عهدي بربعك مأنوسا ملاعبه — Albohtry

عَهدي بِرَبعِكَ مَأنوساً مَلاعِبُهُ

أَشباهُ آرامِهِ حُسناً كَواعِبُهُ

I remember your dwelling, its playgrounds full of company,

its full-bosomed maidens matching its gazelles in beauty.

يُشِبنَ لِلصَبِّ في صَفوِ الهَوى كَدَراً

إِن وَخطُ شَيبٍ أُعيرَتهُ شَوائِبُهُ

They mingle sorrow into love's clarity for the lovesick man,

if he has been lent the blemishes of a sprinkling of gray.

إِمّا رَدَدتِ عَنِ الحاجاتِ مُفتَقِداً

جادَ الشَبابِ الَّذي قَد فاتَ ذاهِبُهُ

If you have turned a man from his wishes, bereft of

youth's bounty [uncertain reading], whose departed days are gone,

فَكَم غَنَيتُ أَخا لَهوٍ يُطالِبُني

بِهِ أُناسِيُّ مِمَّن لا أُطالِبُهُ

how often I lived a man of pleasure, sought out

for it by people from whom I sought it not.

قَد نَقَّلَت نُوَبُ الأَيّامُ مِن شِيَمي

لِكُلِّ نائِبَةٍ رَأيٌ أُجانِبُهُ

Time's vicissitudes have altered some of my traits;

for each calamity, there is a judgment I set aside.

تَجارِبٌ أَبدَلَتني غَيرُ ما خُلُقي

وَتوسِعُ المَرءَ أَبدالاً تَجارِبُهُ

Experiences have given me a character not my own,

and a man's experiences lavish changes upon him.

إِذا اِقتَصَرتَ عَلى حُكمِ الزَمانِ فَقَد

أَراكَ شاهِدُ أَمرٍ كَيفَ غائِبُهُ

If you content yourself with time's judgment, then

a matter's visible part shows you what its hidden part is like.

كَلَّفتَني قَدَراً غَلَّت ضَرورَتُهُ

عَزيمَتي وَقَضاءً ما أُغالِبُهُ

You burdened me with a fate whose necessity shackled

my resolve, and a decree I cannot overcome.

وَظَلتَ تَحسِبَ رَبَّ المالِ مالِكَهُ

عَلى الحُقوقِ وَرَبُّ المالِ واهِبُهُ

You kept thinking wealth's master was the one who held it

against rightful claims; but wealth's master is its giver.

وَما جَهِلتَ فَلا تَجهَل مُحاجَزَتي

لِصاحِبِ البابِ يَرمي عَنهُ حاجِبُهُ

Whatever you fail to know, do not fail to know my shunning

of the master of a door whose doorkeeper repels callers for him.

الأَرضُ أَوسَعُ مِن دارٍ أُلِطُّ بِها

وَالناسُ أَكثَرُ مِن خِلٍّ أُجاذِبُهُ

The earth is wider than one house I cling to,

and people are more numerous than one friend I wrangle with.

أُعاتِبُ المَرءَ فيما جاءَ واحِدَةً

ثُمَّ السَلامُ عَلَيهِ لا أُعاتِبُهُ

I reproach a man once for what he has done;

then farewell to him—I reproach him no more.

وَلَو أَخَفتُ لَئيمَ القَومِ جَنَّبَني

أَذاتَهُ وَصَديقُ الكَلبِ ضارِبُهُ

Were I to frighten the base man among them, he would spare me

his harm; a dog's friend is the one who beats it.

وَلَن تُعينَ اِمرَأً يَوماً وَسائِلُهُ

إِن لَم تُعِنهُ عَلى حُرٍّ ضَرائِبُهُ

A man's connections will never help him,

if his own qualities do not help him with a noble man.

أَلا فَتىً كَأَبي العَبّاسِ يُسعِدُهُ

عَلى النَوالِ فَلا تُكدي مَطالِبُهُ

Is there no young man like Abu al-Abbas to help him

attain bounty, so his requests do not fail?

وَالبَحرُ لَو زيدَ مِثلاً يَستَعينُ بِهِ

لَطَبَّقَ الأَرضَ باديهِ وَثائِبُهُ

And were the sea given its like to draw upon,

its first and returning surges would cover the earth.

مُكَثَّرٌ هِمَّةً في المَكرُماتِ فَما

تُقضى مِنَ الشَرَفِ الأَعلى مَآرِبُهُ

Rich in ambition for noble deeds, never

are his aspirations to the highest honor satisfied.

يَضيقُ أَرضاً إِذا فاتَتهُ مَكرُمَةٌ

وَلَم يَبِت ذِكرُها غُنماً يُناهِبُهُ

The earth grows narrow for him if a noble deed escapes him

and its renown does not become booty he vies to seize.

وَلَن تَرى مِثلَ كِنزِ المَجدِ مُكتَسَباً

يَرعاهُ صَوناً مِنَ الإِنفاقِ كاسِبُهُ

Never will you see an acquisition like the treasure of glory,

which its winner guards, preserving it from expenditure.

باتَ بنُ بَدرِ لَنا بَدراً نَهُدُّ بِهِ

سُدَّ لِظَلّامٍ إِذا اِمتَدَّت غَياهِبُهُ

The son of Badr has become a full moon for us, with which we demolish

a barrier of darkness, when its black depths spread.

