سحائب مبرقات مرعدات — Almaarri

سَحائِبُ مُبرِقاتٌ مُرعِداتُ

لِمُهجَةِ كُلِّ حَيٍّ موعِداتُ

Clouds flashing lightning and sounding thunder,

Threatening the life of every living being.

وَكَيفَ يُقامُ في أَمرٍ مُهِمٍّ

لِيُفعَلَ وَالمَقادِرُ مُقعِداتُ

How can an important undertaking be begun

To be accomplished, when fate holds us back?

وَأََنفُسُ هَذِهِ الأَجسامِ طَيرٌ

بُزاةُ حِمامِها مُتَصَيِّداتُ

The souls of these bodies are birds;

The falcons of their doom are hunting them.

فَما لَكَ وَالهُنودَ مُنَعَّماتٍ

كَأَنَّ قُدودَهُنَّ مُهَنَّداتُ

So what have you to do with pampered Hinds,

Whose slender forms seem Indian-forged swords?

يُفَنِّدنَ الحَليمَ بِغَيرِ لُبٍّ

وَهُنَّ وَإِن غَلَبنَ مُفَنَّداتُ

They make the judicious man foolish, themselves without reason,

And though they prevail, they are judged foolish.

يُخَلِّدنَ الإِماءَ نُضارَ صَوغٍ

فَهَل تِلكَ الشُخوصُ مُخَلَّداتُ

They adorn the slave-girls with wrought gold;

But are those figures made immortal?

تَقَلَّدتِ المَآثِمَ بِاِختِيارٍ

أَوانِسُ بِالفَريدِ مُقَلَّداتُ

They have willingly taken sins upon themselves—

Young women wearing necklaces of choice pearls.

إِذا عوتِبنَ في جَنَفٍ وَظُلمٍ

أَبَت إِلّا السُكوتَ مُبَلِّداتُ

When reproached for partiality and injustice,

They refuse anything but silence, playing dumb.

يُغادِرنَ الجَليدَ قَرينَ ضَعفٍ

صَوابِرُ لِلنَوى مُتَجَلِّداتُ

They leave the resolute man a companion to weakness—

Patient in separation, putting on fortitude.

لَقَد عابَت أَحاديثَ البَرايا

شُكولٌ في الزَمانِ مُوَلَّداتُ

The tales of humankind have indeed been marred

By forms newly fashioned in the course of time.

أَتَعبَدُ مِن إِثامٍ تَتَّقيهِ

ظَوالِمُ بِالأَذى مُتَعَبِّداتُ

Do they worship to escape a sin they fear—

Wrongdoers devoted to inflicting harm?

تُريقُ بِذاكَ في قَتلٍ دِماءً

رُؤوسٌ في الحَجيجِ مُلَبَّداتُ

They spill blood thereby in slaughter—

Heads with matted hair among the pilgrims.

تَعالى اللَهُ لَم تَصفُ السَجايا

فَأَفعالُ المَعاشِرِ مُؤيَداتُ

Exalted is God! Dispositions have not grown pure;

So the deeds of human communities are grievous.

إِذا ما قيلَ حَقٌّ في أُناسٍ

فَأَوجُهُهُم لَهُ مُتَرَبِّداتُ

Whenever truth is spoken about people,

Their faces darken at it.

مَخازيهِم أَوابِدُ في اللَيالي

فَلا تَهِجِ الأَسى مُتَأَبِّداتُ

Their disgraces are wild creatures in the nights;

Do not stir sorrow: they have settled in the wild.

وَأَطهَرُ مِن ضَوارِبَ في نَعيمٍ

نَعامٌ بِالفَلا مُتَهَبِّداتُ

Purer than women roaming in luxury

Are ostriches eating colocynth seeds in the wilderness.

تُقَيِّدُ لَفظَها عَن كُلِّ بِرٍّ

مَواشٍ بِالحُليِّ مُقَيَّداتُ

They restrain their speech from every kindness—

Livestock fettered with jewelry.

عَجِلنَ إِلى مَساءَةِ مُستَجيرٍ

لَواهٍ في الخُطى مُتَأَيِّداتُ

They hasten to harm one seeking refuge—

Heedless women, leisurely in their steps.

