أبا هاشم أنهي إليك تحية — Abu Abahr Alkhti

أَبا هَاشمٍ أُنهِي إليكَ تحيةً

يُجيبكَ رَيَّاها برائحةِ العِطْرِ

Abu Hashim, I convey to you a greeting

whose sweet fragrance answers you with the scent of perfume.

وأشكُو لَكَ الدهرَ الذي عَضَّ جَاهداً

فَأدمى وسَامَ العظمَ نَازِلةَ الكَسرِ

I complain to you of Time, which bit fiercely,

drawing blood and subjecting the bone to the calamity of breaking.

وأَنْحَى على عُودِي فَمَازَالَ عَابِثاً

بأوراقِهِ حتى أَلَحَّ على القِشْرِ

It assailed my tree and kept worrying

its leaves until it pressed its attack upon the bark.

وحَظّاً لو استسريتَ نَاسِمَةَ الصَّبَا

شتاءً لأَسْرَاها أحرَّ من الجمْرِ

And of a fortune that, if you summoned an east-wind breath by night,

in winter, would send it hotter than embers.

وإخوانَ سوءٍ إن رَمَى الدهرُ سَهْمَهُ

فأخطأني كانوا سَدَادَ يَدِ الدهرِ

And of evil brothers: if Time loosed its arrow

and missed me, they would steady Time's hand.

أزرتُهُمُ عَوْنَ الثناءِ فأنثني

مُقايضةً منهمْ بحادثةٍ بِكْرِ

I bolstered them with the aid of praise, yet turn back

with a fresh calamity from them in exchange.

وأُتبع تسليمي إذا ما لقيتُهُمْ

ببشْرى فأُجزَى بالعُبُوسِ عن البِشْرِ

Whenever I meet them, I follow my greeting

with glad tidings, yet receive scowls in return for cheer.

تَعَوَّضتهُمْ عن مَعْشَرٍ لو دعوتُهُمْ

لَحَاولَ كلٌ في النُهُوضِ من القَبْرِ

I took them as replacements for a company who, if I called them,

would each attempt to rise from the grave.

أَطَالوا يَدي فالشِبرُ باعٌ فمذ قَضَوا

تقاصَرَ بَاعِي عن مُطَاولَةِ الشبرِ

They lengthened my reach: a handspan became an armspan; since they died,

my armspan has shrunk, unable to match a handspan.

ثكلتُهُمُ ثُكْلَ الحَوَائِمِ وِرْدَها

وقد نازعتْ أحْشَاءَها غُلَّةُ العَشْرِ

I lost them as thirsty camels lose their watering place,

with ten days' thirst already racking their entrails.

عققتُهُم إن لم أُكاثرْ بأَدْمُعي

عليهم غمارَ البحرِ أو سَبَلَ القَطْرِ

I would betray them unless, with my tears,

I rivaled for them the sea's floods or the streaming rain.

برغْميَ أن أَلقَى بني الدهرِ بعدهم

قذىً وشَجاً للعين منّي وَلِلصَدْرِ

Against my will I meet the children of Time after them,

grit to my eye and a choking pain to my breast.

وتثرَى بهم أهلُ القُبُورِ وإنني

أَروحُ وأَغْدو منهُمُ بِيَدٍ صُفْرِ

The dwellers in graves grow rich with them, while I

go at dusk and dawn with hands empty of them.

قَضَى من قضَى منهم وأصبحَ من بَقَى

أخا نكباتٍ يستقيلُ من العُمْرِ

Those of them who died have died, and those who remain have become

companions of calamities, seeking release from life.

تقسَّمهم رَيْبُ الزَّمانِ فأصبحُوا

فريقين في نَابِ الحَوَادِثِ والظُّفْرِ

Time's vicissitudes divided them, leaving them

in two bands, held in calamities' fang and claw.

أَسِفْتُ لهذا الشَّطْرِ منهم وإنني

لذُو كَمَدٍ باقٍ على ذَلكَ الشَّطْرِ

I grieved for this half of them, and I

still bear lasting anguish for that other half.

ومُتَّسِمٍ بالودِّ يُبطِنُ ضِدَّهُ

وأضيعُ شيءٍ خلطُكَ الحُلْوَ بالمُرِّ

And of one who outwardly professes affection while concealing its opposite;

nothing is more wasteful than your mixing sweet with bitter.

أُدافعُ عنهم ما اسْتَطَعْتُ وإنهُ

لَيخذلُني ما شاءَ إن سِمتُهُ نَصْري

I defend them as far as I can, yet he

abandons me as he pleases if I ask him to support me.

أرَى قُرْبَهُ غُنْمي ولم أدرِ أنّهُ

على عكسِ ما عنديْ يرَى غُنمَهُ هَجْري

I see his closeness as my gain, not knowing that,

contrary to my own view, he sees his gain in forsaking me.

