أما والهوى وهو إحدى الملل — Al Tutili

أما والهوى وَهْوَ إحْدَى المِلَلْ

لقد طَالَ قَدُّكَ حتى اعتدلْ

Indeed, by love, itself one of the creeds,

your stature has grown tall until it stood straight.

وأَشرَقَ وجْهُكَ للعاذلاتِ

حتَّى رأتْ كيفَ يُعْصى العَذَلْ

And your face shone upon the women who chide,

until they saw how rebuke is defied.

ولم أَرَ أفتكَ من مُقْلَتَيْهِ

على أنَّ لي خِبْرَةً بالمُقَل

And I have seen nothing deadlier than his two eyes,

though I have experience of eyes.

كحلتَهُما بهوىً قاتِلٍ

وقلت الهوى خَتْلُهُ في الكَحَل

You lined them both with deadly love,

and said, “Love's guile lies in the eyes' natural darkness.”

وأني وإن كنت داهنتني

لأعلم كيف تكون الحبل

And I, though you have flattered me,

surely know how snares are laid.

ولستُ أُسائِلُ عينيك بي

ولكنْ بعهد الرِّضي ما فعل

I do not question your eyes about me,

but about the pledge of favor—what became of it.

ولم أرَ أبْعَدَ من مَطْلَبٍ

إذا أُبْتَ عنه بحظٍّ قَتَلْ

And I have seen no goal more distant

than one that kills you if you return from it with a share.

سَقَتْكَ ولو بدما مُهْجَتي

نجومُ الوَغى أو نجومُ الكِلَل

May they give you drink, even from my heart's blood—

the stars of battle, or the stars of canopies.

فقد كَذَبَتْني نُجُومُ السماءِ

أو كَذَّبَ الثورُ عنها الحمل

For the stars of heaven have lied to me,

or Taurus, on their behalf, has proved Aries false.

ارى الحبُّ أوَّلُهُ شهوةٌ

تُسَلَّطُ أو غِرَّةٌ تُهتَبَل

I see love's beginning as a desire

given power, or an unguarded moment seized.

وآخِرُهُ سَقَمٌ مُدْنِفٌ

هو الموتُ أو هو مِنْهُ بَدَل

And its end is a wasting illness,

death itself, or something in its stead.

ألهفِي على زَمَنٍ راهقٍ

سَرضتْ لحظاتُكَ فيه عِلَل

Alas for a youthful time,

when your glances coursed through it as ailments.

ولهفي على نظرةٍ بالكثيبِ

أَعْطَيْتُ غيّي بها ما سَأل

And alas for a glance on the dune,

through which I gave my waywardness all it asked.

أَبتْ أن ترد عليَّ الشبابَ

وردتْ عليَّ الهَوَى والغزل

It refused to give youth back to me,

but gave love and amorous verse back to me.

وَوَصْلث الكواعبِ بَعْدَ المشيبِ

مَرضامٌ تُقَصّرُ عنه الحِيَل

And union with full-breasted maidens after gray hair

is a goal beyond the reach of stratagems.

أُعَلَّلُ فيكَ بما لا يكون

وأُغْبَطُ مِنكَ بما لمْ أنَلْ

I am consoled about you with what will never be,

and envied for what I have not gained from you.

أمَا بيننا حَكَمٌ عادل

ولو أنّه زمني مَا عَدل

Is there no just arbiter between us?

Even were my time the arbiter, it would not be just.

أيُنْصِفُ منكَ وأنت الحياةُ

وَيُعْدِي عليكَ وأنت الأَجَل

Would he give justice against you, when you are life,

and grant redress against you, when you are death?

ولكنْ تهحاملَ لما ضعفتُ

فهلاَّ وَفَى وَلَهُ مُحْتَمَلْ

Yet he bore down on me when I weakened;

why did he not keep faith, when he had room for forbearance?

ويا ضيعتا بين رَبْعٍ عَفَا

وخلٍّ جفا وَشَبَابٍ رَحَل

And alas, I am lost between an effaced dwelling,

a beloved grown estranged, and youth departed.

