من ذا أفتاك بسفك دمي — Abn Almqrb Alaaona

مَن ذا أَفتاكِ بِسَفكِ دَمي

يا غُرَّةَ حَيِّ بَني جُشَمِ

Who gave you leave to spill my blood,

O radiance of the clan of Banu Jusham?

فَتعالَي غَيرَ مُدافِعَةٍ

نَقصُص رُؤياكِ عَلى حَكَمِ

Come, then, without demurring;

let us tell your dream to an arbiter.

أَبِنَظرَةِ عَينٍ عَن خَطأٍ

عَرَضَت بِالعَمدِ يُراقُ دَمي

For a glance of the eye, by mistake

cast, must my blood be shed on purpose?

إِن كان جَنى طَرفي فَلَقَد

يَكفيهِ مَقالُكِ لا تَنَمِ

If my eye has offended, then surely

your saying, 'Do not sleep,' is enough for it.

فَذَري الواشينَ فَقَد نَطَقُوا

زُوراً وَهُمُ شَرُّ الأُمَمِ

So leave the slanderers; they have spoken

falsehood, and they are the worst of peoples.

زَعَمُوا أَنّي بِسِوائِكُمُ

كَلِفٌ كَذَبُوا في زَعمِهِمِ

They claim that with someone other than you

I am enamored; they lie in their claim.

إِن كُنتُ أَجَلتُ بِغَيرِكُمُ

طَرفي أَبغي بَدَلاً فَعَمي

If toward anyone but you I have turned

my eye, seeking another, may it go blind.

أَو كُنتُ نَطَقتُ بِثَلبِكُمُ

يَوماً في الناسِ فَفُضَّ فَمي

Or if I have spoken ill of you

one day among people, may my mouth be shattered.

أَو كُنتُ نَصَبتُ لِغائِبِكُم

سَمعاً فَبَقيتُ أَخا صَمَمِ

Or if I have lent one who maligns you

an ear, may I remain a brother to deafness.

أَو لاقَ لِقَلبي بَعدَكُمُ

خِلّاً فَخُلِقتُ أَخا سَقَمِ

Or if, after you, my heart has found

a beloved, may I be made a brother to sickness.

أَو كُنتُ مَشَيتُ بِسَيِّئَةٍ

فَيكُم فَثَكِلتُ لَها قَدَمي

Or if I have walked on an evil errand

against you, may I lose my foot for it.

يا طِيبَ الوَصلِ وَدارُ الحَيِّ

بِحَيثُ الأَبطَحُ ذُو الحَرَمِ

How sweet was union, with the clan's abode

there at al-Abtah, beside the Sacred Precinct.

وَالدَهرُ بِعَينَيهِ سَدَرٌ

عَن شَملِ الحَيِّ المُلتَئِمِ

And Time's two eyes were dim,

blind to the clan's united company.

نَغدُو وَنَروحُ وَمَذهَبُنا

شُربُ الصَهباءِ عَلى النَغَمِ

We went out mornings and returned evenings; our way

was drinking tawny wine to melodies.

وَأَزُورُ الحِبَّ عَلانِيَةً

وَيَزُورُ جَنابي عَن أَمَمِ

And I visited my love openly,

and my love visited my abode from close by.

كَم لَيلٍ بِتُّ أُفاكِهُهُ

فَحَشاً لِحَشاً وَفَماً لِفَمِ

How many a night I spent jesting with my love,

breast to breast and mouth to mouth.

وَأُعَلِّلُهُ وَيُعَلِّلُني

مِن ذِي أَشَرٍ عَذبٍ شَبِمِ

And I refreshed my love, and my love refreshed me,

from a sweet, cool mouth with finely notched teeth.

وَالمالُ يَمُدُّ رُواقَ السِت

رِ عَلى المُثرينَ مِنَ التُهَمِ

And wealth spread the canopy of concealment

over the rich, against accusations.

فَتَرى الرُقباءَ طَلائِعَنا

وَشُهُودَ العِفَّةِ وَالكَرَمِ

So you saw the watchers as our lookouts

and witnesses to chastity and nobility.

سُقياً لِلَيالي اللَهوِ لَقَد

كانَت وَتَوَلَّت كَالحُلمِ

May rain bless the nights of pleasure! Indeed,

they were, then passed away like a dream.

يا خُضرَتَها يا نضرَتَها

ياحَسَرَتها إِذ لَم تَدُمِ

Oh, their greenness! Oh, their freshness!

Alas for them, that they did not endure!

إِذ لَيسَ البِيضُ تُؤَنِّبُني

بِمَشيبٍ لاحَ وَلا عَدَمِ

When fair women did not reproach me

for gray hair appearing, or for poverty.

ساوَت في الحُسنِ زَمانَ المَل

كِ عِمادِ الدِّينِ حَيا الأُمَمِ

They matched in beauty the reign of King

Imad al-Din, the life-giving rain of peoples:

مَسعُودِ الخَيلِ نَقِيِّ الذَي

لِ سَنِيِّ النَيلِ لَدى القُحَمِ

blessed in his cavalry, unsullied in his hem,

splendid in bounty amid perils.

مَلِكٌ أَحيا بِمَواهِبِهِ

قَتلى الإِملاقِ مِنَ الرِّمَمِ

A king whose gifts brought back to life

poverty's slain from among the moldering bones.

وَأَنارَ بِساطِعِ سُؤدَدِهِ

لِذَوي الأَملاكِ دُجى الظُلَمِ

And with the radiance of his lordship he illumined

for lords of realms the depths of darkness.

