هو طيفها وطروقه تعليل — Alabywrdy

هوَ طَيْفُها وطُروقُهُ تَعْليلُ

فمَتى يفي لَكَ والوَفاءُ قَليلُ

It is her phantom, and its night visit is mere consolation.

When will it keep faith with you, when faithfulness is scarce?

وكأنّ زَوْرَتَهُ تألُّقُ بارِقٍ

هَتَفَتْ بهِ النّكْباءُ وهْيَ بَليلُ

Its visit is like the flash of lightning;

The damp crosswind called aloud to it.

عَرَضَتْ لوامِعُهُ فطَرَّبَ مُجْدِبٌ

ومَضى فلا عِدَةٌ ولا تَنويلُ

Its flashes appeared; one stricken by drought sang in delight.

Then it passed: neither promise nor bounty.

أَأُمَيْمَ إنْ أشْبَهْتِهِ في خُلفِهِ

فالخُلْفُ يَقبُحُ وهْوَ منكِ جَميلُ

O Umaym, if you resemble it in breaking promises,

Promise-breaking is ugly, yet from you it is beautiful.

ولهُ ابتِسامُكِ عنْ ثُغورٍ لمْ يَكُنْ

يُشْفى بهِنَّ منَ المُحِبِّ غَليلُ

And it has your smile, baring teeth that have never

Quenched a lover's burning thirst.

والقَدُّ منْ مَرَحِ الصِّبا مُتأوِّدٌ

والطَّرْفُ منْ تَرَفِ النّعيمِ عَليلُ

And your figure sways with youth's exuberance,

And your gaze is languid with luxurious ease.

والخَصْرُ خَفَّ فلا يَزالُ وِشاحُهُ

قَلِقاً وما وارى الإزارُ ثَقيلُ

And your waist is slender, so its sash remains

Restless, while what the waistcloth hides is heavy.

غُضّي منَ الإدْلالِ فهْوَ على النّوى

ما دامَ يَجْلِبُهُ المَلالُ دَليلُ

Restrain your coy pride: toward estrangement

It points, so long as weariness brings it on.

ودَعي الوُشاةَ فكُلُّ ما مَحِلوا بِهِ

عِنْدَ اللِّقاءِ يُزيلُهُ التّأْويلُ

And leave the slanderers be: whatever they maliciously allege,

An explanation at our meeting will dispel.

ووَراءَ وَصْلِكُمُ القَصيرِ زَمانُهُ

هَجْرٌ كما شاءَ الغَيورُ طَويلُ

Beyond your union, brief in duration,

Lies a long estrangement, as the jealous one desired.

لو دامَ قَبْلَكمُ اجْتِماعٌ لم يَذُقْ

ألمَ افْتِراقٍ مالِكٌ وعَقيلُ

Had union endured before you, they would not have tasted

The pain of parting—Malik and Aqil.

ولَئِنْ صَدَدْتِ فَبينَنا مَجهولَةٌ

للرّكْبِ فيها رنّةٌ وعَويلُ

And if you turn away, between us lies an uncharted waste,

Where the caravan has plaintive cries and wailing.

تَسري بعَقْوَتِها الرّياحُ لَواغِباً

ولَهُنّ منْ حَذَرِ الضّلالِ ألِيلُ

Winds travel through its expanse, weary,

And moan for fear of losing their way.

أنا والمَطيُّ وجِنْحُ لَيلٍ مُظْلِمٍ

ولديَّ إنْ نزَلَ الهَوانُ رَحيلُ

I, the riding camels, and the wing of a dark night—

And should humiliation descend, departure is mine.

فالهَجْرُ أرْوَحُ والأماني ضلّةٌ

إنْ حالَ عَهْدٌ أو أرابَ خَليلُ

For estrangement brings more ease, and hopes are delusion,

If a covenant changes or a friend gives cause for doubt.

