ردى مر الحتوف ولا تراعي — Abn Almqrb Alaaona

رِدى مُرَّ الحتُوفِ وَلا تُراعِي

فَما خَوفُ المَنِيَّةِ مِن طِباعي

Brave the bitterness of death, and do not be afraid.

For fear of death is not in my nature.

وَعَزماً صادِقاً فَلَكَم مَضيقٍ

بِصِدقِ العَزمِ صارَ إِلى اِتِّساعِ

And hold to true resolve, for many a narrow strait

through firmness of resolve has opened wide.

وَمَن هابَ المَنيَّةَ أَدرَكَتهُ

وَماتَ أَذَلَّ مِن فَقعٍ بِقاعِ

Whoever fears death is overtaken by it

and dies more abased than a truffle on a plain.

ذَريني وَالمُلوكَ بِكُلِّ أَرضٍ

أُكايلُها الرَدى صاعاً بِصاعِ

Leave me with the kings in every land:

I trade death with them, measure for measure.

فَما أَيمانُهُم تَعلو شمالي

وَلا أَبواعُهُم تَعدُو ذِراعي

Their right hands do not rise above my left,

nor do their armspans reach beyond my forearm.

تُخَوِّفُني اِبنَةُ العَبديِّ حَتفي

وَإِقحامي المَهالِكَ وَاِفتِراعي

Al-ʿAbdi's daughter frightens me with my death

and my plunging into perils and scaling heights.

وَتَعذِلُني عَلى إِنفاقِ مالي

وَتَزعُم أَنَّهُ لِلفَقرِ داعِ

She reproaches me for spending my wealth

and claims it is a summons to poverty.

فَقُلتُ لَها وَقَد أَربَت وَزادَت

رُوَيدَكِ لا شَقيتِ فَلَن تُطاعي

So I told her, when she had gone too far and persisted:

Easy now—may you never suffer—for you will not be obeyed.

أَما وَالأَريَحيَّةِ إِنَّ سَمعي

لِما تَهذي العَواذِلُ غَيرُ واعِ

Indeed, by magnanimity, my ear

does not heed the babble of reproaching women.

أَأَحفلُ بِالفِراقِ وَكُلُّ شِعبٍ

تُصَيِّرُهُ المَنونُ إِلى اِنصِداعِ

Should I grieve at parting, when every community

is brought by Death to division?

وَأَرهبُ أَن أَمُوتَ وَكُلُّ حَيٍّ

سَينعاهُ إِلى الأَقوامِ ناعِ

And should I fear to die, when every living soul

will have his death announced to the people by a herald?

وَأَخشى الفَقرَ وَالدُنيا مَتاعٌ

وَرَبّي بِالكِرامِ أَبَرُّ راعِ

And should I fear poverty, when the world is mere provision,

and my Lord is the kindest shepherd of the noble?

دَعيني أَركَبُ الأَهوالَ إِنّي

رَأَيتُ رُكوبَها فيهِ اِتِّداعي

Let me ride into terrors, for I

have found my repose in riding them.

فَما لِلمَرءِ خَيرٌ في حَياةٍ

إِذا ما عُدَّ مِن سَقَطِ المَتاعِ

There is no good for a man in a life

if he is counted among worthless goods.

فَإِنَّ بِأَرضِنا بَقَراً شِباعاً

وَلَكِن بَينَ آسادٌ جِياعِ

For in our land are well-fed cattle,

and yet among them are hungry lions.

وَهَل يَهنا البَهيمَةَ خِصبُ مَرعىً

إِذا ما آنَسَت صَوتَ السِباعِ

And does lush pasture please a beast

when it hears the sound of beasts of prey?

إِذا راعَ الوداعُ قُلوبَ قَومٍ

فَلي قَلبٌ يَحِنُّ إِلى الوداعِ

If farewell frightens the hearts of some,

mine is a heart that longs for farewell.

وَإِن يَنزَع إِلى الأَوطانِ غِمرٌ

فإِنَّ إِلى النَوى أَبَداً نِزاعي

And if a novice yearns for his homeland,

then my longing is ever for far departure.

