أرأيت أي سوالف وخدود — Abu Tammam

أَرَأَيتَ أَيُّ سَوالِفٍ وَخُدودِ

عَنَّت لَنا بَينَ اللِوى فَزَرودِ

Have you seen what necks and cheeks

appeared to us between al-Liwa and Zarud?

أَترابُ غافِلَةِ اللَيالي أَلَّفَت

عُقَدَ الهَوى في يارَقِ وَعُقودِ

Age-mates of a girl heedless of the nights, who has bound

love's knots into a bracelet and necklaces.

بَيضاءُ يَصرَعُها الصِبا عَبَثَ الصَبا

أُصُلاً بِخوطِ البانَةِ الأُملودِ

A fair woman whom youthful ardor fells, as the east wind plays

at dusk with the bān tree's tender, supple shoot.

وَحشِيَّةٌ تَرمي القُلوبَ إِذا اِغتَدَت

وَسنى فَما تَصطادُ غَيرَ الصيدِ

A wild beauty who shoots at hearts when she goes forth at dawn

drowsy, hunting none but the proud.

لا حَزمَ عِندَ مُجَرِّبٍ فيها وَلا

جَبّارُ قَومٍ عِندَها بِعَنيدِ

No experienced man keeps his prudence with her, nor

does a people's mighty lord stand unyielding before her.

مالي بِرَبعٍ مِنهُمُ مَعهودُ

إِلّا الأَسى وَعَزيمَةُ المَجلودِ

At a dwelling of theirs, nothing is familiar to me

but sorrow and the resolve of a toughened man.

إِن كانَ مَسعودٌ سَقى أَطلالَهُم

سَبَلَ الشُؤونِ فَلَستُ مِن مَسعودِ

If Mas'ud watered their ruined dwellings

with a downpour from his tear ducts, I am no Mas'ud.

ظَعَنوا فَكانَ بُكايَ حَولاً بَعدَهُم

ثُمَّ اِرعَوَيتُ وَذاكَ حُكمُ لَبيدِ

They departed, and my weeping lasted a year after them;

then I checked myself: that is Labid's rule.

أَجدِر بِجِمرَةِ لَوعَةٍ إِطفاؤُها

بِالدَمعِ أَن تَزدادَ طولَ وُقودِ

How apt an ember of anguish is, when quenched

with tears, to burn all the longer!

لا أُفقِرُ الطَرَبَ القِلاصَ وَلا أُرى

مَع زيرِ نِسوانٍ أَشُدُّ قُتودي

I do not lend my young she-camels to longing, nor am I seen

fastening my saddle frames beside a haunter of women.

شَوقٌ ضَرَحتُ قَذاتَهُ عَن مَشرَبي

وَهَوىً أَطَرتُ لِحاءَهُ عَن عودي

Longing: I cast its mote out of my drinking water;

and passion: I sent its bark flying from my branch.

عامي وَعامُ العيسِ بَينَ وَديقَةٍ

مَسجورَةٍ وَتَنوفَةٍ صَيخودِ

My year, and that of the pale camels, passes between noonday heat

fiercely kindled, and a rock-hard wilderness.

حَتّى أُغادِرَ كُلَّ يَومٍ بِالفَلا

لِلطَيرِ عيداً مِن بَناتِ العيدِ

Until each day I leave in the wastes

a feast for birds from the daughters of al-'Id.

هَيهاتَ مِنها رَوضَةٌ مَحمودَةٌ

حَتّى تُناخَ بِأَحمَدَ المَحمودِ

A praiseworthy meadow is far from them

until they are made to kneel before Ahmad, the praised.

بِمُعَرَّسِ العَرَبِ الَّذي وَجَدَت بِهِ

أَمنَ المَروعِ وَنَجدَةَ المَنجودِ

At the Arabs' halting-place, where they have found

safety for the frightened and succor for the distressed.

حَلَّت عُرا أَثقالِها وَهُمومَها

أَبناءُ إِسماعيلَ فيهِ وَهودِ

Their burdens' bindings and their cares were undone

there by the sons of Isma'il and Hud.

أَمَلٌ أَناخَ بِهِم وُفوداً فَاِغتَدَوا

مِن عِندِهُ وَهُمُ مُناخُ وُفودِ

Hope brought them to halt as delegations; at dawn they departed

from him themselves a halting-place for delegations.

بَدَأَ النَدى وَأَعادَهُ فيهِم وَكَم

مِن مُبدِئٍ لِلعُرفِ غَيرُ مُعيدِ

He began his generosity and renewed it among them; how many

begin a kindness, but never repeat it!

