صوت حمام الأيك عند الصباح — Alarjani

صوتُ حمامِ الأيكِ عند الصّباحْ

جدَّد تذْكارِيَ عهْدَ الصّباحْ

The sound of the grove's doves at dawn

renewed my memory of times with the fair-faced ones.

علَّمْننَا الشّجْوَ فيا مَنْ رأى

عُجْماً يُعلِّمْن رجالاً فِصاح

They taught us sorrow—oh, who has ever seen

speechless creatures teaching eloquent men?

ألحانُ ذاتِ الطَّوقِ في غُصنْهِا

مُذْكِرتي أزْمانَ ذاتِ الوِشاح

The melodies of the collared one upon her branch

recall to me the days of the woman with the sash.

لا أشكرُ الطّائرَ إن شاقَني

على نوىً عن سَكَني وانتِزاح

I do not thank the bird if it stirs my longing

amid separation from my beloved and remoteness.

وإنما أشكرُ لو أنّه

أعارني أيضاً إليه جَناح

And I would thank it only if it

also lent me a wing to reach him.

أكلّما اشتَقْتُ الحِمَى شفَّني

لاح إذا بَرْقٌ من الغَورِ لاح

Whenever I long for the cherished grounds, must I be worn thin

by a reprover, when lightning gleams from al-Ghawr?

يَزيدُ إغرائي إذا لامني

وربّما أفسد باغي الصَّلاح

He increases my ardor when he reproaches me;

sometimes one seeking improvement does harm.

ماذا عسى الواشون أن يصْنَعوا

إذا تراسلْنا بأيدي الرِّياح

What could the tale-bearers possibly do

if we exchange messages through the hands of the winds?

ورُبَّ ليلٍ قد تدرَّعتُه

رهينَ شوقٍ نحوكم وارتياح

And many a night I have worn as armor,

a captive of yearning and eager longing toward you.

يَرْوَي غليلُ الأرضِ من عبْرتي

وبي إليكم ظمأٌ والتْيِاح

The earth's thirst is quenched by my tears,

yet within me are thirst and burning longing for you.

حتى بَدتْ تُطلِقُ طَيْرَ الدُّجى

من شَكِ الأنجُمِ كفُّ الصباح

Until there appeared, releasing the birds of darkness

from the stars' pinning, the hand of dawn.

لا غرْوَ إن فاضَتْ دماً مقلتي

وقد غدتْ مِلْء فؤادي جِراح

No wonder if my eye overflows with blood,

when wounds have come to fill my heart.

بلُ يا أخا الحَيّ إذا زُرْتَه

فحَيِ عَنّي ساكناتِ البِطاح

Rather, brother of the tribe, when you visit it,

greet for me the women dwelling in the broad valleys.

وارْمِ بطرْفٍ من بعيدٍ فَمن

دونِ صِفاحِ البيِضِ بِيضٌ صِفاح

And cast a glance from afar, for

before the fair women's cheeks stand broad, gleaming blades.

وآخِرُ العَهْدِ بأظعانِهم

يومَ حَدَوا تلك المَطِيَّ الطِّلاح

My last sight of their departing caravan

was the day they sang those weary mounts onward.

وعارَض الرَّكبَ على رِقْبةٍ

مُديرُ ألحاظٍ مِراضٍ صِحاح

And, watchfully, there came alongside the caravan

one casting glances, languid yet sound.

لمّا جلا لي عند تَوديعِه

رِياضَ حُسْنٍ لم تكُنْ لي تُباح

When, at his farewell, he unveiled to me

gardens of beauty never before permitted to me,

جَعلْتُ ممّا هاج بي شَوقُها

وجْهِي وَقاحاً وجنَيْتُ الأقاح

with longing for them aroused within me, I made

my face brazen and plucked the chamomile blooms.

وطالما قالوا ولم يَكْذِبوا

سِلاح ذي الحاجةِ وجْهٌ وقاح

How often they have said—and did not lie—

that a needy man's weapon is a brazen face.

