سلام على وادي الأراك سلام — Aloshari

سَلام عَلى وادي الأراك سَلام

فَقَد كانَ لي عَهد بِهِ وَذمام

Peace upon the valley of al-Arak, peace!

For I had a bond with it, and a covenant.

شَربت بِهِ ماء الحَياة مروقاً

وَواصلت بَدر الحي وَهوَ تَمام

There I drank the water of life, pure and clear,

and enjoyed union with the tribe's full moon at his fullest.

وَرب غَرير بت ألثم ثَغره

وَما فض عَنهُ قَبل ذاكَ لثام

And many a guileless youth—I spent the night kissing his lips,

and no veil had been lifted from him before that.

والهو بسحر وَهوَ غنج نَواظر

وَارنو سَقيط الدر وَهوَ كَلام

And I dally with magic—the coyness of eyes—

and gaze at falling pearls, which are speech.

وَانثر مِن دَمعي عُقوداً فَتنثَني

عَلى صَفحات الوَجه وَهيَ نِظام

And I scatter necklaces of my tears, which curve

over the face in ordered strands.

فَيَلحَظني مِن طَرفه وَهوَ ناعس

وَيتحفني بِالغصن وَهوَ قوام

Then he glances at me from his drowsy eye,

and offers me a bough—his graceful figure.

وَيلثمني وَرداً بجنة وَجنة

عَلَيها مِن اللَحظ المَريض حسام

And he kisses me with roses in a cheek's garden,

upon which rests a sword drawn from a languid glance.

وَقامَ يعاطيني مِن الثَغر خمرة

عَلَيها مِن المسك النَدي ختام

And he rose to offer me wine from his mouth,

bearing a seal of fresh musk.

يرنحه ريع الشَباب فَيلتَوي

وَلَيسَ بِهِ لا وَالعذيب مدام

Youth's vigor makes him sway and twist,

though no wine is in him—no, by al-Udhayb!

ألام عَلى حُبي لبيض سَوالف

بِها خط مِن صَدغ الملاحة لام

I am blamed for my love of white necks,

on which beauty's temple-lock has traced a lam.

أَبيت وَجفني لَيسَ يَعرف ما الكَرى

وَمَن غازل الغُزلان كَيفَ يَنام

I pass the night, my eyelid knowing not what sleep is;

and how can one who courts gazelles sleep?

يعللنا مر النَسيم عشية

وَنَسمع صَوت الطل وَهو سِجام

The passing breeze consoles us at evening,

and we hear the sound of dew as it pours down.

وَننشق مِن رَوض الحجاز وَشعبه

أَريجاً يحاكي المسك وَهوَ بشام

And we breathe in from the garden of the Hijaz and its ravine

a fragrance resembling musk, though it is balsam.

وَرب حمام ناح شَجواً لإلفه

فَهاجَت صَبابات لَنا وَغَرام

And many a dove lamented in sorrow for its mate,

rousing longings and passionate love in us.

أَلم يَدر أَني مِنهُ أَقوى صَبابة

وَأَن فراقي من أحب حمام

Did it not know that my longing was stronger than its own,

and that my parting from the one I love is death?

كَأن لَيالينا بِهِ وَمض بارق

وَعَيشاً مَع الظَبي الأَغن مَنام

It is as though our nights there were a lightning flash,

and life with the soft-voiced gazelle were a dream.

وَلَو دامَت اللذات عشنا بِغبطة

مِن الدَهر لَكن ما لهن دَوام

Had pleasures lasted, we would have lived in bliss

throughout our days—but they have no permanence.

هُناك عَهدت العَيش صاف غَديره

نعم وَحَريمي في ذراه حَرام

There I knew life with its pool clear,

yes, and my womenfolk inviolate in its shelter.

حمته بِأَشفار الصَوارم غلمة

لَهم عِن سوى حفظ الذمار فطام

Young men guarded it with the edges of keen swords,

weaned from all but safeguarding honor.

حَموا بِالأَنابيب الطوال كَواعباً

عَلَيهن مِن نسج الوَشيج خِيام

With long spear-shafts they guarded full-bosomed maidens,

above whom stood tents woven of spear-shafts.

سَقى اللَه بِالوَسمي داراً برامة

وَمَرتع غيد فيه لَيسَ ترام

May God water a dwelling at Rama with the first autumn rains,

and a pasture of slender maidens, not pursued there.

وَحَيا الحَيا ريم الحجاز فَإِنَّه

لَهُ في فُؤادي حرقة وَضرام

And may the rain greet the gazelle of the Hijaz, for he

has kindled burning pain and flame within my heart.

لَقَد خص بَينَ الناس بِالحُسن وَحده

كَما خص بِالشَأو الرَفيع همام

He alone was singled out among people for beauty,

as a noble man was singled out for lofty eminence:

علي المَعالي كامِل القدرِ قد علا

مَحلا سمي الاسم لَيسَ يسام

Ali of high virtues, perfect in worth, has risen

to a rank matching his lofty name, beyond others' reach.

هُوَ البَحر علماً بَل هُوَ البَحر نائِلاً

كَأَن يَديه لِلأَنام غمام

He is the sea in knowledge—nay, the sea in bounty;

his two hands seem rainclouds for mankind.

