أما الغزال الذي أهوى فقد هجرا — Alarjani

أمّا الغزالُ الذي أَهوَى فقد هَجَرا

أنْ عادَ رَوضُ شبابي مُبدِياً زَهَرا

As for the gazelle I love, he has deserted me,

Because the garden of my youth again displays blossoms.

فهل سَمعْتُمْ بظَبْيٍ في مَراتعِه

إذا رأَى زَهَراً في رَوضةٍ نَفَرا

Have you ever heard of a gazelle in his pastures

That flees when he sees blossoms in a garden?

قد كنتُ سارِقَ عيشٍ غيرَ مُفتَكِرٍ

من تحت ليلِ شبابٍ كان مُعتَكِرا

I used to steal a little life, untroubled by thought,

Beneath the dense darkness of youth's night.

فالآن أقمَرَ ذاك اللّيلُ من كِبَرٍ

فَعُدْتُ عن سَرَقِ اللّذّاتِ مُنزَجِرا

Now that night has grown moonlit with old age,

And I have turned away, restrained from stealing pleasures.

عُلُوُّ سِنٍّ ضحا رأسي له عَجلاً

والظِلُّ مهما تعالَتْ شمسٌ انحَسَرا

Advancing age swiftly laid my head bare before it;

And shade recedes whenever the sun rises high.

نَضا رِداء سوادٍ كنتُ لابِسَه

فانظُرْ بأيِّ شعارٍ فُجِّعَ الشُّعَرا

It stripped away a robe of blackness I had worn;

See what garb has brought the poets grief.

وشِبْتُ فاحتجبتْ عنّي الحسانُ قِلىً

وكان منهنّ طَرْفي يَجْتلي صُوَرا

I grew gray, and the beauties withdrew from me in aversion;

My gaze had once beheld their lovely forms.

إذا بياضٌ أفاتَ المرءَ رُؤيةَ مَنْ

يَهوَى فسِيّانِ شَعْراً حَلَّ أو بَصَرا

If whiteness deprives a man of seeing one

He loves, it is the same whether it settles in hair or eyesight.

عَصْرٌ أُجِدُّ بتَذْكاري له طَرَباً

حتّى أُقطِّعُ أيامي به ذِكَرا

A time whose memory renews my rapture,

Until I parcel out my days in recollections of it.

يا قاتَلَ اللهُ بدراً لستُ أَذكرُه

إلاّ تَرقرقَ دَمعُ العَينِ فابتَدَرا

Ah, God confound that full moon! I never remember him

Without the eye's tears shimmering and rushing forth.

إلْفٌ أقولُ قياساً عند رُؤيتِه

إذا بدا وإذا ما زار طيفُ كَرى

A beloved: at the sight of him I ask by comparison,

When he appears, and when a phantom visits in sleep:

مُقنَّعٌ في جُفوني كلّما رقَدَتْ

أم يُوشَعٌ في يدَيْهِ كلّما سَفَرا

Is it Muqanna‘ within my eyelids whenever they sleep,

Or Joshua in his hands whenever he unveils?

بَدْرٌ سِدادُ طريقِ الدَمعِ مَطلِعُه

في ناظري فمتى ما غابَ عنه جَرى

A full moon whose rising seals the passage of tears

Within my eye; whenever he vanishes from it, they flow.

لِثامُه مثْلُ غَيْمٍ حَشْوه بَرَدٌ

يَشِفُّ من بُعُدٍ عنه وما حُدِرا

His face-veil is like a cloud filled with hail;

It lets the hail show through from afar, though never lowered.

كأنّما سَكِرَ العَينانِ منه بما

تقولُ في فيهِ من أصداغِه عُصِرا

Both eyes seem drunk with him on what

You would say was pressed from his temple-locks into his mouth.

تَمَّتْ محاسِنُه إلاّ قَساوتَه

على الأنام وإلاّ قَتْلَهمْ هَدَرا

His beauties are complete, except for his cruelty

Toward mankind, and his killing them with impunity.

كأنّه صنَمٌ أهدَى الحياةَ له

رَبُّ العبادِ وأبقَى قلبَه حَجَرا

He is like an idol to which life was given

By the Lord of mankind, who left its heart a stone.

لَيلي وعَينيَ لا أدري لفُرقتِه

أجُنحُه طالَ لي أم جَفنُها قَصُرا

My night and my eye: since our parting I cannot tell

Whether its darkness has lengthened for me, or the eye's lid shortened.

