ألف ألا انعم بالمحبة حالا — Ibn Al Zaqqaq

ألفٌ ألا انعم بالمحبة حالا

واجررْ لأبراد المنى أذيالا

Alif—ah, enjoy a blissful state in love,

And trail the hems of desire's mantles.

باء بدا شفق المغيب وأوقدت

سرج النجوم فعاطني الجريالا

Bāʾ—the sunset glow appeared, and there were kindled

The lamps of the stars; so pass me the red wine.

تاء تلوت محاسن البيض الدمى

سوراً وجدت بها الرحيق حلالا

Tāʾ—I recited the charms of the fair idols

As sacred chapters, through which I found pure wine lawful.

ثاء ثوينا نجتني زَهَرَ المنى

من كل غصن في نقا قد مالا

Thāʾ—we lingered, plucking the blossoms of desire

From every bough upon a sandhill that had bent.

جيم جرت أفلاك بدري أقمرا

مما تدور بأنجم تتلالا

Jīm—the spheres of my full moon coursed more brightly

Than those revolving with glittering stars.

حاء حباني من حبيت بوصله

برضابه فرشفت منه زلالا

Ḥāʾ—he whose union I was granted favored me

With his lips' dew, so I sipped from it limpid water.

خاء خلال الروض وهو ممسك

بتنا نباري الفرقدين وصالا

Khāʾ—amid the garden, scented with musk,

We spent the night rivaling the two Farqad stars in closeness.

دال دنت بي منه رحما زورة

فظننتها مما ازدهيت خيالا

Dāl—a visit drew me close to him in affection;

So, in my rapture, I thought it a dream-vision.

ذال ذؤابة من هويت زمرد

لو طاول المسك الأحم لطالا

Dhāl—the tress of the one I love is emerald;

Were it to rival jet-black musk, it would surpass it.

راء رنا ظبياً وغنى أورقاً

ومشى قضيب نَقا ولاح هلالا

Rāʾ—he gazed like a gazelle and sang like a gray dove,

And walked like a bough upon a sandhill, and shone like a crescent.

زاء زعمتم بالنصال فطرفه

أَصمى الفؤاد وما أعد نبالا

Zāy—you spoke of arrowheads, yet his glance

Slew the heart outright, though he had readied no arrows.

طاء طوى الهيمان طيَّ وشاحه

بمخصر فتوشح الخلخالا

Ṭāʾ—the lovesick one folded his sash

Around a slender waist, then girdled himself with an anklet.

ظاء ظللنا تحت ظلِّ مودة

في روض أنس نجتني الآمالا

Ẓāʾ—we lingered beneath affection's shade,

In a garden of intimacy, plucking hopes.

كاف كساه الحسن غرة جعفر

فاهتزَّ من طرب وفاق جمالا

Kāf—Jaʿfar's radiant brow clothed it in beauty;

So it swayed with delight and excelled in loveliness.

لام لواء المجدِ تحت يمينه

ولجامُ طِرْفِ العز منه مالا

Lām—the banner of glory lies beneath his right hand,

And from him hangs the bridle of honor's steed.

نون نبيل إن تناول رقعة

خلت اليراعة أسمراً عسالا

Nūn—a noble man: if he takes up a sheet,

I would take his reed pen for a brown, quivering lance.

صاد صدقت لقد بلوت فلم أجد

في المجد لابن أبي الربيع مثالا

Ṣād—I spoke truly: I have tested him and found no

Equal in glory to Ibn Abī al-Rabīʿ.

ضاد ضمنت لمن أناخ بظله

إلا أن يحط على الخطوب رحالا

Ḍād—I promised whoever encamped in his shade

Anything but laying his baggage down amid calamities.

عين عفا رسم الوفاء فجددت

منه سوابغ فضله أَطلالا

ʿAyn—the trace of loyalty faded, but renewal came

To its ruins from his overflowing bounty.

غين غدت منا اللحاظ كأنما

نرعى به بدر التمام كمالا

Ghayn—we came to gaze as though

We beheld in him the full moon in its perfection.

فاء فريد الحسن منه يزيده

باللحظ تكرير العيون صقالا

Fāʾ—his peerless beauty grows more

Polished by the eyes' repeated gazing.

قاف قُدِ العلياء يا قطب النهى

واجعل لها كرم الخلال عقالا

Qāf—lead high glory, O axis of reason,

And make nobility of character its tether.

سين سموت وقد نمتكَ عصابة

مَلأَتْ صدوراً هيبة وجمالا

Sīn—you rose high, born of a clan

That filled hearts with awe and beauty.

شين شآبيب الندى بأكفهم

عند الشدائد تطرد الأمحالا

Shīn—the showers of bounty in their palms

Drive away droughts in times of hardship.

هاء هم الغر الكرام وإن عروا

أردوا على الغر الكرام رجالا

Hāʾ—they are the radiant nobles; and if they attack,

On noble, white-blazed steeds they slay men.

واو وعندهم حمام عدوهم

من قبل أن ينضوا عليه نصالال

Wāw—and with them lies their enemy's doom

Before they draw blades against him.

ياء يُلاقي ذكرهم لفؤاده

جزعاً كما يلقى النسيم ذبالا

Yāʾ—the mention of them encounters in his heart

Panic, as a breeze encounters lampwicks.