لهان الغمد ما بقي الحسام — Alsharif Alradi

لَهانَ الغِمدُ ما بَقِيَ الحُسامُ

وَبَعضُ النَقصِ آوِنَةً تَمامُ

The scabbard matters little, so long as the keen sword remains.

And some loss is, at times, completeness.

إِذا سَلَكَ العُلى سَلِمَت قُواهُ

فَلا جَزَعٌ إِذا اِنتَقَصَ النِظامُ

If the cord of greatness keeps its strands intact,

there is no anguish if the necklace loses beads.

وَأَهوِن بِالمَناكِبِ يَومَ يَبقى

لَنا الرَأسُ المُقَدَّمُ وَالسَنامُ

How little the shoulders matter when there remains

for us the foremost head and the hump.

وَما شَكوى المَناهِلِ حينَ تُمسي

مُغَيَّضَةً إِذا بَقِيَ الغَمامُ

And why lament the watering places when they become

drained, so long as the raincloud remains?

وَهَل هُوَ غَيرُ فَذٍّ أَخلَفَتهُ

لَكَ العَلياءُ وَالنِعَمُ التُؤامُ

And is he anything but a single one, replaced

for you by high glory and twin blessings?

وَما شَرَرٌ تَطاوَحَ عَن زِنادٍ

بِمُفتَقَدٍ إِذا بَقِيَ الضِرامُ

And sparks scattered from fire-strikers

are not missed, so long as the blaze remains.

أَفِق يا دَهرُ مَن أَمسَيتَ تَحدو

وَقَد مَنُعَ الخِزامَةُ وَالزِمامُ

Awake, O Time! Whom have you come to drive,

when he has defied nose-ring and rein?

قَدَعتَ مُبَرِّزَ الحَلَباتِ يَغدو

جَموحاً لا يُنَهنِهُهُ اللِجامُ

You have checked the champion of the racecourses, who goes forth

headstrong, whom no bridle can restrain,

وَلوداً مِثلَ ما خالَستَ مِنهُ

وَأَنتَ بِمِثلِهِ أَبَداً عَقامُ

prolific in the like of what you stole from him,

while you are forever barren of his like.

مِنَ القَومِ الَّذينَ أَقامَ فيهِم

عِدادُ المَجدِ وَالعَدَدُ اللُهامُ

One of the people among whom dwell

the tally of glory and the vast multitude.

إِذا سَلِموا فَقَد سَلِمَ البَرايا

وَإِن نُقِذوا فَقَد فُقِدَ الأَنامُ

If they are safe, all creatures are safe;

and if they are snatched away, mankind is lost.

لَهُم كَرَمٌ تُزَيِّدُهُ المَعالي

إِذا لَؤُمَ المَعاشِرُ أَو أُلاموا

Theirs is a generosity that high deeds increase

when other clans turn base or beget the base.

وَأَيّامٌ مِنَ الإِحسانِ بيضٌ

لَهُم نَسَبٌ إِلى العَليا قُدامُ

And white days of beneficence;

theirs is an ancient lineage reaching high glory.

مَراجِحَةٌ وَأَصبِيَةٍ مُلوكٌ

إِلَيهِم يَعقُدُ النادي الكِرامُ

Men of sound judgment and boys alike are kings,

around whom the nobles convene their assembly.

وَكُلُّ مُعَمَّمٍ بِالمَجدِ قَضّى

بِهِ ذِمَمَ العَلاءِ أَبٌ هُمامُ

And every man turbaned in glory, through whom

a valiant father discharged his debts to greatness,

رَبا بَينَ الصَوارِمِ وَالعَوالي

فَجاءَ كَأَنَّ تَوأَمَهُ الحُسامُ

grew up among keen swords and tall spears,

and came forth as though the sword were his twin.

يَروعُ سَوامَهُ بِالسَيفِ حَتّى

تَمَنّى أَن أَسَرَّتها اللِئامُ

He terrifies his grazing herds with the sword, until

they wish the misers had hidden them away.

مَعاشِرُ لِلسَوائِمِ في ذُراهُم

أَمانُ الطَيرِ آمَنَها الحَرامُ

A people whose grazing beasts in their high refuges

have the safety of birds: the forbidden ones are safest.

يُذَمُّ اللُؤمُ عِندَهُمُ عَلَيها

وَلَيسَ لِجارِهِم أَبَداً ذِمامُ

Stinginess is censured among them on the herds' account,

and their neighbor never incurs reproach.

وَحادِثَةٍ لَها في العَظمِ وَقرٌ

كَغَصِّ السِنِّ لَيسَ لَهُ اِلتِئامُ

And many a calamity that cracks the bone,

like a chipped tooth that cannot mend,

كَفى بِعِتاتِها وَالمَوتُ دانٍ

وَقَد قَعَدَ الرِجالُ بِها وَقاموا

he dealt with its rebels, with death close by,

as men sat and rose, troubled by it.

فَقُل لِلحائِنِ المَغرورِ أَمسى

بِمارِنِكَ الرَغامَةُ وَالرَغامُ

So tell the doomed, deluded man: now

humiliation and dust cling to your nose-tip.

