لأوشك شعب الحي أن يتفرقا — Albohtry

لَأَوشَكَ شَعبُ الحَيِّ أَن يَتَفَرَّقا

فَيَدمى الجَوى أَو يُصبِحَ الحُبُّ أَولَقا

The clan's gathering was indeed about to disperse,

so heartache would bleed, or love turn to madness.

أَما إِنَّ في ذاكَ النَقا لَأَوانِساً

تَثَنّى أَعاليهِنَّ ليناً عَلى النَقا

Truly, in that sand-dune there are maidens

whose upper bodies sway softly above dune-like hips.

فَعَلَّكَ تَقضي حَسرَةً حينَ لَم تَجِد

عُيونُ المَها يَومَ اللِوى فيكَ مَعشَقا

So perhaps you will perish of grief, when they found no

beloved in you—those oryx-eyes, that day at al-Liwa.

أَرَيّا الصِبا مِن عِندِ رَيّا أَتى بِهِ

نَسيمُ الصَبا وَهناً فَتامَ وَشَوَّقا

Was it the fragrance of youthful love from Rayya, brought

by the east breeze late at night, that enthralled and roused longing?

دَنَت فَدَنا هِجرانُها فَإِذا نَأَت

غَدا وَصلُها المَطلوبُ أَنأى وَأَسحَقا

She drew near, and her estrangement drew near; when she withdrew,

the sought-for union with her grew farther and more remote.

تَجَمَّعَ فيها الحُسنُ حَتّى اِنتَهى بِها

وَأَفرَطَ فيها الظَرفُ حَتّى تَزَندَقا

Beauty gathered in her until it reached its utmost in her;

and charm grew so excessive in her that it became a heretic.

وَما رُبَّما بَل كُلَّما عَنَّ ذِكرُها

بَكَيتَ فَأَبكَيتَ الحَمامَ المُطَوَّقا

And not sometimes, but whenever her memory arose,

you wept, and made the ring-necked doves weep.

وَعَزَّكَ مِهراقٌ مِنَ الدَمعِ حَيثُما

تَوَجَّهَ بَعدَ البَينِ صادَفَ مَهرَقا

And a torrent of tears overpowered you; wherever

it turned after parting, it encountered another torrent.

وَطَيفٍ سَرى حَتّى تَناوَلَ فِتيَةً

سَرَوا يَجذِبونَ اللَيلَ حَتّى تَمَزَّقا

And a phantom traveled by night until it reached young men

who traveled by night, pulling at the night until it tore apart.

فَعاوَدَ يَومَ الهَجرِ أَسوانَ بَعدَما

قَرَعنا لَهُ باباً مِنَ الشَوقِ مُغلَقا

So it returned sorrowful on the day of estrangement, after

we had knocked for it on a closed door of longing.

وَما قَصَّرَت في دَرغَنونَ رِماحُنا

فَيَرجَعَ مِنها الطَيفُ غَضبانَ مُحنَقا

Nor had our spears fallen short at Darghanun,

that the phantom should return from there angry and incensed.

أَظالِمَةَ العَينَينِ مَظلومَةَ الحَشا

ضَعيفَتَهُ كُفى الخَيالِ المُؤَرِّقا

O you unjust in both eyes, wronged at heart,

weak within, restrain the phantom that steals sleep.

فَلا وَصلَ حَتّى تَقضِيَ الحَربُ أَمرَها

بِمُفتَرَقٍ أَو فَضلِ عُمرٍ فَمُلتَق

There can be no union until war settles its affair,

with separation, or with life remaining and then reunion.

وَما هُوَ إِلّا يوسُفُ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ

وَأَعداؤُهُ وَالمَوتُ غَرباً وَمَشرِقا

He is none other than Yusuf ibn Muhammad,

with his enemies and death to west and east.

وَعارِضُهُ المُستَمطِرُ الجودَ إِنَّهُ

تَجَهَّمَ فَوقَ الناطَلوقِ فَأَطرَقا

And his cloud that calls down showers of bounty—indeed it

scowled above al-Nataluq, which bowed its head.

وَأَضعَفَ بِالقَبّاذَقَينِ سِجالَهُ

وَأَرعَدَ بِالأُبسيقِ شَهراً وَأَبرَقا

And it doubled its downpours at al-Qabbadhaqayn,

and thundered at al-Ubsiq for a month, and flashed lightning.

