سواي مرجي سلوة أو مريدها — Albohtry

سِوايَ مُرَجّي سَلوَةٍ أَو مُريدُها

إِذا واقِداتُ الحُبِّ حُبَّ خُمودُها

Someone other than I hopes for solace or desires it,

when the quenching of love's burning fires is desired.

فِرارَكَ مِن كَفِّ البَخيلِ وَمُقلَةِ ال

مُحِبِّ اِعتَراها يَومَ بَينٍ جُمودُها

Flee the miser's hand, and the eye of the

lover whose eye grew dry on the day of parting.

وَلَيسَ يُؤَدّي العَهدَ إِلّا أَمينُهُ

وَلا فَعَلاتِ المَجدِ إِلّا مَجيدُها

Only a faithful keeper fulfills a pledge,

and only the noble perform deeds of glory.

وَلَم أَنسَ أَيّاماً بِيَثرِبَ لَم تَجِد

لَها أُخَرُ الأَيّامِ حُسناً تَزيدُها

I have not forgotten days in Yathrib; never did

other days find a beauty to surpass them.

إِذا ما جَرى سَيلُ العَقيقِ بِجَمَّةٍ

سَقاني رُضابَ الغانِياتِ بَرودُها

Whenever al-Aqiq's torrent flowed through a brimming pool,

its cool water gave me the sweet saliva of beauties to drink.

مُقيمٌ بِأَكنافِ المُصَلّى تَصيدُني

لِأَهلِ المُصَلّى ظَبيَةٌ لا أَصيدُها

I dwell around al-Musalla, where I am hunted

by a gazelle of al-Musalla's people whom I cannot catch.

تَرَغَّبَ عَن صِبغِ المَجاسِدِ قَدُّها

لِيَحلُوَ وَاِستَغنى عَنِ الحَليِ جيدُها

Her figure shunned the color of saffron-dyed gowns,

to be lovely; her neck had no need of jewelry.

إِذا أَطفَأَ الياقوتَ إِشراقُ حُسنِها

فَإِنَّ عَناءً ما تَوَخَّت عُقودُها

If her beauty's radiance extinguishes the ruby's glow,

then what her necklaces seek is labor in vain.

وَقَد أَعوَزَتني وَهيَ مَوقِعُ ناظِري

لِما لَجَّ فيهِ هَجرُها وَصُدودُها

Yet she eludes me, though she is the object of my gaze,

because her abandonment and aversion persist so stubbornly.

فَكَيفَ أَرى أَسماءَ مِن قُربِ دارِها

وَأَسأَلُ عَن أَسماءَ أَينَ وُجودُها

How can I see Asma, her home so near,

yet ask about Asma: where is she to be found?

أُريدُ لِنَفسي غَيرَها حينَ لا أَرى

مُقارَبَةً مِنها وَنَفسي تُريدُها

I want someone else for myself when I see

no approach from her, though my soul desires her.

وَتَذرِفُ عَيني إِن تَذَكَّرتُ مُلتَقىً

لَنا وَعُيونُ الحَيِّ فينا هُجودُها

My eye sheds tears whenever I remember a meeting

of ours, when the tribe's eyes that watched us lay asleep.

إِذا قَطَعَت عَنها الوِشاحَ اِعتِناقَةٌ

فَيا حُسنَها يَرفَضُّ عَنها فَريدُها

When an embrace snapped the jeweled sash from her,

oh, how lovely she was, her pearls scattering from her!

فِناءُ اللَئيمِ خِطَّةٌ ما أَطورُها

وَمالُ اللَئيمِ رَوضَةٌ ما أَرودُها

A base man's courtyard is ground I never approach,

and a base man's wealth a meadow I never seek.

وَعِندَ بَني عَمّي لُهىً لا طَريفُها

مَصونٌ وَلا مُحمىً عَلَيَّ تَليدُها

My paternal cousins have gifts: their newly acquired wealth is not

withheld, nor is their inherited wealth barred to me.

لَقَد وَفَّقَ اللَهُ المُوَفَّقَ لِلَّتي

تَباعَدَ عَن غَيِ المُلوكِ رَشيدُها

God has indeed guided al-Muwaffaq to a course

whose rightness stands far from the error of kings.

رَأى صاعِداً أَهلاً لِأَشرَفِ رُتبَةٍ

يَشُقُّ عَلى ساري النُجومِ صُعودُها

He judged Ṣāʿid worthy of the noblest rank,

whose ascent would tax even a night-wandering star.

فَكَيفَ وَجَدتُم عَدلَهُ وَقَدِ التَقَت

مُسالِمَةً شاءُ البِلادِ وَسيدُها

How did you find his justice, now that

the land's sheep and its wolf have met in peace?

فَإِن تُخرِجِ الأَيامُ مَذخورَ حُسنِها

فَقَد آنَ أَن يُبدي النَضارَةَ عودُها

If the days bring forth their stored-up beauty,

then the time has come for their bough to show its freshness.

يُريكَ سَدادَ الرَأيِ مِن حَيثُ ما ارتَأى

وَأَعوَزُ آراءِ الرِجالِ سَديدُها

He shows you sound judgment in whatever he considers,

and the rarest of men's opinions are the sound ones.

سُمُوٌّ إِلى أَعلى الفَعالِ وَخُطوَةٌ

إِلى المَجدِ مَرمى العَينِ في الجَوِ قيدُها

An ascent to the loftiest deeds, and a stride

toward glory, its span the eye's farthest reach in the sky;

وَجودُ يَدٍ ما أَدرَكَ البَحرُ في الَّذي

تَعَمَّدَ إِلّا حَيثُ أَدرَكَ جودُها

and a hand's bounty: the sea has reached, in all

it has sought, only where that bounty has reached.

