أقصر الزاجر عنه فازدجر — Al Sari Al Raffa

أَقصَرَ الزَّاجِرُ عنه فازدَجَرْ

وطوَى اللائمُ ما كانَ نَشَرْ

The rebuker ceased rebuking him, and he took heed.

And the reproacher folded away what he had spread.

حمَلَ الغَيُّ عليه أَصْرَه

فإذا قيلَ ارعوى عنه أصرّ

Waywardness laid its burden upon him;

Yet whenever he was said to have turned from it, he persisted.

قائلٌ إنْ نُذُرُ الشَّيبِ بدَت

في عِذاريه وما تُغْني النُّذُر

He says, if the warnings of gray hair appear

In his sideburns—and what use are warnings?

شَعَرٌ ماتَ على مَفرقِهِ

وحياةُ المرء في مَوْتِ الشَّعَر

Hair that has died upon his crown,

Yet a man's life lies in the death of his hair.

وشبابٌ جَفَّ إلا شَجَرٌ

مُوجِفٌ منه وكم يبقَى الشَّجَر

And youth has withered, save for trees

Still quivering from it—how long can trees endure?

يا خليليَّ اطلُبا وِتْرَكما

تَجِداه بين كأسٍ ووَتَر

O my two friends, seek your desire;

You will find it between a cup and a lute-string.

شاقني مُستَشرَفُ الدَّيرِ وقد

راحَ صَوبُ المُزنِ فيه وبكرَ

The monastery's lookout stirred my longing, while

The clouds' downpour had come there at evening and at dawn.

أهواءٌ رَقَّ في أرجائِهِ

أم هوىً راقَ فما فيه كَدَر

Is it air grown gentle in its precincts,

Or love grown clear, with no murk within it?

وخُدودٌ سفَرَتْ عن وَرْدِها

أم ربيعٌ عن جَنى الوَرْدِ سفَر

And are these cheeks unveiling their roses,

Or spring unveiling the harvest of roses?

مَجلِسٌ يَنصرِفُ الَّشرْبُ وما

طُويَتْ من بَسطَةٍ تلك الحِبَر

A gathering the drinkers leave, yet

Those spread-out patterned cloths have not been folded away.

وكأنَّ الشَّمسَ فيه نثرَتْ

ورَقاً من بينِ أوراقِ الشَّجَر

And it is as though the sun had scattered there

Silver coins from among the leaves of the trees,

بينَ غَدْرٍ يَقَعُ الطَّيرُ بها

فتراهُنَّ رِياضاً في غُدُر

Among pools on which birds alight,

So you see them as gardens within pools.

وثَرىً يَشهَدُ بالطِّيبِ له

عَبَقٌ حالفَ أطرافَ الأُزُر

And soil, whose fragrance is attested by

A scent allied with the hems of waist-wraps.

وغيومٌ نشرَتْ أعلامَها

فلها ظِلٌّ علينا مُنتَشِر

And clouds that have unfurled their banners,

So their shade lies spread over us.

ونسيمٌ عطَّرَ الروضَ فإنْ

طارَ في الصُّبحِ ارتديناه عُطُر

And a breeze that has perfumed the meadow; if

It flies at dawn, we wear it as perfume.

نحنُ في ظلِّ وصالٍ سجسجٍ

ناعمِ الآصالِ فينانِ البُكَر

We are in the temperate shade of union,

Gentle in its late afternoons, luxuriant in its early mornings.

وإذا الدَّهرُ رمانا صَرفُه

فبِعَمَّارِ بنِ نَصْرٍ ننتَصِرْ

And when Time's vicissitudes assail us,

Then through Ammar ibn Nasr we prevail.

يا أميراً خضعَ الدَّهرُ له

فغَدا يفعلُ طُرّاً ما أمر

O prince to whom Time has bowed,

So now it does, in full, all he commands.

وإذا الجَدبُ عرَا كان حيّاً

وإذا الخَطبُ دَجى كان قَمر

And when drought befalls, he is life-giving rain;

And when calamity grows dark, he is a moon.

