وزنجية الآباء كرخية الجلب — Tamim Al Fatimi

وزنْجية الآباء كَرْخيّة الجَلَب

عَبِيريّة الأنفاس كَرْميّة النَّسَبْ

And a wine of Zanj ancestry, brought from Karkh,

Perfume-scented in breath, descended from the vine.

كُمَيْت بَزَلْنا دَنَّها فتفجَّرت

بأحْمَر قانٍ مثلَ ما قُطِر الذَّهَبْ

Dark-red—we tapped her wine-jar, and she gushed forth

In deep crimson, like gold when melted.

فلمّا شِربناها صَبَوْنا كأنّنا

شِربنا السّرورَ المحض والَّلهو والطَّرب

Then, when we drank her, we grew playful, as though we

Had drunk pure joy, revelry, and rapture.

ولم نأت شيئاً يُسْخِط المجدَ فعلهُ

سوى أنّنا بِعْنا الوقارَ من اللَّعب

And we did nothing whose doing would anger glory,

Except that we sold our dignity for play.

كأنّ كؤُوس الشرْب وهي دوائرٌ

قَطائعُ ماء جامدٍ تَحْمِل اللَّهَب

The drinkers' cups, round as they were, seemed

Pieces of frozen water bearing flame.

يَمُدّ بها كفّاً خضيباً مُدِيرُها

وليس بشيء غيرها هو مُخْضَب

Their cupbearer holds them out with a tinted hand,

And it is dyed by nothing other than them.

فبِتنا نُسَقَّي الشمسَ واللّيل راكدٌ

ونَقْرُب من بدر السماء وما قَرُب

So all night we were given the sun to drink, while night stood still,

And drew near heaven's full moon, though it came no nearer.

وقد حَجب الغيمُ الهلالَ كأنّه

ستارة سِرْبٍ خَلْفها وجه مَنْ أُحِب

And cloud had veiled the crescent, as though it were

A curtain screening a bevy of women, with my beloved's face behind it.

كأنّ الثريّا تحت حُلْكة ليلِها

مَدَاهِنُ بِلَّوْر على الأفْق يَضْطرِب

The Pleiades beneath their night's blackness seemed

Crystal oil-vessels trembling on the horizon.

فبتُّ أُناجي البدرَ وهو مُنادِمي

وأَشرب باللَّثْم العُقارَ من الشَّنَبْ

So I spent the night confiding in the full moon, my drinking companion,

And drank wine through kisses from a cool, sweet mouth,

إلى أن رأيت الصبحَ يَفْتِك بالدُّجى

كفتك أبي المنصور بالرّوم والعرب

Until I saw dawn strike down the darkness,

Like Abu al-Mansur's onslaught upon the Romans and Arabs.

إمامٌ كأنّ الله وصّاه بالعُلا

فليس له في غير معلومها أَرَب

An imam, as though God had charged him with greatness,

So he desires nothing but what is known of it.

كريم المُحيا ماجدُ الأصل نُزِّلت

بتفضيله الآياتُ تُدْرَس في الكتب

Noble of countenance, illustrious of stock; there were revealed

Verses declaring his preeminence, studied in the scriptures.

أقِيس بك الأملاكَ طُرًّا فلا أَرى

سواك زكي الأصل والفرع والنَّسَب

I measure all kings against you, and find none

But you pure in root, branch, and lineage.

فيا بن رسول الله وابن وصيّه

وحسْبُك ذا جَدّاً وحسبك ذاك أب

O son of God's Messenger and son of his legatee,

And this one suffices you as grandsire, and that one as father.

إذا عُجِمت عِيدانُ قوم فأخلفت

تفجَّر من عِيدانك الماءُ والضَّرَب

When a people's branches are tested and prove wanting,

Water and white honey gush from your branches:

يدٌ مثل صْوب الغيث جُوداً ونائلاً

ورأيٌ كحدّ الصارم العَضْب ذي الشُّطَب

A hand like the downpour of rain in bounty and largesse,

And judgment like the edge of a keen, grooved sword;

ونفسٌ لو أنّ الدهر من بعض هّمها

لأفَنتَه حتى لا تُعَدّ له حِقَب

And a soul that, were Time but one of its concerns,

Would annihilate it, leaving it no ages to be counted.

