مالي عن مورد الهوى صدر — Ali Ghorab Sfaxien

مالي عن مورد الهوى صدرُ

يلحُّ منّي العذُولُ أو يذرُ

I have no departure from love's watering place,

whether my reprover presses me or leaves me be.

وكيف أسلو عن الهوى وله

سيف على العاشقين مُشتهرُ

How could I forget love, when it has

a sword drawn against lovers?

أما عصت عُذّ إلي مطامعها

في سلوتي عن هواهُ واقتصرُوا

Have not my reprovers' hopes defied them

in my forgetting his love, so that they desisted?

وأيقنوا أنّ في الملام لهم

نقيض ما حاولوهُ وانتظرُوا

And have they not become certain that reproach brings them

the opposite of what they sought and awaited,

وأنّ أطماعهم وإن عظمت

ليس لهم في بُرُوقها مطرُ

and that their hopes, however great,

have no rain for them in their lightning?

حظّي من الوصل مثل حظّهمُ

من سلوتي عن هواهُ مُفتقر

My share of union, like their share

of my forgetting his love, is wanting.

لم يقض في وصله وتسليتي

عن حُبّه لي ولا لهم وطر

Neither in union with him nor in my consolation

from his love has any wish been fulfilled for me or them.

أما درى العاذلون عذلهمُ

يُغري بي الحبُّ كلّما كثرُوا

Do the reprovers not know that their reproach

incites love against me whenever they grow more numerous?

كأنّهم بالسّلوّ إن أمرُوا

نهوا وفي الحبّ إن نهوا أمرُوا

It is as though, when they command forgetfulness,

they forbid it, and when they forbid love, they command it.

مالي بطرق السّلوّ مخبرة

لكن بطرق الغرام لي خبرُ

I have no acquaintance with the paths of forgetting,

but of passion's paths I have knowledge.

كأنّ مُرّ الغرام من شغفي

شهد وشهدُ السّلوّ لي صبرُ

In my ardor, the bitterness of passion seems

honey, while the honey of forgetting is aloes to me.

إخالُ من شقوتي مُكدّره

صفوا على أنّ صفوهُ كدرُ

In my misery I deem its troubled waters

clear, although even its clarity is murky.

مالي من مذهب الهوى بدل

كلا ولا عن حماهُ مُزدجرُ

I have no alternative to love's path—

no, nor anything to drive me from its sanctuary.

قُوى اصطباري عن الهوى ضعفت

من لي بقلب عليه يصطبرُ

My powers of enduring without love have weakened;

who can give me a heart that can endure it?

ان رُمتُ سترالهوى أذاع به

واش من الدّمع ليس يستترُ

If I seek to conceal love, it is divulged

by an informer of tears that does not hide.

لحبُ من في الفؤاد منزلهُ

سُلطانُ قهر عليّ مُقتدرُ

Indeed, love for him whose dwelling is in my heart

is a conquering sovereign with power over me.

جُندُ هواهُ عليّ مُنتصر

وجُندُ صبري عليه مُنكرُ

The army of his love prevails against me,

while my army of patience is disowned before it.

إن يغفر الذّنب في هواهُ فما

لديث ذنب السّلوّ مُغتفرُ

If sin is forgiven in his love, then

the sin of forgetting is not forgiven by him.

لا أنتهي عن غرام من شهدت

بالحسن فيه البادُون والحضرُ

I shall not renounce passion for one whose

beauty both nomads and townspeople attest.

ظبيٌ كحيلُ الجفوان فاترُها

ما إن لليلي بسحرها سحرُ

A gazelle with kohl-dark, languid eyelids,

Layla has no magic beside their spell.

نواعس للغرام مُوقظةٌ

في مُقلتي من نُعاسها سهرُ

Drowsy, yet awakening passion,

their languor keeps my eye awake.

إن أرسلت خلفهُ غدائرُهُ

تُرسلُ من سُحب مُقلتي غُدُرُ

If his tresses are let down behind him,

pools pour from the clouds of my eye.

في طُولها الشّعرُ طال والهفي

ممّن به الشّعرُ طال والشّعرُ

With their length, verse grows long—alas, my longing

for him through whom both hair and poetry grow long!

عُذّبتُ من ورد وجنتيه وما

جنيت لكنّهُ جنى النّظرُ

The roses of his cheeks have tormented me, though I

committed no wrong; rather, the gaze transgressed.

بدت مُحيّاهُ روضة فجرى

من ماء عيني لروضها نهرُ

His countenance appeared as a garden, and there flowed

from my eye's water a river for its garden.

يُخجل شمس الضّحى أليس يُرى

في وجهها كلّما بدت خفرُ

He shames the morning sun—is not

shyness seen upon her face whenever she appears?

من نظم دُرّ بفيه أشغلني

بدرُ نظم من دُونه الدُّرر

From stringing the pearls in his mouth I was distracted

by a full moon, with pearls strung beneath him.

يا رامي الجمر في الحشا ودمي

في الحبّ من سيف لحظه هدر

O caster of embers into my breast, my blood

in love is shed with impunity by the sword of his glance.