كأن جَفْنيَّ طُولَ اللّيلِ من أرَقٍ

على حَجاجَيَّ بالأهدابِ قد سُمِرا

As though my eyelids, all night through sleeplessness,

Were nailed by their lashes to my brow-bones;

أو الإمام غداة العَرْضِ حين غَزا

تقاسَمتْ صُبْحَ ليلي خَيلُه غُرَرا

Or as though, when the Imam marched out on muster morning,

His horses divided my night's dawn among their white blazes.

لمّا تَجلّتْ من الزّوراء طالعةً

تحت الفوارسِ مَرْحَى تَنْقُضُ العُذَرا

When they emerged, coming forth from al-Zawra,

Frisking beneath their riders, snapping their bridle-straps.

سودٌ بُنوداً وبيضٌ أوجهاً طلَبتْ

عِداً لِتَخْضِبَ حُمْراً منهُمُ السُّمُرا

Black in banners and white in faces, they sought

Foes, to dye their brown spears red with their blood.

تَحُفُّ أرْوعَ مَيْموناً نقيبتُه

مهما أشار بها لم يَعْدُه أشِرا

They surround an awe-inspiring lord of fortunate disposition;

Whenever he directs them, he never oversteps in arrogance.

مَلْكٌ يقودُ جنوداً من ملائكةٍ

في طاعةِ اللهِ لا يَعصُونَ ما أَمَرا

A king leading troops of angels

In obedience to God, never disobeying His commands,

وآخَرِينَ طِلاعَ الأرض من بُهَمٍ

تَهُزُ أيمانُها الهِنديّةَ البُتُرا

And others—fearless warriors filling the earth—

Whose right hands brandish keen Indian blades.

قومٌ إذا غَرسُوا بين الضلوعِ قناً

عادتْ حَوامِلَ من هامِ العِدا ثَمَرا

Men who, when they plant spears between ribs,

Find them bearing fruit of their enemies' heads.

لم يَبقَ في الأرضِ لا ظُلْمٌ ولا ظُلَمٌ

إلاّ طُوِي بِيَدِ العدلِ الّذي نُشِرا

No oppression or darkness remained on earth

But was folded away by the hand of justice spread abroad.

وقام مسترشِداً باللهِ أَرشَدَه

فما يطيشُ له سَهمٌ إذا افتكَرا

He arose seeking guidance from God, who guided him;

No arrow of his strays whenever he reflects.

فإن دعا كان جُودُ الغَيثِ مُتَّصلاً

وإن سَخا كان غَيْثُ الجُودِ مُنَهمِرا

When he prays, the rain's bounty falls unceasingly;

When he gives, the rain of bounty pours down.

لا يَعجَبِ القومُ إنْ أَبدَى تَجَرُّدَهُ

فإنمّا هو سيفُ اللهِ قد شُهِرا

Let people not marvel if he shows himself unsheathed:

He is simply God's sword, now drawn.

هم أغضبوا اللّهَ فاجتاحَ العُداةَ به

لا غَرو حين وتَرْتَ اللّهَ إن ثَأرا

They angered God, so He swept away the foes through him;

No wonder if He takes vengeance when you have wronged God.

لمّا أطالَ الطُّلَى قومٌ إلى فِتَنٍ

لم يُمْهِل السّيفُ حتّى قَصَّر القَصَرا

When a people stretched their necks toward strife,

The sword gave no respite till it cut their neck-stems short.

ضَرْباً إلى الأرضِ للتقبيلِ راغمةً

تَلقَى الثُغورَ وطَعْناً يَنِظمُ الثغَرا

With blows that, for an unwilling kiss upon the earth,

Cast mouths down, and thrusts that thread the breaches,

ورَشْقةً تَخطِفُ الأرواحَ صائبةً

مِمّا تُطايرُهُ نارُ الوغَى شَرَرا

And a well-aimed volley that snatches souls away,

From the sparks flung out by the fire of battle.

للمارِقينَ من الدّينِ الّذين طغَوْا

بالمارقاتِ من النَبْعِ الّذي انْأطَرا

Against those who strayed from the faith and ran riot,

With arrows flying out of bent nab‘-wood bows.