ألستَ أبا المنصورِ أوّل ناصرٍ

لمعروف كفَّيه على المال والنَّشَب

Are you not Abu al-Mansur, the foremost champion

Of his two hands' bounty against wealth and property,

وأشرفَ من أعطى وأكرم من عفا

وأفضلَ من وفّى وأجودَ من وهب

And the noblest giver, the most magnanimous to pardon,

And the best keeper of faith, the most generous of benefactors?

تَتِيه بفعليك المكارمُ والعُلا

وتَلْبَس حَلْياً من مَلافظك الخُطَب

Virtues and glory take pride in your two deeds,

And orations wear jewelry fashioned from your words.

ولولاك كانت عَقْوة المُلك مُورِداً

لكلّ من استعلى به البَغْي واغتصبْ

But for you, the precincts of kingship would be a watering place

For everyone whom insolence mastered and who seized by force.

ولكنّك الذَّواد عنها بحَزْمِه

ومانِعها بالمشرَفيّة والقُضُب

But you are its defender, armed with firm resolve,

And its protector with Mashrafi swords and keen blades.

حَمَيتَ ذِمَار الحقّ حتى عصَمْتَه

وأطلقتَ مُزْن الغيث حتى قد انسكب

You guarded the sanctity of justice until you secured it,

And loosed the rain clouds until the rain poured forth.

وشَرَّدت أعداءَ الخلافة عَنوةً

فلم يَقْدِروا إلاّ على البعد والهرب

And scattered the caliphate's enemies by force,

So they could do nothing but withdraw and flee.

تركتَهم كالجن في كلّ بَلْقع

يلوذون بالأَجْبال منك وبالكُثُب

You left them like jinn in every barren waste,

Seeking refuge from you in mountains and dunes.

فأنتَ حسام الله أُرِهف حدُّه

فصال به جِدُّ الأمور على اللَّعِب

For you are God's sword, its edge honed keen,

So through it, serious matters charged against frivolity.

لَرَجَّتْك حتى العُصْم في فُتَنِ الرُّبا

وخافتك حتى الأَنْجُم السَّبْعة الشُّهُب

Even the ibex in the hills' crags have surely hoped in you,

And even the seven radiant stars have feared you.

لِيَهْنك نُوْروزٌ تَباشَرتِ العلا

بسعدك فيه واضمحلّت بك النُّوَب

May Nowruz bring you joy; high glory rejoiced

At your good fortune in it, and through you calamities vanished.

وعادت بك الأيام فيه أوانِساً

وأصبح فيه مُبْعَد الخير مُقْتَرِب

And through you its days grew welcoming once more,

And in it, good once far away drew near.

وزادت مُدود النِّيل حتى كأنّما

أتتك ارتغاباً تَقْذِف الموج أو رَهَب

And the Nile's floods rose, until it seemed

They came to you, flinging waves, in longing or in fear.

كأنّ بَناتِ الماء فاضَتْ على الثَّرى

بمسك ومجّت فيه عنبَرها التُّرَبْ

As though the daughters of water had flooded the earth

With musk, and the soil had spouted its ambergris into it.

فقد غَصَّت الخُلجان حتى كأنّها

مَدائُن تَدعو من جيوشك بالحَرَب

For the canals brimmed, until they seemed

Cities challenging your armies to war.

فدام لأهل المصر عُمْرُك إنّهم

غدَوا بك في ظلِّ من العيش مُنْتَصِب

So may your life endure for Egypt's people, for they

Have come, through you, beneath life's steadfast shade:

سعودٌ وإقبالٌ وخِصْب ونعمةٌ

ولولاك ما آبُوا إلى خير مُنْقَلَب

Good fortune, prosperity, plenty, and blessing.

But for you, they would not have come back to so happy a state.

عليك صلاة الله يا خيرَ خَلْقه

فإنّك ميمون النقيبة مُنْتَخَب

God's blessing be upon you, O best of His creation,

For you are blessed in nature, a chosen one.