يا أَحمَدَ بنَ أَبي دُوادٍ حُطتَني

بِحِياطَتي وَلَدَدتَني بِلُدودي

O Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad, you guarded me

with my own care, and dosed me with my own medicine.

وَمَنَحتَني وُدّاً حَمَيتُ ذِمارَهُ

وَذِمامَهُ مِن هِجرَةٍ وَصُدودِ

And you granted me affection whose honor I guarded

and whose bond I kept from estrangement and rejection.

وَلَكَم عَدُوٍّ قالَ لي مُتَمَثِّلاً

كَم مِن وَدودٍ لَيسَ بِالمَودودِ

How many an enemy said to me, quoting a proverb:

'Many a loving friend is not loved in return.'

أَضجَت إِيادٌ في مَعَدٍّ كُلِّها

وَهُمُ إِيادُ بِنائِها المَمدودِ

Iyad's voice rang out through all of Ma'add,

and they are the buttress of its far-reaching structure.

تَنميكَ في قُلَلِ المَكارِمِ وَالعُلى

زُهرٌ لِزُهرِ أُبُوَّةٍ وَجُدودِ

You are raised to the summits of noble deeds and glory

by Zuhr, through illustrious fathers and forefathers.

إِن كُنتُمُ عادِيَّ ذاكَ النَبعِ إِن

نَسَبوا وَفَلقَةَ ذَلِكَ الجُلمودِ

If you are the ancient stock of that nab' tree, when

they trace ancestry, and a chip from that boulder,

وَشَرِكتُموهُم دونَنا فَلَأَنتُمُ

شُرَكاؤُنا مِن دونِهِم في الجودِ

and share their line apart from us, then surely you are

our partners, not theirs, in generosity.

كَعبٌ وَحاتَمٌ اللَذانِ تَقَسَّما

خُطَطَ العُلى مِن طارِفٍ وَتَليدِ

Ka'b and Hatim, the two who divided between them

the domains of glory, newly won and ancestral.

هَذا الَّذي خَلَفَ السَحابَ وَماتَ ذا

في المَجدِ ميتَةَ خِضرِمٍ صِنديدِ

This one took the clouds' place, while that one died

in glory, the death of a munificent, dauntless lord.

إِلّا يَكُن فيها الشَهيدَ فَقَومُهُ

لا يَسمَحونَ بِهِ بِأَلفِ شَهيدِ

If he was not its martyr, then his people

would not trade him for a thousand martyrs.

ما قاسَيا في المَجدِ إِلّا دونَ ما

قاسَيتَهُ في العَدلِ وَالتَوحيدِ

What those two endured for glory was less than what

you endured for justice and God's oneness.

فَاِسمَع مَقالَةَ زائِرٍ لَم تَشتَبِه

آراؤُهُ عِندَ اِشتِباهِ البيدِ

So hear a visitor's words, unconfused

in his judgments when the deserts grew indistinguishable.

يَستامُ بَعضَ القَولِ مِنكَ بِفِعلِهِ

كَمَلاً وَعَفوَ رِضاكَ بِالمَجهودِ

He asks a few words of you in return for his deeds

in full, and your freely granted approval for his utmost effort.

أَسرى طَريداً لِلحَياءِ مِنَ الَّتي

زَعَموا وَلَيسَ لِرَهبَةٍ بِطَريدِ

He traveled by night, driven away by shame at what

they alleged, not driven away by fear.

كُنتَ الرَبيعَ أَمامَهُ وَوَراءَهُ

قَمَرُ القَبائِلِ خالِدِ بنِ يَزيدِ

You were spring before him, and behind him stood

the moon of the tribes, Khalid ibn Yazid.

فَالغَيثُ مِن زُهرٍ سَحابَةُ رَأفَةٍ

وَالرُكنُ مِن شَيبانَ طَودُ حَديدِ

So the rain from Zuhr is a cloud of compassion,

and the pillar from Shayban a mountain of iron.

وَغَداً تَبَيَّنُ ما بَراءَةُ ساحَتي

لَو قَد نَفَضتَ تَهائِمي وَنُجودي

And tomorrow you will see my courtyard clear of blame,

once you have shaken out my lowlands and uplands.

هَذا الوَليدُ رَأى التَثَبُّتَ بَعدَما

قالوا يَزيدُ بنُ المُهَلَّبِ مودِ

Here is al-Walid: he chose to verify after

they said, 'Yazid ibn al-Muhallab is doomed.'

فَتَزَعزَعَ الزورُ المُؤَسَّسُ عِندَهُ

وَبِناءُ هَذا الإِفكِ غَيرُ مَشيدِ

So the falsehood firmly founded before him was shaken,

and this lie's structure is not firmly built.

