أيا ديك عدت من أياديك صيحة — Almaarri

أَيا ديكُ عُدَّت مِن أَياديكَ صَيحَةٌ

بَعَثتَ بِها مَيتَ الكَرى وَهُوَ نائِمُ

O rooster, a crow was counted among your favors,

with which you roused one dead in slumber while he slept.

هَتَفتَ فَقالَ الناسُ أَوسُ بنُ مُعيرٍ

أَو اِبنُ رَباحٍ بِالمَحَلَّةِ قائِمُ

You called, and the people said, "Aws ibn Mu'ir

or Ibn Rabah is standing in the quarter."

لَعَلَّ بِلالاً هَبَّ مِن طولِ رَقدَةٍ

وَقَد بَلِيَت في الأَرضِ تِلكَ الرَمائِمُ

Perhaps Bilal has risen from a long sleep,

though those crumbling remains have decayed in the earth.

وَنِعمَ أُذينُ المَعشَرِ اِبنُ حَمامَةٍ

إِذا سَجَعَت لِلذاكِرينَ الحَمائِمُ

How excellent a prayer-caller for the company is Ibn Hamama,

when the doves coo for those who remember.

وَفيكَ إِذا ما ضَيَّعَ النِكسُ غَيرَةٌ

تُصانُ بِها المُستَصحَباتُ الكَرائِمُ

In you, when the base man neglects his charge, is protective jealousy,

by which your noble female companions are guarded.

وَجودٌ بِمَوجودِ النَوالِ عَلى الَّتي

حَمَيتَ وَإِن لَم تَستَهِلَّ الغَمائِمُ

And generosity, with whatever bounty is at hand, toward her

whom you protect, even when the clouds pour no rain.

يُزانُ لَدَيكَ الطَعنُ في حَومَةِ الوَغى

إِذا زُيِّنَت لِلعاجِزينَ الهَزائِمُ

Thrusting in the thick of battle is an honor with you,

when defeats are made attractive to the helpless.

فَلَو كُنتَ بِالدُرِّ الثَمينِ مُعَوَّضاً

مِنَ البُرِّ ما لامَت عَلَيهِ اللَوائِمُ

So, were you rewarded with precious pearls

instead of wheat, no faultfinder would blame it.

وَتُلقى لَدَيكَ المُنقِضاتُ نَواصِعاً

يُقالُ غَريباتُ البِحارِ التَوائِمُ

And bright-white eggs are laid beside you by the clucking hens,

which one would call rare, matched treasures of the seas.

رَآها كِباراً مَن بَراها كَأَنَّها

تَريكُ نَعامٍ أَودَعَتهُ الصَرائِمُ

Their Maker saw them as large, as though they were

abandoned ostrich eggs held in the thickets.

وَتُؤثِرُ بِالقوتِ الحَليلَةَ شيمَةً

كَريمِيَّةً ما اِستَعمَلَتها الأَلائِمُ

You favor your mate with food, showing a trait

of noble generosity never practiced by the base.

كَأَنَّكَ فَحلُ الشَولِ حَولَكَ أَينَقٌ

عَلَيها بُرىً مِن طاعَةٍ وَخَزائِمُ

You seem the stallion of dry she-camels, with she-camels round you,

bearing nose-rings of obedience and nose-cords.

فَتُلمَحُ تاراتٍ وَتُغضي كَأَنَّها

ضَرائِرُ سَفَّتها لَدَيكَ الخَصائِمُ

They are glimpsed at intervals and lower their gaze, as though

rival wives abased before you by their quarrels.

فَحُمرٌ وَسودٌ حالِكاتٌ كَأَنَّها

سَوامُ بَني السَيّدِ اِزدَهَتهُ القَوائِمُ

Red ones and pitch-black ones, as though they were

the grazing herds of Banu al-Sayyid, made proud by their legs.

عَلَيكَ ثِيابٌ خاطَها اللَهُ قادِراً

بِها رَئِمَتكَ العاطِفاتُ الرَوائِمُ

You wear garments that God sewed in His power;

through them the tender, affectionate females have loved you.

