أواني هم فألقى أواني — Almaarri

أَوانِيَ هَمٌّ فَأَلقى أَواني

وَقَد مَرَّ في الشَرخِ وَالعُنفُوانِ

Sorrow has sheltered me; I find my season

already passed in youthful bloom and vigor.

وَضَعتُ بُوانيَّ في ذِلَّةٍ

وَأَلقَيتُ لِلحادِثاتِ البَواني

I lowered my tent poles in humiliation,

and laid my ribs before calamities.

ثَوانِيَ ضَيفٌ فَلَم أَقرِهِ

أَوائِلَ مِن عَزمَتي أَو ثَواني

A guest lodged with me, yet I did not serve him

first helpings of my resolve, or seconds.

فَيا هِندُ وانٍ عَنِ المَكرُما

تِ مَن لا يُساوِرُ بِالهُندُواني

O Hind, remiss in noble deeds

is whoever does not assail with an Indian blade.

زَوانِيَ خَوفُ المَقامِ الذَمي

مِ عَن أَن أَكونَ خَليلَ الزَواني

Fear of a shameful station turned me away

from becoming a companion of harlots.

رَوانِيَ صَبري فَأَضحَت إِلَيَّ

عُيونٌ عَلى غَفَلاتٍ رَواني

My patience quenched my thirst, and toward me turned

eyes watching for unguarded moments.

عَواني قَضاءٌ دُوينَ المُرادِ

وَما بِكرُ شَأنِكَ مِثلُ العَوانِ

Fate bent me aside, just short of my desire;

your affair's untried beginning is not like its seasoned state.

وَهَل جَعَلَ الشائِماتِ الوَميضَ

تَوانِيَ غَيرُ اِتِّصالِ التَواني

What has made those watching the lightning

laggards, except unbroken delay?

فَما لِرِكابِكَ هَذي الوُقوفِ

عَدا حادِيَيها الَّذي يَرجُوانِ

What ails these mounts of yours, standing still?

What their two drivers hope for has eluded them.

حَوانِيَ لِلوِردِ أَعناقَها

وَما عَلِمتُ أَيَّ وَقتٍ حَواني

Their necks bend toward the watering place;

I never knew what time encompassed me.

وَلَم يَلقَ في دَهرِهِ أَجرَبِيٌّ

هَوانِيَ فَليَنأَ عَنّي هَواني

No mangy man has ever, in his lifetime, met

with my contempt; may my humiliation stay far from me.

وَعِندِيَ سِرٌّ بَذِيُّ الحَديثِ

كُنتُ عَنهُ في العالَمينَ الغَواني

I have a secret whose telling is coarse,

which the world's fair women have veiled in allusion [reading uncertain].

إِذا رَملَةٌ لَم تَجِئ بِالنَباتِ

فَقَد جَهِلَت إِن سَقَتها السَواني

If a sandy tract brings forth no vegetation,

it is folly for water-drawing camels to irrigate it.

جَرَيتُ مَعَ الدَهرِ جَريَ المُطيعِ

بَينَ اللَياحِيِّ وَالأُرجُواني

I ran with Time as an obedient servant runs,

between brilliant white and crimson.

كَأَنِّيَ في العَيشِ لَدنُ الغُصو

نِ مَن شاءَ قَوَّمَني أَو لَواني

As though in life my branches were supple:

whoever wished could straighten me or bend me.

وَلا لَونَ لِلماءِ فيما يُقالُ

وَلَكِن تَلَوُّنُهُ بِالأَواني

Water has no color, so they say;

its coloring comes from the vessels.

وَفي كُلِّ شَرٍّ دَعَتهُ الخُطوبُ

شَواسِعُ مَنفَعَةٍ أَو دَواني

In every evil summoned by calamities

are benefits, far off or near.

وَأَجزاءُ تِرياقِهِم لا تَتِمُّ

إِلّا بِجُزءٍ مِنَ الأُفعُوانِ

The ingredients of their antidote are not complete

without a portion of the viper.

فَلا تَمدَحاني يَمينَ الثَناءِ

فَأَحسَنُ مِن ذاكَ أَن تَهجُواني

Do not, you two, praise me with sworn praise;

it would be better for you to satirize me.

وَإِنِّيَ مِن فِكرَتي وَالقَضا

ءِ ما بَينَ بَحرَينِ لا يَسجُوانِ

Through my thought and fate, I find myself

between two seas that never grow calm.

وَإِنَّ النَهارَ وَإِنَّ الظَلامَ

عَلى كُلِّ ذي غَفلَةٍ يَدجُوانِ

Daylight and darkness alike

grow dark over every heedless soul.