فكيف ألْقى الدّهرَ قِرناً وقد

أصبَحْتُ لا أملِكُ ذاك السِّلاح

Then how can I face Time as an adversary, when

I now no longer possess that weapon?

يا صاح إن أعددت لي نصرةً

فهذه حربي مع الدهر صاح

Friend, if you have prepared support for me,

this is my war with Time, friend.

جَرَّبْتَني قِدْماً فصادفْتَني

على الأخِلاءِ قليلَ الجِماح

You tested me long ago and found me

little given to defiance toward my friends,

مُطاوِعاً كالماء إن سُقْتَه

من السّماسَحَّ أوِ الأرضِ ساح

pliant as water: if you channel it

from the sky it pours, or from the earth it flows.

مالكَ يا دَهْرُ على عِزَّتي

أَبيتَ إلا جَفْوتِي واطِّراح

What ails you, Time? Despite my dignity,

you insist on nothing but shunning and casting me away.

والحُسنُ للحسناء مُستَجمَعٌ

والحظُّ قد جُنَّ بحُبِ القِباح

All beauty is gathered in the beautiful woman,

yet Fortune has gone mad with love for the ugly.

قلبي وشِعْري أبداً للورى

يُصبحُ كلٌ وحِماهُ مُباح

My heart and my poetry, ever for mankind—

each wakes with its sanctuary open to all.

ذا لمُلوكِ العصرِ فيما أرى

نَهْبٌ وهذا للوجوهِ المِلاح

The one, for the kings of the age, as I see it,

is plunder; the other belongs to lovely faces.

أمدَحُهمم عُمْري ولكنّني

أرجو من الله ثَوابَ امتداح

I praise them all my life, yet

I hope for the reward of praise from God.

كأننّي قُمْريّةٌ عندهم

تَسجَعُ في المَغْدى لهم والمراح

It is as though I were a turtledove among them,

cooing for them at morning departure and evening return.

ومالها في الجيدِ منهم سوى

ما قَلّدَ اللهُ بغَيْرِ امتياح

Upon her neck she has nothing from them except

what God hung there, without her seeking a gift.

أَستَغْفِرُ اللهَ فتَشْبيهُها

ممّا على القائلِ فيهِ جُناح

I ask God's forgiveness: likening myself to her

is something for which the speaker bears guilt.

فَهْي تَرى حَفْنةَ حَبٍّ لها

تُلقَى إلى جُرْعةِ ماءٍ قَراح

For she finds a handful of grain for herself,

cast beside a sip of pure water:

مَعيشةٌ رابحةٌ عندَهم

عِلّتُها كلَّ غَداةٍ تُزاح

a thriving livelihood in their care,

her need relieved each morning.

ودون إطلاق معَاشي لهم

رِتاجُ مَطْلٍ عَسِرُ الانفتاح

Yet, before they release my livelihood,

stands a gate of procrastination, hard to open.

أُلازِمُ الحَضْرةَ دهْراً إلى

أن يَتأنّى لي أوانُ السَّراح

I remain at court for an age, until

the hour of release slowly comes to me.

حتّى إذا عُدْتُ إلى مَجْثمِي

عُدْتُ إلى عُمّالِ سُوءٍ وقاح

Then, when I return to my roost,

I return to shameless, evil officials.

حان مَسيري راحلاً عنكمُ

ودونَ أوطانيَ بِيدٌ فِساح

The time has come for me to journey away from you,

and before my homelands lie vast deserts.

فهل مُعينٌ لي على قَطْعها

بواضحِ الغُرّةِ بادي المراح

Is there anyone to help me cross them

with a bright-blazed steed, visibly spirited,

مُنتصِبِ الهادي سليمِ الشَّظَى

مُتّصلِ الخَطْوِ قليل الجِماح

with erect neck and sound shank bones,

unbroken in stride, little prone to balking?

تَنتَهب الأرض له أربَعٌ

للنّار من أطرافِهنّ انقداح

Its four legs plunder the earth,

with sparks of fire struck from their tips.

