زهي المباسل لانتضاء المقصل — Alhees Bess

زُهيَ المُباسل لانتضاء المقصل

فاطرْ لعزَكَ بالمعالي واجذلِ

The valiant warrior exulted at the drawing of the cleaving sword.

So soar for your glory amid lofty deeds, and rejoice.

هذا أوان دلفت من شرف العُلى

فترقَّ في شمَّائها وتوقّلِ

This is the hour: you have advanced from glory's heights;

so ascend its towering peaks and climb.

نبت الغُمودُ بصارمٍ ذي روْنقٍ

كادَ الإباءُ يموتُ لو لم يُسْللِ

The scabbards could not contain a keen, gleaming sword;

proud defiance was near death, had it not been drawn.

للهِ أيامٌ مُددْنَ لآملٍ

فرأى وضوح الشمس بعد تطفُّلِ

God be praised for days prolonged for one who hoped,

who saw the sun's brightness after twilight.

خيرُ الخلائق خِلَّةٌ مُضرية

جُعلَ الوفاءُ بها جزاءَ المُفْضِل

The finest virtue is a friendship of Mudar,

in which loyalty is made the benefactor's recompense.

إنَّ الهوى العذريَّ أُودع صفوه

في دارميٍّ ليس بالمُتَنقلِ

Indeed, the pure essence of 'Udhri love was entrusted

to a Darimi who never shifts his devotion:

غيرانَ يحمي المُنعمين ثناؤُهُ

وافٍ بارعاءِ العهُودِ مُوكَّلِ

jealous in devotion, his praise protects his benefactors;

faithful, he is charged with keeping covenants.

لو ساور الموت الزؤامَ لحالةٍ

ضمنتْ بقاءَ ودادهِ لم يحْفلِ

Were he to grapple with grim death for a cause

that assured his affection's survival, he would not care.

ما مِثل ربِّ العنصرين مُمدَّحٌ

وإذا جهلت دليل شيءٍ فاسألِ

No man acclaimed equals the lord of the two lineages;

and if you do not know the proof of something, ask.

خِرْقٌ توقَّل من مناقب هاشمٍ

حيث المقامُ يزِلُّ بالمتوقِّلِ

A resourceful noble, he has climbed through Hashim's virtues

to heights where a climber's foothold slips.

غَمرُ الندى يحمي وما استنجدته

لِمُلِمّةٍ ويجودُ إن لم يُسألِ

Abundant in bounty, he protects you though you have not sought his aid

against calamity, and gives even when unasked.

لبق الشمائل بالنعيم يزينُه

شرَسُ الأبي ولينَةُ المُسترسلِ

Polished in manner amid prosperity, he is adorned

by the proud man's fierceness and the easygoing man's gentleness.

ماضٍ إذا خيفَ الردى لم يثنهِ

رعْبٌ وإن بخلَ الحيا لم يبخلِ

Resolute when death is feared, he is not turned aside

by terror; though the rain withholds, he does not withhold.

تردي عزائمه الصوارمَ والقَنا

وتقومُ هيبتهُ مقامَ الجحفل

His firm resolves strike swords and spears down,

and the awe he inspires stands in place of a mighty host.

شهمٌ يبيت عدوه في غمْرةٍ

من خوفه ونزيلُه في معقلِ

A gallant man: his enemy spends the night in a flood

of fear of him, while his guest rests in a fortress.

جُمعت مساعي قومه في سعيه

فغدا أخيراً في الزمان الأوَّلِ

His people's noble deeds are gathered in his own,

so, though late in time, he became the foremost.

وإذا السحائبُ أخلفتْ مستمطراً

قامتْ أناملُه مقامَ الحُفَّلِ

When clouds disappoint one who begs for rain,

his fingers take the place of rain-laden clouds.

وإذا الأسنَّةُ أحجمت عن مطعنٍ

طعنت به آراؤه في المقتل

When spearheads shrink from a place to strike,

his counsels thrust there into the vital spot.

وإذا الحُبى طاشت لرائع حادثٍ

أرْبى على رضْوى الجبال ويذبل

When knee-bands fly loose at a terrifying event,

he rises above the mountains Radwa and Yadhbul.

وإذا العهود نُقضن أصبح عهدهُ

عند الحوادثِ مُبرماً لم يُحلل

When covenants are broken, his covenant remains

firmly bound amid calamities, never undone.

وإذا الحمى المرهوبُ أسلم لاجئاً

أمسى مُجاورهُ بأمْنعِ منزلِ

When a feared sanctuary abandons a refugee,

the man under his protection dwells in the strongest refuge.

