غزال من الأتراك واصلني سرا — Aloshari

غَزال مِن الأَتراك واصلني سرا

وَناوَلَني مِن عَذب ريقته خَمرا

A gazelle of the Turks met me secretly,

And offered me wine from his sweet saliva.

منير المحيا كُلَّما رمت قبلة

حَباني بِخَديه وَشامته الخَضرا

Radiant of face, whenever I sought a kiss,

He favored me with his cheeks and his green beauty mark.

يلاحظني شَزراً بِعَين صَحيحة

وَيَغمزني مِنهُ بِمقلته الأُخرى

He eyes me sidelong with one sound eye,

And winks at me with his other eye.

لَهُ اللَه مِن ظَبي غَرير إِذا انثَنى

حَكى قَده الخَطي وَالصعدة السمرا

God bless that guileless gazelle! When he sways,

His figure resembles a Khatti spear and a tawny lance.

صَحيح فُؤاد غَير أَن جُفونه

مراض بِلا سَقم وَأَحداقه سكرى

Sound of heart, except that his eyelids

Are languid without sickness, and his pupils drunken.

أوسده مني اليَمين لأَنَّهُ

حَبيب إِذا ما نامَ وَسدني اليُسرى

I give him my right arm as a pillow, for he

Is a beloved who, when he sleeps, pillows me on his left.

وَصارَ يُعاطيني المدامة مِن فَم

أَرى كُل عَذب بَعدَ قرقفها مرا

And he began offering me wine from a mouth

After whose wine I find every sweetness bitter.

بِهِ قَد ثَوى ماء الحَياة وَما دَرى

باسكندر الماضي وَلا عرف الخَضرا

In it the water of life has dwelt, yet it knew nothing

Of bygone Iskandar, nor did it know al-Khidr.

وَبت أَضم الغُصن وَهوَ مُهفهف

وَألثم وَرداً وَهوَ مِن وَجنة حمرا

And I spent the night embracing the slender-waisted branch,

And kissing a rose from a crimson cheek.

يُضاجعني خَداً لِخَد وَمُقلَتي

تَصُب عَلى الخَدين مِن فَرحَتي نَثرا

He lies beside me, cheek to cheek, while my eye

Pours tears over both cheeks, scattering them in my joy.

مُعاتبة راقَت لِرقة طَبعه

وَلَيلة أنس لا رَأيت لَها فَجرا

A reproach made pleasing by his tender nature,

And a night of intimacy—may I never see its dawn!

وَلَما تَعانَقنا وَغابَ حَسودنا

وَأسبل صبغ اللَيل مِن فَوقِنا سترا

And when we embraced and our envier vanished,

And night's dark dye lowered a veil over us,

غَفا طَرفه سَهواً وَلَم يَغف ناظِري

وَلا مُقلَتي الوسنى وَلا كَبدي أخرى

His eye dozed heedlessly, but my gaze did not sleep,

Nor my drowsy eye, nor my heart either.

إِلى أَن رَأيت الصُبح مد عَموده

وَعارضه مِن فَوق رايته الشقرا

Until I saw dawn extend its pillar,

And its golden banner crossed it from above.

هُناكَ جَلَسنا لِلوَداع عَلى غَضى

فَفارقتهُ كُرهاً وَفارقَني ذُعرا

There we sat for farewell upon ghada embers,

Then I parted from him unwillingly, and he parted from me in dread.

هُوَ الدَهر لا يبقي خَليلاً لخله

وَيرهقه مِن بَعد راحته عسرا

Such is Time: it leaves no friend to his friend,

And burdens him with hardship after his ease.

وَما فَاتَني شيء إِذا شمت أَسعَداً

عَلى دسته الأَعلى وَغرته الغرا

Yet I have lost nothing if I behold As‘ad,

Upon his lofty seat, with his radiant brow.

هُوَ الأَحمَدي الأَلمعي وَسَيد

تَسلسل مِن طه وَفاطمة الزَهرا

He is al-Ahmadi, keen of wit, and a sayyid

Descended from Taha and Fatimah al-Zahra.

نَدى كَفه لِلهاشميين ينتَمي

وَهمته الكُبرى إِلى مضر الحمرا

The bounty of his hand belongs to the Hashimites,

And his lofty aspiration to Mudar the Red.

أصول لَها الأَفلاك تَخضع سجداً

وَتعرفها الأَملاك فَوقَ السما طرا

Ancestral roots before which the celestial spheres bow in prostration,

And which all the angels above the heavens recognize.

لَقَد أَخروا الدُنيا وَأُخراهم صفت

فَلا كانَت الدُنيا إِذا تمت الأُخرى

They put this world last, and their hereafter grew pure;

Let this world be nothing, if the next is perfected!

هُوَ الحبر علماً بَل هُوَ البحر نائِلاً

فَلا بدع مِن حبر يمد لَنا بَحرا

He is a scholar in knowledge, indeed an ocean in giving,

So no wonder that a scholar extends an ocean to us.

