أقلا علي اللوم إني لفي شغل — Al Wargi

أقلاَّ عَلَيَّ اللومَ إنِّي لَفِي شغْلِ

شُغِلْتُ بسَلْمى أينَ من أهلِهَا أهْليِ

You two, lessen your blame of me; I am indeed preoccupied.

I am absorbed in Salma—how far my people are from hers!

أقَامَتْ بِذاتِ الجَزْعِ من جَانِبِ الحِمَى

وهَا أنَا ما بين الصَّوى وَالنَوى رَحْليِ

She settled at Dhat al-Jaz‘, beside the protected pasture,

and here I am, my camp between the waymarks and separation.

يُمَثَّلُ لِي مِنهَا بِكلّ ثَنِيةٍ

خَيالٌ إذا غَمَّضْتُ أبصَرتُهُ حولِي

At every mountain pass there appears to me, of her,

a phantom: when I close my eyes, I see it around me.

تَكَادُ تنَاجِينِي وَبَيني وَبَينَهَا

مِنَ البعدِ ما بينَ السَمَاحَةِ وَالبُخْلِ

She almost whispers to me, though between me and her

lies a distance like that between generosity and stinginess.

وَلَمْ أنسَ في جَورِ الوَدَاعِ وُقوفَنَا

وَقَدْ فَتَّ داعِي الفَصلِ في ساعدِ الوَصلِ

Nor have I forgotten how we stood in farewell's cruelty,

while the summons to parting had weakened union's arm.

فَحِمْنَا عَنِ الأقوَالِ فِيهِ وَإنَّمَا

قَنِعْنَا بِإيمَاضِ العيونِ عنِ القَولِ

We were struck speechless then, and only

contented ourselves with flashes of the eyes instead of words.

هُنَاكَ يَمَل العَيشَ مَنْ لاَ يَمَلُّهُ

وَتَنْقَلِبُ الأوضَاعُ علواً إلى السفلِ

There, even one who never tires of life grows weary of it,

and conditions are overturned, the high brought low.

عَذِيرِي مِنَ الأيامِ أعظِمْ بِجَورِهَا

وَأعظَمُ مَا جَارَتْ بهِ فرقَةُ الشملِ

Who will vindicate me against the days? How great their cruelty!

And their greatest wrong is the scattering of those once united.

فَيَا وَيلَهَا لَمْ تَعيَ مِنْ كَسْرِ خاطِرِي

وَيَا رَحْمَةً لِي مَنْ أفَادَ بَهَا عَذلِي

Woe to them! They have not tired of breaking my heart.

And pity me—who has found in them grounds to reproach me?

عَلَى أنهَا لَو جادلَتْ لَقَضَى لَهَا

بِسابِقَةِ الإحسَانِ مَنْ كَانَ ذا عَقلِ

Yet if they argued their case, judgment would go in their favor,

for their past kindness, from anyone endowed with reason.

تَقولُ كَأنَّ المَرءَ لَمْ يَصْف عَقلْهُ

إذا بَاتَ كَالعودِ المطافيلِ في المَقلِ

They say: it is as though a man's mind has not grown clear

if he spends the night like old camels with suckling young among doum palms [reading uncertain].

وَمَا العَقْلُ إلاَّ أنْ يرَى فَوقَ سابِحٍ

تَطِيرُ بِهِ مِنْ سَفْحِ تَلّ إلَى تَلّ

And reason is nothing but being seen astride a swift steed,

as they carry him flying from one hill's foot to another.

تَصَبِّحهُ بَينَ الالى وَعَرَارِهِ

وَتُمسِي بهِ بينَ الصَّنوبرِ وَالأثلِ

They bring him mornings among al-Ala [unclear reading] and its ‘arar flowers,

and evenings among pine trees and tamarisks.

وَتَرفَعهُ يَوماً إلَى صَدرِ مَوكِبِ

وَتَنطبهُ طَوراً بِسَوح أبي حَسلِ

They raise him one day to the head of a procession,

and at times pitch his tent [reading uncertain] in the haunts of Abu Hasl, the lizard.

بِهَذا يقادُ العِزُّ بَعدَ شِمَاسِهِ

وَلاَ يمكِنُ الإنتَاجُ إلا مِنَ الشكلِ

By this, glory is led after its stubborn resistance,

and a conclusion can be drawn only from a syllogistic form.

قَضِّيةُ حَقّ إنْ نَبَا عَنكَ سَمْعُهَا

فَعُدْ نَاظِراً فِيهَا وَلا تَمضِ فِي جَهلِ

A true proposition: if hearing it jars on you,

return to examine it, and do not proceed in ignorance.

