نعيمك أن تزف لك العقار — Ibn Hamdis

نَعِيمُكَ أنْ تُزَفَّ لك العُقَارُ

عروساً في خلائقها نِفَارُ

Your bliss is wine brought bridal to you,

a bride whose nature is to shy away.

فإن مُزِجت وجدتَ لها انقياداً

كما تنقادُ بالخُدَعِ النّوَارُ

But once diluted, you find her yielding,

as a coy maiden yields to gentle tricks.

رأيتُ الراحَ للأفراح قطباً

عليه من الصَّبُوح لها مَدَارُ

I have seen wine as the axis of joys,

around which they circle from the morning draught onward.

إذا ضَحِكَتْ لُمْبِصِرِها رياضٌ

بواكٍ فَوْقَها سُحُبٌ غِزارُ

When gardens smile upon their beholder,

rain-heavy clouds weep above them.

كَأَنَّ فروعها أيدٍ أَشارتْ

بأطرافٍ خواتِمُها قِصارُ

Their branches seem like hands gesturing

with fingertips whose rings are short.

ولم أرَ قبل رؤيتها سيوفاً

لِجَوهَرِهِنَّ بِالهَزِّ انتِثارُ

Never, before seeing it, had I seen swords

whose jeweled sheen scatters when shaken;

ولا زنداً له في الجوِّ قَدْحٌ

مكانَ شرارها هَمَتِ القِطارُ

nor a fire-stick struck in the sky,

with showers pouring down instead of sparks.

وقائدةٍ إلَيكَ مِنَ القناني

كَميتاً جُلّها في الدَّنِّ قارُ

And many a bearer brings you from the bottles

a bay-colored wine whose cloak in the cask is pitch.

تَروحُ لِسُكرِها بِكَ في عِثَارٍ

فَتَحمَدُهُ إِذا ذُمَّ العثارُ

It takes you stumbling in its intoxication,

and you praise that stumbling when stumbling is condemned.

إذا مُزِجتْ لِتَعْدلَ في الندامى

تَطَايَرَ عن جوانِبِها الشرارُ

When mixed to deal fairly with the drinking companions,

sparks fly from its sides.

وقلتُ وقد نظرتُ إلى عُجابٍ

أثغرُ الماء تَضحَكُ عنه نارُ

And I said, gazing upon a marvel:

Is this water's mouth, revealed by laughing fire?

نَلقَ مَهَاة عيشك من مَهَاةٍ

وزينتها القلادةُ والسّوارُ

Let us receive the crystal of your life from a gazelle,

whose adornments are necklace and bracelet.

تُمَرّضُ مُقْلَةً ليصحَّ وَجْدٌ

تَوَارَى في الضُّلوعِ له أُوَارُ

She makes an eye languid so that passion may thrive,

hidden among the ribs, with a blaze of its own.

ويَفتَنُ شَخْصَكَ المرمِيَّ منها

فتورٌ بالملاحةِ واحْوِرارُ

And your person, struck by her, is bewitched

by graceful languor and eyes of brilliant black and white.

وخُذ ماءً منَ الياقوتِ يَطفو

له دُرَرٌ مُجَوَّفَةٌ صغارُ

And take ruby water, upon which float

small, hollow pearls.

يريك حديقةً من ياسَمينٍ

تَفَتّحَ وَسْطَها لَهُ جُلّنارُ

It shows you a garden of jasmine,

with pomegranate blossom opening in its midst.

إذا فتحَ المزاجُ اللَّونَ منها

مضى وردٌ لها وأتى بَهَارُ

When the mixing water lightens its color,

its rose departs and yellow oxeye comes.

فَقَد طَردَ الكرى عنّا خطيبٌ

رفيعُ الصَّوتِ مِنْبَرُهُ الجدارُ

For a preacher has driven sleep away from us,

loud of voice, with the wall for his pulpit.

ورقّ ذماءُ نَفْسِ الليل لمَّا

تَنَفَّسَ في جوانبهِ النهارُ

And the last spark of night's life grew faint when

day breathed along its flanks.

أدِرْ ذَهَبَ العقار لِنَفْيِ هَمٍّ

ولا تحزنْ إذا ذهبَ العَقَارُ

Pass round the gold of wine to banish care,

and do not grieve if your estate is lost.