بِهِ شد مِن أزر الوزارة ساعد

فَما ضعفت رَأساً وَلا عدمت نَصرا

Through him, an arm lent strength to the ministry,

So it never weakened at all, nor lacked support.

كَتائبه تغني المُلوك عَن الظبا

إِذا ما جَرَت في الحَرب كانَت هِيَ الأجرا

His battalions spare kings the need for blades,

When they advance in war, they are the boldest.

وَإمضاؤه أَمضى مِن السَيف مصلتاً

إِذا ما بَدَت مِن فَوق إمضائه الطفرا

And his endorsement is sharper than an unsheathed sword,

When the tughra appears above his endorsement.

مجيد إِذا أَلقى عَلى الطرس لَفظه

يَمج عَلى القرطاس مِن فمه تبرا

An accomplished master: when he sets his words upon the page,

He pours forth raw gold from his mouth onto the paper.

وَإِن مَد كَفاً بِاليراعة ألبست

يَراعته القرطاس مِن نفثها سحرا

And if he extends a hand holding the reed pen,

His reed pen clothes the paper in magic breathed from it.

يُقرطنا مِن لَفظه العَذب جَوهَرا

وَيمنحنا مِن بَحر راحته درا

He adorns our ears with jewels from his sweet words,

And gives us pearls from the ocean of his palm.

يعلمه العرفان حَد مكرم

وَوالده الكرار علمه الكرا

Knowledge teaches him the measure of a generous man,

And his father, the ever-charging warrior, taught him to charge.

بِيمنى يَديه اليمن أَصبَح مغدقاً

وَأخصب غُصن اليُسر في يَدِه اليُسرى

In his right hand, good fortune has grown abundant,

And the branch of ease has flourished in his left hand.

وَكَيفَ يَفوت الجود شَخص جُدوده

يَجودون بِالأَرواح إِن وَجَدوا عُسرا

And how could generosity elude a man whose forefathers

Give freely of their lives whenever they encounter hardship?

صُدور الوَرى مالي إِذا رُمت مَدحكم

فَإِن عَلى أَهل المَديح لي الصَدرا

People's hearts are my treasure when I seek to praise you,

For over the poets of praise I hold the foremost place.

وَأَما أُعاني صنعة الشعر مِنكُم

يُخيل لي أَني رَكبت عَلى الشعرى

And as I labor at the craft of poetry inspired by you,

It seems to me I have ridden upon Sirius.

وإن رمت إدراج المَعاني لِوصفِكُم

نَثَرت لآلي النَظم مِن قَلَمي نَثرا

And if I seek to weave meanings into your description,

I scatter the pearls of verse from my pen as prose.

بِكُم آل فَخر طلت باعاً عَلى الوَرى

وَزدت بعبد اللَه وَالدكم فَخرا

Through you, house of Fakhr, my reach has surpassed mankind's,

And through your father, Abd Allah, I have gained still more pride.

خُذوا مِن فَمي بكراً عَروساً لأنكُم

كِرام وَأكفاء لهاتيكُم العذرا

Take from my mouth a virgin bride, for you

Are noble, and worthy matches for that maiden.

محجبة عَن غَيركم طالَ صَدها

فَما رَفعت رَأساً وَلا كَشفت سترا

Veiled from all but you, long has she held aloof,

Never raising her head or lifting a veil.

أَتت تَتَخطى تَحتَ ثَوب مرفرف

وَما طَلَبت إِلا رضاكُم لَها مهرا

She came stepping beneath a fluttering robe,

Seeking only your approval as her bridal dower.

وَجئت بِها أَقضي حُقوق مَودة

وَلا أسأل الأَشراف مِن غَيرِها أَجرا

And I brought her to fulfill the claims of affection,

And I ask the nobles for no reward besides that.

أَأَخشى ابن عبد اللَه دَهراً وَإنَّني

جَعلتكما في كُل حادِثة ذُخرا

Shall I fear Time, son of Abd Allah, when I

Have made you both a reserve against every calamity?

تَهن بِهَذا العيد لَقيت خَيره

وَجوزيت عَما صمت مِن قَبله أَجرا

Rejoice in this Eid; may you find its goodness,

And be rewarded for the fasting you did before it.

فَقَد صمت مَشكوراً وَأَفطَرت طايعاً

وَأَحسَنت يا ابن المُصطفى الصَوم وَالفطرا

For you fasted praiseworthily and broke your fast in obedience,

And excelled, son of al-Mustafa, in fasting and breaking the fast.

وتِلكَ سَجايا الطيبين وَفتية

بِتنزيله الرَحمَن طهرهم طهرا

Such are the qualities of the pure, and of young men

Whom the All-Merciful, through His revelation, purified utterly.

فَلا زالَت الأَعياد تَأتي وَتَنقَضي

وَتَأتي بِخَير دائِماً أَبَداً تَتَرى

May feasts never cease to come and pass,

And come with goodness, always, forever, one after another,

عَلَيك وَيسري من نداك عَلى الوَرى

فَقَد أَصبَحوا في قَيد إِحسانكُم أسرى

Upon you, while goodness from your bounty flows over mankind,

For they have become captives in the bonds of your kindness.