مراحك إنه البرق اليماني — Alabywrdy

مِراحَكَ إنّهُ البَرْقُ اليَماني

على عَذَبِ الحِمى مُلقَى الجِرانِ

Curb your delight: it is the Yemeni lightning,

At the preserve's edge, its neck laid low.

تطلَّعَ مِنْ حَشى الظَّلْماءِ وَهْناً

خُلوصَ النّارِ منْ طُرَرِ الدُّخانِ

It rose from the belly of darkness late at night,

Like fire emerging from the fringes of smoke.

فلا تَلعَبْ بعِطْفِكِ مُسْتَنيماً

إِلى خُدَعٍ تَطورُ بِها الأماني

So do not sway your flank, putting trust

In deceptions around which hopes hover.

فإنّ وَميضَهُ قَمِنٌ بِخُلْفٍ

كَما ابْتَسَمَتْ إِلى الشُّمْطِ الغَواني

For its flashing is likely to break its promise,

As beautiful women smile at gray-haired men.

ولا تَجْثِمْ بمَدْرَجَةِ الهُوَيْنَى

تُقَعقِعُ للنّوائِبِ بالشِّنانِ

And do not crouch on the path of idle ease,

Rattling dry waterskins at calamities.

إذا ذلَّتْ حَياتُكَ في مَكانٍ

فَمُتْ لطِلابِ عِزِّكَ في مَكانِ

If your life is abased in one place,

Then die elsewhere in pursuit of your honor.

أبى لي أن أُضامَ أبي ونَفْسي

ورُمْحي والحُسامُ الهِنْدُواني

My father and my soul refuse to let me be wronged,

And so do my spear and my keen Indian sword,

وَشُوسٌ في الذّوائِبِ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ

ذوو النّخَواتِ والغُرَرِ الحِسانِ

And fierce warriors among the loftiest of Quraysh,

Men of proud spirits and fair, radiant brows.

وأموالٌ تَخوَّنَها هُزالٌ

تُبَدَّدُ دونَ أعْراضٍ سِمانِ

And wealth eaten away by leanness,

Spent in defense of well-fed reputations.

إذا حَفَزَتْهُمُ الهَيْجاءُ لاذوا

بأطْرافِ المُثقَّفَةِ اللِّدانِ

When battle goads them, they seek refuge

In the points of straightened, supple spears.

وطارَتْ كُلُّ سَلْهَبَةٍ مِزاقٍ

ببِزَّةِ كُلِّ مُنْتَجَبٍ هِجانِ

And every tall, swift-running mare flies,

Bearing the armor of each chosen, nobly born warrior.

يَقدُّونَ الدُّروعَ بمُرْهَفاتٍ

تُجَعْجِعُ بالخَميسِ الأُدْجُوانِ

They cleave armor with keen blades

That hem in the crimson host.

ويَطْوونَ الضُّلوعَ على طَواها

ويأْكُلُ جارُهُمْ أُنُفَ الجِفانِ

And they fold their ribs around their hunger,

While their neighbor eats the first helpings from the bowls.

تَناوَشَهُمْ صُروفُ الدّهْرِ حتّى

أُتيحَ لهُمْ بَنو عَبْدِ المَدانِ

The vicissitudes of time assailed them until

The sons of ʿAbd al-Madān were sent against them:

زَعانِفُ لا يَزالُ لهمْ خَطيبٌ

غَداةَ الفَخْرِ مُسْتَرَقَ اللِّسانِ

Riffraff, whose spokesman always has

A tongue held captive on the morning of boasting.

يروحُ إليهمُ النَّعَمُ المندىً

وقد عَصَفَتْ بِنا نُوَبُ الزّمانِ

The well-watered herds return to them at evening,

While the calamities of time have stormed upon us.

ودَبّتْ نَشْوَةُ الخُيَلاءِ فيهمْ

دَبيبَ النّارِ في سَعَفِ الإهانِ

And the intoxication of arrogance crept through them

As fire creeps through the fronds of palms.

وكيفَ يَعِزُّ شِرْذِمَةٌ لِئامٌ

على صَفَحاتِهِمْ سِمَةُ الهَوانِ

And how can a vile rabble gain honor,

With the brand of abasement upon their cheeks?

أُراقِبُ ليلَةً فيهمْ عَماساً

تمَخّضُ لي بيَوْمٍ أرْوَنانِ

I await a grim night to befall them,

Laboring for me to bear a tumultuous day.

