لو لم يكن بي من ذات اللما ألم — Mohammed Al Hamdani

لَوْ لَم يكن بي من ذاتَ اللما ألمُ

مَا قطَّعَتْ كبدي الأطنابُ والخِيَمُ

Were there no pain in me from the dark-lipped woman,

the tent ropes and tents would not have torn my liver apart.

أشكو إلى اللهِ خودَا كلّما نظرتْ

أمْضتْ بقلبي ما لم تُمْضِه الخُذمُ

I complain to God of a tender maiden who, whenever she looks,

pierces my heart as keen swords never could.

تجني عليّ وأرضي حُسْنَهَا حَكَماً

وكيف حال غريمِ خَصْمُه حكمُ

She wrongs me, and I accept her beauty as judge;

and how fares a litigant whose opponent is his judge?

كانت وكنتُ بِسِقْط الرملِ في زمنٍ

والعُمْرُ مُقْتبلٌ والشملُ مُلْتئمُ

She and I were once at the edge of the sands,

when life was young and our company united.

فاليومَ إن غدرتْ عهدي وإن هجرتْ

عادتْ كأنّ ليالي وَصْلِها حُلُمُ

Now, if she has betrayed my pledge and forsaken me,

the nights of union with her have become as though a dream.

مَهْضومةُ الكشِح إلاّ أن دُمْلُجَها

رَاوٍ وعِلّةُ قلبي الرِيَّ والهِضَمُ

Slender of waist, except that her armlet

is amply filled; my heart's ailment is fullness and slenderness.

في ردفها ثقلٌ في عطفها مَيَلٌ

في طرفِها كَحُلٌ في كفِّها عَنَمُ

Her hips have weight; her figure has a sway.

Her eyes are kohl-dark; her hand has the red of ʿanam.

في ثغرهَا بَرَدٌ في طيّهِ حَببٌ

في ريقه ضربٌ في طِعمِه شَبُمُ

Her mouth holds hailstones; within it are bubbles.

Its saliva is white honey; its taste is coolness.

ما بي على سلماتٍ بالعُيَينة من

وجدٍ ولم يكُ وجدي ذلك السَّلَمُ

For the acacias at al-ʿUyaynah, I have no

longing; those acacias were never what I yearned for.

أشْتاقَهُنّ لقومٍ كم ندمتُ على

فراقِهم فشفاهم ذلك النّدم

I long for them for the sake of people; how often I regretted

parting from them, and that remorse gave them satisfaction.

هُمْ ضيّعوا ذِمَماً بيني وبينَهُمُ

وأيّ صامتِ خلخالٍ له ذِممُ

They broke the pledges between me and them.

And what silent-ankleted woman keeps pledges?

أحبُّهم وبهم قتلي بغير دمٍ

وكيفَ قتلُ مُحبٍّ ما عليه دَمُ

I love them, yet through them I am slain without bloodshed.

And how can a lover be slain with no blood upon him?

مستغرقاً بهمُ نفسُ المحِبِّ كمَا

خليفةُ الله مشغوفٌ به الكرمُ

The lover's soul is wholly absorbed in them, just as

generosity is enamored of God's caliph.

إنَّ الإمامَ لمهدي الأنامِ فلا

واللهِ ما بسواه تُهَتَدى الأُمَمُ

The imam is indeed humankind's Mahdi; no—

by God, nations are guided by none but him.

بدرٌ يضيء جبيناً فهو مُنبَلجٌ

بَحْرٌ يفيض لُجيناً فهو مُلْتَطَمُ

A full moon, bright of brow, shining forth;

a sea overflowing with silver, surging with waves.

غيثٌ فليس له إلاّ النَّضارُ يداً

ليثٌ فليس لَه إلاّ القنا أُجُمُ

Life-giving rain, with gold alone for a hand;

a lion whose only thickets are spears.

قد يُكْتم القمرُ الساري ومَا شرفٌ

لأحمد بن رسولِ الله يغتكم

The moon on its nightly course may be hidden, but the honor

of Ahmad, son of God's Messenger, is never darkened.

قد يهضهم الأسد العادي وما كنف

لأحمد بن رسول يُهْتَضَمُ

The marauding lion may crush them, but no protected domain

of Ahmad, son of the Messenger, is violated.

الحمدُ لله ذَا وقتٌ أضَاء به

وجهَ الرشادِ وزال الظّلْم والظُلَمُ

Praise be to God! In this time has shone

the face of right guidance, and oppression and darkness have vanished.

هذا الأمير أمير المؤمنين فإنْ

تزهو المنابرُ أو يرقُصْن لا جرمُ

This prince is the Commander of the Faithful; if

the pulpits exult or dance, there is no blame.

