لدن هجرته زحزحته عن الصبر — Albohtry

لَدُن هَجَرَتهُ زَحزَحَتهُ عَنِ الصَبرِ

سَواءٌ عَلَيهِ المَوتُ أَو لَوعَةُ الهَجرِ

Since she forsook him, she drove him beyond patience;

death or the anguish of abandonment is all the same to him.

إِلَيكَ عَنِ الصَبِّ الَّذي بَرَّحَت بِهِ

صُروفُ هَوىً لَو كُنَّ في الماءِ لَم يَجرِ

Keep away from the lovesick man tormented

by passion's vicissitudes: were they in water, it would not flow.

وَقائِلَةٍ وَالدَمعُ يَصبُغُ خَدَّها

رُوَيدَكَ يَا بنَ السِتِّ عَشرَةَ كَم تَسري

And a woman said, while tears stained her cheek:

Take your time, youth of sixteen! How long will you travel by night?

فَقُلتُ أَحَقُّ الناسِ بِالعَزمِ وَالسُرى

طِلابُ المَعالي صاحِبُ السِتِّ وَالعَرِ

So I said: most deserving of resolve and night travel,

in pursuit of greatness, is the youth of six and [ten?].

مُقامُ الفَتى في الحَيِّ حَيّاً مُسَلَّماً

مَعافاً مُقامُ ذِلَّةٍ بِالفَتى يُزري

A young man's remaining among the tribe, alive and unharmed,

and healthy, is a humiliating stay that demeans him.

مَتى يُمسِكِ العَجزُ الزَمانَ وَتُمتَطى

مَطايا الهَوى وَاللَيلِ تَنسَ شَبا العُسرِ

When helplessness holds Time back and you ride

the mounts of desire and night, you forget hardship's sharp edge.

وَمَهما تَنَم في ظِلِّ بَيتِكَ عاجِزاً

تُصِبكَ خُطوبُ الدَهرِ مِن حَيثَ لا تَدري

And however long you sleep helplessly in your house's shade,

Time's calamities will strike you from where you least expect.

وَما الحَزمُ إِلّا العَزمُ في كُلِّ مَوطِنٍ

وَما المالُ إِلّا مَعدِنُ الجودِ وَالوَفرِ

Prudence is nothing but resolve in every circumstance;

and wealth is nothing but a wellspring of generosity and abundance.

وَما المَرءُ إِلّا قَلبُهُ وَلِسانُهُ

فَإِن قَصَّرا عَنهُ فَلا خَيرَ في المَرِّ

A man is nothing but his heart and his tongue;

if those two fail him, there is no good in the man.

سَأَخبِطُ وَجهَ الدَهرِ وَاللَيلِ أَو أَرى

تَمَزُّقَ ثَوبِ اللَيلِ في وَضَحِ الفَجرِ

I shall batter the face of Time and night until I see

night's robe torn apart in the brilliance of dawn.

وَأوثِرُ عَنسي في المَهامِهِ وَالفَلا

عَلى قُربِ عِرسي في السَواجيرِ أَو أُثري

And I prefer my sturdy she-camel in trackless deserts and open wastes

to nearness with my wife in al-Sawajir, until I grow rich.

تُحَمِّلُني الأَيّامُ ما لا أُطيقُهُ

وَتَحمِلُني مِنها عَلى مَركَبٍ وَعرِ

The days burden me with what I cannot bear,

and carry me on a rugged mount of their own.

أَأَن كانَ قَومي قَوَّموا بِفِعالِهِم

شَديدَ اِعوِجاجِ الدَهرِ في سالِفِ العَصرِ

Is it because my people, through their deeds, straightened

Time's grievous crookedness in ages past,

وَجاروا عَلى الأَموالِ بِالجودِ جَورَهُم

عَلى مَعشَرِ الأَعداءِ بِالقَتلِ وَالأَسرِ

and were as ruthless to wealth in generosity as they were

to the host of enemies in slaughter and capture,

أَيَقتَصُّ مِنّي آخِرُ الدَهرِ ظالِماً

جَرائِرَ أَجدادي عَلى أَوَّلِ الدَهرِ

that later Time unjustly takes vengeance on me

for my forefathers' offenses against earlier Time?