ومَن تُرَى يَسْخو بأمثاله

حتّى أراه وهْو فَوقَ اقْتِراح

Who, I wonder, is generous with its like,

so that I might behold it, though it surpasses any request,

إلاّ الأميرُ الماجِدُ المُرتَجي

نَواله الواهِبُ السُناح

except the noble prince, sought for

his bounty—the lavish giver?

فهذه حالي وذا شَرْحُها

فهل لقَلْبٍ معَ هذا انشراح

Such is my condition, and this its account;

can a heart find ease amid all this,

إن لم تَزُرْ عُثْمانَ لي أينقٌ

غُدُوَّها يَسبِقْ طَرْفَ الرِّياح

unless she-camels of mine visit Uthman,

their morning journey outracing the winds' glance?

كأن أيديها إذا شارفَتْ

فِناءه فائزةٌ بالقِداح

As though their forelegs, when they approach

his courtyard, were winning with the gaming arrows.

نجَتْ على بُعْدٍ إليه وفي

بُعْدِ نَجاءِ العيسِ قُرْبُ النّجاح

They sped to him from afar, and in

the long flight of the pale camels lies nearness to success.

فَزُرْن مَلْكاً لم يَزلْ جاهُه

عازِبَ سُؤْلٍ لي حتى أراح

So they visited a king whose influence had long remained

a distant wish of mine, until he gave relief.

صَدْرٌ رحيبُ الصّدْرِ ذو هِمّةٍ

له إلى نيْلِ المعالي طِماح

A leader, broad-hearted and endowed with resolve,

with high ambition to attain the heights of glory.

تَهُزُّ منه الدَّهرَ أعطافُه

نَشْوةُ جُودٍ تَعْتري وهْو صاح

His sides are ever set swaying

by a rapture of generosity that visits him while sober.

تَرى بكَفّيْهِ ومِن وجْههِ

بَدْرَ سماءٍ بين بَحرَي سَماح

You see, in his two palms and in his face,

a sky's full moon between two seas of bounty.

مُتَوَّجُ يَجْعَلُ هامَ العِدا

في الروْع تيِجانَ رؤوسِ الرِماح

A crowned man who makes his enemies' heads

in battle, crowns for the heads of spears.

يَبْتَدِر الصّارخُ يومَ الوغَى

بسائلِ الغُرّة طاغِي المِراح

He hastens to the caller for aid on the day of battle,

on a steed with a streaming blaze and overflowing spirit.

في سَرْجه شَمْسٌ وفي نَقْعِه

شَمْسٌ أطاح النَّورَ منها فطاح

In its saddle is a sun, and in its dust

a sun: he cast its light down, and down it fell.

شَمْسان لما اكتنَفا قَسْطلاً

بهِ لآفاقِ السّماء اتّشاح

Two suns, when they flanked a cloud of dust

that cloaked the horizons of the sky:

أضمَرَ ليلُ النّقْعِ صُغْراهُما

وضاقَ بالأكبرِ ذرْعاً فَباح

the night of dust concealed the smaller of the two,

but could not contain the greater, and revealed it.

ألْوى إذا عاقَر كأسَ الوغَى

والَى اغتِباقَ الدَّمِ بالاصطِباح

An unyielding man: when he drinks deeply of war's cup,

he joins his evening drink of blood to his morning draught.

إذا تَردَّى بالحُسامِ اغتَدَى

قرينَ سَيْفِ الرّأيِ سَيْفُ الكِفاح

When he robes himself in the keen blade, there stands

the sword of combat beside the sword of judgment.

ذو قَلَمٍ أعجِبْ به جارياً

من مُثْبتٍ آيةَ مُلْكٍ ومَاح

He has a pen—marvel at it in motion,

establishing a sign of kingship and effacing one.

تُديرُه يُمْنَى يدَيْ ماجدٍ

له بزَنْدِ المكرماتِ اقْتداح

It is wielded by the right of a noble man's two hands,

who strikes sparks with the fire-stick of noble deeds.