وبي معشرٌ حَسَدُوني العُلا

صُدُورُهُمُ كصدورِ الأسَل

And I am beset by a band who envy me eminence,

their breasts like the points of spears.

تَقَطعُ دونيَ ألحاظُهُمْ

فما تستطيعُ رياحُ السَّبَل

Their glances break off before me;

so what can rain-bearing winds do?

إذا ما رأونيَ لم ينبسوا

وإن غبت ضجُّوا بهلاَّ وَهَلْ

When they see me, they utter not a word,

but when I am absent, they clamor with “Why not?” and “Is it?”

وغضبانَ إن سُؤتُهُ حالني

إليك وإن العلا لم تحل

And an angry man, if I offend him, turns me

toward you, though eminence has not changed.

وقد عرَفَ المجدَ لا شك فيه

ولكن تبالَهْ كي لا يُبَلْ

And he has known glory—there is no doubt of it—

but he feigns stupidity lest he be put to the test.

تمنَّى وسَامَحَني في الطِّلابِ

وقال وأفْرَدَني بالعمل

He wished, and left me free in the quest;

he spoke, and left me alone to do the work.

قَسمنا الحظوظ وَحَاكَمْتُهُ

إلى المجدِ روَّى بنا وارتجَلْ

We divided our fortunes, and I brought him for judgment

before glory, which pondered us and spoke extempore.

فأصبحتُ كالناجِ تحتَ الجبين

وأصبح كالفَقْعِ تحت الأظَل

So I became like ivory beneath the brow,

and he like a truffle beneath a camel's sole.

أجِدَّك ما يستفيقُ العذولُ

ميتَ العزائمِ حيَّ الأمل

In earnest, the reprover never comes to his senses,

dead in resolve, alive in hope.

تَوَانَى فلما شأتْهُ العُلاَ

صَبَا في تَعَنُّتِه أو شُمِل

He lagged, and when eminence outstripped him,

he veered east in his obstinacy, or was driven north.

وليس بِثَانِيْهِ عن شَأْوِهِ

ولو أنَّهُ في مَداهُ الزَّلَل

And nothing turns him back from his course,

even if stumbling lies within his reach.

ارى الدهر جهَلَني ما علمتُ

على حينَ عَلَّمْتُهُ ما جَهِل

I see time making me ignorant of what I knew,

even as I taught it what it did not know.

لَوَانشي وأقسمتُ لا أقْتَضيه

إلاّ بسيفِ الأميرِ الأجل

It withheld my wealth [reading uncertain], and I swore not to reclaim it

except with the sword of the most august emir.

وقد بَرِئَتْ منهُ تلكَ الجفونُ

تَلَدَّدُ بينَ الطُّلى والقُلَل

And those scabbards have been emptied of it,

as it wanders between necks and heads.

وقد جالَ موتٌ يُسَمَّى الفرنْدَ

عللا مَتْنُهُ وكأنْ لم يَجُل

And a death called the blade's watered pattern has coursed

over its back, as though it had not coursed.

وَسَالتْ عليه نفوسُ الكماةِ

فأشكلَ أكثرَ مما اشْتَكَل

And the lifeblood of armored warriors flowed over it,

so it grew more patterned than it already was.

كوشمِ عِذَارٍ على وَجْنَةٍ

إذا لاح مَاراكَ فيه الخجل

Like the tattoo of a beard-line on a cheek,

which, when it appears, blushing disputes with you.

تتايَهَ ظاهرُه بِالحُلِيِّ

وقد جُنَّ باطنُهُ بالعَطَل

Its exterior vaunts its ornaments,

while its interior is maddened by bareness.

وللشمسِ سُلْطانُها بالهجيرِ

وإن حَسُنَت في الضّحى والأصُل

And the sun has its dominion in the midday heat,

though it is beautiful in midmorning and late afternoon.

وقد تَضْحَكُ الراحُ بعد المزاجِ

عنِ الحُسْنِ بين الحُلَى والحُلَل

And wine may laugh after mixing,

revealing beauty among jewels and robes;

ولكن تَحَنَّى بها قَبْلَهُ

ولو مَزَجُوها بِخَلْسِ القُبَل

but you bend over it before that,

even if they mix it with stolen kisses.

