عجبا لغي الحب لاح سبيله — Ibn Darray Alqastalli

عَجَباً لِغَيِّ الحُبِّ لاح سَبِيلُهُ

ولِرُشْدِ حِلْمِكَ كَيْفَ ضَلَّ دَليلُهُ

A marvel, that love's waywardness should have so clear a path,

and your reason's wisdom—how its guide has strayed!

ولِعَيْشِ صَبٍّ لا يَرِقُّ حَبِيبُهُ

مِمَّا شَجَاهُ ولا يُفيقُ عَذُولُهُ

And the life of a lovesick lover whose beloved feels no pity

for what grieves him, while his reproacher never comes to his senses!

ولِقَاتِلٍ بِالهَجْرِ غَيْرِ مُقَاتِلٍ

يَفْدِيهِ مِنْ مَضَضِ العِتَابِ قَتِيلُهُ

And one who kills through estrangement, without fighting,

whose victim ransoms him from the sting of reproach!

إِنْ خَطَّ فِي جَوِّ السَّماءِ مِثَالَهُ

بَدْراً فَبَيْنَ جَوَانِحِي تَمْثِيلُهُ

If he traces his likeness in the expanse of heaven

as a full moon, his image lies between my ribs.

أَوْ شَرَّدَ التَّسْهِيدَ طَيْفُ خَيالِهِ

عَنْ ناظِرَيَّ فَفِيهِمَا تَخْيِيلُهُ

Or if the phantom of his image drives sleeplessness

from my eyes, his apparition remains within them.

وَلَهَانَ فِيهِ مَا فَقَدْتُ مِنَ الْكَرى

لَوْ كَانَ من نَظَرِي إِلَيْهِ بَديلُهُ

The sleep I lost for him would surely matter little,

if gazing upon him could replace it,

أَوْ كَانَ حُكْمُ هَوَاهُ لا تَحْرِيمُهُ

وَصْلِي عَلَيْهِ وَلا دَمِي تَحْلِيلُهُ

or if his love's decree were not to forbid

my union with him, or declare my blood lawful.

غُصْنٌ يَمِيسُ بِهِ الصِّبَا فَيُقِيمُهُ

طَوْراً وتُوهِمُهُ الصَّبا فَتُمِيلُهُ

A bough that youth sets swaying, then straightens

at times; the east wind beguiles it and bends it.

فَكَأَنَّهُ فِي لَمْحِ طَرْفِيَ عائِرٌ

وتَقيه تَفْدِيَتِي لَهُ فَتُقِيلُهُ

As though he were a drifting mote within my glance,

my pledges to ransom him protect him and spare him.

وتَكادُ أَنْفاسِي تُزَايِلُ مَتْنَهُ

لَوْلا كثيبٌ منهُ لَيْسَ يُزِيلُهُ

My breaths almost dislodge his back,

but for a sandhill of his that cannot be moved.

فكأَنَّما يُشْتَقُّ من حَرَكَاتِهِ

نَغَمُ الغِناءِ خفيفُهُ وثقيلُهُ

As though from his movements were derived

the melodies of song, both light and heavy.

لَوْ أَنَّهُ يُشْتَقُّ مِنْ أَعْطَافِهِ

عَطْفٌ يُعَلِّلُ لَوْعَتي تَعْلِيلُهُ

If only from his supple sides there could be drawn

a tenderness whose solace would soothe my burning anguish!

وعَلِيلُ لَحْظِ الطَّرْفِ أَعدى طَرْفُهُ

قَلْبي بداءٍ لا يُفيقُ عليلُهُ

A languid-eyed one, whose glance infected

my heart with a disease whose sufferer never recovers.

سَلَبَ المَلاحَةَ فِي الظِّباءِ وَفِي المَهَا

حَتَّى اسْتَبَدَّ بجِزْئِها تكميلُهُ

He stole the grace in gazelles and oryx,

until his perfection claimed every part of it.

أَنَفاً لِمَنْ سَكَنَ التَّرَائِبَ أَنْ يُرى

يَطَأُ التُّرابَ شَبِيهُهُ ومَثيلُهُ

Out of pride for one dwelling within my breast, I disdain to see

his likeness or his equal treading dust.

ولقد حَفِظْتُ لَهُ أَمانَةَ لاعِجٍ

بالشَّوْقِ يَغْلي فِي الفؤادِ غليلُهُ

I have faithfully kept for him a burning passion's trust,

whose ardent thirst boils in my heart with longing.