وأخْدَعُهُمْ ولي عَزْمٌ شُجاعٌ

بمُخْتَلَقٍ منَ الكَلِمِ الجَبانِ

And I deceive them, though my resolve is brave,

With fabrications made of cowardly words.

سأخْبطُهُمْ بِداهِيَةٍ نَآدٍ

فليسَ لهمْ بنائِبَةٍ يَدانِ

I shall batter them with a crushing calamity,

For they have no hands to grapple with misfortune.

ولا حَسَبٌ يُقَدِّمُهُمْ ولكنْ

أرى الأُنْبوبَ قُدّامَ السِّنانِ

Nor any noble lineage to set them in the lead; yet

I see the spear-shaft ahead of the spearhead.

فإنّ ضياءَ دينِ اللهِ جاري

عشيّةَ تَلْتَقي حَلَقُ البِطانِ

For the Radiance of God's Religion is my protecting neighbor,

On the evening when the girth-rings meet.

حَذارِ فدونَ ما تَسْمو إليهِ

أسامَةُ وَهْوَ مُفتَرِشُ اللَّبانِ

Beware! Between you and what you aspire to

Lies Usāma the lion, his breast upon the ground.

وإنّ أخا أُمَيّةَ في ذَراهُ

لَكالنَّمَرِيّ جارِ الزِّبْرِقانِ

And Umayya's kinsman, beneath his shelter,

Is like al-Namarī, al-Zibriqān's protected neighbor.

لدى مُتوَقِّدِ العَزَماتِ طَلْقِ ال

خَليقَةِ والمُحَيّا والبَنانِ

Beside one aflame with resolve, open of

Temper, countenance, and hand.

له نِعَمٌ يُراحُ لهُنّ عافٍ

إِلى نِقَمٍ يُهيبُ بهِنَّ جانِ

He has favors that bring a suppliant relief,

Alongside punishments that an offender calls down.

وفَيْضُ يَدٍ تُجَنُّ على سَماحٍ

وأخرى تَسْتَريحُ إِلى طِعانِ

And the outpouring of a hand mad with generosity,

And another that finds rest in spear-thrusts.

تَلوذُ بحِقْوِهِ أيْدي الرّعايا

لِياذَ المَضْرَحِيَّةِ بالرِّعانِ

His subjects' hands seek refuge at his waist,

As white eagles take refuge on mountain peaks.

هنيئاً والسُّعودُ لَها دَواعٍ

قُدومٌ تَسْتَطيلُ بهِ التّهاني

Blessed be—and good fortune has its causes—

An arrival that makes congratulations stretch on,

لأرْوَعَ حَجَّ بيتَ اللهِ يَطْوي

إليهِ نِياطَ أغْبَرَ صَحْصَحانِ

Of a splendid man who made pilgrimage to God's House, traversing

Toward it the far reaches of a dust-gray, level waste.

ويَفْري بُرْدَةَ الظّلْماءِ حتى

يُفيقَ الأعْوَجيُّ منَ الحِرانِ

And he rends the cloak of darkness until

The Aʿwajī horse recovers from its balking.

ويُصْبِحُ كلُّ ناجِيَةٍ ذَمولٍ

بهادِيَةٍ كَخُوطِ الخَيْزُرانِ

And every swift, steady-trotting she-camel greets the dawn

With a neck like a slender bamboo shoot.

فلما شارَفَ الحَرَمَ اسْتَنارَتْ

بهِ سُرَرُ الأباطِحِ والمَحاني

Then, when he neared the Sacred Precinct, there shone

Through him the hearts of the gravel plains and valley bends.

تَساوى الشَّوْطُ بينكما بِشأْوٍ

كأنّكما لدَيْهِ الفَرْقَدانِ

You two were evenly matched in the race to a goal,

At which you seemed the twin Farqad stars.

فشَيَّدَ ما بَناهُ أوَّلُوهُ

ورَوْقُ شَبابِهِ في العُنْفُوانِ

So he raised high what his forebears built,

While the bloom of his youth was in its prime.

أتُخْطِئُهُ العُلا ويُدِلُّ فيها

بعِرْقٍ من شُيوخِكَ غيرِ وانِ

Could high glory pass him by, when he proudly claims it

Through a root from your forefathers that never weakens?

جَرى وجَرَيْتَ مُستَبِقَيْنِ حتى

دَنا طَرَفُ العِنانِ منَ العِنانِ

He ran, and you ran, racing each other, until

The end of one rein drew near the other rein.