قلب كواه البين حتى أنضجا — Ibn Alwardi

قلبٌ كواهُ البينُ حتى أنضجا

ما زال في بحر الغرامِ ملججا

A heart that separation seared until it was cooked through,

Has never ceased plunging into the depths of love’s sea.

ومدامعٍ سحَّتْ وما شحَّتْ على

خدٍّ بحمرةِ لونها قدْ ضُرِّجا

And tears that poured, withholding nothing, upon

A cheek dyed crimson by their hue.

لمْ لا تضرِّجْ أدمعي خدي وقدْ

أُذكرتُ ظلاً بالمدينةِ سجسجا

Why should my tears not redden my cheek, when

I have been reminded of temperate shade in Medina?

لي بالحجازِ وساكنيهِ مآربُ

أرضٌ حكَتْ حللَ الربيعِ مدبَّجا

I have yearnings for the Hijaz and its inhabitants—

A land that mirrors the embroidered robes of spring.

سقتِ الحجازَ سحائبٌ يحيا بها

ميْتُ النباتِ لكيْ يميسَ تبرُّجا

May clouds water the Hijaz, reviving

Dead vegetation, so it may sway, displaying its beauty.

يا قاعةَ الوعساءِ ما هذا الشذا

أحويتِ شيحاً أمْ حويتِ بنفسجا

O plain of al-Waʿsaʾ, what is this fragrance?

Do you hold wormwood, or do you hold violets?

أمْ نسمةً هبَّتْ ببانِ طُويلعٍ

هزَّتْ معاطفهُ ففاحَ تأرّجا

Or a breeze that blew through the ban-tree of Tuwayliʿ,

Shook its limbs, and it breathed out fragrance?

ظمأى إلى غدرانِهِ ورياضِهِ

ظمأٌ يزيد القلبَ منهُ تأججا

My thirst for its pools and gardens

Is a thirst that sets the heart ever more ablaze.

ما للنياقِ رواقصاً هلْ عاينَتْ

برقَ الأُبيرِقِ تحتَ أزيالِ الدجى

Why are the she-camels dancing? Have they glimpsed

The lightning of al-Ubayriq beneath the skirts of darkness?

يا سعدُ إنْ عاينْتَ بهجةَ طيبةٍ

فابشرْ بكونِكَ ناجياً فيمن نجا

O Saʿd, if you behold the splendor of Tayba,

Then rejoice in being saved among those who are saved.

وانزلْ وقبِّلْ تربَها متورِّعاً

متخضِّعاً متخشِّعاً متفرِّجا

And alight, and kiss its dust reverently,

Humbly, devoutly, taking in the sight.

واكحلْ جفونَكَ مِنْ ثراها وابتهجْ

بسنا نبيٍّ ما أعزَّ وأبهجا

And line your eyelids with its soil, and rejoice

In a prophet’s radiance—how exalted and resplendent!

أعلى الورى قدْراً وأعظمُهُمْ تقىً

وأتمهمْ جاهاً وأكملُهمْ حِجا

Highest in rank among creation, greatest in piety,

And fullest in standing, most perfect in intellect,

وأحدُّهم سيفاً وأكثرُهُمْ ندى

وأعزُّ منزلةً وأوضحُ منهجا

And with the sharpest sword and the greatest generosity,

And most exalted in station, clearest in his path.

منْ أينَ في الثقلينِ مثلُ محمدٍ

نرجوهُ في كرباتِنا أَنْ تُفرجا

Where among humankind and jinn is Muhammad’s equal?

We look to him amid our afflictions, that they may be relieved.

كمْ للنبيِّ محمدٍ منْ معجزٍ

أوهى قوى مَنْ عاندوهُ وأزعجا

How many miracles the Prophet Muhammad has,

That sapped his opponents’ strength and unsettled them!

عجبي لنطقِ غزالةٍ للمصطفى

جعلَ الإلهَ لها بذلكَ مخرجا

I marvel at a gazelle’s speaking to the Chosen One:

Through this, God provided her a way of escape.

