يا قضيبا يهتز فوق كثيب — Alsanubri

يا قضيباً يهتزُّ فوقَ كثيبٍ

كلما ملَّ كثرةَ الهزِّ هَزَّهْ

O branch swaying above a dune,

whenever it tires of so much swaying, the dune sways it again.

لك جسمٌ ما إنه تستشفُّ ال

عينُ خزَّ الجمالِ منه وقَزَّه

Yours is such a body that

the eye discerns beauty's silken cloth and raw silk within it.

عزَّ قلبي هواكَ سراً وجهراً

وهو لو حلَّ كلَّ قلبٍ لعَزَّه

Love of you overpowered my heart, secretly and openly;

were it to enter every heart, it would overpower each.

قد طربنا إلى الصَّبُوحِ فَصُبِّح

نا بصهباءَ مُزَّةٍ غيرِ مُزَّه

We longed for the morning draught, and were served

a tawny wine, pleasantly sharp but not sour.

خَرَزُ المزج كالحمائِل فيها

ليس من خَرْزَةٍ تخالفُ خَرْزَه

The beads of its mixture are like necklaces within it:

not one bead differs from another.

في بساطٍ لزَّ الخزامى به الخير

يُّ صدرَ الضحى فجوَّدَ لزَّه

On a carpet where the gillyflower clasped the lavender

in early forenoon, perfecting its clasp,

جَرَّزَتْهُ يدُ الندامى تحيا

تٍ فكلٌّ تراهُ حاملَ جُرْرَه

the drinking companions' hands made greeting-bouquets of it,

and each, you see, carries his own bunch.

وغديرٍ رُعْنا الإوَزَّ به وه

ناً وما راع قطُّ خَلْقٌ إوزَّه

And by a pool where we startled the geese late

at night—no creature had ever startled its geese.

بارزاتٍ لنا فلستَ ترى فيه

نّ إلا طريفةَ الزيِّ بَرْزَه

They stood out before us; among them you could see

only one in curious dress, boldly in view.

فاحترزْنَا أَشلاءَهُنَّ ولكنْ

ما عدونا منْ كلِّ شِلْوٍ حُزَّه

We secured their limbs, but

from each limb we took no more than a slice.

ولألبابِنا إِذا قافَزَتْها

سَوْرَةُ الكأسِ قَفْزَةٌ بَعْدَ قَفْزَه

And our minds, whenever challenged to leap

by the cup's surge, take leap after leap.

فرصةٌ أيُّ فرصةٍ من سرورٍ

نجتنيها وَنُهْزَةٌ أيُّ نُهْزَه

An opportunity—what an opportunity for joy

we pluck; a chance—what a chance!

ونشرنا وشيَ الغناءِ ولكنّ

ا جعلنا مديحَنَا فيك طُرْزَه

We spread out the embroidered cloth of song, but

we made our praise of you its embroidery.

يا عليَّ بن حمزةَ اللبسَ المج

دِ على المجد يا عليَّ بن حمزة

O Ali ibn Hamza, put on glory

over glory, O Ali ibn Hamza.

كَنَزَ المجدَ هاشمٌ دون ذا الخل

ق وأَحْرَزْتُمُ على الخلقِ كَنْزَه

Hashim hoarded glory to the exclusion of mankind,

and you secured his treasure ahead of all mankind.

وإذا ما هُزِزْتُمُ للمعالي

وَجَدَتْ فيكمُ الأكُفُّ مَهزَّه

And whenever you are shaken for lofty deeds,

hands find in you something yielding to their shake.

وإِذا استطرفَتْ دهورٌ أُناساً

كنتُم ماءَ كلِّ دهرٍ وخبزه

And if the ages prize some people as novelties,

you are every age's water and bread.

عودُ نَبعٍ ما إِن لغامِزِهِ في

ه طَوالَ الأيامِ موضعُ غمزه

A stave of nab‘ wood: no one probing it finds

in it, for all time, any weak point.

ومعانٍ تعمى بصيرة ذي الرُّمَّ

تِ عنها فَدَعْ كُثِّيرَ عزَّه

And qualities to which Dhu al-Rumma's insight is blind—

leave Kuthayyir Azza aside.