بَنو بُحتُرٍ قَومي وَمَن يَكُ بُحتُرٌ

أَباهُ يَكُن في مُنتَهى المَجدِ وَالفَخرِ

The sons of Buhtur are my people; whoever has Buhtur

as his father stands at the utmost height of glory and pride.

أَنا البُحتُرِيُّ اِبنُ البَحاتِرَةِ الأُلى

هُمُ غَمَروا الأَيّامِ بِالنائِلِ الغَمرِ

I am al-Buhturi, son of the Bahatira, who

flooded the days with overflowing bounty.

وَهُم أَقطَعوا كُلَّ العُفاةِ بِجودِهِم

وَبَأسِهِمُ مالَ الأَعادي عَلى قَسرِ

And they granted all petitioners, through their generosity

and valor, their enemies' wealth taken by force.

وَما نَحنُ إِلّا كَالقَضاءِ فَإِنَّنا

ضَرَبنا جَميعَ الناسِ بِالخَيرِ وَالشَرِّ

We are nothing but like Fate, for we

have struck all people with good and evil.

تَضيقُ ذُروعُ المَجدِ عَن رُحبِ فَضلِنا

إِذا اِتَّسَعَت في فَضلِنا الإِنسُ بِالذِكرِ

Glory's spans are too narrow for the breadth of our excellence,

when mankind speaks at length of our excellence.

لَقَد عَلِمَت قَحطانُ أَنّا سَراتُها

وَأَشرافُها الساداتُ في البَدوِ وَالحَضرِ

Qahtan well knows that we are its chiefs

and its nobles, lords among nomads and townsfolk;

وَأَنّا لُيوثٌ حينَ تَشتَجِرُ القَنا

غُيوثٌ إِذا ضَنَّ السَحائِبُ بِالقَطرِ

and that we are lions when spears clash,

rainstorms when clouds begrudge their rain.

وَإِنّا لَمَشّاؤونَ تَحتَ سُيوفُنا

إِلى المَوتِ مَعروفونَ بِالبَأسِ وَالنَصرِ

And we are ever striding beneath our swords

toward death, renowned for valor and victory.

فَنُدرِكُ بِالإِقدامِ بُغيَتَنا الَّتي

نُطالِبُها لا بِالمَكيدَةِ وَالمَكرِ

Thus through daring we attain the goal that

we seek, not through stratagem and guile.

أَبَدنا جُموعَ الرومِ حينَ تَنازَعَت

فَوارِسُنا الهَيجاءَ في وَقعَةِ الجِسرِ

We annihilated the hosts of the Romans when

our horsemen vied in combat at the Battle of the Bridge.

غَدَت بيضُنا مِثلَ اللُجَينِ اِبيِضادُها

وَراحَت مِنَ التَضرابِ كَالذَهَبِ التِبرِ

Our blades began the day white as silver,

and ended it, from repeated striking, like raw gold.

وَخَلَّوا لَنا عَن مَنبِجٍ وَذَواتِها

مَخافَةَ صَدِّ البيضِ وَالأَسَلِ السُمرِ

They withdrew, leaving us Manbij and its dependencies,

for fear of the clash of bright blades and dusky spears.

سَمَونا لَهُم في عُصبَةٍ بُحتُرِيَّةٍ

يَكُرّونَ لَيسوا يَعرِفونَ سِوى الكَرِّ

We advanced upon them in a Buhturi band,

charging, knowing nothing but the charge:

قَليلينَ إِلّا أَنَّ حُسنَ بَلائِهِم

كَثيرٌ إِذا قَلَّ الحِفاظُ لَدى الفَرِّ

few in number, yet the excellence of their valor

was great when steadfastness dwindled amid flight,

أَشِدّاءَ ما شَدّوا كَأَنَّ قُلوبَهُم

وَآراءَهُم في الحَربِ يُنحَتنَ مِن صَخرِ

fierce whenever they charged, as though their hearts

and their judgments in war were hewn from rock.

