عوذت حاجبه ذا النون بالنون — Shehab Al Din Al Khalouf

عَوَّذْتُ حَاجِبَهُ ذَا النُّونِ بِالنُّونِ

وَخَدَّهُ وَعِذَارَيْهِ بِيَاسِينِ

I charmed his nūn-shaped eyebrow with Nūn,

and his cheek and both his sideburns with Yā Sīn;

وَعَيْنَهُ وثَنَايَاهُ وَمَبْسَمَهُ

مِنْ كُلّ عَيْنٍ بطه أو بطاسين

and his eye, his front teeth, and his smiling mouth

against every evil eye with Ṭā Hā or Ṭā Sīn.

ظبيٌ سَبَى لحظُه لحظَ الغزالة إذ

حَلَّتْ مَحَاسِنُهُ فِي أفق تحسينِ

A gazelle whose glance captivated the doe's gaze, when

his charms alighted on the horizon of loveliness.

كَالزَّهْرِ في تَرَفٍ وَالظَّبْيِ فِي غَيَدٍ

وَالزُّهْر فِي شَرَفٍ وَالغُصْنِ فِي لِينِ

Like flowers in delicacy, a gazelle in graceful swaying,

bright stars in eminence, and a bough in suppleness.

قَدْ رَاقَ مَاءُ الحَيَا فِي نَارِ وجْنَته

كَالوَرْدِ رُشَّ عَلَيْهِ مَاءُ تَشْرِينِ

The dew of modesty gleamed in the fire of his cheek,

like a rose sprinkled with the rain of Tishrīn.

وَسَيَّجَتْ وَرْدَ خَدّيْهِ عَوَارِضُهُ

كَمَا تَسَيَّجَ نُعْمَان بِنسْرِينِ

His side-whiskers fenced the roses of his cheeks,

as Nuʿmān is hedged with eglantine.

مُعَسَّلُ الجفن معسول اللَّمَى فَتَكَتْ

عُيُونُهُ بِعُيُونِ الخُرَّدِ العِينِ

Honeyed of eyelid, honey-sweet of dusky lip, deadly were

his eyes to the eyes of bashful, wide-eyed maidens.

مُهَفْهَفُ القدّ لَمْ تَتْرُكْ عواطفهُ ال

سُّمْرُ الرشاقُ فُؤَاداً غَيْرَ مطعونِ

Slender of stature, his swaying limbs have not left—

dark and graceful as they are—any heart unpierced.

سهَامُ جفنيه فِي الأحشَاءِ قد رَشَقَتْ

من قَوْسِ حَاجِبِهِ إتْلاَفَ مَقْرُونِ

The arrows of his eyelids have struck into the vitals,

from his eyebrow's bow, to destroy a captive.

مَا سَنَّ لحظاً رَأى قَتْلِي فَرِيضَتَهُ

إلاّ وَمُتُّ بِمَفْرُوضٍ وَمَسْنُونِ

He never sharpened a glance, deeming my death his duty,

without my dying by the prescribed and the customary.

أرْجُو لِقَاهُ وَأخْشَى صدّهُ أبدا

فلم أزَلْ بَيْنَ مَسْرُورٍ وَمَحْزُونِ

I hope to meet him and always fear his rejection,

so I have ever remained between joy and sorrow.

يَا نسْمَةً عَلَّلَتْ قَلْبِي بصِحَّتِهَا

إذ حدَّثَتْ عن ظِبَا جِيَرانِ جيُرونِ

O breeze that soothed my heart with its freshness,

when it told of the gazelles among Jīrūn's neighbors.

مَا لِلَّذِي سلبتْ عقلِي مَحَاسنُهُ

أضحَى يُحَذّرُنِي منْ حَيْثُ يُغْرِينِي

What ails the one whose charms stole my reason,

that he now warns me where he entices me?

وَمَا لِسَاحِرِ هَاتِيكَ الجفونِ غدا

فِي الحبّ يُرشدنِي من حيث يُغْوِينِي

And what ails the enchanter of those eyelids, who has come

to guide me in love where he leads me astray?

وَمَا لِبَدْر سَنَا آفَاقِ وَاضِحِهِ

أضلَّنِي بِالَّذِي قَدْ كَادَ يَهْدِينِي

And what ails the full moon of his bright face's radiant horizons,

that he led me astray by what nearly guided me?

يَا عُذَّلِي فِيهِ كُفُّوا عَنْ ملاَمكمُ

فَلَيْسَ لوْمكمُ في حُبِّهِ دِينِي

O my reproachers concerning him, cease your blame:

your reproach for my love of him is not my creed.

