للطيف بحر بكاي ينفرق — Alarjani

للطَّيفِ بَحرُ بُكايَ يَنْفَرِقُ

وإذا تقحّمَ عُذَّلي غَرِقوا

For the beloved's phantom, the sea of my weeping parts;

and when my reproachers plunge in, they drown.

إعجازُ وَجْدٍ قد شَرعْتُ به

دينَ الغرام لكُلِّ مَن عَشِقوا

A miracle of passion, through which I have ordained

the religion of love for all who have loved.

مطَرتْ سَحابةُ عَبْرتي دِيَماً

من طُولِ ما رَعدوا وما بَرقُوا

The cloud of my tears rained lasting showers

from how long they thundered and flashed.

قالَ الوشاةُ لقد سلوتهُمُ

كَذِبَ الوشاةُ وليتَهم صَدقوا

The slanderers said I had indeed forgotten them;

the slanderers lied—would that they had spoken true!

بالقلبِ يَسْلو إن سلا دَنِفٌ

والقلبُ رَهْنٌ عندهم غَلِق

Through the heart a lovesick man forgets, if ever he forgets;

yet my heart is a forfeited pledge in their keeping.

أَبني كنانةَ من قبائلِكمْ

بالحَزْنِ حيث تَلاقَتِ البُرَق

O sons of Kinanah, among your tribes,

in the rugged uplands where the stony tracts meet,

نَبّالةٌ يومَيْ وغىً وهوىً

أَهدافُها وسهامُها الحَدَق

are archers on the two days of battle and love:

their targets and their arrows alike are eyes.

وإلى المَقاتلِ لَحْظُ أَعيُنِهمْ

من نَبْلِهمْ أَهدَى إذا رشَقوا

Toward the body's mortal spots, their eyes' glances

are better guided than their arrows when they shoot.

رمَقوا فما تَركوا غداتَئذٍ

فوق البسيطةِ مَن بهِ رمَق

They gazed, and that morning left not

a soul upon the earth with a breath of life.

أَرأَيتَ كيف غدا يُديرُ لنا

عينَيْهِ ذاك الشّادِنُ الخَرِق

Have you seen how he began to turn toward us

his eyes—that skittish young gazelle?

ليس العجيبُ إذا هُما رمَتا

والقلبُ لامةُ صَبْرِه مِزَق

The marvel is not, when those two shoot,

and the heart's armor of patience lies in shreds,

أنْ لم يكُنْ عندَ النِّضالِ بدا

من نابلَيْنِ لحاسِرٍ فَرَق

that no fear appeared at the archery contest

in an unarmored man facing two archers.

عَجِبَ الخلائقُ من فؤادِ فتىً

أَرسَى بحيثُ الأسهُمُ المِرَق

People marveled at a young man's heart,

held fast where the arrows pierce through.

يَلتَذُّ ما أَصماهُ قاتِلُه

وبه إذا لم يَرْمِه القَلَق

It delights when its slayer strikes it dead,

and grows anxious when he does not shoot at it.

أشجِعْ بقَلْبي حين تَرشُقُه

لو أنّ صُدْغَك فوقَه حَلَق

How brave my heart would be when you shoot at it,

if your temple-lock were rings above it!

يا صاحِ أَسعِدْني فكم أَنا قد

أَسعَدُْت أَصحابي الأُلَى عَشِقوا

O friend, aid me; how often have I

aided my companions who fell in love!

سَلْ حَيَّهمْ عنّي وعن نفَري

كم صُبِّحوا منّا وكم طُرِقوا

Ask their encampment about me and my band:

how often we visited them at dawn, and how often by night.

عُقُباً فإمّا زائرٌ طَرِبٌ

وَجْداً وإمّا ثائرٌ حَنِق

By turns: either a visitor enraptured

with longing, or an avenger furious with rage.

فبأدْهَمِ الإظْلامِ أَطرُقُهمْ

وبأَشَهبِ الإصباح أَنطلِق

On the black steed of darkness I visit them by night,

and on the gray steed of dawn I depart.

من دونِ ديباجِ الخدودِ لهم

كُسِيَ القِبابَ سُجوفَها السَّرق

Before the brocade of their cheeks,

silk clothes their tents as hanging curtains.