وإذا هُزَّ لمَعروفٍ مضَى

كالحُسامِ العَضبِ إن هُزَّ بتَر

And when stirred to generosity, he goes forth,

Like a keen-edged sword: if brandished, it severs.

صادقُ البِشْر ترى ماءَ النَّدى

يرتقي في وَجْهِهِ أو يَنحدِر

With genuine cheer, you see the water of bounty

Rise in his face or flow down.

فلهُ فيه اطِّرادٌ كامِنٌ

كاطِّرادِ الماءِ في العَضْبِ الذَّكَرْ

For it has a hidden flow there,

Like the flow of water in a keen, hard-steeled blade.

قلتُ إذ بَرَّزَ سَبْقاً في العُلى

أَ إلى المَجْدِ طريقٌ مُختصَر

I said, when he outstripped others in lofty rank:

Is there a shortcut to glory?

إنْ تكُنْ تَغِلبُ يوماً وَسَمتْ

صفحةَ الدَّهرِ بيومٍ مَشتَهَر

If Taghlib once marked

The face of Time with a renowned day,

فبنو الحارثِ فيهم وَزَرٌ

حينَ لا يُنجي من الدَّهرِ وَزَر

Then among the sons of al-Harith there is refuge,

When no refuge saves one from Time.

فعَدِيٌّ غُرَرُ المَجدِ إذا

قُسِمَ المجدُ حُجولاً وغُرَر

For Adi are the forehead blazes of glory, when

Glory is divided into white leg-marks and forehead blazes.

مَعشَرٌ لولا أحاديثُ النَّدى

عنهمُ لم يَعرفِ الناسُ السَّمَر

A people—were it not for tales of bounty

About them, people would not have known night-time conversation.

يا أبا اليقظانِ أيقظْتَ النَّدى

فملأْتَ البدوَ منه والحَضر

O Abu al-Yaqzan, you have awakened generosity,

So you have filled desert and town with it.

ولكَمْ أرديتَ من مُستلِئمٍ

صادِقِ الإقدامِ يحمي ويَكُرّ

And how many an armored warrior have you felled,

Steadfast in his daring, defending and charging anew!

والضُّحى أدهمُ في النَّقعِ فإنْ

ضَحِكَتْ فيه الظُّبا كان أغَرّ

And forenoon is black in the battle-dust; if

The sword-edges smile within it, it bears a white blaze.

مَوقِفٌ لو لم يكن ناراً إذاً

لم تكُنْ زُرْقُ عَواليهِ شرَر

A battle-scene—if it were not fire, then

Its blue spear-points would not be sparks.

يُنظَمُ الطَّعنُ على أبطالِهِ

وعُقودُ الهامِ فيه تنتشِر

Spear-thrusts are threaded upon its champions,

And necklaces of heads are scattered within it.

وكأنَّ الشَّمسَ في قَسطَلِهِ

كاعبٌ أسبلَ سِجْفَيْها الخَفَر

And the sun amid its swirling dust seems

A budding maiden whose twin curtains modesty has lowered.

فتوخَّيتَ بهِ حمدَ العُلى

والقَنا يَخطِرُ محمودَ الأَثَر

So through it you sought the praise of glory,

While the spears swayed, leaving praiseworthy marks.

وثَنَيْتَ الخيلَ عنه لابِساً

حُلَّةَ النَّصْرِ مُحلٍّى بالظَّفَر

And you turned the horses back from it, wearing

The robe of victory, adorned with triumph.

قد تقَضَّى الصّومُ محموداً فعُدْ

لهوىً يُحمَدُ أو راحٍ تَسُرّ

The fast has ended commendably; return

To a praiseworthy love or wine that delights.

أنتَ والعيدُ الذي عاودْتَه

غُرَّتا هذا الزمانِ المُعتَكِر

You and the festival you have returned to

Are the twin forehead-blazes of this murky age.

لَذَّ فيك المدحُ حتى خِلتُه

سَمَراً لم أشقَ فيه بسَهَر

Praising you was so sweet that I thought it

Night-time talk in which staying awake did not weary me.