ما اعتاد حب سليمى حين معتاد — Al Qatami Al Taghlibi

ما اعتادَ حُبُّ سُليمى حينَ مُعتادِ

ولا تقضّى بواديدَينها الطَّادي

Love for Sulayma did not return at its accustomed hour,

nor did [unclear wording concerning her] come to an end,

إِلاَّ كما كنت تلقى من صواحبِها

ولا كيومِكِ من غرّاءَ ورّادِ

except as you used to encounter it among her companions;

nor was anything like your day with a radiant, oft-visiting beauty.

بيضاءُ محطوطَةُ المَتنينِ بَهكَنَّة

ريّا الروادفِ لم تُمغِل بأولادِ

White-skinned, smooth-backed, soft and full-bodied,

full-hipped, not worn by children born in quick succession.

ما للكواعبِ وَدَّعنَ الحياةَ كما

وَدَّعنَني واتخذنَ الشَّيبَ ميعادي

What ails the budding-breasted girls? May they leave life as

they left me, making gray hair my appointed hour!

أبصارُهُنَّ إِلى الشُبَّانِ مائلةٌ

وقد اراهُنَّ عني غَيرَ صُدّادِ

Their eyes incline toward the young men,

though once I saw them not turn away from me,

إذ باطلي لم تَقشَّع جاهليتُه

عني ولم يترك الخلانُ تقوادي

when the youthful ignorance of my frivolity had not dispersed

from me, and my friends had not stopped leading me along.

كنيّةِ القومِ من ذي الغضبةِ احتملوا

مستحقبينَ فؤاداً ما له فاد

True to the people's resolve, they departed from Dhu al-Ghadba,

carrying off a heart for which there was no ransomer.

محددينَ لِبَرقٍ صابَ في خيمٍ

وفي القُرَيّةِ رادوهُ برُوّادِ

Setting their course toward lightning whose rain fell in Khaym,

and in al-Qurayya they explored it with scouts.

بانوا وكانَت حياتي في اجتماعِهِمُ

وفي تفرقِهم موتي وإقصادي

They departed; my life had been in their being together,

and in their separation lay my death and destruction.

أرمي قَصيدَهُمُ طرفي وقد سلكوا

بين المُجيمرِ فالرَّوحاءَِ فالوادي

I cast my gaze toward them as they took their way

between al-Mujaymir, then al-Rawha, then the valley.

يخفون طَوراً وأحياناً إذا طَلعوا

طَوداً بدا لي من اجمالهِم بادِ

They disappear at times; sometimes, when they crest

a mountain, an outline of their camels appears before me.

وفي الخدورِ غماماتٌ بَرَقنَ لنا

حتى تصيَّدنَنا من كُلِّ مُصطادِ

Within the curtained litters, clouds flashed before us,

until they hunted us from every hunting ground.

يَقتُلننا بحديثٍ ليس يَعلَمُه

من يتقينَ ولا مكنونُه بادِ

They kill us with talk unknown

to those they guard against, its secret unrevealed.

فَهُنَّ يَنبِذنَ من قَولِ يُصبنَ به

مواقعَ الماءِ من ذي الغُلَّةَ الصّادي

They cast out words with which they strike

the places water reaches in a man burning with thirst.

المعنَ يقصُرنَ من بُختٍ مُخيَّسَةٍ

ومن عرابٍ بعيداتٍ من الحادي

They beckoned, restraining tamed Bactrian camels,

and Arabian camels far from the camel-driver.

تبدو إذا انكشفت عنها اشلتُها

منها خصائِلُ أفخاذٍ وأعضادِ

When her coverings fall away, there appear

the fleshy contours of her thighs and upper arms,

من كُلِّ بَهكَنةٍ القت اشلتَها

على هِبلٍّ كرُكنِ الطَود مُنقادِ

of every soft, full-bodied woman who casts her coverings

over a huge camel led along like a mountainside.

وَكُلُّ ذلك منها كلما رَفَعَت

منها المكري ومنها الليّن السادي

All these charms of hers show whenever she quickens,

on her hired mount or her gentle, long-striding one.

حتى إذا الحيُّ مالوا بَعدَ ما ذَعَروا

وَحشَ اللهيمِ بأمواتٍ وطُرّادِ

Until, when the tribe turned aside after startling

the game of al-Luhaym, leaving some dead and others driven off,

حَلّوا بأخضرَ قد مالَت سرارتُهُ

من ماءِ مُزنٍ على الأعراض أنضادِ

they camped in a green tract, its fertile hollow weighed down

by water from rain clouds banked upon the ridges.

قَفرٌ تظَل مَكاكيُّ النهارِ بِهِ

كأن أصواتها أصواتُ نُشّادِ

A wilderness where larks spend the daylight hours,

their voices seeming like the voices of singers.