يَصُوْرُ العيونَ إليها النحولُ

إذا نَبَتِ العينُ عَنْ مَن نَحَل

Slenderness turns eyes toward it,

when the eye recoils from one grown gaunt.

فكم من رفيقٍ تَخَطّيْتُهُ

ولو عَزَمَ الأمْرَ يوماً لحل

So how many a companion I have passed beyond,

though, had he resolved one day, he would have arrived.

وقد تقتضي هذه المفرداتُ

معانيَ تَقْصُرُ عنها الجُمَل

And these single words may require

meanings that whole sentences cannot encompass.

إذا صُلْتَ يوماً نبا المَشْرفيُّ

وإلا فإنَّ العُلا لم تَصُل

When you charge one day, the Mashrafi sword falls short;

otherwise, eminence itself has not charged.

هل الموتُ تَرْمي به أو تَرُدُّ

فَمَنْ شاءَ عَزَّ وَمَنْ شاءَ ذل

Is it death you hurl, or ward off?

So whoever wishes is exalted, and whoever wishes is abased.

أيا فارسَ الخيلِ والبأسُ ظَنٌّ

يُرَجَّمُ أو ظِنَّةُ تُنْتَحل

O horseman—while prowess is only conjecture

hazarded, or a suspicion falsely claimed,

وقد شَمَّر الموتُ عن ساقِهِ

على ما حسبتَ به من كسل

death has already bared its shin,

despite the sluggishness you supposed in it.

وأعربتِ الحربُ عن حالِها

فماتَ الجبانُ وعاشَ البطل

And war has declared its state plainly:

the coward died, and the hero lived.

وأومضتِ البيضُ في عارضٍ

من الموتِ ما عنَّ حتى رَحَل

And the bright blades flashed within a cloud

of death that no sooner appeared than departed.

سَقَى الأَرْضَ أكثرَ منْ رِيِّها

على أنَّه ليس فيه بَلَل

It watered the earth beyond saturation,

although there was no moisture in it.

وَسَدَّ على الشمسِ آفاقَها

ولو ضَحَيتْ لم تَجِدْ فيه ظل

And it blocked the sun's horizons,

though, if you stood in the sun, you would find no shade in it.

ليهنِ الجزيرةَ إهلالها

إلى دولة عَبَدتَهْا الدول

May the island rejoice in its acclamation

of a dynasty that dynasties have worshipped.

هببتَ إليها مع المشرفيّ

وكنتض أحَقَّ بِسَبْقِ العَذَل

You hastened to it with the Mashrafi sword,

and were most worthy of acting before rebuke.

وقد راغَ قومٌ عن المكرماتِ

ولكنهم خُلِقُوا من عجل

And some people have shunned noble deeds,

but they were created of haste.

فَسَحْتَ لها والنوى غَرْبَةٌ

تضيقُ الرِّحالُ بها والرِّحَل

You made room for them, while separation was exile

that straitens both saddles and journeys.

وقد علمتُ حين لبيتها

بأيِّ قُوَى ماجدٍ تَنصل

And I knew, when you answered its call,

with what powers of a noble man it would break free.

هو الجدُّ لا غَفَلاتُ الملوكِ

بين الأَناةِ وبين العَجَل

It is earnest resolve, not the heedlessness of kings

between deliberation and haste,

ولا خَوْضُهُمْ غمراتِ المُحَالِ

يستنجدونَ عسى أو لعل

nor their plunging into the depths of the impossible,

calling “perhaps” or “maybe” to their aid.

فَسَعْدَكَ يستنجحُ الطالبونَ

وإن رَغِمَ المُشْترِي أو زُحَل

So seekers appeal to your good fortune for success,

even if Jupiter or Saturn is humbled.

وإيَّاكَ يمتدحُ المادحونَ

شَتَّى المآربِ شَتَّى السبل

And it is you whom the panegyrists praise,

diverse in their aims, diverse in their paths.

