سعى بالكاس مخضوب البنان — Hifni Nasif

سعى بالكاس مخضوب البنانِ

فقلت لقد تلاقى النيّرانِ

One with dyed fingertips hastened with the cup,

and I said, 'The two luminaries have indeed met!'

وبان بطلعةٍ كالبدرِ حسناً

وماس بقامةٍ كالخيزرانِ

He appeared, his face as lovely as the full moon,

and swayed with a stature like bamboo.

وجاد بوجنةٍ من فوق ثغر

كورد فوق زهرة أقحوانِ

He offered a cheek above a mouth,

like a rose above a chrysanthemum blossom.

هلالٌ هلّ في آفاقِ قلبي

غزال لحظه التركِي غزاني

A crescent moon rose on my heart's horizons,

a gazelle whose Turkish glance assailed me.

أأخفي حبّهُ ودموعُ عيني

على حبيه أفصح ترجمانِ

Can I hide my love for him, when the tears of my eye

are the most eloquent interpreter of my love for him?

فكم قيدت قلبي في هواهِ

وكم عيناي فيه تجريانِ

How often I have bound my heart in love for him,

and how often my two eyes stream for him!

يطير فؤاديَ المضني عليه

ولاعجبٌ فذلك غصن بانِ

My love-worn heart flies toward him,

and no wonder: he is a bough of the ban tree.

فليس لمثله في الغيد ثانٍ

وليس عن الهوى لي فيه ثانِ

Among graceful beauties, none is his equal,

and none can turn me away from loving him.

جنيت الورد من خديه لكن

له لحظ يؤدب كل جانِ

I plucked roses from his cheeks, but

he has a glance that chastises every offender.

وواعد بالمجيء دجىً ومن ذا

كهذا الظبي من إنس وجانِ

He promised to come at night—and who

among humans and jinn is like this gazelle?

وولى معرضاً وهمت دموعي

من الأجفانِ لما أن جفاني

He turned away, spurning me, and my tears poured

from my eyelids when he shunned me.

شواني بالجفا وحلا اصطباري

ولكن مر لما أن قلاني

He scorched me with estrangement, and my endurance grew sweet,

but turned bitter when he hated me.

سلاني هجره لما سلاني

بلا سبب سلاه أو سلاني

His desertion consoled me when he forgot me

without cause—ask him, you two, or ask me.

ولبّت مهجتي لما دعاني

هواه له فويحكما دعاني

And my soul answered when I was called

to him by love of him—alas, you two, leave me be!

وشاني في الهوى أن لست أصغى

وحرمته إلى لاح وشاني

And my way in love is that I do not listen—

by its sanctity!—to any reproacher or detractor.

أماناً يا رشيق القدّ إني

أروم رضاً فجُد لي بالإمانِ

Protection, O slender of stature! I

seek favor, so grant me safety.

فقد أجريت من عينيّ نهراً

وإنهما وحقك سائلانِ

For you have made a river flow from my eyes,

and, by your right, they are both flowing.

أظنك إذ سكنت لظى جَناني

نفرت وأنت من حور الجنانِ

I think that, when you dwelt in my heart's blaze,

you took fright—though you are among Paradise's houris.

فجد برضاك وامنحني رضاباً

ولا تجعل جوابي لن تراني

So grant your favor and give me the moisture of your lips,

and do not answer me, 'You shall not see me.'

فما أقساك ظبياً ليس يرثي

لمشغول المحاجر واللسانِ

How cruel you are, a gazelle who shows no pity

to one whose eyes and tongue are occupied:

فتلك بمدمعي فيه وهذا

بمدح محمد حبر الزمانِ

the former with my tears for him, and the latter

with praising Muhammad, the scholar of the age,

حليفَ المكرمات أبي خضير

زكيّ المنتمي ثبت الجنانِ

ally of noble deeds, Abu Khudayr,

pure of lineage and steadfast of heart.

هو الروض النضير وكم نعيم

بساحتهِ وكم فيه تهاني

He is a verdant garden—how much bliss

is in his grounds, and how many felicitations within!

فتى كالشمس لا يخفي سناها

على أحد وليس لها مدانِ

A youth like the sun: its radiance is not hidden

from anyone, and it has no rival.

فيا بحر المعارف أنت حبر

بديعٌ في بيانك للمعاني

So, O ocean of knowledge, you are a scholar

masterful in your exposition of meanings.

أقرّ بما جمعت من المعالي

جميعُ الناس من قاص ودانِ

The lofty merits you have amassed are acknowledged

by all people, far and near.

وقد شيّدتَ للعليا ربوعاً

ومالك يا وحيد الدهر ثانِ

And you have built dwellings for high glory,

and you, O unique one of the age, have no equal.

وقد ألقت مقالدها القوافي

إليك وملّكتك من العنانِ

The rhymes have surrendered their keys

to you, and made you master of the reins.

فكم ببيوتك الحسنى معان

حسانٌ لا يلم بها معانِ

How many meanings are in your splendid verses,

beautiful, beyond the reach of any striver!

وكم لك من رقائق مطربات

كرنّات المثالث والمثاني

And how many delicate, enchanting pieces you have,

like the ringing of the third and second strings!

وفي طيّ اللسانِ كما روينا

عُلاَ الإنسان لا في الطيلسانِ

In the folds of the tongue, as we have related,

lies human eminence, not in the taylasan cloak.

لخطَّ ابن الحسين أبا خضير

جمعت وحسن نظم الأرّجاني

To Ibn al-Husayn's penmanship, O Abu Khudayr,

you have joined the beauty of al-Arrajani's verse.

رويت المجد عن أصلِ وجَد

فما في نص مجدك عن فلانِ

You have transmitted glory from forebear and grandsire;

your glory's text contains no 'from so-and-so.'

سلكت طرائقاً لم يحظ منها

سواك بغير لقلقة اللسانِ

You have trodden paths that yielded nothing

to others but the mere babbling of the tongue.

ونلت معارفاً رقت ودقت

فصرت الفرد في هذا الزمانِ

And you attained knowledge refined and subtle,

so became the peerless one in this age.

فعش يا سعد في شرف وسعد

ودم يا روض في عز وشانِ

So live, O Sa'd, in honor and happiness,

and endure, O garden, in might and distinction.

ولازم ما حييت الفضل وأحلل

من العلياء في أعلى مكانِ

Cleave to excellence as long as you live, and dwell

in the highest station of lofty eminence.

ودونك من بنات الفكر بكراً

مُزّيَّنَةَ الترائبِ بالجمانِ

And take a virgin from the daughters of thought,

her breast adorned with pearls,

مهذبة المقاصد والمعاني

مذهبة القوالب والمباني

refined in her aims and meanings,

gilded in her forms and structures.

فإن أنت ارتضيت بها فهذا

تمام القصد يا كلّ الأماني

So if you are pleased with her, this is

the fulfillment of my purpose, O sum of all my hopes.