فدا لك روحي من رشا متبرم — Alamir Mnczyk Pasha

فَدا لَك روحي مِن رَشا مُتَبَرمِ

وَمِن مُنجد بِالمُستَهام وَمُنَهَمِ

My soul be your ransom, O fretful fawn,

And helper of the love-distraught and desire-consumed;

وَمَن عاتب إِلّا عَلى غَير مُذنب

وَمِن ظالم إِلّا عَلى غَير مُجرم

And one who reproaches none but the blameless,

And wrongs none but the innocent.

سَقَتني العُيون النَجل مِنكَ سَلافة

جَرَت قَبل خَلقي في عُروقي وَأعظمي

Your wide eyes gave me pure wine to drink,

Which flowed through my veins and bones before my creation.

وَأَسلمني فيكَ الغَرام إِلى الرَدا

فَإِن كُنت مَن يَرضى بِذَلِكَ فَأَسلَم

Love for you surrendered me to death;

If you are pleased with that, then remain safe.

بَعدت وَلي في كُلِ عُضو حَشاشة

تَذوب وَطَرف هامع الجفن بِالدَم

You went far away, while in every limb of mine a remnant of life

Melts, and an eye streams blood from its lid.

وَلَستُ مَلوماً أَن مَن أَيقَظ النَوى

حُظوظي الَّتي لَم تَجن غَير تَندمي

I am not to blame, for those that awakened separation

Were my fortunes, which reaped nothing but my remorse.

جَلبت إِلى نَفسي المَنية عِندَما

رَمَيت فَلم تَخطي فواديَ أَسهُمي

I brought death upon myself when

I shot, and my arrows did not miss my heart.

إَبى اللَه أَن أَبكي لِغَير صَبابَةٍ

وَاِرتاع إِلّا مِن حَبيب بِمُؤلم

God forbid that I should weep for anything but ardent love,

Or take fright except at pain from a beloved.

سَجية نَفس لا تَزال مَلحةٍ

مِن الضَيم مَرمياً بِها كُل مُجرم

Such is the nature of a soul ever insistent:

Because of oppression, every wrongdoer is assailed by it.

أَجمع شرّاد المَعالي وَإِنَّني

أَبيت بِفكر في الهَوى مُنقَسم

I gather the scattered heights of distinction, although I

Spend the night with thoughts divided by love.

وَأَندُب أَياماً أَلذ مِن المَنا

تَقضينَ لي بَينَ الحَطيم وَزَمزَم

And I mourn days sweeter than wishes,

Which passed for me between al-Hatim and Zamzam.

تُطارحني فيهنَّ ذات تَبَسمٍ

حَديث هُوَ أَحلا مَن الشَهد في الفَم

During them, a smiling woman exchanged with me

Words sweeter than honey in the mouth.

مُوشَحة الأَعطاف حالية الطَلا

تَقلد عِقداً مِن دُموعي وَمِن دَمي

Her flanks sash-draped, her neck adorned,

She wore a necklace of my tears and my blood.

أَبَت أَن تَرى إِلّا لِطَرف تَفكر

وَيُلئمها إِلّا شِفاه تَوهم

She refused to be seen except by the eye of contemplation,

Or to be kissed except by the lips of imagination.

أَبيت سَليم القَلب مِنها كَأَنَّني

أُراقب صَفو العَيش مِن فَم أَرقَم

I pass the night with a heart stung by her, as though I

Awaited life's sweetness from a speckled serpent's mouth.

وَما أَنا مَن يَسلو هَواها وَيَنثَني

إِلى أَحد غَير الكَريم المُعَظَم

I am not one to forget my love for her and turn

To anyone except the generous, revered man,

مُحَمد السامي الجَناب وَمَن غَدا

لَهُ كَرَم الأَخلاق دونَ التَكَرُم

Muhammad, exalted in station, one who has come

To possess noble character without affected generosity.

هَمام لَقَد أَضحَت مَآثر فَضلِهِ

عَلى جَبهة الدُنيا كَغُرة أَدهَم

A high-souled man: the glorious deeds of his excellence have become

Like a black horse's white blaze upon the world's forehead.

وَمَولى إِذا ضَنَ السَحاب بوبلِهِ

عَلَينا سقانا مُسَجماً بَعد مسجم

And a lord who, when the clouds withhold their downpour

From us, gives us one abundant shower after another.

لَهُ سودد حَلَّ السَماكين رفعَةً

وَذَلِكَ أَرث فيهِ عَن عَهد آدَمِ

His eminence has reached the two Simak stars in height,

An inheritance in him from the time of Adam.

وَكَفٌّ تَحلَت بِالسَماح بِنائها

بِغَير نضار الفَضل لَم تَختم

And a hand whose very form is adorned with generosity,

Never ringed with anything but virtue's pure gold.

فَما رَوضة غَناءُ باكية الحَيا

تَبسم عَن ثَغري أَقاح وَعَندم

No luxuriant garden, weeping with rain,

Smiling through twin mouths of daisies and dragon's blood,

تَمُدُّ بِها ريح الصَبا خطواتها

وَتَرفل في ثَوب مِن النور معلم

Where the east wind lengthens its strides,

And trails proudly in a patterned robe of blossoms,

بِأَبهَج وَجهاً مِنهُ عِند هَباتِهِ

إِذا يَممت يُمناهُ آمال معدم

Is brighter of face than he is when he gives,

When a destitute person's hopes turn toward his right hand.

