قسما بالعيون خير يمين — Mufti Fathallah

قَسَماً بِالعُيونِ خَيرَ يمينِ

ما إِلى غَيرِهِ فَرَشتُ يَميني

An oath by the eyes—the finest oath:

I have extended my right hand to none but him.

ما سِواهُ عَشِقت بَينَ مِلاحِ

مِن مَليحٍ لَقَد رَأَتهُ عُيوني

Among the beautiful, I have loved none but him,

of all the fair ones my eyes have seen.

مَن رَأى الشّمسَ وَالنّجومُ لَدَيها

فَاِهتَوى النّجمُ كانَ خِدنَ جُنونِ

Whoever sees the sun, with stars beside it,

then loves a star, is a companion of madness.

شَأنُ أَهلِ الهَوى السليمينَ طَبعاً

عِشقُ أَسنى الجَمالِ دونَ الدونِ

The way of lovers sound by nature

is to love the loftiest beauty, not the lowly.

إِنّ أَسنى الجَمالِ وَالحُسنِ شَيءٌ

مُستَطابٌ بِالطّبعِ في كلِّ دينِ

Indeed, beauty and loveliness at their finest are something

naturally pleasing in every faith.

يا عَذولي عَلى الهَوى لا تَلُمني

إِنَّ لَومي عَلى الهَوى يُؤذيني

O you who reproach me for love, do not blame me;

indeed, blaming me for love hurts me.

أَيُّ قَلبٍ مِنَ الهَوى وَغَرامٍ

بِجَمالٍ لَقَد خَلا أَيُّ حينِ

What heart, from love and passion

for beauty, has ever been free?

لا تحسِّنْ ليَ السُّلوَّ بِلَوم

إِنّما القبحُ ضِمنَ ذا التّحسينِ

Do not make forgetting seem fair to me through blame;

such beautifying contains only ugliness.

كَيفَ لَومي عَلى غَرامي بِبَدرٍ

أَنتَ مِمّن يَهواهُ حَسب اليقينِ

How can you blame me for my passion for a full moon,

when you are among those who love him, beyond all doubt?

أَجمَعُ النّاسُ أَنّهُ الفردُ حُسناً

فَاِهتَوَوْه كَقيسٍ المَجنونِ

The people agree unanimously that he is peerless in beauty,

so they love him like Qays the Madman.

مَلكَ الحُسنَ وَالحِسانَ جَميعاً

أَيُّ حُسنٍ كَحُسنِهِ المَكنونِ

He possesses beauty and all the fair ones;

what beauty can match his hidden beauty?

كَيفَ وَالشّمسُ مِن جَواريهِ كانَت

مُذ تَبَدَّتْ مِن عالَمِ التكوينِ

How could it, when the sun has been among his handmaids

since it appeared from the realm of creation?

لَو رَأَته وَحسنُهُ ذو اِنكِشافٍ

لَتَردَّت بِالكسفِ طول السّنينِ

Had it seen him with his beauty unveiled,

it would have wrapped itself in eclipse for years on end.

يَتَثَنّى بِقامَةٍ مِثلَ رُمحٍ

يَطعَنُ الأُسدَ ميلُها بِاللينِ

He sways with a stature like a spear;

its gentle tilt pierces lions.

ذو جُفونٍ تكفّأَ السّحرُ مِنها

أَيُّ سحرٍ مثال سِحرِ الجفونِ

He has eyelids from which enchantment spills;

what magic is like the magic of eyelids?

ينحِلُ الجسمَ يَسلبُ القلبَ وَجْداً

يُذهِبُ العَقلَ فَهوَ أَصلُ الجُنونِ

It wastes the body and steals the heart with longing;

it takes away reason: it is the root of madness.

لَيسَ مِنهُ لِمَن أَصابَ شِفاءٌ

أَيّ شَيءٍ مِنَ الرُّقى يَشفيني

There is no cure for anyone it strikes;

which of the healing incantations can cure me?

ذو لِحاظٍ يَسطو بِها وَهيَ مَرضى

لَيسَ سَيفٌ كَسَيفِها المَسنونِ

He has glances with which he assails, though they are ailing;

no sword is like their sharpened sword.

ما اِنتَضاها بِطرفَةٍ نَحوَ لَيثٍ

وَنَجا مِنها اللّيثُ لَيثُ العَرينِ

Never has he unsheathed them with a glance toward a lion

and had that lion escape them—the lion of the lair.