وَكَيفَ النَجاءُ وَلِلفَرقَدَينِ

فَضلٌ وَآلَيتُ لا يَنجُوانِ

How can one escape? Even the two Farqads possess

distinction, yet I swear they will not escape.

فَلَم تَطلُبا شيمَتي ناشِئَينِ

وَعَمّا لَطَفتُ لَهُ تَحفُوانِ

You did not seek my character when young,

yet press me about what I approached with subtle care.

فَإِن تَقفوا أَثَري تُحمَدا

وَإِن تَعرِفا النَهجَ لا تَقفُوانِ

If you two follow my footprints, you will be praised;

yet if you know the road, you will not follow.

وَقَد أَمَرَ الحِلمُ أَن تَفصَحا

وَنادى بِلُطفٍ أَلا تَعفُوانِ

Forbearance has commanded you to speak plainly,

and gently called: “Will you not pardon?”

فَلَن تَقذَيا بِاِغتِفارِ الذُنوبِ

وَلَكِن بِغُفرانِها تَصفُوانِ

Forgiving sins will not sully you;

rather, pardoning them will make you pure.

وَلَولا القَذى طِرتُما في الهَواءِ

وَفي اللُجِّ أُلفَيتُما تَطفُوانِ

But for impurity, you two would fly through the air,

and be found floating upon the deep sea.

فَكونا مَعَ الناسِ كَالبارِقينِ

تَعُمّانِ بِالنورِ أَو تَخفُوانِ

Be among people like two lightning flashes:

give light to all, or remain unseen.

فَلَم تُخلَقا مَلَكي قُدرَةٍ

إِذا ما هَفا الإِنسُ لا تَهفُوانِ

You were not created two mighty angels

who never stumble when humankind stumbles.

أَلَم تَرَنا عُصُرَي دَهرِنا

يَأودانِ بِالثِقلِ أَو يَأدُوانِ

Have you not seen us through our time's two phases,

which weigh us down with burdens or deceive us?

وَما فَتِئَ الفَتَيانِ الحَياةَ

يَروحانِ بِالشَرِّ أَو يَغدُوانِ

Throughout life the two youths have never ceased

to bring evil at evening or at dawn.

عَدُوّانِ ما شَعَرا بِالحِمامِ

فَكَيفَ تَظَنُّهُما يَعدُوانِ

Two enemies that have never felt death—

how, then, do you imagine they run?

أَلا تَسمَعُ الآنَ صَوتَيهِما

بِكُلِّ اِمرِئٍ فيهِما يَحدُوانِ

Do you not hear their two voices now,

driving every person within them onward with song?

وَما كَشَفَ البَحثُ سِرَّيهُما

وَما خِلتُ أَنَّهُما يَبدُوانِ

Inquiry has not uncovered their two secrets,

nor did I think the two would become manifest.

وَكَم سَرَوا عالَماً أَوَّلاً

وَما سَرُوا فَمَتى يَسرُوانِ

How many an earlier world have they stripped bare!

Yet they have not grown noble—when will they?

وَبَينَهُما أَهلَكَ الغابِرينَ

ما يَقرِيانِ وَما يَقرُوانِ

Between them, past generations were destroyed

by what they offer as fare and what they gather.

إِذا ما خَلا شَبَحي مِنهُما

فَما يُقفِرانِ وَلا يَخلُوانِ

When my bodily form has vanished from them,

they will be neither desolate nor empty.

قَلَينا البَقاءَ وَلَم يَبرَحا

بِنا في مَراحِلِهِ يَقلُوانِ

We have loathed continued life, yet the two never cease

hurrying us through its stages.

وَكَم أَجلَيا عَن رِجالٍ مَضَوا

وَأَخبارُ ما كانَ لا يَجلُوانِ

How often they have moved on from men who passed away,

yet they do not reveal accounts of what has been.

كَما خُلقا غَبَرا في العُصو

رِ لا يَرخُصانِ وَلا يَغلُوانِ

Just as they were created, they have endured through the ages,

neither growing cheap nor growing dear.

تَمُرُّ وَتَحلو لَنا الحادِثاتُ

وَما يَمقَرانِ وَلا يَحلُوانِ

Events turn bitter and sweet for us,

while the two grow neither bitter nor sweet.

إِذا تَلَوا عِظَةً فَالأَنا

مُ لا يَأذَنونَ لِما يَتلُوانِ

Whenever they recite an admonition, humankind

does not listen to what they recite.

مُغِذّانِ بِالناسِ لا يَلغُبانِ

وَسَيفانِ لِلَّهِ لا يَنبُوانِ

They hurry people onward, never tiring:

two swords of God that never fail to cut.

