لهفي من العاذل والعاذر — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

لَهْفِي من العَاذِلِ وَالْعَاذِر

ذَا ظَالمِي فيكَ وَذَا ضائِري

My anguish from the reproacher and the excuser!

This one wrongs me over you; that one harms me.

ذا عزَّني فيك وذَا عَادَني

لأَنَّه يَنْظر فِي نَاظِري

This one overpowers me over you; that one visits me in sickness,

because he looks into my eye.

يا طائرَ الحُسْنِ الَّذي وَكْره

قد حَلَّ من قلبيَ فِي طَائِر

O bird of beauty, whose nest

has settled in the bird of my heart,

وكاسِرَ الْجَفْنِ الَّذي هُدْ به

قَلْبي بِه فِي مِخْلَبيْ كَاسِر

and O you who droop the eyelid that has crushed

my heart, caught by it in a raptor's two talons!

فيه فتورٌ ألْهَبَ النَّارَ بي

واحر قلباه من الفاتر

Its languor has kindled fire within me.

Oh, how my heart burns from the languid one!

طرفك قد أسقمه سحرُه

ما أَعْجَبَ السِّحرَ عَلَى السَّاحِر

Your gaze has been sickened by its own magic.

How strange is magic turned upon the magician!

والثَّغرُ قَد أَفْحمنِي نَظْمُه

يَا حَسَدَ المفحَمِ للشَّاعِر

And your mouth's array has struck me dumb.

Oh, the speechless one's envy of the poet!

مَا زُرْتَنِي ضَيْفاً وكَم زُرتَني

طَيْفاً فأَهلاً بك مِن زَائِر

You never visited me as a guest, yet how often you visited

as a phantom—welcome, then, as a visitor!

ولا عَلى عيني رَاقَبْتني

مستيقِظاً لكن على خَاطِري

Nor have you watched me before my eyes

while awake, but only in my imagination.

نِمْتَ وطَيْفاً زُرتَني فاْعجَبوا

فإِنَّه عندي بِلاَ آخر

You slept, yet visited me as a phantom—marvel at that!

For, with me, it has no end.

رجَعتَ بعدي حَنفيّاً بِه

في قَتْلِكَ المسلَم بِالْكَافر

After me, you turned Hanafi through this,

in killing the Muslim for the unbeliever.

ما أَشْوق المهجورَ مِنِّي إِلى

قَتْلِي وَلكن بيدَ الْهَاجِر

How eager my forsaken self is for

my being slain—but by my forsaker's hand!

فالْوجْد لي وَحْديَ دونَ الْوَرَى

والملكُ للهِ وللظَّاهِر

Passion is mine alone, apart from all mankind,

and sovereignty belongs to God and al-Zahir.

مَلكٌ مُلُوك الأَرْضِ في أَسْرهِ

بالجودِ أَو بالصَّارِم الْبَاتر

A king who holds the kings of earth captive,

through generosity or the keen, cleaving sword.

أَسْراهُمُ مَن هُو في أَسْرهِ

قد يَشْرُفُ المأْسُورُ بالآسِر

The noblest of them is he who is his captive;

a captive may gain nobility from his captor.

تَمْلِكُهم مِنْه يَدَا قَاهِرٍ

قد أَصبحُوا مِنْهُ لدَى غافِر

His two hands, a conqueror's, hold them in thrall;

with him they now stand before a forgiver.

ويُحسن العفْوَ ولكِنَّه

أَحسنُ ما كان من القادر

He grants pardon well; yet it

is finest when it comes from one with power.

كَم لأَعاديِه بِهِ عَثْرَةً

وكَمْ تَراه عاذِرَ الْعَاثِر

How often his enemies stumble through him,

and how often you see him excuse the stumbler!

عَادَوه لَمَّا أَنْ رَأَوْا قَطْرَه

يُغْرِقُ في تَيَّارِه الزَّاخِر

They opposed him when they saw his rain

drown them in its surging current.

