سواء تدان منهم وتناء — Alarjani

سَواءٌ تَدانٍ منهمُ وتَناء

إذا عَزَّ نَيْلاً وصْلُهم وعَزائي

Drawing near to them and staying far away are alike,

when union with them and my consolation are both hard to attain.

أفي القُرْبِ هِجران وفي النأي صَبوةٌ

كِلا يَوْمَيِ المشتاقِ يَوْمُ عَناء

Is there estrangement in nearness, and longing in distance?

Both days of the longing lover are days of anguish.

وإنّي لأستَشفي بسُقْمِ جُفونها

وهل عند سُقْمٍ مَطْلَبٌ لِشفاء

Indeed, I seek healing in the languor of her eyelids;

but can healing be sought from sickness?

ولمّا تلاقَيْنا وللعَيْنِ عادةٌ

تثيرُ وشاةً عند كلِّ لِقاء

And when we met—the eye has a habit

of stirring up informers at every meeting—

ولولا سَناها لم يَروْني من الضَّنَى

ولا أَصبَحوا من أَجلِها خُصَمائي

had it not been for her radiance, my wasting would have kept them from seeing me,

nor would they have become my adversaries because of her.

ولكنْ تَجلّت مثل شمسٍ مُنيرةٍ

فَلحْت خلال الضّوء مثْلَ هبَاء

But she revealed herself like a shining sun,

and I appeared amid the light like floating dust.

بدتْ أَدمُعي في خَدِّها من صِقالِه

فغاروا وظنّوا أنْ بكتْ لبكائي

My tears appeared upon her cheek, so polished was it;

they grew jealous and thought she wept at my weeping.

ولمّا رأَيتُ الحَيَّ سَفْراً مُودِّعاً

ولم أر غَيْر اللّحظِ من سُفَرائي

And when I saw the clan traveling, bidding farewell,

with no envoy of mine but my gaze,

نَظرْتُ إلى الأظعانِ نظرةَ مُمْسكٍ

على قَلْبِه من شِدَّةِ البُرحاء

I looked toward the departing camel-litters like one clutching

his heart from the intensity of torment.

عشيّةَ لا غادٍ يَعوجُ لرائحٍ

ولا ذاهبٌ يَقضي لُبانةَ جاء

That evening, no morning traveler turned aside for an evening traveler,

nor did anyone departing satisfy the need of one arriving.

فليت مطايا الحيِّ يومَ تحمّلوا

وهُنَّ سِراعٌ بُدّلتْ بِبطاء

If only the clan's mounts, on the day they moved away,

swift as they were, had been exchanged for slow ones!

مطيّةُ معشوقٍ منيّةُ عاشقٍ

فمَنْ مُبدلٌ نُونَ اسمِهنَّ بِطاء

A beloved's mount is a lover's death;

who will replace the nūn in their name with ṭāʾ?

ومقسومةُ العينَينِ من دَهَشِ النّوى

وقد راعَها بالعيسِ رَجْعُ حُداء

And she, her two eyes divided by the bewilderment of parting,

startled by the echo of camel-song among the pale camels,

تُجيب بإحدى مُقلتَيها تَحيّتي

وأخرى تُراعي أعيُنَ الرُّقباء

answers my greeting with one of her eyes,

while the other watches the watchers' eyes.

تَلقّيتُ عَمْداً بالفؤادِ سهامَها

غداة أجدَّتْ باللّحاظِ رِمائي

I deliberately met her arrows with my heart

that morning when she redoubled her shooting at me with glances.

وأتبعتُهم عَيني وقد جعَل النّوى

يُزَيِّل بين الجِيرةِ الخُلطاء

I followed them with my eye, as separation began

to divide the neighbors who had lived as intimates,

إلى أنْ خَطوا عَرْضَ السّرابِ كأنّهم

سوادُ طِرازٍ في بَياضِ مُلاء

until they crossed the breadth of the mirage, as though they were

black embroidery upon white cloth.

