تلقاك يا سعد بالنجح سعد — Abn Alsaati

تلقاكَ يا سعدُ بالنجح سعدُ

فأين المرادُ وهاتيكَ نجدُ

Good fortune meets you with success, O Saʿd.

Where, then, is the goal? There lies Najd.

ترفَّق قليلاً على الواحدات

فقد أثقلَ العيشَ سوقٌ ووخد

Be a little gentle with the solitary ones;

driving and swift strides have made life burdensome.

وذا نفسي أن خشيتَ الخمودَ

وهذي دموعي أن عزَّ ورد

Here is my breath, if you fear the flame will die;

and here are my tears, if water is hard to find.

حنيني إلى غيدهِ الآنسات وبا

ناتِ أعطافها وهي مُلد

My yearning is for its companionable, slender women, and the moringa

trees of their figures, supple and tender.

أتنكر في الدار فرطَ الولو

عِ وما الحبُّ إلاَّ ولوعٌ ووجد

Do you deny, at the dwelling, my excessive devotion?

Love is nothing but devotion and longing.

أهيمُ إلى سالفٍ لو يعاد

وأبكي على فائتٍ لو يردُّ

I yearn for bygone days—if only they returned—

and weep for what is lost—if only it were restored.

وقد كنتُ اطلب فوقَ الوصا

ل فها أنا يقنعني اليومَ وعد

I once sought more than union;

now, here I am, content today with a promise.

غدرنَ بهدي غدرَ الشباب

ومن ليَلو دامَ للشَّيب عهد

They betrayed my way, as youth betrays,

and who can assure me—if only gray hair's pledge would last!

وما أنا والصبرُ بعد الفراقِ

وذا العلمُ الفرد منهنَّ فرد

What have I to do with patience after parting,

and this solitary landmark stands alone, bereft of them?

ولا عجبٌ أن يذوب الجلي

دُ وللبينِ في مضمرَ القلب وقد

No wonder the ice melts,

when parting has a fire deep within the heart.

وقد كنتُ أبكيِ للذع الصُّدو

د فياليتهُ دام قربٌ وصدُّ

I used to weep at rejection's sting;

would that nearness and rejection had endured!

يميناً لقد شقَّ جيبُ الجفون

لمن بان عنيَ والبين فقد

I swear, the eyelids' collar has been rent

for whoever parted from me; parting is loss.

أودُّ اللقاءَ لو أنَّ امرءًا

ينال على سعيهِ ما يردُّ

I desire a meeting, if only a person

could gain through striving what he would restore.

وأشنبَ يظمئني ريقهُ

وينقع من ظمأي وهو شهد

And a sweet-mouthed one—his saliva makes me thirst,

and quenches my thirst, for it is honey.

سكرتُ فعاقبني بالصدود

ومن شربَ الخمر عمدا يحدّ

I grew drunk, so he punished me with rejection;

whoever deliberately drinks wine incurs the prescribed penalty.

ويعجب من سقمي والسُّهاد

ومن أية الصبّ سقمٌ وسُهد

He marvels at my sickness and sleeplessness,

yet sickness and sleeplessness are signs of the lovelorn.

إذا ما ثنى التيهُ أعطافه

وأبدى من الحسن ما ليس يبدو

When pride sways his sides

and displays beauty otherwise unseen,

فللغصن والدِعص عطفٌ وردفٌ

وللبدر والظبي جيدٌ وخدُّ

the branch and dune have a waist and a rump,

and the full moon and gazelle a neck and a cheek.

يدافع بالجفن عن وجنتيه

فيمنع بالنرجس الغضَ ورد

He defends his cheeks with his eyelids,

guarding the rose with fresh narcissus.

بليت بخطب هوى أو نوى

وكلٌ لقلبي خصمٌ ألدُّ

I am afflicted by the calamity of love or separation;

each is my heart's implacable foe.

فلم اخلُ من تلدٍ منهما

قديمٍ ومن طارفٍ يستجدُّ

I am never free of an old affliction from either,

long-standing, or a new one that keeps arising.

وأعجبُ من ذاك أنَّ الخطوب

بحربيَ دون العلى تستبدُّ

Stranger still is that calamities

devote themselves to warring on me, not on greatness.

فإياك يا دهرُ عن منهجي

فكم بالمعزِ ذليلاً تصدُّ

Keep off my path, O Time!

How often al-Muʿizz repels you, humbled!

مليكٌ يهونُ عليَّ الزما

نُ إذا فاءَ منه إباءٌ وجدُّ

A king who makes time bearable for me,

when proud resolve and earnestness issue from him.

