يمينك أورى إن قدحت من الزند — Al Tutili

يمينُكَ أوْرَى إنْ قدحتَ من الزّنْدِ

ووجْهُكَ أجْدَى إنْ قَدِمْتَ من السَّعْدِ

Your right hand, if you strike a spark, kindles more brightly than the fire-stick.

And your face, when you arrive, brings more bounty than good fortune.

وعزْمُكَ أمْضَى حين يَشْتَجِرُ القَنَا

من الأسمرِ الخطّيِّ والأبيضِ الهندي

And your resolve, when lances clash, cuts more keenly

than the brown Khatti lance and the white Indian sword.

وذكرُكَ أحْلَى أو ألذُّ منَ المُنَى

وإن قيلَ أحلى أو ألذُّ من الشَّهد

And the mention of you is sweeter, or more delightful, than wishes,

even if it is called sweeter, or more delightful, than honey.

وقربُكَ أَوْفَى بالمكارمِ والعُلاَ

من الحر بالمأثور أو كرم العهد

And nearness to you is more faithful to noble deeds and high honor

than a noble man to inherited tradition or the honor of a pledge.

نَهَجْتَ سبيلَ المجدِ من بعدِ ما عَفَتْ

ومحت كما محت وشائع من برد

You opened the path of glory after it had faded

and worn away, as woven patterns in a cloak wear away.

فلا يَتَعَامَوْا أو فلا يَتَوَاكَلُوا

فقد عَرَفُوا كيفَ الطريقُ إلى المجد

So let them not feign blindness, or rely idly on one another,

for they now know the way to glory.

ودونهمُ فليقتدُوا بابن حُرّةٍ

أشاعَ الفَعالَ الحرّ في الزّمن العبد

Before them he stands: let them follow a freeborn woman's son,

who spread noble deeds through a servile age.

له آثرٌ في كلِّ شَرْقٍ وَمَغْرِبٍ

به تَهْتَدِي الزُّهْرُ الكواكبُ أو تَهْدي

He has a chronicler in every east and west;

by him the radiant stars find guidance—or give it—

بأروعَ مِنْ سَعْدِ العشيرةِ كاسْمِهِ

وَنِسْبَتِهِ ما أشبَهَ الأبنَ بالجدِّ

of an awe-inspiring man of Sa'd al-'Ashira, in keeping with his name

and lineage—how like the grandfather is the son!

نماهُ أبيٌّ لا اعدِّدُ غيرَهُ

وفي شَرَفِ الوُسْطَى يُرَى شَرَفُ العِقْدِ

Ubayy begot him; I name no other,

and in the central jewel's distinction the necklace's distinction is seen.

أإنْ صُلْتَ حتى هابَكَ السيفُ في الغمدِ

وَجُدْتَ فلم تتركْ متاعاً لمن يُجْدِي

Is it because you charged till the sword feared you in its sheath,

and gave until you left no goods for any giver,

مُدِحْتَ فَطَوْراً قيل كالمطرِ الحيا

نوالاً وطوراً قيلَ كالأسَدِ الوَرْدِ

that you were praised—now called life-giving rain

in bounty, and now a tawny lion?

كأنْ لَم يَروْا تلك المواهبَ كالمُنى

ولا شَهِدُوا تلك الخلائقَ كالشَّهد

As though they had not seen those gifts, like wishes,

nor witnessed those qualities, like honey,

ولا آنسوا نارَيْكَ للحربِ والفِرَى

يمينَكَ في كأسٍ ويسراك في زند

nor glimpsed your two fires, for war and [hospitality],

your right hand in a cup, your left in a fire-stick;

ولا انتجعُوا ذاك الجنابَ فخيَّموا

إلى الكَنَفِ المحلولِ والعيشةِ الرغد

nor sought bounty in that domain and pitched their tents

in its open shelter and life of ease.

تراهُمْ على ضَيْقِ المجال وَرُحْبِهِ

يُهِلَّون مِنْ مَثْنَى إليه ومنْ فرد

You see them, in narrow spaces and wide,

hailing him, two by two and one by one,

إلى ماجدٍ لا يُقْبِلُ المالَ نَظْرَةً

إذا لم يكنْ فيه نصيبٌ لمستجد

approaching a noble man who will not grant wealth a glance

if it contains no share for a seeker of bounty.

