أثرت هزبر الشرى إذ ربض — Abn Zaydun

أَثَرتَ هِزَبرَ الشَرى إِذ رَبَض

وَنَبَّهتَهُ إِذ هَدا فَاغتَمَض

You roused the lion of al-Shara as he lay crouched,

and woke him when he had settled and closed his eyes.

وَما زِلتَ تَبسُطُ مُستَرسِلاً

إِلَيهِ يَدَ البَغيَ لَمّا انقَبَض

And you kept extending, unchecked,

toward him the hand of aggression when he drew back.

حَذارِ حَذارِ فَإِنَّ الكَريمَ

إِذا سيمَ خَسفاً أَبى فَاِمتَعَض

Beware, beware! For the noble man,

when subjected to humiliation, refuses and grows indignant.

فَإِنَّ سُكونَ الشُجاعِ النَهوسِ

لَيسَ بِمانِعِهِ أَن يَعَضّ

For the stillness of the fiercely biting serpent

does not prevent it from biting.

وَإِنَّ الكَواكِبَ لا تُستَزَلُّ

وَإِنَّ المَقاديرَ لا تُعتَرَض

And the stars cannot be dislodged,

and the decrees of fate cannot be opposed.

إِذا ريغَ فَليَقتَصِد مُسرِفٌ

مَساعٍ يُقَصِّرُ عَنها الحَفَض

When he is sought out, let the overreacher temper

endeavors beyond a pack-camel's reach.

وَهَل وارِدُ الغَمرِ مِن عِدِّهِ

يُقاسُ بِهِ مُستَشِفُّ البَرَض

And can one who draws deep water from its perennial spring

be matched by one who drains a scant trickle?

إِذا الشَمسُ قابَلتَها أَرمَداً

فَحَظُّ جُفونِكَ في أَن تُغَضّ

If you face the sun with sore eyes,

your eyelids fare best by being lowered.

أَرى كُلَّ مُجرٍ أَبا عامِرٍ

يُسَرُّ إِذا في خَلاءٍ رَكَض

I see every racer, Abu Amir,

rejoice when he gallops in an empty field.

أُعيذُكَ مِن أَن تَرى مِنزَعي

إِذا وَتَري بِالمَنايا انقَبَض

I pray you be spared the sight of my bow's draw,

when my bowstring is drawn taut with death.

فَإِنّي أَلينُ لِمَن لانَ لي

وَأَترُكُ مَن رامَ قَسري حَرَض

For I am gentle with whoever is gentle with me,

and leave whoever seeks to coerce me wasting away.

وَكَم حَرَّكَ العُجبُ مِن حائِنٍ

فَغادَرتُهُ ما بِهِ مِن حَبَض

And how many a doomed man has pride stirred,

whom I then left without a single pulse.

أَبا عامِرٍ أَينَ ذاكَ الوَفاءُ

إِذِ الدَهرُ وَسنانُ وَالعَيشُ غَضّ

Abu Amir, where is that fidelity,

when Time was drowsy and life was fresh?

وَأَينَ الَّذي كُنتَ تَعتَدُّ مِن

مُصادَقَتي الواجِبَ المُفتَرَض

And where is what you once deemed, in

befriending me, a duty imposed upon you?

تَشوبُ وَأَمحَضُ مُستَبقِياً

وَهَيهاتَ مَن شابَ مِمَّن مَحَض

You taint it; I keep it pure, seeking to preserve it.

And how far apart are those who taint and those who keep pure!

أَبِن لي أَلَم أَضطَلِع ناهِضاً

بِأَعباءِ بِرِّكَ فيمَن نَهَض

Tell me plainly: did I not rise to shoulder

the burdens of kindness toward you among those who rose?

أَلَم تَنشَ مِن أَدَبي نَفحَةً

حَسِبتَ بِها المِسكَ طيباً يُفَضّ

Did you not inhale a fragrance from my literary art,

which you took for musk, a perfume freshly unsealed?

أَلَم تَكُ مِن شيمَتي غادِياً

إِلى تُرَعٍ ضاحَكَتها فُرَض

Did you not, through my nature, go forth at dawn

to brimming pools greeted by smiling inlets?

وَلَولا اختِصاصُكَ لَم أَلتَفِت

لِحالَيكَ مِن صِحَّةٍ أَو مَرَض

And had I not singled you out, I would not have heeded

your two states, health or sickness.

وَلا عادَني مِن وَفاءٍ سُرورٌ

وَلا نالَني لِجَفاءٍ مَضَض

Nor would joy from fidelity have visited me,

nor pain from estrangement have reached me.