وَنير أفضال فَأَما عُلومه

فَغيث وَأَما ذهنه فَحسام

And a luminary of beneficence—as for his learning,

it is rain, and his mind is a sharp sword.

وَصبح عُلوم أَقلع الجَهل عِندها

أَيَبقى مَع الصُبح المُضيء ظَلام

And a dawn of learning, before which ignorance has vanished:

can darkness remain beside the shining dawn?

وَلَيث جدال أفحم الخصم وَحده

وَإن كثرت يَوم الجِدال خصام

And a lion in debate, who alone struck his opponent dumb,

though adversaries were many on the day of debate.

حمى حَوزة الإِسلام إِذ كانَ شَيخه

فَقصر عَنهُ غارب وَسنام

He guarded Islam's domain when he was its sheikh,

so withers and hump alike fell short of him.

بِهِ انتَظَم الشَرع الشَريف وَحكمه

وَلَولاه لَم يَظهر عَلَيه نِظام

Through him the noble sacred law and its rulings were ordered,

and without him no order would have appeared in it.

ينور مِن آرائه البيض خطبة

إِذا ما علته غيرة وَقتام

He illumines a sermon with his radiant opinions

whenever jealousy and dust have overshadowed it.

فَطابق بالبُرهان أَقوم حجة

بِها سلم الحَق المُبين يُقام

Thus he matched his demonstration to the soundest argument,

by which the ladder of manifest truth is raised.

فَراحَ وَحزب الماتريدي غالب

وَجَيش الإِمام الأَشعري لهام

So he went forth, al-Maturidi's party victorious,

and the army of Imam al-Ash'ari a vast host.

وَوَلت جُيوش الجبر كِسرى هَزيمة

وَتعدو وَفي أَعناقهن سِهام

And the armies of determinism turned back, shattered in defeat,

and ran with arrows in their necks.

وَغارت عُيون الرفض مِن نار بَأسه

وَقَد عميت أَبصارهم وَتَعاموا

And the eyes of Rafidism sank beneath the fire of his might;

their sight had gone blind, and they feigned blindness.

وَأَصبَح وَجه الاعتزال مُضرَجاً

لأَسيافه في صَفحتيه زحام

And the face of Mu'tazilism became bloodstained,

his swords thronging both its cheeks.

وَكَم طفر النِظام أَقبَح طفرة

وَكانَ لَهُ عِندَ اللقاء هيام

How often al-Nazzam made the ugliest leap,

and was seized with bewilderment at the encounter!

وَقَد نَص بِالمَفهوم مَنطوق فَضله

بِأَن ثَناه للقُلوب زمام

And the explicit testimony of his excellence declares, by implication,

that praise of him is a bridle for hearts.

جَواهر فَضل يعشق النَثر نَظمها

فَيَحلو نثار عِندها وَنِظام

Jewels of excellence whose stringing prose adores—

so scattering and stringing alike are sweet beside them.

وَأطلق تَقييد المديح كَماله

فَقصر لَفظ دونه وَكَلام

And his perfection unbound praise from its restraints,

so words and speech fell short of it.

فَيا أَيُّها الطود الَّذي طَأطأت لَهُ

هِضاب عَلَيها سادة وَكِرام

So, O mountain, before whom bowed

hills bearing lords and noble men!

تَسنمت مِن ظهر الشَريعة مَركباً

لَهُ فَوق كُل الشامِخات سَنام

You climbed onto sacred law's back as your mount,

whose hump towers above every lofty peak.

لَكَ الرتبة العَلياء وَالحشمة الَّتي

لَها الدَهر عَبد وَالزَمان غُلام

Yours are exalted rank and dignity to which

the ages are a slave and time a serving-boy.

بِحَقك قف وَاسمع نِظام قَصيدة

فَواصلها إِلا عَليك حَرام

By your worth, pause and hear a poem's ordered verse:

its cadences are forbidden to anyone but you.

أَتَتك عَلى نَأي الدِيار وَبَعدها

لِيطفى بِها مِن راحَتيك أوام

It came to you despite the remoteness and distance of home,

that, through it, your palms might quench my burning thirst.

وَتشرح أَحوالي لَدَيك فَإِنَّني

بليت بِأَهوال علي تقام

And it lays my circumstances before you; for I

have been afflicted by terrors raised against me.

وَقَد ضامَني دَهري بِأَضيق عِيشه

وَمَن كُنت مَولاه فَلَيسَ يُضام

And my time has wronged me with its straitest livelihood,

and whoever has you as patron is not wronged.

أقل عَثرَتي وَارفع بِجاهك رُتبَتي

وَأخصب رباعي حَيث أَنت غمام

Pardon my stumble, and by your standing raise my rank;

and make my homesteads fertile, for you are a raincloud,

لأقضي حُقوقاً لِلعُلوم كَثيرة

فَأَغدو وَما مِنها علي ملام

that I may fulfill the many obligations owed to learning,

so I may rise with no reproach from them upon me.

فَلا بَرحت أَقمار مَجدك تَرتَقي

إِلى فلك الأَفلاك وَهيَ تَمام

May the moons of your glory never cease ascending

to the sphere of spheres, in their fullness,

مَدى الدَهر ما شادَ شَدا وَهوَ قائل

سَلام عَلى وادي الأَراك سَلام

for all time, so long as a singer sings, saying:

Peace upon the valley of al-Arak, peace!