أطاع فما إلى صبر سبيل — Abn Alsaati

أطاع فما إلى صبرٍ سبيل

هوىً في مثله يعصي العذول

He yielded—there is no path to patience—

to a passion in which the reproacher is defied.

اخو شجنٍ بذي فعلٍ قبيحٍ

يمهد عذره وجهٌ جميل

A man of sorrow over one whose deeds are cruel,

whose beautiful face smooths the way for his excuse.

يغار على الثنية حين تجلو

له خداً يقبلها القبول

At the mountain pass he grows jealous when she unveils

a cheek to him, while the east wind kisses her.

مواقف لاتزال بها الخزامى

تنم بما استسرتها الذيول

Places where the lavender still

betrays what the trailing hems asked it to keep secret.

له في نشرها معنى دقيقٌ

ولكن ضمنه خطبٌ جليل

For him, its fragrance holds a subtle meaning,

yet within it lies a momentous grief.

أطال بكاءه دمعُ جوادٌ

وقصره عزمه صبرٌ بخيل

Generous tears prolonged his weeping,

and miserly patience curtailed his resolve.

أسىً لو يستعاد به هدوءٌ

ودمعٌ لو يبل به غليل

Grief—if only calm could be regained through it!

And tears—if only they could quench the burning thirst!

أما وأبي الهوى لولا عموم

الجوى لما تزايلت الحمول

Ah, by love's father, but for the pervasiveness

of anguish, the laden camels would not have parted;

لما أمسى النسيم بها سقيماً

ولا استولى على البان النحول

nor would the breeze have fallen ill there,

nor wasting have overcome the bān trees.

تشابهت الخصور ضناً وسقماً

وجسمي والمطايا والطلول

Waists have grown alike in wasting and sickness,

as have my body, the mounts, and the ruins.

فوجه الصبح ليس له سفور

وطرف الليل بعدهم كحيل

Dawn's face is never unveiled,

and night's eye, since they left, is dark with kohl.

وقفنا للوادع وقد تجلت

شموس في القلوب ها أفول

We stood to bid farewell, while there shone forth

suns whose setting lay within our hearts [wording uncertain].

فيا لله من يوم قصير

ولكن وجده وجد طويل

O God, what a short day,

yet its heartache was a long heartache!

يجول بكل وادٍ قلب عانٍ

أعان عليه قلبٌ لا يجول

A captive heart wanders through every valley;

a heart that never wanders has helped undo it.

يبو ح له النطاق بما حاه

وتكتم سرها عنه الحجول

The girdle reveals to him what it encloses [reading uncertain],

while her anklets conceal her secret from him.

فبيض ظبي تجردها جفونٌ

وسمر قنا يسدها الذيول

White blades are unsheathed by eyelids,

and dusky lances are screened by trailing hems.

يهيم بها الجريح هوى وشوقاً

ويا عجباً ويبكيها القتيل

The wounded man is crazed for her with love and longing,

and—how strange!—the slain man weeps for her.

هوى صار العدو به صديقاً

وحسنٌ خانني فيه الخليل

A passion through which the enemy became a friend,

and a beauty over which my close friend betrayed me.

لقد أدمى جفوني برق نجدٍ

كذلك يفعل السيف الصقيل

The lightning of Najd has bloodied my eyelids;

thus does the polished sword.

يحدث ادمعي عن ساكنيه

كأن الدمع يفهم ما يقول

It tells my tears of those who dwell there,

as though the tears understand what it says.

إذا خلف السحاب به فهمينٌ

إذا ما أخلف النوء البخيل

When it replaces the clouds there, [final word unclear],

when the niggardly rain-star fails its promise.

وإن نعمى صفي الدين جادت

كعادتها فما يخشى المحول

And if Safi al-Din's bounty pours forth

as is its wont, no drought need be feared.

به نشر الندى من بعد طي

وأنشر دارس الكرم المحيل

Through him generosity unfolded after being folded away,

and he revived generosity's effaced and barren remains.

أضاءت باسمه الآفاق حتى

سرى العافي وليس له دليل

The horizons shone with his name, until

the petitioner traveled by night without a guide.

تجلى الملك منه بأريحيٍ

سطاه والندى كلٌ يهول

Kingship manifested itself in him, a generous nobleman,

whose might and bounty each inspire awe.

كذاك الخال أحسن ما تراه

إذا ما حازه خدٌ أسيل

So the beauty mark looks loveliest

when a smooth cheek holds it.

صفا في ظله كدر الأماني

وعز بجوده الأمل الذليل

The murk of wishes grew clear beneath his shade,

and humbled hope gained honor through his generosity.

فغير سؤال راحته كثيرٌ

وغير نوال راحته قليل

Every request but one made to his palm is too great;

every gift but one from his palm is too small.

على كسب الثناء له مقامٌ

وفي طلب العلاء له رحيل

In winning praise he holds his station,

and in pursuit of eminence he journeys on.

وما نصر المعالي غير نصل

به في كل حادثةٍ يصول

Nothing champions lofty deeds but a blade

with which he charges in every crisis.

صقيل الصفح لا يعلوه غش

طرير الحد ليس به فلول

Its flat is polished, untouched by impurity;

its edge is keen, without a notch.

يذب عن العلى ويبح سرح

العطايا فهو مناع بذول

He shields high honor and sets loose the herds

of gifts: a staunch defender and lavish giver.

إليه فنعم مأوى الركب وافي

بهم وخد المطايا والذميل

To him—fine refuge for the caravan!—sped

the mounts, bearing them with long strides and swift pacing.

