تقنعت لكن بالحبيب المعمم — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

تقنَّعتُ لكِنْ بالحبيبِ المعَّمَّمِ

وفَارَقْتُ لكِنْ كلَّ عَيْشٍ مُذَمَّمِ

I contented myself—but with the turbaned beloved.

And I forsook—but every blameworthy way of life.

وبَاتَتْ يَدِي في طاعةِ الحُبِّ والهَوى

وِشاحاً لخَصْرٍ أَو سِواراً لِمعْصَمِ

And my hand spent the night obeying love and desire,

a sash around a waist or a bracelet around a wrist.

وأَثْريتُ من دينار خَدٍّ مَلكْتُه

وأَحسنُ وَجهٍ بعدَه مثلُ دِرْهمِ

I grew wealthy from the dinar of a cheek I possessed,

and the fairest face after it is like a dirham.

يزيدُ احْمِراراً كُلَّمَا زدْتُ صُفْرَةً

كأَنَّ به ما كان فِيَّ مِنَ الدَّم

It grows redder whenever I grow yellower,

as though it held the blood that was once in me.

توقَّد ذاك الخدُّ فاخضَرَّ نُضْرَةً

فأَبْعدتُ مِنْهُ جَنَّةً فِي جَهَنَّمِ

That cheek blazed, then grew green with freshness,

so I banished from it a paradise within hell.

وفيه خَطُّ مِسْكٍ لاَحَ في طِرْس وجنة

لها الوردُ يُعزَى والبَنَفْسَجُ يَنْتمِي

There a line of musk gleamed on the parchment of a cheek,

to which the rose is ascribed and the violet belongs.

وما زالَ سُقْمِي قبل يومِ وصالِه

يَنمُّ بعشْقي للعِذَارِ المُنَمْمَمِ

Before the day of union with him, my sickness never ceased

to betray my love for the finely patterned cheek-down.

وبتُ اشتياقاً إِذْ تَلَثَّم فَوْقَهُ

وما بُغْيَتي إِلا بَلْثم الملثَّم

I spent the night longing when he drew a veil over it,

and my desire was only to kiss the veiled one.

ولا عجباً إِنْ مِتُّ فيه صَبابَةً

فما النَّفْسُ إِلا بعْضُ مَغْرَم مُغْرَمِ

And no wonder if I die of longing for him,

for life is only part of a lover's debt.

بنفْسِيَ من قبَّلتُه وَرَشَفْته

فقال الْهَوى فُزْ بالحطيمِ وزَمزمَ

My life be ransom for the one I kissed and sipped from;

and love said, 'Win al-Hatim and Zamzam!'

وجرَّدتُ قلبي من ثياب هُمُومِه

فطافَ به والقلبُ في زِيِّ مُحرِم

I stripped my heart of the garments of its cares,

so it circled him, my heart in a consecrated pilgrim's garb.

وعَطِّر لفْظِي في الحَديثِ سُلوكُه

على قُبلةٍ قد كان أَوْدَعَها فَمي

And my speech was perfumed in conversation by its passage

over a kiss he had once placed in my mouth.

سَعِدْتُ ببدر خَدُّه بُرجُ عَقْرَب

فكذَّب عندي قولَ كُلِّ مُنجِّم

I found good fortune with a full moon whose cheek is the sign of Scorpio,

so, for me, he belied every astrologer's claim.

إِليك فما بَدْرُ المقنَّعِ طالعاً

بأَسحرَ من أَلحاظِ بدرِي المعمَّم

Away with you! For al-Muqanna's moon, when rising,

is no more bewitching than the glances of my turbaned moon.

وأُقْسِمُ ما وجهُ الصَّباحِ إِذا بَدا

بأَوضحَ مِنّي حُجَّةً عند لُوَّمي

I swear, the face of morning when it appears

is no clearer than my argument before my reproachers.

ولا سيّما لمّا مررتُ بمنزلٍ

كفضلةِ صبرٍ في فؤَادٍ متيَّم

And especially when I passed a dwelling

like the last remnant of patience in a lovesick heart.

وما بان لي إِلاَّ بعُودِ أَراكةِ

تعلَّق في أَطرافِه ضَوْءُ مَبْسِمِ

It became clear to me only through a twig of arak,

to whose tips the gleam of a smiling mouth clung.

وقَفْتُ به أَعتاضُ عن لَثْمِ مَبْسِم

شهِيٍّ لقلبي لَثْمَ آثَارِ مَنْسِمِ

I stood there, trading the kiss of a smiling mouth

sweet to my heart for kisses on the traces of a hoof.

ودِمْنةُ من أَهواهُ في الحُسْنِ دُميَةٌ

وتصديقُ قولِي أَنَّها لم تكَلَّم

And my beloved's ruined campsite is a beautiful statue;

the proof of my words is that it did not speak.