إِذا وُتِروا خَلَّوا جُفونَ سُيوفِهِم

خَلاءً وَلا يُغضونَ جَفناً عَلى وَترِ

When wronged, they left their sword-sheaths

empty, never closing an eyelid over an unavenged wrong.

وَأَفلَتَ مِنّا عامِرٌ كَبشُ عامِرٍ

كَحَبَّةِ بُرٍّ مِن دُقاقِ رَحى البُرِّ

And Amir, the ram of Amir, escaped from us,

like a wheat-grain from a wheat-mill's grindings.

فَقَأنا وَقَد أَصغى إِلى الكَرِّ عَينَهُ

وَفَرَّ فَرَدَّتهُ الرِماحُ إِلى عَقرِ

We gouged out his eye as he inclined toward a charge,

and he fled, but the spears sent him back wounded.

وَيَومَ القَرينَينِ اِنتَصَرنا وَلَم نَخَف

بِكُلِّ طَويلِ الباعِ مُنفَسِحِ الصَدرِ

And on the day of al-Qarinayn we triumphed without fear,

with every man long of reach and broad of chest.

كَأَنَّهُمُ تَحتَ السُيوفِ غَرائِبٌ

مِنَ البُدنِ سيقَت يَومَ عيدٍ إِلى نَحرِ

As though beneath the swords they were strange beasts

among sacrificial camels driven on a feast day to slaughter.

كَأَنَّهُمُ إِذ أَسلَموا بِنتَ شَيخِهِم

سَحابٌ تَجَلّى عَن سَنا قَمَرٍ بَدرِ

As though, when they surrendered their chief's daughter, they were

clouds parting to reveal a full moon's radiance.

فَلَولا عَفافُ البُحتُرِيِّ وَمَنُّهُ

عَلَيهِم لَما آبَت بِعَوفٍ وَلا فِهرِ

Were it not for al-Buhturi's chastity and his favor

toward them, she would not have returned with Awf or Fihr.

وَمَرَّ طَريداً لِلقَنا السُمرِ بَعدَما

نَكَحناهُ بِالخَطِّيَّةِ السُمرِ في الدُبرِ

And he passed on, hunted by dusky spears, after

we had sodomized him with dusky Khatti spears in the rear.

وَأَسلَمَ مَولاهُ وَخَلَّفَ بَينَهُ

وَنَجّاهُ خِنذيذٌ كَخافِيَةِ النَسرِ

And he abandoned his patron and left [unclear] behind,

and a fine steed, like a vulture's inner wing-feather, saved him.

هُناكَ يَقولُ وَهوَ يَعذِلُ نَفسَهُ

وَيَشكو تَمادي الحَربِ في مُحكَمِ الشِعرِ

There he speaks, reproaching himself,

and laments war's persistence in well-wrought verse:

لَحا اللَهُ قَيساً حينَ وَلَّت حُماتُها

عَنِ الأَشعَثِ المَقتولِ وَالكاعِبِ البِكرِ

May God curse Qays, when its defenders turned away

from slain al-Ash'ath and the budding-breasted virgin!

وَلَم تَكُ مِنّي نَبوَةٌ غَيرَ هَذهِ

فِراري وَتَركي صاحِبِيَّ وَرا ظَهري

I had no lapse but this:

my flight, and leaving my companions behind my back.

وَفي يَومِ صِفّينَ اِقتَسَمنا ذُرى العُلا

وَقَد جَعَلَ الخَطِّيُّ يَعثُرُ بِالكَسرِ

And on the day of Siffin we shared the peaks of glory,

while Khatti spears began to stumble as they broke.

لَنا حَسَبٌ لَو كانَ لِلشَمسِ لَم تَغِب

وَلِلبَدرِ ما اِستَولى المَحاقُ عَلى البَدرِ

We have ancestral honor that, were it the sun's, the sun would never set;

and were it the full moon's, the dark phase would never master the full moon.

فَأَبخَلُنا بِالمالِ نِدٌّ لِحاتِمٍ

وَأَجبَنُنا في الرَوعِ أَشجَعُ مِن عَمروِ

So our stingiest with wealth is Hatim's equal,

and our most cowardly in terror is braver than Amr.