أما وتجني طيفها المتأوب — Alabywrdy

أما وَتجَنّي طَيْفِها المتأوِّبِ

لَياليَ رَوّحْنا المَطايا بغُرَّبِ

Ah, by her night-returning phantom's unjust reproaches,

on nights we brought the mounts in at Ghurrab!

لقد زارَني والعَتْبُ يَقْصُرُ خَطْوَهُ

وأحْبِبْ بهِ منْ زائِرٍ مُتعتِّبِ

It did visit me, reproach shortening its steps;

and how dear a reproachful visitor it was!

يواصِلُنا والليْلُ غَضٌّ شَبابُهُ

ويَهْجُرُ إن شابَتْ ذَوائِبُ غَيْهَبِ

It keeps us company while the night's youth is fresh,

and deserts us when deep darkness's forelocks turn gray.

فما لي وللطّيفِ المُعاوِدِ مَوْهِناً

سَرى كاخْتِطافِ البارِقِ المتَصوِّبِ

What have I to do with the phantom returning late at night,

that sped by night like a downward flash of lightning?

وقد كنتُ راجَعْتُ السُّلُوَّ عنِ الصِّبا

وأضْمَرْتُ تَوْديعَ الغَزالِ المُرَبَّبِ

Yet I had regained freedom from youthful passion,

and inwardly resolved to farewell the cherished gazelle.

ورُحْتُ غَبيَّ السِّنِّ عنْ كُلِّ مَضْحَكٍ

ومُنْكَسِرَ الألْحاظِ عنْ كُلِّ مَلْعَبِ

And I no longer bared my teeth at anything that stirred laughter,

and lowered my gaze away from every place of amusement,

على حينَ نادَى بالظّعائِنِ أهْلُها

ولمْ يَحذَروا العُقْبى لِما في المُغَيَّبِ

just when their kin called the women in litters to depart,

and did not beware the outcome of what lay hidden.

وأوْدى قِوامُ الدّينِ حتى تولّعَتْ

صُروفُ الليالي بي فرَنَّقْنَ مَشْرَبي

And Qiwam al-Din perished, till they grew hostile—

the vicissitudes of the nights—toward me, and muddied my drink.

سأذْكُرُهُ للرَّكْبِ كلّتْ مَطيُّهُمْ

وللسّفْرِ إذ أعْياهُمُ وَجْهُ مَطْلَبِ

I shall speak of him to the caravan whose mounts have tired,

and to travelers when the way to a goal bewilders them,

وللآمِلِ الصّادي متَى يَبْدُ مَنْهَلٌ

ولمْ يَكُ منْ أحْواضِهِ يتنكَّبُ

and to the thirsty hopeful, whenever a watering place appears,

and he has never turned aside from his watering troughs.

ولولا نِظامُ الدّينِ كانتْ لُحومُنا

وإنْ كَرُمَتْ نُهْبى نُسورٍ وأذْؤبِ

Were it not for Nizam al-Din, our flesh would have been,

however noble, prey for vultures and wolves.

وما زالَ منْ أبناءِ إسْحاقَ كَوكَبٌ

يَلوحُ إذا ولّى الزّمانُ بكَوْكَبِ

And among Ishaq's sons a star has never ceased

to shine whenever Time takes a star away.

ولما أتاني أنّهُ قَمَعَ العِدا

هَتَفْتُ بآمالٍ روازِحَ لُغَّبِ

And when word reached me that he had subdued the foes,

I called out to hopes weighed down and exhausted.

وقُلْتُ لصَحْبي بادِروا الصُّبْحَ نَبْتَكِرْ

على بابليٍّ في الزُّجاجَةِ أصْهَبِ

And I told my companions: Outstrip dawn; let us begin early

over tawny Babylonian wine in the bottle.

له مَشْرِقٌ في أوْجُهِ الشَّرْبِ بعْدَما

تُصَوِّبُ ما بَينَ اللُّها نَحوَ مَغْرِبِ

It has a sunrise in the drinkers' faces, after

you pour it down between their uvulas toward its sunset.

كأنّ الحَبابَ المُسْتَطيرَ إذا طَفا

لآلِئُ إلا أنّها لم تُثَقَّبِ

The spreading bubbles, when they float, are like

pearls, except that they have not been pierced.

ومنْ أرْيَحِيّاتي وللرّاحِ نَشْوَةٌ

متى تَدُرِ الكأسُ الرّوِيّةُ أطْرَبِ

And one of my openhearted impulses—wine has its intoxication—

is to rejoice whenever the brimming cup goes round.

فظَلْنا بيَوْمٍ قصّرَ اللّهْوُ طُولَهُ

نَشاوَى ولم نَحْفِلْ عِتابَ المؤَنِّبِ

So we spent a day whose length pleasure shortened,

intoxicated, heedless of the rebuker's reproach.

تنِمُّ إلينا بالسّرورِ مَزاهِرٌ

يُغازِلْنَ أطْرافَ البَنانِ المُخَضَّبِ

Lutes whisper joy to us,

flirting with the tips of dye-stained fingers.

إذا كُنتَ جاراً للحُسَيْنِ فلا تُبَلْ

رِضَى المُتَجنّي فاتْرُكِ الدّهْرَ يَغْضَبِ

If you are under al-Husayn's protection, do not care about

the unjust accuser's approval; let Time be angry.