لاترم في مُهجتي الجمار ولي

دمٌ به تركهنٌ ينجمرُ

Do not cast coals into my heart, when I have

blood there that burns even when those coals are left aside.

سهامُ جفنيه في الفؤاد لها

ضربٌ بكسر الفؤاد يختبرُ

The arrows of his eyelids strike within my heart

with a blow tested by the heart's breaking.

لم ينقسم في الهوى لغيرك بل

مُباينٌ للسّلو ومُنكسرُ

It has not been divided in love for anyone but you;

rather, it is apart from forgetfulness and broken.

يا قامة الغصن في الرّياض غدا

طائر قلبي عليه ينهمرُ

O stature of a branch in the gardens, now

the bird of my heart descends upon it.

بكاسر الجفن صدت طائره

من وكره فغدا للهوى وكر

With a drooping eyelid you hunted its bird

from its nest, which became a nest for love.

جسمي أفنيتهُ والدُّموع فلا

عين بجسمي باق ولا أثرُ

You and my tears have wasted my body away, leaving

neither substance nor trace of my body.

ضنّ زماني به عليّ كان

عليه منّي بقله غيرُ

Time begrudged me him, as though

it bore jealousy of me over him.

يُخلفُ وعدي به ويمطلني

ويزدري بي لهُ ويحتقرُ

It breaks its promise of him to me and puts me off,

and scorns me for his sake and despises me.

مالي ثوبٌ من الحظوظ به

أحاط بين الورى وأتّزرُ

I have no garment of good fortune in which

to wrap myself among people and gird my waist.

إن أنت يا دهرُ رُحت تمنعني

حظّي من وصله وتنتهرُ

If you, O Time, keep denying me

my share of union with him and rebuking me,

فلا أبالي فإنّ حظّي من

مُحمّد بن الأمير يُنتظرُ

I do not care, for my share from

Muhammad, son of the emir, is awaited:

المالكُ الكاملُ الّذي نُصبت

لهُ على مفرق السّهى سُرُرُ

the perfect sovereign, for whom were erected

thrones upon the crown of Suha.

نجلُ مليك الملوك من ضعفت

عمّا حوى الأوّلون والأخرُ

Son of the king of kings, one before whose attainments

the first and the last have proved powerless.

من أشرقت في الورى شهامتهُ

شمسا وليلُ الحُروب مُعتكرُ

One whose valor has shone among people

like a sun while war's night is dark and turbid.

سيفٌ على المعتدين مُنصلتٌ

سيلٌ إلى المعتفين مُنهمرُ

A sword drawn against aggressors,

a torrent pouring toward those seeking bounty.

مُوفّقٌ بالإلاه مُعتضدٌ

مُظفّرٌ في الحُروب مُنتصرُ

Favored with success, strengthened by God,

victorious in wars, triumphant.

إذا انتضى البيض وارتدى سُمرا

فالبيضُ ترتاعُ منهُ والسُمرُ

When he unsheathes white blades and arrays himself in brown spears,

the white and the brown alike tremble before him.

من رام يُبدي الخلاف عنهُ فقد

هانت عليه الحياةُ والعمر

Whoever seeks to show opposition to him has

made light of life and its span.

ورُبّما خالفت لشقوتهم

قومٌ بنعماء فضله بطرُوا

At times, to their misfortune, there opposed him

people grown insolent through the blessings of his bounty.

ما أثمرت دوحةُ الخلاف لهم

وهل خلافٌ يُرى لهُ ثمرُ

The tree of opposition bore them no fruit;

indeed, is opposition ever seen to bear fruit?

لو خالفتهُ الجبال وافقهُ

في قطعها صارٌم لهُ ذكر

Were mountains to oppose him, his ally

in cleaving them would be a keen sword of renown.

كأنّما دائما يُتابعهُ

في ما يُريدُ القضاءُ والقدرُ

It is as though always following him,

in whatever he wills, are fate and destiny.

لو زُجر الدّهرُ عن إسائته

بسطوة منهُ راح ينزجرُ

Were Time rebuked for its wrongdoing

by a stroke of his might, it would heed the rebuke.

هو المليك الذي عزائمه

تشرق منها الكواكب الزهر

He is the sovereign whose resolves

give the radiant stars their brightness.

هُو المليكُ الّذي مفاخرُهُ

على مُلوك الأنام تفتخرُ

He is the sovereign whose glories

exult over the kings of humankind.

ذُو همّة بالسّماك قد قُرنت

ورُتبة كلّ دُونها البصرُ

His ambition is joined to Simak,

and his rank is one beneath which sight grows weary.

عدلُ الملوك الذي به اعتدلت

أمزجهُ الدّهر وانتفى الخدرُ

The just one among kings, through whom are balanced

Time's humors, and numbness is dispelled.

آراؤُهُ في الأمور تعجزُ عن

إدراكهنّ العقول والفكرُ

His judgments in affairs cannot be

grasped by minds or thought.

