أرى بين ملتف الأراك منازلا — Albohtry

أَرى بَينَ مُلتَفِّ الأَراكِ مَنازِلا

مَواثِلَ لَو كانَت مَهاها مَواثِلا

I see dwellings among the tangled arak trees,

still standing—if only their oryxes stood there too.

فَقِف مُسعِداً فيهِنَّ إِن كُنتَ عاذِراً

وَسِر مُبعِداً عَنهُنَّ إِن كُنتَ عاذِلا

So stop among them in sympathy, if you excuse me,

and travel far from them if you reproach me.

لَقينا المَغاني بِاللِوى فَكَأَنَّما

لَقينا الغَواني الآنِساتِ عَواطِلا

We met the dwellings at al-Liwa, as though

we met the companionable beauties without their ornaments.

وَقَتلُ المُحِبّينَ العُيونُ وَلَم أَكُن

أَظُنُّ الرُسومَ الدارِساتِ قَواتِلا

Eyes are the death of lovers; I had never

thought the faded traces could be killers.

هَواجِرُ شَوقٍ لَو تَشاءُ يَدُ النَوى

لَجادَت بِمَن نَهوى فَعادَت أَصائِلا

Scorching noons of longing—if separation's hand wished,

it would grant us those we love, and those noons would become late afternoons.

وَمَذهَبُ حُبٍّ لَم أَجِد عَنهُ مَذهَباً

وَشاغِلُ بَثٍّ لَم أَجِد عَنهُ شاغِلا

And a path of love from which I found no escape,

and consuming anguish from which I found no distraction.

وَأَضلَلتُ حِلمي فَاِلتَفَتُّ إِلى الصِبا

سَفاهاً وَقَد جُزتُ الشَبابَ مَراحِلا

I lost my good sense and turned to youthful passion,

in folly, though I had passed many stages beyond youth.

فَلِلَّهِ أَيّامُ الشَبابِ وَحُسنُ ما

فَعَلنَ بِنا لَو لَم يَكُنَّ قَلائِلا

God bless the days of youth and the fine things

they did for us—if only they had not been so few!

أَلَيلَتَنا الطولى بِطِمّينَ هَل لَنا

سَبيلٌ إِلى اللَيلِ القَصيرِ بِبابِلا

O our longest night at Timmin, have we

a way to the short night at Babylon?

سَلامٌ عَلى الفِتيانِ بِالشَرقِ إِنَّني

إِلى الجانِبِ الغَربِيِّ يَمَّمتُ واغِلا

Peace upon the young men in the East! I

have headed westward, venturing deep.

مَعَ اللَيثِ وَاِبنِ اللَيثِ أُضحي مُغاوِراً

حَماةَ الضَواحي ثُمَّ أُمسي مُقاتِلا

With the lion and the lion's son, I raid in the morning

the defenders of the outlying lands, then fight at evening.

نَزورُ بِلا شَوقٍ تَذورَةَ وَابنَها

وَقَد صَدَّ عَنها تَوفَلُ بنُ مَخايِلا

We visit Theodora and her son without longing,

though Theophilus son of Michael has turned away from her.

كَأَصحابِ ذي القَرنَينِ حَيثُ تَبَوَّأوا

وَراءَ مَغيبِ الشَمسِ تِلكَ المَنازِلا

Like Dhu al-Qarnayn's companions when they settled

in those dwellings beyond the sun's setting.

وَمَن يَتَقَلقَل في سَرايا ابنِ يوسُفٍ

يَرَ الحَقَّ في قُربِ الأَحِبَّةِ باطِلا

Whoever ranges with Ibn Yusuf's raiding parties

will deem the truth of nearness to loved ones falsehood.

يَبيتُ وَراءَ الناطَلوقِ وَرَأيُهُ

يَحُزُّ وَراءَ السيسَجانِ المَفاصِلا

He spends the night beyond al-Nataluq, while his judgment

severs joints beyond Sisajan.