بكَيْتُ بكِلتَا مُقْلتيَّ كأَنَّني

مُتمِّمُ مل قد فَاتَ عَيْنيْ مُتمّمِ

I wept with both my eyes, as though I were

completing what Mutammim's eyes had missed.

ولم يَرَ طَرْفِي قطُّ شَمْلاً مبدَّداً

فقابَلَهُ إِلاَّ بدمعٍ مُنظَّم

My gaze never saw a fellowship scattered

without answering it with tears strung in order.

تَبَسَّم ذاكَ الثَّغْرُ عَنْ ثَغْرِ دَمْعَةٍ

وَرُبَّ قُطوبٍ كَامِنٍ في التَّبسُّمِ

That mouth smiled, revealing a tear's mouth;

and many a frown lies hidden in a smile.

ولم يُسْل قَلْبِي أَو فَمي عن غَزَالةٍ

وعن غَزَلي إِلا مديحُ المُعظَّم

Nothing diverted my heart or mouth from a gazelle

and from my love verse but praise of al-Mu'azzam.

هو الْملِكُ المُعْطِي الممالِكَ عُنْوةً

بمَجدٍ صميمٍ أَو بجِدٍ مُصَمِّم

He is the king who bestows kingdoms won by force,

with genuine glory or resolute effort.

إِذا حَازَ مُلْكاً ثم أَطْلَقَ ربَّه

سليماً فقد فازَ الطليقُ بِمَغْنَمِ

When he seizes a kingdom, then releases its lord

unharmed, that freed man has won a prize.

تَخِرُّ لديه رهْبَةً مِنْهُ سجَّدا

ملُوك البَرايَا من فَصِيحٍ وأَعجم

Before him, in dread of him, fall prostrate

the kings of mankind, eloquent and foreign-tongued.

إِذا خرَّ منهم ساجدٌ كَانَ شأْنُه

كما قِيل قِدْماً لليَدَيْنِ وللفَمِ

When one of them falls in prostration, his plight is

as was said of old: 'Down on hands and mouth!'

سَلاَمُ الذي يأْتيه منهم سجوده

لأَبلجَ هطَّالِ اليمينين مُنْعِم

The greeting of any of them who comes to him is his prostration

before a radiant benefactor whose two right hands rain gifts.

ففي أَرضه من لَثْمِه إِثْرُ مَبْسمٍ

وفي وجهه من تُرْبِهَا إِثرُ مَيْسَمِ

On the king's ground, his kiss leaves the trace of a mouth,

and on his face, its dust leaves the mark of a branding iron.

غدا بأْسُه يحمي حِمَاه وقد غَدَا

به الدّهر منه يَسْتَعِد ويَحْتَمِي

His might now guards his domain, and now

with it, Time arms itself against him and seeks protection.

فلو ذَكَرَتْه الطيرُ أَو سمَّت اسمَه

لما راعَها في جوِّها بأْسُ قَشْعَمِ

If birds mentioned him or spoke his name,

the might of a great eagle would not frighten them in their sky.

أَخو فَتكاتٍ لا تزالُ سُيُوفُه

تَخُطَّ سطورَ النَصر في جَبْهَةِ الْكَمِي

A master of deadly attacks, whose swords never cease

to write the lines of victory on the armored warrior's brow.

فقد أُرْسِلتْ حتْفاً إِلى كلِّ كافرِ

كما أُرْسِلتْ فَتْحاً إِلى كُل مُسْلِم

They have been sent as death to every unbeliever,

as they have been sent as victory to every Muslim.

وأَصبح يُعْدى السيفَ تَصميمُ عزمِه

فمنْ ذَا يُسَمَّى بالحُسامِ المُصَمِّم

And his resolve now imparts its firmness to the sword;

so who is to be called the cleaving sword?

وأَسهمه في صَدِّ كلِّ مُدرّع

فما الدِّرعُ منها غيرُ بُرْدٍ مُسهَّمِ

His arrows ward off every armored warrior,

so armor struck by them is merely an arrow-patterned cloak.

إِذا صاد غِزْلاَنَ الفَلاَ كُلُّ أَصْيَدٍ

فمولاهُمُ من صَيْدهِ كُلُّ ضَيْغَم

If every proud lord hunts the gazelles of the wilderness,

their master counts every lion among his quarry.

ومَنْ إِن تَحلَّتْ خيلُهم كَانَ طَرْفُه

محلَّى بما أَجرى عليه من الدّمِ

And he whose steed, when their horses are adorned,

is adorned with the blood he has made flow over it;

ومن عدَّ رَكْضَ الخَيْلِ نَوْعَ استراحةٍ

وعدَّ لِبَاس الدِّرْعِ بَعْضَ تَنَعُّم

and who reckons galloping horses a kind of rest,

and wearing armor a form of luxury.