وَسلْ كلِّ ذي عِزّ يجِبك بِصِدقِهَا

وَيَكفِي عَلِيُّ بنُ الحسينِ عنِ الكلِّ

Ask everyone possessed of honor; he will confirm its truth,

and Ali ibn al-Husayn suffices in place of them all.

هوَ السَّيِّدُ البَاشَا وَإلاَّ فَقِفْ لَهُ

إذا قِفْتَ في هَذا الوُجودِ على مِثْلِ

He is the lord, the Pasha; if not, find him a peer,

if you have come upon his like in this world.

تَبَرَّمَ مِنْ دِينِ الرُّكودِ وَقَد رَآى

بِنجلَيهِ ما يعني الغَضَنْفَرُ بِالشِّبلِ

He grew impatient with the creed of stagnation, having seen

in his two sons what the lion seeks in its cub.

تَوَسَّمَ فِي حَمُّودَةَ مَبلَغَ المنَى

وَفِي خُلُقِ المَأمونِ عارِضَةَ النُّبلِ

He discerned in Hammuda the fulfillment of hopes,

and in al-Ma'mun's character a capacity for nobility.

هُمَا دُرَّتَا الملكِ الذي يَصْطَفِيهما

وَنِعْمَ جَنَاحَا طَائِرِ العقْدِ وَالحَلِّ

They are the two pearls of sovereignty, which chooses them,

and excellent are the two wings of the bird of binding and loosing.

إذا نَظَرَتْ عَينَاكَ مَنْ بَانَ مِنهماً

سَمِعْتَ مقَالَ الملكِ هذان من شَكل

When your eyes behold either one of them,

you hear sovereignty say: 'These two are of one kind.'

فَأحضَرَ بِالأسفَارِ مَا غَابَ عَنهمَا

وَرَقَّاهمَا في الحَالِ عنْ حَالَةِ الطِّفلِ

Through journeys he made present what had been absent from them,

and at once raised them beyond the state of childhood,

ليكتسبا أن السكون استكانةٌ

وأن اقتناصُ الخيرِ نت حفظِ ذي الطولِ

so that they might learn that stillness is submission,

and that securing good comes from the Bountiful One's protection [reading uncertain].

وَبَاتُوا عَلَى بِيرِينَ أولِ مَنزِلٍ

فقلنا استفادوا البِر من أولِ الفِعْلِ

They spent the night at Birin, their first stopping place,

and we said: 'They have gained goodness from the very first act.'

وَحَثْحَثَ مِنْ مَاءِ الغَدِيرِ جِيادَهُ

إلى تَلةِ الغزلاَنِ تَكْسَحُ بِالبُزْلِ

From Ma' al-Ghadir he urged his steeds onward,

toward Tallat al-Ghizlan, sweeping along with the full-grown camels.

وَيَا حسنَهَا بَعْدَ الخرَيرِيبِ إذ غَدَتْ

إلى مَنزِل القِيعَانِ تَنسَلُّ كَالسيلِ

And how lovely they were after al-Kharayrib, when they set out at dawn

toward Manzil al-Qi‘an, streaming forth like a torrent.

وَلَما رّأتْ شمسا قدِ امتَد ذَرْعُهَا

لِتَبْلُغَ مَيدَانَ الذّرَاعِ على رِسْلِ

And when they saw a sun whose reach had lengthened,

to reach Maydan al-Dhira‘ at an easy pace,

وَجَاءَتْ إلَى النِّثْيَانِ ثم تَخَلَّصَتْ

بِأدوَارِ دُورِ القَيرَوَانِ منَ الحِمْلِ

they came to al-Nithyan, then freed themselves

of their loads, amid the circuits of Qayrawan's dwellings.

مَنَازِلُ كَانَتْ فِي يَدِيهِ كِنَانَةً

ينَاضِلُ عَنْهَا بِالعَتِيدِ منَ النبلِ

Dwellings that had been a quiver in his hands,

which he defended with arrows held ready.

اصْطَتْ عَلَى مَنْ جاءَ يَخطبُ وَصلْهَا

وَقَالَتْ له ما بَعْدَ بَعلِيَ من بَعْلِ

She [verb unclear] against anyone who came seeking union with her,

and said to him: 'After my husband, there is no husband.'

وَأبرَقَتِ الأرْجَاءُ مِنهَا وَأرعَدَتْ

وَباتت قدورُ الحْربِ من حوْلها تغلي

From her, the surrounding lands flashed with lightning and thundered,

and around her the cauldrons of war boiled through the night.