إذا لها استنبطت قريحتهُ

جاءت بعين الصّواب تنفجرُ

Whenever his native genius draws them forth,

it gushes with the very fount of sound judgment.

لو أنّ سار بها استضاء دُجى

ما شكّ في أنّ رأيهُ القمر

Were a traveler to light the darkness by them,

he would not doubt that his judgment was the moon.

إن يقفُ في الرأي مثل والده

والعزم والحزم حين يبتدرُ

If he is like his father in judgment,

and in resolve and prudence when he acts swiftly,

لا غرو إذ مُثمرُ الفروع به

تُنبي عن طيب أصلها الشّجر

it is no wonder: by the fruit borne on their branches

trees reveal the goodness of their roots.

ملكٌ لهُ راحةٌ إذا انبسطت

فزاخرُ البحر عندها جزر

A king whose palm, when it opens,

makes the swelling sea seem an ebbing tide.

تبدوُ من كفّه وغُرّته

يوم النّوال البدُورُ والبدُرُ

From his palm and his radiant brow appear,

on the day of bounty, purses of coin and the full moon.

إذا بدا وهو فوق سابحة

ترى عُقابا من فوقه قمرُ

When he appears upon a galloping horse,

you see an eagle with a moon above it.

لهُ معاني الاداب قد كشفت

محاسنها عن سواهُ تختمرُ

For him the arts of letters have unveiled

their beauties, which they veil from everyone else.

نثرُهُ يفضحُ النّجوم سنى

والدُّرُّ من نظمه لهُ بهرُ

His prose puts the stars to shame in brilliance,

and pearls are dazzled by his verse.

لا غرو إن خطّ مُهرقا فغدت

فرائدُ الدُّرّ منهُ تنتثرُ

No wonder, when he writes upon a sheet, that

unique pearls come scattering from it:

فإنّما الكف منهُ بحرُ ندى

ومن سوى البحر لاتُرى الدُّررُ

his hand is nothing but a sea of generosity,

and pearls are found nowhere but in the sea.

بني علىّ أمست مآثرُكم

إن تُحص تُحص الرّمالُ والمدر

Sons of Ali, your great deeds have become such that,

if they could be counted, so could the sands and clods.

ما كلُّ فخر علا ومنقبة

إلا غدا في عُلاك ينحصرُ

Every lofty glory and noble deed

has come to be encompassed in your eminence.

مآثرُ منك ما سُبقت بها

بل أنت باد لها ومُبتكرُ

Deeds of yours in which none has preceded you;

rather, you are their originator and inventor.

تهنا بالخلعة الّتي نُشرت

عليك والخلقُ لها حولها نُشروا

May you delight in the robe of honor spread

over you, with people arrayed around it in its honor:

طوق تطوّقت من عُلا ملك

دانت إليه الأملاكُ والبشرُ

a collar you have donned from the eminence of a king

to whom kings and humankind submit,

من آل عُثمان من لهم دُول

أيّامُكم في جباهها غُررُ

from the House of Uthman, whose reigns

wear your days as bright blazes upon their brows.

فابشر وفُز أيّها المليكُ بها

خلعة عهد عليك تنتشرُ

So rejoice, O sovereign, and triumph through it—

a robe of investiture unfolding over you.

وانعم بعيد أتاك في فرح

سُرُورُهُ في حماك مُعتمرُ

Enjoy a festival that has come to you in joy,

its gladness sojourning in your sanctuary:

بعيد فطر فطرت فيه على

عهد مدى الدّهر ليس ينفطرُ

an Eid al-Fitr, at which you broke your fast upon

a covenant that will never break for all time.

واسعد بدار حللت ساحتها

بها لك السّعدُ دام والعمرُ

Be happy in the house whose courtyard you have entered;

may good fortune and life endure there for you.

فهاك منّي قصيدة شرُفت

تغرُ منها القصائدُ الغررُ

Here, take from me a poem made noble,

which even the brightest poems envy.

فريدةُ الحسن ما لها ثمن

بمثلها لا يجيءُ مُتّجرُ

Unique in beauty, beyond all price,

no trader can bring its like.

إن طال مدحي لكم فلا عجبٌ

مُطوّل المدح فيك مُختصرُ

If my praise of you grows long, it is no wonder:

extended praise of you is still brief.

سواكمُ بالمديح مُفتخرٌ

والمدحُ يسمو بكم ويفتخرُ

Others take pride in panegyric,

but panegyric rises and takes pride through you.

زففتها بعد عقدها لك من

بُيوت فكري ترجُو وتنتظرُ

After sealing its contract, I led it as a bride to you from

the houses of my thought; it hopes and waits.

تطلبُ الاشهاد من عُلاك وهل

عقدٌ بغير الإشهاد يُعتبرُ

It seeks attestation from your eminence; can

a contract without witnesses be recognized?

لا زال أوج العلى بطلعتكم

تأويه شمسُ السعود والقمر

May the summit of glory, at your appearance,

ever be home to the sun of good fortune and the moon.