عتاب على الدنيا وقل عتاب — Al Tutili

عِتابٌ على الدُّنيا وَقَلَّ عِتابُ

رضينا بما تَرْضى ونحنُ غِضابُ

Reproach against the world—and reproach falls short.

We accepted what pleases it, though we are angry.

وقالتْ وأصغينا إلى زُورِ قولها

وقد يَسْتَفِزُّ القولُ وهو كذابُ

It spoke, and we listened to the falsehood of its speech;

and speech may rouse us, though it is deceitful.

وَغَطَّتْ على أبصارِنا وقلوبِنَا

فطالَ عليها الحَوْمُ وهي سَراب

It veiled our eyes and our hearts,

and long we hovered over it, though it was a mirage.

ودانت لها أفواهُنَا وعقُولنَا

وهل عِنْدَهَا إلا الفناءُ ثواب

Our mouths and minds submitted to it;

and does it offer any reward but annihilation?

وتلك لعمرُ ا أما ركوبُهَا

فَهُلْكٌ وأما ُحكْمُهَا فَغِلاب

And that world—by the life of ...—as for riding it,

is ruin; as for ruling it, a struggle for mastery.

نلذُّ ونلهو والأعزَّةُ حولها

رُفَاتٌ ونبني والديارُ خراب

We take pleasure and play, while the dear ones around it

are crumbled remains; we build, while homes lie ruined.

وَتخْدَعُنَا عما يُرَادُ بنا منىً

لبحرِ المنايا دونهنَّ عُبَاب

And hopes distract us from what is intended for us;

before them, the sea of death has surging waves.

ونغتنمُ الأيامَ وهيَ مصائبٌ

لهنَّ علينا جيئةٌ وَذَهاب

We seize the days, though they are calamities,

coming and going upon us.

بكتْ هندُ من ضِحْكِ المشيب بمفرقي

أَمَا عَلِمَت أنَّ الشبابَ خِضَاب

Hind wept at gray hair's laughter in my parting;

did she not know that youth is dye?

وقالت غُبَارٌ ما أَرى وتجاهلت

وليس على وَجْهِ النّهارِ نِقَاب

'What I see is dust,' she said, feigning ignorance,

though daylight has no veil upon its face.

هل الشيبُ إلا الرُّشْدُ جلَّى غوايتي

فأصبحتُ لا يَخْفَى عليّ صواب

Is gray hair anything but wisdom that laid bare my folly?

So now no right course is hidden from me.

وَأَصْبَحَ شيطاني يَعَضُّ بنانَهُ

وقد لاحَ دوني للقَتيرِ شِهَاب

And my devil began to bite his fingers,

as a meteor of gray hair shone before me.

أأعفو لِصَرفِ الدَّهْرِ عن هَفَوَاتِهِ

على حينَ لا يأتي عليَّ عِقَاب

Shall I forgive time's reversals their missteps,

at a time when no punishment can fall upon me?

وأتركُهُ يَمْضي على غُلَوَائِهِ

وقد قَلَّ إعتابٌ وطال عتاب

And shall I let it carry on in its excess,

when redress has grown scant and reproach has grown long?

برئتُ من العلياءِ إن لم أردَّهُ

ولي ظُفُرٌ قد عَاثَ فيه وناب

I renounce high honor if I do not repel it,

while I have a claw that has ravaged it, and a fang;

وإن لم أنَهْنِه من شَبَاهُ بِعَزَمَةٍ

تَذِلُّ لها الأِشياءُ وهي صعاب

and if I do not curb its sharpness with a resolve

before which things submit, however stubborn they are.

وقائلةٍ ما بالُ حمصٍ نَبَت به

وَرُبَّ سؤالٍ ليس عنه جواب

And a woman asked, 'Why has Hims rejected him?'

And many a question has no answer.

نبت بي فكنتُ العُرفَ في غيرِ أهلْه

يعودُ على أهليه وهو تَبَاب

It rejected me: I was kindness among those unworthy of it,

returning upon its givers as ruin.