فَحَرَّقَ ما بَينَ الدُروبِ أَتِيُّهُ

إِلى مَجمَعِ البَحرَينِ حينَ تَخَرَّقا

So its onrushing torrent burned what lay between the passes

and the confluence of the two seas, when it tore through.

إِذا اِنشَعَبَت مِن جانِبَيهِ غَمامَةٌ

إِلى بَلَدٍ كانَت دَماً مُتَدَفِّقا

Whenever a cloud branched off from its two flanks

toward a land, it was blood pouring forth.

وَبُردَ خَريفٍ قَد لَبِسنا جَديدَهُ

فَلَم يَنصَرِف حَتّى نَزَعناهُ مُخلِقا

And an autumn mantle—we had donned it new,

and it did not pass until we stripped it off threadbare.

وَبَدرَينِ أَنضَيناهُما بَعدَ ثالِثِ

أَكَلناهُ بِالإيجافِ حَتّى تَمَحَّقا

And two full moons we wore out, after a third

we consumed with swift riding until it dwindled away.

فَلَم أَرَ مِثلَ الخَيلِ أَبقى عَلى السُرى

وَلا مِثلَنا أَحنى عَلَيها وَأَشفَقا

I have seen none more enduring in night travel than horses,

nor any more tender and caring toward them than us.

وَما الحُسنُ إِلّا أَن تَراها مُغيرَةً

تُجاذِبُنا حَبلاً مِنَ الصُبحِ أَبرَقا

Beauty is nothing but seeing them raid,

tugging against us at a black-and-white cord of dawn.

فَكَم مِن عَظيمٍ أَدرَكَتهُ صُدورُها

فَباتَ غَنِيّاً ثُمَّ أَصبَحَ مُملِقا

How many a mighty man their chests overtook,

who spent the night rich, then awoke destitute!

وَأَوحَشَها مِن يوسُفٍ حَملُ يوسُفٍ

عَلَيها المَعالي جامِعاً وَمُفَرِّقا

And what made them dread Yusuf was Yusuf's laying

lofty exploits upon them, gathering and dispersing.

إِذا أَفلَتَت مِن سَملَقٍ بِنُفوسِها

أَعادَ عَلَيها رَئِدُ المَوتِ سَملَقا

Whenever they escaped a barren plain with their lives,

death's peer put them back upon a barren plain.

حَوى كُلَّ ما دونَ الخَليجِ وَلَم يَدَع

فُؤاداً بِما خَلفَ الخَليجِ مُعَلَّقا

He took all that lay this side of the Gulf, and left no

heart attached to what lay beyond the Gulf.

قَليلُ السُرورِ بِالكَثيرِ يَنالُهُ

فَتَحسِبُهُ وَهوَ المُظَفَّرُ مُخفِقا

He takes little joy in the great gains he wins,

so you would think him unsuccessful, though victorious.

يَرى الغَزوَ حَجّاً فَالمُقَصِّرُ مالَهُ

كَأَجرِ الَّذي طافَ الطَوافَ مُحَلِّقا

He deems warfare a pilgrimage: one who falls short has nothing

like the reward of one who makes the circuit with his head shaved.

وَما لَيلَةُ الغازي بِقُرَّةِ مِثلُها

بِمَيمَنَةِ الشَقراءِ صُدغاً وَمَفرِقا

A warrior's night at Qurra has no equal

on the right of a woman blond at temple and hair-part.

وَمُحتَرِسٍ مِن أَينَ رُمتَ اِغتِرارَهُ

وَجَدتَ لَهُ سَهماً إِلَيكَ مُفَوَّقا

And a vigilant man: wherever you tried to catch him unawares,

you found an arrow of his nocked toward you.

إِذا جادَ كانَ الجودُ مِنهُ خَليقَةً

وَلَو ضَنَّ كانَ الضَنُّ مِنهُ تَخَلُّقَ

Whenever he gives, his generosity is inborn;

and were he stingy, his stinginess would be an affectation.

مَشاهِدُ مِن خَلفِ الصِفاتِ وَدونَها

إِذا المادِحُ السَكبُ اللِسانِ تَلَهوَقا

Witnessed deeds stand behind descriptions and before them,

when the fluent-tongued panegyrist grows extravagant.

فَإِن قالَ بِالإِكثارِ قالَ مُقَلِّلاً

وَإِن قالَ بِالإِفراطِ قالَ مُصَدِّقا

If he speaks profusely, he still understates;

and if he speaks extravagantly, he still speaks the truth.