وَتَنقُصُ خَيرَها أَشَراً وَفَتكاً

صَواحِبُ مَنطِقٍ مُتَزَيِّداتُ

They diminish their goodness through insolence and violence—

Women of speech, given to exaggeration.

وَلَسنَ الهادِئاتِ وَلا النَصارى

وَلَكِن في المَقالِ مُهَوِّداتُ

They are neither Jews nor Christians,

But in their speech they coo soothingly.

مَضَت لِعَوائِدِ الكَذِبِ المُوَرّى

سَوادِكُ بِالخِنى مُتَعَوِّداتُ

They have gone after the habits of veiled lying—

Besotted women, accustomed to obscenity.

تُؤَوِّدُ مِنكَ عَقلاً في سُكونٍ

غُصونُ خَواطِرٍ مُتَأَوِّداتُ

Your mind at rest is bent

By swaying branches of thoughts.

فَلا يَجلِس عَلى الصُّعَداتِ لاهٍ

فَأَنفاسُ الفَتى مُتَصَعِّداتُ

Let no heedless man sit by the roads,

For a young man's breaths keep rising.

تَمُرُّ بِهِ حَوالِكُ فَوقَ بيضٍ

وَخُضرٍ في العَقيقِ مُسَبَّداتُ

Dark ones pass him, above white ones

And green ones, closely shorn in al-ʿAqīq.

وَمَن تُخلِقهُ أَيّامٌ طِوالٌ

فَإِنَّ شُجونَهُ مُتَجَدِّداتُ

And whoever is worn out by long days,

His sorrows are ever renewed.

وَتَسنَحُ بِالضُحى ظَبِياتُ مَردٍ

بِكُلِّ عَظيمَةٍ مُتَمَرِّداتُ

And in the forenoon appear gazelles browsing arak-fruit,

Defiant in every grave offense.

وَقَد أُغمِدنَ في أُزُرٍ وَلَكِن

سُيوفُ لِحاظِهِنَّ مُجَرَّداتُ

They have been sheathed in waist-wraps, and yet

The swords of their glances are unsheathed.

وَوَرَّدتِ اللِباسَ بِلَونِ صِبغٍ

خُدودٌ بِالشَبابِ مُوَرَّداتُ

They have reddened the garments with a dye's hue—

Cheeks made rosy by youth.

وَمَن فَقَد الشَبيبَةَ فَالغَواني

لَهُ عِندَ الوُرودِ مُصَرِّداتُ

And whoever has lost his youth, the beauties

Leave his thirst unquenched when he comes to drink.

هَواجِرُ في التَيَقُظِ أَو عَواصٍ

وَفي طَيفِ الكَرى مُتَعَهِّداتُ

They shun him or defy him while he is awake,

But visit him in the dream-visions of sleep.

إِذا سَهَّدنَهُ بِطَويلِ هَجرٍ

فَما أَجفانُهُنَّ مُسَهَّداتُ

If they keep him sleepless through long desertion,

Their own eyelids are not kept sleepless.

خَواطِئُ غَيرُ أَسهُمِها خَواطٍ

لِكُلِّ كَبيرَةٍ مُتَعَمِّداتُ

Sinners, though their arrows do not miss,

Intent upon every major sin.

تَخالَفَتِ الغَرائِزُ وَالمَعاني

فَكَيفَ تَوافَقُ المُتَجَسِّداتُ

Instincts and ideas have differed;

How, then, can embodied beings agree?

فَما بَينَ المَقابِرِ نادِباتٌ

وَما بَينَ الشُروبِ مُغَرِّداتُ

Those among the graves are wailing mourners,

And those among the drinkers are singers.

قَدَحنَ زِنادَ شَوقٍ مِن زُنودٍ

بِنارِ حُلِيِّها مُتَوَقِّداتُ

They have kindled longing's tinder from forearms

Ablaze with the fire of their jewelry.

وَلَم تُنصِف بَياضَ الشَيبِ أَيدٍ

لِوافِدِ شَيبِهِنَّ مُسَوِّداتُ

Hands have not treated the whiteness of age fairly,

Blackening the gray hair that comes upon them.