يَعِزُّ اِعتِصارُ الفَتى وارِداً

إِذا البارِدُ العَذبُ أَهدى الجَرَض

Hard is relief by drinking for a young man coming to water,

when cool, sweet water itself brings choking.

عَمَدتَ لِشِعري وَلَم تَتَّئِب

تُعارِضُ جَوهَرَهُ بِالعَرَض

You targeted my poetry without shame,

pitting mere accident against its substance.

أَضاقَت أَساليبُ هَذا القَريضِ

أَم قَد عَفا رَسمُهُ فَاِنقَرَض

Have the paths of this poetry narrowed,

or has its trace faded, so that it has died out?

لَعَمري لَفَوَّقتَ سَهمَ النِضالِ

وَأَرسَلتَهُ لَو أَصَبتَ الغَرَض

By my life, you surely nocked the arrow of contest,

and loosed it—if only you had hit the target!

وَشَمَّرتَ لِلخَوضِ في لُجَّةٍ

هِيَ البَحرُ ساحِلُها لَم يُخَض

And you girded yourself to wade into deep water

that is the sea, whose shore has never been waded.

وَغَرَّكَ مِن عَهدِ وَلّادَةٍ

سَرابٌ تَراءى وَبَرقٌ وَمَض

And you were deceived in Wallada's pledge by

a mirage that appeared and lightning that flashed.

تَظُنُّ الوَفاءَ بِها وَالظُنونُ

فيها تَقولُ عَلى مَن فَرَض

You suppose her faithful, but such suppositions

about her speak against whoever makes them.

هِيَ الماءُ يَأبى عَلى قابِضٍ

وَيَمنَعُ زُبدَتَهُ مَن مَخَض

She is water that eludes whoever grasps it,

and denies its butter to whoever churns.

وَنُبِّئتُها بَعدِيَ اِستُحمِدَت

بِسِرّي إِلَيكَ لِمَعنىً غَمَض

And I was told that, after me, she sought to win favor

by revealing my secret to you, for an obscure purpose.

أَبا عامِرٍ عَثرَةً فَاِستَقِل

لِتُبرِمَ مِن وُدِّنا ما اِنتَفَض

Abu Amir, you stumbled; seek pardon,

to bind firm what has unraveled of our affection.

وَلا تَعتَصِم ضَلَّةً بِالحِجاجِ

وَسَيِّم فَرُبَّ اِحتِجاجٍ دُحِض

And do not, misguidedly, take refuge in argument;

and yield, for many an argument has been refuted.

وَإِلّا اِنتَحَتكَ جُيوشُ العِتابِ

مُناجِزَةً في قَضيضٍ وَقَضّ

Otherwise, armies of reproach will march upon you,

ready to fight, great and small alike.

وَأَنذِر خَليلَكَ مِن ماهِرٍ

بِطِبِّ الجُنونِ إِذا ما عَرَض

And warn your friend of one skilled

in treating madness whenever it appears:

كَفيلٌ بِبَطِّ خُراجٍ عَسا

جَريءٌ عَلى شَقِّ عِرقٍ نَبَض

one who guarantees to lance an abscess grown hard,

bold to slit a throbbing vein.

يُبادِرُ بِالكَيِّ قَبلَ الضَمادِ

وَيُسعِطُ بِالسَمِّ لا بِالحُضَض

He hastens to cauterize before bandaging,

and doses the nostrils with poison, not lycium extract.

وَأَشعِرُهُ أَنّي اِنتَحَبتُ البَديلَ

وَأُعلِمهُ أَنّي اِستَجَدتُ العِوَض

And inform him that I have chosen a replacement,

and tell him that I have found a worthy substitute.

فَلا مَشرَبي لِقِلاهُ أَمَرَّ

وَلا مَضجَعي لِنَواهُ أَقَضّ

So my drink has not grown bitter from his disdain,

nor has my bed grown uneasy from his departure.

وَإِنَّ يَدَ البَينِ مَشكورَةٌ

لِعارٍ أَماطَ وَوَصمٍ رَحَض

And indeed, the hand of separation deserves thanks,

for a disgrace it removed and a stain it washed away.

وَحَسبِيَ أَنّي أَطَبتُ الجَنى

لِإِبّانِهِ وَأَبَحتُ النَفَض

And enough for me that I made the harvest sweet

in its season, and made the fallen fruit free for all.

وَيَهنيكَ أَنَّكَ يا سَيِّدي

غَدَوتَ مُقارِنَ ذاكَ الرَبَض

And may it gladden you, my lord, that you

have become that woman's companion.