بَنَت شَرَفاً في مَجدِ نَبهانَ وَالتَقَت

عَلى رَبَضِ الإِسلامِ سوراً وَخَندَقا

They built high honor in Nabhan's glory and came together

around Islam's outskirts as a wall and moat.

يَشُدُّ فَيَلقى أَيدِيَ القَومِ أَرجُلا

رَواجِعَ عَنهُ وَالسَواعِدَ أَسوُقا

He charges, and finds the foe's hands turned into feet,

retreating from him, and their forearms into shins.

فَإِن شَهَروا الماذِيَّ كَي ما يُرَهِّبوا

شَهَرتَ لَهُم بَأساً عَلَيهِم مُحَقِّقا

If they brandish fine steel to frighten,

you brandish before them a might proven against them.

وَماذا عَلى مَن يَملَأُ الدَرعَ نَجدَةً

لَدى الرَوعِ أَلّا يُلبِسَ الدِرعَ يَلمَقا

What harm to one who fills his armor with valor,

amid terror, if he puts no tunic over his armor?

وَفي كُلِّ عالٍ مِن قُراهُم وَسافِلٍ

لَهيبٌ كَأَنَّ الوَشيَ فيهِ مُشَقَّقا

And in every village of theirs, high and low,

a blaze, as though brocade were torn to shreds within it.

حَريقٌ لَوِ النُعمانُ يَومَ أُوارَةٍ

رَآكَ تُزَجّيهِ دَعاكَ مُحَرِّقا

A conflagration! Had al-Nu'man, on the day of Uwara,

seen you driving it onward, he would have called you 'the Burner.'

وَفي يَدِكَ السَيفُ الَّذي اِمتَنَعَت بِهِ

صَفاةُ الهُدى مَن أَن تَرِقَّ فَتَخرَقا

And in your hand is the sword by which was protected

the rock of guidance from wearing thin and being breached.

وَما أَظلَمَ الإِسلامُ إِلّا تَأَلَّقَت

نَواحيهِ في ظَلمائِهِ فَتَأَلَّقا

Whenever Islam grew dark, there gleamed

the sword's edges in its darkness, and Islam shone.

إِذا أُمَراءُ الناسِ عَفّوا تَقِيَّةً

عَفَفتَ وَلَم تَقصِد لِشَيءٍ سِوى التُقى

When the people's rulers show restraint out of fear,

you show restraint, seeking nothing but piety.

وَلَو أَنصَفَ الحُسّادُ يَوماً تَأَمَّلوا

مَعاليكَ هَل كانَت بِغَيرِكَ أَليَقا

And if the envious were ever fair, they would contemplate

your lofty attainments: were they more fitting for another?

قَطَعتَ مَداها وَهيَ أَبعَدُ غايَةً

وَجُزتَ رُباها وَهيَ أَصعَبُ مُرتَقى

You covered their distance, though theirs was the farthest goal,

and crossed their heights, though theirs was the hardest climb.

وَكانَ طَريقُ المَجدِ خَلفَكَ واضِحاً

وَفِعلُ المَعالي لَو أَرادوهُ مُطلَقا

Behind you the road to glory lay clear,

and lofty deeds lay open to them, had they wished to perform them.

تَجودُ عَلى الطُلّابِ سَحّاً وَديمَةً

وَهَطلاً وَإِرهاماً وَوَبلاً وَرَيِّقا

You rain bounty upon seekers in torrents and steady rain,

in downpours and drizzle, in heavy rain and first showers.

فَإِن قُلتَ هَذي سُنَّةٌ كُنتَ حاتِماً

وَإِن قُلتَ فَرضٌ لازِمٌ كُنتَ مَصدَقا

If you say, 'This is a voluntary practice,' you are Hatim;

and if you say, 'A binding obligation,' you are an almsgiver.

وَجَدنا غِرارَ السَيفِ عِندَكَ واسِعاً

وَإِن كانَ مُفضى الجودِ عِندَكَ ضَيِّقا

We found the sword's edge broad with you,

even if the passage to bounty with you was narrow.

وَما أَنا إِلّا غَرسُكَ الأَوَّلُ الَّذي

أَفَضتَ لَهُ ماءَ النَوالِ فَأَورَقا

I am nothing but your first planting, for which

you poured the water of bounty, and it put forth leaves.

وَقَفتُ بِآمالي عَلَيكَ جَميعَها

فَرَأيُكَ في إِمساكِهِنَّ مُوَفَّقا

I have halted before you with all my hopes,

so may your judgment in keeping them be well guided.