يا برق حي الأبرقين فثهمدا — Alkadawi

يا برق حيِّ الأبرقين فَثَهمدا

اِسقِ الغميم غمام قطرِك مرعدا

O lightning, greet al-Abraqayn, then Thahmad.

Water al-Ghamim with your thundering cloud of rain.

وَاِنضح بما في شؤنكَ اللّاتي هَمت

عَبراتُها تلك الطلول الهمّدا

And sprinkle, with what is in your tear-ducts, which have shed

their tears, those lifeless ruins.

وَاِكسُ الرسومَ منَ المعاهدِ حلّةً

خَضراء تُبدي لُؤلؤاً وزَبَرجدا

And clothe the traces of the dwelling-sites in a robe

of green, displaying pearls and chrysolite,

حتّى يعودَ الروضُ أخضرَ ضاحكاً

نوّاره في حسنهِ رطب الندا

until the meadow returns, green and smiling,

its blossoms, in its beauty, moist with dew,

ما بينَ أصفر يانعٍ في أحمرٍ

قانٍ وأبيض ناصعٍ في أسودا

ranging from vivid yellow amid red,

deep-hued, and brilliant white amid black.

فَترى كمائمها تضاحك فضَّةً

هَذا لدى هذا وهذي عَسجَدا

So you see their bud-sheaths smiling like silver—

this beside that, and this one like gold.

وَسَرى النسيمُ بها ففضَّ لَطائماً

مِن مِسكها بينَ الرياضِ وبدّدا

And the breeze passed through them, unsealing caskets

of their musk among the gardens, scattering it.

وَغَدا يُصافح مِن غصونِ بشامها

فَنناً ورنّح بانها المتأوّدا

And it began to shake hands, among their balsam boughs,

with a branch, and swayed their bending ban trees.

دمنٌ مَعاهدُها على عهدي بها

مِن بعدِ رحلة أَهلها لن تعهدا

Ruined campsites—their haunts, as I remember them,

will not be recognized after their people have departed.

يا صاحِ عُج للحيِّ واِذكُرني وقل

لِسعادَ ماذا صدّها أن تسعدا

O friend, turn aside toward the encampment, mention me, and say

to Su'ad: what has kept her from bringing me happiness?

إِنّي عَلى عهدي ولستُ بسامعٍ

مَن لام فيها ما حييتُ وفنَّدا

I remain true to my pledge, and I will not listen to

anyone who blames me over her or calls me foolish, as long as I live.

وَأَنا الفداءُ أنا الفداءُ لها ولا

منّي كثيرٌ أَن أكونَ لها الفدا

I am her ransom, I am her ransom; nor is it

too much of me to be a ransom for her.

ما لو تُبايعني بروحي قبلةً

مِن ثَغرها أَمضي بها متبرّدا

What if she would sell me, for my soul, a kiss

from her lips, so I could go forth cooled by it?

جسمٌ أرقُّ منَ النسيمِ إِذا سرى

سحراً وقلبٌ فيه يحكي الجلمدا

A body more delicate than the breeze when it drifts

before dawn, yet a heart within it like hard rock.

وَإِذا تثنّت في الخطا وتخطّرت

في بردِها حكت القضيبَ الأملدا

And when she sways in her steps and saunters

in her mantle, she resembles a supple branch.

يا بضّة الجسمِ اِسمحي بفكاكِ من

في أسرِ حبّك لَا يزال مصفّدا

O tender-bodied one, grant release to one

who remains shackled in the captivity of your love.

ما لو مننتِ عليّ منك برشفةٍ

كانَت ألذّ منَ الزلالِ وأبردا

What if you bestowed on me a sip from you?

It would be sweeter than pure water, and cooler.

في كلِّ يومٍ موعدٌ لي منك يا

هذي وَما أصدقت عِندي مَوعدا

Every day there is a promise to me from you, O

you there, yet never have you kept a promise to me.

وَلَقد سلكتُ هواكِ حتّى أنّني

أَصبحت فيه أرى الضلالَ هو الهدى

Indeed, I have followed the path of your love until I

came to see, within it, error itself as guidance.

