خفض عليك وإن أطلت تأملا — Alarjani

خَفِّضْ عليكَ وإنْ أطَلْتَ تأَمُّلا

فلقد عذَلْتَ من الرّجالِ مُعذَّلا

Ease up on yourself, though you have pondered long.

For you have reproached a man already much reproached.

أعياكَ إسْعادي فصِرْتَ مُعنِّفي

ليتَ الّذي عدَم الجَميلَ تَجمَّلا

Helping me exhausted you, so you became my rebuker.

Would that he who lacked kindness had at least shown grace.

ماذا تُريدُ إلى رَدِيِّ مَطالِبٍ

مُنِعَ الرِّضا من حاجةٍ فتَعلّلا

What do you want with one ill-fated in his quests?

Denied satisfaction in a need, he sought consolation.

ما لي شكَوتُ إليك نارَ جوانِحي

لتكونَ مُطفِئَها فكنتَ المُشْعِلا

Why did I complain to you of the fire within my breast,

that you might quench it, only for you to kindle it?

دَعْني وأطماري أَجُرُّ ذُيولَها

وأُنَزِّهُ الدِّيباجتَيْنِ عنِ البِلى

Leave me and my rags to drag their hems,

while I keep my two brocade cheeks safe from wear.

أنا صائنٌ وَجْهي وإنْ صفِرَتْ يَدي

كم من أَغَرَّ ولا يكونُ مُحَجَّلا

I guard my face, though my hand be empty.

Many a white-blazed one has no white stockings.

إنّا على عَضِّ الزَّمانِ لَمَعشرٌ

من دونِ ماءِ وجُوهنا ماءُ الطُّلى

Despite time's biting, we are a people

whose throats' blood shields the honor of our faces.

ذهَب البخيلُ يَصونُ فَضْلَ ثَرائه

ويَسومُ عِرْضَ الحُرِّ أنْ يتَبذّلا

The miser sets about guarding his surplus wealth,

and demands that the free man's honor debase itself.

هيهاتَ مدَّ يَدٍ إلى ما عندَه

إلاّ إذا صَحِبَتْ إليه مُنْصُلا

Far be it that a hand should stretch toward what he holds,

unless it brings him a sword.

هو ما عَلِمْتَ من الزّمانِ فَخلِّني

يا لائمي إنّ الكريمَ لَيُبتَلى

Time is as you know it; leave me be,

O my reproacher: the noble man is surely tried.

ولئنْ شكَوْتُ لأشكُوَنَّ تَعلُّلاً

ولئن صَبَرْتُ لأَصبِرَنَّ تَجَمُّلا

If I complain, I shall complain for consolation;

if I endure, I shall endure with dignity;

ولئن طَلَبْتُ لأَطلُبَنَّ عظيمةً

تُشْجي العِدا ولأَعصِيَنّ العُذَّلا

if I seek, I shall seek some mighty deed

that grieves my enemies, and I shall defy my reproachers.

هِيَ حليةُ الأَدبِ الّتي مُلِّكْتُها

فقضَتْ عَليَّ منَ الغنى أن أعطَلا

It is the ornament of learning that I was given to possess,

and it has decreed that I remain unadorned by wealth.

فلْيَجْهلَنَّ على اللّيالي آنِفاً

فَتْكي وغايةُ عالمٍ أن يَجْهَلا

Let there rage against the nights, in proud defiance,

my onslaught; a learned man's last resort is to act rashly.

بظُبىً يَمانيَةِ النِّجارِ وفِتْيَةٍ

بيضٍ كذاكَ يُناسبونَ الأنْصُلا

With blades of Yemeni stock and young men

bright and unsullied, who thus share the blades' lineage.

آدابُهمْ وَصْلُ الصّوارِمِ بالخُطا

في الرَّوْعِ أو مَشْقُ الأسنّةِ في الكُلى

Their arts are to join sharp swords with advancing steps

in battle's terror, or to thrust spearheads into kidneys.

ما للمُسائلِ عندَهمْ إلاّ الّذي ال

جَحّافُ قام به يُجيبُ الأخطَلا

A questioner receives from them only that with which al-

Jahhaf stood forth to answer al-Akhtal.

وهَبوا التّقيّةَ للنّصيحِ وأصبَحوا

أتباعَ ما طلَبوه كيف تَخَيّلا

They gave caution to the well-wishing counselor and became

followers of what they sought, however it took shape.