وَأَقامَ بِحُسنِ سِياسَتِهِ

شُوسَ الأَملاكِ عَلى النِّقَمِ

And by his skillful statecraft he subjected

the haughty kings to punishment.

وَأَذَمَّ لِمَن أَضحى بِحِبا

هُ عَلى الأَيّامِ فَلَم يَرِمِ

And he pledged protection to whoever lived by his bounty

against the days, so they did not depart.

مَلكٌ تَختالُ قُرى البَحرَي

نِ بِهِ في الحُسنِ عَلى إِرَمِ

A king through whom the towns of Bahrain

vaunt their beauty over Iram.

نَدِسٌ رَدِسٌ شَكِسٌ مَكِسٌ

شَرِسٌ مَرِسٌ وافي الذِمَمِ

Astute, hard-hitting, unyielding, exacting;

fierce, seasoned, faithful to pledges;

لَهِجٌ بَهِجٌ بِفَواضِلِهِ

سَمحٌ طَمحٌ عَالي الهِمَمِ

devoted, delighted in his benefactions;

openhanded, aspiring, lofty in resolve;

يَسِرٌ عَسِرٌ فَرِحٌ تَرِحٌ

وَالخَيلُ تَعَثَّرُ بِاللِّمَمِ

easygoing, stern, joyful, sorrowful,

while the horses stumbled over locks of hair.

سَل عَنهُ غَداةَ الصَخرِ وَقَد

جاءَت تَتَبارى في اللُجُمِ

Ask about him on the morning of al-Sakhr, when

they came racing each other in their bridles,

شُعثاً تَحمِلنَ أُسُودَ شَرىً

في غابِ القَسطَلِ لا الأُجُمِ

disheveled, bearing the lions of Shara,

in a forest of battle-dust, not woodland thickets.

يَتبَعنَ هُماماً صَولَتُهُ

تَسطُو بِالأَرعَنِ ذِي الشَمَمِ

They followed a hero whose onslaught

assailed the mountain-like host with its lofty crest.

غَمَرَ المَسلُوبَ بِها سَحَراً

سَيلٌ يَحكي سَيلَ العَرِمِ

With them, before dawn, al-Maslub was engulfed

by a torrent like the flood of al-Arim.

رَجَفَت مِن وَقعِ سَنابِكِها

غِيطانُ البَرِّ مَعَ الأُكُمِ

The impact of their hooves set trembling

the lowlands of the open country, and the hills.

لَولا حَملاتُ عِمادِ الدِّي

نِ عَلى الأَبطالِ بِلا سَأَمِ

Were it not for the charges of Imad al-Din

against the champions, without tiring,

لَغَدَت وَالنَصرُ مُقارِنُها

تَستاقُ الشاءَ مَعَ النَعَمِ

they would have gone off, with victory beside them,

driving away the sheep along with the cattle.

لَكِن ما زالَ يِجالِدُهُم

ضَرباً بِمُهنَّدِهِ الخَذِمِ

But he never ceased fighting them,

striking with his keen Indian-forged sword,

حَتّى رَجَعُوا وَوِطابُهُمُ

صَفِرٌ يَقفُونَ هَلا بِلَمِ

until they returned, their milk-skins

empty, following 'Why not?' with 'We did not.'

كانَت لَولاهُ بَنُو عَيلا

نَ كَلَحمٍ رُضَّ عَلى وَضَمِ

But for him, Banu Aylan would have been

like meat pounded on a butcher's block.

مَنَعَ الجُلّابَ وَما جَلَبُوا

فَلَهُ فيهِم أَسنى النِعَمِ

He protected the drovers and what they drove,

so he has done them the noblest favors.

خُلِقَت لِلنَصلِ أَنامِلُهُ

وَالبَذلِ الشامِلِ وَالقَلَمِ

His fingers were created for the blade,

for all-embracing generosity, and for the pen.

فَالنَصلُ لِأَهلِ عَداوَتِهِ

وَلِكُلِّ لَهاةٍ كَالأطُمِ

The blade is for those who bear him enmity

and for every maw like a fortress.

وَالبَذلُ لِأَهلِ مَوَدَّتِهِ

وَأَخٍ في اللَهِ وَذي رَحِمِ

And giving is for those who love him,

for a brother in God, and for a kinsman.

وَيُشيرُ إِلى القَلَمِ المَيمُو

نِ بِما يُنشِيهِ مِنَ الحِكَمِ

And he gives direction to the auspicious pen

through the wise sayings he composes.

فَإِلَيكَ أَبا المَنصُورِ عُقُو

دَ لآلي الدُرِّ المُنتَظِمِ

So receive, Abu al-Mansur, necklaces

of pearl gems, strung in order.

جاءَت بِكراً مِن نَظمِ فَتىً

في وُدِّكَ لَيسَ بِمُتَّهَمِ

They come virgin-fresh from the verse of a youth

whose love for you is beyond suspicion.

يُثني بِلسانِ الصِدقِ علَيـ

ـكَ ثَناءَ الوامِقِ ذِي اللَزَمِ

He lauds you with a truthful tongue,

with the praise of a lover steadfast in devotion.

وَيَمُتُّ بِأَرحامٍ وَشَجَت

مِن عِيصِكَ ذِي لَحمٍ وَدَمِ

And he invokes kinship ties entwined

with your stock, of flesh and blood.

فَبَقيتَ بَقاءَ الدَهرِ وَرُحـ

ـنَ لَكَ الأَيّامُ مِنَ الخَدَمِ

So may you endure as long as Time, and may

the days go forth as servants to you.