وَاِستَعذبت نَفسي عذابك في الهوى

فَرضيتُه لي مُصلحاً أو مفسدا

And my soul found your torment sweet in love,

so I accepted it for myself, whether it mended or ruined me.

كلّي بكلّي مُستهامٌ لَم أقل

في ذاك منّي ما خلا وما عدا

All of me, with all my being, is love-bewildered; I never said

of any part of me in this, 'except' or 'excluding.'

ما لي وللدهرِ الخؤونِ كأنّني

كُنت المعادَ لحربهِ والمُبتدا

What have I to do with treacherous Time? It is as though I

were where its warfare returns, and where it begins.

ما خلتهُ بعد الحروبِ مسالماً

إلّا وعادَ إِلى الحروبِ وسدّدا

No sooner did I think it peaceable after its wars

than it returned to warfare and took aim.

حتّى قصدتُ إِلى أبي الطيبِ الّذي

بِالجاهِ للجادي يجودُ وبالجدا

Until I turned to Abu al-Tayyib, who

gives the petitioner generously of his influence and bounty.

فَأَجارني من ريبِ دهرٍ حرّه

قَد كانَ في أوجع حرّ المدا

He sheltered me from the vicissitudes of Time, whose heat

had burned with the most agonizing sting of blades.

وَحظيتُ منه بوصلِ عيشٍ ناعمٍ

مِن بعدِ عيشٍ في المعيشةِ أنكدا

And through him I gained access to a life of ease,

after a life wretched in its daily living.

الأمجدُ القرم الّذي ورثَ العلا

عَن كلِّ أشوس لوذعيّ أمجدا

The most glorious, the great chief who inherited eminence

from every fierce, keen-witted, glorious forebear;

مَلكٌ تفرّد في المكارمِ مثل ما

قَد كانَ والدهُ بها متفرّدا

a king peerless in noble deeds, just as

his father had been peerless in them.

وَجرى فعقّب في ميادين العلا

عَمرو بن هند وشاؤه والأسعدا

He raced, leaving behind in the fields of eminence

'Amr ibn Hind, outstripping him and al-As'ad.

وَبنى وشيّد بيت مجدٍ قَد سما

حتّى اِنتهى السبع الطباق مُشيّدا

And he built and raised a house of glory that soared

until, built high, it reached the seven layered heavens.

لَم يَرتكب في نهجِ مذهبهِ إلى

سُبلِ العُلا إلّا الطريقَ الأرشدا

He never took, on his chosen course toward

the paths of eminence, any but the most rightly guided road.

لولا إِقامةُ عدلهِ في أرضهِ

لَغَدت بِساكنها رماداً أرمدا

Were it not for the establishment of his justice in his land,

it would have turned, with its inhabitants, to gray ash.

يا مَن تكوّن سيفه ويمينه

ناراً مؤجّجة وبحراً مُزبدا

O you whose sword and right hand form

a blazing fire and a foaming sea,

إنّي لمجدك قد زَفَفت خرايداً

تُشجي معانيها الحسانَ الخرّدا

indeed, I have led virgin brides to your glory,

whose meanings move fair, bashful maidens to sorrow.

وَشهدنَ لي بالودِّ فيك وَهل ترى

برّا سواها شاهداً كي يَشهدا

And they have testified to my affection for you; do you see

any upright witness besides them to testify?

أَنت الوحيدُ وحيدُ عصرك لم تزل

في كلِّ مرتبةٍ بمجدكَ أوحدا

You are peerless, peerless in your age; you have ever been

in every rank, unrivaled through your glory.

وَلَقد رقيتَ السبعَ في رتبِ العلا

فَاِربع أبيتَ اللّعنَ قَد حُزتَ المدا

Indeed, you have climbed the seven heavens in the ranks of eminence;

so pause—may you be beyond reproach—you have reached the furthest goal,

حتّى تكادُ الشهبُ مِن أَفلاكِها

تَهوي إِلى تقبيلِ نعلكَ سُجّدا

until the bright stars, from their orbits, almost

swoop down to kiss your sandal in prostration.