وضَرَبْتُ من دَمْعِي عَلَى خَدِّي لَهُ

غُرْماً غرامِي بالقَضَاءِ كَفِيلُهُ

And on my cheek I levied for him, from my tears,

a tribute whose payment my passion guarantees.

فَلَئِنْ صَبَوْتُ فَلسْتُ أَوَّلَ عاشِقٍ

تَبعَ الهَوى فَهَوى بِهِ تضليلُهُ

If I have fallen in love, I am not the first lover

to follow passion and be brought down by its misguidance.

ولئِنْ صبرْتُ فلَسْتُ بِدعَ مُفَارِقٍ

غَالَتْ حَبِيبَ النَّفْسِ عَنْهُ غُولُهُ

And if I endure patiently, I am not the first parted lover

whose ghoul has snatched his soul's beloved from him.

ولئِنْ سَلَوْتُ فَأَيُّ أُسْوَةِ واعِظٍ

أَلْهاهُ عن قَمَرِ السَّمَاءِ أُفُولُهُ

And if I find solace, what an example is that admonisher

whom the heavenly moon's setting turned away from it!

فَسَما إِلَى الْمَلأِ الأَجَلِّ بِهِجْرَةٍ

وَافى بِهَا الرَّحْمنُ وَهْوَ خَلِيلُهُ

Then he rose to the most exalted assembly through a migration

by which he reached the All-Merciful as His intimate friend.

وهُناكَ يَا مَنْصُورُ هِمْتَ بِهِمَّةٍ

فِيهَا سُلُوُّ المُسْتَهامِ وَسُولُهُ

There, O Mansur, you yearned with an aspiration

where the lovesick find solace and their desire,

طَلَباً لِحَظٍّ لا يَذِلُّ عَزِيزُهُ

من حَظِّ غَيٍّ لا يَعِزُّ ذَلِيلُهُ

seeking a fortune whose exalted one is never humbled,

away from an errant fortune whose humbled one never rises.

فَهَدى وَأَهْدَانِي إِلَيْكَ مُبَرِّزاً

شَهِدَتْ لَهُ فِي السَّابِقَاتِ عُدُولُهُ

So He guided me and offered me to you as a gift, a front-runner

whose upright witnesses attested his former races.

وَجَلا عَلَيْكَ بِهِ الجَلاءُ مُهَنَّداً

صَدَقَتْكَ عَنْ قَرْعِ الحُرُوبِ فُلُولُهُ

And exile revealed to you in him an Indian-forged blade,

whose notches told you truly of the clash of wars.

وعَفَتْ مَحاسِنه العِدى فكأَنَّها

فِي مَعْهَدِ الْوَطَنِ الفَقيدِ طُلُولُهُ

His enemies erased his graces, until they seemed

ruins at the site of his lost homeland.

إِنْ يُصْدِهِ رَهَجُ الوغى فَشُعاعُهُ

بالعِلْمِ لَمَّاعُ الجِلاءِ صَقِيلُهُ

If battle's dust should rust it, its radiance

is polished through learning, flashing with luster.

أَوْ تُخْلِقِ البَلْوَى حَمائِلَ حَلْيِهِ

فَعَلَى التَّجَمُّلِ والمُنى تَجْمِيلُهُ

Or if affliction wears out the straps of its adornment,

its beauty rests on dignified endurance and hope.

أَو تَقْطَعِ الأَيَّامُ عَهْدَ ذِمامِهِ

فالصَّبْرُ واصِلُ حبلِهِ مَوْصُولُهُ

Or if the days sever the covenant of its protection,

patience joins its cord and keeps it joined.

فأَتاكَ يَا مَنْصُورُ فاقِدَ غِمْدِهِ

بِرَجَاءِ مَجْرُورٍ إِلَيْكَ ذُيُولُهُ

So he came to you, O Mansur, without his scabbard,

with hope whose trailing skirts were drawn toward you,

رَسْفَ المُقَيَّدِ فِي أَضاليلِ الدُّجى

والقَفْرُ والبَحرُ المُحِيطُ كُبُولُهُ

shuffling like a fettered man through night's bewildering darkness,

the desert and the encircling sea his shackles,

كُرَباً كَمَوْجِ البَحْرِ لا إِهْلالُهُ

إِلّا إِلَيْكَ بِهَا وَلا تَهْلِيلُهُ

in troubles like sea-waves: he raises no cry

through them but to you, nor any chant of God's oneness.