مَا جَحدُوا الفضلَ ولكنَّها

عَداوَةُ العَاجِز لِلْقَاهِر

They did not deny his excellence; rather, it is

the helpless man's hostility toward the conqueror.

فقل لمن ناواه جهلاً به

علقم لا لست إلى عامر

So say to whoever opposed him, ignorant of him:

'Alqam, no—you are no match for 'Amir.

من يَسمع الأَوْتَارَ لا يعتَرِضْ

للناقِض الأَوْتَارَ وَالواتِر

One who listens to strings must not challenge

the undoer of blood-feuds, the maker of blood-debts.

يَصيدُ ظبيُ الخَدرِ حُسْناً ولا

يصيدُ غيرَ الأَسد الحاذر

The chamber's gazelle hunts by beauty, but he

hunts none but the wary lion.

والدَّهْرُ في خِدمَتِه واقفٌ

يخدُمه بالفلكِ الدَّائِر

Time stands attending him,

serving him through the revolving heavens.

كم ثائرٍ صَار إَلى حِزْبه

فَأَدْرَكَ الثَّأْر مِنَ الثَّائِر

How many a rebel came to his host,

and he exacted vengeance upon the rebel!

وجرَّدَ السَّيف ولكنَّه

أَغْمَده في دَمِه الْمَائِر

He drew his sword, but

sheathed it in the rebel's surging blood.

وفازَ بالنَّصر فأَحْيَا بِه

ذِكْرَ أَبِيه الملك النَّاصِر

And he won victory, thereby reviving

the memory of his father, King al-Nasir.

جلا دَياجِي الدَّهْرِ مِنْ وجهه

أَبلَجُ مثل القمرِ الزَّاهِرِ

He dispelled time's dark nights with his face,

bright as the shining moon.

مُمدَّحٌ في الزَّمن المُشْتكي

وعادلٌ في الزمن الجائِر

Much praised in a lamenting age,

and just in an unjust age.

إِنعامُه عِند جميع الوَرَى

يُعرف بِالْبَادِي وبِالحاضر

His beneficence among all mankind

is known to desert-dweller and townsman.

فَكُلُّ مَن تُبصِرهُ سَاعِياً

في غمرةٍ مِنْ جودِه الغامر

Everyone you see going about

is immersed in his all-engulfing generosity.

يجود بالبِدرِة من حُسنها

صفراءُ مثلُ المُهرَةِ الضَّامِر

He gives a purse of coins—so beautiful,

golden-yellow, like a slender filly.

يا ملكاً مورِدُ إِنعامِه

وقْفُ عَلى الوارِدِ والصَّادِر

O king whose fountain of beneficence

is dedicated to those who come and go!

أَنا الذي أَهواكَ لاَ لِلْجدا

لكِن هَوىً في فضلكَ الْبَاهر

I am the one who loves you, not for gifts,

but out of love for your dazzling excellence.

ولي لسانٌ في فمِي لم يَزل

مثلَ حسامٍ في يَدَيْ شَاهِر

And in my mouth I have a tongue that has always been

like a sword in the hands of one who brandishes it.

وكَم لَهُ مِنْ خَبرٍ شَائِع

وكم له مِنْ مثَل سَائِر

How many a tale of it has spread,

and how many a saying of it travels far!

إِن شئتَ جاءَ النظمُ من ناظمٍ

أَو شئتَ جاءَ النَّثْرُ مِنْ نَاثِر

If you wish, verse comes from a versifier;

or, if you wish, prose comes from a prose writer.

وشئتُ أَنْ أَمْدَحه ناظِماً

وناثراً بالخاطِر الشَّاطِر

And I wished to praise him in verse

and in prose, with my nimble mind.

وخاطري إِن شئتَ سَمَّيتَه

روضاً به أُثْني عَلى المَاطر

And my mind, if you wish, you may call

a garden through which I praise the giver of rain.

فقلتُ مَا أَرْسلته خادِماً

به لِذاكَ الْمجْلِسِ الطَّاهِرِ

So I spoke what I sent, offering service

with it to that pure assembly.

