ما هبت الريح إلا هزني الطرب — Safi Al Din Al Hilli

ما هَبَّتِ الريحُ إِلّا هَزَّني الطَرَبُ

إِذ كانَ لِلقَلبِ في مَرِّ الصَبا أَرَبُ

Never has the wind blown without rapture stirring me,

for the heart had a longing for the passing east wind.

لِذاكَ إِن هَيمَنَت في الدَوحِ أُنشِدُهُ

بَيني وَبينَكَ يا دَوحَ الحِمى نَسَبُ

Thus, when it murmurs in the grove, I recite to it:

Between you and me, O grove of the sanctuary, lies kinship.

يا جيرَةَ الشِعبِ لَولا فَرطُ بُعدِكُمُ

لَما غَدا القَلبُ بِالأَحزانِ يَنتَعِبُ

O neighbors of the mountain pass, were it not for your great distance,

the heart would not have grown weary with grief.

فَهَل يَجودُ بِكُم عَدلُ الزَمانِ لَنا

يَوماً وَتُرفَعُ فيما بَينَنا الحُجُبُ

So will Time's justice bestow you upon us

one day, and will the veils between us be lifted?

يا سادَةً ما أَلِفنا بَعدَهُم سَكَناً

وَلا اِتَّخَذنا بَديلاً حينَ نَغتَرِبُ

O lords, after whom we have taken to no companion,

nor have we chosen a substitute when far from home.

بِوُدِّكُم صارَ مَوصولاً بِكُم نَسَبي

إِنَّ المَوَدَّةَ في أَهلِ النُهى نَسَبُ

Through your love, my kinship has become joined to you;

for affection among people of wisdom is kinship.

جَميلُكُم كانَ في رِقّي لَكُم سَبَباً

لا يوجَدُ الحُكمُ حَتّى يَوجَدَ السَبَبُ

Your kindness was the cause of my servitude to you;

no ruling takes effect until its cause exists.

فَكَيفَ أَنساكُمُ بَعدَ المَشيبِ وَقَد

صاحَبتُكُم وَجَلابيبُ الصِبا قُشُبُ

How, then, can I forget you after my hair has grayed, when

I kept your company while the robes of youth were new?

أَم كَيفَ أَصبِرُ مُغتَرّاً بِأُمنِيَةٍ

وَالدارُ تَبعُدُ وَالآجالُ تَقتَرِبُ

Or how can I endure, deluded by a hope,

while home grows farther away and the appointed hours of death draw near?

قَد زُرتُكُم وَعُيونُ الخَطبِ تَلحَظُني

شَزراً وَتَعثُرُ في آثارِيَ النُوَبُ

I have visited you while calamity's eyes watched me

askance, and misfortunes stumbled in my tracks.

وَكَم قَصَدتُ بِلاداً كَي أَمُرَّ بِكُم

وَأَنتُمُ القَصدُ لا مِصرٌ وَلا حَلَبُ

And how often I have sought out lands just to pass by you,

and you were the destination—not Egypt, nor Aleppo.

وَكَم قَطَعتُ إِلَيكُم ظَهرَ مُقفِرَةٍ

لا تَسحَبُ الذَيلَ في أَرجائِها السُحبُ

And how often, on my way to you, I crossed the back of a barren waste

where clouds do not trail their hems across its expanses,

وَمَهمَهٍ كَسَماءِ الدَجنِ مُعتَكِرٍ

نَواظِرُ الأُسدِ في ظَلمائِهِ شُهُبُ

and a wilderness murky as a cloud-darkened sky,

the lions' eyes in its darkness were shooting stars,

حَتّى وَصَلتُ إِلى نَفسٍ مُؤَيَّدَةٍ

مِنها النُهى وَاللُهى وَالمَجدُ يُكتَسَبُ

until I reached a soul endowed with strength,

from whom wisdom, gifts, and glory are gained,

بِمَجلِسٍ لَو رَآهُ اللَيثُ قالَ بِهِ

يا نَفسِ في مِثلِ هَذا يَلزَمُ الأَدَبُ

in a gathering where a lion, if he saw it, would say:

'O my soul, in a place like this, courtesy is required.'

مَنازِلٌ لَو قَصَدناها بِأَرؤُسِنا

لَكانَ ذاكَ عَلَينا بَعضَ ما يَجِبُ

Dwellings—were we to approach them on our heads,

that would be only part of what is incumbent upon us.

أَرضٌ نَدى الصالِحِ السُلطانِ وابلُها

وَرَأيُهُ لِرَحى أَحوالِها قُطُبُ

A land whose downpour is Sultan al-Salih's bounty,

and his judgment is the axle of the mill of its affairs.

مَلكٌ بِهِ اِفتَخَرَت أَيّامُهُ شَرَفاً

وَاِستَبشَرَت بِمَعالي مَجدِهِ الرُتَبُ

A king whose days boasted of their honor through him,

and the ranks rejoiced at the heights of his glory.

وَقالَتِ الشَمسُ حَسبي أَن فَخَرتُ بِهِ

وَجهي لَهُ شَبَهٌ وَاِسمي لَهُ لَقَبُ

And the sun said, 'It is enough for me to take pride in him:

my face is his likeness, and my name is his title.'

لا يَعرِفُ العَفوَ إِلّا بَعدَ مَقدَرَةٍ

وَلا يَرى العُذرَ إِلّا بَعدَما يَهَبُ

He knows pardon only after gaining power,

and recognizes an excuse only after he has given.

سَماحُهُ عُنوِنَت بِالبِشرِ غايَتُها

كَما تُعَنوَنُ في غاياتِها الكُتُبُ

His generosity's culmination is inscribed with good cheer,

just as books are titled at their ends.

