تأبد من أطلال جمرة مأسل — Alnamar Bin Twlyb

تَأَبَّدَ مِن أَطلالِ جَمرَةَ مَأسَلِ

وَقَد أقفَرَت مِنها شَراءٌ فَيَذبُل

Ma'sal, among Jamra's ruined camps, has become a wilderness.

Shara' and then Yadhbul have also lain deserted without her,

فَبُرقَة أَرمام فَجَنبا مُتالِعٍ

فَوادي سليل فَالنَدِيُّ فَأَنجَل

then the stony tract of Armam and the two flanks of Mutali',

then Salil's valley, al-Nadi, and Anjal.

وَمِنها بَأَعراضِ المَحاضِرِ دِمنَة

وَمِنها بِوادي المُسلهمة منزِلُ

Of her, a blackened campsite remains on al-Mahadir's outskirts,

and a dwelling-place in the valley of al-Muslahimma.

أَناةَ عَلَيها لُؤلُؤٌ وَزَبَرجَدٌ

وَنَظمٌ كَأَجوازِ الجَرادِ مُفَصَّلِ

A stately woman, with pearls and chrysolite upon her,

and strung beads, spaced like the middle segments of locusts.

يُرَبِّتُها التَرعيبُ وَالمَحضُ خِلفَةً

وَمَسكٌ وَكافورٌ وَلُبنى تَأكُلُ

Sliced meat and pure milk nourish her in turn,

and she consumes musk, camphor, and storax.

يُشَنُّ عَلَيها الزَعفَرانُ كَأَنَّهُ

دَمٌ قارِتٌ تُعلى بِهِ ثُمَّ تُغسَلُ

Saffron is poured over her, as though it were

dark, clotted blood: she is coated with it, then washed.

سَواءٌ عَلَيها الشَيخُ لَم تَدرِ ما الصَبا

إِذا ما رَأَتهُ وَالأُلوفُ المُقَتَّلُ

To her the old man is the same—she knows nothing of youthful passion—

when she sees him, as the devoted lover slain by love.

وَكَم دونَها مِن رُكنِ طَودٍ وَمَهمَهٍ

وَماء عَلى أَطرافِهِ الذِئبُ يَعسِلُ

How many mountain shoulders and trackless wastes lie between us and her,

and waterholes around whose edges the wolf lopes!

وَدَسَّت رَسولاً مِن بَعيدٍ بِآيَةٍ

بِأَنَّ حَيِّهم وَاِسأَلهُم ما تَمولوا

She secretly sent a messenger from afar with a sign,

saying, "Greet them and ask what wealth they have acquired."

فَحُيّيتِ مِن شَحطٍ فَخَيرُ حَيثِنا

وَلا يَأمَن الأَيامُ إِلّا مُضَلَّلُ

So greetings to you from afar; good fortune is here with us,

and only the deluded feel safe from the days.

لَعَمري لَقَد أَنكَرتُ نَفسي وَرابَني

مَعَ الشَيب أَبدالي الَّتي أَتَبَدَّلُ

By my life, I have grown strange to myself; what troubles me

are the changes I undergo along with gray hair:

فُضولٌ أَراها في أَديميَ بَعدَ ما

يَكونُ كِفافَ اللَحمِ أَو هُوَ أَفضَلُ

loose folds I see in my skin, after it

once fitted the flesh closely, or the flesh was fuller still.

كَأَنَّ مَحَطّاً في يَدَي حارِثِيَّةٍ

صَناعٍ عَلَت مِنّي بِهِ الجِلد مِن عَلُ

As though a leather-working tool were in a Harithi woman's hands,

a skilled craftswoman who bore down on my skin with it from above.

وَقَولي إِذا ما غابَ يَوماً بَعيرُهُم

تُلاقونَهُ حَتّى يَؤوبَ المُنَخَّلُ

And my saying, when their camel goes missing for a day,

"You will find it by the time al-Munakhkhal returns."

فَيُضحي قَريباً غَيرَ ذاهِبِ غربَةٍ

وَارسِل إيماني وَلا أَتَحَلَّلُ

Then it is close by, never having gone far from home,

while I let my oaths fly and do not absolve myself.

وَظَلعي وَلَم أَكسِر وَإِنَّ ظَعينَتي

تَلُفُّ بَنِيها في البَجادِ وَأُعزَلُ

And my limping, though I have suffered no fracture; and my wife

wraps her sons in the striped cloak, while I am left apart.

وَدَهري فَيَكفيني القَليلُ وَإِنَّني

أَؤوبُ إِذا ما أَبت لا أَتَعلَّلُ

And my age: a little suffices me, and I

come home, whenever I return, without seeking diversion.

وَكُنتُ صَفِيِّ النَفسِ لا شَيءَ دونَهُ

فَقَد صِرتُ مِن أَقصى حُبَيبى أَذهَلُ

I was once the soul's chosen one, with nothing before me;

now, far from my beloved, I am forgotten.

وَبُطئ عَن الداعي فَلَستُ بِآخِذٍ

إِلَيهِ سلاحي مِثلَ ما كُنتُ أَفعَلُ

And my slowness to answer the caller: I no longer take

my weapons to him as I used to do.

تَدارَكَ ما بَعدَ الشَباب وَقَلبُهُ

حَوادِثُ أَيّامٍ تَمُرُّ وَأَغفَلُ

What follows youth, and its undoing, have caught up with me:

the blows of days that pass while I am heedless.

