تصدى وللحي الجميع رحيل — Al Tughrai

تصدَّى وللحي الجميعِ رحيلُ

غزالٌ أحمُّ المقلتينِ كحيلُ

He came into view as the whole tribe was departing:

a gazelle, black-eyed and kohl-rimmed.

تصدَّى وأمرُ البينِ قد جَدَّ جِدُّهُ

وزُمّتْ جِمالٌ واستقَلَّ حُمولُ

He appeared when the business of parting had grown urgent,

and camels were haltered, and laden camels set out.

وفي الصدرِ من نار الصَّبَابةِ جاحِمٌ

وفي الخدِّ من ماءِ الجُفونِ مسيلُ

In my breast is a blaze from the fire of passionate longing,

and down my cheek runs a stream of tears from the eyelids.

غزالٌ له مرعىً من القلب مخصبٌ

وظِلٌّ صفيقُ الجانبين ظليلُ

A gazelle with fertile pasture in my heart,

and sheltering shade, thick on either side.

تناصفَ فيه الحُسْنُ أما قَوامُهُ

فشطبٌ وأما خَصْرُه ففتيلُ

Beauty was evenly apportioned in him: as for his stature,

a palm frond; as for his waist, a thread.

قريبٌ من الرائينَ يُطْمِعُ قُربُه

وليس إليه للمحبِّ سبيلُ

Near to those who behold him, his nearness awakens hope,

yet the lover has no path to him.

إِذا سافرَ الألحاظُ في وجَناتِه

تضاءلَ عنه الطرفُ وهو كليلُ

When glances journey across his cheeks,

the gaze shrinks back from him, exhausted.

وكالشمسِ تغشى الناظرينَ بنورِها

وليس إليها للأكُفِّ سَبيلُ

And he is like the sun, which dazzles onlookers with its light,

yet hands have no way to reach it.

ولما استقلَّ الحيُّ وانصدعت بهم

نوىً عن وَداع الظاعنينَ عَجُولُ

And when the tribe set out and was borne away

by separation too hasty for farewell to the departing,

تراءتْ لنا لمعَ الغمامةِ أوجهٌ

وِضَاءٌ علَتْها نَضْرةٌ وقَبُولُ

faces appeared to us like lightning from a cloud,

radiant, overlaid with freshness and charm.

فصبراً معينَ المُلك إن عنَّ حادثٌ

فعاقبةُ الصبرِ الجميلِ جميلُ

So be patient, Mu'in al-Mulk, if misfortune arises:

for beautiful patience has a beautiful outcome.

ولا تيأسَنْ من صنْعِ ربِّكَ إنَّني

ضمينٌ بأنَّ اللّهَ سوف يُدِيلُ

Do not despair of your Lord's providence; I

guarantee that God will turn fortune in your favor.

فإن الليالي إذ يزولُ نعيمُها

تبشِّرُ أنَّ النائباتِ تزولُ

For the nights, when their pleasures fade,

give tidings that misfortunes too will pass.

ألم ترَ أنَّ الليلَ بعدَ ظلامِه

عليه لإِسفارِ الصَّبَاحِ دليلُ

Have you not seen that night, after its darkness,

bears a sign of the morning's dawning?

ألم ترَ أن الشمسَ بعد كُسوفِها

لها صفحةٌ تغشِي العُيونَ صقيلُ

Have you not seen that the sun, after its eclipse,

has a polished face that dazzles the eyes?

وأنَّ الهلالَ النِضْوَ يقمرُ بعدَما

بَدا وهو شَخْتُ الجانبينِ ضَئِيلُ

And that the wasted crescent grows full after

appearing slender on either side and slight?

ولا تحسبنَّ الدوح يُقلَعُ كلما

يَمُرُّ به نفحُ الصَّبَا فيميلُ

Do not think the great trees are uprooted whenever

a breath of the east wind passes them and they sway.

ولا تحسبنَّ السيفَ يُقْضَبُ كلَّما

تعاوَرهُ بعد المَضَاءِ كُلولُ

And do not think a sword is snapped whenever

dullness assails it after keenness.

فقد يعطفُ الدهرُ الأبيُّ عِنانَهُ

فيُشفَى عليلٌ أو يُبَلُّ غليلُ

For stubborn time may yet turn its reins,

and an ailing person be healed, or burning thirst be quenched.

ويرتاشُ مقصوصُ الجَناحين بعدَما

تساقطَ رِيشٌ واستطارَ نَسِيلُ

And one with clipped wings grows feathers anew after

plumage has fallen and shed feathers have scattered.