تَجنَّحوا بسهامٍ في جُنوبِهمُ

لولا وَشيكُ الرّدى طَاروا بِها حَذَرا

They sprouted wings of arrows in their flanks;

But for swift death, they would have flown away on them in fear.

لم يأكلِ النّسْرُ قَتْلاهم مُشاكلَةً

لمّا علا شِلْوَهم مَن ريشُهُ اشتَكَرا

The vulture did not eat their slain, seeing its own likeness,

When their carcasses were covered with its thick-grown plumage.

قد أضحتِ الأرضُ تُحِكي تحتهم وضَماً

مِمّا قتلْتَ فلمَ تَعدَمْ بهمْ وضَرا

The earth beneath them has come to resemble a butcher's board

From all you slew; it lacked no greasy filth from them.

فلو غَسلْتَ الثَرى من وَطء أرجُلِهم

بغيرِ ماءِ الطُّلى منهمْ لمَا طَهُرا

Had you washed the soil of their footfalls

With water other than that of their necks, it would not be cleansed.

فحاطَكَ اللهُ مَلْكاً ثار مُمتَعِضاً

للدِينِ حتّى جَلا عن وَجْهِهَ القَتَرا

May God protect you, a king who rose in indignation

For the faith, till he wiped the grime from its face.

لو لم تُكَسَّرْ رماحُ الخَطِّ شاجرةً

إذَنْ لكانَ لكَسْرِ الدّينِ ما جَبَرا

Had the spears of al-Khatt not broken, interlaced in battle,

The fracture in the faith would then have gone unmended.

نُصْحاً لكم يا ملوكَ الأرضِ فانتَصِحوا

كفَى برائعِ ما بُلّغتُمُ خَبَرا

Counsel for you, kings of the earth: heed it!

The dreadful news you have received is warning enough.

هو ابْنُ مَن بعجَ اللهُ الغمامَ له

حتّى تَرهْيا فأحيا البَدْوَ والحَضَرا

He is the son of one for whom God split the clouds,

Till they poured down, reviving nomads and townspeople.

فحاذِروا مَن إذا ما شاء مُنتقماً

عَدَّ الحديدَ غماماً والدَّمَ المَطَرا

Beware one who, when he wishes vengeance,

Counts iron as clouds and blood as rain.

فيئوا إلى كُتْبِه واخشَوْا كتائبَهُ

قد أصحَر اليومَ ليثٌ طالما خَدَرا

Return to his writs, and fear his battalions;

Today a lion has come into the open, long used to his lair.

نافٍ غِرارَيْهِ من جَفْنَيهِ ذو حَدَبٍ

يُواصِلُ الضَرْبَ دون الدِّينِ والسّهَرا

Banishing brief slumber from his two eyelids, a devoted guardian,

He keeps up blows and wakefulness in defense of the faith.

فِداؤكم آلَ عبّاسٍ وإنْ صَغَروا

من العدا مَن أسرَّ الخُلْفَ أو جَهَرا

May they ransom you, house of Abbas, though they are unworthy—

Those foes who conceal their disloyalty or proclaim it.

حُكْمٌ منَ الله في الدُّنيا لدولتِكم

ألاّ يُغادِرَ حَيّاً مَن بها غَدَرا

A decree from God in this world for your dynasty:

That whoever betrays it shall not depart alive.

ما استوطأ الظّهرَ مِن عَصيانِكم أحدٌ

إلاّ وقالتْ له الأيّامُ سوف تَرى

No one has found a comfortable mount in rebellion against you

Without the days saying to him, 'You shall see.'

ما جَرَّد السَّيفَ باغٍ حَرْبَكم فرأى

لذلكِ السيفِ إلاّ نفسَه جَزرا

No rebel ever drew a sword to wage war on you and saw

Any prey for that sword but himself.

لقد رأى اللّهُ ما أَبَدى خليفتُه

وما أعادَ مِنَ العدْلِ الذي اشتَهرا

God has indeed seen what His caliph has displayed

And restored of justice known far and wide.

خلافةٌ رشّحتْهُ السّابقونَ لها

وِراثةً قد نَفَوا عن صَفْوِها الكَدَرا

A caliphate for which his predecessors had fitted him,

As an inheritance whose purity they had cleared of dross.

ودَرَّجتْه إليها أوّلونَ دَعَوا

للمؤمنينَ فذادوا عنهمُ أُمَرا

Earlier men led him toward it step by step, men who prayed

For the believers and drove rulers away from them.