وَتَمَكَّنَ اِبنُ أَبي سَعيدٍ مِن حِجا

مَلِكٍ بِشُكرِ بَني المُلوكِ سَعيدِ

And Ibn Abi Sa'id won a firm place in the mind

of a king made happy by the gratitude of kings' sons.

ما خالِدٌ لي دونَ أَيّوبٍ وَلا

عَبدُ العَزيزِ وَلَستُ دونَ وَليدِ

Khalid is to me no less than Ayyub or

'Abd al-'Aziz; and I am no less than Walid.

نَفسي فِداؤُكَ أَيَّ بابٍ مُلِمَّةٍ

لَم يُرمَ فيهِ إِلَيكَ بِالإِقليدِ

May my soul ransom you! What door of calamity

has not had its key cast to you?

لِمُقارِفِ البُهتانِ غَيرُ مُقارِفٍ

وَمِنَ البَعيدِ الرَهطِ غَيرُ بَعيدِ

You are no companion to a perpetrator of slander,

and though of a distant clan, you are not distant.

لَمّا أَظَلَّتني غَمامُكَ أَصبَحَت

تِلكَ الشُهودُ عَلَيَّ وَهِيَ شُهودي

When your clouds shaded me, those

witnesses against me became my own witnesses.

مِن بَعدِ أَن ظَنّوا بِأَن سَيَكونُ لي

يَومٌ بِبَغيِِهِم كَيَومِ عَبيدِ

After they had thought that I would have

through their injustice a day like 'Ubayd's.

أُمنِيَّةٌ ما صادَفوا شَيطانَها

فيها بِعِفريتٍ وَلا بِمَريدِ

A wish: they did not find its devil

to be a mighty demon or a rebellious fiend.

نَزَعوا بِسَهمِ قَطيعَةٍ يَهفو بِهِ

ريشُ العُقوقِ فَكانَ غَيرَ سَديدِ

They shot an arrow of estrangement; on it fluttered

disloyalty's feathers, so it did not fly true.

وَإِذا أَرادَ اللَهُ نَشرَ فَضيلَةٍ

طُوِيَت أَتاحَ لَها لِسانَ حَسودِ

And when God wills to spread a virtue

folded away, He grants it an envier's tongue.

لَولا اِشتِعالُ النارِ فيما جاوَرَت

ما كانَ يُعرَفُ طيبُ عَرفِ العودِ

Were it not for fire blazing in what it adjoins,

the sweet fragrance of aloeswood would never be known.

لَولا التَخَوُّفَ لِلعَواقِبِ لَم تَزَل

لِلحاسِدِ النُعمى عَلى المَحسودِ

But for fear of the consequences, there would always be

a favor for which the envied owed the envier thanks.

خُذها مُثَقَّفَةَ القَوافي رَبُّها

لِسَوابِغِ النَعماءِ غَيرُ كَنودِ

Take it, with finely honed rhymes; its maker

is not ungrateful for overflowing favors.

حَذّاءُ تَملَأُ كُلَّ أُذنٍ حِكمَةً

وَبَلاغَةً وَتُدَرُّ كُلَّ وَريدِ

Swift-ranging, it fills every ear with wisdom

and eloquence, and makes every vein gush.

كَالطَعنَةِ النَجلاءِ مِن يَدِ ثائِرٍ

بِأَخيهِ أَو كَالضَربَةِ الأُخدودِ

Like a gaping thrust from the hand of one avenging

his brother, or like a furrow-cutting blow.

كَالدُرِّ وَالمَرجانِ أُلِّفَ نَظمُهُ

بِالشَذرِ في عُنُقِ الفَتاةِ الرودِ

Like pearls and coral, whose stringing is joined

with gold beads on a graceful maiden's neck.

كَشَقيقَةِ البُردِ المُنَمنَمِ وَشيُهُ

في أَرضِ مَهرَةَ أَو بِلادِ تَزيدِ

Like a length of cloak-cloth with finely patterned embroidery

in the land of Mahra or the country of Tazid.

يُعطي بِها البُشرى الكَريمُ وَيَحتَبي

بِرِدائِها في المَحفَلِ المَشهودِ

A noble man gives a reward for its glad tidings, and sits wrapped

in its mantle at the well-attended gathering—

بُشرى الغَنِيِّ أَبي البَناتِ تَتابَعَت

بُشَراؤُهُ بِالفارِسِ المَولودِ

the reward of a wealthy father of daughters, whose

heralds come in succession announcing a newborn horseman.

كَرُقى الأَساوِدِ وَالأَراقِمِ طالَما

نَزَعَت حُماتَ سَخائِمٍ وَحُقودِ

Like charms against black and speckled serpents, it has often

drawn out the venom of rancor and hatred.