فإذا ذهبْتَ مُسارِقاً نظَراً

أَعياكَ من سَرَقٍ بها السَّرق

And if you try to steal a glance,

the silk there defeats your stealing.

أُمسي إذا ملأوا العيونَ كَرىً

والجَفْنُ منّي مِلْؤه أَرَق

I pass the evening, when they fill their eyes with sleep,

with my eyelid filled with sleeplessness.

وأَزورهمْ طَيْفاً وأَحسَبُني

لو زُرتُهمْ شَخْصاً لَما فَرِقوا

I visit them as a phantom, and I think

that, were I to visit them in bodily form, they would not be frightened.

للهِ أهيفُ خَصْرُه أَبداً

بنواظرِ العُشّاقِ مُنْتَطِق

How wondrous the slender one, whose waist is forever

girdled by the gazes of lovers!

شمسٌ إذا غربَتْ غداةَ نوىً

فبُكايَ في آثارِها شَفَق

A sun: when it sets on a morning of parting,

my tears in its wake are the twilight glow.

قد قلتُ للقلبِ امتلِك جلَداً

أَو فاستَعِرْ فالرَّكْبُ مُنْطَلِق

I said to my heart, 'Acquire fortitude,

or borrow some, for the caravan is departing.'

فأجابَ لا تَتْعَبْ بتَوْصيَتي

قبلَ التّفرُّقِ نحن نَفْتَرِق

It answered, 'Do not weary yourself advising me:

before their separation, you and I will part.

لك أَدمعٌ لو سار رَكْبُهمُ

قُطِعَتْ بهِنّ عليهمُ الطُّرق

You have tears such that, if their caravan departed,

the roads would be blocked against them by those tears.

أطفأْتَ نارَ الخَدِّ منك بها

وتَركْتَ صَدْرَك مِلْؤه الحُرَق

With them you quenched the fire of your cheek,

and left your breast full of burning anguish.'

كتَم الهوَى قَلْبي فأحْرَقَه

والزَّنْدُ حينَ يَبوحُ يَحْتَرِق

My heart concealed love, and love burned it;

yet the fire-stick burns when it speaks out.

وبكَيتُ من شَوْقٍ ومن عجَبٍ

ظَمْآنُ وهْو بمائهِ شَرِق

I wept from longing and from wonder:

a thirsty one, yet choking on his own water.

أمّا الوُشاةُ فكم لنا طلَبوا

عَيْباً وأعيا الصِّدْقُ فاخَتلَقوا

As for the slanderers, how often they sought against us

a fault; truth eluded them, so they fabricated.

من قبلِ أن خلَقوا لنا قِصصاً

يا لَيتَهمْ في النّاسِ ما خُلِقوا

Before they made up tales about us,

would that they had never been created among mankind!

أعطَيتُ أَيّامي القِيادُ على

قَسْرٍ وكيف يُجاذَبُ الوَهَق

I gave my days the reins under

compulsion—how can one tug against a noose?

ورَضِيتُ عن بَحْرٍ أُجاوِرُه

إن كانَ لا رِيٌّ ولا شَرَق

I was content with a sea I dwell beside,

provided there was neither refreshment nor drowning.

وقصائدٍ غُرٍّ مُحبَّرةٍ

هيَ من فؤادي لو دَرَوْا شِقَق

And radiant, finely wrought poems—

they are, if they knew it, strips of my heart.

آتي بها سُوقَ الكَسادِ وقد

حُشِدَتْ بها الأملاكُ والسُّوَق

I bring them to a stagnant market, though

kings and commoners have been gathered there.

فَيُرخِّصونَ ويَرْخُصون وقد

قُطِعَتْ بهِنَّ إليهمُ شُقَق

They undervalue them and cheapen themselves, though

long distances were crossed with these poems to reach them.

كَذِبَ الأُلَى قالوا المديحُ لنا

رِيحٌ فلِمْ يُعطَى بهِ الوَرِق

Those lied who said, 'Praise, to us,

is wind—why should silver be paid for it?'

فالرّيحُ أيضاً إنْ أُتيحَ لها

هَزُّ الغصونِ تَناثَر الوَرَق

For the wind too, if allowed

to shake the boughs, sends leaves scattering.