هذا الإمامُ وذا السيف الحسامُ وذا

الليثُ الهُمامُ إذا مَا أعيت الهمَمُ

This is the imam, this the keen-edged sword, and this

the valiant lion when resolve is exhausted.

عزّتْ به العربُ الأنصارُ دولتُه

واستبشرت ولقد ذلّتْ به العجمُ

Through him the Arabs, supporters of his reign, gained honor

and rejoiced; through him the non-Arabs were humbled.

جاءت به الخيلُ من شامٍ ومنْ يمن

والخيلُ تعقرع بالاتراك تقتحِمُ

The cavalry brought him from al-Sham and from Yemen,

and the horses clatter [unclear reading], charging with the Turks.

جيشٌ أجشُّ وأطنابٌ مُطَنَّبَةٌ

منها تكاد جبال الطورِ تَنْهَزمُ

A deep-roaring army, with tent ropes stretched wide,

before which the mountains of al-Tur almost flee.

فوارسٌ زعموا أن لاَ مَردّ لَهم

خليفة وهو من عرنينه شحم

Horsemen claimed that none could repel them:

a caliph—'fat from his nose' [unclear wording].

مَلْكٌ أشمٌ به حطوا فراح لهم

عنه فمزق جند اللهِ مَا زعمُوا

A proud king with whom they encamped; then he set out for them,

away from him; God's army shattered their claims.

إنّ الملوكَ يد المهدي غالِبةٌ

إن غالبوه ومَهْمَا راغموا رُغِمُوا

Indeed, al-Mahdi's hand prevails over kings

if they challenge him; whenever they defy him, they are humbled.

مولاي ذا زمَنٌ أصبحتَ وَاحدَه

فما مقامك إلاّ دونَه القممُ

My lord, this is an age in which you have become peerless;

your station has all summits beneath it.

الشرق والغربُ مشتاق وساكنُه

إلى لقائك والأحرام والحرمُ

The East and West, and all who dwell there, yearn

to meet you, as do the sacred precincts and the Sanctuary.

وفي ظهور بني العباسِ قاطبةً

لولاك ما هي في بغداد تقتسمُ

And upon the backs of all the sons of al-ʿAbbas,

but for you, it would not be apportioned in Baghdad.

هم يعلمونَ بأنَّ السرَّ فيك وإنء

قد خادعوك ولكن غيرُ مَا علموا

They know that the secret lies in you, although

they have deceived you, contrary to what they know.

هذا زمَانُكِ إن طالوا وإن قصروا

هذا أوانُك إنْ باحوا وإنْ كتموا

This is your age, whether they tower or fall short.

This is your hour, whether they disclose it or conceal it.

إنّ الخلافةَ مَا كانتَ مخالفةً

بأنَك الحقُ فيها والمحال همُ

Truly, the caliphate has never disputed

that in it you are the truth, while they are falsehood.

ما غاب حيدر إذ كنتَ البديلَ به

علياه هذا الآخرَ القِدمُ

Haydar has not vanished, since you stand in his place;

his exalted glory—this latter one is antiquity itself.

أنتَ ابنُ ذاك ومشهور كذاك ومِنْ

ذاك السحابُ توالتْ هذه الديمُ

You are his son, renowned like him; and from

that cloud these steady rains have followed one another.

لا تَنقضنْ عُرىً أبْرَمتَها وكذا

مهما نقضتَ فنقض ليس ينبرمُ

Never undo bonds you have firmly bound; likewise,

whatever you unravel cannot be bound again.

سُرّت بدولتك الدُّنيا وساكنُها

حتى السمواتُ أحصى اللّوحُ والقلَمُ

The world and all its dwellers rejoiced in your reign,

even the heavens; the Tablet and the Pen have recorded it.

لا بل بسر رسول الله أنّك في

ذات الخلافةِ قوَّامٌ ومُنتقمُ

No, rather by the secret of God's Messenger, you are within

the caliphate itself an upholder and avenger.

كُنْ حيث شئت فما أضمت نار وغى

إلاّ بقلب عدو تلك تضطرمُ

Be wherever you wish; no fire of battle blazes

except within an enemy's heart, where it rages.

أمّا الملوكُ فحارتْ في توَصُّلِها

إلى مَداك وقد أُعْطيْتَ ما حُرّموا

As for kings, they are baffled in their efforts

to reach your stature: you have been granted what they were denied.

ما زلتَ أكرمَهم جداً وألْزمهم

عهداً وأعظمهم مجداً وإن عظموا

You have always been noblest in ancestry, firmest

in covenant, and greatest in glory, however great they are.

كافٍ إذا قصروا وافٍ إذا غدروا

بَرّا إذا فجرَوا عفٍ إذا أثموا

Sufficient when they fall short; faithful when they betray;

righteous when they act wickedly; chaste when they sin.