هَبْ أنكمْ قَدْ نصحتمْ كيفَ أقبلُهُ

وَالبعدُ يَقْتُلُنِي وَالحُبُّ يُحْيِينِي

Suppose you have given counsel: how can I accept it,

when separation kills me and love revives me?

أم كيفَ أسمعُ فِيهِ لَوْمَ لاَئِمَةٍ

وَالحُب يُثْبِتُنِي وَالوجدُ يَنْفِينِي

Or how can I heed a woman's reproach concerning him,

when love affirms me and longing negates me?

أمْ كَيْفَ أقبَلُ مَا لاَ فِيهِ مَنْفَعَتِي

أمْ كَيْفَ أدْخُلُ فِيمَا لَيْسَ يَعْنينِي

Or how can I accept what brings me no benefit?

Or how can I enter into what does not concern me?

لاَ أختشِي فِيهِ مِنْ منعِ المَلاَمِ ولي

فِي حُبِّهِ أي إخلاَص وَتمكينِ

I fear no restraint from reproach concerning him, for mine

in loving him is utmost sincerity and steadfastness.

أخلصتُ حبيَ فِيهِ بَعْدَ مِعْرِفَتِي

بِأن حَظِّيَ مِنْهُ حَظُّ مَغْبُونِ

I made my love for him sincere after knowing

that my share from him is the share of one cheated.

أبْدَى هَوَاهُ وَعَفَّى بِالضنَى جسدِي

مِنْ حَيْثُ يَنْشُرُنِي طَوْراً وَيَطْوِينِي

He revealed his love and wasted my body with languor,

as he now unfolds me, now folds me away.

تَظَلَّمَتْ مقلتَاهُ وَهْيَ ظَالِمَةٌ

فَطَرْفُه فَاتِنٌ فِي شَكْلِ مَفْتونِ

His two eyes complained of injustice, though they were unjust;

his gaze is a seducer in the guise of one seduced.

تَأبَّطَ العُودَ يَشْكُو عَوْدَ صَبْوَتِهِ

كَمَاجِنٍ قَدْ حَوَى حالاَتِ مَجْنونِ

He tucked the lute under his arm, lamenting his passion's return,

like a libertine who has assumed a madman's states.

تَرَاهُ يُمْهِلُهُ جَسَّا وَيُزْعِجُهُ

ضَرْباً بِأنْوَاعِ إعَراب التَّلاَحِينِ

You see him let it linger beneath his touch, then rouse it

with strokes, through manifold melodic articulation.

كَأنّ مَأوَاهُ إذْ أُحْنِى عَلَيْهِ يَدِي

شَكْلٌ يَدُلُّ على أسلُوب قانُونِ

As though its resting-place, when I bend my hand over it,

were a form revealing the manner of a qānūn.

تَشْكُو إلى الصحْبِ أعْضَاهُ وَألْسُنُهُ

نشرَ المَنَاشِرِ أوْ قَطْعَ السَّكَاكِينِ

Its limbs and tongues complain to the companions

of saws sawing or knives cutting.

سَقَى الحَيَا تُونس الخضرا جوَانبُهَا

حَيْثُ الأسُودُ سَبَتْهَا أعْيُنُ العِينِ

May rain water green Tunis in all its quarters,

where the eyes of wide-eyed beauties took lions captive;

وَحَيْثُ مُؤْنِسُ أزْهَار الكمَامِ حَكَى

كَافُورَ بَرْقٍ سَرَى منْ عَنْبَرِ الجُونِ

and where the delight of blossoms in their sheaths resembled

lightning's camphor coursing from the ambergris of dark clouds;

وَحَيْثُ أيدي انسيابِ النهر قدْ رَقَمَتْ

فِي صفحةِ الروض أشكَالَ الثَّعَابِينِ

and where the hands of the flowing river have inscribed

serpents' shapes upon the meadow's page;

وَحَيْثُ غَرّدَ قُمْرِي الحَيَا سَحَراً

عَلَى مَعَاطِفِ أغْصَانِ الرّياحِينِ

and where the rain's turtledove sang at dawn

on the bending boughs of fragrant plants;

وَحَيْثُ مَرّ نَسِيمُ المَنْدَلي وَرَوَى

عن عطرِ تونِسَ لاَ عن عطرِ دارِينِ

and where the breeze of Mandalī aloeswood passed and spoke

of Tunis's perfume, not of Dārīn's perfume;

