حتى متى يوري سواي وأقتدح — Abn Rumi

حتَّى متى يُورِي سِوايَ وأقْتَدِحْ

حتى متى يُعْطى سواي وامْتَدِحْ

How long shall another kindle fire while I strike sparks?

How long shall another receive gifts while I compose praise?

حتَّامَ لاشعري أمَامَ المُجْتَنَى

فَأَحَظَّ منْهُ ولا وراءَ المطَّرِحْ

How long shall my verse be neither ahead of what is gathered,

so I might profit from it, nor behind what is discarded?

كم أستميح المُقْرِفِينَ وأغْتدِي

صِفرَ الدِّلاءِ كأنَّني لم أسْتَمحْ

How often I seek gifts from the baseborn, and go forth

with empty buckets, as though I had sought no gift!

تاللّه ما سَمِع الأنامُ بِطَالِبٍ

مثلي ولا رَأَوُا امْرَأً مِثْلِي اطُّرِحْ

By God, humankind has never heard of a petitioner

like me, nor seen a man like me cast aside.

كم مُكْثِرٍ طالبتُ فِدْيَةَ عِرْضِه

فأباحني منه الذي لم أَسْتَبِحْ

How many a wealthy man I have asked to ransom his honor,

yet he laid it open to me, though I had not sought to violate it!

وإخالُ أنِّي لوْ سَطَوْتُ لَقَالَ لي

لا تَسْلُبِ السَّلَبَ الكريم ولوْ جُرحْ

And I imagine that, were I to attack, he would say to me:

“Do not strip the nobleman of his spoils, even if wounded.”

وَجَوابُهُ إنْ قال ذاك لجهله

بلْ ذُو النَّذالَةِ لا يجُودُ ولوْ ذُبحْ

And my answer, should he say that in his ignorance:

“Rather, the base man will not give, even if slaughtered.”

يتعرَّضُ المتعرِّضُون وأنْتَئي

في ساحة المجد الفسيح وأنْتدِحْ

Those seeking favor put themselves forward, while I keep apart,

in the court of boundless glory, where I range freely,

مُستَبْقِياً ماءَ الحياء لأنَّني

أعْتَدُّ ما يَهْمِي دَماً لِي قدْ سُفِحْ

preserving the water of modesty, for I

count whatever streams down as my own blood spilled.

ومِنَ الوقاحَةِ أنْ تَكْونَ مَعيشَتي

كسبُ القَريضِ وليس لي وَجْهٌ وَقحْ

And it is shameless that my livelihood should be

the earnings of verse, when I have no shameless face.

بَكَتِ الكِرامُ إذا رأتْ مَسُتَنْبِحا

مِثْلِي بأَفْنِيَة اللِّئَام ومَا نُبحْ

The noble weep when they see one seeking an answering bark

like me in the courtyards of the base, with no answering bark.

يا رَاكباً وهُمَيْنِيَاءُ قُصَارُهُ

ثَقَّلْتَ كَرَّةَ رَابح في مَنْ رَبحْ

O rider whose destination is Humayniya,

may yours be a laden, winning return among those who prosper!

تَجْلِي أبَا عبدِ الإِله فَقُلْ له

لا زلتَ تَغْتَبِقُ السرور وتصطبحْ

When you behold Abu Abd al-Ilah, tell him:

“May you ever drink joy at evening and dawn!”

يا من إذا نُشِرَ الثَّناءُ على امرىءٍ

خُتِمَ الثناءُ بذكره وبهِ فُتِحْ

O you—whenever praise of any man is proclaimed,

that praise ends with your name, and with it begins.

أنا مَنْ عرفْتَ صفاءَه ووفاءه

وغناءهُ وثناءهُ غيْرَ الوَتِحْ

I am he whose sincerity and loyalty you have known,

his service, and his praise that is never scant.

ومن العجائب أنَّ رزقي مُغْلَقٌ

ونَدَاكَ مِفْتَاحٌ ولمَّا أَفْتَتِحْ

And it is a wonder that my livelihood is locked away,

while your bounty is a key, yet I have not unlocked it.

كمْ قدْ هَتَفْتُ وما أريدُ سِوَاكُمُ

بَرحَ الخفاءُ ولو عَدَلْتُمْ ما بَرحْ

How often I have cried out, seeking none but you!

All concealment is gone; had you been fair, it would not have gone.

يا معشَرَ الإِخْوَانِ طال عقوقُكُمْ

بِأَخٍ لكم غُبِقَ الجفاءَ كما صُبِحْ

O company of brothers, long has your neglect lasted

toward a brother of yours, given coldness to drink at dusk as at dawn.

أَعْرَيْتُمُوني مِنْ جَدَاكُمُ كُلِّهِ

وَعَرَيْتُمُ من كل عُذْرٍ مُتَّضِحْ

You have stripped me of all your bounty,

and you stand bare of every evident excuse.

أيَخِيبُ تَأمِيلِكُمُ وَقَرينُهُ

شَفَقِي عليكم والقوَارعُ تَنْتَطِحْ

Can hope in you fail, when its companion

is my care for you as calamities lock horns?

عَرِّجْ أبا عبدِ الإله ورُبَّمَا

كَفَّ الجَوَادُ عن الجِمَاحِ وما كُمحْ

Turn aside, Abu Abd al-Ilah; often

a noble steed stops bolting without being reined in.

إنْ كنتَ قد أزْمعْتَ نفْعِي مُحْسِناً

فَأَرِحْ بِسُرعَتِهِ وَليَّكَ واسْتَرحْ

If you have resolved to benefit me, doing good,

relieve your friend by hastening it, and be relieved yourself.