سَلَكْتُ به نهْجَ الوفاءِ فَغَرَّني

ونكَّبَ مختاراً إلى جَانِبِ الغَدْرِ

I followed with him the path of loyalty, but he deceived me

and willingly turned aside toward treachery.

سَقَى اللهُ حَيّاً من تميمٍ بقدرِ ما

شَرِبْنا بأيدِيهِمْ من النائِلِ الغَمْرِ

May God water a clan of Tamim in proportion to what

we have drunk through their hands of overflowing bounty.

هُمُ أوطأونا غَارِبَ اليُسْرِ بعدَما

أَزَلَّتْ خُطَا أقدامِنا عَثْرَةُ العُسْر

They set us upon the withers of ease after

hardship's stumble had made our footsteps slip.

فلم تَبلُغِ الأُمُّ الرؤومُ بِبِرِّها

بنيها مَدَى ما أسلفُونا من البِرِّ

No tender mother, through her kindness,

has done for her sons as much good as they first did for us.

وأنتَ ابنُ أُخْتِ القَومِ والخالُ والدٌ

وإن كانتِ الأعمامُ من ضِئضِئِ النّصْرِ

You are the son of the clan's sister, and a maternal uncle is a father,

even though your paternal uncles are of al-Nasr's stock.

وأنتَ الذي يُعْدِي على المَحْلِ جُودُهُ

ويُعشِبُ من معروفِهِ يابسُ الصخرِ

You are the one whose generosity gives aid against drought,

and through whose kindness dry rock grows grass.

وإنَّ قُعُودي عنكَ حينَ ابتعثتَني

إليكَ على قُربِ المكانين من عُذري

For my staying away when you summoned me

to you, though our two places are close, my excuse includes

أُمورٌ لَوَ أنّي سُمْتُها الحَصْرَ لم يكنْ

ليأتي على مِعْشَارِ مِعْشَارِها حَصْري

matters which, were I to try to count them,

my counting would not cover a tenth of a tenth of them.

وإلاَّ ففي نفسي إلى هندجانِكُمْ

تَباريحُ يَصْدَعْنَ الجَوَارحَ لو تدري

Otherwise, within my soul, for your Hindijan,

are pangs that rend my limbs, if only you knew.

فَمَنْ ليَ أن يأتيكمُ برسالتي

على النأيِ أنفاسُ الصَّبَا والقطا الكُدْري

Who will assure me that my message will reach you

across the distance, carried by the east wind's breaths and dusky sandgrouse?

وشكوىً أَنَاخَتْ بي فضقتُ تجلُّداً

بنازلِها واسترحلتْ قَاطِنَ الصبرِ

And a grief has settled upon me; my fortitude fails

beneath its affliction, which has driven abiding patience away.

هرقتُ لها كأسَ الكرَى وتَجرَّعتْ

لها النفسُ ما تحلو له جُرَعَ الصَّبْرِ

I poured out the cup of sleep for it, and my soul drank

on its account what makes draughts of bitter aloe taste sweet.

شكوتَ أخاً عَقَّ الإخاءَ وحسَّنَتْ

له زهرةُ الدنيا القبيحَ من الأمرِ

You complained of a brother who betrayed brotherhood, and

the world's splendor made ugly deeds seem fair to him.

لَعَمرُ أبي إن عَاقَ عينُكَ لم يَعُقْ

جِنانَكَ عن إعمالِ رأيٍ ولا فِكْرِ

By my father's life, though your eye has hindered you, it has not hindered

your heart from exercising judgment or thought,

ولا قَبَضَ الكفَّ التي هي والغنَى

جَوَادَا رِهَانٍ يجريانِ على قَدْرِ

nor closed the hand that, together with wealth,

forms a pair of racing steeds, running neck and neck.

خليليَّ إنْ ألممتُما بمباركٍ

ثِمَالِ اليتامَى في المُحُول أبي بدرِ

My two friends, if you come upon Mubarak,

Abu Badr, the orphans' refuge in times of drought,

أخي الجَفَنَاتِ الدُّهمِ تَنْزو جَواثِماً

جُثُومَ القَطَا من فَوقِها جَزَرُ الجَزْرِ

master of the dark bowls, where morsels leap, crouching

like crouching sandgrouse above them—cuts of slaughtered camels;

وربِّ القنا الرجَّافِ تندَى فروعُهُ

إذا غَصَّ بالريْقِ الجبانُ من الذُّعْرِ

and master of quivering spears whose tips grow wet

when the coward chokes on saliva from terror;

وطَاعِنَ أُوْلَى الخيلِ لا تَستكفُّهُ

شيءٍ سِوَى إبدالُها الكرَّ بالفَرِّ

and piercer of the foremost cavalry, whom nothing checks

except their exchanging charge for flight;