وممّا شَجاني والزّمانُ مُقوّضٌ

حَمائمُ غَنّتْ في فروعِ أشاء

Among the things that saddened me, as time struck the tents,

were doves singing in the branches of palms.

وما خلْتُ ألحانَ الأعاجمِ قبلَها

تَشوقُ وتَشجو عِليةَ الفُصحاء

Before them, I had not thought the melodies of foreigners

could stir yearning and sorrow in the finest of eloquent men.

وما ذكرّتنْي ما نسيت من الهوى

بحالٍ ولكنْ طَرْبةٌ لغِناء

They did not remind me of love I had forgotten

at all; rather, it was a thrill at singing.

فلا بَرحَتْ كفَ الثُريّا لرَبعها

إذا انتُجعتْ بالقطر ذاتَ سخاء

May the hand of the Pleiades never cease, for her dwelling,

to be generous when sought for rain.

لعمْري لقد أَبلَيْتُ بُرْدَ شَبيبتي

وأَنضَيْتُ ظَهرَيْ شِدّةٍ وَرَخاء

By my life, I have worn out the cloak of my youth,

and exhausted the backs of hardship and ease.

وطالتْ بيَ الرَّوعاتُ حتى أَلِفْتُها

فقد عادَ ذاك السّمُّ وهْو غذائي

Terrors stayed with me so long that I grew used to them;

that poison has become my nourishment.

ولو أنَّ هذا الدّهرَ في أَمْرِ نَفْسه

يُشاورُ ما استَشفَى برأيِ سوائي

And if this age, concerning its own affairs,

sought counsel, it would seek healing in no opinion but mine.

مَلأتُ وعاءَ الصّدْرِ عِلماً بسِرِّه

ولم أر غيرَ الصّمت خَتْمَ وعائي

I filled the vessel of my breast with knowledge of its secret,

and found no seal for my vessel but silence.

وطالعتُ في مرآةِ رأيي بناظرٍ

يَرى من أمامي ما يَجيءُ ورائي

I looked into the mirror of my judgment with an eye

that sees ahead of me what approaches behind me.

فلا تُهدِيا نُصْحاً إليَّ فإنّني

كَفتْنيَ طاعةَ النُّصحاء

So do not offer me advice, you two, for I

have been spared obedience to advisers.

ألم تَعْلَما أني صحَوتُ وأَنّه

تَكشّفَ عن عَينيَّ أَيُّ غِطاء

Do you two not know that I have come to my senses, and that

every veil has fallen away from my eyes?

وأدراجِ بيدٍ قد ملأتُ بَياضَها

حُروفَ نَجاءِ لا حُروفَ هِجاء

And many scrolls of desert whose white expanse I have filled

with letters of swift travel, not letters of the alphabet:

سِهامُ سُرىً يَمرُقْنَ من جِلْدَة الدُّجى

وإن لم تُسَدَّدْ عن قِسّيِ سراء

arrows of night travel, piercing the skin of darkness,

though not aimed from bows of sarāʾ wood.

أَقول وقد أنسانيَ الأرضَ منزلاً

صباحي على أكوارِها ومسائي

I say, when I have been made to forget the earth as a dwelling

by my mornings and evenings upon their saddles:

أما حانَ لي من أَرحُلِ العيسِ رحلةٌ

فقد طال فيها يا أُميمُ ثوائي

Is it not time for me to depart from the pale camels' saddles?

My stay upon them has grown long, O Umaym.

أُطوِّفُ في شَرقِ البلادِ وغربها

نَجِيَّ المُنَى في رَحْلِ ذاتِ نَجاء

I roam the east of the lands and their west,

a confidant of hopes upon the saddle of a swift she-camel.

ولا أُنسَ إلاّ بالذي إنْ نظَمتُه

تَهاداهُ دانٍ في البلادِ وناء

I have no solace except in what, when I compose it,

people near and far in the lands pass as gifts among themselves.

جلا الفْكرُ منّي كل بِكْرٍ أَقوله

وليس لنُقْبِ الشِّعرِ مثْلُ هِنائي

Thought has unveiled every virgin verse I utter,

and no salve for poetry's sores equals mine.