وَلَو خُلِقا مِثلَ خَلقِ الجِيادِ

رَأَيتَهُما في المَدى يَكبُوانِ

Had they been created as fine steeds are created,

you would see them stumble on the racecourse.

لَعَلَّكُما إِن تَهُبَّ الصَبا

إِلى بَلَدٍ نازِحٍ تَصبُوانِ

Perhaps, if the east wind blows, you two

will yearn toward a distant land.

فَلا رَيبَ أَنَّ الَّذي تُحبِيا

نِ أَفضَلُ مِنُ الَّذي تَحبُوانِ

There is no doubt that the one you endow

is better than what you bestow.

فَعيشا أَبِيَّينِ لِلمُخزِيا

تِ مِثلَ السِماكينِ لا تَأبُوانِ

Live proud, refusing shameful deeds,

like the two Simāks, fathering no children.

إِذا شَبَّتِ الشِعرِيانِ الوَقودَ

فَفي الحُكمِ أَنَّهُما تَخبُوانِ

If the two Shiʿrās kindle the fuel,

it is decreed that they too shall go out.

وَكونا كَريمَينِ بَينَ الأَني

سِ لا تَنمُلانِ وَلا تَأثُوانِ

Be noble among your fellows,

neither carrying tales nor slandering.

إِذا الخِلُّ أَعرَضَ لَم تُلفَيا

لِسوءِ أَحاديثِهِ تَنثُوانِ

If a close friend turns away, you should not be found

broadcasting the worst of his talk.

وَإِن لَم تُهيلا إِلى مُعدِمٍ

طَعاماً فَيَكفيهِ ما تَحثُوانِ

If you do not heap up for a destitute man

food, what you scoop by handfuls will suffice him.

وَجَهلٌ مُرادُ كَما في المَقيظِ

عَهداً مِنَ الوَردِ وَالأُقحُوانِ

It is folly for you two to seek in midsummer

a season of roses and daisies.

وَما الحادِيانِ سِوى الجُندَبَي

نِ في حَرِّ هاجِرَةٍ يَنزُوانِ

The two camel-drivers are only two grasshoppers,

leaping in the heat of midday.

وَما أَمِنَ البازِيانِ القِصاصَ

وَأَن يُؤخَذا بِالَّذي يَبزُوانِ

The two falcons are not safe from retaliation,

or from being seized for what they seize.

فَإِن تُهمِلا كُلَّ ما تَخزُنانِ

فَلَم يَأتِ بِالخَزيِ ما تَخزُوانِ

If you disregard all that you store,

what you govern has brought no disgrace.

وَلا توجَدا أَبَداً كاهِنَينِ

تَروعانِ قَوماً بِما تَخزُوانِ

Never be found as two soothsayers,

frightening a people with your divinations [reading uncertain].

وَنُصّا إِلى اللَهِ مَغزاكُما

فَذَلِكَ أَفضَلُ ما تَغزُوانِ

Direct your purpose toward God;

that is the best aim you can pursue.

وَلا تَعزُوا الخَيرَ إِلّا إِلَيهِ

فَيَجني الشِفاءُ بِما تَعزُوانِ

Attribute good to Him alone;

healing will bear fruit through that attribution.

وَإِن عُرِّيَت كاسِياتُ الغُصو

نِ فَلتَكسُ بِالدِفءِ مَن تَكسُوانِ

If the leafy boughs are stripped bare,

clothe warmly those whom you clothe.

وَضِنّا بِعُمرِكُما أَن يَضيعَ

وَلا تُفنِيا وَقتَهُ تَلهُوانِ

Guard your lifetime jealously against waste,

and do not spend its time amusing yourselves.

بِذِكرِ إِلَهِكُما فَأبَها

لَعَلَّكُما بِالتُقى تَبهُوانِ

Give heed to remembering your God,

so that through piety you both may shine.

فَيا رُبَّ طاهي صِلالٍ يَبيتُ

مُتَّخِذاً طَعمَهُ يَطهُوانِ

How many a cook of vipers spends the night

making smoke his food!

وَسيرا وَساعَينِ في المَكرُما

تِ لا تَدلُجانِ وَلا تَقطُوانِ

Journey, striving after noble deeds,

without night travel or short, slow steps.

مَطا بِكُما قَدَرٌ لا يَزالُ

جَديداهُ في غَفلَةٍ يَمطُوانِ

Fate has sped you two onward, while ever

its two ever-new phases speed along heedlessly.

فَوَيحٌ لِخاطِئَتَي مارِدٍ

تَنُصّانِ في ما لَهُ تَخطُوانِ

Woe to a rebel's two erring feet,

hurrying along the path they tread for him.