يَوَدُّ الفَتى بَعدَ اِعتِدالٍ وَصِحَّةٍ

يَنوءُ إِذا رامَ القِيامَ وَيُحمَلُ

The young man longs, after vigor and health,

struggling when he tries to rise, and being carried.

يَوَدُّ الفَتى طولَ السَلامَةِ وَالغِنى

فَكَيفَ تَرى طولَ السَلامَةِ يَفعَلُ

The young man desires lasting well-being and wealth;

what, then, do you think lasting well-being does?

دَعاني العَذارى عَمَّهُنَّ وَخلتني

لي اِسمٌ فَلا أُدعى بِهِ وَهوَ أَولُ

The maidens call me their uncle, though I thought

I had a name; I am not called by it, though it came first.

وَقَد كُنتُ لا تَسري سِهامي رَمِيَّةً

فَقَد جَعَلت تَشوي سِهامي وَتَنصَلُ

Once my arrows never let a quarry escape;

now my arrows merely graze and slip free.

رَأَت أَمنا كيصاً يُلَفِّفُ وَطبَهُ

إِلى الأُنسِ البادينَ وَهوَ مُزَمَّلُ

Our mother saw a miser wrapping up his milk-skin,

as he went toward the people camped in the open, himself muffled up.

فَلَمّا رَأَتهُ أُمُّنا هانَ وَجَدُّها

وَقالَت أَبونا هَكَذا سَوفَ يَفعَلُ

When our mother saw him, he seemed contemptible—by her fortune!

She said, "Our father will do just this."

أَرى أُمُّنا أَضحَت عَلَينا كَأَنَّما

تُحَلِّلُها مِن نافِضِ الوَردِ إِفكَلُ

I see our mother now toward us as though

the shudder of a recurrent fever were shaking her apart.

فَقالَت فُلانٌ قَد أَعاشَ عِيالَهُ

وَأَودى عِيالٌ آخَرونَ فَهُزِّلوا

She said, "So-and-so has kept his dependents alive,

while other dependents have come to ruin and wasted away.

أَلَم يَكُ وَلَدان أَعانوا وَمَجلِس

قَريب فَنُخزى إِذ يَكُف وَيُحمَلُ

Were there not two sons who helped, and a gathering

nearby, so we are shamed when he hangs back and is carried?"

لَنا فَرَسٌ مِن صالَحِ الخَيلِ نَبتَغي

عَلَيها عَطاءَ اللَهِ وَاللَهُ يَنحَلُ

We have a mare of good stock; we seek

God's bounty upon her, and God bestows gifts.

يَرُدُّ عَلَيها العَيرَ مِن بَعدِ إِلفَهِ

بِقَرقَرَةٍ وَالنَقعُ لا يَتَزَيَّلُ

He drives the wild ass back toward her, away from its mate,

on a level plain, while the dust does not disperse.

وَحُمرٌ تَراها بالفَناءِ كَأَنَّها

ذُرا كَثَبٍ قَد مَسَّها الطَلُّ تَهطلُ

And reddish she-camels you see in the courtyard, like

dune-crests touched by dew, streaming milk.

عَلَيها مِنَ الدَهنا عَتيقٌ وَمورَةٌ

مِنَ الحُزنِ كُلاً بِالمَراتِعِ يَأكُلُ

They bear old fat from al-Dahna, and a layer of fat

from al-Hazn; each feeds in the pastures.

فَقَد سَمِنَت حَتّى تَظاهَرَ نَيُّها

فَلَيسَ عَلَيها لِلروادِفِ محمَلُ

They have fattened until their fat lies layer upon layer,

so there is no room upon them for rear loads.

إِذا وَرَدَت ماءً وَإِن كانَ صافِياً

حَدتهُ عَلى دَلوٍ يُعَلُّ وَيُنهَلُ

When they come to water, even if it is clear,

they drive him to the bucket for draught upon draught.

فَفي جِسمِ راعيها هُزالٌ وَشَحبَة

وَضُرُّ وما مِن قِلَّةِ اللَحمِ يُهزَلُ

So their herdsman's body is lean and pale,

and afflicted; it is not from lack of meat that he grows lean.

فَلا الجارَةُ الدُنيا لَها تَلحِيَنَّها

وَلا الضَيفُ فيها أَن أَناخَ محولُ

The nearest neighboring woman cannot reproach them,

nor is a guest turned away when he kneels his camel among them.

إِذا هَتَكت أَطناب بَيتٍ وَأَهلِهِ

بِمَعطَنِها لَم يورِدوا الماءَ قَيَّلوا

When they tear through a tent's guy-ropes, its people

at their watering-rest take their noon rest without going for water.

عَلَيهِنَّ يَومَ الوَردِ حَقٌّ وَذِمَّة

وَهُنَّ غَداةَ الغِبِّ عِندَكَ حُفَّلُ

On watering day, a due and an obligation lie upon them;

on the morning of alternate-day watering, they are full-uddered beside you.

وَأَقمَعنا فيها الوِطابَ وَحَولَنا

بُيوتٌ عَلَيها كُلُّها فوهٌ مُقبلِ

We fitted the milk-skins with funnels among them, while around us

are tents, every one with a mouth turned toward them.

فَإِن تُصدري يَحلُبنَ دونَكِ حَلبَةً

وَإِن تَحضُري يَلبث عَلَيكِ المَعجَلِ

If you send them off, they yield a milking before reaching you;

and if you are present, the hurried one waits for you.