ومشردٍ ينزو به رقُ الردى

نَزْو المُدامةِ بالنَّزيف المُثْقلِ

And many a fugitive, whom bondage to death tosses about,

as wine tosses a drinker weighed down with drunkenness—

جَمُّ الهمومِ كأنما صُعداؤهُ

من فرْط لوعته دخانُ المرجلِ

burdened with cares, as though his deep sigh

were, from his burning anguish, smoke from a cauldron.

حظرتْ مخاوفه كراهُ فَجْفنهُ

لو يَستجيلُ رويَّةً لم يُسدلِ

His fears forbid him sleep, so his eyelid,

even if he turns to reflection, is never lowered.

تخفيه أثباجُ الظَّلامِ كأنهُ

سِرٌّ توغَّلَ قلب ثَبْتٍ مُدْغلِ

The depths of darkness hide him, as though he were

a secret buried in the heart of a steadfast, secretive man.

يتوهمُ الحسكاتِ منه ذواعراً

فرط الحذار فإنْ مشى لم يعْجلِ

He imagines the thorns to be things that frighten him,

so extreme his caution; when he walks, he does not hurry.

بُعِلَ الملوك بنصره ونبَتْ به

شمُّ المعاقل فالحياةُ بمعزلِ

Kings were helpless to aid him, and he was rejected

by towering strongholds; life itself lay far away.

أمَّ الوزير الزينبي ونصرْرهُ

فأحلَّهُ التأميمُ أمنعَ موئلِ

He sought the vizier al-Zaynabi and his aid,

and that seeking lodged him in the most secure refuge,

بفناء ضرَّابِ الجَماجم بالضُّحى

قاري العشيَّة في الجديب المُمحلِ

in the courtyard of one who strikes skulls at forenoon,

a host at evening in a barren, drought-stricken land.

تشكو الغزالةُ والنجوم كسوفَها

من فَرْط رفْع دخانه والقَسْطلِ

The sun and stars complain of their eclipse

from the soaring height of his smoke and battle dust.

لو صافح الرمضاء باطنُ كفهِ

ظهراً لبُدلَ بالربيع المُبْقلِ

If the palm of his hand touched the burning ground

at noon, it would be changed to green, sprouting spring.

وإذا تغيَّرت الفِجاجُ وأعْصفتْ

هُوجٌ تراجَمُ بالقُرومِ البُزًَّلِ

And when the mountain passes change, and there rage

wild winds that fling great, mature camels against one another,

وتصادمت مِزقُ البيوتِ كأنها

في الجو شَغَّاغُ الغمامِ المُثْقَلِ

and tattered tent-shreds collide, as though they were

shreds of heavy-laden cloud in the air,

وتشابه الوحش العزيب ومن هُمُ

تحت الطِّراف بِقَرَّةٍ وبأفْكَلِ

and the solitary beasts resemble those who are

beneath leather tents, in cold and shivering—

فمجاسد الفتيات أهُبْ كوانِسٍ

والمُطْفلُ الحسناءُ مثلُ المُغْزل

the maidens' garments are hides of does in their lairs,

and the lovely mother with her child is like a doe with her fawn—

حيث المواقدُ كالمواردِ قَرَّةً

والعائمُ الرِّعْديد مثلُ المُصطلي

where hearths are as cold as watering places,

and the shivering swimmer is like the man warming at the fire,

من غير ما مطرٍ ولكن لزْبةٌ

أمْهى عوارقَها عُصوفُ الشمألِ

without any rain, but amid a crushing dearth

whose gnawing teeth the raging north wind has sharpened:

آويتَ ثم قرَيْت غيرَ مُسوِّفٍ

وكففتَ من هَمِّ المُسيفِ المرمل

you sheltered, then fed them, without delay,

and eased the cares of the ruined, penniless man.

ولنِعم مُبتدرُ الطِّعان إذا الوغى

حَميتْ بكل مُغامرٍ مُستقتلِ

And how fine a man to rush into spearplay, when battle

grows hot with every daring man bent on death,

واستشزبت أُولى الجيادِ فأقبلتْ

مُتفرقاتٍ كالجرادِ المُشْعِلِ

and the foremost steeds grow lean and come on

scattered like locusts spreading far and wide,

وتبدَّلت أرضُ الطراد سميَّةً

والصبحُ فيها جِنْحُ ليلٍ ألْيَلِ

and the field of pursuit is exchanged for its namesake,

while morning there is the wing of a pitch-black night.

نهبَ الكماةُ ترابها بسنابكٍ

فتعوضتْ قِمماً مكان الجَنْدلِ

The armored warriors plunder its dust with hooves,

so it gains heads in place of stones.

