سرينا وطالبنا هاجع — Almaarri

سَرَينا وَطالَبنا هاجِعٌ

وَعِندَ الصَباحِ حَمِدنا السُرى

We traveled by night while our pursuer slept,

and at dawn we praised the night journey.

بَنو آدَمٍ يَطلُبونَ الثَرا

ءَ عِندَ الثُرَيّا وَعِندَ الثَرى

Adam's sons seek wealth,

at the Pleiades and in the earth.

فَتىً زارِعٌ وَفَتىً دارِعٌ

كِلا الرَجُلَينِ غَدا فَاِمتَرى

One young man farms, and another wears armor;

both men went forth and sought gain.

فَهَذا بِعَينٍ وَزايٍ يَروحُ

وَذاكَ يَؤوبُ بِضادِ وَرا

This one comes home with ʿayn and zāy,

and that one returns with ḍād and rāʾ.

وَعامِلُ قوتٍ ذَرا حَبَّهُ

وَخِدنُ رِكازٍ ضَحا فَاِذَّرى

One who labors for food winnows his grain,

and a companion of buried treasure enters the sunlight, then takes shelter.

وَكورُكَ فَوقَ طَويلِ المَطا

وَسَرجُكَ فَوقَ شَديدِ القَرا

Your camel-saddle rests above a long back,

and your horse-saddle above a strong spine.

وَتَجري دَفارِ بِها جَدَّها

بِمِثلِ الظَلامِ إِذا ما جَرى

And Dafār, the world, races with them at full speed,

like darkness when it courses on.

كَأَنَّ بِضاقَ الدَبى فَوقَها

إِذا وَقَدَت في الأُنوفِ البُرى

As though young locusts' spittle lay upon them,

when nose-rings burn in their nostrils.

وَذَلِكَ مِن حَرِّ أَنفاسِها

يُضاعِفُهُ حَرُّ يَومٍ جَرى

That comes from the heat of their breath,

doubled by the heat of a passing day.

تَلومُ عَلى أُمِّ دَفرٍ أَخاكَ

وَراءَكَ إِن هَوىً قَد وَرى

You reproach your brother over Umm Dafr, the world;

stand back: a passion has flared up.

عَهِدتُكَ تُشبِهُ سيدَ الضَرّاءِ

وَلَستَ مُشابِهَ لَيثِ الشَرى

I knew you to resemble the wolf of the thicket,

and you are not like the lion of al-Sharā.

تَدِبُّ فَإِن وَجَدتَ خِلسَةً

فَيا لِلسُلَيكِ أَو الشَنفَرى

You creep along; if you find a chance to snatch,

then, an al-Sulayk or al-Shanfarā indeed!

هُوَ الشَرُّ قَد عَمَّ في العالَمينَ

أَهلَ الوُهودِ وَأَهلَ الذُرى

It is evil, spread throughout all the worlds,

among those in the lowlands and those on the summits.

لِيَفتَنَّ في صَمتِهِ ناسِكٌ

إِذا اِفتَنَّ فيما يَقولُ الوَرى

Let an ascetic be inventive in his silence,

when people are inventive in what they say.

فَكَنَّوا صَبوحِيَّةَ الشَربِ أُمَّ

لَيلى وَمَكَّةَ أُمَّ القُرى

So they called the drinkers' morning wine 'Mother

of Laylā,' and Mecca 'Mother of Towns.'

وَقالوا بَدا المُشتَري في الظَلامِ

فَيا لَيتَ شِعرِيَ ماذا اِشتَرى

They said, 'Jupiter has appeared in the darkness';

would that I knew what it bought!

وَتَرجو الرِباحَ وَأَينَ الرِباحُ

وَنَعتُكَ في نَفسِكَ الخَيسَرا

You hope for profits—but where are profits,

while your own inward description is 'loss'?

عَذيرِيَ مِن مارِدٍ فاجِرٍ

تَقَرَّأَ وَالمُختَزَياتِ اِقتَرى

Who will vindicate me against a rebellious sinner,

who professed piety and sought out shameful deeds?

فَهَوِّن عَلَيكَ لِقاءَ المَنونِ

وَقُل حينَ تَطرِقُ أَطرُق كَرا

So make the meeting with death easy on yourself,

and say when it visits at night, 'Bow your head, curlew!'

وَنادِ إِذا أَوعَدتُكَ اِعتَري

فَصَبراً عَلى الحُكمِ لَمّا اِعتَرى

And cry, when I threaten you, 'Come upon me!'

Then bear patiently the decree when it befalls you.

وَنَفسي تُرَجّي كَإِحدى النُفوسِ

وَتَذري النَوائِبُ سَكنَ الذُرى

My soul cherishes hopes like any other soul,

while calamities scatter the dwellers on the summits.

وَكَم نَزَلَ القَيلُ عَن مِنبَرٍ

فَعادَ إِلى عُنصُرٍ في الثَرى

How many a king has descended from a pulpit,

and returned to an element in the earth,

وَأُخرِجَ عَن مُلكِهِ عارِياً

وَخَلَّفَ مَملَكَةً بِالعَرا

and been expelled naked from his dominion,

leaving a kingdom out in the open.

إِذا الضَيفُ جاءَكَ فَاِبسِم لَهُ

وَقَرِّب إِلَيهِ وَشيكَ القِرى

When a guest comes to you, smile at him,

and promptly offer him a guest-meal.