أَتَعلَمُ مَن تُخاطِرُ أَو تُسامي

غُروراً ما أَراكَ بِهِ المَنامُ

Do you know whom you risk challenging or seek to rival?

What your dreams have shown you of him is delusion.

فَخَلِّ عَنِ الطَريقِ لِسَيلِ طَودٍ

تَحَدَّرَ لا يُخاضُ وَلا يُعامُ

Then clear the road for a torrent from a mountain,

rushing down, neither fordable nor swimmable.

أَلَم يُقنِعكَ بِالأَهوازِ مِنهُ

قِطارٌ غَيمُ عارِضِهِ القَتامُ

Were you not convinced, at al-Ahwaz, by his

downpour, whose storm-cloud was battle dust?

بِأَربَقَ حَطَّ عارِضَهُ وَأَجلى

عَنِ الأَعداءِ وَالأَعداءُ هامُ

At Arbaq it brought its cloud low, then cleared

away from the enemy—and the enemy were skulls.

وَأَرسَلَها تَخُبُّ بِدارِ زَينٍ

عُبابَ اليَمِّ لَجَّ بِهِ اِلتِطامُ

And he sent them trotting through Dar Zayn,

like a surge of the sea, its waves clashing fiercely.

يَمِلنَ مِنَ اللُغوبِ كَما تَهادى

نِساءُ الحَيِّ يُثقِلُها الخِدامُ

They sway with weariness, as

the women of the tribe sway, weighed down by anklets.

وَكُنَّ إِذا رَمَينَ إِلى عَدُوٍّ

طَلَبنَ أَمامَ حَتّى لا أُمامُ

And whenever they hurled themselves at a foe,

they pressed ahead until no ahead remained.

وَلَستُ لِحاصِنٍ إِن لَم تَرَوها

مَواقِرَ حَملُها بيضٌ وَلامُ

And I am no son of a chaste woman if you do not see them

heavily laden, their loads helmets and armor.

تَوَقَّصَ تَحتَها القُلَلُ الرَوابي

وَتَجدَعُ مِن حَوافِزِها الإِكامُ

The rising summits have their necks broken beneath them,

and their driving thrusts lop the noses off the hills.

بِنَقعٍ يُظلِمُ الإِصباحُ مِنهُ

عَلى بيضٍ يُضيءُ بِها الظَلامُ

With dust that makes the dawn grow dark,

above white blades that light the darkness.

تُفارِطُ بِالقَنا مُتَمَطِّراتٌ

كَما فاجاكَ بِالدَوِّ النَعامُ

They race ahead with lances, galloping swiftly,

as ostriches surprise you in the open desert.

حَذارِ لَهُ فَبَعدَ اليَومِ يَومٌ

لَهُ شَرَرٌ وَبَعدَ العامِ عامُ

Beware of him: after today comes a day

with sparks of its own, and after the year, another year.

وَما تَرَكَ الرِماءَ قُصورَ باعٍ

وَلَكِن كَي تُراشَ لَهُ السِهامُ

He did not abandon shooting for shortness of arm,

but so that his arrows might be feathered for him.

فَمِنهُ البيضُ ماضِيَةٌ وَمِنكُم

يَدَ الدَهرِ المَفارِقُ وَاللِمامُ

From him come keen-cutting white blades; and from you,

for all time, the crowns of heads and locks of hair.

لَنا تَحتَ الصَفائِحِ كُلَّ يَومٍ

مُقيمٌ لا يَريمُ وَلا يُرامُ

Each day, beneath the stone slabs, we have

a dweller who neither departs nor can be reached.

كَرائِمُ مِن قُلوبٍ أَو عُيونٍ

عَلَيهِنَّ الجَنادِلُ وَالرِجامُ

Precious ones—hearts or eyes—

with great stones and rock heaps above them.

صُموتٌ لا يُجابُ لَهُنَّ داعٍ

أَرَنَّ وَلا يُرَدُّ لَهُ سَلامُ

Silent: no caller to them receives an answer,

though he cries aloud, nor is his greeting returned.

فَدُم ما طابَ لِلباقي بَقاءٌ

وَما حَسُنَ التَلَوُّمُ وَالدَوامُ

So live on while life is sweet to the living,

and while lingering and continuance are good.

فَلا كُشِفَ الضِياءُ عَلى اللَيالي

وَلا عُدِمَ الغِياثُ وَلا القَوامُ

May light never be stripped away as nights pass,

nor succor be lost, nor sustaining support.

يَكونُ لَكَ التَقَدُّمُ في المَعالي

وَفي الأَجَلِ التَأَخُّرُ وَالمُقامُ

May yours be precedence in high deeds,

and, at life's appointed end, delay and abiding.

وَكانَ لَنا أَمامَكَ كُلُّ نَقصٍ

يَكونُ مِنَ الرَدى وَلَكَ التَمامُ

And may every loss fall to us before you,

that comes from death, while wholeness is yours.