إِذا اِسوَدَّ فيهِ الشَكُّ كانَ كَواكِباً

وَإِن سارَ فيهِ الخَطبُ كانَ حَبائِلا

When doubt grows dark within it, it becomes stars,

and when peril moves within it, it becomes snares.

رَمى الرومَ بِالغَزوِ الَّذي ما تَتابَعَت

نَوافِذُهُ إِلّا أَصَبنَ المَقاتِلا

He struck the Byzantines with warfare whose

successive piercing blows always hit the vital spots.

غَزاهُم فَأَفناهُم وَلَم يَقتَصِر لَهُم

عَلى العامِ حَتّى جَدَّدَ الغَزوَ قابِلا

He raided and annihilated them, not confining his attacks on them

to that year, but renewing the campaign the next.

لَكَ الخَيرُ أَنظِرهُم لِتَنتَجِعَ الرُبا

مُنَوِّرَةً أَو تَحلُبَ الخِلفَ حافِلا

Good fortune to you! Grant them respite, so you may seek the hills

in bloom, or milk a full udder.

فَقَد غُرتَ بِالغاراتِ في وَهَداتِهِم

وَلِيّا وَوَسمِيّاً رَذاذاً وَوابِلا

For with your raids you have descended into their hollows,

as later rain and autumn's first rain, as drizzle and downpour.

وَسُقتَ الَّذي فَوقَ المَعاقِلِ مِنهُمُ

فَلَم يَبقَ إِلّا أَن تَسوقَ المَعاقِلا

You drove off those of them atop the strongholds,

and nothing remained but to drive off the strongholds themselves,

بِجَمعٍ تَرى فيهِ النَهارَ قَبيلَةً

إِذا سارَ فيهِ وَالظَلامَ قَبائِلا

with a host in which you see daylight as a single tribe,

when it travels through it, and darkness as many tribes.

يُدَبِّرُهُم مُستَرعِفُ السَيفِ فارِساً

بِحَيثُ الوَغى مُستَحصِدُ الرَأيِ راجِلا

Their leader makes the sword bleed when mounted,

amid battle, and is firm in judgment on foot.

طَليعَتُهُم إِن وَجَّهَ الجَيشَ غازِياً

وَساقَتُهُم إِن وَجَّهَ الجَيشَ قافِلا

Their vanguard when he sends the army out to raid,

and their rearguard when he sends the army home.

وَما حَمِدَ الفِتيانُ مِثلَ مُحَمَّدٍ

سَناماً لِعَلياءِ الفَعالِ وَكاهِلا

The young men have praised none like Muhammad,

the hump and withers of lofty deeds.

بَعيدٌ مِنَ الحُسّادِ تَزدَحِمُ العُلا

عَلَيهِ إِذا ما عَدَّ سَعداً وَنايِلا

Far beyond the envious, high honors throng

upon him whenever he counts Sa'd and Na'il.

مُلوكٌ يَعُدّونَ الرِماحَ مَخاصِراً

إِذا زَعزَعوها وَالدُروعَ غَلائِلا

Kings who reckon spears as walking-staves

when they brandish them, and coats of mail as undershirts.

إِذا قالَ وَعداً أَو وَعيداً تَسَرَّعَت

مَكارِمُ تَثني آجِلَ الأَمرِ عاجِلا

When he utters a promise or a threat, there hasten

noble deeds that turn the deferred into the immediate.

واهِبُ إِن مَتَّ العُفاةُ بِحَقِّها

إِلى رَبعِهِ المَألوفِ عادَت وَسائِلا

A giver—if petitioners appeal with their rightful claim

to his familiar dwelling, they return as intercessors.

أَدارَ رَحاهُ فَاِغتَدى جَندَلُ الفَلا

تُراباً وَقَد كانَ التُرابُ جَنادِلا

He set his mill turning, and the desert's stones became

dust, though the dust had once been stones.

