عمرت أبا إسحاق ما صلح العمر — Albohtry

عَمِرتَ أَبا إِسحاقَ ما صَلَحَ العُمرُ

وَلازالَ مَزهُوّاً بِأَيّامِكَ الدَهرُ

May you live, Abu Ishaq, as long as life is good,

And may time remain proud of your days.

لَنا كُلَّ يَومٍ مِن عَطائِكَ نائِلٌ

وَعِندَكَ مِن تَقريظِنا أَبَداً شُكرُ

Each day a gift from your bounty is ours,

And in our praise you have our enduring thanks.

وَأَنتَ نَدىً نَحيا بِهِ حَيثُ لا نَداً

وَقَطرٌ نُرَجّي جودَهُ حَيثُ لا قَطرُ

And you are dew by which we live where there is no dew,

And rain whose bounty we hope for where there is no rain.

عَلى أَنَّني بَعدَ الرِضا مُتَسَخِّطٌ

وَمُستَعتِبٌ مِن خُطَّةٍ سَهلُها وَعرُ

Yet, after contentment, I am displeased,

And seek amends for a course whose smooth ground is rugged.

وَقَد أَوحَشَتني رَدَّةٌ لَم أَكُن لَها

بِأَهلٍ وَلا عِندي بِتَأويلِها خُبرُ

And a rebuff has distressed me, one I did not

Deserve, nor do I know how to interpret it.

فَلِم جِئتُ طَوعَ الشَوقِ مِن بُعدِ غايَتي

إِلى غَيرِ مُشتاقٍ وَلَم رَدَّني بِشرُ

Why, then, did I come, obeying longing, from so far away,

To one who felt no longing, and why did Bishr turn me away?

وَما بالَهُ يَأبى دُخولي وَقَد رَأى

خُروجِيَ مِن أَبوابِهِ وَيَدي صِفرُ

And why does he refuse me entry, when he has seen

Me leave his doors with my hand empty?

وَقَد أَدرَكَ الأَقوامُ عِندَكَ سُؤلَهُم

وَعَمَّهُمُ مِن سَيبِ إِحسانِكَ الكُثرُ

Others have attained their wishes with you,

And the abundant outpouring of your kindness has reached them all.

فَكَيفَ تُرى المَحمولَ كُرهاً عَلى الصَدى

وَقَد صَكَّ رِجلَيهِ بِأَمواجِهِ البَحرُ

How, then, can one, I wonder, be forced unwillingly to thirst,

When the sea has struck his feet with its waves?

تَأَتَّ لِمَوتورٍ بَدا لَكَ ضِغنُهُ

فَإِنَّ الحِجابَ عِندَ ذي خَطَرٍ وِترُ

Deal gently with one wronged whose rancor has shown itself to you,

For exclusion is an affront to a man of standing.

وَقَد زَعَموا أَن لَيسَ يَغتَصِبُ الفَتى

عَلى عَزمِهِ إِلّا الهَدِيَّةُ وَالسِحرُ

And they have claimed that nothing compels a man

Against his resolve but gifts and magic.

فَإِن كُنتَ يَوماً لا مَحالَةَ مُهدِياً

فَفي المِهرَجانِ الوَقتُ إِذ فاتَنا الفِطرُ

So if one day you are, without fail, to give a gift,

Then Mihrjan is the time, since Eid al-Fitr has passed us by.

فَإِن تُهدِ ميخائيلَ تُرسِل بِتُحفَةٍ

تَقَضّى لَها العُتبى وَيُغتَفَرُ الوِزرُ

So if you give Michael, you will send a precious gift

For which amends are completed and the offense forgiven.

غَريرٌ تَراءاهُ العُيونُ كَأَنَّما

أَضاءَ لَها في عَقبِ داجِيَةٍ فَجرُ

A guileless youth, whom eyes behold as though

Dawn had shone for them in the wake of a dark night.

وَلَو يَبتَدي في بَضعِ عَشرَةَ لَيلَةً

مِنَ الشَهرِ ما شَكَّ اِمرُؤٌ أَنَّهُ البَدرُ

And were he to appear on a night in the teens

Of the month, no one would doubt that he was the full moon.