وتطَرُّفُ القُرَناءِ يَقبُحُ بالفَتى

لكنْ دَواءُ الغادِرِ التّبْديلُ

Seeking new companions ill becomes a young man,

But the remedy for a faithless man is replacement.

هِمَمٌ تنقَّلُ بي فإنْ قَلِقَتْ بها

دارٌ نَضا عَزَماتيَ التّحْويلُ

Ambitions carry me about; if with them

A home grows restless, departure unsheathes my resolves.

وأبى لجِيدي أن يُطوَّقَ مِنَّةً

شَرَفٌ بَناهُ الأنْبِياءُ أثيلُ

And it refused to let my neck be collared by a favor—

A deep-rooted nobility founded by the prophets.

نطَقَ الزَّبورُ بفَضْلِهِ المَشْهورِ وال

قُرآنُ والتّوراةُ والإنْجيلُ

The Psalms spoke of its renowned excellence, and the

Qur'an, the Torah, and the Gospel.

منْ مَعْشَرٍ لهُمُ السّماحَةُ شيمَةٌ

والمَجْدُ تِرْبٌ والنّجومُ قَبيلُ

From a people whose generosity is a natural trait,

And glory their age-mate, and the stars their kin.

لهُمُ المُعَلّى والرّقيبُ منَ العُلا

وبِهِمْ أفاضَ قِداحَهُنَّ مُجيلُ

The Mu'alla and Raqib lots of lofty honor are theirs,

And through them a caster cast the arrows of those heights.

فرحَلْتُ والنّفْسُ الأبيّةُ حرّةٌ

والعَزْمُ ماضٍ والحُسامُ صَقيلُ

So I departed, my proud soul free,

My resolve keen, my sword polished.

هلْ يُعْجِزَنّي والبِقاعُ فَسيحَةٌ

في هذه الأرْضِ الفَضاءِ مَقيلُ

Can there elude me, when the lands are spacious,

A midday resting place on this open earth?

بقَصائِدٍ قَسَتِ الليالي واكْتَسَتْ

مِنْها فرقَّتْ بُكْرَةٌ وأصيلُ

With poems: the nights grew harsh, then clothed themselves

In them, and morning and evening grew gentle.

إنْ شارَفَتْ أرْضاً تطلَّعَ نَحْوَها

أخْرى كأنّ مُقامَها تَحْليلُ

If they approach a land, toward them gazes

Another, as though their stay were a fleeting halt.

خَضِلَتْ بدَجْلَةَ والفُراتِ ذُيولُها

فاهْتزَّ منْ طَرَبٍ إلَيْها النّيلُ

Their hems grew wet at the Tigris and Euphrates,

And the Nile swayed toward them in delight.

وأزارَها ابْنَ الدّارِميِّ أبا الندىً ال

إكْرامُ والتّعْظيمُ والتّبْجيلُ

And to Ibn al-Darimi, Abu al-Nada, they were brought by

Honor, exaltation, and reverence.

خَضَبَتْ مَناسِمَها إِلى عَرَصاتِهِ

خُوصٌ نَماها شِدْقمٌ وجَديلُ

They stained their footpads on the way to his courts—

Narrow-eyed camels of Shidqam's and Jadil's stock.

ولَكَمْ تَسافَهَتِ البُرونُ لمَطْلَبٍ

وتَناجَتِ الرُّكْبانُ أيْنَ تَميلُ

And how often the nose-rings tossed about in pursuit of a goal,

And the riders whispered, 'Where will they turn?'

فأقَمْنَ حيثُ المَجْدُ أتْلَعُ والندىً

جَمٌّ وظِلُّ المَكْرُماتِ ظَليلُ

So they stayed where glory towers high, and generosity

Is abundant, and the shade of noble deeds is deep.

ورَعَيْنَ حالَيَةَ الرّبيعِ ودونَها

جارٌ بِما تَعِدُ الظّنونُ كَفيلُ

And they grazed what spring adorned; before it

Stood a protector, guaranteeing what expectations promised.

