شهدت لقد أقوت مغانيكم بعدي — Abu Tammam

شَهِدتُ لَقَد أَقوَت مَغانيكُمُ بَعدي

وَمَحَّت كَما مَحَّت وَشائِعُ مِن بُردِ

I bear witness: your dwellings have fallen desolate since I left,

and faded as patterned stripes fade from a cloak.

وَأَنجَدتُمُ مِن بَعدِ إِتهامِ دارِكُم

فَيا دَمعُ أَنجِدني عَلى ساكِني نَجدِ

You moved to Najd after your home had been in Tihamah;

O tears, help me against the dwellers of Najd!

لَعَمري لَقَد أَخلَقتُمُ جَدَّةَ البُكا

بُكاءً وَجَدَّدتُم بِهِ خَلَقَ الوَجدِ

By my life, you have worn out the freshness of weeping

with weeping, and through it renewed longing's threadbare fabric.

وَكَم أَحرَزَت مِنكُم عَلى قُبحِ قَدِّها

صُروفُ النَوى مِن مُرهَفٍ حَسَنِ القَدِّ

How many has it seized from among you, despite its own ugly form—

separation in its turns—slender ones, lovely of figure!

وَمِن زَفرَةٍ تُعطي الصَبابَةَ حَقَّها

وَتوري زِنادَ الشَوقِ تَحتَ الحَشا الصَلدِ

And many a sigh that gives passionate longing its due

and strikes sparks from longing's flints beneath the rock-hard breast;

وَمِن جيدِ غَيداءِ التَثَنّي كَأَنَّما

أَتَتكَ بِلَيتَيها مِنَ الرَشَأِ الفَردِ

and many a neck of a woman languid in her swaying, as though

she had brought you the sides of her neck from a solitary gazelle fawn.

كَأَنَّ عَلَيها كُلَّ عِقدٍ مَلاحَةً

وَحُسناً وَإِن أَمسَت وَأَضحَت بِلا عِقدِ

As though she wore every necklace, in loveliness

and beauty, though evening and morning found her without one.

وَمِن نَظرَةٍ بَينَ السُجوفِ عَليلَةٍ

وَمُحتَضَنٍ شَختٍ وَمُبتَسَمٍ بَردِ

And many a languid glance between the curtains,

a slender waist to embrace, and a cool, smiling mouth;

وَمِن فاحِمٍ جَعدٍ وَمِن كَفَلٍ نَهدِ

وَمِن قَمَرٍ سَعدٍ وَمِن نائِلٍ ثَمدِ

and coal-black, curly hair, and full, high haunches;

and an auspicious moon, and a meager trickle of favor.

مَحاسِنُ ما زالَت مَساوٍ مِنَ النَوى

تُغَطّي عَلَيها أَو مَساوٍ مِنَ الصَدِّ

Beauties that separation's miseries have never ceased

to veil—or else the miseries of rejection.

سَأَجهَدُ عَزمي وَالمَطايا فَإِنَّني

أَرى العَفوَ لا يُمتاحُ إِلّا مِنَ الجَهدِ

I shall tax my resolve and my mounts, for I

see that easy bounty is drawn only from toil.

إِذا الجِدُّ لَم يَجدِد بِنا أَو تَرى الغِنى

صُراحاً إِذا ما صُرِّحَ الجَدُّ بِالجِدِّ

Then striving has not dealt earnestly with us unless you see wealth

unalloyed, when fortune is refined by striving.

وَكَم مَذهَبِ سَبطِ المَناديحِ قَد سَعَت

إِلَيكَ بِهِ الأَيّامُ مِن أَمَلٍ جَعدِ

And down how many a path with smooth, spacious outlets have the days sped

toward you, bearing a tangled hope!

سَرَينَ بِنا زَهواً يَخِدنَ وَإِنَّما

يَبيتُ وَيُمسي النُجحُ في كَنَفِ الوَخدِ

They bore us proudly through the night, striding swiftly; and only

in swift travel's shelter does success spend night and evening.

قَواصِدُ بِالسَيرِ الحَثيثِ إِلى أَبي ال

مُغيثِ فَما تَنفَكُّ تُرقِلُ أَو تَخدي

Heading at a hurried pace toward Abu al-

Mughith, they never cease to trot or stride.

إِلى مُشرِقِ الأَخلاقِ لِلجودِ ما حَوى

وَيَحوي وَما يُخفي مِنَ الأَمرِ أَو يُبدي

Toward one radiant in character: all he has gathered belongs to generosity,

and all he gathers, and whatever affairs he conceals or reveals.

فَتىً لَم تَزَل تُفضي بِهِ طاعَةُ النَدى

إِلى العيشَةِ العَسراءِ وَالسُؤدُدِ الرَغدِ

A young man whom obedience to bounty has never ceased to lead

to a straitened life and unstinted nobility.

إِذا وَعَدَ اِنهَلَّت يَداهُ فَأَهدَتا

لَكَ النُجحَ مَحمولاً عَلى كاهِلِ الوَعدِ

When he promises, his hands rain down and offer

you success, borne on the shoulder of his promise.

دَلوحانِ تَفتَرُّ المَكارِمُ عَنهُما

كَما الغَيثُ مُفتَرٌّ عَنِ البَرقِ وَالرَعدِ

Heavy with bounty, his two hands are revealed as noble deeds unfold,

as rain parts to reveal lightning and thunder.