وَحَيْثُ شَبَّبَتِ الأطْيَارُ وامْتَدَحَتْ

مَوْلاَي عُثْمَانَ سُلْطَانَ السلاَطِينِ

and where the birds sang love songs and praised

my lord ʿUthmān, sultan of sultans;

المَانحُ الجَارِ صَوْناً غَيْرَ مُنْتَهَك

وَالماتِحُ الجُودِ بَذْلاً غَيْرَ مَمْنُونِ

who grants his neighbor protection never violated,

and draws up bounty in gifts never begrudged;

مُبَرْقِعُ الخَيْلِ بِالبِيضِ الحِدَادِ إذَا

أضْحَتْ فَوَارِسُهَا صِيدَ المَيَاديِنِ

who veils the horses with keen bright blades when

their riders become the proud lords of the battlefields;

وَمُصْدِرُ البِيضِ حُمْراً من دمائهمُ

وَجَاعلُ الهَامِ أغْمَادَ السكاكِينِ

and sends the bright blades back red with their blood,

and makes skulls into sheaths for knives.

إمَامُ بَيْتٍ يؤم المَجْدُ قِبْلَتَهُ

بِبَيْعَةِ الشَّاهِدَيْنِ العقلِ وَالدّينِ

Leader of a house whose qibla Glory seeks,

with the pledge of the two witnesses, reason and religion;

وَنجمُ رشدٍ أزَاحَ الغيَّ إذْ سَفَرَتْ

أنْوَارُه عَنْ يَقِينٍ غَيْر مظنُونِ

and a star of guidance that banished error when

his lights unveiled certainty untouched by conjecture;

وَكَهْفُ ملكٍ حَمَى الإسْلاَمَ جانبُه

فِي الشَّرْقِ وَالغَرْبِ بِالهِنْدِيَّةِ الصّينِ

and a refuge of kingship whose flank protected Islam

in East and West with Indian blades of China;

وَغَيْثُ جُودٍ أعَادَ الجدبَ صَيِّبُهُ

خِصْباً بِلاَ مِرْيَةٍ في الوَقْتِ وَالحِينِ

and a rain of bounty whose downpour turned drought

to fertility, beyond doubt, in time and season;

وَلَيْثُ غَابٍ إذَا مَا ازْوَرَّ عَنْ حَنَقٍ

أقَامَ جَيْشَ العِدَى في موْقفِ الدُّونِ

and a lion of the thicket who, whenever he turns aside in rage,

sets the enemy army in a station of abasement;

مِنْ معشرٍ في سَمَا الهَيْجَا تَخَالُهُمُ

شُهْباً تُكَف بِهَا أيدي الشَّيَاطِينِ

of a company whom, in the sky of battle, you would take

for meteors that check the hands of devils.

بيضُ الوجوه ملوكَ الخَافِقَيْنِ غَدَوْا

صِيدُ الوَرَى في الوَغَى شُمُّ العَرَانِينِ

Bright-faced, they became kings of East and West,

proud lords of mankind in battle, high of nose.

زُهْرُ المَمَالِكِ أعْلاَمُ المُلُوكِ بَدَوْا

كالزهْرِ في الروْضِ وَالأقمَارِ في الجونِ

Bright stars of kingdoms, standards of kings, they appeared

like flowers in the meadow and moons among dark clouds.

لاَ يُصْدِرُونَ أحِبَّاهُمْ عَلَى ظَمَإ

وَيُورِدُونَ عِدَاهُمْ مَوْرِدَ الهُونِ

They do not send their loved ones away thirsty,

but lead their enemies to humiliation's watering-place.

يَا مَالِكاً أيَّدَتْ دَعْوَى خِلاَفَتِهِ

فِي الخَافِقَيْنِ أدِلاَّتُ البرَاهِينِ

O sovereign whose claim to the caliphate was upheld

throughout East and West by the evidence of proofs,

لِتُهْنَن عِيداً أتَى بالبشر متصلا

بِألْفِ عِيدٍ مَضَى بِالسَّعْدِ مَقْرُونِ

may you be blessed with an Eid bringing gladness, joined

to a thousand past Eids, coupled with good fortune.

هَلاَلُ شَوَّالِه أبْدَى لِعَيْنِكَ إذْ

وَافَى يُقَبِّلُ طَوْعاً شَكْلَ عُرْجُونِ

The crescent of its Shawwāl displayed before your eye, when

it came willingly to kiss you, the shape of a date-palm stalk.