وإنّي لأُعْطي الشِّعْرَ أَوْفىَ حقوقِه

وإن لم يَقِفْ بي مَوقِفَ الشُّعراء

Indeed, I give poetry its fullest due,

even if it has not placed me in the station of poets.

ومنّي اقتباسُ المُحَدثينَ معانياً

ولم أقتبِسْ معنىً من القُدَماء

The modern poets borrow meanings from me,

while I have borrowed no meaning from the ancients.

عضْلتُ ابنةَ الفِكْرِ المصونةَ خَوْفَ أن

تُزَفَّ إلى مَن ليس كُفْؤَ ثَنائي

I withheld my guarded daughter of thought, fearing

she would be led as a bride to one unworthy of my praise.

وآليتُ لا زارتْ كريمةُ مِدْحتي

من النّاس إلاّ أكرَمَ الوزراء

And I swore that the noble daughter of my praise would visit

no one but the noblest of viziers.

فلمّا مدَحْتُ الماجِدَ ابنَ مُحّمدٍ

وفَيتُ لِذي العلياء أيَّ وفاء

When I praised the glorious son of Muhammad,

I fulfilled my pledge to the lord of lofty rank most fully.

وما بَرحَتْ حتّى أَبَرَتْ يَمينُه

يَميني وأعطَى فوق كُلِّ عطاء

And she did not depart until his right hand honored

my oath, and he gave beyond all giving.

غدا شرَفُ الإسلامِ سائسَ دولةٍ

لها أبداً منه رَبيبُ وَلاء

Sharaf al-Islam became the governor of a state

for which his loyalty is an ever-nurtured charge.

صَفِيُّ الإمامِ المُرتَجى وظَهيرُه

أعَزَّ ظهُورٍ في أَجَلّ صَفاء

The chosen friend of the hoped-for imam, and his supporter,

the strongest of supports, in the noblest devotion.

أغرُّ تُطيفُ العَينُ من نُورِ وجهِه

بشَمْسِ سماحسٍ لا بشَمسِ سَماء

Radiant, whose face's light sets the eye circling

a sun of generosity, not a sun in the sky.

وتزْخَرُ للعافِينَ أنمُلُ كَفِّه

بأبحُرِ مالٍ لا بأبحرِ ماء

The fingers of his hand surge for petitioners

with seas of wealth, not seas of water.

سَلِ العيسَ عنه هل وَردْنَ فِناءه

فأَصدَرْنَ عنه الوَفْدَ غيرَ رِواء

Ask the pale camels about him: did they reach his courtyard

and bring the delegation away from him unquenched?

وهل يَنظِمُ الأقرانَ في سِلْك رمحهِ

بطَعْنٍ كتَفْصيلِ الجُمان ولاء

And does he string his peers upon the shaft of his lance

with thrusts like pearls arrayed in succession?

فللهِ ما ضَمّتْ حَمائلُ سَيفِه

لداعي النَّدى من هِزّةٍ ومَضاء

How wondrous, by God, what his sword-belts hold:

an eager stirring and resolve at generosity's call!

مهيبٌ وَهُوبٌ ما يزالُ بكَفِّه

لكلِّ زمانَيْ خشَية وَرَجاء

Awe-inspiring and lavish, with his hand ever ready

for both seasons of fear and hope.

تَنكَّسُ أبصارُ الكماةِ مَهابةً

لديه وتَعْيا ألسُنُ البُلَغاء

Warriors' eyes are lowered in awe

before him, and eloquent men's tongues falter.

له بسطتاكف ببأس ونائل

وسجلا معال من لُها وَدِماء

His are two outstretchings of a hand, with valor and bounty,

and two brimming buckets of glory, of gifts and blood.

وَعدلٌ أضاء الخافقَيْن شموُله

إضاءةَ شَمسٍ عندَ رأْدِ ضَحاء

His justice lights both horizons with its reach,

as the sun shines at the rise of forenoon.