ويطربهُ المال بعد العطا

إذا عاد منه ثناءٌ وحمد

Wealth delights him after giving,

when praise and thanks return from it.

لهُ في طلاب العلى رغبةٌ

وفيه إذا عرض المالُ زهد

He longs to pursue the heights,

yet when wealth is offered, he has no desire for it.

أتاح المواهبَ فالحدب خصبٌ

وبَّصرنا القصدَ فالغيُّ رشدُ

He bestowed gifts, and the high ground became fertile;

he showed us the right course, and error became guidance.

يجودُ ونوءُ الحيا باخلٌ

وتبسطُ كفَّاهُ والعام جعد

He gives generously while the rain-bearing star withholds,

and his palms open while the year is tight-fisted.

عقودُ الخطوب لديه تحلُّ

أجلْ والرحالُ إليه تشدُّ

The knots of calamity are untied before him;

yes, and saddles are strapped for journeys to him.

فتى وفدُ نعماهُ كلُّ الأنام فلا

خاب في قصد نعماهُ قصد

A youth—all mankind is the delegation seeking his bounty; no

quest for his bounty has failed.

فنائلهُ عنهمُ لا يحيدُ

وإحسانهُ بهمِ لا يحدُّ

His gifts never turn away from them,

and his kindness to them knows no bounds.

وكيف يكون لهُ ثروةٌ

ولو كان من زاخرٍ يستمدُّ

How could he accumulate riches,

even if he drew from a swelling sea?

أخو حكمٍ غيرها لا يراد

إلى رأيه كلُّ حكمٍ يردُّ

A master of wisdom—no other wisdom is sought;

every judgment is referred to his counsel.

بهِ كلَّ يومٍ وغى كائنٌ

عدوُّ يصدُّ وثغرٌ يسدُّ

Through him, every day a battle takes place:

an enemy is repelled, a frontier breach is sealed.

غزيرُ سماحٍ إذا القطرُ ضنَّ

وقورُ أناة إذا خفَّ أحد

Abundant in generosity when rain withholds,

dignified in patience when another grows rash.

حكى سيفهُ راضياً ساخطاً

ومن آية السيف صفحٌ وحدُّ

He resembles his sword, pleased or angry;

a sword's marks are its flat and its edge.

تروعك شفرتهُ والمَضا

ويصبيك جوهرهُ والفرند

Its blade and keenness terrify you,

its steel and damascened pattern enchant you.

فيا ملكاً منهلي في ذراهُ

نميرٌ ويمشي بنعماهُ غد

O king, my watering place in your lofty refuge

is sweet, and tomorrow walks with your bounty.

وكم لمواهبهِ من يدٍ

تعاد ومن كثرةٍ لا تعدُّ

How many favors his gifts have rendered,

repeated, and too numerous to count!

ورى في دُجى الفقر وندُ الرجاء

وسرتُ إليك فما ضلَّ قصد

Hope's firebrand flared in poverty's darkness,

and I traveled to you, my aim never straying.

وان كان كلُّ سؤال يشينُ

فانََّ سؤالك زينٌ ومجد

Though every request brings shame,

asking you is adornment and glory.

ركبتُ المنى وشهرتُ المقال

فلم يكبُ طرفٌ ولم ينبُ حدُّ

I rode hopes and unsheathed my words;

no steed stumbled, and no edge failed.

وفي عيدك الدهر بي قسوةٌ

وحسبيَ مولىً له الدهرُ عبد

On your feast day, Time treats me harshly;

enough for me is a lord whose slave is Time.

أخذتَ بضعي دون الكرام

فأنقذتني وعطاياك مدُّ

You took hold of me before the other generous men,

and rescued me, your gifts a rising tide.

وكم بنداكَ عَلا خاملٌ

وأورق من ماحلٍ وهو صلد

How many obscure men rose through your bounty,

and how much barren, stony ground put forth leaves!

وعزمك من كلّ عزمٍ أشدُّ

ورأيك من كلأّ رأي أسدُّ

Your resolve is stronger than every resolve,

your judgment sounder than every judgment.

وللناس مالك بل فاتهم

فأعجزهم منك بأس ورفدِ

Others have what you have—no, it has surpassed them:

your valor and bounty have left them helpless.

سما بك عنهم أبٌ للعلى

أبيٌّ وجدٌّ إليها مجدُّ

A father devoted to greatness raised you above them,

proud, and a grandfather earnest in its pursuit.

نفوسٌ ولكن تعافُ الحقوق

وأيدٍ إلى شرفٍ لا تمدُّ

Souls that nevertheless disdain claims of entitlement,

and hands not stretched toward honor.

