت العيش عندك راضيا

Yet I tamed unruly love within you,

so it softened, and with you I attained a life of contentment.

عشية لم أنزف من العين حمّة

رواء ولم أعرف لعلوة واشيا

One evening, when I had not drained from my eye a hot spring

of abundant water, nor known a tale-bearer concerning Alwa.

ولم تقدح الأشواق بين جوانحي

زنادا إذا واريته عاد واريا

Nor had longings struck between my ribs

a flint that sparked again whenever I concealed it.

وبدر تمام فيه يحلو لي الهوى

خلوت به حتى بدا النجم هاويا

And a full moon, with whom love is sweet to me—

I was alone with him until the star appeared to be sinking.

رمى مقتلي شاكي السلاح وقال لي

رميت بهجري إن رأيتك شاكيا

Fully armed, he struck my mortal spot and said to me:

May you be struck by my desertion if I see you complaining.

عند تعليه خنصر اللهو والمنى

وعدّ الثريا مثل صبري واهيا

At the raising of the little finger of pleasure and desire [wording unclear],

and he deemed the Pleiades frail, like my patience.

رنا فاتر الألحانا نحو فخلتني

أعاطي الطلاظبيا بوجرة عاطيا

He gazed toward me, languid in melody [wording unclear], and I imagined myself

sharing wine with a gazelle stretching upward at Wajra.

فلله كم يمنى الفؤاد بزفرة

إذا شمت برقا بالعقيق يمانيا

By God, how often the heart is afflicted with a sigh

when I glimpse Yemeni lightning at al-Aqiq!

يذكرني في تلك الثغور ولم أكن

لها ناسيا كلا ولا متناسيا

It reminds me of those mouths, though I was not

forgetful of them—certainly not, nor pretending to forget.

سل الليل عني هل رآني راقدا

وسل بي عذولي هل رآني ساليا

Ask the night about me: has it seen me asleep?

And ask my reproacher about me: has he seen me forgetful of love?

وهيهات أن ترقا دموع لمن غدا

لنبغ غرام لم يجد منه رافيا

And never can tears cease for one who has become

afflicted by love's upsurge, finding no one to mend it [wording unclear].

فلست أرى في الوجد مثل ثانيا

ولا لعلاء الدين في المجد ثانيا

For I see no second equal in ardent love,

nor a second to Ala al-Din in glory.

علقت به مستمسكا فوجدته

أبيًّا إذا ماسمته الضيم أبيا

I attached myself to him, holding fast, and found him

unyielding whenever you impose injustice upon him—unyielding.

صقيل حواشي الحزم والعزم والعلي

ثقيل حصاة الحلم أغلب ساميا

Polished at the edges of prudence, resolve, and eminence,

weighty in the stone of forbearance, lion-like and lofty.

به حلت الأيام وهي مريرة

وأصبح جيد الدهر أجيد خاليا

Through him the days grew sweet, though they were bitter,

and Time's neck became long, graceful, and bare.

تحرك منه الأريحيه ماجدا

يوازن بالحلم الجبال الرواسيا

Generous ardor stirs within him, noble as he is;

he matches the firmly rooted mountains in forbearance.

حسام ردى ظام إذا شهد الوغى

وبحر ندى طام إذا حل ناديا

A death-dealing sword, thirsty when he attends battle,

and a surging sea of bounty when he enters an assembly.

محاربه يلقي المنايا سريعة

وسائله يلقى لديه الأمانيا

His foe meets swift deaths,

and his petitioner finds his wishes fulfilled with him.

من الزينبين الذين تقبلوا

ظلل المعالي واستقلوا العواليا

He is of the Zaynabis, who took upon themselves

the canopies of eminence and rose to the heights.

إذا سوجلوا كانوا أعز مطنّها

وأكرم أعراقا وأعلى بانيا

When rivaled in generosity, they were mightiest [final word unclear],

and noblest in ancestry, and loftiest as builders.

لهم كعبة الله الحرام ومن بها

أنام ومن لبى ومن جاء ساعيا

Theirs are God's sacred Kaaba and those within it—

the people, those who chant 'Here I am,' and those who come hastening.

فما كان فيهم عن سوى الخير أمرا

ولا كان فيهم عن سوى الشر ناهيا

None among them ever commanded anything but good,

nor did any among them forbid anything but evil.

ولولا أبو نصر وجدواه لم أطع

رجاء ولم أطلع من الأرض واديا

Were it not for Abu Nasr and his bounty, I would not have obeyed

hope, nor gone up any valley on earth.

كريم يحب الصفح عن كل مذنب

مسيء ويعطي الصفو من جاء صافيا

A generous man, he loves to pardon every sinner

who does wrong, and grants pure goodwill to whoever comes sincere.

كأن على يمناه في بذلها الندى

يمينا على أن لا تخيب راجيا

It is as though his right hand, in bestowing bounty, bore

an oath never to disappoint a hopeful petitioner.

فيا شرف الإسلام لا زلت سالما

يسير فيك المادحون القوافيا

So, O Sharaf al-Islam, may you ever remain safe,

as praise-poets send their rhymes abroad in your honor.

يرون غدير الجود عندك مفعما

ندى ورخيص المجد عندك غاليا

They see the pool of generosity with you brimming

with bounty, and cheap glory made precious with you.

فخذها كما رق النسيم وغازلت

دموع الغمام المستهل الأقاحيا

So accept it, soft as the breeze and like the flirtation

of the pouring clouds' tears with the daisies.

إذا قصها في القوم راو حسبته

يقص على الأسماع سبعا مثانيا

When a reciter recites it among the people, you would think him

reciting to their ears the seven oft-repeated verses.

بقيت على مر الليالي محسّدا

عزير الأيادي قاهر الجد عاليا

May you remain, through the passing nights, much envied,

abundant in favors [reading uncertain], mastering fortune, exalted.