فماء الجود والنعمى نمير

وظل العدل والزلفى ظليل

The water of generosity and bounty is sweet,

and the shade of justice and favor is deep.

تفرد في الفخار ولا شبيه

وبرز في السماح ولا رسيل

He stands alone in glory, without a peer,

and excels in liberality, without an equal.

بعيد وهو في الأزمات دان

وحيد وهو في الجلى قبيل

Far above all, yet near in times of crisis;

one man, yet in calamity an entire tribe.

تهاب مقامه الأعداء خوفا

وحد السيف موطئه زليل

His enemies fearfully dread his presence,

and the sword's edge is a slippery place to tread.

إذا ما اليأس اكسبهم حياة

أبت لهم الكآبة والذهول

If despair should win them life,

gloom and bewilderment refuse it to them.

هنيئا يا دمشق لك العلاء القدا

مس منه والمجد الأثيل

Joy to you, Damascus: yours is ancient eminence

through him, and deep-rooted glory.

نسيمك سجسج وثراك مثر

وماؤك في ذراه سلسبيل

Your breeze is temperate, your soil fertile,

and your water, in his shelter, sweet-flowing.

تعال عن سواها فهو نجم

وعزت عن سواه فهي غيل

He is exalted above any but her, for he is a star;

she is beyond any but him, for she is a lion's thicket.

وخف إلى الندى لا عن سؤال

فما يخشى بها المن الثقيل

He hastens to generosity, not prompted by a request,

so no burdensome reminder of favors is feared there.

ولما سار عنها قيل كادت

تصاحبه الخزونة والسهول

When he left her, people said they nearly

went with him—the rugged lands and the plains.

وآب فللربي وجه طليق

إليه وللصبا ذيل بليل

He returned, and the hills turned a beaming face

toward him, while the east wind trailed a dew-wet hem.

شكت في بعده هجر الغوادي

فعاود ربعها الغيث الهطول

In his absence she complained that morning rainclouds had forsaken her,

so pouring rain returned to her dwelling.

وأعطاها الأمان من الليالي

فقد أمنت كقاصده السبيل

He gave her safety from the nights;

the road, like his petitioner, has become secure.

فما الماء الزلال بها وخيم

ولا الراعي الخصيب بها وبيل

No clear water there brings sickness,

nor is its prosperous shepherd a scourge.

بهم رئب التائي وأقيم زيـ

ـغ الخطوب وأدب الزمن الجهول

Through them estrangement was healed, and the crookedness

of calamities straightened, and ignorant Time disciplined.

أولو صيت كهمهم بعيد

ورأي مثل سؤددهم أصيل

Men whose renown, like their aspiration, reaches far,

and whose judgment, like their sovereignty, is deep-rooted.

لقد طالت فروعهم البرايا

وطابت في مغارسها الأصول

Their branches have towered above humankind,

and their roots are good in the soil where they were planted.

يقال إذا وليدهم تبدى

تشابهت الضراغم والشبول

When a newborn among them appears, people say:

Lions and lion cubs look alike.

دعوتك للزمان فتى علي

فعاد وطرفه عني كليل

I called upon you against Time, son of Ali,

and it retreated, its glance against me blunted.

لقد شرفت بك الأيام حتى

جميع الدهر عيد لا يزول

The days have been so ennobled by you

that all time is an unending feast.

وفارقت الصيام ولم يفارق

بني الآمال نائلك الجزيل

You have left fasting behind, but never has

your abundant giving left the children of hope.

لهم في ظلك الضافي مقيل

وان عثروا فأنت لهم مقيل

They rest beneath your ample shade;

and if they stumble, you pardon them.

وعقدك لا يحل قواه نكث

وعدك في السياطة لا يحول

No breach can loosen the strands of your covenant;

your promise in governance never changes [reading uncertain].

وفي الأقوام من يثني ثنائي

ولكن ليس كالغرور الحجول

Among people are those who repeat my praise,

but white stockings are not like forehead blazes [reading uncertain].

ولست أقول للحساد هجرا

كفى الحساد كبتا ما أقول

I do not speak obscenities to the envious;

what I say is humiliation enough for them.

إذا طبعوا على شيء فدعهم

فتغير الطابع مستحيل

If they are stamped with some disposition, leave them;

changing the stamp is impossible.

وضوء الصبح ليس يحول يوما

وصبغ الليل ليس له نصول

Dawn's light will never change,

nor does the dye of night ever fade.

ألوماً بعد ما قدمت حقود

وماتت في القلوب لي الدخول

Blame—after grudges have grown old,

and hidden malice against me has died within hearts?

أعندهم سوائر شاردات

لها سفر وليس لها قفول

Have they roaming, far-wandering verses

that travel forth and never return?

أوائلها هي الأسحار طيبا

وأخرها كما رق الأصيل

Their beginnings are fragrant as the predawn hours,

and their endings tender as the waning afternoon.

إذا كان البشير لها وليا

فخاطبها من السمع القبول

If the bearer of glad tidings is their guardian,

the ear's willing acceptance is their suitor.

قواف ترقص الأفهام منها

كما رقصت على المزح الشمول

Rhymes at which minds dance,

as wine dances amid mirth.

وكل نطقه ينبيك منه

كما ينبي عن الخيل الصهيل

His every utterance reveals him to you,

as neighing tells of horses.

فدم كفوا لإبكار المعاني

فلولا أنت أعوزها البعول

Remain a fitting mate for virgin meanings;

but for you, they would lack husbands.

شباتك لا تفل غداة خطب

ورأيك في الحوادث لا يفيل

May your blade-edges never be blunted on the morning of a crisis,

nor your judgment falter amid calamities.