أَرجو نَفَاقا فِيه مَعْ أَنَّني

مَا أَنَا فِي قَوْمِيَ بِالبَائِر

I hope it finds a market there, although

among my own people I am no unsalable commodity.

قَدَّمْتُه شُكْرِي ولاَ بُدَّ أَنْ

تُقَدَّمَ النُّعْمىَ إِلى الشَّاكِر

I offered it as my thanks; and surely

bounty must be offered to the thankful.

وصارَ في مِصرَ بعضي وقد

سَارَ إِلى خِدْمتِه سَائِرِي

Part of me has come to be in Egypt, while

the rest of me has gone into his service.

وبِعْتُ نفسي في ولائي له

ولَسْتُ في بَيْعِيَ بِالْخَاسِر

I sold myself in my loyalty to him,

and in my sale I am no loser.

مَنْ مُنْصِفي من حَاكِمٍ جَائِر

أَبلجَ مِثلِ القَمَر الزَّاهِر

Who will win me justice from a tyrannical ruler,

bright-faced as the shining moon?

مُخَسِّر العُشَّاقِ أَرْوَاحَهم

ولاَ يُبالِي غَبْنَ الْخَاسر

He makes lovers lose their souls

and cares nothing for how the loser is cheated.

هم حَكَّموه فقَضَى بينَهم

لاَ بَلْ عليهم بالْقَضاءِ الْجَائِر

They made him their judge, and he ruled between them—

no, rather against them—with an unjust judgment.

ضلُّوا ولا تَعْجَب إِذا ضَلَّ مَنْ

يَرْجُو الهُدى مِنْ رَشإٍ جائِر

They strayed; do not wonder if one strays

who hopes for guidance from a wayward young gazelle.

إِذَا شَكَوْا مِنْه فأَنِّي لَه

مَا أَنَا بِالشَّاكِي بَلْ الشَّاكِر

If they complain of him, then for my part,

I am no complainer, but one who gives thanks.

كَانَ به قَتْلِي عَلى مُهْلَةٍ

بِصَارِمٍ مِنْ جَفْنِه الْفَاتِر

He killed me slowly,

with a keen blade from his languid eyelid.

وعَادَ مِنْه رَاحِمي غَابِطي

وصَارَ مِنْه عَاذِلي عَاذِرِي

Through him, my pitier became my envier,

and through him my reproacher became my excuser.

قد كَسَر الْجفْنَ فَطارَ الحَشَا

مَا أَفْتَكَ الْكَاسِرَ بالطَّائِر

He lowered his eyelid, and my heart took wing;

how deadly the raptor is to the bird!

يا هَاجِري لَيتَ نِدائِي إِذَا

ناديتُه كَان بِيَا زَائِري

O my forsaker, would that my call, when

I called him, were 'O my visitor!'

لِي نَاظِرٌ لو لَمْ تكُنْ فِيه مَا

أَشْفَقْتُ مِنْ دَمْعِي عَلَى نَاظِري

I have an eye; were you not within it, I would not

fear for my eye because of my tears.

مَا لي عَلى هَجْرِكَ مِنْ قُوَّة

ولا عَلَى جَوْرِكَ مِنْ نَاصِر

I have no strength to bear your abandonment,

nor any helper against your tyranny.

قُمْ نَزْجُر الهَمَّ بكأْسِ الطِّلا

ليلَةَ لاَ ناهٍ ولاَ زَاجِر

Rise! Let us drive sorrow away with a cup of wine,

on a night with neither forbidding voice nor rebuke.

صفراءَ لا تتركُ في القلبِ مِن

وسَاوِسِ الأَحزانِ مِنْ صَافِر

Golden-yellow wine that leaves in the heart

not a soul among sorrow's whisperings.

ومِنْ مُديرِ الكَأْسِ سُكْرِي فَلا

أُحيلُ بِالكأْسِ عَلى الدَّائِر

And my drunkenness comes from the cupbearer, so I do not

ascribe it to the wine circulating in the cup.

