لمعت كناصية الحصان الأشقر — Alabywrdy

لَمَعَتْ كناصِيَةِ الحِصانِ الأشْقَرِ

نارٌ بمُعتَلِجِ الكَثيبِ الأعْفَرِ

It gleamed like the forelock of a chestnut horse—

a fire in the tangled folds of the tawny dune.

تَخبو وتُوقِدُها ولائِدُ عامِرٍ

بالمَندَليّ وبالقَنا المُتَكَسِّرِ

It dies down, and Amir's maidservants rekindle it

with Mandali aloeswood and broken spear shafts.

فتَطارَحَتْ مُقَلُ الرّكائِبِ نحوَها

ولنا بِرامَةَ وِقْفَةُ المُتَحَبِّر

Then the riding camels' eyes darted toward it,

and at Ramah we paused as one who takes delight.

وهَزَزْتُ أطرافَ السّياطِ فأرْقَلَتْ

وبِها مَراحُ الطّارِقِ المُتنَوِّر

And I shook the whip-tips, and they sped along,

and in them was the eagerness of a night traveler seeking firelight.

حِنّي رُوَيْداً ناقُ إنّ مُناخَنا

بعُنَيْزَتَيْنِ ونارُها بمُحجَّرِ

Moan softly, she-camel: our stopping place

is at Unayzatayn, while her fire is at Muhajjar.

فمَتى اللّقاءُ ودونَ ذلكَ فِتيَةٌ

ضُرِبَتْ قِبابُهُمُ بقُنّةِ عَرْعَرِ

When, then, shall we meet, with young warriors barring the way,

whose tents are pitched on the summit of Ar'ar?

وأسِنّةُ المُرّانِ حَولَ بُيوتِهِمْ

شُدَّتْ بِها عُذُرُ العِتاقِ الضُّمَّرِ

And around their dwellings stand the points of ash-wood spears,

to which the bridles of lean, noble steeds are fastened.

فهُمُ يَشُبّونَ الحُروبَ إذا خَبَتْ

بالبيضِ تَقطُرُ بالنّجيعِ الأحْمَرِ

For they rekindle wars whenever their fires fade,

with gleaming swords dripping crimson blood.

يا أخْتَ مُقتَحِمِ الأسنّةِ في الوَغى

لَولا مُراقَبَةُ العِدا لَم تُهْجَري

O sister of one who plunges among spearpoints in battle,

but for keeping watch on foes, you would not be forsaken.

هلْ تأمُرينَ بزَوْرَةٍ منْ دُونِها

حَدَقٌ تشُقُّ دُجى الظّلامِ الأخْضَرِ

Do you bid me visit, when barring the way are

eyes piercing the gloom of green-black darkness?

أأُصانِعُ الأعداءَ فيكِ وطالَما

خَضَبَ القَنا بدِماءِ قوْمِكَ مَعْشَري

Shall I placate the enemies for your sake, when so often

my clansmen have dyed their spears in your people's blood?

ويَروعُني لَغَطُ الوُشاةِ وقَبْلَنا

حَكَمَتْ قَبائِلُ خِنْدِفٍ في حِمْيَرِ

And shall the tale-bearers' clamor frighten me, when before us

the tribes of Khindif ruled over Himyar?

لأُشارِفَنّ إلَيكِ كلَّ تَنوفَةٍ

زَوراءَ تُعْقَرُ بالمُشيحِ الأزْوَرِ

I shall surely brave every wilderness to reach you,

winding, cleft by a swift, slant-chested mount.

فلَكَمْ هَزَزْتُ إلَيكِ أعْطافَ الدُّجى

ورَكِبْتُ هاديَةَ الصّباحِ المُسْفِرِ

How often, seeking you, I have shaken the folds of night,

and ridden the leading edge of the brightening dawn.

نَفْسي فِداؤكِ منْ عَقيلَة مَعْشرٍ

مَنَعوا قُضاعَةَ بالعَديدِ الأكْثَرِ

My soul be your ransom, noble jewel of a people

who held Quda'ah at bay with their greater numbers.

ألِفَتْ ظِباءَ الوادِيَيْنِ فعِنْدها

حَذَرُ الغَزالَةِ والْتِفاتُ الجُؤذَرِ

She grew familiar with the gazelles of the two valleys, and so she has

the gazelle's wariness and the turning glance of a wild-ox calf.