فَلْيَهْنِ ذَا أَمَلٍ إِلَيْكَ مآلُهُ

وجَلاءَ مُرْتَحِلٍ إِلَيْكَ رَحِيلُهُ

May joy attend a hopeful man whose destination is you,

and a traveler's exile, whose journey leads to you,

وظلامَ لَيْلٍ فِي جَبِينِكَ صُبْحُهُ

وهَجيرَ قَيْظٍ فِي ذَرَاكَ مَقِيلُهُ

and night's darkness, whose dawn is in your brow,

and summer's blaze, whose noonday rest is in your shelter.

ولْيَهْنِنَا وَلْيَهْنِكَ العيدُ الَّذِي

بِسَنَاكَ أَشْرَقَ صُبْحُهُ وأَصِيلُهُ

May the feast bring joy to us and you,

its morning and evening brightened by your radiance.

عِيدٌ إِلَيْكَ سَلامُهُ وقِوامُهُ

ونظامُهُ وزِحامُهُ وحُفُولُهُ

A feast whose greeting and observance are directed to you,

its order, its throngs, and its great gathering.

وعلى الإِلهِ مَعَادُهُ وعَتادُهُ

وإِيابُهُ وثوابُهُ وقَبُولُهُ

And with God rest its return and its provision,

its homecoming, its reward, and its acceptance.

ولْيَهْنِ كُلَّ مليكِ شِرْكٍ عِيدُهُ

يَوْمٌ إِلَيْكَ بُلُوغُهُ وَوُصُولُهُ

May every king of polytheism be gladdened by his festival—

the day of his arrival and coming to you.

ضَلَّتْ بِهِ سُبُلُ الشَّرائِعِ واهْتَدَتْ

بشَرِيعَةِ الزُّلفى إِلَيْكَ سَبِيلُهُ

The paths of creeds led him astray, but rightly guided

by the law of nearness to you was his path.

نَاشٍ عَلَى دِينِ السُّجُودِ وَمَا دَرى

قَبْلَ السُّجودِ إِلَيْكَ مَا تأْوِيلُهُ

Reared in the religion of prostration, he did not know

what it meant before he prostrated himself to you.

أَنْسَاهُ قَدْرُكَ مَا أَضَلَّ صَلِيبُهُ

وأَراهُ سَيْفُكَ مَا حَوى إِنْجِيلُهُ

Your stature made him forget his cross's misguidance,

and your sword showed him what his Gospel contained.

فأَجَازَ مَحْياهُ إِلَيْكَ نِزَاعُهُ

وأَغَرَّهُ بِكَ فِي الوَرى تَذْلِيلُهُ

His longing carried his face across to you,

and abasement before you made him illustrious among men.

ولَئِنْ حَمى عَنْكَ ابْنُ مِيرُ مَحَلَّةً

فِي شامِخٍ أَعْيا النُّجُومَ حُلُولُهُ

Though Ibn Mir defended against you a stronghold

in a lofty place whose occupation baffled the stars,

ونَماه مُلْكٌ لا يُضَعْضَعُ تاجُهُ

ووَقاهُ عِزٌّ لا يُخافُ خُمُولُهُ

and a sovereignty exalted him whose crown cannot be shaken,

and might guarded him whose decline need not be feared,

فلقَد دَعَاكَ إِلَى رِضاكَ وَدُونَهُ

غَوْلُ الضَّلالِ حُزُونُهُ وسُهُولُهُ

yet he appealed to you for your favor, though before it lay

error's deadly peril, its rough ground and its plains,

أَصْبى إِلَيْكَ من الصَّبا وأَحنُّ مِنْ

أُفْقٍ وَنَتْ عَنْهُ إِلَيْكَ قَبُولُهُ

more love-struck for you than the east wind, more yearning than

a horizon whose east wind has flagged on its way to you.

وأَجَلَّ قَدْرَكَ عن سِواهُ وقَدْرَ مَا

أَخْفى إِلَيْكَ نَجِيُّهُ ودَخِيلُهُ

He held your rank above all else, and deemed what

his secret thoughts and inmost heart concealed for you too great

عَنْ صِدْقِ غَيْبٍ بالكِتَابِ يَبُثُّهُ

أَوْ بَرْحِ شَوْقٍ بالرَّسُولِ يَقُولُهُ

for loyalty in absence conveyed by letter,

or fierce longing voiced through a messenger.