يا بين هاشمٍ أعزَّةَ عدنا

نٍ وقحطانَ يا أعزَّ الأعِزَّه

O sons of Hashim, nobles of Adnan

and Qahtan, O noblest of the noble!

ما غزوتمْ من الجو

دِ سوى ما غزا المقيمُ بغَزَّه

You have made no foray into generosity

beyond that of the one dwelling in Gaza.

عُدْ فتىً مدنفاً فقمت وما بي

همزةٌ من أَذىً ولا بيَ لمزه

'Visit an ailing youth!' You rose, though I had

no sting of harm, nor any prick.

وقديماً وَطَّأتَ لي جنباتٍ

من قلوبٍ من جانبي مُشْمَئِزَّه

And long ago you softened for me the edges

of hearts that shrank away from my side.

فإذا ما رجوتُ غيرَك فالكِزْ

بيدِ الذمِّ أضلعي ألفَ لكزه

If ever I place hope in someone other than you, strike

my ribs a thousand times with the hand of blame.

أعوزَ الصوفُ مَنْ يرى أَن يجزّ ال

كلبَ يوماً وليس للكلبِ جزَّه

He is short of wool who thinks to shear

a dog one day, though a dog has no fleece.

قلْ لداعي أبي الحسينِ لخطبٍ

قد رماه بذلَّةٍ بعد عِزَّه

Tell whoever calls upon Abu al-Husayn in a calamity

that has cast him into abasement after honor:

خُذْ إِذا شئتَ خُذْ بِحُجْزَتِه في ال

خطبِ تأخذْ بحجزةٍ أيِّ حُجْزه

Take hold, if you will—take hold of his waistband amid

the calamity: you will grasp a waistband like no other.

إن للسيف هبرةً ليس تُلقى

في سواهُ وإن للرمح وَخْزَه

The sword has a cutting stroke that cannot be found

in anything else, and the spear has its piercing thrust.

كم مبارٍ له وكيف يباري

ه وما قَدْرُهُ لديه أرُزَّه

How many rivals he has! Yet how can anyone rival

him, when beside him that rival is not worth a grain of rice?

هي تلك الجبلَّةُ الفذَّةُ الجو

هرِ في الناسِ وهي تلك الفِلِزَّه

That is the nature, peerless in essence

among people; that is the solid metal.

مَنْ تُحاسِنْ ببزَّهِ في المعالي

تَلْقَهُ وهو أحْسَنُ الناسِ بَزَّه

The one whose garb you vie with in lofty deeds—

you find him the best-dressed of all men.

قَلِقُ النفسِ للنَّدى حينَ نفسُ ال

مؤثرِ البخلَ صَخْرَةٌ مرتزَّه

Restless in soul for generosity, while the soul of

one choosing stinginess is a firmly embedded rock.

أشتهي الوجهَ غيرَ جهمٍ وأهوى

أن أرى الكَفَّ بَسْطَةً غيرَ كَزَّه

I desire a face without a scowl, and I love

to see the hand open, not clenched.

وأُحبُّ اللسانَ كاللَّوْلَبِ الدا

ئرِ لا كالمسمارِ أو كالرزَّه

And I love a tongue like a turning screw,

not like a nail or a door-staple.

لئن جاءني المشيبُ فعندي

مُسْكةٌ ما تَخُونني عندَ حُزَّه

Though gray hair has come to me, I still have

a reserve of sense that never fails me in a pinch.

يحفظُ الشنُّ ماءَهَ ما عَدَتْهُ

دِقَّتُ السيرِ واتساعُ الخُرْزَه

An old waterskin holds its water, so long as it is spared

a thin stitching-thong and a wide stitch-hole.

أصغِ يا مُصْغياً إلى كلِّ رِكزٍ

بمديحٍ يستعذبُ السمعُ ركزه

Listen, O listener to every murmur,

to praise whose low note the ear finds sweet.

فإذا ما استفزَّ مدحيَ فيه

منك نفساً ما خلتُها مستفزَّه

And if my praise of him stirs

a soul in you that I never thought could be stirred,

لا تقل بخْ ولا تَقُلْ زَهْ لمن تص

غر بَخْ بَخْ عنه وتضعفُ زَه زَه

do not say 'Bravo!' or 'Well done!' to one for whom

'Bravo, bravo!' is too small, and 'Well done, well done!' too weak.