لو لمْ يُشَقَّ البدرُ معجزةً لهُ

لانشقَّ منهُ غيرةً وتحرّجا

If the full moon had not been split as a miracle for him,

It would have split because of him, from jealousy and unease.

لمْ لا تحنُّ إليه يا قلبي وقدْ

غلبَ الحنينُ الجذعَ فيهِ وهيّجا

Why do you not yearn for him, my heart, when

Longing for him overcame the tree-trunk and stirred it?

سبحانَ منْ أعطاهُ تسبيحَ الحصى

في كفِّهِ المُرْوِي إذا عطشٌ فجا

Glory to the One who granted him the pebbles’ glorification

In his palm, which gives drink when thirst suddenly strikes.

أوَليسَ بيتُ العنكبوتِ بآيةٍ

في الغارِ لمّا أُلْهِمَت أنْ تنسجا

And is not the spider’s web a sign,

In the cave, when she was inspired to weave?

كم ردَّ عيناً كم برا ذا عاهةٍ

بدعائهِ كمْ شدَّةٍ قدْ فرَّجا

How many an eye he restored, how many a sufferer he healed

Through his prayer; how many a hardship he relieved!

كم قالَ غيباً صادقاً فمقالُهُ

مثلُ الصباحِ إذا بدا متبلِّجا

How often he spoke truthfully of the unseen; his words are

Like the morning when it appears, bright and clear.

ولهُ منَ المعراجِ آياتٌ سمَتْ

لما دعاهُ اللّهُ في ليلٍ سجا

And he has lofty signs from the Ascension,

When God summoned him in a night grown still.

مَنْ رامَ يحصي معجزاتِ محمدٍ

فيعدّ موجَ البحرِ حينَ تموَّجا

Whoever would count Muhammad’s miracles,

Let him count the sea’s waves when it billows.

مَنْ أُنزِلَ القرآنُ في أوصافِهِ

أنا قاصرٌ عَنْ مدحِهِ متلجلجا

He about whose qualities the Qur’an was revealed—

I fall short of praising him, stammering.

هلْ بعدَ يس و طه مدحةٌ

في الهاشميِّ وآلِهِ سفنِ النجا

Is any praise left after Ya-Sin and Ta-Ha

For the Hashimite and his family, the ships of salvation?

يا خيرَ خلقِ اللّهِ يا كلَّ المنى

أنا أرتجيكَ وأنتَ نعم المرتجى

O best of God’s creation, O all that one could wish for,

I place my hope in you, and you are an excellent hope.

يا منْ لواءُ الحمدِ في يدِهِ ومَنْ

تاجُ الكرامةِ في القيامةِ توِّجا

O you who hold the banner of praise, and who

Are crowned with honor’s crown at the Resurrection,

جسمي ضعيفٌ عنْ لظى وعذابُها

حاشاكَ تنسى مَنْ إليكَ قدِ التجا

My body is too weak to bear the blazing Fire and its torment.

Far be it from you to forget one who has sought refuge in you.

كنْ لي شفيعاً إنَّ جسمي مثْقل

بالسيِّئاتِ وقدْ شجاني مَنْ شجا

Be my intercessor; indeed, my body is burdened

With sins, and the one who brings grief has grieved me.

كم ذا أُسوِّفُ بالمتابِ توانيا

حقٌّ لدمعي بالدما أن يُمْزَجا

How long shall I keep delaying repentance out of indolence?

It is only right that my tears be mixed with blood.

إني لأحْوَجُ مذنب لشفاعةٍ

إنَّ الكرامَ يقدِّمونَ الأحْوَجا

I am surely the sinner most in need of intercession;

Indeed, the noble give the neediest precedence.

صلّى عليكَ اللّهُ يا خيرَ الورى

ما نارَ نورٌ مِنْ ضريحكَ في الدجى

May God bless you, O best of creation,

As long as light shines from your tomb in the darkness.