فهاتِها واشْربْ عَلى مَدْح مَن

لَمْ أَنْس مِنْ إِنْعامِه ذَاكِرِي

Then bring it and drink to the praise of one

whose bounty keeps me from forgetting him who remembers me.

ما كنتُ لَولاَ الصِّدقُ في مَدْحِه

أُلصِقُ باسمِي سِمةَ الشَّاعِر

Were it not for truthfulness in praising him, I would not

attach to my name the mark of a poet.

والشِّعر ذَنْبٌ في سِوى مَجْدِه

تُرجَى لَهُ مَغْفرةُ الْغافرِ

And poetry on anything but his glory is a sin

for which the Forgiver's pardon is hoped.

وكلُّ شِعْر قُلْتُ في غَيْرِه

فإِنَّه تَجرِبَةُ الخَاطِر

And every poem I have spoken of another

is merely a trial of the mind.

المَلِكُ الْملْكُ العزيزُ الَّذي

غَرِقْتُ في إِنْعامِه الزَّاخِر

The king, the sovereign al-Aziz, in whose

surging beneficence I am drowned.

إِنْعَامُه الْبَادِي مَعَ الْحاضِر ال

مَوْجُودِ في البادِي وفي الحَاضِر

His bounty, both manifest and present,

is found among desert-dwellers and townsfolk.

ملك ملوك الأرض في أمره

بالجود أو بالصارم البتر

A king whose command holds the kings of earth,

through generosity or the keen, severing sword.

ممدوَّحٌ في الزَّمن الْمُشتَكَى

وعَادلٌ في الزَّمَنِ الْجَائِر

Much praised in an age men lament,

and just in an unjust age.

وبذلُه كَان لَهُ أَوَّلٌ

لكِنَّهُ كَانَ بِلاَ آخِر

His giving had a beginning,

but it has had no end.

فنادِرُ الجُودِ لَهُ راتِبٌ

حِينَ يُرى الرَّاتِبُ كَالنَّادِر

What is rare in generosity is routine for him,

when regular giving is viewed as a rarity.

يهدِمُ مَالاً حِينَ يبني عُلاً

يا عَجَباً لِلهَادِمِ العَامِر

He demolishes wealth while building eminence;

oh, the wonder of the demolisher who builds!

يَعْفُو عَن الْجَاني على قُدرَةٍ

ما أَحْسَن الْعَفْوَ مِنَ القَادر

He pardons the offender while he has power;

how fine is pardon from one with power!

فَمُنهضُ المنهاض إِنعامُه

والحِلْمُ منه عاذِرُ العَاثِر

His bounty raises up the broken,

and his forbearance excuses the stumbler.

سيرتُه في الجودِ لا مِثْلها

وكم لَه مِن مَثَلٍ سَائِر

His conduct in generosity has no equal,

and how many a saying of his travels far!

وسيفُه كم سَرَّ مِنْ مُسْلمٍ

كَمَا به قَدْ سَاءَ مِنْ كَافِر

And how many a Muslim his sword has gladdened,

just as, through it, he has distressed many an unbeliever.

كَمْ ظَفَرٍ فَازَ به فاغْتَدى

يُنْعَت بالفَائِزِ والظَّافِر

How many victories he won, so that he became

called the successful and the victorious!

وعَادَ بالنَّصرِ فَأَحْيَا بِه

ذِكْرَ أَبِيهِ الْمِلكِ النَّاصِر

He returned with victory, thereby reviving

the memory of his father, King al-Nasir.

يَا مَلِكاً مورِدُ إِنْعامه

وقْفٌ عَلى الْوَارِد وَالصَّادِر

O king whose fountain of beneficence

is dedicated to those who come and go!

أَنَا الَّذي جئتُك لا للْجَدا

بل لِلْهوى في فَضْلِكَ الْبَاهر

I am the one who came to you, not for gifts,

but for love of your dazzling excellence.

أَمْطَرتَني بالجُودِ فاسْمع لِما

أُنْشِئُه مِنْ خَاطِري المَاطِر

You have rained generosity upon me; now listen to what

I compose from my rain-giving mind.