يا يوم تكريم حفني — Hafez Ibrahim

يا يَومَ تَكريمِ حِفني

أَرهَفتَ لِلقَولِ ذِهني

O day of honoring Hifni,

you have sharpened my mind for speech.

فَيا قَريضُ أَجِبني

وَيا بَيانُ أَعِنّي

So, O verse, answer me,

and O eloquence, help me.

عَلّي أَفي بَعضَ دَيني

إِن كانَ ذَلِكَ يُغني

Perhaps I can repay part of my debt,

if that is of any use.

يا مَن ضَرَبتَ بِسَهمٍ

في كُلِّ عِلمٍ وَفَنِّ

O you who have taken a share

in every science and art,

بَنَيتَ لِلشِعرِ فينا

وَالنَثرِ أَعظَمَ رُكنِ

you have built for poetry among us

and for prose the greatest pillar.

وَما خُلِقتَ لَعَمري

في الشَرقِ إِلّا لِتَبني

And, by my life, you were not created

in the East except to build.

فَكُلُّ رَبِّ يَراعٍ

في مِصرَ خِرّيجُ حِفني

For every master of a reed pen

in Egypt is a pupil trained by Hifni.

إِن قالَ شِعراً فَراحٌ

تُدارُ في يَومِ دَجنِ

If he speaks in verse, it is wine

passed round on an overcast day;

أَو قالَ نَثراً فَرَوحٌ

يَجتازُنا غِبَّ مُزنِ

or speaks in prose, it is a breeze

that passes over us after rain clouds.

فَإِن بَدَأتَ بِقَولٍ

مِنهُ فَبِالكَأسِ ثَنِّ

So if you begin with a passage

of his, follow it with the cup.

وَطِر إِلى اللَهوِ وَاِرغَب

عَن حِكمَةِ المُتَأَنّي

And fly to merriment, and turn away

from the wisdom of the cautious.

فَالعَيشُ في بِنتِ فِكرٍ

تُجلى وَفي بِنتِ دَنِّ

For life lies in a daughter of thought

unveiled, and in a daughter of the wine-jar.

وَإِن طَلَبتَ مَزيداً

فَفي مُناجاةِ خِدنِ

And if you seek more,

it lies in intimate talk with a companion.

لَولا الحَياءُ وَلَولا

ديني وَعَقلي وَسِنّي

Were it not for modesty, and were it not for

my faith, my reason, and my age,

لَقُمتُ في يَومِ حِفني

أَدعو لِسَكرَةِ يَنّي

I would have risen on Hifni's day,

calling for a Yanni carouse.

وَلا أَقولُ لِحِفني

ما قيلَ قِدماً لِمَعنِ

And I will not say to Hifni

what was said long ago to Ma'n:

لا تَنسَ عَيشاً تَوَلّى

ما بَينَ شَرحٍ وَمَتنِ

Do not forget a life now past,

between commentary and text.

وَلّى شَبابُكَ فيهِ

ما بَينَ مَدٍّ وَغَنِّ

Your youth passed away in it,

between drawn-out vowels and nasal chants.

وَذُقتَ مِن جاءَ زَيدٌ

وَمِن شُروحِ الشُمُنّي

And from 'Zayd came' you tasted,

and from al-Shumunni's commentaries,

وَمِن حَواشي الحَواشي

عَلى مُتونِ اِبنِ جِنّي

and from glosses upon glosses

on Ibn Jinni's texts,

ما لَم تُذِقكَ اللَيالي

قَلَبنَ ظَهرَ المِجَنِّ

what the nights never made you taste,

even when they turned the shield's back.

أَيّامَ سُلطانُ يَلهو

بِمَشِّهِ وَيُغَنّي

In the days when Sultan made merry

with his mish cheese and sang,

يَبيتُ يَقصَعُ ما لَم

أُسَمِّهِ أَو أُكَنّي

he spent his nights squashing what I have not

named outright or alluded to.

يَشكو إِلَيكَ وَتَشكو

إِلَيهِ عيشَةَ غَبنِ

He complained to you, and you complained

to him of a life of deprivation.