يُراعُ لِفُرقَةِ الأَوطانِ نِكسٌ

ضَعيفُ العَزمِ أَخلى مِن يَراعِ

A base weakling fears separation from his homeland,

weak in resolve, hollower than a reed.

وَكَم مِن فُرقَةٍ طالَت فَكانَت

بُعَيدَ اليَأسِ داعِيَةَ اِجتِماعِ

Many a separation has lasted long, then become,

just after despair, a cause of reunion.

تُقارِعُني الحَوادِثُ عَن مُرادي

وَأَرجُو أَن يُذلِّلَها قِراعي

Misfortunes contend with me to turn me from my aim,

and I hope my battling will subdue them.

وَإِنّي وَالعُلى فَرَسا رِهانٍ

كَما أَنا وَالنَدى أَخَوا رَضاعِ

I and lofty glory are two racing steeds,

just as I and generosity are milk-brothers.

وَلَستُ إِذا الهُمومُ تَأَوَّبَتني

مُلاقيها بِآراءٍ شَعاعِ

And when cares return to haunt me, I do not

meet them with scattered thoughts.

وَلَكِنّي سَأَلقاها بِعَزمٍ

وَباعٍ في المَكارِمِ أَيّ باعِ

Instead, I shall face them with resolve

and a reach in noble deeds—what a reach!

سَئِمتُ تَقَلُّبي فَوقَ الحَشايا

وَنَومي بِالهَواجِرِ وَاِضطِجاعي

I am weary of tossing upon mattresses,

and of sleeping in midday heat and lying down.

إِذا يَوماً نَبَت بي دارُ قَومي

فَما تَنبُو المَطِيُّ عَنِ اِنتِجاعي

If one day my people's home rejects me,

the riding camels will not balk at my search for pasture.

سَأَطلُبُ حَقَّ آبائِي وَحَقّي

وَلَو مِن بَينِ أَنيابِ الأَفاعي

I shall seek my forefathers' right and my own,

even from between the fangs of vipers.

وَإِنَّ المَوتَ في طَلَبِ اِرتِفاعٍ

لَدَيَّ وَلا حَياتي في اِتِّضاعِ

And death in the pursuit of high station

is my choice, rather than my life in abasement.

وَثَوبُ اللَيثِ فِيَّ إِذا تَبَدَّت

فَريسَتُهُ وَإِطراقُ الشُجاعِ

In me is the lion's pounce at the appearance

of its prey, and the serpent's lowered head.

يُخادِعُني عَنِ العَليا رِجالٌ

وَأَينَ بَنو الفَواعِلِ مِن خِداعي

Men try to trick me out of high rank,

but how could those sons of harlots deceive me?

أَأَبقَى تابِعاً وَلَدَيَّ فَضلٌ

يَسومُ الناسَ كُلَّهُمُ اِتِّباعي

Am I to remain a follower, when I possess excellence

that obliges all people to follow me?

يُطاوِلُني بِقَومي كُلُّ عَبدٍ

تَنَقَّلَ مِن لَكاعٍ في لَكاعِ

Every slave seeks to outdo me through my own people,

who has passed from one vile woman to another.

أَهُمُّ بِهَجوِهِم فَأَرى ضَلالاً

هِجائي دونَ رَهطِ اِبنِ الرِقاعِ

I think of lampooning them, but deem it folly

to satirize anyone but Ibn al-Riqaʿ's clan.

أَنا اِبنُ السابِقينَ إِلى المَعالي

وَأَربابِ المَمالِكِ وَالمَساعي

I am the son of those who led the way to lofty ranks

and of masters of kingdoms and noble endeavors.

حَلَلنا مِن رَبيعَةَ في ذُراها

وَجاوَزنا الفُروعَ إِلى الفِراعِ

Among Rabiʿa, we dwelt upon its peaks,

and passed beyond the branches to the highest summits.