فَيا ماجِداً كُل المَفاخر أَصبَحت

إِلى مَجدِهِ الوَضّاح تَعزى وَتَنتَمي

O noble man, all glories have come

To be ascribed and linked to his radiant greatness.

أَتَت تَتَهادى مِنكَ في مَرط دَلها

خَريدة أَفكار وَطَبع مُسلم

There came from you, swaying in the mantle of her coquetry,

A maiden of thought and of Muslim's poetic gift.

وَلَها أَصطَحبت إِلّا البَلاغة مَحرماً

وَهَلأ غَيرَها لِلبكر يَلفى بِمحرم

And she took eloquence alone as her chaperone;

Could any other be found as a maiden's lawful escort?

لَها صَوت دَاود وَصُورة يوسف

وَحكمة لُقمان وَعفة مَريم

She has David's voice and Joseph's appearance,

And Luqman's wisdom and Mary's chastity.

تَسائَلنا عَما بَراهُ الهَنا

لِتسطير آجال وَرزق مُقسم

You ask us about what our God fashioned

To record appointed lifetimes and apportioned sustenance.

جَرى قَبل خَلق الخَلق في اللَوح بِالَّذي

يَكون وَما قَد كانَ مِن قَبل فَاعلم

Before creation was created, it ran upon the Tablet with what

Would be, and what had been before—so know:

يَراع يَراع الخَطب مِنهُ وَأَنَّهُ

لِيُثمر مِن جَدوى يَديك بِأَنعَم

A reed pen, before which calamity takes fright; indeed it

Bears blessings as fruit from the bounty of your hands.

أَراني طَريق الفَضل حَتّى سَلَكتُهُ

وَأَوضَح لي مِن لُغزِهِ كُل مُبهم

It showed me the path of excellence until I followed it,

And made every obscurity in its riddle clear to me.

فَما اسم رُباعي إِذا بِأَن صَدرُهُ

غَدَوت بِهِ ذا لَوعة وَتَرنم

What is a four-letter name whose beginning, when revealed,

Leaves you full of longing and song?

وَما هِيَ إِلّا بَلدة في رُبوعِها

يَطيب مَقام المُستَهام المُتَيم

It is nothing but a town in whose quarters

The dwelling of the love-distraught, enslaved lover is pleasant.

وَإِن مَحَت الأَفكار مِن ذاكَ ثالِثاً

بَكَيت الصِبا فيهِ وَعَهد التَنعم

And if thought erases its third letter,

There you weep for youth and the days of ease.

وَيَذكُرني أَخلاقك الغُر شَطرُهُ

وَتَحريفُهُ ضد لَكُم لَم يُكرَم

Half of it reminds me of your radiant virtues;

Its alteration is an adversary of yours, left unhonored.

وَيُبدي لَنا مِن قَلبِهِ الشَمس في الضُحى

وَيَطلَع فيها أَنجُماً بَعدَ أَنجُم

From its heart it reveals to us the sun at forenoon,

And makes stars rise within it, star after star.

وَثانيهِ مَحمود لَدى كُل عاشق

وَمَن ذا يَراهُ مِن وشاة وَلوَّم

Its second letter is praiseworthy to every lover;

Who among tale-bearers and reproachers ever sees it?

وَيَسلمني يَوم التَرحل قَلبَهُ

وَلَكنهُ مِن غَير كَف وَمعصم

On the day of departure it hands me its heart,

Yet it is without palm or wrist.

وَيوصل ما بَين المُلوك وَقَصدَها

وَإِن هَمَّ في أَمر عَلى الفَور يَفصم

It connects kings with their purposes,

And if it undertakes a matter, it cuts through it at once.

حَليف نَحول لَم يَذُق قَط جفنَهُ

مَناماً وَلَم يَطمَع بِطَيف مُسلم

A companion of wasting thinness, whose eyelid has never tasted

Sleep, nor hoped for a phantom coming to greet it.

فَعول وَلَكن لَيسَ يَدعى بِفاعل

قَؤُول وَلَكن لَيسَ بِالمُتَكَلم

It does much, yet is not called a doer;

It says much, yet is not a speaker.

عَلى أَنَّهُ قَد بانَ بَعد خَفائِهِ

وَأَصبَح مَشهوراً لَدى كُل ضَيغَم

Yet it has emerged after its concealment,

And become renowned to every lion.

فَانزلهُ مِن ناديك أَشرَف مَنزل

وَأَلبسهُ حلياً مِن قَريض منظم

So give it the noblest place in your assembly,

And clothe it in ornaments of well-ordered verse.

وَلَولا مَعانيك العَذاب وَصوغها

لَكانَ عَسيراً بِالمَديح تَكلمي

Were it not for your sweet meanings and their shaping,

My speaking in praise would have been difficult.

وَقابل جَوابي بِالقُبول تَفَضُلاً

وَسامح فَإِن الفَضل لِلمُتَقدم

Graciously receive my answer with acceptance,

And forgive, for the credit belongs to the one who came first.