هي ظبية في صورة الإِنسان — Aloshari

هِيَ ظبية في صورة الإِنسان

فَاسأل يجبك الجيد وَالعينان

She is a gazelle in human form.

So ask: her neck and her two eyes will answer you.

نَزلت عَلى سَقط العذيب فَراعها

صَوت اليَراع وَنغمة العيدان

She alighted at the edge of al-Udhayb, and was startled

by the reed flute's sound and the melody of lutes.

وَاستنشقت ريح البشام وَشاقَها

شَبح الرُبى وَنَوافج الكُثبان

She breathed the scent of balsam, and longed for

the outlines of the hills and the winds stirring the dunes.

فتلفتت كَالظَبي فارق إلفه

وَرنت كَما هِيَ عادة الغُزلان

So she looked about like a gazelle parted from its mate,

and gazed, as gazelles are wont to do.

وَتَذكرت عَيشاً لَها في جيرة

ضَرَبت قِبابهم بِذات البان

And she remembered a life among neighbors

whose domed tents were pitched at Dhat al-Ban.

شوس إِذا اِشتَد اللقا فَضياغم

يَجرون جَري السَيل في الميدان

Fierce men—when battle raged, they were lions,

rushing like a torrent across the battlefield.

وَإِذا اِنتَضوا أَسيافهم في مَوقف

حَققتها شعلاً مِن النيران

And when they unsheathed their swords in battle,

you knew them to be flames of fire.

نَزلوا بِقارعة الطَريق وَشَيدوا

تلكَ الجِنان الغُر للضيفان

They settled along the thoroughfare and built

those splendid gardens for guests.

قَوم يمانيون إِلا أَنَّهُم

قَد صاهروا الأَشراف مِن عَدنان

A Yemeni people, except that they

had married into the nobles of Adnan—

من فتية شَكت رُؤوس رِماحهم

تيجان كسرى صاحب الإيوان

young warriors whose spearheads pierced

the crowns of Kisra, master of the vaulted hall.

جَعَلوا الدُروع ثِيابهم وَتَعوضوا

حَوزاتهم بَدلاً عن التيجان

They made armor their clothing, and took

their domains in place of crowns.

وَبمهجين أَخوين مِن ساداتهم

عَزماً عَلى البَيداء يصطحبان

And two noble men, brothers among their chiefs,

intent on the desert, journey together:

أسدان قَد وَلعا بِصَيد فَريسة

وَتَعودا لِتطاعن الفُرسان

two lions enamored of hunting prey,

and accustomed to jousting with horsemen.

في مهمه حسد السَماء مَحله

إِذ في ذراه أَشرق القمران

In a trackless waste whose abode heaven envied,

for on its heights two moons shone.

وَالبر يَضحك إِذ جَرى في عَرضه

بَحران بِالياقوت وَالمُرجان

And the land smiles as across its breadth there flow

two seas bearing rubies and coral.

بَحر سُليمان الإمام مَحله

وَقَرينه السُلطان بَحر ثان

One sea has its abode in Sulayman, the Imam;

and his companion, the Sultan, is a second sea.

غُصنان قَد سقيا بِماء واحد

فَتشَابها وَتشاكل الغُصنان

Two branches watered with the same water,

so the two branches grew alike and matched.

مِن دَوحة عَربية يَمنية

وَالفرع مِنها باسق القُضبان

From an Arabian, Yemeni spreading tree,

whose offshoot has lofty boughs.

قَد أنشئا لُطفاً فَذَلِكَ دَأبه

فَك الأَسير وَذا لِفَك العاني

They were fashioned in kindness: that one's custom

is freeing the captive, and this one's is freeing the prisoner.

كُل إِذا أَبصَرته شبهته

بِأَخيه وَالشَيئان يَشتبهان

Each, when you see him, you liken

to his brother; the two resemble each other.

إِن رُمت إِدراك النَوال أَخا الهُدى

فَانزل عَلى سَلمان أَو سُلطان

If you seek to attain bounty, brother of guidance,

then alight with Salman or Sultan,

فَرداً وَلا تَجمَع هديت فَإِنَّني

أَخشى عَلَيك إِذاً مِن الطوفان

one at a time—do not bring them together; may you be guided, for I

would fear the deluge for you then.

هب أَنتَ تحسن عَوم بَحر واحد

أَتَعوم وَالبَحران يَلتَقيان

Suppose you know how to swim in a single sea:

can you swim when the two seas meet?

وَيشيم طَرفك ضوء بَدر واحد

أَيشيم وَالبَدران مُجتَمِعان

And your eye beholds the light of a single full moon:

can it behold when both full moons are together?

وَتطيق حَمل أَبي قَييس وَحده

أَيُطاق مَضموماً إِلى ثَهلان

And you can bear Abu Qayyis on its own:

can it be borne when joined to Thahlan?

ما أَنتَ مثلي إِذ لَقيتهما فَلي

صَبر الكِرام وَنجدة الفتيان

You are not like me when I met them both, for I have

the patience of the noble and the courage of young men.

يا باذِلي بَدر النُقود وَحامِلي

عبء الوُفود بِسائر الأَزمان

O you two who dispense bags of coins and bear

the burden of delegations at all times,

لِلّه دركما وَدر أَبيكُما

مغني العفاة وُمشبع الجوعان

how admirable you both are, and your father,

who enriches supplicants and feeds the hungry!

فَخُذا بِحَق أَبيُكما مِن مدحتي

نَظماً كَنَظم قَلائد العقيان

So, for your father's sake, take from my praise

verse strung like necklaces of pure gold.

طَوقت جيدكما بِهِ لأزينه

بِكُما فَيَبلغ غاية الإحسان

I have garlanded your necks with it, to adorn it

with you both, so it reaches the height of excellence.

غَض جَرى في طَبعه لَما بَدا

ماء الصبا وَطَراوة الشُبان

Fresh verse, through whose nature, when it appeared, flowed

the water of youth and the freshness of young men.

ما شانه لكن الحَضارة إِذ غَدا

مِن شاعر يعزى إِلى قَحطان

The faulty speech of city life did not mar it, since it came

from a poet whose descent is traced to Qahtan,

مِن مَعشر نَزَلوا العشارة بُرهة

وَالآن قَد نَزَلوا عَلى بغدان

from a people who settled in al-Ashara for a while,

and now have settled in Baghdan.

ما شانهم ضد الغِنى بَل زانَهُم

دَرس العُلوم وَنَغمة القُرآن

Poverty did not disgrace them; rather, they were adorned

by the study of the sciences and the melody of the Qur'an.

وَكَفى بنسبته لِعالي مَجدكم

شَرَفاً عَلى الأَمثال وَالأَقران

And his link to your lofty glory is enough

to give him honor above his equals and peers.

يدعى الحُسين وَإِنَّهُ بِمديحكم

يُدعى بِنابغة الوَرى حسان

He is called al-Husayn, and for his praise of you

he is called Hassan, the genius of humankind.