واسْدُدْ به خَلَلي ولمَّا أَنْهَتِكْ

وَأَزِحْ به عِلَلي ولمَّا أفْتَضِحْ

And mend my breaches with it, while I am not yet laid bare,

and remove my ailments with it, while I am not yet disgraced.

ماذا أردتَ وقدْ وَقفْتَ بحاجتي

وَقَفاتِ مَفْدوحٍ وظهرُكَ ما فُدِحْ

What did you intend by holding up my request

with the pauses of a burdened man, though your back bore no burden?

أَأَهَشُّ من رَجُلٍ برأْيِكَ يقتدي

أأخَفُّ من رَجُلٍ بكَفِّكَ يتَّشِحْ

Am I more eager than a man who follows your judgment?

Am I readier than a man clothed by your hand?

هَلّا كتْبتَ بحاجتي مُتَفَضِّلاً

مُتَطوِّلاً لتزيد في فَرَح الفرحْ

Why did you not write about my need, graciously,

bestowing favor, to heighten the joy of one already glad,

وَجَعَلْتَهَا تَبَعَ الكِتَاب مُنازِلاً

في ذاكَ صاحِبَكَ السَّمِيعَ إذا نَصحْ

and make it follow your letter, pressing

your companion in this—he listens when advised?

بمَوَدَّتِيكَ وحُرمتي بِكَ أنَّها

سَبَقَتْ قَرَابَتَها بِوَجْهٍ ما قُبحْ

By my love for you and my claim upon you—for it

has taken precedence over kinship in no unseemly way—

امْنَحْ أبا العبَّاسِ فيَّ نصيحةً

تُجْدِي عَلَيَّ فإنه لك مُنْتَصحْ

offer Abu al-Abbas counsel concerning me

that will benefit me, for he heeds your advice.

عَرِّفْهُ أنِّي للصنيعَةِ مَوْضِعٌ

حَمْدَاً وشكراً لا يَبِيدُ ولا يَمِحْ

Let him know that I am worthy ground for kindness,

with praise and gratitude that neither perish nor fade.

ودَليلُ شُكْرِي طولُ صَبْري إنَّه

في طُولِ شعري فيه عِلْمي لو مُسِحْ

The proof of my gratitude is my long patience; it is,

to my knowledge, as long as my verse about him, if measured.

كم قد صَبَرتُ ونَالَ غيري نَيْلَهُ

وفَسَحْتُ في عذْرٍ وإن لم يَنْفَسِحْ

How long I have waited, while others gained his bounty!

And I have stretched an excuse, though it would not stretch.

لاَ أجْتَدِيهِ ولا أريهِ زَهَادَةً

فِيمَا لَدَيْهِ ولا أكُفُّ ولا أُلحْ

I neither beg his bounty nor show him disdain

for what he has; I neither desist nor insist.

وتَرَى الصَّبُورَ هو الشَّكُورَ ولا ترى

إلا الجَزُوعَ هو الكَفُورَ إذا مُنِحْ

You see the patient man is the grateful one; you see

only the impatient man prove thankless when given.

فَأَرِحْ بفضلِكَ إنَّ بَحْرَكَ لم يَغِضْ

واظْفَرْ بمَدْحِي إنَّ بحري ما نُزحْ

So grant relief through your bounty; your sea has not ebbed,

and win my praise: my sea has not been drained.

واجْعَلْ لكفِّكَ شِرْكَةً مَعَ كَفِّهِ

في نفْعِ ذِي وُدٍّ بزَنْدِكَ يَقْتَدِحْ

Let your hand share with his

in helping a loving friend who strikes sparks with your fire-stick.

أو لا فَجُدْ لي بالكلامِ فإنَّهُ

رِبْحٌ بلا خُسرٍ هنالك فَارْتَبِحْ

Or else, be generous to me with words, for that

is profit without loss; there, then, make your gain.

أو لا فَعَرِّفْني الحقيقة إنَّهَا

نِعْمَ الدَّوَاءِ لِقُرْحَةِ القلبِ القَرِحْ

Or else, tell me the truth: it is

the finest medicine for the sore of an aching heart.

واكْتُبْ إليَّ كأنَّ شِعْرَكَ تُحْفَةٌ

قدْ كُوفِئَتْ أَوْ أَنَّه ذَنْبٌ صُفِحْ

And write to me, as though your poetry were a gift

already repaid, or a sin forgiven.

أصْبَحْتُمَا مُتَعَاوِنَيْنِ على التُّقَى

وعَلَى العُلا والدَّهْرُ فوقي مُجْتَنِحْ

You two have become partners in piety

and high endeavor, while Time bends over me.

لم تَسْمَعا بعْدَ الصِّياح شَكِيَّتي

وسمعتُما شكْوى سِوَايَ ولم يَصِحْ

You two have not heard my complaint, even after my shouting,

yet heard another's complaint though he did not cry out.

وقَد اقْترحتُ عليكما أن تُحْسِنَا

بي وَادِعاً فَتَغاضيا لِلْمُقتَرِحْ

I have asked you both to treat me well

while I am peaceable; be indulgent to the requester.

فقد اجْتَرَحْتُ خلاَفَ مَا أَوْمَأتُمَا

لِيَ نَحْوَهُ فَتَجافَيَا للمُجْتَرِحْ

For I have done the opposite of what you both pointed

me toward; so be forbearing toward the offender.

لا تَأَثَمَا فِي مَنْح شعْري مَهْرهُ

يا صَالِحان فإنَّهُ فَرْجٌ نُكِحْ

Do not deem it sinful to give my verse its dower,

O righteous pair, for it is a vulva taken in marriage.