نام الخلي فنوم العين تسهيد — Almutawakil Allaithy

نامَ الخَليُّ فَنَومُ العَينِ تَسهيدُ

وَالقَلبُ مُحتَبَلٌ بالخَودِ مَعمودُ

The carefree man has slept; the eye's sleep is sleeplessness.

And the heart is ensnared by the maiden, sorely stricken.

إِن ساعفَت دارُها ضَنَّت بِنائِلِها

وَسَقيُها الصادي الحَرّانَ تَصريدُ

If her dwelling grants access, she withholds her favors.

And her drink for the parched, burning-thirsty man is scant.

شَطت نَواها وَحانَت غُربَةٌ قَذَفٌ

وَذِكرُ ما قَد مَضى بالمَرءِ تَفنيدُ

Her destination lay far off, and far-flung exile drew near.

And remembering what has already passed makes a man foolish.

إِذ تَستَبيكَ بِمَيّالٍ لَه حَبَكٌ

وَواضِحٍ زانَهُ اللباتُ وَالجيدُ

When she captivates you with swaying, braided hair,

And a radiant breast graced by the throat's hollows and the neck,

وَذي طَرائِقَ لَم تَحمِل بِهِ وَلَداً

فالكَشحُ مُضطَمِرٌ رَيّانُ مَمسودُ

And a folded belly that has never carried a child,

Thus her waist is slender, full-fleshed, and taut.

كَأَنَّ أَردافَها دِعصٌ بِرابيَةٍ

مُستَهدَفٌ نخلتهُ الريحُ مَنضودُ

As though her buttocks were a sand mound on a rise,

Standing high, sifted by the wind, heaped in layers.

خَودٌ خَدلَّجةٌ نَضحُ العَبيرِ بِها

يُشفي مَضاجِعَها لُبسٌ وَتَجريدُ

A full-limbed maiden, with perfume sprinkled upon her,

Clothed and bare alike, she satisfies her bedfellow.

لَمّا رأَت أَنَّني لابُدَّ منطَلِقٌ

وَلِلفَتى أَجَلٌ قَد خُطَّ مَعدودُ

When she saw that I was bound to depart,

And a young man has a numbered term already inscribed,

قامَت تُكَرِّهُني غَزوى وَتُخبِرُني

أَن سَوفَ يُخلِدُني رَوعٌ وَتَبليدُ

She began discouraging me from my raids and telling me

That fear and hanging back would make me immortal.

هلِ المَنيَّةُ إِلا طالِبٌ ظَفِرٌ

وَحَوضُها مَنهَلٌ لابُدَّ مورودُ

Is death anything but a victorious pursuer?

And its pool is a watering place one must visit.

وَالناسُ شَتّى فمَهدِيٌّ نَقيبَتُهُ

وَجائِرٌ عَن سَبيلِ الحَقِّ مَحدودُ

And people differ: one is rightly guided in character,

And another strays from the path of truth, ill-fated.

وَذو نَوالٍ إِذا ما جئتَ تَسأَلهُ

شَيئاً وَمستَكثِرٌ بالخَيرِ مَوجودُ

And one is bountiful when you come to ask him

For something; and one abounding in good is to be found.

وَالخَيرُ وَالشرُّ إِمّا كُنتِ سائِلَتي

شَتى مَعاً وَكَذاكَ البُخلُ وَالجُودُ

And good and evil, if you ask me,

Are distinct, both of them; so too are miserliness and generosity.

إِنّي امرؤٌ أَعرِفُ المَعروفَ ذو حَسَبٍ

سَميحٌ إِذا حاردَ الكومُ المَرافيدُ

I am a man who knows right conduct, of honored lineage,

Generous when the high-humped, heavy-milking camels run dry.

أَجري عَلى سُنَّةٍ مِن والدي سبقت

وَفي أرومتِه ما يُنبِتُ العودُ

I follow an old custom inherited from my father,

And in his rootstock lies what makes the branch grow.

مُطَلَّبٌ بِتراتٍ غَيرِ مُدرَكةٍ

مُحسَّدٌ وَالفَتى ذو اللُبِّ مَحسودُ

Pursued for blood-debts still unavenged,

Much envied—and a man of sense is envied.

عِندي لِصالحِ قَومي ما بَقيتُ لَهم

حَمدٌ وَذم لأهلِ الذَّمِّ مَعدودُ

While I live, I have for the worthy among my people

Praise, and measured blame for those deserving blame.

أَعيَت صفاتي عَلى مَن يَبتَغي عنَّتي

فَما يُوَهِّنُ متنَيها الجَلاميدُ

My rock defies whoever seeks my ruin;

So hard boulders cannot weaken its two sides.

كَم قَد هَجاني مِن مستَقتِلٍ حَمِقٍ

فيهِ إِذا هَزَّ عِند الحَقِّ تَغريدُ

How many a fool courting death has lampooned me,

He chirps when shaken in the face of truth.

جانٍ عَلى قَومِهِ بادٍ مُقاتله

كالعيرِ أَحزنَهُ دجنٌ وَتَقييدُ

Wronging his people, his vital spots exposed,

Like an ass distressed by confinement and fetters.

كَأَنَّهُ كَودَنٌ تَدمى دَوابِرُهُ

فيهِ من السوطِ وَالساقَينِ تَربيدُ

As though he were a packhorse whose heels bleed,

Darkly bruised by the whip and the rider's legs.

كَزُّ النَدى مَجدُه دَينٌ يؤخِّرُهُ

وَلؤمُه حاضِرٌ لابُدَّ مَنقودُ

Stingy with bounty, his glory is a debt he postpones,

And his baseness is cash on hand, paid out without fail.