ويُصيبُ أعْقابَ الأمورِ إذا ارْتَأى

عَفْواً وآراءُ الرِّجالِ تَفيلُ

And he discerns the outcomes of affairs when he judges,

Effortlessly, while men's judgments falter.

وإذا الوَغى حَدَرَ الكُماةُ لِثامَهُ

ووَشى بسِرِّ المَشرَفيِّ صَليلُ

And when warriors lower the veil of battle,

And a clang betrays the Mashrafi sword's secret,

ورِماحُهُ تُوِّجْنَ منْ هامِ العِدا

ولخَيْلِهِ بدِمائِهمْ تَنْعيلُ

His spears are crowned with the heads of enemies,

And his horses are shod in their blood.

نُشِرَتْ رَفارِفُ دِرْعِهِ عنْ ضَيْغَمٍ

يَحْمي الحقيقَةَ والأسِنَّةُ غِيلُ

His armor's flaps unfold to reveal a lion,

Who guards his honor, with spearheads for a thicket.

هيهاتَ أنْ يَلِدَ الزّمانُ نَظيرَهُ

إنَّ الزّمانَ بمِثْلِهِ لَبَخيلُ

Far be it that time should beget his equal;

Time is indeed miserly with the likes of him.

فالضّيْفُ إلا عَنْ نَداهُ مُدَفَّعٌ

والجارُ إلا في ذَراهُ ذَليلُ

For a guest is rebuffed everywhere but at his bounty,

And a neighbor is abased except within his shelter.

نَفَضَتْ إِلى أفْيائِهِ لِمَمَ الرُّبا

أيْدي الرّكائِبِ سَيْرُهُنَّ ذَميلُ

Toward his shades, the hills' tresses were shaken off

By the mounts' forelegs, their gait a brisk trot.

شَرِقَتْ بنَغْمَةِ شاعِرٍ أو زائِرٍ

ودَعا هَديرٌ فاسْتَجابَ صَهيلُ

They brimmed with the voice of a poet or visitor,

A camel's rumble called, and a horse's neigh replied.

مَهْلاً فما دَنَتِ النّجومُ لِطامِعٍ

في نَيْلِهِنَّ وهَلْ إلَيهِ سَبيلُ

Easy now: the stars have not drawn near to one who longs

To attain them; is there a path to that?

وسَعَيْتُ للعَلْياءِ حتّى أيْقَنَتْ

أنّ الأوائِلَ سَعْيُهُمْ تَضْليلُ

And I pursued high glory until it became certain

That the striving of earlier men was misguided.

واهاً لعَصْرِكَ وهْوَ يَقْطُرُ نَضْرَةً

ويَميسُ تحتَ ظِلالِهِ التّأميلُ

Ah, for your age, dripping with freshness,

And hope sways beneath its shades!

فكأنّهُ وَرْدُ الخُدودِ إذا اكْتَسَتْ

خَجَلاً وكادَ يُذيبُها التّقْبيلُ

It is like the roses of cheeks when they clothe themselves

In a blush, and kisses almost melt them.

لَولا تأخُّرُهُ وقد أوْقَرْتَهُ

كَرَماً لنَمَّ بفَضْلِهِ التّنْزيلُ

Were it not for its late arrival—and you have laden it

With generosity—revelation would have proclaimed its excellence.

أينَ المَدى ولقد بَلَغْتَ منَ العُلا

رُتَباً تَرُدُّ الطّرْفَ وهْوَ كَليلُ

Where is the limit? Indeed, you have reached such lofty

Ranks that turn the gaze back, exhausted.

وتَقابَلَتْ غاياتُها فتَماثَلَتْ

حتّى تعَذّرَ بَينَها التفضيلُ

Their utmost heights faced one another and proved alike,

Until it became impossible to prefer one to another.