وَزَرَّ فُروجَ المُرهَفاتِ عَلى بَني

زُرارَةَ فَاِختاروا عَلَيها السَلاسِلا

He buttoned shut the gaps between keen blades around the sons of

Zurara, so they chose chains over them.

فَأَصلَحَ مِنهُم كُلَّ ما كانَ فاسِداً

وَقَوَّمَ مِنهُمُ كُلَّ ما كانَ مائِلا

He set right everything corrupt among them,

and straightened everything crooked among them.

وَأَصعَدَ موسى في السَماءِ فَلَم يَجِد

بِها مَهرَباً مِنهُ فَأَقبَلَ نازِلا

He drove Musa up into the sky, but he found

there no escape from him, and came back down.

وَلَم تَستَطِع بَدليسُ تَمنَعُ رَبَّها

مِنَ الأَسَدِ المُزجي إِلَيها القَنابِلا

Nor could Bitlis protect its lord

from the lion driving squadrons toward it.

لَأَذكَرتَهُ بِالرُمحِ ما كانَ ناسِياً

وَعَلَّمتَهُ بِالسَيفِ ما كانَ جاهِلا

You surely reminded him with the spear of what he had forgotten,

and taught him with the sword what he had not known.

وَنَجّاهُ مِن وافي الحَمائِلِ أَنَّهُ

تَلَقّاكَ غَضباناً فَأَلقى الحَمائِلا

What saved him from the sword with its long baldrics was that

he met you in anger, then cast down his baldrics.

أَحَطتَ بِهِ قَهراً فَلَمّا مَلَكتَهُ

أَحَطتَ بِهِ مَنّاً عَلَيهِ وَنائِلا

You hemmed him in by force; then, when you had mastered him,

you encompassed him with favor and bounty.

وَلَو لَم تُناهِضهُ وَأَبصَرَ عُظمَ ما

تُنيلُ مِنَ الجَدوى لَجاءَكَ سائِلا

Had you not fought him, and had he seen the greatness of what

you bestow in bounty, he would have come to you begging.

عَطَفتَ عَلى الحَيَّينِ بَكرٍ وَتَغلِبٍ

وَنَمرِهِما حَتّى حَسِبناكَ وائِلا

You showed kindness to the two tribes, Bakr and Taghlib,

and their Namr, until we thought you Wa'il.

وَفي يَومِ مَنويلٍ وَقَد لَمَسَ الهُدى

بِأَظفارِهِ أَو هَمَّ أَن يَتَناوَلا

On Manuel's day, when he had touched true guidance

with his claws, or was about to seize it,

دَفَعتَ عَنِ الإِسلامِ ما لَو يُصيبُهُ

لَما زالَ شَخصاً بَعدَها مُتَضائِلا

you warded from Islam what, had it struck it,

would have left it forever after a dwindling figure.

لَئِن أَخَّروهُ عَن مَساعيكَ إِنَّهُ

لَيَقدُمُ أَيّامَ الرِجالِ الأَوائِلا

Even if they rank it after your other exploits, it

surely surpasses the earliest battle-days of men.

تَلافَيتَ أَلفاً في ثَمانينَ مِنهُمُ

وَشَجَّعتَهُم حَتّى رَدَدتَ الجَحافِلا

You rescued a thousand and eighty of them,

and emboldened them until you drove back the massed armies.

فِداؤُكَ أَقوامٌ إِذا الحَقُّ نابَهُم

تَفادوا مِنَ المَجدِ المُطِلِّ تَواكُلا

May those people be your ransom who, when duty befalls them,

flee looming glory, each relying on the others.

فَمَن كانَ مِنهُم ساكِناً كُنتَ ناطِقاً

وَمَن كانَ مِنهُم قائِلاً كُنتَ فاعِلا

Where one of them was silent, you spoke,

and where one of them spoke, you acted.