حلت بقلبي وهو غير كليم — Salah Magdy

حلت بِقَلبي وَهُوَ غَير كَليمِ

هَيفاء تُغضي عَن سؤال كَريمِ

She settled in my heart when it was still unwounded—

a slender-waisted beauty who ignores a noble man's plea.

حَسناء تبخل بِالوِصال عَلى فَتى

يَلقى مِن الهِجران كُلَّ أَليم

A beauty who withholds union from a youth

who suffers every anguish of estrangement,

وَيَهيم مِن وَجد بذكر حَديثها

في جنح لَيل بِالسهاد بَهيم

and wanders distraught with longing, recalling her words,

in the depths of a night pitch-black with sleeplessness.

وَيَقول يا طرفي نظرت لحسنها

فَتركتني مِن خَدِّها بجحيم

He says: 'O my eye, you gazed upon her beauty

and left me in hell because of her cheek.

وَنصبتني غرضاً لنبل عَواذل

يَمشون فيما بَيننا بِنَميم

You set me up as a target for the arrows of reproachers

who go between us spreading slander.

وَأَراكَ يا سَمعي صغيت لنغمة

فيها بِصَوت في الغناء رَخيم

And I see, O my hearing, that you inclined to a melody

of hers, in a voice mellow in song;

فبريت جسمي بِالغَرام وَلَم تَدَع

لي غَير عَظم لاصق بِأَديم

so you whittled my body away with passion and left

me nothing but bone clinging to skin.'

وَالآن أَفدي ظبية الأُنس الَّتي

هِيَ مِن بَنات سراة شَعب تَميم

And now I would ransom the gazelle of companionship,

a daughter of the nobles of the tribe of Tamim.

وَهِيَ التي ملكت فؤاد متيمٍ

صَعب الشَكيمة لا يَميل لريم

She it is who possessed the heart of a love-enslaved man,

hard to bridle, who bends to no white gazelle.

وَرمته عَن قَوس الحَواجب عنوة

بِسهام لحظ ما رثَى لِسقيم

She shot it by force from the bow of her brows,

with arrows of a glance that pitied no ailing soul,

ففرته إِلّا ما حَواه سَريرُها

بِجوار خَير الدين خَير زَعيم

and rent it, save what her couch embraced,

beside Khayr al-Din, the finest leader.

هُوَ ذَلِكَ البطل الَّذي بِسَداده

في رَأيه يَبدو نتاج عَقيم

He is that hero whose soundness

of judgment brings the offspring of the barren to light.

وَلَهُ بِمضمار العُلوم سَوابق

مِن دُونِها أَفراس كُل عَليم

In the racecourse of learning he has winning steeds,

behind which fall the horses of every scholar.

وَعَلى شَهامته وَوافر حَزمه

قامَ الدَليل لراحل وَمُقيم

Of his gallantry and abundant resolve,

the proof stands clear to traveler and resident alike.

وَالصادق الملك الخَطير لَهُ اِنتَضى

سَيفاً لِقَمع معاند وَغَريم

And al-Sadiq, the mighty king, drew for him

a sword to subdue the obstinate foe and adversary.

فَمحا رُسوم الجُور بِالعَدل الَّذي

أَحيا مِن الأَوطان كُل رَميم

He erased the traces of oppression with justice that

revived every ruined homeland.

وَاِمتاز في تَدبيره بِرياسة

وَسِياسة نجحت بِكُل جسيم

In his administration he excelled in leadership

and statecraft that succeeded in every weighty matter.

وَبفضلِه شهد العداةُ وَحسبُهُ

شَرَفاً شَهادةُ حاسدٍ وَخصيم

Even enemies have testified to his merit; enough

honor for him is the testimony of an envier and an opponent.

يا أَيُّها الصَدر الَّذي لِجَنابه

بسمت ثُغورُ بَشائر وَنعيم

O chief minister, at whose august presence

the mouths of glad tidings and bliss have smiled,

وَترنمت فَوق الغُصون بَلابل

بِبَديع مَدح في علاه نَظيم

and nightingales have sung above the boughs

exquisite, well-strung praise of his high rank.

وَالسَعد أَقبل لِلتَهاني بِالمُنى

في العيد يَحمله عَليل نَسيم

Good fortune has come with wishes of congratulation

at the feast, carried by a gentle breeze.

وَعَنادل العَليا عَلَيهِ خَطيبُها

أَثنى فَحياه بِوَجه بَسيم

And the nightingales of glory—their orator

praised him, and he greeted him with a smiling face.

أَنتَ المؤيد يا موفق بِالنهَى

في كُل مَشروع لَدَيك عَظيم

You are upheld, O you granted success through reason,

in every mighty undertaking before you.

وَلأَنت ذو قَلب رؤف محسن

بِالعالمين مَدى الزَمان رَحيم

Yours indeed is a compassionate, beneficent heart,

merciful to all beings throughout all time.

وَلَكَ المَعارف في المَدارس أَشرَقَت

بِحسينٍ السامي أَجلّ حَميم

For you, learning has shone in the schools

through exalted Husayn, the noblest intimate.