حسامٌ ولكنْ ربَّما ذُكِرَ النَّدى

له فثنى عِطْفَيْ قضيبٍ منَ الرّنْد

A keen sword—yet sometimes generosity is mentioned

to him, and he bends his two flanks like a laurel bough.

وَبَحْرٌ ولكنْ ما الحياةُ هَنِيّةً

بأطيبَ منه للعيونِ وَلِلْورِد

And an ocean—yet even life in its sweetness

is no sweeter than he to eyes and those who come to drink.

وطودٌ نَمَى زُهْرَ الكواكبِ من علٍ

وزادَ عليها بانتماءٍ إلى الأزْدِ

And a mountain, rising above the radiant stars on high,

and surpassing them further through descent from al-Azd.

وماءُ سماءٍ كلَّما انهملتْ به

جرى في القضيبِ اللدنِ والصَّخرَةِ الصلد

And water from heaven: whenever heaven pours it down,

it flows through the supple bough and the solid rock.

بأكثرَ مما يدّعي البأسُ والنّدى

واكثرَ من جَهْدِ لاقصيدِ ومن جَهدي

With more than valor and generosity can claim,

and beyond the powers of poetry and my own:

مكارمُ قحطانيَّةٌ مَذْحِجِيَّةٌ

تعودُ على ما أفسدَ الدهرُ أو تُعْدي

Qahtani, Madhhiji deeds of nobility

that mend what time has spoiled, or lend their aid.

بها قَطَعَ الركبانُ كلّ تَنُوفَةٍ

إذا هَبَطُوا غوراً تسامَوْا إلى نجد

Through them, riders traversed every wilderness;

whenever they descended to lowlands, they climbed toward uplands.

سبقتَ العلا منذ اكتهلتَ إلى العلا

لعمرُك ما أَبْعَدْتَ لو كنتَ في المهد

Since you reached maturity, you have outstripped glory on the way to glory;

by your life, even in the cradle you would not have been far from it.

ألا في سبيلِ اللهِ ليلٌ سهرتَهُ

تُساري النجومَ الزُّهْرَ في الظُّلَمِ الرُّبْد

Indeed, in God's cause, a night you passed awake,

keeping pace with the radiant stars through dusky darkness.

إذا اعتكرتْ تلك الغياهبُ جُبْتَها

إلى نِيَّة جَوْرٍ وأُمْنِيّةٍ قصْد

When those deep shadows thickened, you cut through them

toward an out-of-the-way destination and a rightly directed wish,

إلى صورةٍ من عهدِ مأربَ خاصمتْ

سيوفُكُمُ عنها بأَلْسِنةٍ لُدِّ

toward an image from the days of Ma'rib, for which

your swords pleaded with fiercely disputing tongues.

وقد طَلَّحَتْ زُهْرُ النجومِ منَ السُّرَى

وَرَابَكَ في أجفانها أَثرُ السُّهد

And the radiant stars had grown weary from night travel,

and a trace of sleeplessness in their eyelids troubled you.

بِطَاءٌ على آثارِ خَيْلِكَ تَشْتَكي

بِجَهْدِ سُرَاها ما طَوَيْنَ من البُعْدِ

Slow upon the tracks of your horses, they complain

of the distance folded away through their weary night travel.

سلِ الرومَ في أُقليشَ يَوْمَ تَجَايَشُوا

ألَمْ يعلموا أن الفرائسَ للأُسْدِ

Ask the Romans at Uclés, on the day they massed their armies:

did they not know that prey belongs to lions?

تبارَوْا إلى تلك الحُتُوفِ فَسَلْهُمُ

أما كانَ عنها منْ محيصٍ ولا بُدِّ

They raced one another toward those deaths; ask them,

was there no escape from them, no means of avoidance?

ألم يكُ في الإسلامِ من مُتَعَرِّضٍ

بكفٍّ ولا في السَّلْمٍ من عَرَضٍ يَفْدي

Was there no one in Islam to intervene

with a hand, nor in peace any property to serve as ransom?

ولا في جنودِ ا حين أتتكمُ

لها من قديرٍ يَدْفَعُ الهَزْلَ بالجِدِّ

Nor among the troops of [missing text], when they came upon you,

one able to counter them, driving off levity with earnestness?