ومضَوا وشَوكُ السَّمهَريِّ طَريقُهمْ

فعَلَوْا مِن المَجْدِ اليَفاعَ الأَطْولا

They went forth, the thorns of tough spears their road,

and climbed glory's loftiest height:

بَيْتاً بأشطانِ الرّماحِ مُطنَّباً

ويَنْسج أيدي المُقْرَباتِ مُظَلَّلا

a tent stretched taut with the ropes of spears,

and the forelegs of noble steeds weave a shaded shelter.

من كلِّ مُستَبِقِ اليدَيْنِ إلى الظُّبَى

طَرِباً إلى يومِ الوغَى مُستَعجِلا

Among them, each has hands racing toward sword edges,

joyful, hastening toward the day of battle.

ويَخالُ مُحْمَرَّ الصّفائحِ وجْنةً

ويَعُدُّ سَمراءَ الوشيجِ مُقَبَّلا

He takes reddened sword blades for a cheek,

and regards the brown spear shaft as a place for kisses.

حَنِقٌ إذا رَكِبَ اليَمينَ حُسامُه

للقِرْنِ لاحظَ رأسَه فتَرجّلا

Wrathful, when his keen sword mounts his right hand,

it eyes the adversary's head, then dismounts.

هانَتْ مَنِيَّتُه عليه لعزِّه

فأبَى لضَيْمِ الدَّهْرِ أن يتَحَمّلا

His death is cheap to him beside his pride,

so he refuses to bear time's oppression.

قَومٌ إذا إبتَدروا الوغَى عَصَفَتْ بهمْ

جُرْدٌ تُصافحُها النُّسورُ على المَلا

A people who, when they rush into battle, are swept along

by sleek steeds with which eagles shake hands on the plain.

قَيْدُ الأوابدِ والنّواظرِ كُلّما

طلعتْ عليها سُبَّقاً أو مُثَّلا

Fetters for wild beasts and gazes, whenever

they appear before them, racing ahead or standing still.

من طُولِ ما اجتَبْنَ الحديدَ وخُضْنَه

في الرَّوعِ بَرْقَعَها سَناهُ وخَلْخلا

So long have they donned iron and plunged through it

in battle that its gleam has veiled and ankleted them.

وكأنّ صُبْحاً سال من جَبهاتِها

صَبَباً فكان له القَرارُ الأرجُلا

As though dawn had flowed from their brows

downward, and found its resting place in their legs.

من كلِّ ذي مَرَحٍ يُلاعِبُ عِطْفَهُ

ويَهُمُّ من جَنْبَيْهِ أن يَتَسَلّلا

Each is so spirited that he toys with his own flank

and seems about to slip out of his two sides.

طَوْعُ الفتَى إن شاء يَنْصِبُ مِجْدلاً

من شَخْصيِه أو شاء يُطلِقُ أَجْدَلا

Obedient to his rider: if he wills, he sets up a tower

from the forms of horse and rider, or, if he wills, releases a falcon.

جَذْلانُ يَحْجُبُ شَطْرَهُ عن شَطْرِهِ

طُولاً أُتمَّ له وعَرْضاً أُكمِلا

Joyful, one half of him conceals the other,

with length made perfect for him and breadth complete.

فكأنّما يَكبُو إذا استَدْبَرْتَه

وكأنّما يُقْعي إذا ما اسْتُقْبِلا

He seems to stumble when you look from behind,

and seems to crouch when viewed head-on.

ويَهُزُّ جيداً كالقناةِ مُرنَّحاً

ويُديرُ سَمْعاً كالسّنانِ مُؤلَّلا

He tosses a neck swaying like a spear shaft,

and turns an ear sharpened like a spearhead.

فإذا دنا فجَع الغزالَ بأُمّه

وإذا رنا خطفَ الظّليمَ المُجْفِلا

When he draws near, he bereaves the gazelle of its mother;

when he gazes, he snatches up the fleeing male ostrich.

فيَفوتُ مَطْرَحَ طَرْفه مُتَرفِّعاً

ويَجيءُ سابقَ ظلِّه مُتَمهِّلا

He outstrips the reach of his own gaze, loftily,

and comes ahead of his shadow, even at an easy pace.

وتَخالُ منه صاعِداً أو هابِطاً

سَجْلاً هَوى مَلآن أو سَهْماً عَلا

Rising or descending, you would take him for

a full bucket plunging down, or an arrow soaring up.

وأَغرَّ في ثِنْيِ العِنانِ مُحَجَّلٌ

فتخالُ يومَ وغاهُ فيه مُثِّلا

And a white-blazed, white-stockinged steed in the loop of the reins:

you would think his day of battle embodied in him.

إمّا كُمَيْتٍ في قُنُوِّ أَديمه

يَحْكي سَميَّتَه الرَّحيقَ السَّلْسَلا

Whether a bay, in the deep redness of his hide,

resembling his namesake, pure and smooth-flowing wine.