وأنت أخذتَ العلا بالسيوفِ

جادَ الزمان بها أو بخل

And you seized eminence with swords,

whether time bestowed it or withheld it.

طلعتَ عليهم طُلُوع المنونِ

فألْقَوْا بأيدي الوَنَى والفَشَل

You rose upon them as death rises,

so they cast themselves into the hands of weakness and failure,

بعزم كظنِّ الأديبِ الأريبِ

وجيشٍ كَذَيْلِ الأَياةِ الخَصِل

with resolve like the judgment of a discerning man of letters,

and an army like a wild cow's tufted tail,

وهمة أَلْوَى إذا ضَمّنُوْهُ

وَفَى وإذا حَمّلُوهُ حَمَل

and the ambition of a tenacious man who, when entrusted,

keeps faith, and when burdened, bears the load.

تُقَسَّمُ أمْوَالُهُ في العُفَاةِ

فإن فَضَلَتْ فَلَهُ ما فَضَل

His wealth is divided among supplicants;

and if any remains, his is what remains.

وتنهلُ أسيافُهُ في العداةِ

فإن ظَمِئَتْ فَعليه العَلَل

And his swords take their first draught among the foes;

if they thirst, he owes them a second.

سلِ البحْرَ عن جُودِهِ إذ طما

وَشَطَّيْهِ عن بَأْسِهِ إذ أطَل

Ask the sea about his bounty when it surged,

and its two shores about his might when he appeared.

تَجَلَّى له بين حاليهما

فَسَلْهُ أبحرٌ رَأى أمْ جبل

He revealed himself to it between their two states;

so ask it whether it saw a sea or a mountain.

وقد كان باراه جَهْلاً به

فلما رآهُ نَبَا أو نَكَل

And it had rivaled him in ignorance of him;

when it saw him, it recoiled or shrank back.

وَعَمْداً تَجَافَى له عَنْ مَدَاهُ

ليعتزَّ أو لِيَرى منْ أذَل

And deliberately it yielded to him its own reach,

to gain honor, or to see who was more abased.

أبا بكرٍ اقتضِ تلك الديونَ

فقد أبأَسَ الدهرُ مما مَطَل

Abu Bakr, exact those debts;

for time has brought misery through its delays.

تَوَخَّ العُلا في ظلالِ الرِّماحِ

فقد أعوزتْ في ظِلالِ الكِلل

Seek eminence beneath the shadows of spears,

for it has grown scarce beneath the shadows of canopies.

وَصُنْ حَرَمَ الملك أنْ يُسْتَباح

فسيما الممالكِ أنْ تُبْتَذَل

And guard the sanctuary of kingship against violation,

especially kingdoms, lest they be debased.

أرى كلَّ جيشٍ يحبُّ الغِلاَبِ

فمنْ أين قصَّر عَنْهُ الرجل

I see every army loving conquest;

how, then, did the man fall short of it?

شَكَرْتُكَ شُكْرَ الرياضِ الحيا

تَعَاهَدَها بين وَبْلٍ وَطَل

I thanked you as gardens thank the rain

that tended them with downpour and drizzle.

أطَلْتُ بذكرِكَ غَمَّ الحسودِ

فلو ماتَ ما زادَ أو ما عضل

By mentioning you, I prolonged the envier's grief;

so, were he to die, it would grow no greater, no harsher.

يسيرُ غليّ على فَتْرَةٍ

هي الذُلُّ وهو يَراها الكَسَل

He comes toward me at a languid pace,

which is abasement, though he calls it idleness.

تَدَارَكْ أبا بكرٍ المسلمينَ

فقد نَهِلَ الضيمُ منهمْ وَعَل

Rescue the Muslims, Abu Bakr,

for oppression has drunk from them, then drunk again.

تَغَلْغَلْتَ في طُرُقِ المَكْرُماتِ

ضخمَ الدَّسَائع رَحْبَ المحل

You have penetrated the paths of noble deeds,

mighty in largesse, ample in standing.

فقامَ بكَ الدهر طيبَ النَّدى

وسار بك الجودُ سَيْرَ المثل

So through you time rose, sweet in bounty,

and through you generosity traveled as a proverb travels.