أصرمت حبل الوصل من فتر — Almusayyib Bin Als

أَصَرَمتَ حَبلَ الوَصلِ مِن فِترِ

وَهَجَرتَها وَلَجَجتَ في الهَجرِ

Have you severed the bond of love with Fitr,

and abandoned her, persisting in estrangement?

وَسَمِعتَ حَلفَتَها الَّتي حَلَفَت

إِن كانَ سَمعُكَ غَيرَ ذي وَقرِ

And you heard the oath that she swore,

if your hearing is not burdened with deafness.

نَظَرَت إِلَيكَ بِعَينِ جازِئَةٍ

في ظِلِّ بارِدَةٍ مِنَ السِدرِ

She looked at you with the eye of a doe content with green forage,

in the shade of a cool lote-tree.

كَجُمانَةِ البَحرِيِّ جاءَ بِها

غَوّاصُها مِن لُجَّةِ البَحرِ

Like a seafarer's pearl, brought up

by its diver from the depths of the sea,

صُلبُ الفُؤادِ رَئيسَ أَربَعَةٍ

مُتَخالِفي الأَلوانِ وَالنَجرِ

stout-hearted, the leader of four,

differing in color and ancestry.

فَتَنازَعوا حَتّى إِذا اِجتَمَعوا

أَلقَوا إِلَيهِ مَقالِدَ الأَمرِ

They disputed until, when they agreed,

they entrusted him with the reins of command.

وَغَلَت بِهِم سَجحاءُ جارِيَةٌ

تَهوي بِهِم في لَجَّةِ البَحرِ

A smooth-built vessel ventured far with them,

plunging with them into the ocean's depths,

حَتّى إِذا ما ساءَ ظَنُّهُمُ

وَمَضى بِهِم شَهرٌ إِلى شَهرِ

until, when their hopes had darkened,

and month after month had passed over them,

أَلقى مَراسِيَهُ بِتَهلُكَةٍ

ثَبَتَت مَراسيها فَما تَجري

he cast his anchors in a perilous place;

her anchors held firm, and she no longer moved.

فَاِنصَبَّ أَسقَفُ رَأسُهُ لَبِدٌ

نُزِعَت رَباعيتاهُ لِلصَبرِ

Then a bent-backed man plunged down, his hair matted,

his two lateral incisors pulled for endurance.

أَشفى يَمُجُّ الزَيتَ مُلتَمِسٌ

ظَمآنُ مُلتَهِبٌ مِنَ الفَقرِ

Lean, spitting oil, a seeker,

parched, burning with poverty.

قَتَلَت أَباهُ فَقالَ أَتبَعُهُ

أَو أَستَفيدُ رَغيبَةَ الدَهرِ

It killed his father; he said, "I shall follow him,

or gain the prize of a lifetime."

نَصَفَ النَهارُ الماءُ غامِرُهُ

وَرَفيقُهُ بِالغَيبِ لا يَدري

Noon came, the water covering him,

and his companion knew nothing of what lay unseen.

فَأَصابَ مُنيَتَهُ فَجاءَ بِها

صَدَفِيَّةً كَمُضيئَةِ الجَمرِ

He found what he desired and brought it back,

a shell-born pearl, like a glowing ember.

يُعطى بِها ثَمَناً وَيَمنَعُها

وَيَقولُ صاحِبُهُ أَلا تَشري

He is offered a price for it, but withholds it,

and his companion says, "Will you not sell?"

وَتَرى الصَراري يَسجُدونَ لَها

وَيَضُمُّها بِيَدَيهِ لِلنَحرِ

And you see the sailors bowing down before it,

while he clasps it in both hands against his breast.

فَتِلكَ شِبهُ المالِكِيَّةِ إِذ

طَلَعَت بِبَهجَتِها مِنَ الخِدرِ

Such was the likeness of al-Malikiyyah when

she emerged in her splendor from her curtained chamber.

وَكَأَنَّ طَعمَ الزَنجَبيلِ بِهِ

إِذ ذُقتَهُ وَسُلافَةَ الخَمرِ

It seemed to hold the taste of ginger,

when you tasted it, and the choicest wine,

شِركاً بِماءِ الذَوبِ يَجمَعُهُ

في طَودِ أَيمَنَ في قُرى قَسرِ

mingled with liquid honey, gathered

on a mountain of Ayman, in Qasr's villages.

