ريعت لمنشور على مفرقه — Al Akouk

ريعَت لِمَنشورٍ عَلى مَفرِقِهِ

ذَمَّ لَها عَهدَ الصِباحين اِنتَسَب

She was startled by what spread across his parting,

which, when it declared its lineage, discredited youth's promise to her.

أَهدامُ شَيبٍ جُدُدٌ في رَأسِهِ

مَكروهَةُ الجِدَّةِ أَنضاءُ العُقُب

New rags of gray upon his head,

their freshness hated, threadbare in the end.

أَشرَقنَ في أَسوَدَ أَزرينَ بِهِ

كانَ دُجاهُ لِهَوى البيضِ سَبَب

They shone amid black hair and brought it shame,

whose darkness had won the love of fair women.

وَاعتَقنَ أَيّامَ الغَواني وَالصِبا

عَن مَيِّتِ مَطلَبُهُ حُبُّ الأَدَب

And they freed the days of beauties and youth

from a dead man whose quest is love of letters.

لَم يَزدَجِر مُرعَوِياً حينَ اِرعَوى

لكِن يَدٌ لَم تَتَّصِل بِمُطَّلَب

When he drew back, it was not from sober self-restraint,

but because his hand could not reach its goal.

لَم أَرَ كَالشَيبِ وَقاراً يُجتَوى

وَكَالشَبابِ الغَضِّ ظِلّاً يُستَلَب

I have seen no dignity so loathed as gray hair,

nor any shade so snatched away as tender youth.

فَنازِلٌ لَم يُبتَهَج بِقُربِهِ

وَذاهِبٌ أَبقى جَوىً حينَ ذَهَب

So, one arriving whose nearness brought no joy,

and one departing who left burning heartache when he went.

كانَ الشَبابُ لِمَّةً أُزهى بِها

وَصاحِباً حُرّاً عَزيزاً المُصطَحَب

Youth was a full head of hair I wore with pride,

and a noble companion, precious to have beside me.

إِذ أَنا أَجرى سادِراً في غَيِّهِ

لا أُعتِبُ الدَهرَ إِذا الدَهرُ عَتِب

when I raced on, heedless in its waywardness,

I would not appease Time when Time reproached me.

أُبعِدُ شَأوَ اللَهوِ في إِجرائِهِ

وَأَصِدُ الخَودَ وَراءَ المُحتَجَب

I drove pleasure's course far in pursuing it,

and hunted the maiden behind her concealing screen.

وَأَذعَرُ الرَبرَبَ عَن أَطفالِهِ

بِأَعوَجِيٍّ دُلَفي المُنتَسَب

And I startled the gazelle-herd away from its fawns,

on an A'waji steed, Dulafi in lineage.

تَحسَبُهُ مِن مَرَحِ العِزِّ بِهِ

مُستَنفِراً بِرَوعَةٍ وَمُلتَهَب

From the proud exuberance within him, you would think him

fleeing from a sudden fright, and all aflame.

وَهُوَ عَلى إِرهافِهِ وَطَيِّهِ

يَقصُرُ عَنهُ المُحزَمانِ وَاللُبَب

Yet, despite his slenderness and lean build,

the two girths and breast-strap fall short around him.

تَقولُ فيهَ جَنَبٌ إِذا اِنتَحى

وَهُوَ كَمَتنِ القِدحِ ما فيهِ جَنَب

You would say he is crooked when he swerves,

yet he is straight as an arrow-shaft, with no crook in him.

يَخطو عَلى عوجٍ تَناهَبنَ الثَرى

لَم يَتَواكَل عَن شَظىً وَلا عصَب

He strides on bowed limbs that snatch the earth among them,

never faltering in splint-bone or sinew.

تَحسَبُها ثابِتَةً إِذا خَطَت

كَأَنَّها واطِئَةٌ عَلى الرُكَب

You would think them motionless even as they stride,

as though they were treading upon knees.

شَتا وَقاظَ بُرهَتَيهِ عِندَنا

لَم يُؤتَ مِن بَرٍّ بِهِ وَلا حَدَب

He wintered and summered, both seasons, with us,

lacking neither kindness nor tender care.

يُصانُ عَصرَي حَرِّهِ وَقَرِّهِ

وَتَقصُرُ الخورُ عَلَيهِ بِالحَلَب

He is sheltered in both seasons, heat and cold,

and the milk-rich she-camels are milked for him alone.

حَتّى إِذا تَمَّت لَهُ أَعضاؤُهُ

لَم تَنحَبِس واحِدَةٌ عَلى عَتَب

Until, when his limbs had fully matured,

not one was held back by any defect.