وفَضْلٌ كساهُ اللهُ سِربالَ فَخْرِه

لِيَفْضُلَ عن عِلْمٍ على الفُضَلاء

And excellence: God clothed him in its robe of glory,

that through knowledge he might excel the excellent.

مَليكٌ تَسامَى في ذُرا المجِد راقياً

مَراقِيَ أعيَتْ ناظِرَ النُظَراء

A sovereign who rises to glory's summits, ascending

heights that defeated his peers' gaze.

وزارتُه أزْرَتْ بقومٍ تَقدَّموا

ولم يكُ أكفاهُم له بكِفاء

His vizierate has humbled those who came before,

and their most capable was no match for him.

وكم من خليلٍ قد يَغُرُّ خليلَه

لهُ رُؤْيةٌ مَحْفوفةٌ برِياء

How many a friend deceives his friend,

with an appearance wrapped in hypocrisy.

يُريكَ شِعاراً ظاهراً وبِسِرِّهِ

شعارٌ سِواهُ راحَ تحتَ خفَاء

He shows you an outward emblem, while in his secret heart

another emblem lies concealed.

ولكن نصيرُ المِلّة اليومَ كاسْمهِ

غدا وهْو من أنصارِها الأُمَناء

But Nasir al-Milla today is true to his name,

having become one of its faithful champions.

حَمى مِلّةَ الإسلام ظِلُّ مُجيرها

فَحَلّتْ لدَيهِ في سَناً وَسَناء

The sheltering shade of its protector guarded Islam's faith,

so it dwelt with him in radiance and eminence.

أيا ماجداً لم يَسمَع الدّهرَ سامعٌ

بمثْلٍ له مَجْداً ولم يَرَ راء

O glorious one, no hearer in all time has heard

of your equal in glory, nor has any seer seen one.

أبوك الّذي أبدى وقد جَمَعَ التُّقَى

إلى المُلْك نَقْصَ المَعْشَرِ العُظماء

Your father, who, having joined piety

to kingship, revealed the shortcomings of the mighty:

يَدٌ حَمَتِ الدنيا وأُخرى رَمَتْ بها

فأصبَح من أملاكِها السُّعداء

one hand protected the world; the other cast it aside,

and he became one of its fortunate kings.

ومال إلى قَبْرِ النَبيِّ مُهاجراً

لحُسْنِ ثوابٍ بعدَ حُسْنِ ثنَاء

He turned, emigrating, toward the Prophet's tomb,

for a fair reward after fair praise.

فجاوَرَ مَيْتاً أكرَمَ الرُّسْلِ كُلّهم

وجاوَرَ حَيّاً أعظَمَ الخُلفاء

In death he became neighbor to the noblest of all messengers,

and in life he was neighbor to the greatest of caliphs.

وأنت ابنهُ تَكْفيِ ابنهُ اليوم ما كفىَ

أبوك أباهُ ذا غِنىً وغنَاء

You, his son, now serve his son as

your father served his father, possessing wealth and ability.

فدُوما دوامَ الشّمس والبدرِ تَمْلآ

نهارَ الورى والنّيلَ فَضْلَ ضياء

May you both endure as sun and full moon endure, filling

the people's day and the Nile with abundant light.

أيا مَن دَعاني رائدُ السّعْدِ نَحْوَهُ

فأَلقيتُ رَحْلِي في أعَزّ فِناء

O you toward whom the scout of good fortune summoned me,

so I set down my saddle in the most honored courtyard,

ومَن صدِئَتْ عيَنْي بناشئة الورَى

فلمّا رأَتْهُ حُودِثَتْ بجِلاء

and you—my eye had rusted at humanity's rising generation,

but when it saw you, it was freshly polished.

فدتْكَ ملوكُ الأرضِ من طارقِ الرَّدى

وذلك إن قِسْنا أَقَلُّ فِداء

May the kings of the earth ransom you from death's night visitor;

even that, if we reckon, is the least ransom.

فما أنتَ إلاّ خَيرُ مَن وَسَمَ الثّرى

بجَرّ قناةٍ أو بجّرّ رِداء

For you are none but the best who ever marked the earth

by dragging a lance or trailing a robe.