فَلِلمَعروف فِي يُمْنى عَليٍّ

غِنىً لا يُتَّقى معَهُ افتِقارُ

For bounty in Ali's right hand has

wealth beside which no poverty need be feared.

هو المَلِكُ الَّذي اضطَرَبَتْ إِلَيهِ

بِقُصّدهِ الخضارمُ والقفارِ

He is the king toward whom have surged

seas and deserts with those who seek him.

تَرَفّعَ من معاليه مَحَلّا

له في سَمْكِهِ الدريُّ جارُ

He has risen through his excellences to a station

at whose height the brilliant star is his neighbor.

وأعْرَقَ في نجارٍ حِميَرِيٍّ

فطابَ الفرعُ مِنهُ والنجارُ

And he is deeply rooted in Himyarite lineage,

so both his branch and stock are noble.

وَما زَالوا بِأَنواعِ العَطايا

لَهُ يُمنى تُجاوِدها يَسارُ

They have never ceased giving gifts of every kind;

his left hand vies in giving with his right.

تعمّ الوفدَ من يده أيادٍ

كَأَنَّ البحرَ من يَدِهِ اختِصارُ

Favors from his hand embrace the visiting delegations,

as though the sea were his hand in miniature.

ويسمحُ زنده بِجُذىً تَلَظّى

إذا زندٌ خبا وَوَهَى العفارُ

His fire-stick lavishes blazing brands,

when a fire-stick dies and afar-wood fails.

وإن وهبَ الألوفَ وهنَّ كُثْرٌ

تقدَّمَ قبلهنَّ الإعتذارُ

And though he gives thousands, numerous as they are,

an apology goes before them.

عَظيمُ الجدّ يُضربُ مِن ظُباهُ

وَيُطعَنُ مِن أَسِنَّتِهِ البوارُ

Mighty in fortune—by his blades is struck,

and by his spearheads stabbed, destruction itself.

يسيرُ وخلفه أبطالُ حربٍ

على حَوضِ المنونِ لهم تَبَارُ

He marches, with heroes of war behind him;

at death's pool, destruction is theirs.

إذا أضحى شعارُ الأُسدِ شَعْراً

فمن زَرَدِ الدروع لهم شِعارُ

When the lions' close-worn garb is hair,

theirs is the linked mesh of coats of mail.

وقد وَسِعَتْهُمُ الحلقاتُ منها

وَأَحمَتهُنَّ للهَيجاءِ نارُ

Its rings have encompassed them,

and fire has heated those rings for battle.

يَخوضُ حَشى الكريهَةِ مِنهُ جَيشٌ

نُجومُ سَمائِهِ الأسَلُ الحرارُ

An army of his plunges into battle's heart,

the stars of its sky are keen lances.

بِحَيثُ تَغورُ من قِمَمِ الأَعادي

جَداوِلُ بالأَكُفِّ لَها انفِجارُ

Where, down from the enemies' crowns, plunge

streams that burst forth from hands.

إِذا لَبِسَت سَماءٌ مِنهُ أَرضاً

دَجاها فَوقَهُ نَقعٌ مثارُ

When a sky of that army clothes the earth,

its darkness above him is stirred-up dust.

تُريكَ قَشاعِماً في الجوِّ منها

حوائمَ كلَّما ارتَكَمَ الغبارُ

It shows you aged vultures in its air,

circling whenever the dust heaps up.

حُسامُكَ نُورُ ذِهنِكَ فيه صَقْلٌ

وَعَزْمُكَ في المضاءِ له غرارُ

Your keen sword is polished by the light of your mind,

and your resolve gives it its cutting edge.

لَقَد أَضحى على دينِ النَّصارى

لِدينِ المسلِمينَ بِكَ انتِصارُ

Indeed, over the faith of the Christians,

the faith of the Muslims has triumphed through you.

حَمَيتَ ذِمارَهُ بَرَّاً وبَحراً

بمرْهَفَهٍ بها يُحمى الذِّمارُ

You guarded its honor on land and sea,

with a keen blade by which honor is defended.

أراك اللّهُ في الأعلاج رأياً

لَهُم مِنهُ المَذَلَّةُ والصَّغَارُ

God showed you a plan against the foreign foes,

which brought them abasement and humiliation.