أخو عَزْمَةٍ تُغْني إذا الأمْرُ أظْلَمَتْ

جَوانِبُهُ عنْ باتِرِ الحَدِّ مِقْضَبِ

He possesses a resolve that suffices, when an affair grows dark

on all its sides, in place of a keen-edged, cleaving sword.

ويَسْمو إِلى أعْدائِهِ منْ كُماتِهِ

وآرائِهِ في مِقْنَبٍ بَعْدَ مِقْنَبِ

And he rises against his enemies with his armored champions

and his counsels, in squadron after squadron.

ويَرْميهمُ واليومُ دامٍ عَجاجُهُ

بجُرْدٍ يُبارينَ الأعِنّةَ شُزَّبِ

He assails them while the day's swirling dust is bloody,

with short-coated, lean steeds that vie with their reins.

ويَكْنُفُهُ نَصْرٌ يُناجي لِواءَهُ

إذا ما هَفا كالطّائِرِ المُتَقلِّبِ

And victory surrounds him, whispering to his banner,

whenever it flutters like a wheeling bird.

فلِلّهِ مَيْمونُ النّقيبَةِ إن غَزا

أراحَ إليهِ مالَهُ كلُّ مُعْزِبِ

Praise God for this man of blessed fortune! If he campaigns,

every outlying herdsman brings his livestock home to him.

يقولُ لمُرْتادِ السّماحَةِ مَرحَباً

إذا النِّكْسُ لَوّى ماضِغَيْهِ بمَرْحَبِ

He says 'Welcome' to the seeker of generosity,

when the base man twists his jaws over 'welcome.'

ويُلْقي لدَيْهِ المُعْتَفونَ رِحالَهُمْ

بأفْيَحَ لا يَعْتادُهُ المَحْلُ مُخْصِبِ

And seekers of bounty lay down their saddles beside him,

in a spacious, fertile place that drought never visits.

حَلَفْتُ بأيدي الرّاقِصاتِ إِلى مِنىً

يُبارينَ وَفْدَ الريحِ في كلِّ سَبْسَبِ

I swore by the forelegs of the camels dancing toward Mina,

vying with the wind's arriving company across every open plain.

عليها غُلامٌ لاحَهُ السّيْرُ والسُّرى

بهِ قَلَقٌ منْ عَزْمِهِ المُتَلَهِّبِ

On them rides a youth worn thin by travel and night journeys,

with restlessness born of his blazing resolve.

وهزَّ الفَيافي عُودَهُ إذْ تَشَبّثَتْ

يَدُ الدّهْرِ منهُ باللّحاءِ المُشَذَّبِ

And the wastelands shook his stem, when there clung

Time's hand to his pared bark.

فلمْ يَدّرِعْ والشّمْسُ كادَ أُوارُها

يُذيبُ الحَصى ظِلَّ الخِباءِ المُطَنَّبِ

Yet he did not cloak himself—though the sun's blaze almost

melted the pebbles—in the shade of a guy-roped tent.

فما زالَ يَطْويها ويَطوينَهُ الفَلا

إِلى أنْ أنَخْناهُنَّ عندَ المُحَصِّبِ

So he kept folding up the wastes, while they folded him in turn,

until we made them kneel at al-Muhassab.

لأَوْهَيْتَ أرْكانَ العَدوِّ بكاهِلٍ

تُحَمِّلُهُ عِبْءَ المَعالي ومَنْكِبِ

You have surely weakened the enemy's pillars with a back

and shoulder on which you load the burden of high achievement.

ومَنْ يتصدّى للوزارَةِ جاهِداً

ويَمْسَحُ عِطْفَ المَطْلَبِ المُتعَصِّبِ

And who would labor to take on the vizierate

and stroke the flank of that obstinate goal?

فقدْ نَزَعَتْ وَلْهَى إلَيْكَ وخيّمَتْ

بخَيْرِ فَتىً واسْتَوْطَنَتْ خَيْرَ مَنصِبِ

For she has turned toward you, distraught with longing, and encamped

with the best of young men, making her home in the finest station.

وشتّانَ ما بَيْنَ الوَزيرَيْنِ وادِعٍ

أتَتْهُ العُلا طَوْعاً وآخرَ مُتعَبِ

And how far apart are the two viziers: one at ease,

to whom glory came willingly, and another worn out.

فحَسْبُ أبيكَ مَفْخَراً أنّكَ ابْنُهُ

كما أنّهُ ناهيكَ في الفَخْرِ منْ أبِ

It is enough glory for your father that you are his son,

just as he is father enough to make you proud.

بَقِيتَ ولا زالَتْ تَروحُ وتَغْتَدي

إليكَ المَساعي غَضّةَ المُتَنَسَّبِ

May you endure, and may they never cease coming, evening and morning,

to you—noble deeds, fresh in their lineage.

ولا بَرِحَ الحُسّادُ يَكْسو وليدَهُمْ

لَواعِجُ منْ هَمٍّ غَدائِرَ أشْيَبِ

And may the envious forever have their infant clothed

by the burning pangs of worry in a gray-haired man's tresses.