Sol 6.1

  1. يا صاحِبي هَلا مَررت بخندف

    وَرَأَيت قائِمَة الغَزال الأَهيفِ

    My friend, why have you not passed by Khindif

    and seen the slender gazelle's leg,

  2. وَنَظرت فاترة الجُفون لحاظها

    يَسطو بأسمر في القُلوب وَمُرهفِ

    and gazed on the languid-lidded one, whose glances

    assail hearts with a brown spear and a keen-edged sword?

  3. وتَميد بالألف القَويم كَأَنَّها

    غُصن تَرَنح بِالرِياح العصفِ

    She sways with her straight alif of a figure, as though she were

    a branch rocking in the tempestuous winds.

  4. فَإلام وَالخد الأَسيل محجب

    بِظبا الجُفون وَوَرده لَم يقطفِ

    How long must her smooth cheek remain veiled

    by the blades of her eyelids, its rose still unplucked?

  5. وَعَلام تختطف النفوس عُيونها

    بِمهند ماضي النَواجذ أحنفي

    And why do her eyes snatch souls away

    with an Indian blade, keen-toothed and Ahnafi?

  6. عَربية تَسقي الضَجيع إِذا دَنَت

    بِمزرنب مثل السلاف القرقفِ

    An Arab woman who, when she draws near, gives her bedfellow drink

    with a fragrant draught like pure, potent wine.

  7. وَتَرى شَمائلها الشمول مَحاسِنا

    أربت لطافتها عَلى السحر الخَفي

    And in her wine-like graces you see charms

    whose delicacy surpasses hidden magic.

  8. تبدي نِظام حَديثها لِنَديمها

    بِفَواصل برزت بِغَير تكلفِ

    She reveals to her boon companion the necklace of her speech,

    in cadences that emerge without affectation.

  9. لِلَّه كَم أَهدت جمان كلامها

    لِمَسامع المُتَشوق المتشوفِ

    By God, how often she has bestowed the pearls of her speech

    upon the ears of the longing, expectant lover!

  10. لَم أَنس وَالأَيّام تغدر بِالفَتى

    حَسدا وَما في الدَهر من خل يَفي

    I have not forgotten—though days betray a young man

    from envy, and time holds no friend who keeps faith—

  11. إِذ أنعمت وَالطل يَقطر طرفه

    فوق الحَدائق كَالغَمام الأَوطفِ

    when she granted her favor, while the dew's fringe dripped

    over the gardens like a long-lashed cloud.

  12. طَوراً تَميس بِحلة ذَهبية

    من تحتها برز الجَمال اليوسفي

    At times she swayed in a golden robe,

    beneath which Yusuf's beauty shone forth,

  13. وَتجر ما بَين الرِياض وَنَورها

    أَذيالها بتغطرس وَتغطرفِ

    and trailed among the gardens and their blossoms

    her skirts with haughtiness and lordly swagger.

  14. وَتَميل بِالقَد الرَطيب وَتَنثَني

    طَوراً لأَصوات الحمام الهتفِ

    She inclined her supple figure and bent,

    at times, to the cries of cooing doves.

  15. يصفر أحمرها لِصَوت حليها

    حذراً علي مِن العَدو المرجفِ

    Her rosy cheek pales at the sound of her jewelry,

    in fear for me of the rumor-spreading foe.

  16. فَفَرشت خَدي تَحتَ موطئ نَعلِها

    وَغَسَلت وَجهي بِالدموع الذرفِ

    So I spread my cheek beneath the tread of her sandal

    and washed my face with streaming tears.

  17. وَلَثَمت أخمصها عَلى رَغم العِدى

    بِفَم بلثم خدودها لا يَكتفي

    I kissed the arch of her foot, despite my enemies,

    with a mouth unsatisfied by kissing her cheeks.

  18. وَبَثَثتها الشَكوى وَما لاقيته

    مِن لَوم لائِمَة وَدهر مجحفِ

    I poured out to her my complaint and all I had suffered

    from a censuring woman's reproaches and an oppressive age.

  19. وَشفيت في ذاكَ المَقام جَوانِحا

    أَبَداً حَرارة نارِها لا تَنطفي

    And in that place I soothed a breast

    whose fiery heat is never quenched.

  20. فَسَطا علي الدَهر سَطوة ظالم

    بتفرق وَتعنف وَتعسفِ

    Then time assailed me with a tyrant's violence,

    with separation, harshness, and oppression.