مالي أرى الناسَ مزورّاً فحولُهم

عني اذا سَمِعوا صوتي وإنشادي

Why do I see the people's master poets turning aside

from me when they hear my voice and my recitation,

إِلا أُخيَّ بني الجَوال يوعدُني

ماذا يريدُ ابنُ جَوّالٍ بايعادي

except that little fellow of Banu al-Jawwal, who threatens me?

What does Ibn Jawwal want by threatening me?

وطالما ذَبَّ عني سُيَّرٌ شُردٌ

يَصبَحنَ فوقَ لسانِ الراكبِ الغادي

How often far-ranging, wandering verses have defended me,

appearing at dawn on the tongue of the rider setting out early.

فاسأل نِزاراً فقد كانت تُنازلُني

بالنَّصفِ من بينِ اسخانٍ وابرادِ

Ask Nizar, for it used to meet me in contest

with fair dealing, between heating and cooling.

وأسأل اياداً وكانوا طالما حَضروا

مِني بواطنَ إدناءٍ وإبعادِ

And ask Iyad: often they have witnessed

from me the inner workings of drawing near and driving away,

عني وَعن قُرَّحِ كانت تَضُمُّ معي

حتى تقطَّعَ من مَثنى وفُرَّادِ

from me and from seasoned steeds of verse that gathered with me,

until they scattered in pairs and singly.

فلا يطيقونَ حَملي إذ هجوتُهُمُ

وإن مَدَحتُهُمُ لم يَبغَلوا آدي

They cannot bear my burden when I satirize them,

and when I praise them, they cannot match my strength.

مَن مُبلِغٌ زُفَرَ القيسي مِدحَتَهُ

عن القطاميِّ قولاً غَيرَ أفنادِ

Who will carry to Zufar al-Qaysi his praise,

from al-Qutami, in words free of falsehood?

إني وإن كانَ قَومي ليس بينهم

وبين قومِك إلا ضَربَةُ الهادي

Though my people have nothing between them

and your people but a blow to the neck,

مُثنٍ عليك بما استبقيت مَعرِفَتي

وقد تعرضَ مني مقتَلٌ بادِ

I praise you for preserving your regard for me,

when a spot where I could be killed lay exposed.

فَلَن أُثيبَك بالنَّعماءِ مَشتَمَةً

ولَن أكافىءَ اصلاحاً بإفسَادِ

I will not repay your kindness with an insult,

nor repay your mending with destruction.

وإن هَجَوتُك ما تمت مُكارَمتي

وإن مَدَحتُ فقد أحسنتَ اصفادي

If I satirized you, my honorable conduct would fall short;

if I praise you, you have indeed bestowed gifts generously on me.

وما نَسيست مقامَ الوردِ تجعلُه

بيني وبينَ حفيفِ الغابةِ الغادي

Nor have I forgotten al-Ward's stand, which you placed

between me and the thicket's rustle as it advanced at dawn.

قتلتَ بكراً وكلباً واثَّلَثتَ

وَقَد اردتَ بأن يَستَجمعَ الوادي

You slew Bakr and Kalb, and struck a third time,

intending that the valley should muster in full.

لولا كتائِبُ مِن عمروٍ تَصولُ بها

أرديتَ يا خيرَ مَن يندو له النادي

But for battalions from Amr with which you charged,

you would have been slain, O finest of those for whom the assembly gathers.

اذ لا ترَى العينُ إِلا كُلَّ سَلهَبَةٍ

وسابحٍ مثل سيدِ الرَّدهَةِ العادي

When the eye saw only tall, long-bodied mares,

and swimming steeds like the rushing wolf of the hollow.

إذا الفوارِسُ من قيسٍ بشكَّتِهِم

حولي شهودٌ وقومي غَيرُ شُهَادِ

When the horsemen of Qays, in their armor,

stood around me, while my own people were absent,

إذ يعتريك رِجالٌ يسألون دمي

ولو اطعتَهُمُ أبكيتَ عُوّادي

men approached you and demanded my blood;

had you obeyed them, you would have made my visitors weep.

فَقَد عصيتَهم والحَربُ مقبلةٌ

لا بَل قَدَحتَ زَناداً غَيرَ صلاَّدِ

You disobeyed them as war advanced;

no—rather, you struck fire from firesticks that did not fail.

والصِيدُ آلُ نُفَيلٍ خيرُ قومِهِمُ

عندَ الشتاءِ إذا ما ضُنَّ بالزَّادِ

And the proud lords of the house of Nufayl are their people's finest

in winter, when provisions are grudged,

المانِعونَ غداةَ الرَّوع جارَهُمُ

بالمَشرِفِيَّة من ماضِ ومُنَادِ

protecting their neighbor on the morning of terror

with Mashrafi swords, against attackers and challengers.

أيامَ قومي مَكاني مَنصِبٌ لَهم

ولا يظنونَ إلا أنَّني رادِ

In days when my whereabouts troubled my people,

and they thought only that I was doomed,

فانتاشَني لَكَ من غبراءَ مظلمةٍ

حَبلٌ تضمَّنَ إصداري وإيرادي

then, for your sake, I was plucked from a dark, dust-gray plight

by a bond that secured my departure and arrival.