إِلَيكَ هَدَمنا ما بَنَت في ظُهورِها

ظُهورُ الثَرى الرِبعِيِّ مِن فَدَنٍ نَهدِ

To reach you, we razed what had been built upon their backs

by spring-fed stretches of earth—lofty palaces.

سَرَت تَحمِلُ العُتبى إِلى العَتبِ وَالرِضا

إِلى السُخطِ وَالعُذرَ المُبينَ إِلى الحِقدِ

They traveled by night, carrying amends to reproach, and contentment

to anger, and a clear apology to rancor.

أَموسى بنَ إِبراهيمَ دَعوَةَ خامِسٍ

بِهِ ظَمَأُ التَثريبِ لا ظَمَأُ الوَردِ

O Musa son of Ibrahim, hear the call of one five days athirst,

whose thirst is born of reproach, not the thirst of seeking water.

جَليدٌ عَلى عَتبِ الخُطوبِ إِذا اِلتَوَت

وَلَيسَ عَلى عَتبِ الأَخلاءِ بِالجَلدِ

Hardy under calamities' rebukes when they turn cruel,

but not hardy under the rebukes of close friends.

أَتاني مَعَ الرُكبانِ ظَنٌّ ظَنَنتَهُ

لَفَفتُ لَهُ رَأسي حَياءً مِنَ المَجدِ

A suspicion you conceived reached me with the riders;

I covered my head at it, ashamed before glory.

لَقَد نَكَبَ الغَدرُ الوَفاءَ بِساحَتي

إِذاً وَسَرَحتُ الذَمَّ في مَسرَحِ الحَمدِ

Treachery would indeed have struck fidelity down in my courtyard,

in that case, and I would have loosed blame in praise's pasture.

وَهَتَّكتُ بِالقَولِ الخَنا حُرمَةَ العُلى

وَأَسلَكتُ حُرَّ الشِعرِ في مَسلَكِ العَبدِ

And I would have violated lofty honor's sanctity with foul speech,

and made freeborn poetry tread a slave's path.

نَسيتُ إِذاً كَم مِن يَدٍ لَكَ شاكَلَت

يَدَ القُربِ أَعدَت مُستَهاماً عَلى البُعدِ

I would then have forgotten how many a favor of yours resembled

the hand of nearness, aiding a lovesick man against distance;

وَمِن زَمَنٍ أَلبَستَنيهِ كَأَنَّهُ

إِذا ذُكِرَت أَيّامُهُ زَمَنُ الوَردِ

and many a season you clothed me in, as though it were—

when its days are recalled—the season of roses.

وَأَنَّكَ أَحكَمتَ الَّذي بَينَ فِكرَتي

وَبَينَ القَوافي مِن ذِمامٍ وَمِن عَقدِ

And that you made firm what lay between my thought

and rhymes: a pledged bond and a binding covenant.

وَأَصَّلتَ شِعري فَاِعتَلى رَونَقَ الضُحى

وَلَولاكَ لَم يَظهَر زَماناً مِنَ الغِمدِ

And you unsheathed my poetry, and it outshone the brilliance of morning;

but for you, it would never have emerged from its sheath.

وَكَيفَ وَما أَخلَلتُ بَعدَكَ بِالحِجا

وَأَنتَ فَلَم تُخلِل بِمَكرُمَةٍ بَعدي

How could I, when I have not failed in reason since leaving you,

and you have neglected no noble deed since I left?

أَأُلبِسُ هُجرَ القَولِ مَن لَو هَجَوتُهُ

إِذاً لَهَجاني عَنهُ مَعروفُهُ عِندي

Shall I clothe such a man in foul speech? Were I to lampoon him,

his kindness to me would then lampoon me in his defense.

كَريمٌ مَتى أَمدَحهُ أَمدَحهُ وَالوَرى

مَعي وَمَتى ما لُمتُهُ لُمتُهُ وَحدي

A generous man: whenever I praise him, I praise him with all mankind

beside me; whenever I blame him, I blame him alone.

وَلَو لَم يَزَعني عَنكَ غَيرَكَ وازِعٌ

لَأَعدَيتَني بِالحِلمِ إِنَّ العُلى تُعدي

Even if no restraint but yourself held me back from you,

you would have infected me with forbearance: nobility is contagious.

أَبى ذاكَ أَنّي لَستُ أَعرِفُ دائِماً

عَلى سُؤدُدٍ حَتّى يَدومَ عَلى العَهدِ

That is ruled out, for I count no one steadfast

in nobility unless he remains steadfast to his pledge.

وَأَنّي رَأَيتُ الوَسمَ في خُلُقِ الفَتى

هُوَ الوَسمُ لا ما كانَ في الشَعرِ وَالجِلدِ

And I have seen that the mark in a man's character

is the true mark, not whatever is on his hair and skin.

أَرُدُّ يَدي عَن عِرضِ حُرٍّ وَمَنطِقي

وَأَملَأُها مِن لِبدَةِ الأَسَدِ الوَردِ

I hold my hand and my speech back from a freeborn man's honor,

and fill my hand with the mane of a tawny lion.

فَإِن يَكُ جُرمٌ عَنَّ أَو تَكُ هَفوَةٌ

عَلى خَطَإٍ مِنّي فَعُذري عَلى عَمدِ

So if an offense has arisen, or a lapse occurred

unintentionally on my part, my plea for pardon is deliberate.