بكونك فينا جلالُ الديار

ولولا القواضبُ لم يسمُ غمد

Your presence among us is the land's grandeur;

without keen swords, no scabbard would be exalted.

فيا غيثُ طبقت كلَّ البقاعِ

فسيانِ عندك نجدٌ ووهد

O rain, you have covered every tract of land;

highland and hollow are alike to you.

فحسبك فالعشبُ أحوى التلاع

كما أمنَ لسربُ والماءُ عدُّ

Enough: the grass has darkened the slopes with green,

as the herd is safe and the water perennial.

ويا ليتُ رعتَ قلوب العدى

فكلُّ سويداءُ غلٌّ وحقد

And would that you had frightened the hearts of foes!

For every heart's dark core is rancor and hatred.

أطاعت أوامركَ النافذاتِ

وقد ينفذُ الأمرَ خوفٌ وودٌ

They obeyed your binding commands;

fear and affection can make a command take effect.

فأنفسها عنك يا سيف ميلٌ

وأعينها منك يا شمسُ رمدُ

Their souls turn away from you, O sword,

and their eyes, because of you, O sun, are inflamed.

لففتهم تحت قطر السهامِ

والبيضُ والرَّكض برقٌ ورعد

You enveloped them beneath a rain of arrows,

white swords and galloping as lightning and thunder.

وأحرقتهم بمياه الحديدِ

فلاذوا بغدرانها وهي سردُ

You burned them with the waters of iron;

they sought refuge in those waters' pools, which were linked mail.

شفتْ كلَّ قلبٍ وشفتهمُ

متى كان في الماء حرٌ وبرد

It healed every heart, yet wasted them away;

when has water ever held both heat and cold?

ومن عجبٍ انه منضجٌ

قساوةَ أكبادهمَ وهو جمد

Another marvel: it cooks away

the hardness of their livers, though it is ice.

وكيف وهل منقذ من سطا

ك جهدٌ ولا يمنع الموتَ جهد

And how could there be rescue from your onslaught

through effort? No effort can prevent death.

وما خنعوا لك من ذلةٍ

وفيهم سرحٌ مخوفٌ وجند

They did not bow to you from weakness;

among them were fearsome roaming mounts and troops.

فقل في ذوابلهم وهي سمرٌ

وقبِ صواهلهم وهي جردُ

Speak of their slender spears, tawny,

and their lean-bellied neighing steeds, sleek-coated.

لدانوا وقد حجبتك الرماح

لصمِ الثعالب والقوم أسد

They yielded, though spears screened you,

to solid spear-tenons—'foxes'—though the men were lions.

ولكن جلا لك حقٌ مبينٌ

وهيهات أن يبطل الحقَّ جحد

But clear truth shone forth for you,

and denial can never annul the truth.

زفقتُ إليك بناتِ النهى

فأمهرت نقداً ولم يخشَ نقد

I brought you the daughters of intellect as brides;

you paid their dowry in cash, and no criticism was feared.

ونظمتها لجبين العلاء

فزانت كما زين الجيد عقد

I strung them for the brow of loftiness;

they adorned it as a necklace adorns a neck.

تنافح عنك فهنَّ السيوف

وتنفح أنفاسها فهي ندُّ

They defend you, for they are swords;

their breaths waft fragrance, for they are incense.

بطلعتها كفّ غرب الزمان

وهزَّ من المجدِ عطفٌ وقدُّ

At their appearance, Time's sharp edge was checked,

and glory's flank and stature were set swaying.

إذا ما جلاها عليك الرواة

أقامت وسار بها الدهرُ يشدو

When the reciters unveil them before you,

they remain, while Time travels singing them.

كأنك أجريتها عزمة

فسيانِ قربٌ عليها وبعد

As though you had sent them forth as a firm resolve,

near and far are alike to them,

كما لاعب الروضَ مرُّ النسيم

ونشرَ في ساحة الحيِ برد

as the passing breeze plays with the meadow

and spreads a mantle across the settlement's courtyard.

وجدتك أدنى الورى نصرةً

إذا خذلَ المرءَ سيفٌ وزند

I found you the nearest of mankind in giving aid,

when a man's sword and fire-stick fail him.

فلا العام محلٌ إذا ما منحتَ

وإما منعتَ فما الخطبُ إدُّ

The year is not barren whenever you give,

and if you withhold, the hardship is not dreadful.

ومن كان يطلبُ عزَّ الحياة

فانًَّ ولاءك ما منه بدُّ

Whoever seeks life's honor

cannot do without allegiance to you.