فأَعطرُ طيبٍ عنده نَقْعُ مَعْرَكٍ

وأَوْطَا مِهادٍ عندهُ ظَهْرُ شَيْظَم

To him the most fragrant perfume is a battlefield's dust,

and the softest bed is a tall steed's back.

وكَمْ عابِدٍ من قبلهِ لابن مريمٍ

رآه فَأَضْحَى كافراً بابْنِ مريم

And many a former worshipper of the son of Mary

saw him and came to disbelieve in the son of Mary.

له الجُرْدُ لا تَدْرِي سِوى الكرِّ وحْدَه

وإِن كان كرّاً بين نَصْلٍ ولَهْذَم

His sleek horses know nothing but the charge,

even a charge between blade and keen spear.

تَصامَمُ عنه إِذ يقولُ لها قِفي

وتَسْمَعُ منه إِذْ يقولُ لها اقْدمِي

They turn a deaf ear to him when he tells them, 'Halt!'

but heed him when he tells them, 'Advance!'

وكَمْ قلعةٍ فوقَ السماءِ أَساسُها

وعامِرُها من أَسلافِ عاد وجُرْهُم

And many a fortress whose foundations lie above the sky,

whose builder was among the forebears of 'Ad and Jurhum—

رقى سلَّماً للعِزِّ أَوصَلهُ لها

فقد نالَ أَسبابَ السماءِ بِسُلَّمِ

he climbed a ladder to glory that brought him to it;

thus he reached the paths of heaven by a ladder.

أَتاها وكانت ذَاتَ قصرٍ مشيّدٍ

فأَضحت لديه ذَاتَ سُورٍ مُهدَّم

He came to it when it had a lofty palace,

and before him it was left with a demolished wall.

ولم يبق من أَبطالها غيرُ أَعزبٍ

ولم يَبْقَ من نِسْوانِها غَيْرَ أَيِّم

Of its warriors, none remained but men without wives,

and of its women, none remained but women without husbands.

لَكَ اللهُ مَلْكاً لا تزالُ يمينهُ

تجودُ بشَهْدٍ أَو تجودُ بعَلْقَمِ

God be with you, a king whose right hand never ceases

to dispense honey or dispense bitter colocynth.

فتَهمِي على العادين طوراً بأَبْؤُسٍ

وتهْمِي على العافِين طَوراً بأَنعُم

At times it rains hardships upon the aggressors,

and at times it rains blessings upon those seeking favors.

تَجُودُ إِذا ضَنَّ الغَمَامُ بقَطْرِه

فتُغنِي البرَايا عن سُؤَالِ مذمَّم

It gives when the clouds withhold their rain,

and frees mankind from blameworthy begging.

لقد جُدْتَ حتى عُدْتَ مُوجِدَ وَاجِد

لما يُرْتجى بل عُدْتَ مُعْدِمَ مُعْدِم

You have given till you make men obtain

what they hope for—nay, till you leave no needy man.

أَرى الكَرَم الفيَّاضَ منك سَجيةً

وكم من كريمٍ جودُه عن تَكرُّمِ

I see overflowing generosity as your innate nature;

many a generous man gives through an effort to be generous.

أَيا مَلِكاً أَرْجُو نَدَاهُ وإِنَّني

لامُلُ إِقْدَامي به وتَقَدُّمِي

O king whose bounty I hope for, I

surely hope through it for boldness and advancement.

رأَيْتُكَ بحراً طَبَّقَ الأَرضَ مَدُّه

فلم يَبْقَ عندي رُخْصَةٌ في التَّيَمم

I saw you as a sea whose tide covered the earth,

so I have no dispensation left for dry ablution.

وجئْتُكَ أَرجو منك كَبْتاً لحسّدِي

كما أَنَّ قَلْبِي فيكَ خَالَفَ لُوَّمِي

I came to you hoping you would confound my enviers,

just as my heart, for your sake, defied my reproachers.

سَيخْدُمُ مِنك الشمسَ مني عُطَارِدٌ

ويُبْدي كلامِي في سَمائِكَ أَنْجُمِي

The Mercury in me will serve the Sun in you,

and my words will reveal my stars in your sky.

ويُغْنيكَ لَفْظِي عن حُسَامٍ مُجرَّد

وتُغْنِيك كُتْبي عن خميسٍ عَرَمْرَم

My words will spare you a drawn sword,

and my writings will spare you a vast army.

فخُذْها فقد جاءَتك من مُتَأَخِّرٍ

مُجِيد وليس الفَضْلُ للمتقدِّمِ

So take it: it has come to you from a later poet,

an accomplished one; excellence is not reserved for the earlier poet.