إِذا اِنصَرَفَت يَوماً بِعِطفَيهِ لَفتَةٌ

أَوِ اِعتَرَضَت مِن لَحظِهِ نَظرَةٌ شَزرُ

If one day a turn should swing his shoulders,

Or a sidelong glance dart from his gaze,

رَأَيتَ هَوى قَلبٍ بَطيئاً نُزوعُهُ

وَحاجَةَ نَفسٍ لَيسَ عَن مِثلِها صَبرُ

You would see a heart's passion, slow to depart,

And a soul's desire whose like cannot be resisted.

وَمِثلُكَ أَعطى مِثلَهُ لَم يَضِق بِهِ

ذِراعاً وَلَم يَحرَج بِهِ أَو لَهُ صَدرُ

And one like you has given one like him, not finding it

Beyond his power, nor feeling his breast constrained by him or for him.

عَلى أَنَّهُ قَد مَرَّ عُمرٌ لِطيبِهِ

وَمِن أَعظَمِ الآفاتِ في مِثلِهِ العُمرُ

Yet a span of his sweetness has already gone by,

And age is among the greatest afflictions for one like him.

غَداً تُفسِدُ الأَيّامُ مِنهُ وَلَم يَكُن

بِأَوَّلِ صافي الحُسنِ غَيَّرَهُ الدَهرُ

Tomorrow the days will mar him, and he will not be

The first whose flawless beauty time has changed.

وَيُمنى بِحِضنى لِحيَةٍ مُدلَهِمَّةٍ

لِخَدَّيهِ مِنها الوَيلُ إِن ساقَها قَدرُ

And he will be afflicted with the two sides of a pitch-dark beard,

Woe to his cheeks from it, should fate bring it on!

تَجافَ لَنا عَنهُ فَإِنَّكَ واجِدٌ

بِهِ ثَمَناً يُغليهِ في مَدحِكَ الشِعرُ

Relinquish him to us, for you will find

For him a price that poetry will raise through praise of you.

وَلا تَطلُبِ العِلّاتِ فيهِ وَتَرتَقي

إِلى حِيَلٍ فيها لِمُعتَذِرٍ عُذرُ

And do not seek pretexts concerning him, or climb

To stratagems that offer an excuse to an excuse-maker.

فَقَد يَتَغابى المَرءُ في عُظمِ مالِهِ

وَمِن تَحتِ بُردَيهِ المُغيرَةُ أَو عَمروُ

For a man may feign folly with the bulk of his wealth,

While beneath his two cloaks is al-Mughira or Amr.

وَيَخرُقُ بِالتَبذيرِ وَهوَ مُجَرِّبٌ

فَلا يَتَمارى القَومُ في أَنَّهُ غُمرُ

And he acts recklessly by squandering, though he is experienced,

So the people have no doubt that he is a novice.

وَمَن لَم يَرَ الإيثارَ لَم يَشتَهِر لَهُ

فَعالٌ وَلَم يَبعُد بِسُؤدَدِهِ ذِكرُ

And whoever does not value selfless giving will have no

Renowned deeds, nor a name spread far for his nobility.

فَإِن قُلتَ نَذرٌ أَو يَمينٌ تَقَدَّمَت

فَأَيُّ جَوادٍ حَلَّ في مالِهِ نَذرُ

So if you say, 'A vow, or an oath made earlier,'

Then what generous man has a vow binding his wealth?

أَتَعتَدُّهُ ذُخراً كَريماً فَإِنَّما

مَرامُ كَريمِ القَومِ أَن يَكرُمَ الذُخرُ

Do you count him a noble treasure? For the sole

Aim of the noble among men is that the treasure be noble.

وَإِن كُنتَ تَهواهُ وَتَقلى فِراقَهُ

فَقَد كانَ وَفرٌ قَبلَهُ فَمَضى وَفرُ

And if you love him and hate to part from him,

For there was Wafr before him, and Wafr departed.

وَأَلطَفُ مِنهُ في الفُؤادِ مَحَلَّةً

ثَناءٌ تُبَقّيهِ القَصائِدُ أَو شُكرُ

And more pleasing than him in its dwelling within the heart

Is praise that poems keep alive, or gratitude.

وَما قَدرُهُ في جَنبِ جودِكَ إِن غَدا

بِرُمَّتِهِ أَو راحَ نائِلُكَ الغَمرُ

And what is his worth beside your generosity, if in the morning,

In full, or in the evening, your overflowing bounty goes forth?