بِاِحوِرارٍ وَشَكلةٍ وَاِكتِحالٍ

قَد سَقاها لِقَتل أَهلِ الشّؤونِ

With black-and-white contrast, a reddish tinge, and kohl,

he has tempered them to slay men of distinction.

لَيسَ مِنها لِعاشِقٍ ما يَقيهِ

إِذ يَقيني لا شَيءَ مِنها يَقيني

No lover has anything to shield him from them,

for my certainty is that nothing shields me from them.

يا نَديمي أَدِرْ عَلَيَّ سُلافاً

في الرُّبى وَالرّياضِ بَينَ الغصونِ

O my boon companion, pass me pure wine

on the hills and in the gardens, among the boughs.

هِيَ ذِكرى الحبيبِ فَهيَ حَياةٌ

فَأَدِمْها لَعَلّها تُحييني

It is remembrance of the beloved, and so it is life;

so sustain it; perhaps it will revive me.

وَتَفَنَّنْ فيما لَهُ أَنتَ تَتلو

فَاِلتِذاذُ الأَرواحِ بِالتّفنينِ

And bring variety to what you recite for him,

for souls find delight in artistic variety.

وَاِتْلُها مُفصِحاً لَبيباً أَميناً

لا تَخُنْ فَاللّبيبُ غَيرُ خَؤونِ

And recite it clearly, with discernment and fidelity;

do not betray, for the discerning are not treacherous.

مَن يَخُنْ فيها فَهوَ غَير لَبيبٍ

إِنَّ غَيرَ اللّبيبِ غَيرُ أَمينِ

Whoever is false in it is not discerning;

indeed, the undiscerning are not trustworthy.

مفردُ الوقتِ جَوهَرُ المَجدِ عَنهُ

قَد تَناهى التّقويمُ كالتّثمينِ

Peerless in his age, the jewel of glory, concerning whom

appraisal has reached its limit, as has valuation.

كَعبَةُ الفَضلِ وَهوَ ركني اليَماني

كُلُّ يُمنٍ بِرُكنِيَ المَيمونِ

The Kaaba of excellence, he is my Yemeni Corner;

all good fortune lies in my auspicious corner.

عالِمُ العَصرِ بارِعٌ أوحَديٌّ

جَهبَذٌ جامِعٌ جَميع الفنونِ

The scholar of the age, masterful and peerless,

a master encompassing all the arts.

عازِبٌ كامِلٌ تَقِيٌّ نَقِيٌّ

نالَ بِالعرفِ غايَةَ التَّمكينِ

Unmarried, accomplished, pious and pure,

through goodness he attained the utmost mastery.

وَحَوى في جِهادِهِ النّفسَ نَصراً

فَحَباهُ المَولى بِفَتحٍ مُبينِ

And he won victory in his struggle against the self,

so the Lord granted him a clear victory.

فَاِروِ عَنهُ حَديثَ كُلِّ كَمالٍ

مِن طَريقِ التّصحيحِ وَالتّحسينِ

So transmit from him the report of every perfection,

by the path of declaring it sound and good.

عَن نَظيرٍ خَلا وَلَيسَ عَجيباً

أَفَلا الشّمسُ قَد خَلَت عَن خدينِ

He is without a peer, and that is no wonder;

has not the sun been without a companion?

سَيّدٌ حازَ سؤدَداً بِمَعالٍ

حَلَّها السّعدُ وَهوَ خَيرُ قَرينِ

A lord who attained eminence through lofty virtues,

in which good fortune dwells, the finest companion.

ماجِدٌ مجدُه عديمُ مثالٍ

قلتُ حَتّى بِالوهمِ وَالتّخمينِ

A glorious man whose glory has no likeness,

I say, even in imagination and conjecture.

مُعرِبٌ بارِعٌ فَصيحٌ بَليغٌ

بِبَديعٍ مِنَ الكلامِ رَصينِ

An expressive speaker, masterful, lucid and eloquent,

with wondrous, well-wrought speech.

شاعِرٌ مُفلِقٌ وَما إِن يجارَى

أَيُجاري الرّياحَ سَيرُ السّفينِ

A brilliant poet who cannot be rivaled;

can the course of ships keep pace with the winds?

مَن رَأى أَنّه يُجاريهِ يَوماً

لَم يَزَل عَقلُهُ كَعَقلِ الجنينِ

Whoever thinks he can rival him one day,

his mind remains like that of an unborn child.