مِن مَعشَرٍ كُحِلت باللؤمِ أَعيُنُهُم

زُرقٌ بِهم ميسَمٌ منه وَتَقليدُ

From a people whose eyes are kohled with baseness,

Blue-eyed; upon them are its brand and collar.

مازِلتُ أَقدُمُهم حَتّى عَلوتهُم

وَهَرَّني رافِدٌ منهم وَمَرفودُ

I kept outstripping them until I rose above them,

And their givers and receivers alike snarled at me.

وَقَد نَهيتُهُم عَنّي عَلانيَةً

لَو كانَ ينفعُهم نَهيٌ وَتَوصيدُ

And I openly warned them to keep away from me,

If warning and shutting them out could do them any good.

أُمَّ الصَّبيينِ دومي إِنَّني رجلٌ

حَبلي لأهلِ النَّدى وَالوَصلِ مَمدودُ

Mother of the two boys, remain steadfast: I am a man

Whose rope is stretched out to people of bounty and fellowship.

لا تَسألي القَومَ عَن مالي وكَثرتِهِ

وَقَد يُقتِّرُ المَرءُ يَوماً وَهوَ مَحمودُ

Do not ask the people about my wealth and its abundance;

A man may live on little one day and still be praised.

وَسائِلي عِندَ جدِّ الأَمرِ ما حَسبي

إِذا الكُماةُ التَقى فُرسانُها الصيدُ

And ask, when matters grow grave, what my honor is,

When the warriors' proud horsemen clash.

وَقَد أَروعُ سَوامَ الحَيِّ تحمِلُني

شَقاءُ مِثلَ عُقابِ الدجنِ قيدودُ

And often I startle the tribe's grazing herds, carried by

A long-limbed, long-backed mare, like an eagle in dark cloud.

حَقباءُ سَهلَبَةُ الساقينِ منهِبَةٌ

في لَحمِها مِن وَجيفِ القَومِ تَخديدُ

White-flanked, long-legged, fleet,

Her flesh furrowed by the company's hard galloping.

تُؤَخِّرُ السَّرجَ تأَخيراً إِذا جَمَزَت

عَن مَتنِها وَحِزامُ السَّرجِ مَشدودُ

She pushes the saddle far backward when she bounds,

Away from her back, though the saddle's girth is fastened tight.

تَرى بسُنبُكِها وَقعاً تُبَيِّنُهُ

كَأَنَّهُ في جَديدِ الأَرضِ أُخدودُ

You see the imprint of her hoof, plainly stamped,

As though it were a trench in the earth's surface.

في رأسِها حينَ يَندى عِطفُها صَدَدٌ

وَفي مَناكِبها للشَّدِّ تَحديدُ

Her head turns aside when her flank grows damp,

And her shoulders are sharply defined for galloping.

كَأَنَّها هِقلَةٌ رَبداءُ عارضها

هَيقٌ تأَوَّبَ جُنحَ الليلِ مَطرودُ

As though she were a dusky hen ostrich, approached by

A hunted cock ostrich, returning at nightfall.

كَأَنَّ هادِيها إِذ قامَ مُلجِمُها

جِذعٌ تَحَسَّرَ عَنهُ الليفُ مَجرودُ

As though her neck, when her bridler stands up,

Were a bare trunk, its fiber peeled away.

هَشُّ الفُؤادِ هواءُ الصَّدرِ مُنتَخِبٌ

مُقَلِّصٌ عَن قَميصِ الساقِ مَوطودُ

Light of heart, hollow-chested, swift-striding,

Its shank's shirt drawn up, firmly built.

وَفَيلَقٍ كَشُعاعِ الشَّمسِ مُشعلةٍ

تُعشي البَصيرَ إِذا مالَت بِهِ البيدُ

And an army like the rays of the blazing sun,

Dazzling keen eyes as the deserts sway with it.

قَومي إِذا ما لَقَوا أَعداءَهُم صَبَروا

واِستورَدوهم كَما يُستَورَدُ العودُ

My people stand firm when they meet their enemies,

And drive them to water as an old camel is driven.

تَرى نَوادِرَ أَطرافٍ بمَزحَفِهم

والهامُ بينهمُ مُذرىً وَمَقدودُ

You see severed limbs where their battle line advances,

And heads among them, scattered and cleft.

وَالمَشرَفِيَّةُ قَد فُلَّت مَضارِبُها

وَالسَّمهَريَّةُ مُرفَض وَمَقصودُ

And the Mashrafi swords have their striking edges nicked,

And the Samhari spears are splintered and snapped.

وَفِتيَةٌ كَسُيوفِ الهِندِ قُلتُ لَهُم

سيروا وأَعناقُهم غِبّ السُّرى غيدُ

And youths like the swords of India—I said to them:

"Press on!"—their necks drooping after the night's journey.

أَرمي بِهم وَبِنَفسي مَهمَهاً زَلِقاً

وَعُرضَ مُطَّرِدٍ أَكنافُه سودُ

I cast them and myself into a slippery waste,

And across the breadth of a flowing stream with black banks.

تَخدي بِهم في الوَغى قُبٌّ مساحِلُها

جُردٌ ضَوامِرُ أَمثالَ القَنا قُودُ

Lean-bellied mounts trot with them through battle, their cheeks

Bare; lean, long-bodied steeds like spear-shafts.

فيهِم فَوارِسُ لا مَيلٌ وَلا كُشفٌ

عليهم زَغَفٌ بالشَّكِّ مَسرودُ

Among them are horsemen, neither unsteady nor unshielded,

Wearing ample mail, interlinked in ordered rows.