ذنب إلى الدهر ما له شافع — أبو المعالي الطالوي

ذَنبٌ إِلى الدَهرِ ما لَهُ شافع

وَنَبوَةٌ ما لِخَطبِها دافِع

An offense against Time, with none to intercede for it,

and a setback whose calamity none can avert:

فَضلٌ بَعيدُ المَنال يَصحبُه

قَلبٌ ذَكيٌّ وَمَنطِقٌ رائِع

excellence hard to attain, accompanied by

a keen heart and striking speech,

وَشيمةٌ شَأنُها الوَفاءُ إِذا

خانَ زَمانٌ أُهَيلَهُ خانِع

and a disposition whose way is fidelity when

a cringing age betrays its little folk.

فَعادَها تُمسي في بُلَهنِيَةٍ

وَخَفضِ عَيشٍ فِناؤُهُ واسِع

So oppose these, and you will pass your evenings in ease,

and in tranquil living, whose courtyard is wide.

وَاِهجُر دُروس العُلوم هَجرَ قِلىً

فَهيَ عَنِ الرِزقِ مانِعٌ قاطِع

Forsake the study of the sciences, abandoning them in hatred,

for they bar livelihood and cut it off.

وَاِجفُ أَخا الفَضلِ كَي تَنالَ مُنى

وَاِصحَب أَخا الجَهلِ يَسعَدِ الطالِع

And shun the man of merit to attain your wishes;

keep company with the ignorant, and your star will prosper.

فَمَن يَكُن في الزَمان ذا أَدبٍ

يَأكُل ما عاشَ في مِعىً ضائِع

For whoever in this age possesses literary learning

eats, as long as he lives, into a wasted gut.

وَالشعر فَاِطرقه كَم طرقتُ بِهِ

آذانَ قَومٍ فَلَم تَجِد سامِع

As for poetry, take it up: how often I knocked with it

upon people's ears, yet you found no listener,

مِن كُلِّ سَيّارَةٍ غَدَت مَثلا

حَدّثَ عَنها المُهَذَّبُ البارِع

with many a far-traveling poem that became a byword,

spoken of by the refined, accomplished man.

لا عَيبَ تُرمى بِهِ سَلِمتَ سِوى

جَفوة حَظٍّ وُقِيتَه هاجِع

No fault is laid on it—may you be safe—except

the harshness of slumbering luck—may you be spared it.

أَخَّرَها دَهرُها العَقُورُ إِلى

دَهرٍ بِذي الفَضل لَم يَكُن ساجِع

Its savage age held it back until

an age that never cooed for a man of merit.

بِهِ شُموسُ العُلوم قَد أَفلَت

وَأَنجُمُ الفَضلِ ما لَها طالِع

In it the suns of the sciences have set,

and none of the stars of merit rises.

سادت بِهِ ثُلَّةٌ وَأَردفها

شاءٌ مِنَ الناسِ هامِلٌ راتِع

A band ruled in it, and following it came

sheep among humankind, untended and grazing.

وَمُغرَمٍ بِالعُلا نَصَحتُ لَهُ

وَالدينُ نُصحٌ أَتى بِهِ الشارِع

And to one enamored of eminence I gave counsel—

and religion is sincere counsel, brought by the Lawgiver.

دَع عَنكَ تطلابَه فَغيرُ فَتى

يَغترُّ مِنهُ بِآلهِ الخادِع

Give up seeking it: many a young man

is deceived by its beguiling mirage.

وَضَع عَنِ النَفس بَعضَ ما حَمَلت

مِن عِبءِ دَهر لِقَدرِها واضِع

And lay aside from the soul some of what it has borne

of the burden of an age that debases its worth.

العَرَجُ فيهِ إِلى السَماءِ عَرَجَت

أَما تَرى نَسرُها غَدا وَاقِع

In it the lame have ascended to heaven;

do you not see that its eagle has fallen?

تُمسي بِأَيدي النَوكى مَدارِسُهُ

نُهبى وَلا مانعٌ وَلا دافِع

Its schools end up in the hands of fools,

as plunder, with no protector and no defender.

لا دارِسٌ عِندَها سَوى طَلل

وَلا عُلومٌ بَل مُعَلِّمٌ خاشِع

No student is there, save a ruined remnant,

and no learning, only a humbled teacher.

هَذا وَلَيلُ لَحظ ساهِره

يَلوحُ فيهِ المَجرُّ كَالشارِع

All this—and a night beneath its sleepless watcher's gaze,

in which the Milky Way gleams like a highway.