إِن يَرُمْ ما من القَوافي غَريباً

يَلْفَهُ في يَراعهِ وَالنونِ

If he seeks anything rare among rhymes,

he finds it in his reed pen and inkpot.

في القَوافي كَما يَشاءُ وَيَرضى

أَمرُهُ نافِذٌ بِغَيرِ معينِ

In rhymes, as he wishes and pleases,

his command prevails without a helper.

وَالقَوافي لِأَمرِهِ إِنْ أَطاعَت

أَعَجيبٌ قبولُ أَمرِ الأَمينِ

And if the rhymes obey his command,

is it strange to heed a trustworthy man's command?

وَوَجيهٌ رَفيعُ قَدرٍ وَشَأنٍ

وَجَليلٌ ما بَينَ أَهلِ الشّؤونِ

And distinguished, lofty in rank and standing,

and august among men of consequence;

مُكرَمٌ مِن إِلههِ لا مُهانٌ

مُكرَم اللَّهِ ما لَهُ مِن مُهينِ

honored by his God, not humiliated;

one honored by God has no one to humiliate him.

وَكَريمٌ وَسيمُ وَجهٍ تَراهُ

حالَةَ البذلِ مُستنيرَ الجَبينِ

Generous and fair of face, you see him

in the act of giving, with a radiant brow.

هُوَ بَحرُ السّخاءِ كَيفَ وَأَضحى

يَمنَحُ الدُّرَّ وَهوَ غَيرُ ضَنينِ

He is the sea of generosity—how not, when he now

bestows pearls and is never miserly?

لَيسَ مَعنٌ وَحاتمٌ بِمشبِهَيهِ

بِحَقيقٍ في الأَمرِ أَو مَظنونِ

Neither Ma'n nor Hatim is his equal,

in reality or in supposition.

إِنّهُ شاعِرٌ يَجودُ وَيُعطي

من لآلٍ بِكَنزِهِ المَخزونِ

Indeed, he is a poet who lavishes and gives

of the pearls in his stored-up treasury.

أَجوَدُ النّاسِ في الدّنى شاعِرٌ وَهُم

حَيثُ جادوا بِالجَوهَرِ المَكنونِ

The most generous people in all worlds are poets, and they,

when they lavish hidden jewels,

مَنَحوا المَمدوحينَ فيهِ نَظيماً

نَظمَ عِقدٍ مِن خَيرِ دُرٍّ ثمينِ

give those they praise well-strung verse therein,

strung as a necklace of the finest precious pearls.

فَحَبوهم نَظيرَ ذَلِكَ جوداً

بارَكَ اللَّهُ أَو بِشَيءٍ مهينِ

So those praised generously reward them in return with

'God bless!' or something paltry.

لَيتَ شِعري أَيُّ الفَريقَينِ أَسخى

فأَجِبني مُصاحِبَ التّبيينِ

Would that I knew which of the two groups is more generous;

so answer me with an explanation.

أَيّها الشّهمُ هاكَ بِكراً رَداحاً

بِنتَ فِكرٍ بِحُلّةِ التزيينِ

O noble-hearted man, take this full-figured maiden,

a daughter of thought in an adorned robe.

صُنتُها عَن سِواكَ في خِدرِ فِكري

وَبَناتُ الأَفكارِ أَسنى مصونِ

I kept her from all but you in my thought's secluded chamber,

and daughters of thought are the finest things kept safe.

فَاِقْبَلَنْها وَكُنْ بِها خيرَ راضٍ

وَتَناوَل كِتابَها بِاليمينِ

So accept her, and be well pleased with her,

and take her book with your right hand.

وَدُمِ الدَّهرَ وِاِسلَمَنّ بِعزٍّ

ذا سُرورٍ يَدومُ غَيرَ حزينِ

And live forever, and remain safe in glory,

with lasting joy, never sorrowful,

ما تَغَنَّتْ لَدى المَسيرِ نَسيمٌ

فَأَمالَت لِلرّقصِ قَدَّ الغصونِ

as long as a breeze sings as it passes

and sways the boughs' forms into a dance;

ما عُبيد اللّطيفِ أَقسم حبّاً

قَسَماً بِالعُيونِ خَير يَمينِ

as long as Ubayd al-Latif swears out of love

an oath by the eyes—the finest oath.