سَفّاحُهم بَعْدَهُ المنصورُ يَتْبَعُه ال

مَهديُّ واقتفَر الهادي له الأَثرا

Their al-Saffah; after him al-Mansur, followed by al-

Mahdi; and al-Hadi followed in his footsteps.

ثُمّ الرّشيدُ وأبناءٌ له نُجُبٌ

ثلاثةٌ للهُدَى أَعزِزْ بهِم نَفَرا

Then al-Rashid, and his noble sons,

Three devoted to guidance—what mighty men they were!

أمينُ مُلْكٍ ومأمونٌ ومُعتَصِمٌ

وواثقٌ وكفَى فَخْراً لِمَنْ فَخَرا

Al-Amin of the realm, al-Ma'mun, and al-Mu'tasim,

And al-Wathiq—sufficient glory for anyone who boasts.

ومَن تَوَّكل فيما قد تَقلَّدَه

ومَن دَعَوه لدينِ اللّه مُنْتَصِرا

And al-Mutawakkil, trusting in the charge he had assumed,

And he whom they called al-Muntasir for God's religion.

والمُستعينُ له المُعتَزُّ مُرتَدفٌ

والمُهتدي بالإلهِ المُرتَضَى سِيَرا

And al-Musta'in, followed in turn by al-Mu'tazz,

And al-Muhtadi through God, whose conduct was approved.

وقام مُعتَمِدٌ يَتلوهُ مُعتَضِدٌ

ومُكْتَفٍ مُعْقِبٌ للمُلْكِ مُقْتَدِرا

Then al-Mu'tamid arose, followed by al-Mu'tadid,

And al-Muktafi, leaving al-Muqtadir to succeed to the throne.

والقاهرُ العَدْلُ والرّاضي ومُتّقِياً

فاذْكرْ ومُستَكْفياً من بَعْدِ مَنْ ذُكِرا

And al-Qahir the just, and al-Radi; and al-Muttaqi

Recall, and al-Mustakfi after those already named.

ثُمّ المُطيعُ يَليهِ الطّائعُ اختُتِمَتْ

عُلْياهُ بالقادرِ الكافي إذِ اقتدرا

Then al-Muti‘, followed by al-Ta'i‘; his eminence was sealed

By al-Qadir, the sufficient, when he gained power.

وقائمٌ قد تَلاهُ مُقْتَدٍ سَبَقا

أيّامَ مُستَظْهِرٍ باللّهِ قد ظَهَرا

And al-Qa'im, followed by al-Muqtadi, both preceding

The days of al-Mustazhir bi-llah, who came forth.

خلائفٌ نُظِموا في سِلْكِ دَهْرِهمُ

ونورُ وَجْهِك منهم في المنونِ سَرى

Caliphs strung upon the thread of their age,

And the light of your face passed through them down the ages.

فما عدا وهْو سِرُّ اللّهِ أَضمَرَه

بيومِ إظْهارِه أن بَشَّرَ البَشَرا

It did no more—God's secret, which He had concealed—

On the day of its unveiling, than gladden mankind.

وَثمَّ عِدّةُ أملاكٍ ذَوي شَرَفٍ

تَقَدَّموه وكانوا أنجُماً زُهُرا

There were a number of noble kings

Who preceded him and were bright stars:

عِشرونَ يَتْبَعُها منهم ثمانيةٌ

كانوا المنازلَ والمسترشدُ القَمَرا

Twenty, followed by eight more of them;

They were the lunar mansions, and al-Mustarshid the moon.

إنِ استَسَرَّ وراءَ الحُجْبِ آوِنةً

فقد شفَى العينَ إهْلالٌ له بَدَرا

If at times he hid behind the veils,

His first moonrise, full-orbed, has healed the eye.

فارقَبْ نَماءَ منَ الإقبالِ مُتَّصِلاً

ودوْلةً سوف تُفْني دَهْرَها عُمُرا

So expect unbroken increase in good fortune,

And a dynasty whose lifetime will exhaust its era.

يا بحرَ علمٍ نَماهُ الحَبْرُ والدُه

مَجْداً ويا بَدْرَ تِمّ يَمطُرُ الدُّررا

O sea of learning, whom his learned father raised

To glory; O moon at the full, raining pearls!

