امشنع أني جنحت إلى الكرى — Abn Alsaati

امشنعٌ أني جنحتُ إلى الكرى

لا كنتَ من واشٍ تزيد وافترى

Is it disgraceful that I yielded to sleep?

May you perish, slanderer who exaggerated and lied!

وجد النَّوى أذنا إليه سميعةً

عني فحرف في المقال وزورا

Estrangement found an ear attentive to it

concerning me, and distorted and falsified the account.

ما أنتَ الاَّ ساترٌ ببنانهِ

وجهَ الصَّباح وقد أنار وأسفرا

You are merely one who covers with his fingertips

morning's face, though it has shone and grown bright.

أبرزتَ وجهَ الغدرَ غير مساترٍ

وقصار ودٍ مماذقٍ إن يغدرا

You exposed the face of treachery without concealment;

the utmost of insincere affection is betrayal.

والخدعُ تحت النصحُ يظهرهُ الفتى

ذنبٌ تعاظمَ قدرهُ أن يغفرا

Deceit beneath the counsel a man displays

is a sin too grave to be forgiven.

علَّمتَ واعدَ نعمة لا نلتها

مطلاً وواصل خلةٍ أن يهجرا

You taught one promising a favor—may you never receive it—

to delay, and one maintaining friendship to forsake it.

وبمهجتي غضبانُ اطلبُ عفوه

وأجلُّ ذنبي أن ينامَ وأسهرا

And in my heart is an angry one whose pardon I seek;

my greatest sin is that he sleeps while I stay awake.

ناشدتهُ في مهجتي وسألتهُ

طولاً فطول ففي العتاب وقصَّرا

I implored him for my life and asked him

for favor; he prolonged his reproach and curtailed the favor.

ولقد جرى نحوي نسيمُ دياره

سحراً فكاد بأدمعي أن يعثرا

The breeze of his abode indeed flowed toward me

before dawn, and nearly stumbled over my tears,

في حيثُ دمعي كالملام مضيعاً

فيهِ وصبري كالمنام منفَّراً

where my tears, like reproaches, are squandered

on him, and my patience, like sleep, is driven away.

أستودعُ الرحمنَ غصناً أهيفاً

ومقبلاً خصراً وطرفاً أحورا

I entrust to the Merciful a slender-waisted branch,

a cool mouth to kiss and an eye dark against its white,

ومصارماً باع المودة مرخصاً

مني وحقُّ مودتي أتن تشتري

and a lover who broke with me, selling affection cheaply

away from me, though my affection deserved to be bought.

وأبي الهوى لو كنتُ أملكُ قوةً

تذرُ الوشيجَ برامتين مكسَّرا

By the father of passion, if I possessed strength

that left the spear-shafts shattered at Ramatayn,

لطرقتُ دونَ الحي غيرَ مراقبٍ

ذاك الكناسَ ورعتُ ذاك الجؤذرا

I would visit by night, outside the encampment, unafraid,

that gazelle's covert, and startle that fawn.

ولزرتُ بيضاءَ المضارب صالياً

إنا بنار الحرب أو نار القرى

I would visit the fair woman of the tents, exposing myself

either to war's fire or to hospitality's fire.

يا دمية الحيّ المقدسِ تربةً

فكأنما يطأون مسكاً أذفرا

O idol of the encampment whose soil is hallowed,

as though its people tread strongly fragrant musk!

آنستُ ناركِ في التهائم دونها

جمراتُ قومك في الذوائب والذرى

I perceived your fire in the Tihama lowlands; before it

lie your people's live embers on the crests and summits.

ويظنُّ عاشٍ أنها ما أضرمت

من فحمة الظلماءِ إلا عنبرا

One seeking light at night thinks it has kindled

only ambergris from the coal of darkness.

مالي وللألحاظ وهي قواضبٌ

يزداد فتكُ جفونها أن تكسرا

What have I to do with glances that are cutting swords,

whose eyelids become more deadly when lowered?

ولما حل الأطلال هبَّ نسيمها

بالركبِ عن سرّ العبير معبرا

When the caravan alighted at the ruins, their breeze arose,

telling the riders the secret of perfume.

سقطتْ بها الأنواءُ عاثرةً ولا

سلمتْ عشارُ المزن من أن تعقرا

May the rain-stars fall there stumbling, and may

the clouds' pregnant she-camels never escape slaughter.

أسميرَ ليلتنا بجوّ سويقةٍ

والبرقُ يكسو الأكم ثوباً أحمرا

O companion of our night in the valley of Suwayqa,

while lightning clothes the hillocks in a red robe,

والصبح يطلب ف يالظلام كلامسٍ

صدراً يحاول فيه سراً مضمرا

and dawn searches through darkness like one feeling

a breast, seeking a hidden secret within it,

اسحب ذيول الثّيه ما ساء العدى

وانهض إذا سرّ الوليّ مشترا

trail the skirts of pride as long as it vexes enemies,

and rise, when it gladdens a friend, as Jupiter [reading uncertain].