عَلِقَتْ به من ضوءِ صُبْحٍ قُرْحَةٌ

وأُعيرَ من لَيلٍ قِناعاً مُسْبَلا

A small white star from dawn's light has clung to him,

and he has borrowed from night a trailing veil.

فَتراهُ بحراً والجبينَ ذُبالةٍ

ويَديْهِ ريحاً والحوافرَ جَنْدَلا

You see him as a sea, his brow a lamp's wick,

his forelegs wind, his hooves stone.

أو أشْقرٍ ذي غُرّةٍ فكأنّهُ

شَفقُ المَغاربِ بالهلالِ تَكَلّلا

Or a chestnut with a white blaze, as though

the western twilight were crowned with the crescent.

وكأنّه قد دُرّعَ النّارَ الّتي

قدحَتْ سَنابِكُه النّواهِبُ للفلا

As though he were armored in the fire

struck by his hooves, plunderers of the wastes.

يَرتدُّ خَدُّ السّيفِ مِنه مُورَّداً

عَكْساً وطَرْفُ الشّمسِ منه مُكَحَّلا

The sword's cheek returns from him tinted rose

by reflection, while the sun's eye is darkened with kohl by him.

أو أشْهَبٍ يَحْكي الشّهابَ إذا سرَى

يَجتابُ تحت النّقعِ لَيلاً ألْيَلا

Or a gray, like a shooting star as he travels by night,

cutting through deepest night beneath the dust.

ربِذٌ إذا ما الحُضْرُ زَلزلَ أَرضَه

أَهْوَى يَفوتُ النّاظرَ المُتَأمِّلا

Swift: when galloping shakes his ground,

he swoops away, outrunning the intent spectator's gaze.

أو أدهمٍ قَرَنَ الحُجولَ بغُرّةٍ

لَطَمتْ له وجْهاً كريمَ المُجتَلى

Or a black steed joining white stockings to a blaze

that has struck his face, noble to behold.

فظَننْتَ جَوناً ذا بَوارِقَ مُرعِداً

وحَسِبْتَ لَيْلاً ذا كواكبَ مُقْبِلا

You would think him a dark cloud, flashing and thundering,

and reckon him a star-filled night approaching.

سَلَت الأكارعُ صِبْغَها كمُظاهرٍ

بُردَيْنِ شَمَّر ذا وهذا ذَيَّلا

His lower legs have stripped away their dye, like one layering

two cloaks, one hitched up and the other trailing.

لَبِسَ السّوادَ على البياضِ فَراقَنا

أنْ قلَّص الأعلَى وأرخَى الأسفَلا

He wore black over white, and delighted us

by gathering up the upper robe and letting the lower fall.

كدُجُنّةٍ صَقلَتْ دَرارِيَ جَمّةً

ومُحِدَّةٍ كشفَتْ مَحاسِرَ نُصَّلا

Like darkness that has polished a host of bright stars,

and a mourning woman revealing unadorned limbs.

أو أصفَرٍ كالتِّبْر يأبَى عزُّه

ألاّ يُحاكيَ لونَه أنْ يُنْعَلا

Or a yellow steed like raw gold, whose pride refuses

to be shod in anything that fails to match his color.

تَدْنو خُطا فَرَسِ المُسابِقِ خَلْفَه

فتَخالُه بحُجوله مُتَشكِّلا

The competing horse's strides draw close behind him,

so you think him fettered by his white stockings.

أو أبلَقٍ يَسْبِي العيونَ إذا بدا

من تحتِ فارسهِ الكَمِيّ مُجَوِّلا

Or a piebald that captures the eyes when he appears,

wheeling beneath his armored rider,

مثْلِ الجَهامِ تَشقَّقتْ أحضانه

بَرْقاً وراح له شَمالُك شَمْألا

like a rainless cloud whose flanks have split

with lightning, while your left hand becomes his north wind.

وكأنّ خَيْطَيْ لَيله ونهارِه

قد قُطِّعَا مزَقاً عليه ووُصِّلا

As though the two threads of his night and day

were cut into shreds upon him and pieced together.

فبِمثْلهِنّ ومثْلِهم أَرمي العِدا

وبركضهِنّ وضَرْبهم أَبغي العُلا

With steeds like these and men like those, I assail my foes,

and by their galloping and the men's blows I seek high rank.

كم ذا المُقامُ على الخُمولِ تَلوُّماً

والدّهرُ مُبلِغُ طالبٍ ما أَمَّلا

How long must I linger here in obscurity,

when time brings the seeker what he hopes for?