أنا والبَدائعُ لن أَزالَ لها

أُمسي بجَفْنٍ ليس يَنطبِق

As for me and wondrous verses, for their sake I shall always

pass my evenings with an eyelid that will not close.

وبناتُ فِكْرٍ لي تَدورُ معي

وأَدورُ عُمْري وهْيَ تَأْتلِق

The daughters of my thought revolve with me,

and all my life I revolve while they shine.

كبناتِ نَعْشٍ والسُّها طَلباً

للاِشْتهارِ بهنّ مُلْتَصِق

Like Banat Na'sh, with al-Suha seeking

renown by clinging to them.

لكنْ تَرانا في سماءِ عُلاً

من حَولِ قُطْبِ المجدِ نَختَرِق

Yet you see us in a heaven of eminence,

coursing around the pole of glory.

قُطْبٌ عليه عادَ مُؤْتَنِفاً

فلَكُ الممالكِ وهْو مُتّسِق

A pole about which has turned anew

the sphere of kingdoms, in ordered harmony.

ما رأْيُه والمُلْكُ إن طرقَتْ

غَمّاءُ إلاّ الشّمسُ والأفُق

His counsel and the kingdom, when assailed by

a dark calamity, are but the sun and the horizon.

وخِطابُه والخَطْبُ إن يَعْلُ ال

أَقوامُ إلاّ اللّيلُ والفَلَق

And his speech and calamity, should it rise over the

peoples, are but night and daybreak.

هي دَولةٌ سَعِدَتْ بأوحدِها

فشَبيهُه في الدَّهْرِ ما رَمقوا

This is a state made fortunate by its peerless man,

for never in all time have they seen his like.

في كلِّ شَيءٍ أَهلُه اختلفوا

لكنْ على تَفْضيلِه اتّفقوا

Its people have differed over everything,

yet have agreed upon his superiority.

ما انفَكّ مِسْكُ ثَنائنا أَبداً

وله ببُرْدِ علائه عَبَق

The musk of our praise has never ceased

to perfume the mantle of his eminence.

ما إن يَزال حَجيجُ كعبته

فِرَقاً على آثارِها فِرَق

The pilgrims to his Kaaba never cease to come,

band after band following in their tracks.

مِن وجههِ لهمُ ومِن يده

شَمسٌ تُضيء وعَارِضٌ يَدِق

From his face they have, and from his hand,

a sun that shines and a cloud that showers rain.

مُصْفٍ لسلطانِ الأنامِ هوىً

ففؤادُه بسِواهُ لا يَثِق

Sincere in love for the sovereign of mankind,

his heart puts trust in no other.

خلَصَتْ سَريرتُه وسائرهمْ

قد نافَقُوا غِشّاً فما نَفقوا

His inner heart is pure, while all the others

have practiced deceitful hypocrisy and found no favor.

قُلْ للمُهنَّا ما يليقُ به

هُنِّئْتَ أَنَّك بالعُلا لَبِق

Say to the one receiving congratulations what befits him:

'Joy to you, for you are well suited to eminence!'

تَقليدُ مثْلِك شُغْلَ مملكةٍ

مثْلُ القِلادةِ زانَها العُنُق

Entrusting someone like you with the affairs of a kingdom

is like a necklace that the neck itself adorns.

شاني علائك قَلْبُه أَلِمٌ

طُولَ الزّمانِ وطَرْفُه أَرِق

The hater of your eminence has an aching heart

for all time, and a sleepless eye.

حَنِقٌ دخيلُ الغَيْظِ ينفُخُه

حتّى بِزَرِّ الثّوبِ يَختَنِق

Enraged, the anger lodged within inflates him,

until his garment's button chokes him.

نَفْسي فِداؤك مِن أَخي ثقةٍ

للودِّ يَمحَضُ كُلَّ ما مَذَقوا

My soul be your ransom, O trustworthy brother,

who purifies for friendship all that they adulterate.

صدْقٌ صداقتُه لصاحِبه

فلدَيْهِ لا كذِبٌ ولا مَلَق

His friendship for his companion is true:

with him there is neither falsehood nor flattery.

غَوّاصُ بَحْرِ يَمينِه قَلَمٌ

يَمتارُ منه اللُّؤْلُؤُ النَّسق

The diver in the sea of his right hand is a pen,

fetching from it pearls in ordered strings.