تَلَقّى المَعالي عَن أَوائِلِ قَومِهِ

راحَ يُثَنّيها لَهُم وَيُعيدُها

He received lofty honors from his people's forebears,

then went on to redouble and renew those honors for them.

وَشَيَّدَها حَتّى اِستَحَقَّ تُراثَها

وَلا يَرِثُ العَلياءَ مَن لا يَشيدُها

He built them up until he merited their inheritance,

and none inherits eminence who does not build it up.

وَنُبِّتُ أَنَّ الخَيلَ أَعطَت رُؤوسَها

مُعاوِدَ حَربٍ لِلطِعانِ يَقودُها

I was told that the horses had yielded their heads

to a veteran of war who leads them into lance-fighting.

تَراهُ وَإِن وَفَّتهُ ما كانَ واجِباً

لَهُ يَقتَضيها الكَرَّ أَو يَستَزيدُها

You see him, though they have performed what was due

to him, demanding another charge from them or asking still more.

إِذا كانَ في كَعبِ بنُ عَمرٍ عِدادُها

تَضاعَفَ في حَسبِ العَدُوِّ عَديدُها

When their muster is among Kaʿb ibn ʿAmr,

their numbers double in the enemy's reckoning.

وَما زالَ لِلإِسلامِ مِنّا مُثَبِّتُ

إِذا قُبَّةُ الإِسلامِ مالَ عَمودُها

There has always been among us an upholder of Islam,

whenever the pillar of Islam's pavilion leans.

تَرامى عُيونُ الناسِ في كُلِّ شارِقٍ

إِلى ريشَةٍ قَد طارَ حُضراً بَريدُها

At every sunrise, people's eyes dart

toward a feather whose courier has flown at a gallop.

لَقَد نُصِرَت راياتُكَ الصُفرُ إِذ قَنا

بِما اِحمَرَّ مِن لَونِ الدِماءِ جَسيدُها

Your yellow banners were indeed victorious, when

their saffron dye deepened to red with the color of blood.

وَطاعَت بِأَيمانِ اليَمانينَ في الوَغى

يَمانِيَةٌ بيضٌ جَديدٌ جَديدُها

And the Yemenis' right hands were obeyed in battle by

white Yemeni blades, their freshness renewed.

شَنَنتَ عَلى نَهرِ اليَهودِيِّ غارَةً

هَوى خُرَّمِيّوها وَطاحَ يَهودُها

You launched a raid on Nahr al-Yahudi,

its Khurramites fell, and its Jews were overthrown.

إِذا جُدِحَت سودُ المَنايا فَأَخلَقُ ال

رِجالِ بِأَن يُسقى رَداهُنَّ سودُها

When death's black draughts are stirred, the most deserving of

men to be given their doom to drink are the black ones.

وَلَمّا تَلاقَوا عِندَ دِجلَةَ أَضمَرَت

مَهابَةَ أَشخاصِ المَوالي عَبيدُها

When they met beside the Tigris, its slaves harbored

dread of the masters' figures.

غَماغِمُ أَصواتٍ وَجَرسُ تُقارُعٍ

وَمُختارَةُ المَرذولِ يَدمى وَريدُها

Muffled murmurs of voices, and the clang of clashing blows,

and a picked band of the despised, their jugular veins bleeding.

إِذا صَدَرَت عَن يَومِ مَوتٍ بِآخِرِ ال

حُشاشَةِ مِنها كانَ غَدواً وُرودُها

When they withdraw from a day of death with the last

remnant of their life, they return at dawn.

وَقَد أَدبَرَ المَخذولُ حَتّى لَوَ اِنَّهُ

رَمى الأَرضَ لَم يُفرِص يَدَيهِ جَديدُها

The forsaken one has suffered such reverses that, were he

to shoot at the earth, its surface would afford his hands no opening.

إِذا اختارَ وَقتاً لِلنُجومِ يَعُدُّهُ

لِيَومِ وَغى عادَت نُحوساً سُعودُها

When he chooses a time by the stars, reckoning it

for a day of battle, their lucky signs turn ill.

وَلا عَيشَ حَتّى يَبتَلي طَعمُ وَقعَةٍ

مِنَ السَيفِ يَذكو في حَشاهُ وَقودُها

And there is no life until he tastes a stroke

of the sword, its fire blazing in his entrails.

وَلَم أوتِ عِلماً بِالَّذي اللَهُ صانِعٌ

وَلَكِنَّها الدُنيا قَريبٌ بَعيدُها

I have not been given knowledge of what God will do,

but such is this world: its far-off things are near.

وَأَعرِفُها مِنهُ قَريباً لِما غَدَت

أَدِلَّتُها تُنبي بِهِ وَشُهودُها

And I know it is near him, since

its signs and witnesses have begun to foretell it.

جَزى اللَهُ عَنّا صالِحاً آلَ مَخلَد

وَتَمَّت لَهُم نُعمى يَدومُ خُلودُها

May God reward the family of Makhlad well on our behalf,

and may their blessing be complete and endure forever.

هُمُ عَوَّضوا مِن نِعمَتي إِذ وُتِرتُها

بِأَيدٍ يَزُدُّ الفائِتاتِ مَديدُها

They compensated me for my blessing when I was robbed of it,

with hands whose far reach restores what was lost.