دنا السرب إلا أن هجرا يباعده — Albohtry

دَنا السِربُ إِلّا أَنَّ هَجراً يُباعِدُه

وَلاحَت لَنا أَفرادُهُ وَفَرائِدُه

The flock drew near, yet estrangement keeps it far away;

its members and its matchless jewels appeared to us.

بَدَأنَ غَريبَ الحُسنِ ثُمَّ أَعَدنَهُ

فَهُنَّ بَواديهِ وَهُنَّ عَوائِدُه

They first brought forth wondrous beauty, then renewed it;

they are its beginnings, and they are its returns.

نَوازِلُ مِن عَرضِ اللِوى كُلَّ مَنزِلٍ

أَقامَ طَريفُ الحُسنِ فيهِ وَتالِدُه

They alight across the expanse of al-Liwa in every dwelling

where beauty, both new and long-inherited, has made its home.

أَلا تَرَيانِ الرَبعَ راجَعَ أُنسَهُ

وَعادَت إِلى العَهدِ القَديمِ مَعاهِدُه

Do you two not see that the dwelling has regained its cheer,

and its haunts have returned to their former state?

كَقَصرِ حُمَيدٍ بَعدَما غاضَ حُسنُهُ

وَأَقوَت نَواحيهِ وَأَجدَبَ رائِدُه

Like Humayd's palace, after its beauty had ebbed

and its surroundings lay deserted, its scout finding no pasture,

تَلافاهُ سَيبُ الصامِتِيِّ مُحَمَّدٍ

فَعادَت لَهُ أَيّامُهُ وَمَشاهِدُه

Muhammad al-Samiti's bounty restored it,

and its days and scenes returned to it.

فَقَد جُمِعَت أَشتاتُ قَومٍ وَأُصلِحَت

جَوانِبُ أَمرٍ بَعدَما اِلتاثَ فاسِدُه

For a people's scattered ranks were gathered, and set right

were the aspects of an affair, after its corruption had grown tangled.

تَجَلّى فَأَجلى ظُلمَةَ الظُلمِ عَنهُم

وَأَشرَقَ فيهِم عَدلُهُ وَرَوافِدُه

He shone forth and dispelled from them the darkness of injustice;

his justice and benefactions shone among them.

وَمازالَ يُحيِ الحَقَّ حَتّى أَنارَهُ

لَهُ وَأَماتَ الجَورَ فَاِرتَدَّ خامِدُه

He kept reviving truth until he made it shine

for himself, and put oppression to death, so it receded, extinguished.

تَوَسَّطَ أَوساطَ الأُمورِ بِنَفسِهِ

وَنالَ نَواحيها الأَقاصي تَعاهُدُه

He entered the very heart of affairs himself,

and his watchful care reached their remotest bounds.

فَإِن تَجحَدوهُ أَنعُماً بَعدَ أَنعُمٍ

مُرَدَّدَةٍ فيكُم فَهُنَّ شَواهِدُه

If you deny him credit for favor after favor,

repeated among you, those favors are his witnesses.

وَإِن تَنقُصوهُ حَقَّ ما أَوجَبَت لَهُ

إِرادَتُهُ في اللَهِ فَاللَهِ رائِدُه

And if you withhold the due owed to him

by his intention for God's sake, then God is his guide.

خَليلُ هُدىً طَوعَ الرَشادِ قَضاؤُهُ

حَليفُ نَدىً أَخذُ اليَدَينِ مَواعِدُه

An intimate of guidance, his judgment obeys sound guidance;

an ally of bounty, his promises bind both hands.

وَأَحيا حُمَيداً عِزُّهُ وَإِباؤُهُ

وَنَجدَتُهُ وَجودُهُ وَفَوائِدُه

His might and proud spirit revived Humayd,

and his valor, his generosity, and his gifts.

وَما اِشتَدَّ خَطبُ الدَهرِ إِلّا اِنبَرى لَهُ

أَبو نَهشَلٍ حَتّى تَلينَ شَدائِدُه

No affliction of Time grew severe but there rose to meet it

Abu Nahshal, until its hardships yielded.

فَقُل لِقَليلٍ في المُروءَةِ وَالحِجى

تَكَثَّرَ عِندَ الناسِ أَن قَلَّ حاسِدُه

So say to one poor in noble character and reason,

who flaunts greatness before people because few envy him:

حَذارِ فَإِنَّ البَغيَ حَوضُ مَنِيَّةٍ

مَصادِرُهُ مَذمومَةٌ وَمَهامِدُه

Beware: aggression is a pool of death,

whose exits and resting places are disgraceful.

وَراءَكَ عَن بَحرٍ يَغُطُّكَ مَوجُهُ

وَعَن جَبَلٍ تَعلو عَلَيكَ جَلامِدُه

Back away from a sea whose waves engulf you,

and from a mountain whose boulders tower above you.