وَلا تَحقِر المُزدَرى في العُيونِ

فَكَم نَفَعَ الهَيِّنُ المُزدَرى

Do not despise what is scorned in people's eyes;

how often the slight and scorned has proved useful!

وَلا تَحمِلُ البُزلُ تِلكَ الوُسوقَ

إِلاّ بِأَزرارِها وَالعُرا

Mature camels cannot carry those loads

except by means of their fasteners and loops.

أَجَل خَزَرَتنِيَ وَثّابَةٌ

سِواها الَّتي مَشَت الخَيزَرى

Yes, a pouncing one has looked at me askance—

not she who walked with a swaying gait.

فَإِنَّ سُراءَ اللَيالي رَمى

أَوانَ شَبيبَتِنا فَاِنسَرى

For the nights' bow struck

the season of our youth, and it passed away.

وَنَومِيَ مَوتٌ قَريبُ النُشورِ

وَمَوتِيَ نَومٌ طَويلُ الكَرى

My sleep is a death with resurrection near,

and my death a sleep of long slumber.

نُؤَمِّلُ خالِقَنا إِنَّنا

صُرَينا لِنَشرَبَ ذاكَ الصَرا

We hope in our Creator; indeed, we

were gathered to drink that stagnant water.

سَواءٌ عَلَيَّ إِذا ما هَلَكتُ

مَن شادَ مَكرُمَتي أَو زَرى

It is all the same to me, once I have perished,

who extols my honor or disparages it.

فَأَودى فُلانٌ بِسُقمٍ أَضَرَّ

وَأَدوى فُلانٌ بِعِرقٍ ضَرا

So-and-so perished from a grievous illness,

and so-and-so sickened from a vein that bled unchecked.

أَبِا لِنَبلِ أُدرَكَ أَم بِالرِما

حِ بَينَ أَسِنَّتِها وَالسَرا

Was he overtaken by arrows, or by spears,

amid their spearheads and short arrows?

فَهَل قامَ مِن جَدَثٍ مَيِّتٌ

فَيُخبِرَ عَن مَسمَعٍ أَو مَرى

Has a dead man ever risen from a grave,

to report something heard or seen?

وَلَو هَبَّ صَدَّقَهُ مَعشَرٌ

وَقَالَ أُناسٌ طَغى وَاِفتَرى

If he rose, some would believe him,

while others would say, 'He transgressed and fabricated lies.'

وَلَم يَقرِ في الحَوضِ راعي السَوا

مِ إِلّا لِيورِدَهُ ما قَرى

The herdsman gathers no water in the trough

except to lead his herd to what he has gathered.

أَفِرُّ وَما فَرَأٌ نافِرٌ

بِمُعتَصِمٍ مِن قَضاءٍ فَرا

I flee; yet no fleeing wild ass

is sheltered from a decree that rends.

أَحِنُّ إِلى أَمَلٍ فاتَني

وَما لِلشَبوبِ وَعَيشِ الفِرى

I yearn for a hope that has eluded me;

what has a mature wild bull to do with the life of wild asses?

مَتّى قَرقَرَ الهاتِفُ العِكرِمِيُّ

هَيَّجَ صَبّاً إِلى قَرقَرى

Whenever the calling dove coos,

it stirs a lover's yearning for Qarqarā.

وَقَد يَفسُدُ الفِكرُ في حالَةٍ

فَيوهِمُكَ الدُرَّ قَطرُ السُرى

Thought may grow distorted in some state,

so the night's droplets make you fancy pearls.

سَقاكَ المُنى فَتَمَنَّيتُها

وَصاغَ لَكَ الطَيفَ حَتّى اِنبَرى

It gave you hopes to drink, and you wished for them,

and fashioned a phantom for you until it appeared.

فَلا تَدنُ مِن جاهِلٍ آهِلٍ

لَو اِنتُزِعَت خُمسُهُ ما دَرى

Do not draw near an ignorant householder;

if a fifth were snatched from him, he would not know.

أَبى سَيفُهُ قَتلَ أَعدائِهِ

وَسافَ وَليدَتَهُ أَو هَرا

His sword refused to slay his enemies,

yet he struck his slave-girl with a sword, or beat her with a stick.

وَتَختَلِفُ الإِنسُ في شَأنِها

وَأَبعِد بِمَن باعَ مِمَّن شَرى

People differ in their affairs;

how far the seller is from the buyer!

مُغَنِّيَةٌ أُعطِيَت مُرغِباً

فَغَنَّت وَنائِحَةٌ تُكتَرى

A singer was given an enticing payment,

so she sang; a wailing woman is hired.

وَهاوٍ لِيُخرِجَ ماءَ القَليبِ

وَراقٍ لِيَجنِيَ ثَولاً أَرى

One descends to draw water from the well,

and another climbs to harvest a honey-making swarm.

فَإِن نالَ شَهداً فَأَيسِر بِهِ

عَلى أَنَّهُ بِسُقوطٍ حَرا

If he obtains comb-honey, how fortunate he is,

though he is liable to fall.

نَزولُ كَما زالَ أَجدادُنا

وَيَبقى الزَمانُ عَلى ما نَرى

We pass away as our ancestors passed away,

while time remains as we see it:

نَهارٌ يُضيءُ وَلَيلٌ يَجيءُ

وَنَجمٌ يَغورُ وَنَجمٌ يُرى

a day shines, and a night comes,

and a star sinks from sight, and a star is seen.