من أدب النفس ضل مذهبها — Al Staley

منْ أَدَبِ النّفس ضَلَّ مذْهبُها

تَلِجُّ في حبِّ من يُعذِّبُها

The soul's course has strayed from discipline;

it persists in loving one who torments it.

يَغُرُّها الاوْل من مطالبها

ومن بروق العذاب خُلَّبُها

The first of its desires deceives it,

and so do the rainless flashes of torment's lightning.

نسيمُ ريح الصّبا يُهيِّجُها

وصوت نوح الحمام يطربها

The breeze of the east wind stirs it,

and the sound of the doves' lament enchants it.

إن الخليّين ليلهم هَجَعُوا

باتت آراء النجوم يرْقبُها

If the carefree sleep through their night,

it stays awake, watching the stars' aspects.

كم زَفرة في الحشا تُصعدِّها

وعبْرةٍ في العذار يسكبها

How many a sigh it sends up from its breast,

and a tear it sheds upon its cheek!

والشكلاتُ الحِسانُ يفْتِنُها

والمُلْهيات الطِّياب يعجبُها

Beautiful, coquettish women bewitch it,

and delightful diversions please it.

وفي إسار الدُّمى لها كبدٌ

يُصْعدُها تارةٌ ويسغْبُها

Captive to doll-like beauties, it has a heart

that sometimes uplifts it and sometimes starves it.

وطالما قد غدا وراح بها

مربعُها في الصِّبا ومَلْعَبُها

How often it has been carried out at dawn and back at dusk

by its youthful haunts and playground,

على خيولِ الغرور يركضها

وفي ذيول السرور يسْحَبُها

racing it upon the horses of delusion,

and dragging it in the trailing skirts of joy,

حيث ظِبآءُ الإنس في حللٍ

بين حُلاها يعنُّ رَبْرَبُها

where human gazelles are dressed in robes,

their herd appearing amid their ornaments,

من كلِّ مهضُومةٍ بَرْهَرَهةٍ

كأن شمْس الضُّحى مُنقبَّها

each slender-waisted, soft and full-fleshed,

her veiled face like the midmorning sun,

خُرْعوبة مخطفٌ موشحُها

رُعبوبةٌ مُشْرقٌ ومحقبُها

a supple beauty, slim at her girdled waist,

a tender beauty, and radiant at her girdled hips.

إذا أَنَجَلى من دُجى ذوآئُبها

عن مثل ليل التَّمام غَيْهبُها

When the darkness of her tresses parts,

its blackness like that of the longest night,

ولاحَ من خدّها مُورّدها

ودار من فوقه معقَربُها

and the rosy glow of her cheek appears,

and her scorpion-like curl coils above it,

وطاب بين اللَّمى مؤشَّرها

وافترَّ كالأقحوان اشنبُها

and her notched teeth are sweet between dusky lips,

and her cool, white teeth show like daisy blossoms—

ذلك والخرد الأوانسُ قد

يحْزننا في الهوى تجلبُبها

all this, while the shy, companionable maidens may

sadden us in love by wrapping themselves in cloaks.

في مَربع العَيشِ لا يرُوعَنا

من بين أيامنا تقلِّبُها

In the meadow of life, we are not alarmed

by the changes amid our days.

يا صاح فيم الْهوى ولستُ أَرى

عندكَ للْبيض ما يُقرِّبهُا

O friend, why this passion, when I see

nothing with you that draws fair women near?

ولا هوى خُلَّةٍ تُلِمُّ بها

ولا رضى فتنةٍ فتصحَبُها

Nor love for a beloved whom you would visit,

nor delight in a charmer whom you would accompany.

فخلّ نعت الديِّار خالية

قد بعدت هندها وزينُبها

So leave descriptions of deserted dwellings;

their Hind and their Zaynab have gone far away.

وعَدِّ عن خُلَّةٍ بها سلفت

طال مناها وعزّ مطلبُها

And turn aside from a beloved who once lived there:

long has been the longing for her, and hard the quest.

واعمد لذكر الملُوك من يمنٍ

تمدحها تارةً وتنسُبها

Turn instead to mention of the kings of Yemen,

now praising them, now recounting their lineage.

واذكر ملُوك العتيك في مِدحٍ

لآل نبهان منك يوجبها

And recall the kings of al-ʿAtīk in praise

that is due from you to the house of Nabhān.

إذا الملُوك الأَعزّة افتخرت

أَمردها في العلى وأشيُبها

When the mighty kings boast—

beardless and grey-haired alike—of eminence,

فإنَّ مُختارها أبو العرب ال

سّابقُها بالفخار يَعْرُبها

then their chosen one is Abū al-ʿArab, the

foremost in glory among them, their Yaʿrub:

سَيدّهُا قَرُّمها سَمَيْدعُها

زعَيمُها شهْمُها مُهَذَّبُها

their master, their champion, their noble lord,

their chief, their valiant one, their refined one,

صاحبُ آرائها مُدِّبرُها

حُوّلُها في الامور قُلبَّهُا

master of their counsels, their governor,

their resourceful, versatile master of affairs.