مُناكِبٌ لِدَنيآتِ الأُمورِ تُقىً

يَزوَرُّ عَن جانِبِ الفَحشاءِ جانِبُهُ

Out of piety he shuns lowly deeds;

his side turns away from the side of indecency.

يُحَبُّ أَن يَتَراءى مِن طَلاقَتِهِ

إِذا اللَئيمُ كَريمُ الوَجهِ قاطِبُهُ

His cheerfulness makes him a welcome sight,

when the base man furrows his handsome face.

وَعِندَ إِشراقُ ذاكَ البِشرِ دَرءُ شَذاً

كَمُنتَضى السَيفِ آجالٌ مَضارِبُهُ

Alongside the radiance of that cheer is a warding-off of harm,

like a drawn sword whose striking edges are death.

جِدٌّ يُطارُ فُضاضُ الهَزلِ عَنهُ إِلى

حِلمٍ مُقيمٍ وَبَعضُ الحِلمِ عازِبُهُ

Earnestness, from which the fragments of frivolity are scattered, joined to

abiding forbearance; some forbearance is fleeting.

شَديدُ إِحصادِ فَتلِ الرَأيِ يَنكُلُ عَن

جَريٍ إِلى الغايَةِ القُصوى مُخاطِبُهُ

His judgment's strands are tightly twisted; shrinking from

a race to the farthest goal is anyone who debates him.

جَنى عَلى نَفسِهِ أَو زادَها سَفَهاً

إِلى الجَهالَةِ مَغرورٌ يُوارِبُهُ

He wrongs himself, or adds folly

to ignorance—the deluded man who tries to outwit him.

مُطالِبٌ بُغيَةً في كُلِّ مَكرُمَةٍ

مَرحولَةٌ لِتَقَصّيها رَكائِبُهُ

He pursues a goal in every noble deed;

his riding-camels are saddled to pursue it to the utmost.

عَبدُ المَدانِ لَهُ جَيشٌ يُسانِدُهُ

بِبنَي جُوانٍ إِذا جاشَت حَلائِبُهُ

Abd al-Madan is an army for him, supporting him

with Banu Juwan, when his allied hosts surge.

فَفي العُمومَةِ سَعدٌ أَو عَشيرَتُهُ

وَفي الخُؤولَةِ كِسرى أَو مَرازِبُهُ

So among his paternal kin are Sa'd or his clan,

and among his maternal kin, Kisra or his governors.

قَومٌ إِذا أَخَذوا لِلحَربِ أُهبَتَها

رَأَيتَ أَمراً قَدِ اِحمَرَّت عَواقِبُهُ

A people: when they take up the equipment of war,

you see an affair whose aftermath runs red.

يُرَنِّقُ النَسرُ في جَوِّ السَماءِ وَقَد

أَوما إِلَيهِ شُعاعُ الشَمسِ ياذِبُهُ

The vulture hovers in the expanse of the sky, while

a sunbeam has beckoned to it, drawing it on [uncertain reading].

إِن كانَ عِندَكَ خَيرُ القَولِ صادِقُهُ

فَواجِبٌ أَنَّ شَرَّ القَولِ كاذِبُهُ

If, in your view, the best speech is the truthful,

then it follows that the worst speech is the false.

وَما حَبَوتَ أَبا العَبّاسِ مَنقَبَةً

في المَدحِ حَتّى اِستَحَقَّتها مَناقِبُهُ

You have bestowed no distinction on Abu al-Abbas

in praise until his virtues had earned it.

وَما تَبَرَّعتُ بِالتَقريظِ مُبتَدِئً

حَتّى اِقتَضَتني فَأَحفَتني مَواهِبُهُ

Nor did I offer praise of my own accord

until his gifts demanded it of me and pressed me hard.

دُرٌّ مِنَ الشِعرِ لَم يَظلِمهُ ناظِمُهُ

وَلَم يَزُغ مُخطِىءَ التَوسيطِ ثاقِبُهُ

Pearls of verse, not wronged by their stringer,

nor did their piercer swerve and miss the center.

فيهِ إِذا ما أَضَلَّتهُ العُقولُ هُدىً

هُدى أَخي اللَيلِ أَدَّتهُ كَواكِبُهُ

It holds guidance when minds lose their way in it—

the guidance of night's companion, whom its stars have led.

اللَهُ جارَكَ جارٌ لِلحَريبِ وَإِن

غَدا وَراحَ لَنا وَالجودُ حارِبُهُ

God, your protector, guards the despoiled man, though

he passes morn and eve with generosity despoiling him for us.

أَزائِدي أَنتَ في جَدواكَ مُنتَسِباً

إِلى الوَجيهِ وَجيهاتٌ مَناسِبُهُ

Will you add to your bounty to me a mount descended

from al-Wajih, distinguished in its lines of descent?

يَختالُ في مَشيِهِ حَتّى يُزايِدَهُ

إِلى المَخيلَةِ دونَ الرَكبِ راكِبُهُ

It struts in its gait, until it is rivaled

in swagger by its rider, apart from the company.

وَلَن تَفوتَ المُغالي في المَديحِ بِهِ

حَتّى أَفوتَ عَلَيهِ مَن أُواكِبُهُ

And with it you will not outstrip the extravagant praiser

until, riding it, I outstrip those I ride beside.