ويستأنفُ الغصنُ الصليبُ نَضَارةً

فيورقُ ما لم يعتوِرْهُ ذُبُولُ

And the sturdy branch renews its freshness,

putting forth leaves so long as withering does not assail it.

وللنجمِ من بعدِ الرجوعِ استقامةٌ

وللحظِّ من بعد الذِّهابِ قفُولُ

And a star, after retrograde motion, resumes its straight course,

and good fortune, after departure, returns.

وبعضُ الرزايا يوجِبُ الشكرَ وقعُها

عليكَ وأحداثُ الزمانِ شُكولُ

And some calamities call for gratitude when they fall

upon you; time's events take many forms.

ولا غروَ أن أخنتْ عليك فإنَّما

يُصادَمُ بالخطبِ الجليل جليلُ

And no wonder they have battered you, for only

a great man is confronted with a great calamity.

وأيُّ قَناةٍ لم تُرنَّحْ كُعُوبُها

وأيُّ حُسامٍ لم يُصِبْهُ فُلولُ

And what spear has not had its joints shaken?

And what keen sword has not suffered nicks?

وأيُّ هِلال لم يَشِنْهُ مَحَاقُهُ

وأيُ شهابٍ لم يَخُنْه أُفولُ

And what crescent has not been marred by its waning?

And what blazing star has not been betrayed by setting?

أساءتْ ليَ الأيامُ حتى وترتَها

فعندَك أضغانٌ لها وتُبولُ

The days wronged me until you wounded them in turn;

so they hold grudges and vendettas against you.

وعارضتها فيما أرادتْ صروفُها

ولولاكَ كانت تنتَحِي وتصولُ

And you opposed them in what their vicissitudes intended;

but for you, they would have kept striking and assailing.

وحرّمتَ أشلاءَ الكِرامِ وإنَّها

شروبٌ لأشلاءِ الكرامِ أكولُ

And you made noble men's limbs inviolable, though they

drink deep of noble men's limbs and devour them.

وما أنتَ إلا السيفُ أُسكِنَ غِمْدَهُ

لتشقَى به يومَ النزالِ قَبيلُ

You are but a sword lodged in its sheath,

so that a tribe may suffer by it on the day of combat.

أما لكَ بالصِدِّيق يوسفَ أُسْوَةٌ

فتحملَ وطءَ الدهرِ وهو ثقيلُ

Have you not an example in Yusuf the Truthful,

to bear time's tread, heavy though it is?

وما غضَّ منك الحبسُ والذِكرُ سائرٌ

طليقٌ له في الخافقينَ ذَمِيلُ

Imprisonment has not diminished you, while your renown travels,

unfettered, trotting briskly across east and west.

فلا تُذْعِنَنْ للخطبِ آدكَ ثِقلُهُ

فمِثلُكَ للأمرِ العظيم حَمُولُ

Do not yield to the calamity whose weight has burdened you,

for one like you can bear a mighty trial.

ولا تجزعَنْ للكَبْلِ مسَّكَ وقْعُهُ

فإنَّ خلاخيلَ الرِجالِ كُبُولُ

Do not despair at the fetter whose blow has touched you,

for men's anklets are fetters.

وصنعُ الليالي ما عدتكَ سِهامُها

وإنْ أجحفتْ بالعالمين جزيلُ

And the nights' dealing, so long as their arrows miss you,

is generous, though they ravage all humankind.

وإنَّ امرأً تعدو الحوادثُ عِرضَهُ

ويأسى لما يأخُذْنَهُ لبخيلُ

And a man whose honor calamities spare,

yet who mourns what they take, is surely a miser.

لك اللّهُ راعٍ حيثُ كنتَ ولا تزلْ

أياديهِ منها زائرٌ ونزيلُ

May God guard you wherever you are, and may there always be

among His favors a visiting guest and an abiding one.

ولا شِينتِ الدّنيا بيومكَ إنَّما

بقاؤك فيها غُرَّةٌ وحُجُولُ

May the world never be marred by your day of death; indeed,

your continued life within it is a white blaze and white stockings.

ولا متُّ أو ألقاكَ حظُّكُ دولةٌ

وحظُّ الأعادي رنَّةٌ وعويلُ

May I not die until I meet you, with ascendancy as your lot,

and a cry of grief and wailing as your enemies' lot.

نعيمُ هجيرِ العمرِ فيه أصائِلٌ

وعزُّ حُزونِ العيشِ فيه سُهولُ

The bliss of life's scorching noon has its late afternoons,

and the harshness of life's rugged ground has its level plains.