  21. أَخلى مِن الخل الألوف مَنازلي

    فَغَدَت مَرابعها كَقاع صَفصفِ

    It emptied my dwellings of the affectionate friend,

    and their haunts became a bare, level plain.

  22. وَفَررت مِن رَيب الزَمان وَصرفه

    مُتَحصِناً بِالسيد البر الخفي

    I fled the calamities and reversals of time,

    seeking refuge with the righteous, unassuming lord.

  23. وَحَبَست نَفسي أن تَسير لِغَيره

    فَإِذا اِنثَنَت للغير قُلت لَها قِفي

    I restrained my soul from going to another;

    whenever it turned elsewhere, I told it, ‘Stop.

  24. ألقي العصا بِجنابه وَببابِه

    وَتَمتعي بِعلومه وَتشرفي

    Lay down your staff within his precinct and at his door,

    enjoy his learning, and gain honor.’

  25. الجهبذ الحبر الحَكيم وَمَن لَهُ

    غرر ضِياء شُموسها لا يَختفي

    The discerning master, the scholar, the sage, who possesses

    radiant glories whose suns' light is never hidden.

  26. مَولى أَنافَ عَلى السماك مقامه

    وَسَما عَلى قمم النُجوم الوقفِ

    A lord whose station towers above al-Simak

    and soars above the summits of the fixed stars.

  27. من ضِئضِئ المَجد الرَفيع وَمَعدن الش

    شَرف المَنيع وَنخبة البَيت الصَفي

    Of the stock of lofty glory, and the mine of

    impregnable nobility, the choicest of the pure House;

  28. وسلالة الشرفا وَبضعة حَيَدر

    مَردي الكَتائب بِالسِنان المشرفي

    a scion of the nobles, a piece of Haydar,

    the slayer of battalions with a Mashrafi spearhead.

  29. بَيت النُبوة وَالسيادة وَالتُقى

    مِن قَبلهم بَينَ الوَرى لَم يُعرَفِ

    A house of prophethood, lordship, and piety,

    never known among mankind before them.

  30. لَم يخلق الرَحمن مثل نَبيهم

    وَكمُصطفاهم في الوَرى لَم يصطفِ

    The All-Merciful created none like their Prophet,

    nor chose anyone among mankind like their Chosen One.

  31. فَهمُ هُمُ تاج الوَرى وَهم العُرى

    فاعذر أخي إِذا تَشا أَو عَنِّفِ

    For they, they are mankind's crown, and its firm bonds;

    so pardon me, brother, if you wish—or rebuke me.

  32. كَم روحة لَك يا أَمين وَغدوة

    برحابهم وَتلاوة بِالمصحفِ

    How many afternoon and morning visits were yours, O Trusted One,

    within their spacious courts, and recitations from the Qur'an!

  33. تَأتي بدحية تارة متشبهاً

    وَبوافد الأعراب وَالجلف الجَفي

    At times you come in the likeness of Dihya,

    and as a Bedouin envoy, uncouth and coarse.

  34. تَخشى العَواقب قَبله فَأمنتها

    إِذ كانَ رَحمة كُل مَرحوم كفي

    You feared the consequences before him, then felt secure from them,

    for he was mercy to everyone shown mercy and protection.

  35. يا سَيداً يعزي لِبَيت مُحمد

    لَم أحص مدحكم بِأَلف مصنفِ

    O lord descended from the House of Muhammad,

    I could not exhaust your praise in a thousand books.

  36. إِن قُلت جدي خَير من وطئ الثَرى

    قالَ الوُجود صَدقت يا نَجل الوَفي

    If you say, ‘My grandfather is the best who trod the earth,’

    existence says, ‘You speak truly, O son of the faithful one.’

  37. أَو قُلت أُمي خَير كُل كَريمة

    قالَ ابن حَنبل قَد صَدقت فلا تفِ

    Or say, ‘My mother is the best of all noble women,’

    Ibn Hanbal says, ‘You speak truly, yet do not do her justice.’

  38. أَو قُلت آبائي القَوانت في الدُجى

    أَهل المَكارم وَالحجا لَم تسرفِ

    Or say, ‘My forefathers are devout worshippers through the night,

    people of noble deeds and reason’—you have not exaggerated.

  39. ما وَرثوه دراهما مَعدودة

    بَل وَرثوه مَعارفاً لَم تعرفِ

    They did not bequeath him numbered dirhams,

    but knowledge you had never known.

  40. فَتَراه قَد كرع العُلوم وَبَثها

    في كُل ناحية تَليه وَمَوقفِ

    So you see him drinking deeply of the sciences and spreading them

    in every nearby region and gathering.