أنجَبهُ من أبي مُعمَّرها

مْجتَمِعُ الفَضْلِ فهو أَنجَبُها

He was nobly begotten of their Abū Muʿammar,

all excellence gathered in him; thus he is their noblest,

أَسْمَحُها راحَةً وأجودُه

أفصحُها منْطِقاً وأصوَبُها

the freest-handed and most generous of them,

the most eloquent in speech and the soundest,

أَجْمَلُها عادة وأحسَنُها

أكرَمها شيمَةً وأطيبُها

the finest and best in his ways,

the noblest and purest in character.

فاقض الوَرى يَعربٌ بمذهَبهِ

كما يفوقُ البرُودَ مُذْهَبُها

Yaʿrub surpasses mankind in his conduct,

as gilded cloaks outshine the rest.

المنُعْمُ المُحْسنُ المطيل يداً

كأن صوبَ الغمام صيّبُها

The bestower of blessings, the benefactor, whose hand reaches far,

as though the clouds' rainfall were its downpour.

جادَت لنا من يديهِ غاديةٌ

وطَفآء دانٍ يُسِفُّ هَيدْبُها

A morning rain-cloud poured upon us from his hands,

thick and dark, its trailing fringe sweeping low.

فاخْتَالت الأرضُ من مواطرها

بالأَرضِ معْمورها وسَبْسَبُها

Then the earth strutted proudly beneath its rains,

throughout the land, its settled tracts and level wastes.

أُغرِيَ بالصَّالحاتِ يَعْمَلُها

وَعوِّدَ المكْرُماتِ يكسْبُها

He is devoted to righteous deeds and performs them,

and trained in noble deeds, which he achieves.

وكلَّ عذْرآء من مكارمهِ

وهو بأغْلى المُهور يخطْبُهُا

And every maiden among his noble deeds—

he courts her with the costliest dowries.

واجدَةٌ عندهُ عشيرتُهُ

من سَعةِ البّر ما يُرْغِّبُها

His clan finds with him

an abundance of goodness that draws them to him.

يجْزي على الصّالحات مُحْسنها

ولا يُكافَى يالسوء مُذنبُها

He rewards their doers of good for righteous deeds,

and their wrongdoers are not repaid with harm.

وهي لهُ عُدَّةٌ ومُعْتَصَمٌ

في مُعْضِل الخطْبِ حينَ ينْدُبها

And they are his support and refuge

in grievous crisis, when he summons them.

يَعْرُب من نبْعَةٍ يمانية

في بيْت آل العتيك منْصِبُها

Yaʿrub springs from a Yemeni rootstock,

whose origin lies in the house of al-ʿAtīk.

وَافٍ بقَرْع السِّهام مقْسمُها

صافٍ غداة الزّحام مشْربُها

Its allotted share is full when the arrows are drawn,

its drinking-place clear amid the morning throng.

لا أُمةٌ بالفَخار يسْبقُها

ولا قتيلٌ بالبأس يغلبُها

No nation surpasses it in glory,

nor any slain man overcomes it in valor.

وإنما الأرضُ والبلادُ لهم

مَشرِقها كلُّها ومغربُها

For the earth and all its lands are theirs,

all its east and all its west.

ما فُتحَت للرسُول مكّتُها

حتَّى أعانَتْ بالنَّصر يَثْرِبُها

Its Mecca was not opened to the Messenger

until its Yathrib gave victorious aid,

بالأوسِ والخزْرَج الَّذين مشى

بالخيْل والدَّارعيْن موْكبُها

with the Aws and the Khazraj, who marched

with horses and armored men in their procession.

فأْقبلَتْ عصْبةٌ تجاهدهُا

تَطْعَنها بالقَنا وتَضْرُبُها

Then a band advanced to wage war upon it,

piercing it with spears and striking it.

مثلُ أُسود العَرين يحْملها

في الرَّوْع مِثْل الصُّقور شُزَّبُها

Like lions of the lair, the band is carried

into battle by its lean, falcon-like steeds.

يا آل نبْهان يا بني عُمرٍ

لكْم سَمَاءُ العُلَى وكَوْكَبُها

O house of Nabhān, O sons of ʿUmar,

yours are the sky of eminence and its star.

فلْيَبْقَ في نعْمَةٍ يُسَرُّ بها

يَعرُبُ أَو رُتَبةٍ يرتّبُها

May he remain in a blessing that brings him joy—

Yaʿrub—or in a rank that he establishes.