أنعِمْ عليَّ بخَطٍّ ما حَظِيتُ به

وكم مَددْتُ إليه العينَ مُنتَظِرا

Favor me with a line of your handwriting I have not yet received;

How often I have stretched my gaze toward it, awaiting it!

شمسُ الهدى طلعَتْ للخَلْقِ مُشرِقةً

وما رُزِقْتُ إلى أنوارِها نَظَرا

The sun of guidance rose shining upon creation,

Yet I was not granted a glimpse of its lights.

والبيتُ من دونِه الأستارُ قد رُفِعَتْ

ولم أكنْ أنا فيمنْ حَجَّ واعتَمرا

The House—its intervening curtains have been raised—

Yet I was not among those who made the greater and lesser pilgrimages.

فما أرى أنّني أهدَيْتُ مُمتدِحاً

شِعْرِي ولكنّني أهدَيْتُ مُعتَذِرا

I do not think I have presented, as a panegyrist,

My poetry; rather, I presented it as one offering apology.

وقَلَّ سُؤْراً لكم منّا قصائدُنا

حِياضُ مَدْحِكُمُ قَدْ أُترِعَتْ سُؤَرا

Our poems are but a scant leftover draught from us for you;

The basins of your praise are brimful of leftover draughts.

كلٌّ من البحرِ مُمتارٌ لدرّتِه

ولي إلى البحرِ راوٍ يَحمِلُ الدُّررا

Everyone draws from the sea in search of its pearl,

While I have a reciter bearing pearls to the sea.

وواعدي بالغنى فَقْرِي إليك وقد

نالَ الغنى مَن إلى إنعامِك افتقَرا

My need of you promises me wealth, for already

He who stood in need of your bounty has gained riches.

خليفةَ اللهِ جَلَّلْتَ الورى نِعَماً

ألا فلا لَقِيَتْ أيّامُك الغِيَرا

Caliph of God, you have clothed mankind in blessings;

May your days never meet reversals!

هَبْ للثَّرى نظْرةً تَرمي بها لتَرَى

هامَ الرُّبا برِداء النَّورِ مُعتَجِرا

Grant the earth a glance, casting it to see

The hills' heads turbaned in a robe of blossoms.

قد زَيَّنَ الأرضَ شُكراً أنْ بَقيتَ لها

والوعْدُ أنْ سيزيد اللهُ مَن شَكَرا

It has adorned the earth in thanks that you remain for her;

The promise is that God will give more to whoever gives thanks.

لمّا تباشَر إصباحاً شقائقُها

بأنْ نُصِرتَ وكانتْ قُمْصُها حُمُرا

When her anemones exchanged glad tidings at dawn

That you had triumphed—their shirts were red—

رَدَّتْ على الأرؤسِ الأذيالَ من طَرَبٍ

لخَلْعِهنّ على مَن بَلّغَ الخَبَرا

They drew their hems back over their heads in rapture,

To bestow those robes upon the bearer of the news.

لقد بَلغْتَ أميرَ المؤمنين مَدىً

عنه السُّها قاصِرٌ لو كُنتَ مُقتصِرا

You have reached, Commander of the Faithful, a height

Beyond al-Suha's reach, even if you had held back.

مَن فَرّ منك يَجوبُ الأرضَ مُنهزماً

يَزدادُ وِزْراً ولكنْ لا يَرى وَزَرا

Whoever flees from you, roaming the earth in defeat,

Gains more guilt but finds no refuge.

في الشّرقِ والغَربِ لا يُفْضي إلى سَعَةٍ

ذو الذَّنْبِ إلاّ إذا ما كنتَ مُغتَفِرا

In east and west, no place of ease is reached

By the guilty, except when you forgive.

ألا فَنَوْرِزْ مُطاعَ الأمرِ مُبتهِجاً

مُقسِّماً في الأنامِ النّفْعَ والضّرَرا

Come, celebrate Nowruz in joy, your command obeyed,

Apportioning benefit and harm among mankind.

ودُمْ لنا ووَلِيِّ العَهْدِ مُحتفِظاً

منه بأنفَسِ ذُخْرٍ للورَى ذُخِرا

Live on for us and the heir apparent, preserving

In him the most precious treasure laid up for mankind,

في دولةٍ من صُروفِ الدَّهْرِ آمنةٍ

وعيشةٍ لا تَرَى عن وِرْدِها صَدَرا

In a dynasty secure from time's vicissitudes,

And a life whose watering-place you never leave.