فقولا له عن شاعِرِ الخَطِّ قَولةً

يُداوَى بها سمعُ الأَصَمِّ من الوَقْرِ

tell him, on behalf of the poet of al-Khatt, words

that would heal a deaf man's hearing of its deafness:

أحينَ صرفتَ العمرَ في طَلَبِ العُلا

وسَيَّرتَ ما سيّرتَ من صَالحِ الذكرِ

Was it when you had spent your life seeking high honor,

and spread abroad all the worthy renown you spread,

وأصبحتَ سُلْطَانَ الشمالِ وأُعمِلَتْ

لكَ العيسُ من نَزْوَى عُمانَ إلى الشَّحْرِ

and become sultan of the north, with

pale camels driven for you from Nizwa in Oman to al-Shihr,

عمدتَ إلى مُعْطِي الأُخوَّةِ حَقَّها

ومستعملِ الإخلاصِ في السرِّ والجهرِ

that you turned against one who gave brotherhood its due,

and practiced sincerity in secret and in public,

ومَن لو شَرَاهُ المُسْتسِمُّ مُغَالِياً

بما نَسلَتْ حَوَّاءُ ما كان ذا خُسْرِ

and whom, if a buyer purchased him, paying dearly

with all that Eve has borne, he would incur no loss?

فأوجرتَه كأساً يضيقُ بِمُرِّها

يداً لو استُسقِي لها نُطَفُ الغُدْرِ

You forced him to drink a cup whose bitterness would leave him

powerless, even if drops from pools were sought to fill it.

وأَسْمَلْتَ عَينيهِ فأجثمتَ ضَيْغَماً

إذَا تُرِكَ اختار الوثوبَ على الخِدْرِ

You put out his eyes, forcing a lion to crouch,

who, left alone, would choose to spring upon the lair.

وأثكلتَ أيامَ الوغَى وبني الوغَى

إذا التقتِ الخَيلانِ بالبَطَلِ الذُّمْرِ

You bereaved the days of battle and the sons of battle,

when the two cavalries met, of their fierce champion:

أخا الضربِ ما أغنَى الحسامُ فإن نَبَتْ

مَضَارِبُهُ فالطعنُ بالأَسَلِ السُّمْرِ

a master of blows while the sword avails; but if

its striking edges glance aside, then of thrusts with brown spears.

فهلْ تُبْلِغِنّيهِ على نأي دارِهِ

قَلائِصُ يعفِينَ الحُدَاةَ من الزَّجْرِ

Will I be brought to him, despite his distant home,

by young she-camels that spare their drivers the need to urge them?

تُسَابِقُ أخراهنَّ الاولَى فكأنَّما

ترى اليَمَّ فيما بينَها حَلْبةَ المجْري

Their hindmost race the foremost, as though

they see the sea between them as a racing-ground.

إذا هُنَّ سابقْنَ النجومَ لغايةٍ

سبقنَ وخَلَّفنَ النجومَ على الأَثْرِ

When they race the stars toward a goal,

they win, leaving the stars trailing behind.

حواملُ لا تشكُو الخداجَ وربّما

رمتْ ببنيها مرّتينِ من الشهرِ

Pregnant, they do not complain of premature delivery, and sometimes

they cast forth their offspring twice in a month.

أما وَتَرَاميهَا إليكَ مُشيحةً

تصَوُّبَ فتخاءِ الجناحِ إلى وكْرِ

Indeed, by their hurtling toward you, pressing onward,

like a broad-winged bird swooping toward its nest,

كأنّ تمطّيها إذا الريحُ أعْصَفَتْ

بها وتَعَالَى تَحتَها ثَبَجُ البحرِ

as though, stretching onward, when the wind blows fiercely

upon them and the sea's swell rises beneath them—

إذا أتْبَعَتْها الريحُ زفَّتْ كأنَّها

ينوءُ طويلاهَا بقادِمَتَي نَسْرِ

when the wind follows them, they fly, as though

their two tall spars bear a vulture's two foremost wing-feathers—

ظَليمٌ رَعَى حِيناً فأوجَسَ خيفةً

فأقحَمَ يعلُو نَشْرَ أرضٍ إلى نَشْرِ

they were an ostrich that grazed a while, then sensed danger

and plunged ahead, mounting ridge after ridge;

وما حُمَّلَتْ من مِدْحَةٍ عَرَبيةٍ

تُريكَ إذا ما أُنشدتْ عَمَلَ السِّحْرِ

and by the Arabic praise-poem they carry,

which shows you, when recited, the working of magic:

لأنتَ على قُرْبِ المَكَانِ وبُعْدِهِ

إلى القلبِ أدنَى من سِخَابٍ إلى نَحْرِ

surely you, whether the place be near or far,

are nearer to my heart than a scented necklace to a throat.