غداةَ رماكمْ كلُّ طودٍ بمثلهِ

من القَصَبِ المنأدِّ والحَلَقِ السَّرْد

On the morning every mountain hurled its like at you,

of swaying spear-shafts and closely linked rings of mail,

اعزّ من الهُضْبِ التي قَذَفَتْ بها

فما بالكمْ كنتمْ اذلّ من الوَهْد

mightier than the hills that hurled them forth—

then why were you more abased than the hollows?

ألم تزعموا أنّ الصليبَ وأنَّهُ

كأنكمُ لم تَسْمَعُوا بالقَنَا الملد

Did you not claim that the Cross—and that it...?

As though you had never heard of supple lances!

رُويدكمُ حتَّى تَوَوْا كيف تَرْتمِي

بأنفسكمْ بين الإجازة والردّ

Wait a little, until you see how they toss

your very lives between passage and repulse,

وحتى تدوسَ الخيلُ أوْجُهَ فتيةٍ

كرامٍ عليها غيرِ شُؤْمٍ ولا نُكْدِ

and until the horses trample the faces of young men

dear to them, neither ill-omened nor troublesome,

وَتَخْرُجَ من ليلِ الغُبَار ولو ترى

شوازبَ تَرْدي تحت صمانةُ تردي

and emerge from dust's night—if only you could see

lean steeds galloping beneath [unclear text], dealing death,

بكلِّ فتىً جلدٍ يخوضُ غمارَهَا

على كلِّ نهَّاضٍ بأعبائها جَلْدِ

bearing every hardy youth who plunges into its depths,

on every sturdy steed that rises to its burdens.

هناك عرفتمْ أين أحمدُ منكمُ

وكان حريّاً بالبِدَارِ إلى الحمد

There you learned where Ahmad stood in relation to you,

and he was worthy of racing ahead toward praise.

فَتَاها على مرِّ السنينَ وكهلُهَا

إذا هيَ جَدّتْ بالمشايخِ والمرد

Her young champion through passing years, and her mature one,

when she grows fierce with elders and beardless youths;

وحامي حماها يومَ ترمي وتتقي

واسْوَتُها فيما تعيدُ وما تُبْدِي

and guardian of her preserve when she casts and wards off blows,

and her example in what she repeats and what she brings forth;

وَمَنْ عُرِفَتْ سيما الوزارةِ باسْمِه

كما عُرِفَتْ تيماءث بالأَبْلَقِ الفَرْد

and he through whose name the mark of the vizierate is known,

as Tayma is known by al-Ablaq al-Fard.

بأيِّ لسانٍ أو بأيةِ فكرةٍ

احَبَرُ شكري أو اعبَرُ عن وُدِّي

With what tongue, or with what thought,

can I adorn my thanks or express my affection?

هززتَ أُبيّاً جين أرضاك عَزْمُهُ

حساماً صقيلَ المتنِ مُعْتدلَ الحدّ

You brandished Ubayy when his resolve pleased you,

a sword polished along its back and even along its edge.

وَصِفْتَ إلى مساءِ الربيعِ وَظِلِّهِ

فحسبُكَ مَن صَفْوٍ وناهيكَ من بَردِ

And you spent summer beside al-Rabi's evening and shade,

with enough serenity for you, and ample coolness.

هما ورثا عبدَ المليك سَمَاحَهُ

وَنجْدَتَهُ وهذا يُعيدُ وذا يُبدي

The two inherited Abd al-Malik's generosity

and his valor; this one renews it, that one brings it forth.

فإن أَنشكَّرْ للربيعِ صنيعةً

فما زلتُ من نعماهُ في زَمنِ الورد

If I thank al-Rabi' for a kindness,

his favors have kept me always in the season of roses.

وإن اتحدثْ عن أُبيٍّ بفضْلِهِ

فعنديَ منْ تلك الأحاديث ما عندي

And if I tell of Ubayy and his excellence,

then of those tales I have what I have.

إليك القوافي كالنجومِ زواهراً

بما لك فيها من جهادٍ ومن جهد

To you these rhymes, radiant as stars,

for the striving and exertion of yours they contain.

فما يتعاطى تلك بَعْدَكَ ماجدٌ

وما يتعاطَى هذه شاعرٌ بعدي

No noble man after you will undertake those deeds,

and no poet after me will undertake these verses.