بَكَرَت تَعَرَّضُ في مَراتِعِها

فَوقَ الهِضابِ بِمَعقِلِ الوَبرِ

At dawn they ranged over their pastures,

above the hills, in the rock-hyrax's stronghold:

سودُ الرُؤوسِ لِصَوتِها زَجَلٌ

مَحفوفَةٌ بِمَسارِبٍ خُضرِ

black-headed, their voices a buzzing chorus,

surrounded by green pathways.

وَيَظَلُّ يَجري في جَواشِنِها

حَتّى تَرَوَّحَ مَقصِرَ العَصرِ

And all day it flows within their breasts,

until they return as afternoon draws to its close.

وَغَدَت لِمَسرَحِها وَخالَفَها

مُتَسَربِلٌ أَدَماً عَلى الصَدرِ

They went out to forage; in their absence came

a man clad in leather across his chest,

يَمشي بِمِحجَنِهِ وَقِربَتُهُ

مُتَلَطِّفاً كَتَلَطُّفِ الوَبرِ

walking with his hooked staff and waterskin,

moving as cautiously as a rock-hyrax.

فَهَراقَ في طَرَفِ العَسيبِ إِلى

مُتَقَبِّلٍ لِنَواطِفٍ صُفرِ

Then, at the palm-stalk's tip, he poured into

a vessel receiving yellow drippings,

حَتّى تَحَدَّرَ مِن عَوازِبِهِ

أُصُلاً بِسَبعِ ضَوائِنٍ وُفرِ

until he descended from its remote haunts

at evening, with seven brimming sheepskins.

فَأَصابَ ما حَذَرَت وَلَو عَلِمَت

حَدَبَت عَلَيهِ بِضَيِّقٍ وَعرِ

He took what they had feared to lose; had they known,

they would have swarmed on him in a narrow, rugged place.

وَجَناهُ مِن أُفُقٍ فَأَورَدَهُ

سَهلُ العِراقِ وَكانَ بِالحَضرِ

He gathered it from afar and brought it in—

Sahl of Iraq, who was at al-Hadr.

وَإِلَيكَ أَعمَلتُ المَطِيَّةَ مِن

سَهلِ العِراقِ وَأَنتَ بِالقَهرِ

And toward you I drove my riding-camel from

the plain of Iraq, while you were at al-Qahr,

قَيساً فَإِنَّ اللَهَ فَضَّلَهُ

بِمَناقِبٍ مَعروفَةٍ عَشرِ

Qays—for God has favored him

with ten well-known noble qualities.

أَنتَ الرَئيسُ إِذا هُمُ نَزَلوا

وَتَواجَهوا كَالأُسدِ وَالنُمرِ

You are the leader when they dismount

and face one another like lions and leopards,

أَو فارِسُ اليَحمومِ يَتبَعُهُم

كَالطَلقِ يَتبَعُ لَيلَةَ البَدرِ

or the rider of al-Yahmum, pursuing them

like a shooting star in pursuit on a full-moon night.

لَو كُنتَ مِن شَيءٍ سِوى بَشَرٍ

كُنتَ المُنَوِّرَ لَيلَةَ البَدرِ

Were you anything other than a mortal,

you would be the light of the full-moon night.

وَلَأَنتَ أَجوَدُ بِالعَطاءِ مِنَ الـ

ـرَيّانِ لَمّا جادَ بِالقَطرِ

And you are surely more generous in giving than the

rain-laden cloud when it pours down rain.

وَلَأَنتَ أَشجَعُ مِن أُسامَةَ إِذ

يَقَعُ الصُراخُ وَلُجَّ في الذُعرِ

And you are surely braver than Usamah the lion when

the outcry rises and terror runs wild.

وَلَأَنتَ أَبيَتُ حينَ تَنطِقُ مِن

لُقمانَ لَمّا عَيَّ بِالأَمرِ

And you are surely wiser in your speech than

Luqman, when the matter left him at a loss.

وَلَأَنتَ أَوصَلُ مَن سَمِعتُ بِهِ

لِشَوابِكِ الأَرحامِ وَالصِهرِ

And you are, of all I have heard of, the most devoted

to the interwoven bonds of blood and marriage.

وَلَأَنتَ أَحيا مِن مُخَبَّأَةٍ

عَذراءَ تَقطُنُ جانِبَ الكِسرِ

And you are surely more modest than a secluded

maiden dwelling beside the tent's side-curtain.

وَلَهُ جِفانٌ يَدلُجونَ بِها

لِلمُعتَفينَ وَلِلَّذي يَسرِ

He has great bowls they carry out by night

for those seeking bounty and for the night traveler.