وَوزارة الحَرب اِزدَهَت مِن رستم

بحميد سَير في الجُنود قَويم

And the Ministry of War has grown splendid through Rustam,

through praiseworthy, upright conduct among the troops.

وَسَمَوت بِالخلق الجَميل عَلى الوَرى

في كُل أَمر حادث وَقَديم

By noble character you have risen above mankind

in every matter, new and old.

وَلَكَ اِستَقام الملك وَانتظمت لَهُ

أَحوال تُونس رَغم أَنف ذَميم

For you the kingdom stands firm, and for it are ordered

the affairs of Tunisia, to the chagrin of the base.

وَأَصبت بِالشهب الثَواقب حسبة

لَلّه مُهجة ماردٍ ورجيم

With piercing meteors you struck, seeking reward

from God, the heart of the rebellious and accursed.

وَمَلأتها مِن بَعد شدّة خَوفِها

أَمناً بِهمة حاكم وَحَكيم

You filled her, after her grievous fear,

with security, through the resolve of ruler and sage.

وَدفعت عَنها كل سوء نالَها

فِيما مَضى مِن ملحد وَأَثيم

You warded off from her every harm that had befallen her

in times past from the godless and the sinful.

وَمِن الضَياع حفظتها بتداركٍ

أَودى عَلى عجل بكيد لَئيم

You saved her from ruin by timely intervention

that swiftly put an end to a villain's scheming.

وَبيمن طالعك السَعيد تنعمت

بِالخصب مِن بَعد ارتعاء هشيم

Through the blessing of your fortunate star, she reveled

in abundance after grazing on withered grass.

وَأَزلت بِالإِنصاف عَن أَجفانِها

أَقذاءَ ظلمٍ لِلعِباد وَخيم

With equity you removed from her eyelids

the motes of oppression, grievous to the people.

فَكَأنك الفاروق قامَ بِنَصرِها

ما بَين أُمة زَمزم وَحَطيم

You are like al-Faruq, arisen to defend her

amid the people of Zamzam and Hatim.

وَكَأنَّها أُمّ القُرى بِكَ بَعدَ ما

طهرتها مِن مارق وَزنيم

And through you she is like Umm al-Qura, after

you cleansed her of renegades and baseborn wretches.

وَكَسَوت فيها الملك حلة سؤدد

جَعلت ثناك غِذاء كُل فَطيم

You clothed kingship there in a robe of glory

that made praise of you the nourishment of every weaned child.

وَجَلَوت عَنها غَيهَب الجَهل الَّذي

قَد كانَ يفعل فعله بِكظيم

You dispelled from her the darkness of ignorance, which

had done its work upon one choked with grief.

وَنشلتها مِن دَينها بِصَرامة

لَم يَبق فيها مِنهُ غَير رَسيم

You lifted her out of her debt with firmness,

leaving in her no more than a trace of it.

فَلِمَن يَراك بِها مَسرّةُ واثقٍ

بِنجاحه مِن فَيض بحر كَريم

Whoever sees you there feels the joy of one assured

of success from the bounty of a generous sea.

وَلَها بِوَجهك كُل يَوم دائِماً

عيد يَعود مِن الصَفا بِعَميم

Through your countenance she has, every day without cease,

a feast returning with abundant serenity.

وَلي الهَنا حَيث اِنتَميت لِدَولة

أَنتَ الملاذ بِها لِكُل خَديم

And mine is joy, since I belong to a state

where you are the refuge of every servant.

فَاقبل مَدائح مخلص لَولاك لَم

يوصف بِذَوق في المَقال سَليم

Accept the praises of a devoted man who, but for you,

would not be credited with sound taste in expression.

وَاسمح بِحُسن رضاك عَن تَقصيره

في سَرد ما لَم يُحصه بِرَقيم

And grant your kindly favor despite his shortcomings

in recounting what he has failed to enumerate in writing.

وَانعم على الشَهم السَعيد بِنَظرة

فيها اليَسار لمعسر وَعَديم

Bestow on the gallant, fortunate man a glance

that holds ease for the distressed and destitute.

فَلَقَد حَباني مِنكَ بِالقُرب الَّذي

يَعلو بِهِ في الكَون قَدر نَديم

For he has favored me with that nearness to you

by which a companion's rank rises in the world.

وَهُوَ الحَريص عَلى القيام بخدمة

تَخفى عَلى إِدراك كُل فَهيم

He is intent on carrying out a service

beyond the comprehension of every discerning mind.

وَهُوَ الأَمين بِمصر أَول شاكر

لَكَ في المَحافل عِندَ كُل فَخيم

He is the trusted one in Egypt, the first to give thanks

to you in assemblies before every dignitary.

نعم الوَكيل عَن الأَصيل المُرتَضى

تاج المُلوك إمام كل حَزيم

An excellent deputy for the worthy principal,

the crown of kings, leader of every resolute man!

لا زلت لِلملك المعظم صاحِباً

وَمُلقَّباً في مُلكه بِقسيم

May you ever remain companion to the exalted king,

and in his realm be titled 'Partner,'

ما قلت في العيد الكَبير مؤرِّخاً

يَصفو لِخَير الدين عيد حَليم

so long as I say at the Great Feast, recording its date:

'For Khayr al-Din, a forbearing man's feast is serene.'