ولا كَرَدَّكَ مالي بَعدَما كَرُبَت

تُبدي الشماتةَ أَعدائي وحُسَّادي

Nor was anything like your returning my wealth, when they nearly

displayed their gloating—my enemies and enviers.

فإن قدرتَ على شيءٍ جُزيتَ به

واللهُ يَجعَلُ أقواماً بِمِرصادِ

Whatever you are able to do, may you be rewarded for it;

and God sets peoples on the watch.

نفسي فداءُ بني أم هُمُ خلطوا

يومَ العَروبةِ اوراداً بأورادِ

My soul be the ransom of sons of one mother, who mingled

on the day of al-Aruba, one arriving host with another.

بيضٌ صوارمُ كالشهبانِ تعسفها

في البيضِ من مستقيماتِ ومنآدِ

Bright, keen swords like meteors, driven forcefully

into helmets, some straight and some bent.

نُبِّئتُ قَيساً على الحشَاك قد نَزلوا

منا بحيٍّ على الأضيافِ حُشَادِ

I was told that Qays had descended at al-Hashak

upon a tribe of ours that gathers eagerly for guests,

في المَجدِ والشَرَفِ العالي ذوي أَمَلٍ

وفي الحياةِ وفي الأموال زهّادِ

aspiring to glory and lofty honor,

but unattached to life and wealth.

الضاربينَ عُميراً في بيوتِهِمُ

بالتلِّ يومَ عُميرٌ ظالِمٌ عادِ

Those who struck Umayr in their dwellings

at al-Tall, on the day when Umayr was unjust and aggressive.

ثابت له عُصَبٌ من مالِكٍ رُجُحٌ

عند اللقاءِ مساريعُ إلى النادي

Bands of Malik rallied to him, stalwart men,

in battle, swift to reach the assembly.

ليست تُجَرَّحُ فُرَاراً ظهورُهم

وفي النّحورِ كُلومٌ ذاتُ أبلادِ

Their backs are not wounded in flight,

but their throats bear wounds with broad marks.

لا يَغمُدونَ لهم سَيفاً وقد عَلِموا

إن لا يَكُن لهم أيامُ اغمادِ

They do not sheath a sword of theirs, knowing

that they have no days for sheathing.

لا يُبعِد اللهُ قوماً من عشيرَتِنا

لم يخذلونا على الجُلى ولا العادي

May God not carry off people of our clan

who did not fail us in great calamity or before an assailant.

مَحميةً وحِفاظاً إنّها شِيَمٌ

كانت لقومي عاداتٍ من العادِ

Protective zeal and loyalty: these are qualities

that were established customs among my people.

لم تَلقَ قوماً هُمُ شَرِّ لاخوتهم

منا عَشيةً يجري بالدَّمِ الوادي

You have never met a people harsher toward their brothers

than us, on an evening when the valley flows with blood.

حَالَ الحوادثُ والأيامُ دونَهُمُ

ونحنُ من من بَعدِهِم لَسنا بخُلاَّدِ

Events and days have come between us and them;

and we, among those after them, are not immortal.

مُستَلبثينَ وماكانت أناتُهم

إِلا كما لَبِثَ الضَّاحي عن الغادي

Lingering awhile, their delay was

only as a late-morning traveler lags behind an early one.

ودعوةٍ قد سِمعنا لا يقومُ لها

إِلا الحفاظُ والا المِقنَبُ الآدي

Many a summons have we heard that none can answer

except loyalty and a well-equipped cavalry troop.

حتى إذا كانت النيرانُ بينَهُمُ

للحَرب يُوقدونَ لا يُوَقدنَ للزّادِ

Until, when fires were burning among them,

they lit them for war, not for food;

واستعجلونا وكانوا من صَحَابَتِنا

كما تعجل فراطٌ لروّادِ

they hurried us, though they had been our companions,

as water-forerunners hasten for the scouts.

نَقربهُمُ لهذمياتٍ نَقُدُّ بها

ما كان خاطَ عليهم كُلَّ زَرَادِ

We serve them keen-bladed spears with which we slice

through all that every armorer had stitched over them.

ابلِغ ربيعةَ اعلاها واسفَلَها

انا وقيساً تَوافينا لميعادِ

Tell Rabia, its highest and its lowest,

that we and Qays met at an appointed time.

وكان قومي ولم تَغدُر لهم ذِمَمٌ

كطالبِ الدَينِ مُستَوفٍ ومُزدادِ

My people, whose pledges had never proved false,

were like a creditor collecting his due and more.

ولو تبينتُ قومي ما وَجَدتُهُم

في طالعينَ من الثرثار نُدَّادِ

Had I examined my people, I would not have found them

among fugitives emerging from al-Tharthar.