رَأَوا حَربِيَةً تَرمي بِنِفطٍ

لإخمادِ النفوسِ له استعارُ

They saw a war engine hurling naphtha,

flaring up to extinguish lives.

كأنّ المُهْلَ في الأنبوب منه

إلى شَيِّ الوجوه له ابتِدارُ

As though the molten metal in its tube

were racing to roast faces.

إذا ما شكّ نحرُ العلجِ منه

تعالى بالحِمام له خُوَارُ

When a foreign foe's throat is pierced by it,

his death-bellow rises high.

كأنَّ مَنافسَ البُركانِ فيها

لأهوالِ الجحيمِ بها اعتبارُ

As though a volcano's vents were within it,

offering a warning of the terrors of Hell.

نحاسٌ ينبري منه شُواظٌ

لأرواحِ العلوجِ بِه بَوَارُ

Copper, from which a smokeless flame leaps forth,

bringing ruin to the foreign foes' souls.

وما لِلماءِ بالإطفاءِ حُكْمٌ

عَلَيهِ لَدى الوقودِ ولا اقتِدارُ

Water has no authority to quench it,

nor power over it while it burns.

فَرَدَّ اللَّه بأسَهُمُ عَلَيهمْ

فَرِبحُهُمُ بِصَفقَتِهم خَسارُ

So God turned their might back upon them,

and their profit in that bargain was loss.

وخافوا من مناياهُمْ وفرّوا

فدافعَ عن نُفوسِهِمُ الفِرارُ

They feared their deaths and fled,

and flight defended their lives.

وقد جعلوا لهم شُرُعَ الشواني

مَعَ الأَرواحِ أَجنِحَةً وطاروا

And they made the galleys' sails their own

wings, together with the winds, and flew away.

وهل يَلقى مُصادَمَةً حَصاهم

جِبالاً سَحقُها لَهُمُ دَمارُ

Can their pebbles ever face, in collision,

mountains whose crushing spells their destruction?

لِيَهنَكَ أنَّ مُمتَنِعَ الأماني

لِكَفِّكَ في تَناوُلِها اختِيارُ

May it gladden you that the most elusive wishes

are yours to grasp with your hand at will.

لَكَ الفُلْكُ الَّتي تَجري بِسَعْدٍ

يدورُ به لك الفَلَكُ المُدَارُ

Yours are the ships that sail with good fortune;

the wheeling heavens turn with it in your favor.

تَهبُّ له الرياح مُسَخَّراتٍ

وتَسكنُ في تَحركها البحارُ

The winds blow for it, made obedient,

and the seas grow still as it moves.

وما حَمَلتْهُ من أنواع طيبٍ

فَمَدْحٌ عَرْفُهُ لَكَ وافتِخارُ

And whatever perfumes it has carried,

their fragrance is praise and glory for you.

أَمَولانا الَّذي ما زال سَمحاً

إِلَيهِ بِكُلِّ مَكرُمَةٍ يُشارُ

O our lord, who has always been generous,

singled out for every noble virtue:

أرى رسمي غداً بيدي كرسمٍ

عَفَا وَعَفَتْ له بالمحلِ دارُ

I see my stipend in my hand tomorrow as a trace,

effaced, its dwelling too effaced by drought.

وكانَتْ لى شُموسٌ ثم أَضحَت

بدوراً والبدورُ لها سرارُ

I once had suns, but then they became

full moons—and full moons have their dark phase.

وبين سناهُما بَوْنٌ بعيدٌ

وذا ما لا يُرَادُ به اختبارُ

Between their two lights lies a vast gulf,

and this needs no testing.

وَجَدتُ جَناحَ عُصفورٍ جناحي

فَأَصبَح لِلعقابِ به احتِقارُ

I have found my wing to be a sparrow's wing,

and now the eagle holds it in contempt.

فلي نَهْضٌ يجاذبُني ضَعيفٌ

أَتَنهَضُ بي قَوادِمُهُ القصارُ

A feeble urge to rise keeps tugging at me;

can its short primary feathers lift me?

فَرُدَّ عَلَيَّ موفوراً جناحي

وإلّا لا جَنَاح ولا مَطَارُ

So restore my wing to me in all its fullness,

or else there is no wing and no flight.