وأحلمُ ذي بُرْدٍ لدى عَقْدِ حُبْوةٍ

وأكرَمُ ذي رِفْدٍ غَداةَ حِباء

The most forbearing cloak-wearer when binding his knees,

and the most generous giver on the morning of bestowal.

وأحسنُ خلقِِ الله وجْهاً إذا بدا

على مَتْنِ طِرْفٍ تحت ظِلَ لواء

The fairest-faced of God's creatures when he appears

on the back of a noble steed beneath a banner's shade.

ولا فَخْرَ عندي في وجُوهٍ وضيئةٍ

إذا كانتِ الأخلاقُ غيرَ وِضاء

I take no pride in radiant faces

when their character is not radiant.

تَواضَعُ عن عُظْمٍ ونلقاكَ لُقْيةً

فلا نَمْلِكُ الأعطافَ من خُيلاء

You humble yourself despite your greatness; we meet you once,

and cannot restrain our proud, swaying shoulders.

وأروَعُ يَهْوى الحمدَ في الجودِ كلهِّ

فلا يُلجِىءُ العافي إلى الشُّفعاء

An awe-inspiring man who loves praise in all his generosity,

so he never drives the petitioner to intercessors.

هِلالٌ نَماءً وهْو في النورِ كاملٌ

وَبدْرٌ كَمالاً وهو حِلْفُ نَماء

A crescent in growth, though complete in light,

a full moon in perfection, yet allied with increase.

لياليه بيضٌ كاللآلي بِعدْلِه

فدامتْ كذا في سِلْكِ طُولِ بَقاء

His nights are white as pearls through his justice;

may they remain thus, strung on a long-lasting thread.

لكَ اللهُ مِن خِرْقٍ إذا سالَ غَيْثُه

فما عَذَلُ العُذّالِ غيرُ غُثاء

God bless you, resourceful lord: when your rain pours,

the fault-finders' rebukes are nothing but floating scum.

كأنّ مديحي فيك عِقْدُ مليحةٍ

يَزيدُ بها حُسناً لدى البُصَراء

My praise of you is like a necklace on a beautiful woman:

it gains beauty through her in discerning eyes.

إذا كان مَدْحُ المرء فوق مَحلِّهِ

فما هوَ إلاّ فوقَ كُلِّ هِجاء

If praise of a man exceeds his station,

then it is worse than any lampoon.

ومَن يلبسِ السّيفَ الطّويلَ نِجادُه

على قِصَرٍ يُسلَبْ لباسَ بَهاء

Whoever wears a sword with a long baldric

on a short body is stripped of the garb of splendor.

وقد كنتُ أَرْخَصْتُ القريضَ فقد أبَتْ

عَطاياك إلاّ بَيْعَهُ بغَلاء

I had cheapened my verse, but your gifts have refused

to let it be sold except at a high price.

أزَرْتُ نظامَ الدين نَظْمَ مَدائحٍ

لنَيْلِ عطاءٍ بعدَ لَيْل عَلاء

I sent Nizam al-Din a woven string of panegyrics

to gain a gift after a night of exaltation.

حِسانٌ منَ البِيض الّلواتي لصَقلِها

وللطّبْعِ أَذْكَى اللهُ نارَ ذكائي

Fair ones among the white blades, for whose polishing

and forging God kindled my wit's fire.

على أنّني يا مَعدِنَ الفَضْل لا أرى

لديكَ ادِّعاءً غيرَ نَظْمِ دُعائي

Yet, O fountainhead of excellence, I see

no claim before you except the weaving of my prayers.

وقد عَلمَ الأقوامُ أنّك طالما

تَجاوَزْتَ أقصَى غايةِ العُلَماء

The peoples know that you have long

passed the utmost limit of the learned.

فلا عَقُمَ الدَّهرُ الكثيرُ رِجالُه

ومثْلُك من أبنائهِ النُّجبَاء

May time, so rich in men, never be barren,

while one like you is among its noble sons.