ماذا على من هبَ يطلبُ حاجةً

إذ حثَّ فيها ادهماً أو أشقرا

What trouble faces one who rises seeking a need,

when he spurs a black horse or a chestnut in its pursuit?

وأقم دور اليعملاتِ محاولاً

باب المغرِ إذا الدليل تحَّيرا

Establish the sturdy riding-camels' dwellings, seeking

the gate of [unclear in the text], when the guide is bewildered.

ملكٌ لو أن َّ الماءَ شيبَ ببأسهِ

حالتْ عذوبتهُ هناك فأبحرا

A king: if water were mingled with his might,

its sweetness would change, and it would turn sea-salt.

ولو أنَّ قلبَ الليل ريعَ بذكرهِ

صدتْ جوانحهُ الطيوفَ عن السرى

If night's heart were frightened at his mention,

its ribs would bar dream-phantoms from traveling by night.

أصبحتُ منقطعاً إليه ولم يخبْ

وأبيهِ منقطعٌ إليه عن الورى

I have devoted myself to him; none has been disappointed—

by his father!—who turns from mankind to him alone.

فاختارهُ دون الأنام لفضلهِ

علمي بما بين الثرَّيا والثرى

So I chose him above mankind for his excellence,

knowing the distance between the Pleiades and the dust.

ما شمتهُ بعد العزيز ويوسفٍ

مستسقياً إلاَّ أطاب وأكثرا

Never, after al-Aziz and Yusuf, have I watched him

seeking rain, without his giving well and abundantly.

ترك القرارةَ وهي لجةُ رحمةٍ

وثنى شعاب الدَّهر روضاً اخضرا

He left the hollow a surging sea of mercy,

and turned time's ravines into a green meadow.

ولطالما أنزلتُ من ساحاته

بابن السماحة والحماسة والقرى

How often have I alighted in his precincts

with the son of generosity, valor, and hospitality,

بالليث كم نحرت يداهُ من عدى

والغيث كم أعطى نداهُ كوثرا

with the lion—how many enemies his hands have slaughtered!—

and the rain-cloud—how often his bounty has given a Kawthar!

ولراحتيه محارباً ومسالماً

بأسٌ أمات وفضلُ جودٍ أنثرا

His two palms, in war and peace alike,

possess a might that kills and a surplus of generosity that scatters gifts.

ضدَّان مختلفانِ في حالٍ معاً

ذا أنذر الطاغي وهذا بشَّرا

Two opposites, different yet present together:

one warns the tyrant, and the other brings good tidings.

أسخى بين الدنيا وأكرمُ شيمةً

وأجلُّ معروفاً وأشرفُ معشرا

The world's most generous, the noblest in character,

the greatest in kindness and the noblest in company.

أجدى فأخجلَ من مساحة كفهِ

حتى الحيا ولألان حتى القسورا

He gave, putting to shame, by the breadth of his palm,

even the rain; and he softened even the lion.

كالبحرِ مأمونُ الأذى والمزن

إلاَّ أنهُ لم يبقِ خلقاً معسرا

Like the sea, yet harmless, and like the rain-clouds,

except that he has left no creature destitute.

ويجلُّ عن كذبِ البروق فلا يرى

في خلبِ الأزمانِ إلاَّ ممطرا

He is above the lies of lightning, and is never seen

amid time's empty flashes except bringing rain.

أفنى وأقنى موقعاً وموقعاً

طبعاً وأغنى كالزمان وأفقرا

He annihilated and endowed, striking blows and signing grants,

by nature; like time, he enriched and impoverished.

قمرٌ إذا طلعتْ نجوم رماحهِ

في مأزقٍ رفع السماءَ العثيرا

A moon: when the stars of his spears rise

in a tight battlefield, he lifts the dust to the sky.

سلهُ إذا أدنته عاطفة الرضى

وحذار منهُ إذا نأى وتنكّرا

Ask him when an impulse of favor brings him near,

and beware of him when he withdraws and turns hostile.

الله أكبر حين يغضبُ ناقلاً

غابَ الرماح تحلهُ أسدُ الشرى

God is greatest! When, angered, he transports

thickets of spears inhabited by the lions of al-Shara,

نجل الملوك إذا يخفُّ إلى وغى

ملأ البلاد عجاجةً وسنورا

the scion of kings, when he hastens to battle,

fills the lands with swirling dust and armor,

من كلّ لدن ليس يجنى غصنهُ

الخطيّ إلاَّ بالسنان منورا

from every supple shaft whose branch is not harvested,

the Khatti shaft, except when flowering with a spearhead.