  41. يجلي الشُكوك إِذ تَفاقم أَمرها

    بِذكائِهِ المتوقد المتلقفِ

    He dispels doubts when their trouble grows grave,

    with his blazing, quick-grasping intelligence.

  42. وَلَكم تخرج فيهِ كُل مهذب

    وَمذرب مثل السنان مثقفِ

    How many refined men have been trained under him,

    and eloquent men, polished like a spearhead!

  43. وَسجية في العالمين سخية

    آمالها نجزت بِغَير تسوفِ

    And a nature generous to all mankind,

    the hopes it inspires fulfilled without delay;

  44. وَشَهامة مَعهودة مِن هاشم

    وَحمية مَوروثة عَن خندفِ

    and chivalry long known from Hashim,

    and zeal inherited from Khindif;

  45. وَبَلاغة وَبَراعة وَنَجابة

    وَصَلابة في دينه لا تَنتَفي

    and eloquence, brilliance, and nobility,

    and firmness in his faith that never fails.

  46. بِجواره يحمي الضَعيف إِذا عدت

    أَيدي الزَمان الجائر المستضعفِ

    Under his protection he guards the weak when

    the hands of unjust, oppressive time assail them.

  47. فَيرد رَوعته بِعزم ثاقب

    وَيَحل عقدته بِتَدبير خَفي

    He drives away their terror with piercing resolve

    and loosens their knot with subtle planning.

  48. وَيَسد خلته براحة محسن

    فاقَت عَلى هطل الزَمان الأَوكفِ

    He fills their need with a benefactor's palm

    that surpasses time's most abundant downpour.

  49. وَإِذا رَأى الأَيتام في عَرصاتِه

    أحني حُنو الوالد المُتعطفِ

    And when he sees orphans in his courts,

    he bends with a loving father's tenderness.

  50. لَو أنصفَت أَيامه لتلثمت

    أَقدامه لَكنها لَم تنصفِ

    If his days had been just, they would have kissed

    his feet; but they were not just.

  51. وَاللَه لَم أَستوفِ بَعض مَديحه

    لَكِنَّني كَالجالب المُستطرفِ

    By God, I have not done justice to even part of his praise;

    but I am like a bearer of rarities.

  52. هَل كَيفَ أحصي النَجم أَو قطر النَدى

    بِمحابري وَصَحائِفي أَو أحرفي

    How can I count the stars or drops of dew

    with my inkwells and pages, or my letters?

  53. فَلَو اشتغلت بِوَصفِهِ وَمَديحه

    يَفنى الزَمان وَفيهِ ما لَم يوصفِ

    Were I to devote myself to describing and praising him,

    time would perish with things in him still undescribed.

  54. لَكنني عَودت طَبعي وَصفه

    حَتّى يَكون محصبي وَمعرفي

    Yet I have accustomed my poetic nature to describing him,

    until he becomes my Muhassab and my Muʿarraf.

  55. فَإِذا وَقفت بِبابِهِ متشرفا

    وصرفت عَن أَبوابه لَم أصرفِ

    When I stand at his door, seeking honor,

    and am turned from his doors, I do not leave.

  56. هَل كَيف أصرف عَن حماه وَإنَّني

    بَين المَجرة وَالثُريا مَوقفي

    How could I be turned from his sanctuary, when

    my station is between the Milky Way and the Pleiades?

  57. يا نَجل فَخري أَنتَ فَخري فاستمع

    منظومة صدرت بِغَير تكلفِ

    O son of Fakhri, you are my pride; then hear

    a poem that flowed forth without affectation.

  58. وَرَدت عَلَيك وَإنَّها ابنة يَومِها

    نسجت كَثَوب بِالنَسيم مرفرفِ

    It has come to you, a daughter of this very day,

    woven like a garment fluttering in the breeze.

  59. نَزَلت فَعبد اللَه مهبط وَحيها

    بكراً وَطَوق سجافها لَم يكشفِ

    It descended: Abd Allah is the landing place of its revelation,

    a virgin, her encircling veil not yet lifted.

  60. فاحفظ جناها مِن ذرابة كاشح

    وَاحرس حِماها مِن سِهام معنفِ

    So guard her fruit from a foe's sharp tongue,

    and defend her sanctuary from a censurer's arrows.

  61. لا زلت مسقط كُل نوء مغدق

    أَبَداً وَتُدعى بالأعز الأَشرفِ

    May you ever be the landing place of every copious rain,

    forever, hailed as the mightiest and the noblest.