فدَعِ العقيلةَ للثّواءِ وقُلْ لها

حُلِّي عقالَ مطيّتي لا عن قِلى

Leave the noble lady to stay, and say to her:

Untie my mount's tether—not out of aversion.

أَلِفَتْ مُقاميَ أصفهانُ فأنشبَتْ

لهَواتِها من دُونِ أن أتَرحَّلا

Isfahan grew used to my stay and fastened

her maw upon me, barring my departure.

لا أستطيعُ تَسلُّلاً من أرضِها

حتّى كأنّي في لسانِك قولُ لا

I cannot slip away from her land,

as though I were the word 'no' upon your tongue.

وهو المُملِّكُ للكلامِ عنانَهَ

وهو المُطَبِّقُ في البيانِ المَفْصِلا

He is the one who grants speech its reins,

and the one who strikes the joint precisely in eloquence.

يا مَنْ تَقابَل في العُلا أطْرافُه

حتّى تَوسّطَها مُعَمّاً مُخْوَلا

O you whose family branches meet in loftiness,

until you stand at its center, noble in paternal and maternal kin.

وتَناصفَتْ آدابُه وعُلومُه

فأتَى لكُلٍّ حائزاً مُستَكْمِلا

Your literary arts and sciences are equally balanced,

and you possess each, fully accomplished.

فخَرتْ بكَ الأقلامُ إذا قَلّبتَها

فكأنّما خُلِقَتْ لِكفِّكَ أنْمُلا

The pens glory in you whenever you turn them,

as though they had been made fingers for your hand.

من كلِّ مُنسكِبِ النّوالِ كأنّه

من بَحرِها الفَيّاضِ يَخْلُجُ جَدْولا

Each pours forth gifts, as though

diverting a stream from their overflowing sea.

رَطْبِ اللّسانِ يَبُثُّ سرّاً كامِناً

خِلْوِ الجَنانِ يَحُثُّ دَمعاً مُسبَلا

Moist-tongued, it spreads a hidden secret,

empty-hearted, it urges forth streaming tears.

ذي مُقْلةٍ عَجَبٍ لها من طرْسه

وَجْهٌ إذا انْهلّتْ عليه تَهلّلا

With a wondrous eye, for which its sheet supplies

a face that beams when the eye pours its tears upon it.

يا فخْرَ كُتّابِ الزّمانِ دُعاءَ مَنْ

ألقَتْ نوائبُه عليه كلْكَلا

O pride of the age's scribes, hear the plea of one

upon whom his calamities have laid their heavy breast.

قد غبْتُ حَوْلاً ثُمّ جئتُ مُكلِّفاً

ولربّما ثَقُلَ الجليسُ وثَقّلا

I was absent a year, then came imposing burdens,

and a companion may be burdensome and burden others.

وأنا الّذي إمّا تُلمُّ مُلِمّةٌ

لم تُلْفني إلاّ عليكَ مُعَوِّلا

I am the one whom, whenever a calamity strikes,

you find relying on you alone.

فاطْلُعْ مدَى الأيّامِ شَمْسَ مَكارمٍ

تُنْسي الأنامَ نُجومَهُنَّ الأُفّلا

Rise throughout the days as a sun of generous deeds

that makes mankind forget their setting stars.

واسمَعْ مُحبَّرةً نفَثْتُ بها وإنْ

أضحَتْ تَقلُّ لديكَ أن تُتأَمَّلا

And hear an embellished poem I have breathed forth, though

it has become, in your eyes, too slight to ponder.

لا يَمنعَنَّ كثيرُ ما أُوتيتَهُ

لقليلِ ما أَهدَيْتُ أن تَتقَبّلا

Let not the abundance of what you have been given

prevent you from accepting the little I have offered.

فالمَجْدُ لا يَرضَى بفَضْلك وَحْدَه

حتّى تكونَ الفاضِلَ المُتفَضّلا

For glory is not satisfied with your excellence alone,

until you are both excellent and generous.

واعذِرْ على جُهْدِ المُقلِّ فإنّ لي

طَبْعاً إذا نسَج المدائحَ هَلْهَلا

Excuse the poor man's utmost effort, for mine is

a talent that weaves loosely whenever it weaves praises.

فلقد بُلِيُت منَ الزّمانِ بعُصْبةٍ

فَقَدوا وحاشاكَ الكريمَ المُفْضِلا

For time has afflicted me with a band

who lack—far be it from you—a noble, generous man.

شِعْري كمِرآةِ القبيحةِ عندَهمْ

فلذاك أمنَعُ خاطري أن يَصْقُلا

To them, my poetry is like an ugly woman's mirror,

so I keep my imagination from polishing it.