وَهِمَّةٌ حارَ فِكرُ الواصِفينَ لَها

هَتّى تَشابَهَ مِنها الصِدقُ وَالكَذِبُ

And a lofty resolve that bewildered the thoughts of those describing it,

until truth and falsehood about it seemed alike.

قالوا هُوَ البَدرُ قُلتُ البَدرُ مُنمَحِقٌ

قالوا هُوَ الشَمسُ قُلتُ الشَمسُ تَحتَجِبُ

They said, 'He is the full moon.' I said, 'The full moon wanes away.'

They said, 'He is the sun.' I said, 'The sun becomes veiled.'

قالوا هُوَ الغَيثُ قُلتُ الغَيثُ مُنتَظَرٌ

قالوا هُوَ اللَيثُ قُلتُ اللَيثُ يُغتَصَبُ

They said, 'He is the rain.' I said, 'Rain is awaited.'

They said, 'He is the lion.' I said, 'The lion can be overpowered.'

قالوا هُوَ السَيلُ قُلتُ السَيلُ مُنقَطِعٌ

قالوا هُوَ البَحرُ قُلتُ البَحرُ مُضطَرِبُ

They said, 'He is the torrent.' I said, 'The torrent comes to an end.'

They said, 'He is the sea.' I said, 'The sea is turbulent.'

قالوا هُوَ الظِلُّ قُلتُ الظِلُّ مُنتَقِلٌ

قالوا هُوَ الدَهرُ قُلتُ الدَهرُ مُنقَلِبُ

They said, 'He is the shade.' I said, 'The shade shifts.'

They said, 'He is Time.' I said, 'Time is changeable.'

قالوا هُوَ الطَودُ قُلتُ الطَودُ ذو خَرسِ

قالوا هُوَ المَوتُ قُلتُ المَوتُ يَجتَنَبُ

They said, 'He is the mountain.' I said, 'The mountain is mute.'

They said, 'He is death.' I said, 'Death is shunned.'

قالوا هُوَ السَيفُ قُلتُ السَيفُ نَندُبُهُ

وَذاكَ مِن نَفسِهِ بِالجودِ يُنتَدَبُ

They said, 'He is the sword.' I said, 'We summon the sword.'

But he comes forward with generosity of his own accord.

قالوا فَمَن مِنهُمُ يَحكيهِ قُلتُ لَهُم

كُلٌّ حَكاهُ وَلَكِن فاتَهُ الشَنَبُ

They said, 'Then which of them resembles him?' I said to them:

'Each resembled him, but lacked his teeth's cool sweetness.'

يا اِبنَ الَّذينَ غَدَت أَيّامُهُم عِبَراً

بَينَ الأَنامِ بِها الأَمثالُ قَد ضَرَبوا

O son of those whose days became lessons

among mankind, who have drawn proverbs from them:

كَالأُسدِ إِن غَضِبوا وَالمَوتِ إِن طَلبوا

وَالسَيفِ إِن نُدبوا وَالسَيلِ إِن وَهَبوا

like lions when angered, and death when they pursue,

and the sword when summoned, and the torrent when they give.

إِن حُكِّموا عَدَلوا أَو أُمِّلوا بَذَلوا

أَو حورِبوا قَتَلوا أَو غولِبوا غَلَبوا

If made judges, they were just; if looked to with hope, they gave freely;

or if warred against, they slew; or if challenged, they prevailed.

سَرَيتَ مَسراهُمُ في كُلِّ مَنقَبَةٍ

لَم يَسرِها بَعدَهُم عُجمٌ وَلا عَرَبُ

You journeyed by night along their path in every virtue,

which neither non-Arabs nor Arabs have traversed after them.

وَفُقتَهُم بِخِلالٍ قَد خُصِصتَ بِها

لَولا الخُصوصُ تَساوى العودُ وَالحَطَبُ

And you surpassed them in qualities granted especially to you;

were it not for distinctive qualities, aloeswood and firewood would be equal.

حَمَلتَ أَثقالَ مُلكٍ لا يُقامُ بِها

لَو حُمِّلَتها اللَيالي مَسَّها التَعَبُ

You bore the burdens of kingship, too heavy to shoulder;

were the nights made to bear them, weariness would touch them.

وَحُطتَ بِالعَدلِ أَهلَ الأَرضِ كُلَّهُمُ

كَأَنَّما الناسُ أَبناءٌ وَأَنتَ أَبُ

And you protected all the people of the earth with justice,

as though mankind were children and you a father.

لِكُلِّ شَيءٍ إِذا عَلَّلتَهُ سَبَبٌ

وَأَنتَ لِلرِزقِ في كُلِّ الوَرى سَبَبُ

Everything, when you explain it, has a cause,

and you are the cause of sustenance for all mankind.

مَولايَ دَعوَةَ عَبدٍ دارُهُ نَزَحَت

عَلَيكُمُ قُربَهُ بَل قَلبُهُ يَجِبُ

My lord, hear the plea of a servant whose home lies far away:

Drawing him near is your duty—nay, his heart throbs.

قَد شابَ شِعري وَشَعري في مَديحِكُمُ

وَدُوِّنَت بِمَعاني نَظمِيَ الكُتُبُ

My poetry and my hair have grown gray in praising you,

and books have been written with the meanings of my verse.

فَالناسُ تَحسُدُكُم فيهِ وَتَحسُدهُ

فيكُم وَلَيسَ لَهُ في غَيرِكُم طَلَبُ

So people envy you for it, and envy it

for you; it seeks no one other than you.

فَلا أَرَتنا اللَيالي مِنكُمُ بَدَلاً

وَلا خَلَت مِنكُمُ الأَشعارُ وَالخُطَبُ

So may the nights never show us a replacement for you,

nor may poems and speeches ever be without you.