وَتاجُكَ مَعقودٌ كَأَنَّكَ هُرمُزٌ

يُباهي بِهِ أَملاكَهُ وَيُوائِمُ

Your crown is fastened, as though you were Hurmuz,

proudly vying with his kings through it, and matching them.

وَعَينُكَ سِقطٌ ما خَبا عِندَ قِرَّةٍ

كَلَمعَةِ بَرقٍ ما لَها الدَهرَ شائِمُ

Your eye is a spark that has never died in the cold,

like a flash of lightning that no one ever watches for rain.

وَما إِفَتَقَرت يَوماً إِلى موقِدٍ لَها

إِذا قُرِّبَت لِلموقِدينَ الهَشائِمُ

Never have you needed a kindler for it,

when dry brushwood is brought to fire-lighters.

وَرِثتَ هُدى التَذكارِ مِن قَبلَ جُرهُمٍ

أَوانَ تَرَقَّت في السَماءِ النَعائِمُ

You inherited the guidance of remembrance from before Jurhum,

when the Na'a'im, the Ostrich stars, rose in the sky.

وَما زِلتَ لِلدَينِ القَديمِ دِعامَةً

إِذا قَلِقَت مِن حامِليهِ الدَعائِمُ

You have always been a pillar of the ancient faith,

when the pillars among its bearers tremble.

وَلَو كُنتَ لي ما أُرهِفَت لَكَ مُديَةٌ

وَلا رامَ إِفطاراً بِأَكلِكَ صائِمُ

Were you mine, no knife would be sharpened for you,

nor would a fasting man seek to break his fast by eating you.

وَلَم يُغلَ ماءٌ كَي تُمَزَّقَ حُلَّةٌ

حَبَتكَ بِأَسناها العُصورُ القَدائِمُ

No water would be boiled to tear apart the robe

the ancient ages bestowed upon you in its greatest splendor.

وَلا عُمتَ في الخَمرِ الَّتي حالَ طَعمُها

كَأَنَّكَ في غَمرٍ مِنَ السَيلِ عائِمُ

Nor would you swim in wine whose taste had soured,

like a swimmer in the depths of a torrent.

وَلاقَيتَ عِندي الخَيرَ تَحسَبُ عَيِّلاً

يُنافيكَ قَولٌ سَيِّئٌ وَشَتائِمُ

You would find kindness with me, regarded as a dependent;

foul speech and insults would be alien to you.

فَإِن كَتَبَ اللَهُ الجَرائِمَ ساخِطاً

عَلى الخَلقِ لَم تُكتَب عَلَيكَ الجَرائِمُ

So if God records crimes, angered

against creation, no crimes would be recorded against you.

فَهَل تُرِدنَ حَوضَ الحَياةِ مُبادِراً

إِذا حُلِّئَت عَنهُ النُفوسُ الحَوائِمُ

Will you then hasten to the pool of life,

when hovering souls are driven away from it?

وَتَرتَعُ ما بَينَ النَبيئَينِ ناعِماً

بِعَيشَةِ خُلدٍ لَم تَنَلها السَمائِمُ

And graze in ease between the two prophets,

in an eternal life untouched by scorching winds?

وَأَقوالُ سُكّانِ البِلادِ ثَلاثَةٌ

تَوالى عَلَيها عانِدٌ وَمُلائِمُ

The views of the lands' inhabitants are three,

followed in succession by the obstinate and the accommodating.

فَقَولٌ جَزاءٌ ما وَقَولٌ تَهاوُنٌ

وَآخَرُ يُجزى إِنسُهُ لا البَهائِمُ

One says: some requital; another: disregard;

a third: its humans are requited, not the beasts.

يُضارِعُنا مَن بَعدَنا في أُمورِنا

وَنَمضي عَلى العِلّاتِ وَالفِعلُ دائِمُ

Those after us resemble us in our affairs,

and we pass on despite our failings, while the doing goes on.

وَكُلٌّ يُوَصّي النَفسَ عِندَ خُلُوِّهِ

بِزُهدٍ وَلَكِن لا تَصِحُّ العَزائِمُ

Each counsels his soul when alone

to renounce the world, but resolutions do not hold.