رُمنا بِهِ الصَيدَ فَرادَينا بِهِ

أَوابِدَ الوَحشِ فَأَجدى وَاِكتَسَب

We sought game on him, and with him hunted down

the untamed wild beasts; he brought profit and gain.

مُحتَدِمَ الجَري يُبارى ظِلَّهُ

وَيُعرِقُ الأَحقَبَ في سَوطِ الخبب

Fiery in his running, he races his own shadow

and makes the white-bellied wild ass sweat beneath the lash of his trot.

إِذا تَظَنَّينا بِهِ صدّقنا

وَإِن تَظَنّي نَوتَهُ العيرُ كَذَب

Whenever we reckoned on him, he proved us right;

but if the wild ass guessed his course, it was wrong.

لا يَبلُغُ الجَهدَ بِهِ راكِبُهُ

وَيَبلُغُ الريحَ بِهِ حَيثُ طَلَب

His rider cannot drive him to exhaustion,

yet on him he catches the wind wherever he wishes.

ثُمَّ اِنقَضى ذاكَ كَأَن لَم يُعنِهِ

وَكُلُّ بُقيا فَإِلى يَومٍ عَطَب

Then all that passed, as though it had never troubled him,

and all survival leads to a day of ruin.

وَخَلفَ الدَهرُ عَلى أَبنائِهِ

بِالقَدحِ فيهِم وَاِرتِجاعِ ما وَهَب

And Time turned against its children,

striking at them and reclaiming what it had bestowed.

فَحَمِّلِ الدَهرَ اِبنَ عيسى قاسِماً

يَنهَض بِهِ أَبلَجَ فَرّاجَ الكُرَب

So load Qasim son of Isa with Time's burden:

he will shoulder it, bright-faced, a dispeller of distress.

كَرَونَقِ السَيفِ اِنبِلاجاً بِالنّدى

وَكَغِرارَيهِ عَلى أَهلِ الرِيَب

Like the sheen of a sword, radiant in generosity,

and like its twin edges against men of treachery.

ما وَسِنَت عَينٌ رَأَت طَلعَتَهُ

فَاِستَيقَظَت بِنَوبَةٍ مِنَ النُوَب

No eye that saw his face ever slumbered

and then awoke to a visitation of calamity.

لَولا اِبنُ عيسى القَرمُ كُنّا هُمَلاً

لَم يُؤتَثَل مَجدٌ وَلَ يُرعَ حَسَب

Without Ibn Isa, the mighty chief, we would be neglected,

no glory founded, no ancestral honor guarded;

وَلَم يُقَم في يَوم بَأسٍ وَنَدىً

وَلا تَلاقى سَبَبٌ إِلى سَبَب

no stand made on a day of battle and bounty,

nor any bond joined to another.

تَكادُ تبدي الأَرضُ ما تُضمِرُهُ

إِذا تَداعَت خَيلُهُ هَلّا وَهَب

The earth almost reveals what it conceals

when his cavalry rallies to cries of 'Halla! Hab!'

وَيَستَهِلُّ أَمَلاً وَخيفَةً

جانِبُها إِذا اِستَهَلَّ أَو قَطَب

And a cry rises, in hope and fear,

from its flank whenever he beams or frowns.

وَهوَ وَإِن كانَ اِبنَ فَرعى وائِل

فَبِمَساعيهِ تَرَقّى في الحَسَب

And though he is a son of Wa'il's two branches,

it is through his own endeavors that he rose in honor.

وَبِعُلاهُ وَعُلا آبائِهِ

تُحوى غَداةَ السَبقِ أَخطارُ القَصَب

By his eminence and the eminence of his fathers,

the prizes of the victor's reeds are won on race morning.

يا زَهرَةَ الدُنيا وَيا بابَ النَدى

وَيا مُجيرَ الرُعبِ مِن يَومِ الرَهَب

O blossom of the world, and O gateway of bounty,

and O you who shield Terror from the day of dread!

لَولاكَ ما كانَ سَدىً وَلا نَدىً

وَلا قُرَيشٌ عُرِفَت وَلا العَرَب

Without you there would be neither dew nor bounty,

nor would Quraysh or the Arabs be known.

خُذها إِلَيكَ مِن مَلىءٍ بِالثَنا

لكِنَّهُ غَيرُ مَليءٍ بِالنَشَب

Receive it from one rich in praise,

yet not rich in possessions.

وأَثوِ في الأَرضِ أَو اِستَفزِز بِها

أَنتَ عَلَيها الرَأسُ وَالناسُ الذَنَب

And dwell in the land, or journey across it:

you are its head, and the people are its tail.