أَيّامَ يَدعوكَ حِفني

مِنَ الحَياةِ أَجِرني

In the days when he called to you, Hifni:

'Save me from life!

هاتِ المُسَدَّسَ إِنّي

سَئِمتُ مَشّي وَجُبني

Bring the revolver: I

am sick of my mish and my cheese.

مَن لي بِدِرهَمِ لَحمٍ

عَلَيهِ حَبَّةُ سَمنِ

Who can get me a dirham's worth of meat

with a dab of ghee upon it?

قَرِمتُ وَاللَهِ حَتّى

صاحَت عَصافيرُ بَطني

By God, I have craved meat until

the birds in my belly cried out!'

أَيّامَ عيدُكَ يَومٌ

تَفوزُ فيهِ بِدُهنِ

In the days when your feast day was a day

on which you managed to get some fat;

أَيّامَ مَهيَأَ أَشهى

إِلَيكَ مِن سَن جُوَنّي

in the days when Mahya was more appetizing

to you than San Giovanni.

أَقولُ هَذا وَإِنّي

لَمُحسِنٌ فيكَ ظَنّي

I say this, and I

truly think well of you.

فَإِن غَدَوتَ وَزيراً

يَوماً وَجِئنا نُهَنّي

So if you become a minister

one day, and we come to congratulate you,

فَلا تَكُن ذا حِجابٍ

وَلا تُطِل في التَجَنّي

then do not keep yourself behind a veil,

and do not persist in unjust fault-finding.

وَلا تَقُل مِن غُرورٍ

يا أَيُّها الناسُ إِنّي

And do not say out of conceit:

'O people, I...'

أَخشى عَلَيكَ المَنايا

حَتّى كَأَنَّكَ مِنّي

I fear death for you,

so much that it is as though you were part of me.

إِذا شَكَوتَ صُداعاً

أَطَلتُ تَسهيدَ جَفني

If you complain of a headache,

I keep my eyelid sleepless for long.

وَإِن عَراكَ هُزالٌ

هَيَّأتُ لَحدي وَقُطني

And if wasting overtakes you,

I prepare my grave and my cotton.

وَإِن دَعَوتُ لِحَيٍّ

يَوماً فَإِيّاكَ أَعني

And if I pray for a living soul

on any day, you are the one I mean.

عُمري بِعُمرِكَ رَهنٌ

فَعِش أَعِش أَلفَ قَرنِ

My life is pledged to your life:

live, and I shall live a thousand centuries.

نَبقى وَإِبليسَ فيها

نُبلي اللَيالي وَنُفني

We shall remain in it with Iblis,

wearing out the nights and annihilating them.

أَسرَفتُ في المَزحِ فَاِصفَح

يا سَيِّدي وَاِعفُ عَنّي

I have gone too far in jesting, so pardon me,

my master, and forgive me.

فَالذَنبُ ذَنبُ شُدودي

فَاِلعَن شُدودي وَدَعني

For the fault is Shududi's fault:

curse Shududi, and leave me be.

قَد سَنَّ فينا مُزاحاً

عَلى الحَقيقَةِ يَجني

He has instituted among us a kind of jesting

that does violence to the truth.

ذُقتُ الأَمَرَّينِ مِنهُ

فَسَل سَليماً وَسَلني

I have tasted the bitterest misery from him;

so ask Salim, and ask me.

وَاِسمَع مَديحَ مُحِبٍّ

يُطري بِحَقٍّ وَيُثني

And hear the praise of one who loves you,

who extols you justly and commends you.

لَقَد جَمَعتَ خِلالاً

تَضَمَّنَت كُلَّ حُسنِ

You have indeed gathered qualities

that encompass every excellence,

مُفَتِّشاً وَفَقيهاً

وَقاضِياً وَاِبنَ فَنِّ

as an inspector and a jurist,

and a judge and a son of art.

إِنَّ المَعارِفَ فازَت

بِمُنيَةِ المُتَمَنّي

Education has indeed gained

all that one could wish for,

بِحِشمَتٍ وَعَلِيٍّ

أَبي الفُتوحِ وَحِفني

in Hishmat and Ali

Abu al-Futuh, and Hifni.