وبمَنْشِطِ الحَوْذانِ خَمسَةُ أرْسُمٍ

تَبدو فأحْسَبُهُنَّ خَمسَةَ أسْطُرِ

And at Manshit al-Hawdhan are five traces of encampments;

they appear, and I take them for five lines of writing.

وافَيْتُها والرّكْبُ يَسْجُدُ للكَرى

والعِيسُ تَركَعُ بالحَزيزِ الأوْعَرِ

I came to them while the riders bowed down to sleep,

and the pale camels knelt on the rugged, stony ridge.

فوَقَفْتُ أسأَلُها وفي عَرَصاتِها

طَرَبُ المَشوقِ وحَنّةُ المُتَذَكِّر

So I stood questioning them, and in their open grounds

were the lovesick one's rapture and the remembering one's moan.

وكأنّ أطْلالاً بمُنعَرَجِ اللِّوى

أشْلاءُ قَتْلاكَ التي لمْ تُقْبَرِ

And it is as though the ruins at the bend of al-Liwa

were the scattered limbs of those you slew, never buried.

أخلَيْتَ منها الشّامَ حينَ تظلّمَتْ

منها ومَنْ يَستَجْدِ عَدْلَكَ يُنصَرِ

You cleared Syria of them when she complained

of their wrongs; whoever implores your justice is aided.

فقَشَرْتَ بالعَضْبِ الجُرازِ قُشَيْرَها

وقَلَعْتَ بالأسَلاتِ قلعَةَ جَعْبَرِ

So with the sharp, shearing sword you peeled away her Qushayr,

and with spearpoints you uprooted the fortress of Ja'bar.

شمّاءُ تَلعَبُ بالعُيونِ وتَرتَدي

هَضَباتُها حُلَلَ السَّحابِ الأقمَرِ

Lofty, it beguiles the eyes, while

its heights don the robes of moon-white clouds.

وتَحِلُّها عُصَبٌ تُضَرِّمُ للْقِرى

شَذَبَ الأراكِ زَهادَةً في العَنْبَرِ

And bands inhabit it, kindling for hospitality

arak twigs, disdaining ambergris.

قَوْمٌ حُصونُهُمُ الأسِنّةُ والظُّبا

والخَيْلُ تَنحِطُ في مَطارِ العِثْيَرِ

A people whose fortresses are spearpoints and sword-blades,

and horses snorting where the dust flies.

ألِفوا ظُهورَ المُقْرَباتِ وما دَرَوْا

أنّ المَصيرَ إِلى بُطونِ الأنْسُرِ

They were accustomed to the backs of choice steeds, never knowing

that their end would be in vultures' bellies.

فخَبَتْ ببَأْسِكَ فِتْنَةٌ عرَبيّةٌ

كانت تُهَجْهِجُ بالسّوامِ النُّفَّرِ

So an Arab rebellion was quenched by your might,

which had driven off the startled grazing herds.

وفَتَحْتَ أنطاكيّةَ الرّومِ التي

نَشَزَتْ مَعاقِلُها على الإسكَنْدَرِ

And you conquered Antioch of the Byzantines, whose

strongholds had defied Alexander.

وكَفى مُعِزَّ الدين رأيُكَ عَسْكَراً

لَجِباً يُجَنّحُ جانبَيْهِ بعَسْكَرِ

And your counsel served Mu'izz al-Din as an army—

a clamorous host, winging both its flanks with troops.

وطِئَتْ مَناكِبَها جِيادُكَ فانْثَنَتْ

تُلقي أجِنّتَها بَناتُ الأصْفرِ

Your steeds trampled her shoulders; recoiling,

the daughters of al-Asfar cast out their unborn.

تَردي كما نَسَلَتْ سَراحينُ الغَضى

قُبْلَ العُيونِ بجنّةٍ منْ عَبْقَرِ

They gallop as the wolves of the ghada thickets bound,

before the eyes, carrying jinn from Abqar.

وتَرى الشُّجاعَ يُديرُ في حَمْسِ الوَغى

حَدَقَ الشُّجاعِ يَلُحْنَ تحتَ المِغْفَرِ

And you see the brave man, in the fury of battle, turning

the eyes of a serpent, flashing beneath his mail coif.

فتَناوشَ الأسَلُ الشّوارِعُ أرضَها

والخَيلُ تَعثُرُ في العَجاجِ الأكْدَرِ

Then the outstretched spears assailed her land,

while horses stumbled in the murky dust.