فَهَوى وصَفْحَتُهُ إِلَيْكَ كِتابُهُ

وهَفا ومُهْجَتُهُ إِلَيْكَ رَسُولُهُ

So he swooped, his face his letter to you,

and flew, his heart's blood his messenger to you,

عَجِلاً إِلَى أَمَلٍ دَنَا تَعْجِيلُهُ

وَجِلاً بِهِ أَجَلٌ نَأَى تَأْجِيلُهُ

hastening toward a hope whose fulfillment was near,

fearful, with an appointed death whose reprieve lay far away.

للهِ مَا رَحَلَتْ إِلَيْكَ رِحَالُهُ

طَوْعاً وَمَا حَمَلتْ إِلَيْكَ حُمُولُهُ

God be praised for his saddles that journeyed to you

willingly, and for what his laden caravans bore to you!

غازٍ وناصِرُهُ عَلَيْكَ خُضُوعُهُ

سارٍ وَطَاعَتُهُ إِلَيْكَ دَلِيلُهُ

A raider whose helper against you was his submission,

a night-traveler whose guide to you was his obedience.

نَشَرَ اللِّواءَ زَمَاعُهُ وَنِزاعُهُ

فَطَوى المَهَامِهَ نَصُّهُ وذَمِيلُهُ

His resolve and longing unfurled the banner,

and his hard driving and trot traversed the wastes.

ولقد خَلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَبْلَ دُنُوِّهِ

بُرْداً تَفِيضُ عَلَى الفَضَاءِ فُضُولُهُ

Indeed, before he drew near, you had robed him

in a mantle whose ample folds overflowed the open plain:

لَجباً من الحَلَقِ المُضَاعَفِ نَسْجُهُ

أَشِباً من الأَسَلِ المُثَقَّفِ غِيلُهُ

clamorous, its weave of doubled rings of mail,

tangled, its thicket of straightened spear-shafts,

شَرِقاً بِهِ لَوْحُ الْهَوَاءِ وَجَوُّهُ

غَرِقاً به عَرْضُ البِلادِ وطُولُهُ

the air's expanse and atmosphere choking with it,

the land's breadth and length drowned in it,

مُسْتَقْبِلاً بِجُنُودِهِ وبُنُودِهِ

مَلِكاً يُهِلُّ إِلَيْكَ حِينَ تهُولُهُ

receiving with its troops and its banners

a king who cries out to you when you fill him with awe.

ولَشَدَّما مَاجَتْ بِهِ أَمْواجُهُ

حَتَّى أَسالَتْهُ إِلَيْكَ سُيُولُهُ

How violently its waves surged around him,

until its torrents poured him toward you,

بصَوَارِمٍ فِي طَيِّهِنَّ تِرَاتُهُ

وذَوابِلٍ فِي لَمْعِهِنَّ ذُحُولُهُ

with keen swords whose folds held his feuds,

and slender spears whose gleam held his blood-debts.

غابٌ تُساوِدُ ناظِرَيْهِ أُسُودُهُ

مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا اخْتَالَتْ عَلَيْهِ خُيُولُهُ

A forest whose lions loomed dark before his eyes,

after its horses had strutted proudly before him.

فَمشى إِلَيْكَ بِهِ الزِّحَامُ كَأَنَّهُ

عَانٍ يُقَصِّرُ خَطْوَهُ تَكْبِيلُهُ

The throng bore him walking toward you, as though he were

a captive whose fetters shortened his stride,

مَبْهُورُ أَنْفَاسِ الحَياةِ كَظِيمُها

وغَضِيضُ لَحْظِ النَّاظِرِينَ كَلِيلُهُ

his life's breaths labored and stifled,

his eyes' glance downcast and dim,

حَتَّى تَنَفَّسَ رُوحُهُ فِي رَاحَةٍ

عَلْياءَ مَقْبُولاً بِهَا تَقْبِيلُهُ

until his spirit breathed again within a palm

exalted, where his kiss was accepted.

وَرَفَعْتَ ناظِرَهُ بِنَظْرَةِ باسِطٍ

لِلأَمْنِ مَبْلُوغاً بِهَا تَأْمِيلُهُ

You raised his eyes with the look of one extending

security, through which his hope was attained.