وَأَينَ فِراري مِن زَماني وَأَهلِهِ

وَقَد غَصَّ شَرّاً نَجِدهُ وَالتَهائِمُ

Where can I flee from my age and its people,

when its uplands and lowlands are choked with evil?

وَفي كُلِّ شَهرٍ تَصرَعُ الدَهرَ جِنَّةٌ

فَنُعقَدُ فيهِ بِالهِلالِ التَمائِمُ

Each month madness throws Time into a fit,

so we tie amulets upon it with the crescent.

لَهُ عُوَذٌ في كُلِّ شَرقٍ وَمَغرِبٍ

رَعاها اليَمانِيَ الدارِ وَالمُتَشائِمُ

It has protective charms in every east and west,

kept by the Yemen-dweller and the Syrian-dweller.

أَبى القَلبُ إِلّا أُمَّ دَفرٍ كَما أَبى

سِوى أُمَّ عَمرٍو موجَعُ القَلبِ هائِمُ

The heart refuses all but Umm Dafr, just as

a heart-stricken, wandering lover refuses any but Umm Amr.

هِيَ المُنتَهى وَالمُشتَهى وَمَعَ السُهى

أَمانِيُّ مِنها دونَهُنَّ العَظائِمُ

She is the ultimate goal, the desired one; beside Suha

lie wishes for her, with mighty obstacles in their path.

وَلَم تَلقَنا إِلّا وَفينا تَحاسُدٌ

عَلَيها وَإِلّا في الصُدورِ سَخائِمُ

Never has she met us without envy among us

over her, or without rancors in our breasts.

نَزَت في الحَشا ثُمَّ اِستَقَلَّت فَغادَرَت

جَماجِمَ تَنزو فَوقَهُنَّ الغَمائِمُ

She leapt in the breast, then rose away, leaving

skulls above which the clouds leap.

وَأَيّا مُنا عيسٌ وَلَيسَ أَزِمَّةٌ

عَلَيها وَخَيلٌ أَغفَلَتها الشَكائِمُ

Our days are pale camels with no reins

upon them, and horses the bits have neglected.

وَقَد نَسِيَت حُسنَ العُهودِ وَما لَها

بَنانُ يَدٍ فيهِ تُشَدُّ الرَتائِمُ

They have forgotten the beauty of keeping pledges, yet they have no

fingertips upon which reminder-threads are tied.

فَإِن سَكِرَت فَالراحُ فيها كَثيرَةٌ

ذَوارِعُها وَالمُخرَزاتُ الحَتائِمُ

If they grow drunk, wine abounds in them—

its overpowering draughts and the pierced, dark vessels.

قَسيماتُ أَلوانٍ سَميحاتُ شيمَةٍ

لَها ضائِعٌ ما طَيَّبَتهُ القَسائِمُ

Beautiful in color, generous in disposition,

wasted on them is what perfume-caskets have scented.

وَما خِلَقُ البيضِ الحِسانِ حَميدَةً

إِذا اِشتَهَرَت أَخلاقُهُنَّ الدَمائِمُ

The forms of fair, beautiful women are not praiseworthy

when their hideous dispositions become known.

وَتَمضي بِنا الساعاتُ مُضمِرَةً لَنا

قَبيحاً عَلى أَنَّ الوُجوهَ وَسائِمُ

The hours carry us onward, concealing for us

something foul, though their faces are handsome.

نَمَمنَ بِما يَخفيهِ حَيٌّ وَمَيِّتٌ

وَمِن شَرِّ أَفعالِ الرِجالِ النَمائِمُ

They divulge what the living and the dead conceal,

and tale-bearing is among men's worst deeds.

يَعيشُ الفَتى في عُدمِهِ عَيشَ راغِبٍ

وَيُثري مُسِنٌّ لِلمَعيشَةِ سائِمُ

The young man in poverty lives the life of one who longs,

while an old man grows wealthy, weary of life.

وَأَنوارُ أَعوامٍ مَضَينَ شَواهِدٌ

بِما ضَمِنَتهُ بَعدَهُنَّ الكَمائِمُ

The blossoms of years gone by bear witness

to what the flower-sheaths enfold after them.