فبالله ما استوطَنْتُها قانعاً بها

ولكنَّني سيفٌ حواهُ قِراب

By God, I did not settle there content with it;

rather, I am a sword enclosed in a sheath.

أيُغْضِبُ حُسَّادي قيامي إلى العُلا

وقد قعَدوا لما ظفرتُ وخابوا

Does my rise toward greatness anger my enviers,

when they sat idle as I triumphed, and they failed?

وَأروَعَ لا ينأى على عَزَمَاتِهِ

مَرَامٌ ولا يُخْفِي سَنَاهُ حِجَاب

And a splendid man, beyond whose resolves no

goal lies, and whose radiance no veil conceals,

من الحضرميّين الأُولى أحْرَزوُا العلا

بَنَوا فأطالوا أو رَمْوا فأصابوا

one of the Hadramis, those who attained the heights:

they built and raised high, or shot and struck true.

من المانعينَ الدهرَ حوزةَ جارِهِمْ

وأشلاؤهُ بين الخُطُوبِ نهضاب

One of those who bar time from their neighbor's domain,

though his limbs lie amid calamities [final word unclear].

همُ عَرَضُوا دون المعالي فأصْبَحَت

مطالبَ لا يدنو لَهُنَّ طِلاَب

They stood as a barrier before the heights, which became

goals no pursuit can approach.

وهم جَنَحوا بالمعتفين إلى ندىً

هو القَطْرُ لا يأتي عليه حساب

They steered those seeking gifts toward a bounty

that is rain, beyond all reckoning.

سجايا على مرِّ الليالي كأنَّما

هي المُزْنُ فيه رحمةٌ وعذاب

Traits that, through the passing nights, are as though

they were rain clouds, holding mercy and torment:

مواردَ فيها سَمُّ كلِّ مُعَاندٍ

ولكنها للمُسْتَقِيدِ عذاب

watering places holding poison for every opponent,

yet sweet water for those who submit.

تُخَوِّفُني صَرفَ الزمانِ وقد حَدَث

برحلي إلى ابنِ الحَضْرَمِيِّ ركاب

You frighten me with time's reversals, though mounts have appeared

at my camp, bound for Ibn al-Hadrami.

إذا الله سنَّى لي لقاءَ محمدٍ

تفتَّحَ دوني للسماحةِ باب

If God makes it easy for me to meet Muhammad,

a gate to generosity opens before me.

فتىً لم تُسَافِر عنه آمالُ آملٍ

وكان لها إلاَّ إليه إياب

A young man from whom no hopeful soul's hopes depart,

and to whom alone they ever return.

ولا ظَمِىءَ العلمُ المُضَيَّعُ أهْلُهُ

فساغ له إلا لديه شراب

Nor has learning, whose people are neglected, thirsted

and found drink palatable anywhere but with him.

لهُ هِمَمٌ في البأسِ والجودِ والندى

لها فوق أثْباجِ النجوم قباب

He has aspirations in battle, generosity, and bounty,

with domes above the heights of the stars.

وَأقْسِمُ لولا ما لَهُ من مآثرٍ

لأصبح رَبْعث المجدِ وهو يَبَابُ

And I swear, were it not for his illustrious deeds,

the dwelling of glory [reading uncertain] would lie desolate.

مآثرُ هنَّ المجدُ لا كسبُ درهمٍ

وهنَّ المعالي لا حُلَىً وثياب

Deeds that are glory itself, not the earning of a dirham,

that are high honors, not jewels and clothes.

يغيظُ العدا منه أغرُّ حُلاحِلٌ

أشمُّ طُوَالُ الساعدين لُبَاب

The bright-browed, noble chief in him enrages his foes—

aquiline-nosed, long of forearm, the finest of men.