فرَّقتهم شذراً إذا حاربوا قدراً

وفي اعتقادك ما لو سَالموا سَلموا

You scattered them into fragments when they fought against destiny;

allegiance to you would have kept them safe, had they made peace.

صَبّحتَ شاما فولّوا عن جوانبِها

صُمّاً ولا خرسٌ فِيهم ولا صَمَمُ

You attacked al-Sham at dawn, and they fled its flanks,

deaf, though they had neither muteness nor deafness.

ظنّوا لهم فرحاً في مُجْنَبٍ فغَدوا

مِنْ مجنبٍ بخضوعٍ مَا به السأمُ

They thought joy awaited them in Mujnab, but they departed

from Mujnab in submission untouched by weariness.

ضاق الفضا عليهم فالمدينةُ مِنْ

رُعبٍ تكاد عليهم تنطوي بهم

The open country grew cramped for them; the city, from

terror, almost folds over them with them inside.

طبّقتَ خلْفَهم الأرضين فانزعجوا

حتّى الكلامُ عليهم جمجَمَ الكَلِمُ

You covered the lands behind them, and they were shaken,

until even their words faltered in speech.

ولاَ ملاَمة إن فروا ولاَ حَرَجٌ

لاَ يزأر الليثُ إلاّ فُرّق الغنَمُ

There is no blame if they flee, no reproach:

the lion never roars without scattering the sheep.

سرُّ الخلافةِ أنت المستخِصُّ بها

فما لقسمك يا ابن الشِّمّ والقسَمُ

You are the secret of the caliphate, its chosen one;

what, then, of your portion, son of the lofty ones—and the oath? [unclear wording]

فاضتْ بحارُك لكن لا عُبَابَ لها

إلاّ النُضارُ وإلاَّ السُمْرُ والخُذُمُ

Your seas overflow, but their surging swell is nothing

but gold, brown spears, and keen swords.

في أرض كلّ صديق وابلُ غَدِقُ

في كلّ ثغر عدوٍّ جَحْفلٌ عَرِمُ

In every friend's land, a copious downpour;

at every enemy's frontier, a fierce host.

النصرُ والفتحُ معقودٌ بذا وبذا

يا ابنَ الجيادِ وأنت العِلْمُ والعَلَمُ

Victory and conquest are bound to this and to that,

O son of the noble ones, you are knowledge and the banner.

هذه المفاخر لا كاسٌ ولا وتَرٌ

وذي المآثرُ لا عادٌ ولا إرمُ

These are glories—not winecups, not lute-strings;

and these are noble deeds—not ʿAd, nor Iram.

أعطاك ربك ما أنت الحقيق به

فأنعم بطول بقاءٍ كلَّه نعَمُ

Your Lord has given you what you truly deserve;

so enjoy a long life, all of it blessings.

واستقبلِ الدولةَ العرّا لابسةً

من المفاخِر عزًّا ما به سأمُ

And welcome the radiant reign [unclear reading], clothed

in honor drawn from glories, untouched by weariness.

فالوقتُ وقتُكَ مَنْ عَمْرو ومَن عُمَرُ

والوحيُ إرثك لا شاءٌ ولا نَعَمُ

This time is yours—who is ʿAmr, and who is ʿUmar?

Revelation is your inheritance, not sheep nor livestock.

إنّي امتدحتُك لولا آل حيدرةٍ

ما كان ينطق مني القريضِ فمُ

I have praised you; were it not for the house of Haydarah,

no mouth of mine would ever utter verse.

إني قدمت من الأرض البعيدة ما

بغير حَبْلِك بعدَ الله التزمُ

I have come from a distant land; I do not

cling, after God, to any rope but yours.

تا الله أقسم إلاَّ أنني رَجلٌ

الصدق كان مديحي فيك والقسَمُ

By God, I swear this alone: I am a man;

truth marked my praise of you and my oath.

ما اخترتُ عنك وقوفي إنما عِلَل

لم تخفْ عنك وعولٌ كله حَرَمُ

I did not choose to remain apart from you; there were only impediments

not hidden from you, and dependants, all women of the household.

بل كم وددتُ وصولي ذا الجناب ولو

إني على الرأس أمشي إنْ ونى القدمُ

Rather, how often I wished to reach this court, even if

I had to walk on my head, should my feet falter.

ما بَعدَ سوحِكَ للاجينَ مُعْتمداً

يا ابن الحسين للاجين مُعْتصَمُ

Beyond your precincts, those seeking refuge have no support,

O son of al-Husayn, no sanctuary for those seeking refuge.

أمّا وقد نظرتْ عيني إليك

فلا أخشى الخطوب ولا يأتيني العدمُ

Now that my eye has looked upon you,

I fear no calamities, and poverty cannot reach me.