شَدَّتْ يدُ الدّولةِ أطنابَها

إليه في أسعَدِ وقْتٍ مُتاح

The hand of the state tied its tent-ropes

to him at the happiest available hour,

حامدةٌ مَوضعَها عنده

فما لَها ما عُمِّرتْ من بَراح

grateful for its place beside him;

it has no departure, for as long as it lives.

عاد بُعْثمانَ اختتِامُ العُلا

كما بدا بالحَسَنِ الافتِتاح

With Uthman, the culmination of greatness returned,

as its beginning appeared with al-Hasan.

هذا أميرُ المؤمنين الذي

أولَيتَه منك الوَلاءَ الصُراح

This is the Commander of the Faithful, to whom

you granted your unalloyed allegiance.

دَعاكَ إذ جاهَدْتَ عن مُلْكِه

شهابه والحق فيه اتضاح

He called you, when you fought for his dominion,

his meteor—and the truth of it is plain.

ما زادك الخلفة فخراً وإن

أتَتْ جَلالاً فوق كلِّ اقْتِراح

The honor-robe added nothing to your glory, although

it brought grandeur surpassing every wish.

والبَيت لا يُكْسَى لتَشْريِفه

لكنْ تُراعَى سُنّةٌ واصْطِلاح

The House is not clothed to confer honor upon it,

but a custom and convention are observed.

يا كعبةً للمجدِ مَأهولةً

إذا غدا الوَفْدُ إليها ورَاح

O thronged Kaaba of glory,

as delegations go to it morning and evening!

يَفْديكَ قَومٌ حاولُوا ضلّةً

تَناوُلَ المجدِ بأيدٍ شِحاح

May those people be your ransom who, in error, tried

to attain glory with miserly hands.

مَعاشِرٌ أموالُهم في حِمىً

وعِرْضُهم من لُؤمِهم مُسْتَباح

Groups whose wealth remains in a protected preserve,

while their honor, through their baseness, is open to violation.

أمّلْتُهم ثم تأمّلْتُهم

فلاحَ لي أنْ ليس فيهم فَلاح

I put hope in them, then examined them,

and it became clear to me there was no success in them.

طال مُقامي بفِنا أرِضكم

من غَيْرِ نَفْعٍ فالرَّواحُ الرَّواح

My stay at the outskirts of your land has grown long

without benefit: away, then—away!

ما آفةُ الإنسانِ إلا المُنَى

طُوبَى لِمَنْ طَلّقها واستَراح

Man's only affliction is vain hopes;

blessed is whoever divorces them and finds rest.

إلى ذُراكَ الرَّحْبِ نوِّخْتُها

وقد بَراها السَّيرُ بَرْيَ القِداح

In your spacious shelter I made them kneel,

the journey having whittled them like arrow-shafts.

من بلدٍ ناءٍ ولم أعتَمِدْ

بُعْدَ المَدى إلا لقُرْبِ النَّجاح

From a distant land; I undertook

the long distance only to draw success near.

لولاكَ يا شَمْسَ ملوكِ الورى

لم يَبْقَ في طُرْقِ الرَّجا لانفساحْ

Were it not for you, O sun of mankind's kings,

no open space would remain on the paths of hope.

فاسمعْ ثناءً لك أبدَعْتُه

كأنه المِسْكُ إذا المِسْك فاح

So hear a praise for you that I have fashioned,

like musk when musk releases its fragrance,

مِن كلماتٍ كلمّا نُظِمَتْ

فللآلي عندَهُنّ افتضاح

made of words which, whenever strung together,

put pearls to shame beside them.

لسوفَ أُهدِي لك أمثالها

إن كان في مُدَّةِ عُمْري انفِتاح

I shall surely offer you others like them,

if the span of my life still has room.

فدُمْ لأهلِ الفضلِ تُغْنيهمُ

فواضِلاً ما شُعْشِعَتْ كأسُ راح

So endure for people of merit, enriching them

with bounties, as long as a cup of wine is mixed with water.

لا عَرفوا غيركَ مَولى لهم

ما اتَّصلَت منهم بَنانٌ بِراح

May they know no patron for themselves but you,

as long as their fingers are joined to palms.