أفوق البدر يوضع لي مهاد — Almaarri

أفَوْقَ البَدْرِ يُوضَعُ لي مِهَادُ

أمِ الجوْزاءُ تحْتَ يدِي وِسادُ

Is a bed laid for me above the full moon,

Or is al-Jawza a pillow beneath my hand?

قَنِعْتُ فخِلْتُ أنّ النجْمَ دوني

وسِيّانِ التّقَنّعُ والجِهادُ

I was content, and thought the stars beneath me;

And contentment and striving are alike.

وأطْرَبَني الشّبابُ غَداةَ ولّى

فليْتَ سِنِيهِ صوْتٌ يُسْتَعادُ

And youth stirred my longing the morning it departed;

If only its years were a sound one could hear again!

وليس صِبا يُفادُ وراء شيْبٍ

بأعْوَزَ مِن أخي ثِقَةٍ يُفادُ

Youth recovered after gray hair

Is no harder to find than a trustworthy companion.

كأني حيثُ يَنْشا الدَّجْنُ تحتي

فها أنا لا أُطَلّ ولا أُجادُ

It is as though I stand where rainclouds form beneath me;

So here I am, neither drizzled on nor drenched.

رُوَيْدَكَ أيّها العاوي ورائي

لتُخْبِرَني متى نَطَقَ الجَمادُ

Hold, you who howl behind me,

So you may tell me when the inanimate ever spoke.

سِفاهٌ ذادَ عنْكَ الناسَ حِلْمٌ

وَغَيٌّ فيه مَنْفَعَةٌ رَشادُ

Folly that keeps people away from you is wisdom;

And error that brings benefit is right guidance.

أأخْمُلُ والنّبَاهَةُ فيّ لَفْظٌ

وأُقْتِرُ والقَناعَةُ لي عَتادُ

Am I obscure, when the word 'renown' describes me?

And poor, when contentment is my provision?

وألْقى الموْتَ لم تَخِدِ المَطايا

بحاجاتي ولم تَجِفِ الجِيادُ

And meet death without the mounts having sped

On my errands, or the steeds having galloped?

ولو قِيل اسْألوا شَرَفاً لقُلْنا

يَعيشُ لنا الأميرُ ولا نُزادُ

Were we told, 'Ask for honor,' we would say:

'May the prince live for us; let us be given nothing more.'

شكَا فتَشكّتِ الدّنيا ومادَتْ

بأهْلِيهَا الغَوَائِرُ والنّجادُ

He ailed, and the world ailed; and swayed

The lowlands and highlands with their people.

وأُرْعِدَتِ القنا زَمَعاً وخَوْفاً

لذلك والمُهنّدَةُ الحِدادُ

And the lances trembled with panic and fear

At this, as did the sharp Indian-forged swords.

وكيفَ يَقِرّ قلْبٌ في ضُلوعٍ

وقد رَجَفَتْ لِعِلّتِهِ البِلادُ

And how can a heart be still within its ribs,

When the lands have quaked at his illness?

بَنى من جَوْهَرِ العَلْياء بيْتاً

كأنّ النّيّراتِ له عِمادُ

He built a house from the substance of exalted glory,

As though the heavenly lights were its pillars.

إذا شَمسُ الضّحَى نَظَرَتْ إليه

أقَرّتْ أنّ حُلّتَها حِدادُ

When the forenoon sun looks upon it,

She admits her robe is mourning garb.

فلولا اللهُ قال الناس أضْحَتْ

ثمانِيَةً به السّبْعُ الشّدادُ

But for God, people would say that they had become

Eight through him—the seven mighty heavens.

أغَرُّ نَمَتْهُ من غَسّانَ غُرّ

تَدِينُ لعِزّهِمْ إرَمٌ وعادُ

A radiant lord, begotten by radiant nobles of Ghassan,

To whose might Iram and 'Ad submit.

بَنُو أمْلاكِ جَفْنَةَ قَرّبَتْهُمْ

إلى الرّومِ اللّجَاجَةُ والعِنادُ

Sons of Jafna's kings, brought close

To the Romans by obstinacy and defiance.

أرادَتْ أن تُقِيدَهُمُ قُرَيْشٌ

وكانوا لا يُنالُ لهم قِيادُ

Quraysh sought to bring them to submission,

But their submission could not be won.

أقائِدَها تُغِصّ الجوّ نَقْعاً

وفوْقَ الأرضِ من عَلَقٍ جِسادُ

O leader of steeds that choke the air with dust,

And on the earth lies saffron-red dye of clotted blood.

وقد أدْمَتْ هَوادِيَها العَوالي

وأنْضَبَها التّطَاوُلُ والطّرادُ

Their necks have been bloodied by tall lances,

And prolonged exertion and pursuit have drained them.

مُقَلَّدَةً بهاماتِ الأعادي

كما بالدُّرَ قُلّدَتِ الخِرَادُ

Necklaced with the heads of enemies,

As bashful maidens are necklaced with pearls.

عليها اللابِسُونَ لكُلّ هَيْجٍ

بُرُوداً غُمْضُ لابسِها سُهادُ

Upon them ride men who don, for every battle,

Cloaks in which the wearer's sleep is wakefulness.

كأبْوابِ الأراقِمِ مَزّقَتْها

فخَاطَتْها بأعْيُنِهَا الجَرَادُ

Like the doors of speckled snakes, torn apart,

Then stitched by locusts with their eyes.

إليكَ طَوَى المَفاوِزَ كلُّ رَكْبٍ

سَمَا بِهمِ التّغَرّبُ والبعادُ

Toward you every company of riders traversed the deserts;

Travel abroad and distance bore them aloft.