ويُضيءُ قرطاساً ومِن عجَبٍ

جَوْنٌ يُضيء بصِبْغِه يَقَق

It lights up a sheet of paper, and wondrously,

black brightens pure white with its pigment.

للهِ أَبلجُ نُورُ غُرّته

مهما تَجلّى للعِدا صَعِقوا

How wondrous the radiant one! His brow's light,

whenever it shines upon his foes, leaves them thunderstruck.

يَسعَى الغمام وليس يُدرِكُه

مُتكلِّفاً بجَبينِه عَرَق

The cloud strives, yet cannot catch him,

laboring, with sweat upon its brow.

والبحرُ حينَ تَقيسُه كرَماً

في قَطْرةٍ من بَحْرِه غَرِق

The sea, when you measure it against him in generosity,

drowns in a single drop of his sea.

عُودُ العُلا والمَجدُ مِطْرَفُه

مِثْلُ المشيبِ جَديدُه خَلَق

He is eminence's veteran, and glory is his mantle;

like gray hair, its newest is already old.

والدّهرُ مِضمارُ الكرامِ وهُمْ

أَشباهُ خَيْلٍ فيه تَستَبِق

Time is the racecourse of the noble, and they

are like horses racing to outstrip each other.

ما إن لَحِقْتَهُمْ وقد سَبقوا

حتّى سبقْتَهُمُ فما لَحِقوا

No sooner had you caught them, though they had a head start,

than you outstripped them, and they never caught up.

من آلِ سالمٍ الألَى سَلِمَتْ

أَعراضُهمْ وتَمجَّد الخُلُق

From the house of Salim, those whose

honor remained unsullied and character grew noble.

تَنْميكَ أَمْلاكٌ يَمانِيَةٌ

بِيضٌ كَدُرِّ العِقْدِ قد نُسِقوا

Yemeni kings give you your lineage,

white as the pearls of a necklace, arrayed in order.

أحسابُهمْ تَحكي سُيوفَهمُ

في الرَّوْعِ فهْي صَقيلةٌ عُتُق

Their ancestral honors resemble their swords

in battle's terror: polished and ancient.

غرَبوا فلمّا جئْتَ بعدَهمُ

وحكَيْتَهمْ فكأنّهمْ شَرَقوا

They set; then, when you came after them

and mirrored them, it was as though they rose again.

أَصفيَّ دينِ اللهِ دَعوةَ مَن

أَضحَى بذَيْلِ عُلاكَ يَعتَلِق

O Safi of God's faith, hear the plea of one

who has come to cling to the hem of your eminence.

هل في الفضيلةِ أن أَعيشَ كذا

شِلْواً بكفِّ الدّهرِ أُعترَق

Is it fitting for virtue that I should live thus,

a carcass in Time's hand, gnawed bare?

أيّامَ أنت مُحَكِّمٌ قلَماً

في دَولةٍ ولديكَ مُرتَزَق

In days when you give a pen authority

within a state, and have a livelihood at your disposal?

وتَضُمُّنا عرَبيّةٌ كرُمَتْ

أَعراقُها فَفُروعُها سُمُق

An Arab lineage unites us, noble

in its roots, so its branches rise high.

إنْ تَعْتَنِقْ كُلَفي مُحافظةً

لا زال رَحْباً منك مُعتَنَق

If, in loyalty, you embrace my ardent love,

may your embrace always remain spacious.

فَلطالما والدّهرُ ذو دُوَلٍ

لِوَميضِ بَرْقِكَ بِتُّ أرتَفِق

How often, while time turns fortunes,

I have spent the night propped on my elbow, awaiting your lightning's gleam.

نَصْرُ ابْنِ نَصْرٍ قد قَنِعْتُ به

قَرُبتْ ليَ الأنصارُ أم سَحُقوا

The aid of Ibn Nasr is enough for me,

whether my helpers be near to me or far away.

وعُلا عَليٍّ فوقَ كُلِّ عُلاً

سكَتوا غداةَ الفَخْرِ أَم نَطَقوا

And Ali's eminence is above all eminence,

whether they fall silent on the day of boasting or speak.

لا زال قُطْباً في الثّباتِ له

يَأْتي ويَمْضي الصُّبْحُ والغَسَق

May he ever remain a steadfast pole, around whom

dawn and dusk come and go.