رُفِعَتْ منارُ العَدلِ في أرْجائِها

فاللّيْثُ يَخْضَعُ للغَزالِ الأحْوَرِ

The beacons of justice were raised throughout her lands,

so the lion submits to the dark-eyed gazelle.

وترَشّفَ العافونَ منكَ أنامِلاً

يَخْلُفْنَ غاديَةَ الغَمامِ المُغزِرِ

And seekers of bounty sipped from your fingertips,

which replace the morning downpour of bountiful clouds.

ورَدوا نَداكَ فأصْدَرَتْ نَفَحاتُهُ

عنكَ المُقِلَّ يَجُرُّ ذَيْلَ المُكْثِر

They came to drink your bounty, and its breezes sent away

from you the poor man, trailing a rich man's train.

وصَبا الدُّهورُ إلَيْكَ بَعْدَ مُضِيِّها

لتَرى نَضارَةَ عَصرِكَ المُتأخّرِ

And bygone ages yearned for you after their passing,

to behold the fresh bloom of your latter-day age.

فَغدا بِها الإسلامُ يَسْحَبُ ذَيْلَهُ

مَرَحاً ويخْطِرُ خِطْرَةَ المُتَبَخْتِرِ

So, through it, Islam came to trail its robe's train,

in delight, strutting with a swaggerer's gait.

إيْهاً فقَدْ أدرَكْتَ منْ شَرَفِ العُلا

ما لم يُنَلْ وذَخَرْتَ ما لمْ يُذْخَرِ

Onward! You have attained heights of honor

never attained, and stored up what none had stored.

وبلَغْتَ غايَةَ سُؤدَدٍ لمْ يُلْفِهِ

كِسْرى ولا عَلِقَتْهُ هِمّةُ قَيصَرِ

And you have reached a summit of lordship never found by

Kisra, nor reached by Caesar's ambition.

فإذا استَجارَ بكَ العُفاةُ تَبَيّنوا

أثَرَ السّماحِ على الجَبينِ الأزْهَرِ

And when seekers of bounty seek refuge with you, they discern

the mark of generosity on your radiant brow.

ورَأَوا عُلا إسْحاقَ شَيّدَ سَمْكَها

كَرَمُ الرّضيِّ فَيا لَهُ منْ مَفْخَرِ

And they see the heights of Ishaq, their loftiness raised by

al-Radi's generosity—what a source of pride!

ومَناصِباً فَرَعَتْ ذُؤابَةَ فارِسٍ

لمْ يَستَبِدَّ بهِنّ آلُ المُنْذِرِ

And ranks that overtopped the very crest of Persia,

which the house of al-Mundhir never held exclusively.

يا صاحِبَيَّ دَنا الرّحيلُ فَقَرِّبا

وَجْناءَ تكفُلُ بالغِنى للمُقْتِرِ

O my two companions, departure is near; bring forward

a sturdy she-camel that guarantees wealth for the poor,

وتَجُرُّ أثناءَ الزِّمامِ إِلى فتَىً

خَضِلِ الأنامِلِ كِسْرَويّ المَفْخَرِ

and pulls the loops of her rein toward a young lord

with fingers moist with bounty, Kisra-like in glory.

فمَطالعُ البَيداءِ تَعلَمُ أنّني

أسْري وأَعنُفُ بالمَهارَى الحُسَّرِ

For the desert's heights know that I

travel by night and drive the exhausted Mahri camels hard.

وأحَبِّرُ الكَلِمَ التي لا أرتَضي

مِنها بغَيرِ الشّاردِ المُتَخيّرِ

And I embellish words, never content

with any but the striking, carefully chosen expression.

وجَزالةُ البَدَوِيِّ في أثنائِه

مُفْتَرَّةٌ عن رِقَّةِ المُتَحَضِّرِ

And within its folds, the Bedouin's robust eloquence

smiles to reveal the city-dweller's delicacy.

وإلَيكَ يَلتَجئُ الكَريمُ ويَتّقي

بكَ ما يُحاذِرُ والنّوائِبُ تَعتَري

And to you the noble man turns for refuge, shielding himself

with you from what he fears, while calamities beset him.

والأرضُ دارُكَ والبَرايا أعْبُدٌ

وعلى أوامِرِكَ اختِلافُ الأعْصُرِ

And the earth is your home, and all creatures are slaves,

and the succession of ages follows your commands.