فَأَرَيْتَهُ كيْفَ ارتِجَاعُ حَياتِهِ

ولَتِلْكَ أَيْسَرُ مَا بَدَأْتَ تُنِيلُهُ

You showed him how his life could be restored—

and that was the least of what you began to grant him,

من فَيْضِ عُرْفٍ تَسْتَقِلُّ كَثِيرَهُ

ولَقَدْ يزيدُ عَلَى الرَّجَاءِ قلِيلُهُ

from a flood of bounty whose abundance you deem little,

though even its least exceeds all hope:

نُزُلاً يُذَكِّرُهُ العِراقَ ومِصْرَهُ

مُلْكاً ودِجْلَتُهُ يَدَاكَ وَنِيلُهُ

hospitality that recalls Iraq and Egypt to him,

in royal splendor—your hands its Tigris and its Nile;

وشُرُوقُ شَمْسٍ لا يَحينُ غُرُوبُها

فِي بَرْدِ ظِلٍّ لا يَحُورُ ظَلِيلُهُ

and the rising of a sun whose setting never comes,

in the cool of a shade whose shelter never recedes.

ورأى صَريعَ الخَطْبِ كيْفَ تُقِلُّهُ

ورَأَى عُثُورَ الجَدِّ كيْفَ تُقِيلُهُ

He saw how you lift one felled by calamity,

and how you set right the stumbling of fortune;

ورأى ذَليلَ الحَقِّ كيْفَ تُعِزُّهُ

ورأَى عَزِيزَ الشِّرْكِ كيْفَ تُدِيلُهُ

he saw how you exalt truth's humbled one,

and how you overthrow polytheism's mighty one;

ورأَى صُدُوعَ الدِّينِ كيْفَ تَلمُّها

ورأى كَثِيبَ الكُفْرِ كيْفَ تُهِيلُهُ

he saw how you mend the fractures of religion,

and how you scatter unbelief's sandhill.

ولَئِنْ تَقَدَّمَ فِي رِضَاكَ قُدُومُهُ

فَلَقَدْ تَزَوَّدَ من نَداكَ قُفُولُهُ

Though his coming first secured your favor,

his return was provisioned from your bounty:

بِخَلائِقٍ من طِيبِهِنَّ خَلُوقُهُ

وشمائِلٍ من صَفْوِهِنَّ شَمُولُهُ

with virtues whose fragrance supplies his perfume,

and qualities whose purity supplies his wine,

ومعالِمٍ لِعُلاكَ لا تَعْظِيمُهُ

لِسِوى مَشاهِدِها ولا تَبْجِيلُهُ

and signs of your loftiness—his reverence

and veneration are for no sights but theirs.

فَلَهَا بِقَدْرِ الرُّومِ وَهْيَ أَرُومُهُ

وزَرى بِمُلْكِ الصُّفْرِ وَهْيَ أُصُولُهُ

Thus he made light of the Romans' stature, though they were his stock,

and scorned the yellow-hued people's kingdom, though they were his roots,

لِمَنِ اصْطَفى قَحْطَان عِزَّةَ مُلْكِهِ

ومنَ التَّبابِعِ جِذْمُهُ وقَبِيلُهُ

for one who chose Qahtan as his kingdom's strength,

whose stock and tribe come from the Tubba kings;

ولِمَنْ نمى سبأٌ بِسَبْيِ مُلُوكِها

واسْتَخْلَفَتْ أَذْوَاؤُهُ وقُيُولُهُ

and for one whom Saba exalted through the capture of its kings,

whom its Dhu-lords and qayl-princes appointed successor;

ولِمَنْ تَتَوَّجَ بِالمَكَارِمِ تاجُهُ

عُلْواً وكُلِّلَ بالهُدى إِكْلِيلُهُ

and for one whose crown was crowned with noble deeds

on high, whose diadem was wreathed with guidance.

سَطَعَتْ عَلَى الأَمْلاكِ غُرَّةُ وَجْهِهِ

نُوراً وأَشْرَقَ بالنَّدى تحْجِيلُهُ

His face's white blaze shone over kings

as light, and his white leg-markings shone with bounty.

فالله يُعْلِي قَدْرَهُ ويَزِيدُهُ

صُنعاً ويُنْسِئُ عُمْرَهُ ويُطِيلُهُ

May God raise his rank and increase him

in favor, prolong his life, and extend it,

في عِزِّ نَصْرٍ لا زَمَانَ يَخُونُهُ

وبقاءِ مُلْكٍ لا مُدِيلَ يُديلُهُ

in the glory of a victory no age betrays,

and an enduring kingdom no overthrower can overturn.