وَقَد عَلِمت نِزارٌ أَنَّ قَومي

سُيوفُ ضِرابها يَومَ المَصاعِ

Nizar has learned that my people

are the swords with which it strikes on the day of combat,

وَأَنّا المانِعُونَ حِمى مَعَدٍّ

وَأَهلُ الذَبِّ عَنها وَالدِفاعِ

and that we guard Maʿadd's sanctuary,

and are the ones who shield and defend it.

نُهينُ لَها التِلادَ وَلا نُحاشي

وَنُوطِئُها البِلادَ وَلا نُراعي

We hold ancestral wealth cheap for its sake, sparing nothing,

and lay the lands beneath its feet without fear.

وَنَشري البَيِّعاتِ بِكُلِّ خَطبٍ

عَناها لا لِبَيعٍ وَاِبتِياعِ

And we strike bargains in every calamity

that besets it, not for selling and buying.

وَما زالَت مَدى الأَيّامِ فينا

لَها راعٍ وَساعٍ أَيّ ساعِ

Throughout the days, there has never ceased to be among us

a guardian for it and a champion—what a champion!

وَما حِفظُ العُلى وَالمَجدِ شَيءٌ

مِنَ الأَشياءِ كَالمالِ المُضاعِ

And preserving high rank and glory is no deed

to be compared with squandered wealth.

وَإِن نَفخَر نِجِيءُ بِكُلِّ مَلكٍ

حَليمٍ قادِرٍ عاصٍ مُطاعِ

And if we boast, we bring forth every king:

forbearing, powerful, defiant, obeyed.

بَنَينا عِزَّنا وَرَسى عُلانا

بِضَربِ الهامِ وَالكَرَمِ المُشاعِ

We built our might, and our eminence stood firm

through blows to heads and generosity shared with all.

بِنا يَستَنسِرُ العُصفُورُ تِيهاً

وَتَخشى الأسدُ صَولاتِ الضِباعِ

Through us, the sparrow turns proudly into a vulture,

and lions fear the onslaughts of hyenas.

وَمَجهولٌ إِذا يُعزى كَشَيءٍ

وَإِنسانٌ وَأَخفى مِن نُخاعِ

And a nameless man, when identified, like 'a thing'

and 'a person,' more hidden than marrow—

تَرَكناهُ كَأَنتَ وَذا وَأَضحى

كَمِثلِ الطَودِ ما بَينَ البِقاعِ

we left like 'you' and 'this,' and he became

like a great mountain amid the plains.

وَإِرِّيسٍ جَعَلناهُ رَئيساً

يَسومُ الناسَ غَيرَ المُستَطاعِ

And a ploughman we made a chief,

who demands of people what they cannot do.

فَصارَ يُعَدَّ ذا رَأيٍ وَعَقلٍ

وَكانَ يُعَدَّ في الهَمَجِ الرِعاعِ

So he came to be counted a man of judgment and reason,

though he had been counted among the rabble and riffraff.

وَأَرعَنَ باذِخٍ صَعبِ المَراقي

صَكَكناهُ فَآذن بِاِنقِشاعِ

And a towering, mountain-like host, hard to scale,

we struck, and it gave warning of dispersal.

فَلا يَستَغرِقَنَّ الحُمقُ قَوماً

فَكَم مِن رفعَةٍ سَبَبُ اِتِّضاعِ

So let folly never engulf a people,

for many a rise has caused a fall.

فَإِنَّ سُيُوفَنا ما زالَ فيها

شِفاءٌ لِلرُؤوسِ مِن الصُداعِ

For in our swords there has always been

a cure to relieve heads of headache.

يَخَبِّرُ تُبَّعٌ عَنها وَكِسرى

بِذا وَالمُنذِرانِ وَذُو الكَلاعِ

Tubbaʿ and Kisra bear witness about them

to this, as do the two Mundhirs and Dhu al-Kalaʿ.

فَكَم قِدماً رَبَعنا مِن رُبوعٍ

بِهنَّ وَكَم أَبَرنا مِن رَباعِ

How many dwellings we occupied long ago

with them, and how many settlements we laid waste!