حتى إذا ضاق المكَرُّ وقُسِّمتْ

مُهج الفوارس في الوشيج الذُبَّل

Until, when the space for wheeling narrows and there are divided

the horsemen's lives among the slender spear-shafts,

وجلى المسيح مع النجيعِ فأفْعَما

سنن المسايل الأتيِّ المُقْبِلِ

and sweat pours out with fresh blood, and both fill

the courses of the oncoming torrent's channels,

وطوتْ نمير الماء كلُّ طِمِرَّةٍ

وتنكَّبتْ نَفَذَ الغدير المُثمل

and every fleet mare passes by the fresh water

and avoids the outlets of the brimming pool,

شدَّ ابنُ مُستهمي الغَمامَ بحملةٍ

شرفيَّةٍ سُبقت بطعنةِ فيصلِ

the son of him who summoned rain from the clouds launched a charge,

a noble charge, preceded by a cleaving blade's thrust.

وفلا عجاج الطَّرد عن نصرٍ إذا

ما كُرَّ طيبُ حديثهِ لم يُمْللِ

He cleared the dust of pursuit to reveal a victory whose

sweet tale, however often repeated, never wearies.

فهو المشارُ إليه حيث لقيتَهُ

صدرُ الخميس له وصدر المحفل

He is the one pointed out wherever you meet him;

his is the forefront of the army and the head of the assembly.

خبرَ الإمام مقامُه من دهْرهِ

فدعاهُ فيه بقُلَّبٍ وبحوِّلِ

His conduct in his age made him known to the imam,

who called him resourceful and versatile for it,

وجَلا بحسن الابتلاء فِرنْدهُ

والسيفُ يعرفُ بعد صقل الصيقل

and through a worthy trial revealed his blade's wavy pattern;

a sword is known after the polisher has polished it.

ولو أنَّ يمنك سار تحت لوائه

حطم الأسنَّةَ في حُماةِ المَوْصِلِ

Had your good fortune marched beneath his banner,

it would have shattered spears among Mosul's defenders.

لم يُنجِ منه الهام وهو فتى الوغى

إلى خُلوُّ يمينه من مُنْصُلِ

Nothing saved heads from him, the champion of battle,

except his right hand's being empty of a blade.

حاشا مقالي أنْ يُعرض بامرئٍ

ما زالَ أهْلاً للمقام الأفضلِ

Far be it from my words to disparage a man

who has always deserved the highest station.

لكن ليكبر فضلهُ ومقامهُ

ليس الثريّا كالسِّماكِ الأعْزلِ

I mean only to magnify his merit and his rank:

the Pleiades are not like al-Simak the Unarmed.

فخَرتْ قريش بالوصي عَلِيِّها

ولها فَخارٌ بعد ذلك في عَلي

Quraysh gloried in its 'Ali, the legatee,

and after that it has further pride in 'Ali—

بالمُقتفي أثر السَّراةِ من العُلى

ينْميه منهم كل خِرْقٍ مُفْضلِ

in him who follows the noble lords' path of glory,

whose lineage every resourceful, generous man among them ennobles.

المُنهلين السُّمر من منهج العِدى

حيث السماء بخيلةٌ لم تَهطلِ

Those who give the brown spears drink from the enemy's path,

where the sky is miserly and sheds no rain:

قومٌ إذا ضاق القريضُ بمدحهمْ

مُدِحُوا بآياتِ الكتابِ المُنْزلِ

a people who, when verse falls short of praising them,

are praised in the verses of the revealed Book.

من كل متبوعِ اللواءِ مُقلِّدٍ

في الدينِ أمْرَ مُحَرَّمٍ ومُحلَّلِ

Among them, every leader whose banner is followed, entrusted

in religion with matters forbidden and permitted.

يخضرُّ مغبرُّ الثرى من وطئهِ

وتقومُ أنْملُهُ مقامَ الهُطَّلِ

Dusty earth grows green beneath his tread,

and his fingertips take the place of pouring rains.

اشْكر إلهكَ ما استطعتَ فإنه

واقيكَ من داءِ الخطوبِ المُعضلِ

Thank your God as much as you can, for He

protects you from calamities' intractable disease.

واحلم فإن الحلم من ذي قُدرة

رأسُ العُل وثناء كل مُفضَّلِ

And show forbearance, for forbearance in one with power

is the summit of greatness and the praise of every distinguished man.

ولقد كرمت عن الإجابة فليكن

منك التَّغَمُّدُ للأغَرِّ الأجْهَلِ

You are too noble to answer, so let there be

your pardon for the most naive, most ignorant man.

أملي رحيبٌ منك في دركِ العُلى

يا خير مرْجوٍّ وخيرَ مُؤَمَّلِ

My hope in you of attaining glory is boundless,

O best of those hoped in, best of those looked to.

ومع اختباري في الولاء فواجبٌ

رفْعي إلى الشَّرف الذي لم يُنزلِ

And since my loyalty has been tested, it is only right

that I be raised to an eminence never brought low.