ولا عَيْبَ فيه لامرىءٍ غير أنَّه

تُعَابُ له الدنيا وليس يُعَابُ

No one can fault him, except that

the world is judged unworthy of him, while he is above reproach.

هو الأسَدُ الوَرْدُ الذي سار ذِكْرُهُ

وليسَ له إلا البَسَالَةُ غاب

He is the tawny lion whose fame has spread,

with no thicket but his bravery.

تَبَوَّأ من دارِ الخلافةِ مَقْعَداً

له فيه عَنْ حُكْمِ القضاءِ مَئاب

He took a seat in the abode of the caliphate,

where he has a refuge from fate's judgment.

تباهَتْ به منذُ استقلَّ بأمرها

كما تتهادى لِلْجلاءِ كَعَابِ

It has gloried in him since he assumed its affairs,

like a maiden swaying for her bridal unveiling.

سَلِ الدينَ والدنيا هل ابتهجا به

كما انجابَ عن ضوءِ النهار ضبابُ

Ask faith and the world whether they both rejoiced in him,

as fog cleared away from the light of day.

نَضَاهُ أميرُ المؤمنين مُهنّداً

له الحِلْمُ مَتْنٌ والمضاءُ ذُبَاب

The Commander of the Faithful drew him as an Indian-forged sword,

with forbearance for its spine and decisiveness for its point.

له المَثَلُ الأعلى مَعاداً ومبدءاً

وللحاسدِ العاوي حصىً وتراب

His is the highest example, in return and beginning,

and for the howling envier, pebbles and dust.

ألانتْ لك الأشياءَ وهي صليبةٌ

عزائمُ في ذات الإله صِلاب

Things, though unyielding, were softened for you

by firm resolves in the cause of God.

إليك أبيَّاتاً من الشِّعْرِ قُلْتُهَا

بُودِّيَ لَوْ أنيِّ لهنَّ كتاب

Here are verses of poetry I composed for you;

I wish I were a book to bear them.

فإن تَتَقَبَّلْهَا وتلك مطيتي

فيا مَنْ رأى خطباً ثناه خطاب

If you accept them—and they are my mount—

then who has seen a calamity turned aside by an address?

وهل أنا إلا الروضُ حيَّاكَ عَرْفُهُ

وقد بَاكَرَتْهُ من نَدَاكَ سَحَاب

Am I anything but a garden whose fragrance greets you,

when clouds of your bounty have visited it at dawn?

ومن يُثْنِ بالصُّنْعِ الجميلِ فإنَّه

شَكُورٌ ولا مثلَ المزيَدِ ثواب

Whoever praises a kindly deed is

grateful; no reward equals further bounty.

وهل أنا إلا عبدُ أنْعُمِكَ التي

هي الأريُ إذ كلُّ المواردِ صَاب

Am I anything but the servant of your favors, which

are honey when every watering place is bitter sap?

وما شهدَ المجدُ الذي أنت سرُّه

فإنك بحرٌ والكرامُ سَرَاب

And by the witness of glory, whose secret you are:

you are a sea, and noble men a mirage.

وها أنا يا رِضْوَانُ باسمك هاتفٌ

فهل لي إلى دار المُقَامَةِ باب

Here I am, O Ridwan, calling your name:

is there a gate for me to the abode of lasting residence?

وهل يُدْرِكُ الحسَّادُ غَورَكَ في العُلا

وإن طالَ مَكْرٌ منهمُ وخِلاَب

Can the enviers fathom your depth in the heights,

however long their plotting and deception endure?

إذا نافسُوكَ المجدَ كنتَ غضنفراً

إذا زار لم تَثْبُت عليه ذِئاب

When they vie with you for glory, you are a lion:

when it comes, no wolves can stand against it.

وما احمرَّ إلا من صِيالِكَ مَعْرَكٌ

ولا اخْضَرَّ إلا من نَداكَ جَنَاب

No battlefield reddens except from your onslaught,

nor does any tract grow green except from your bounty.