قَدْ عَوَّذَتْ إذْ بَدَتْ أنْوَارُ طَلْعَتِهِ

جَبِينَكَ الوَاضِحَ الدرّي بالنُونِ

When the lights of its rising appeared, they charmed

your bright, pearl-like brow with Nūn.

كَأن أهْل العُلَى لفظ وَأنْتَ لَهُم

مَعْنىً يَدُل عَلَى إيضَاحِ تَبْيِينِ

As though the people of eminence were an utterance, and you their

meaning, pointing to clear elucidation.

إنْ كُنْتَ فِي الوَقْتِ قد وَافيتَ آخرَهُمْ

فإنكَ الغيثُ وَافَى بعد تَشْرِينِ

If, in time, you have arrived last among them,

then you are the rain that came after Tishrīn.

فَارْقَ المَعَالِيَ مَخْدُوماً بِأرْبَعَةٍ

نصرٍ وجَاهٍ وتَعْظِيمٍ وَتَمْكِينِ

So ascend to high honors, attended by four:

victory, prestige, reverence, and firm authority.

وَقَر عَيْناً بِمَوْلاَيَ الَّذِي اتَّضَحَتْ

سُعُودُهُ فِي عُلَا عِزّ وَتَعْيِينِ

And let your eye find joy in my lord, whose

good fortunes shine clearly in exalted might and appointment;

وَلِيّ عَهْدِكَ فِي مُلْكٍ وَفي شَرَفٍ

وَتِرْبِ مَجْدِك في دُنْيَا وَفي دِينِ

your heir apparent in kingship and nobility,

and the peer of your glory in worldly life and religion.

وَاسْتَجْلِ غَادَةً أبْكَارٍ قَد ابْتَسَمَتْ

عَنْ لُؤْلُؤٍ مِنْ نفيس الدرّ مَكْنُونِ

And unveil a maiden among virgins, who has smiled,

revealing hidden pearls of the most precious kind;

خرِيدةً مِنْ بَنَاتٍ الفِكْرِ ما عُرِفَتْ

فِينَا بنسبة حِلِّيٍّ وقَزْوِينِي

a secluded maiden among thought's daughters, never known

among us as attributable to Ḥillī or Qazwīnī.

كَفَّتْ بَلاَغَتُهَا أيْدِي مُعَارِضِهَا

كَالشهبِ كُفَّتْ بِهَا أيدي الشياطينِ

Her eloquence checked the hands of her challenger,

as meteors check the hands of devils.

أبَانَ عَنْ وَصْفش مَعْنَاهَا البَدِيعُ إذَا

قَدْ طَابَقَتْ بَيْنَ إعْرَابٍ وَتَلْحِينِ

Her wondrous meaning disclosed [a description?] when

she harmonized correct inflection with melody.

إنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ صَاغَهَا العَيْنِي فَصَانِعُهَا

يَرْوِي عن ابن معين عقد تَبْيينِ

If al-ʿAynī did not fashion her, her maker

narrates from Ibn Maʿīn a necklace of elucidation.

لاَ تندبُ الربْعَ إذْ أقْوَتْ مَعَالمُهُ

وَلاَ تَنُوحُ عَلَى سُكَّانِ يَبْرِينِ

She does not lament the campsite when its traces lie deserted,

nor wail for the inhabitants of Yabrīn.

خَلّ العَنَاءَ لِقَومٍ كَالجَمَادِ غُنُوا

عَنِ العرُوضِ بِنظمٍ غَيْر موزونِ

Leave the toil to people, inert as stone, who dispense

with prosody through unmetered verse.

يُعْزَوْنَ للِشَّعْرِ لَكِن من جهالتهم

لم يفرقُوا بَيْنَ مخبول ومجنُونِ

They are reckoned poets, yet through their ignorance

they never distinguished a maimed meter from a madman:

من كل ألكنَ عِنْدَ البَحْثِ مُنْقَطِع

كَأنَّهُ الثغ البحاث كالسينِ

each a stammerer silenced in debate,

as though he were a lisping disputant, like the letter sīn.

فاسلْم وَدُمْ في عُلاَ عَلْيَاكَ مُفْتخراً

يَا عَاضد الملك بَلْ يَا نَاصر الدّينِ

So be safe, and remain proud in the heights of your eminence,

O supporter of kingship—rather, O defender of religion—

مَا جَر ذيلُ الحَيَا عطفَ النسيم وَمَا

شُقَّتْ غَلاَئِلُ عذرَاء البَسَاتِينِ

as long as rain's train draws the breeze's sway, and as long as

the gauzy gowns of the gardens' virgin are torn open.