وإصْباحٍ فَلَيْنا اللّيلَ عنه

كما يُفْلى عن النّارِ الرّمادُ

And many a dawn from which we picked away the night,

As ashes are picked away from a fire.

أبلّ به الدّجى مِن كلّ سُقْمٍ

وكوْكَبُهُ مريضٌ ما يُعادُ

Darkness recovered in it from every illness,

Yet its star was sick, with none to visit it.

ولو طَلَعَ الصّباحُ لفُكّ عنه

مِن الظّلْماءِ غُلُّ أو صِفادُ

And had morning risen, it would have been freed

From a shackle or fetter of darkness.

تَلوذُ بنا القَطا مُسْتَجْدِياتٍ

لِما ضَمِنتْ من الماء المَزادُ

The sandgrouse seek refuge with us, begging

For the water the waterskins hold.

يَكَدْنَ يَرِدْنَ من حدَق المَطايا

مَوَارِدَ ماؤها أبَداً ثِمادُ

They almost come to drink from the mounts' eyes—

Watering places whose water is always scant.

فكَمْ جاوَزْنَ مِن بَلَدٍ بَعيدٍ

وسائِرُ نُطْقِنا هِيدٌ وهادُ

So how many distant lands they have crossed,

And all our speech was the camel-cries 'Hid!' and 'Had!'

ومِنْ غَلَلٍ تَحِيدُ الرّيحُ عنه

مَخافَةَ أنْ يُمَزّقَها القَتادُ

And thickets from which the wind turns aside,

For fear the thorn-bushes might tear it apart.

وكُنّ يَرَيْنَ نارَ الزّنْدِ فيه

فلم يُبْصِرْنَ إذ وَرَتِ الزّنادُ

And they would see the fire-stick's flame there,

Yet they saw nothing when the fire-sticks sparked.

لو أنّ بَيَاضَ عَيْنِ المَرْءِ صُبْحٌ

هُنالِك ما أضاء به السّوادُ

If the white of a person's eye were dawn,

The blackness would not be lit by it there.

وأرضٍ بِتُّ أقْري الوَحشَ زادي

بها ليَثُوبَ لي مِنْهُنّ زادُ

And many a land where I spent the night feeding beasts my provisions,

So that provisions might come back to me from them there.

فأُطْعِمُها لأجْعَلَها طَعامي

ورُبّ قَطيعَةٍ جَلَبَ الوِدادُ

So I feed them to make them my food;

And often affection has brought estrangement.

ترَكْتُ بها الرّقادَ وزُرْتُ أرضاً

يُحاذِرُ أن يُلِمّ بها الرّقادُ

I left slumber there and visited a land

Where slumber fears to set foot.

رأيْتُكَ ساخِطاً ما جاء عَفواً

ولو جادَتْكَ بالذهَبِ العِهادُ

I saw you scorn whatever came without effort,

Even if the recurring rains lavished gold upon you.

فما تَعْتَدّ مالاً غيرَ مالٍ

حَبَاكَ به طِعانٌ أو جِلادُ

You count no wealth as wealth but the wealth

Bestowed on you by lance-fighting or swordplay.

وتُنْفِدُ كلّ وَفْرٍ حُزْتَ قَسْراً

لعِلْمِكَ أنّ آخِرَهُ نَفادُ

And you spend all the wealth you seized by force,

Knowing that its end is exhaustion.

ألِفْتَ الحَرْبَ حتى قال قَوْمٌ

أمَا لصَلاحِ بينكُما فسادُ

You grew intimate with war, until some people said:

'Is there no discord to mar the harmony between you two?'

تموتُ الدّرْعُ دونَكَ حَتْفَ أنْفٍ

ويَبْلى فوْقَ عاتِقِكَ النّجادُ

The armor dies in your stead, a natural death,

And the baldric wears out upon your shoulder.

ركِبْتَ العاصِفاتِ فما تُجارَى

وسُدْتَ العالَمِينَ فما تُسادُ

You rode the storm-winds, and none can keep pace with you;

You mastered the worlds, and cannot be mastered.

متى أرْمِ السُّهَى لكَ أنْتَظِمْهُ

كأنّ هَواكَ في سَهْمي سَدادُ

Whenever I shoot at Suha for you, I pierce it,

As though love for you made my arrow fly true.

تَذُودُ عُلاكَ شُرّادَ المَعاني

إليّ فمَنْ زُهَيرٌ أو زِيادُ

Your eminence drives the fugitive meanings

Toward me—so who are Zuhayr or Ziyad?

إذا ما صِدْتُها قالت رِجالٌ

ألمْ تكُنِ الكواكبُ لا تُصادُ

When I catch them, men say:

'Were the stars not beyond capture?'

مِنَ اللاّتي أمَدّ بِهِنّ طَبْعٌ

وهَذّبَهُنّ فِكْرٌ وانْتِقادُ

Among those supplied by native talent,

And refined by thought and critical judgment.

ولولا فَرْطُ حُبّكَ ما ازْدهاني

إلى المَدْحِ الطّريفُ ولا التّلادُ

But for my overflowing love for you, I would not be lured

Into praise by newly gained wealth or ancestral wealth.

تُوَرّي عنكَ أَلْسِنَةُ اللّيالي

كأنّكَ في ضمائِرهَا اعتِقادُ

The tongues of the nights make veiled mention of you,

As though you were a belief within their hearts.

فإنْ يكُنِ الزّمان يريدُ مَعْنى

فإنّكَ ذلكَ المَعْنى المُرادُ

If time intends a meaning,

Then you are that intended meaning.

يَكادُ مُحَيَّنٌ لاقى المَنايا

بسَيْفِكَ لا يكونُ له مَعادُ

A doomed man who meets death is all but

Beyond resurrection, slain by your sword.