ألا حدثاني عن رسوم المعاهد — Alkadawi

أَلا حدّثاني عَن رسومِ المعاهدِ

وَعَن عهدِ ذاك الظاعنِ المتباعدِ

Ah, tell me, you two, of the traces of familiar haunts,

And of the days of that departed one, now far away,

وَعَن كلِّ لهفٍ قَد تقضّى وديدنٍ

وَعَن عهدِ دهرٍ بالأحبّةِ جايدِ

And of every yearning now past, and every accustomed way,

And of a time generous with loved ones.

أَلا ليتَ شِعري هَل أرى زمنَ الصبا

لَنا عائدٌ أَم ذلكم غير عائدِ

Ah, would that I knew: shall I see the time of youth

Return to us, or will that time never return?

زَمانٌ بهِ كانت أميمُ وأهلها

لَنا جيرة والوصل عذب المواردِ

A time when Umaym and her family were

Our neighbors, and union's wellsprings were sweet.

وَكنتُ بِها في غبطةِ العيشِ منعماً

وَلَم أخشَ فيها من رقيبٍ وحاسدِ

And with her I lived in life's bliss, at ease,

And there I feared neither watcher nor envier.

أَروحُ وريعانُ الشبيبةِ شافعي

لَدَيها وَأغدو والزمان مساعدِ

I would go at evening, youth's bloom my intercessor

With her, and go at dawn, with time on my side.

أَجرّ ذيولَ التيهِ في كلِّ ساحةٍ

وأُسرح ذود اللحظِ في كلِّ ناهدِ

I trailed the skirts of pride through every courtyard,

And let my glances' little camel-herd roam over every high-breasted maiden.

فَمَن مُبلغٌ يا قوم عنّي أُميمة

تحيّةَ مشغوف الفؤادِ مواددِ

Who, my people, will bear to Umayma on my behalf

The greeting of a devoted lover with a love-stricken heart?

منَ الهيفِ لسعا الثغرِ خمصانة الحشا

خدلّجة الساقين ريّا السواعدِ

One of the slender-waisted women, dark-lipped, slim of belly,

Plump in both calves, her forearms full.

تُلاحظني سرّاً فترشق مُهجتي

بِأسهمِ لحظٍ للشغافِ قواصدِ

She glances at me secretly, then strikes my heart

With arrows of glances aimed at the heart's sheath.

وَتُسفرُ عَن وجهٍ حكى البدر واضح

يشفّ به نوراً شفوفَ البراجدِ

And unveils a radiant face resembling the full moon,

Its light shining through, as through woven cloaks.

وَتَبسم عَن أحوى اللثاث مفلّج

أحمّ اللمى عذب المراشفِ باردِ

And smiles to reveal dark gums and parted teeth,

Deeply dark-lipped, sweet and cool to kiss.

فَمَن لي وقد صارت مطايا أحبّتي

تَجوبُ بهم عرضَ الفلا والفدافدِ

Who will assure me—now that my loved ones' mounts

Carry them across the breadth of deserts and barren plains—

بِأن تسمحَ الأيّامُ بالوصلِ بعدما

سَقَتني بِفُرقاهم سموم الأساودِ

That the days grant reunion, after

Making me drink black snakes' venom through separation from them?

أَحنّ إِلى ذاكَ الزمان الّذي مضى

وَطيب لياليهِ حنينَ الفواقدِ

I yearn for that time which has passed,

And the sweetness of its nights, with the longing of bereaved women.

عصير قَضينا الملهيات به ولم

نَجد صالحاً منه مشوباً بفاسدِ

A brief season we spent in diversions, and never

Found anything good in it mixed with anything bad.

مَضت وَاِنقَضت تلكَ المسرّات كلّها

وَلَم يبقَ مِن هاتيكَ إلّا الأساندِ

All those pleasures have passed and come to an end;

And nothing of them remains but the tales.

وَأصبحتُ ما بينَ التجلّدِ والأسى

أُغالبُ فكري في طريدٍ وطاردِ

And I am left between fortitude and sorrow,

Wrestling with my thoughts, as quarry and pursuer.

أُعاتبُ دَهري والليالي شواهدٌ

عَلى أنّ دَهري مخلف للمواعدِ

I reproach my fortune, and the nights bear witness

That my fortune breaks its promises.

سَأَضربُ في شرقِ البلادِ وغربها

لمبلغِ عزٍّ أَو لكسبِ محامدِ

I shall journey through the land's east and west,

To attain honor or earn praise.

وَأَحملُ من درِّ الكلام بضايعاً

إِلى مَن لديهِ الشعر ليس بكاسدِ

And bear as wares the pearls of speech

To one with whom poetry never goes unsold:

إِلى اِبن سنان عامرٍ عامر العلا

وَأورثها مِن والدٍ بعد والدِ

To Amir ibn Sinan, builder of the heights of glory,

And heir to it from father after father.

ضياء عُمان بدرُها وسراجها

وَكاشفُ ظلما خطبها في الشدائدِ

The light of Oman, its full moon and its lamp,

And dispeller of its calamities' darkness in hardship.

لَهُ مكرمات المشتري في خلاقهِ

وَرفعة كيوان وطرف عطاردِ

He has Jupiter's noble virtues in his character,

And Saturn's loftiness and Mercury's gaze.

أُحاولُ نظمَ المدحِ فيه ومدحه

تَضيقُ بأدناهُ معاني القصائدِ

I try to weave his praise in verse, yet his praise

Exceeds the scope of poems' meanings, even at its least.

كَفيل لنصلِ السيفِ في حومةِ الوغى

بتفليقِ هامات العدا والقماحدِ

He promises the sword's blade, in the thick of battle,

The cleaving of enemy crowns and the backs of their skulls.

تَرى السيفَ راكعاً غير راكعٍ

بلا عقد ظهر ساجداً غير ساجدِ

You see the sword bowing, yet not truly bowing,

Without back joints, prostrating yet not truly prostrating.

كأنّهم زرعٌ من الحرث قائمٌ

وَأينع حتّى ريع منه بحاصدِ

As though they were a crop standing in a sown field,

And ripened, till struck with terror by him, a reaper.

أأصلح سواس الأمور عقيدةً

إِذا كشفوا عن خافيات العقائدِ

O soundest in belief among those who govern affairs,

When they lay bare the secrets of their creeds,

لتهنا بِحصنٍ ما رأينا مبارياً

لهُ في الصياصي من مشيدٍ لشايدِ

May you rejoice in a fortress—we have never seen a rival

To it among the citadels any builder has raised.

رَفيع المباني مشمخرٌّ كأنّه

تَقلّدَ مِن شهبِ السما بقلائدِ

High-built and towering, as though it

Had donned necklaces of the sky's shooting stars.

منيفٌ تسامى في السماءِ تخالهُ

جليساً إذا ما قابلته الفراقد

Lofty, soaring into the sky, you would think it

A seated companion when the Farqad stars face it.

تداركه من بعد ما فاتَ ملكه

بجدٍّ عظيمٍ قائم غير قاعدِ

He recovered it after its ownership had slipped away,

With great exertion, standing, not sitting.

فَكانَ كعمدان وكنت كربّه

وَما خابَ سعي فيهم لمجاهدِ

So it became like ʿAmdan, and you were like its lord,

And no striver's labor among them came to nothing.

فجرّ ذيول الفخرِ واِصعد منابراً

منَ المجدِ لم تسهل سواك لصاعدِ

So trail the skirts of pride, and ascend the pulpits

Of glory, made easy for no climber but you.