تَظَلُّ فيهِ النُجومُ حائِرَةً

تَمشي عَلى الأُفق مَشية الظالِع

In it the stars remain bewildered,

walking along the horizon with a limping gait.

أَبيتُ لا أَطعَمُ الرقادَ بِهِ

عَلى شَباب مِن شرخِيَ الرائِع

I pass the night without tasting sleep in it,

brooding over the youth of my splendid prime.

عَهدي بِهِ وَالغَرام يَشفَعُه

وَالشَرخ عَونٌ إِلى الهَوى شافِع

I remember it with passion keeping it company,

and youth was an aid, an intercessor with love.

حُسّانُ ربعٍ زاهي المَعالِمِ مِن

حُسّانَةِ الجِيدِ لَحظُها خادِع

Beauties of a dwelling with radiant landmarks—among them

one fair of neck, whose gaze beguiles.

طارحتها سَورَةُ الزَمانِ وَما

مُنيتُ فيهِ مِن حَظِّيَ الوادِع

I spoke with her of Time's fury and what

I suffered in it from my idle fortune.

فَقَهقَهَت وَاِنثَنَت مُعاتبةً

وَالعَتبُ لِلحُرِّ رادِعٌ قامِع

Then she laughed aloud and turned to reproach me;

and reproach restrains and subdues a noble man.

عَجِبتُ تَشكو وَقَد رَأَيتُك في

رَوضِ اِبنِ بُستانٍ غُصنُه اليانِع

I marvel that you complain, when I have seen you in

Ibn Bustan's garden, its flourishing bough,

قاضي قُضاة الشآم سَيّدنا

مَن لَم أَزَل في نَوالِهِ طامِع

the chief judge of al-Sham, our master,

whose bounty I have never ceased to hope for.

خَيرُ اِمرئٍ يَمَّمتهُ وَاخِدَةً

نُجبُ الأَماني مِن مهمهٍ شاسِع

The finest man, sought with swift strides

by the noble camels of hopes from a vast wilderness.

إِلَيهِ أَفضَت عُلوم وَالِدِه

طابَ ثَراهُ فَحازَها نافِع

To him passed his father's learning—

may his resting earth be fragrant—and a benefactor acquired it,

بِهِمّةٍ لا يَزالُ قائِدُها

عَزمٌ يَقدُّ المُهَنّد القاطِع

with an ambition whose unfailing guide

is a resolve that cleaves the keen Indian-steel sword,

وَمَنطقٍ لَو وَعى فَصاحَتَهُ

سحبانُ أَضحى لِنَفسهِ باخِع

and speech whose eloquence, if understood by

Sahban, would drive him to destroy himself.

مَولىً أَياديهِ جُودها هامِع

وَبابُ ناديهِ مَلجأ الفازِع

A patron, the bounty of whose gifts pours like rain,

and the door of whose assembly is a refuge for the fearful.

إِلى ذُراهُ أَتَيتُ مُشتَكياً

بَينَ يَدَيهِ لِقِصَّتي رافِع

To his heights I came complaining,

before him, presenting my case:

دَيناً عَلى الدَهرِ قَد أَلطَّ بِهِ

أَلدُّ خَصمٍ عَلى الفَتى رائِع

a debt owed by Time, stubbornly withheld by

a most obstinate foe, terrifying to a young man.

من ذاكَ ما الناظِرُ البَصيرُ يَرى

تَوزيعهُ مِن عُلوفة الجامِع

Part of that is what the discerning overseer sees fit

to distribute from the congregational mosque's stipend.

وَحاجَةٌ ما في النَفسِ ما قُضيَت

عَنها سُكوتي لَدَيكُم شافِع

And a certain need in my soul has not been fulfilled;

my silence about it before you is an intercessor:

إِنجاز وَعدٍ أَوجبتُمُ كَرَماً

لِعَبدِ رِقٍّ بِبابكم خاضِع

the fulfillment of a promise you generously undertook

to a slave in bondage, submissive at your door.

رِضاه فيما يَراه سَيِّدُهُ

فَخَيرُ عَبدٍ بِقِسمَةٍ قانِع

His contentment lies in what his master deems fit,

for the best slave is content with an allotted share.

وَاِسلَم وَدُم ما رَقَت عَلى فَنَنٍ

وُرقٌ وَما افتنّ في ربىً ساجِع

And may you be safe and endure, as long as a bough is climbed

by gray doves, and as long as a cooing bird varies its song on the hills.