ملكوا الورى ومشوا على خدّ الدُّنى

واستخدموا أيامها والأعصرا

They ruled mankind and walked upon the cheek of the worlds,

and made their days and ages serve them.

قومٌ إذا ركبوا الجياد لحادثٍ

عاينت وجه اليوم أشعث اغبرا

A people: when they mount steeds for a crisis,

you see the day's face disheveled and dust-covered.

وتخلَّلوا صبح السيوف كأنما

ركبوا الضمائر لا العتاقَ الضمرا

They pass through the dawn of swords as though

they rode inner thoughts, not lean thoroughbreds.

يا جنةً أدخلتُ نار عتابه

فسريتُ في ليل الهموم مهجرا

O paradise, I was made to enter the fire of his reproach,

and traveled through the night of cares as a traveler at noon.

وقضيتَ بانٍ ما هززتُ قوامهُ

إلاَّ وأزهر بالسماح وأثمرا

And a ban-tree bough [reading uncertain]: never did I shake its stem

without its blossoming and bearing fruit with generosity.

ما بال وجهك ليس يسفر بشرهُ

من بعد ما بهر الفضاءَ وأبدرا

Why does your face no longer reveal its cheer,

after dazzling the expanse and shining like a full moon?

عهدي به ويكاد من وجناتهِ

ماءُ الحياءِ بشاشةً أن يقطرا

I remember it: from its cheeks almost

dripped the water of modesty, in cheerfulness.

نقل العدى ما لم أكن من أهلهِ

فاعجبْ لقلبي ما أشدَّ وأصبرا

Enemies reported things of which I was never guilty;

marvel at my heart: how strong and steadfast it is!

واغضب لجودك أن يبيت منكداً

وصفاءِ ودك أن يظلَّ مكدَّرا

Be angry for your generosity, that it should spend the night distressed,

and for your friendship's purity, that it should remain clouded.

وكفى خجولاً أن يلومك في ندى

من ذا يصدُّ البحرَ عن أن يزخرا

It is shame enough that someone rebukes your generosity:

who can hold the sea back from surging?

يستعظمون الألف وهي حقيرةٌ

في جودِ من يهب المدائن والقرى

They think a thousand great, though it is paltry

in the bounty of one who gives cities and villages.

يقظانُ يوعدني نداهُ بمثلها

كرماً وذمةُ وعدهِ لن تكسرا

His wakeful bounty promises me as much,

out of generosity; his promise's bond will not be broken.

يا من بارهُ الله من تبر العلى

ما من طباعِ التبرِ أن يتغيرا

O you whom God fashioned [reading uncertain] from the gold of loftiness,

it is not in gold's nature to change.

طوقتني ذهباً ملأتَ به يدي

لمَّا نثرتُ عليك هذا الجوهرا

You adorned my neck with gold, filling my hand with it

when I scattered this jewel over you.

أكرم بنا متتابعين تنزها

عن حسبةٍ تثني الثناءَ مسعَّرا

How noble we are, following one another, keeping clear

of a reckoning that turns praise into something priced.

حاشاك من أن تستردَّ مواهباً

تخفى وعادة مثلها أن تظهرا

Far be it from you to reclaim gifts

that are hidden, when such gifts are customarily displayed.

هي صفقةٌ وقع التفرُّق بعدها

ويسفُّ بالعلياءِ أن تتخيرا

It is a bargain after which we have parted,

and exercising an option to undo it would abase lofty honor.

ولقد منحتك من بناتِ خواطري

غيداً أقلُّ ثوابها أن تمهرا

I have given you, from the daughters of my thoughts,

graceful maidens whose least reward is a bridal dower.

حمرُ الحلى بيض الطلى سودٌ ذو

ائبها لبسنَ الحسنَ فيك مشهَّرا

Red their ornaments, white their necks, black their

tresses: they donned beauty, displayed in your praise.

من كل آنسة الحديثِ بديعةِ ال

معنى تعلمُ بابلاً أن تسحرا

Each a maiden of charming speech, wondrous in

meaning, teaching Babylon how to work enchantment.

تجلى فتطرب قبل أن يحدى بها

وترٌ ولم تدرِ السقاةُ المسكرا

Unveiled, she delights before her words are sung by

a string, while cupbearers have not yet known the intoxicant.

رعبوبةٌ حسنتْ كوجهم منظراً

مخطوبةٌ طابت كأصلك مخبرا

A delicate maiden, lovely to behold like your face [reading uncertain],

a sought-after bride, good in essence like your lineage.

فاستجلها واستحلها مستغرباً

فكراً نماها صائغاً ومصورا

So unveil her and make her lawfully yours, marveling at

the thought that reared her, a goldsmith and an image-maker.

وأذنْ لسمعك أن يطلق بعدها

ذاكَ المعادَ من الحديث المفترى

And allow your ear, after her, to divorce

that repeated, fabricated tale.