تَرومُ عَظيماً جَلَّ عَنكَ وَتَرتَجي

رِياسَةَ خِرقٍ عَطَّلَتكَ قَلائِدُه

You aim at a mighty man far above you, and hope for

the chieftainship of a discerning noble whose necklaces leave you unadorned.

وَمَسبَعَةٌ مِن دونِ ذاكَ أُسودُهُ

حَصاها وَمَحواةٌ نَقاها أَساوِدُه

And before that lies a lion-haunt: his lions

are its pebbles; and a serpent-haunt whose dune is made of his black snakes.

وَتَدبيرُ مَنصورِ العَزيمَةِ يَغتَدي

وَتَدبيرُهُ حادي النَجاحِ وَقائِدُه

And the strategy of one victorious in resolve sets forth at dawn,

while his strategy is the camel-driver and guide of success.

إِذا ما رَمى بِالرَأيِ خَلفَ أَبِيَّةٍ

مِنَ الأَمرِ يَوماً أَدرَكَتها مَصايِدُه

If ever he casts his judgment in pursuit of something defiant

in affairs one day, his snares overtake it.

لَهُ فِكَرٌ بَينَ الغُيوبِ إِذا اِنتَهى

إِلى مُقفَلٍ مِنها فَهُنَّ مَقالِدُه

He has thoughts amid mysteries; when he comes

to something locked among them, those thoughts are its keys.

صَواعِقُ آراءٍ لَوِ اِنقَضَّ بَعضُها

عَلى يَذبُلٍ لَاِنقَضَّ أَو ذابَ جامِدُه

Thunderbolts of judgment—if some of them were to fall

upon Yadhbul, it would crumble, or its solid mass would melt.

غَمامُ حَياً ما تَستَريحُ بُروقُهُ

وَعارِضُ مَوتٍ لا تَفيلُ رَواعِدُه

A cloud of life-giving rain, whose lightning never rests,

and a storm-cloud of death, whose thunder never fails.

وَعَمرُ بنُ مَعدي إِن ذَهَبتَ تَهيجُهُ

وَأَوسُ بنُ سُعدى إِن ذَهَبتَ تُكايِدُه

And he is Amr son of Ma'di if you seek to provoke him,

and Aws son of Su'da if you seek to match wiles with him.

تَظَلُّ العَطايا وَالمَنايا قَرائِناً

لِعافٍ يُرَجّيهِ وَغاوٍ يُعانِدُه

Gifts and deaths remain paired,

for a supplicant who hopes in him and an errant man who defies him.

إِذا اِفتَرَقَت أَسيافُهُ وَسطَ جَحفَلٍ

تَفَرَّقَ عَنهُ هامُهُ وَسَواعِدُه

When his swords spread out amid a mighty host,

its heads and forearms scatter away from it.

فَلا تَسأَلَنهُ خُطَّةَ الظُلمِ إِنَّهُ

إِلى مَنصِبٍ تَأبى الظَلامَ مَحاتِدُه

So never ask him to follow a course of injustice, for he belongs

to a lineage whose ancestral roots reject oppression.

فَصامِتُهُ وَشَمسُهُ وَحُمَيدُهُ

وَرِبعِيُّهُ تِربُ الرَبيعِ وَخالِدُه

For there are his Samit, his Shams, and his Humayd,

and his Rib'i, the peer of spring, and his Khalid.

وَأَكرِم بِغَرسٍ هَؤُلاءِ أُصولُهُ

وَأَعظِم بِبَيتٍ هَؤُلاءِ قَواعِدُه

And how noble a sapling whose roots are these men!

And how great a house whose foundations are these men!

لَهُ بِدَعٌ في الجودِ تَدعو عَذولَهُ

عَلَيهِ إِلى اِستِحسانِها فَيُساعِدُه

He has novel acts of generosity that move the man who censures him

for it to admire them, and so to lend him support.

إِذا ذَهَبَت أَموالُهُ نَحوَ أَوجُهٍ

مِنَ البَذلِ جاءَت مِن وُجوهٍ مَحامِدُه

When his wealth goes out along avenues

of giving, praises of him come in from many quarters.

وَلَو أَنَّ خَلفَ المَجدِ لِلمَرءِ غايَةً

لَجازَ المَدى الأَقصى الَّذي حازَ والِدُه

And were there, beyond glory, a further goal for a man,

he would surpass the farthest reach his father attained.

يُعارِضُهُ في كُلِّ فِعلٍ كَأَنَّهُ

غَداةَ يُباريهِ عَدُوٌّ يُجاهِدُه

He rivals him in every deed, as though he were

on the morning he competes with him, an enemy he battles.