تَأَخُّرُ أَبيَضِ الفَودَينِ ظُلمٌ

إِذا شَمِطَ القَرائِنُ وَاللِداتُ

It is unjust for a white-templed man to be left behind

When his peers and age-mates have turned gray.

تَحَيَّرَتِ العُقولُ وَما أَساءَت

دَوائِبُ في التُقى مُتَهَجِّداتُ

Minds are bewildered; yet no wrong has been done

By the diligent in piety, praying through the night.

وَفي مُهَجِ الأَنيسِ مُثَلِّثاتٌ

عَلى عِلّاتِها وَمُوَحِداتُ

In human hearts are beliefs in a Trinity,

With all their flaws, and beliefs in oneness.

فَما عُذري وَعِندَ اللَهِ عِلمي

إِذا كَذَبَت قَوائِلُ مُسنِداتُ

What excuse have I—my knowledge rests with God—

If speakers citing authorities have lied?

فَهَل عَلِمَت بِغَيبٍ مِن أُمورٍ

نُجومٌ لِلمَغيبِ مُعَرِّداتُ

Have they known anything of hidden affairs—

Stars fleeing toward their setting?

وَلَيسَت بِالقَدائِمِ في ضَميري

لَعَمرُكَ بَل حَوادِثُ مُوجَداتُ

In my belief they are not eternal,

By your life, but created things brought into being.

فَلَو أَمَرَ الَّذي خَلَقَ البَّرايا

تَهاوَت لِلدُجى مُتَسَرِّداتُ

If the One who created humankind commanded,

They would tumble into darkness in succession.

وَأَمسى اللَيثُ مِنها لَيثَ غابٍ

يُجاذِبُ فَرسَهُ المُتَوَحِّداتُ

Their Lion would become a lion of the thicket,

Contending with solitary beasts for his prey.

وَآضَ الفَرغُ لِلساقينَ فَرغاً

تُحاوِلُ ماءَهُ المُتَوَرِّداتُ

And al-Fargh would become a bucket-spout for water-drawers,

Its water sought by those coming to drink.

وَهَبَّ يَرومُ سُنبُلَةَ السَواري

خَبيرٌ وَالزَرائِعُ مُحصِداتُ

And seeking the night-stars' Ear of Grain would rise

An expert, with the crops ready for harvest.

وَنالَ فَريرَها بِمَداهُ فارٍ

ذُنوبُ ضُيوفِهِ مُتَغَمَّداتُ

A slaughterer would reach their lamb with his knives,

His guests' sins overlooked.

كَأَنَّ نَعامَها وَاللَهُ قاضٍ

نَعائِمُ بِالفَلاةِ مُطَرَّداتُ

As though their Ostriches, with God decreeing,

Were ostriches driven across the desert.

وَقَد زَعَموا بِأَنَّ لَها عُقولاً

وَأَقضِيَةُ المَليكِ مُؤَكَّداتُ

They have indeed claimed that these have minds,

And the Sovereign's decrees are confirmed,

وَأَنَّ لِبَعضِها لَفظاً وَفيها

حَواسِدُ مِثلَنا وَمُحَسَّداتُ

And that some of them possess speech, and among them

Are envious ones like us, and envied ones.

أَتَحمِلُني إِلى الغُفرانِ عيسٌ

عَلى نَصِّ الوَجيفِ مُؤَجَّداتُ

Will pale camels carry me to forgiveness,

At full trotting speed, sturdy-built?

وَلا تَخشى الخُطوبَ مُسَبِّحاتٌ

بِعِزَّةِ رَبِّهِنَّ مُمَجِّداتُ

They fear no calamities, praising God,

Glorifying the might of their Lord.

أَرى حُسنَ الشَمائِلِ مِنكَ حَثَّت

عَلَيهِ الأَيمَنُ المُتَوَسِّداتُ

I see good character in you, encouraged

By those who pillow their heads on their right hands.

فَإِنَّ الطَبعَ يَطمَحُ بِالمَعالي

وَإِنَّ كِلابَ شَرِّكَ موَسداتُ

For nature aspires to lofty things,

And the dogs of your evil lie on pillows.