أسائل سيفي أي بارقة تجدي — Alsharif Alradi

أُسائِلُ سَيفي أَيُّ بارِقَةٍ تُجدي

وَلي رَغبَةٌ عَمَّن يُعَلِّلُ بِالوَعدِ

I ask my sword: which flash of lightning will avail?

And I shun those who put me off with promises.

وَأَطلُبُ في الدُنيا العُلى وَرَكائِبي

مُقَلقَلَةٌ ما بَينَ غَورٍ إِلى نَجدِ

I seek eminence in this world, while my riding camels

Are driven restlessly from lowland to highland.

يُشَتِّتُ تُربُ القاعِ وَسمَ أَكُفِّها

وَأَخفافُها في حَيِّزِ النَصِّ وَالوَخدِ

The plain's dust scatters the imprints of their feet,

While their padded feet keep to racing and swift strides.

وَخِطَّةِ ضَيمٍ خادَعَتني فَفِتُّها

إِلى مَطلَعٍ بَينَ المَذَمَّةِ وَالحَمدِ

Many a course of humiliation tried to deceive me, but I escaped it,

Toward an ascent between reproach and praise.

وَيَومٍ مِنَ الشِعرى خَرَقتُ وَشَمسُهُ

تَساقَطُ مِن هامِ الإِكامِ إِلى الوَهدِ

Many a day of Sirius's season I traversed, while its sun

Fell from the hilltops into the hollows.

وَليلٍ دَجوجيٍّ كَأَنَّ ظَلامَهُ

سَماوَةُ مَلويِّ الذِراعَينِ بِالقِدِّ

And many a pitch-dark night, as though its darkness

Were the silhouette of one whose arms are twisted in rawhide bonds.

خَطَوتُ وَفي كَفّي خِطامُ نَجيبَةٍ

مُدَفَّعَةٍ مِن كُلِّ قُربٍ إِلى بُعدِ

I walked, the halter of a noble she-camel in my hand,

Driven ever from nearness into distance.

إِذا لَحظَتُ ماءً جَذَبتُ زِمامَها

وَقُلتُ اِرغَبي بِالعِزِّ عَن مَورِدٍ ثَمدِ

Whenever I glimpsed water, I pulled her rein

And said, 'In pride, turn from a scanty watering place.

تَؤُمّينَ خَيرَ الأَرضِ أَهلاً وَتُربَةً

يُحَطُّ بِها رَحلُ المَكارِمِ وَالمَجدِ

You are bound for earth's best land in people and soil,

Where noble deeds and glory set down their saddle.'

وَفي الأَرضِ قَومٌ يَلطِمونَ جِباهَها

إِذا هَجَمَت أَعلى المَنازِلِ بِالوَفدِ

Yet on earth are people who slap camels' foreheads

When they reach the grandest dwellings with a delegation.

وَتَنبو أَكُفُّ العيسِ عَن عَرَصاتِهِم

مِنَ البُخلِ حَتّى تَستَغيثَ إِلى الطَردِ

And the pale camels' feet recoil from their courtyards

At their miserliness, until they beg to be driven away.

فَما خَدَعَتها رَوضَةٌ عَن مَسيرِها

وَلا لَمعُ مَعسولٍ تَطَلَّعَ مِن وِردِ

No meadow, then, lured her from her journey,

Nor the gleam of honey-sweet water rising from a watering place.

أَكُفُّ بَني عَدنانَ تَستَمطِرُ الظُبى

وَتَأنَفُ مِن جودِ الغَمائِمِ بِالعَهدِ

The hands of Adnan's sons seek rain from sword-edges,

And disdain the clouds' bounty of renewed showers.

وَتَلقى الوَغى وَاليَومُ يَنضُرُ بيضَهُ

عَلى البيضِ في مَجرىً مِنَ الجَدِّ وَالجِدِّ

And meet battle as the day makes its white blades gleam

Against white blades, in a course of fortune and resolve.

مَنازِلُهُم عَقرُ المَطايا وَإِنَّما

تُعَقِّلُها بِالبِشرِ وَالنائِلِ الجَعدِ

Their homes hamstring the riding camels, though they only

Hobble them with cheerful welcome and abundant gifts.

جَذَبتُم بَضَبعِ المَجدِ يا آلَ غالِبٍ

وَغادَرتُمُ الإِعدامَ مُنعَفِرَ الخَدِّ

You seized glory by the upper arm, O house of Ghalib,

And left destitution with its cheek in the dust.

عَلى حينَ سَدَّت ثُلمَةَ العارِ عَنكُمُ

صُدورُ العَوالي وَالمُطَهَّمَةِ الجُردِ

When the breach of disgrace was sealed against you

By tall lance-points and the breasts of fine, sleek steeds.

وَكَم غارَةٍ أَقبَلتُموها مَواقِراً

مِنَ الأَسَلِ الذيّالِ وَالبيضِ وَالسَردِ

How many a raiding force you brought forward, laden

With trailing lances, bright swords, and linked mail,

كَما قادَ عُلوِيُّ السَحابِ غَمامَةً

وَجَلجَلَها مِلءٌ مِنَ البَرقِ وَالرَعدِ

As the upper cloud-bank drives a cloud,

And a fullness of lightning and thunder sets it rumbling.

كَفى أَمَلي في ذا الزَمانِ وَأَهلِهِ

عَلَيَّ مُجيراً مِن يَدِ الدَهرِ أَو مُعدي

My hopes in this age and its people are met by

Ali, a protector from Time's hand or a helper:

فَتىً ما مَشى في سَمعِهِ شَدوُ قَينَةٍ

وَلا جَذَبَت أَحشاءَهُ سَورَةُ الوَجدِ

A youth into whose hearing no singing-girl's song has passed,

Nor has passion's surge tugged at his vitals.

وَلا هَجَرَ السُمرَ العَوالي لِلَذَّةٍ

وَلا عاتَبَ البيضَ الغَواني عَلى الصَدِّ

Nor has he forsaken tall brown lances for pleasure,

Nor reproached fair beauties for turning him away.

إِذا أَظلَمَت آمالُ قَومٍ بِرَدِّها

أَضاءَ سَنا مَعروفِهِ ظُلمَةَ الرَدِّ

When people's hopes grow dark through being rebuffed,

The radiance of his goodness lights the darkness of refusal.

وَإِن شامَ يَوماً نارَهُ خِلتَ أَنَّها

تَطَلَّعُ نَحوَ الوارِدينَ مِنَ الزِندِ

And should one glimpse his fire one day, you would think it

Peered toward arriving guests from the fire-stick itself.

وَكَم بَينَ كَفَّيهِ إِذا اِحتَدَمَ الرَدى

وَبَينَ العَوالي مِن زِمامٍ وَمَن عَقدِ

How many, between his hands when death flares up

And the lofty lances, are the reins and binding knots!

لِيَهنِكَ يا اِبنَ الأَكرَمينَ اِبنُ حُرَّةٍ

تَمَزَّقَ عَنهُ النَحسُ عَن غُرَّةِ السَعدِ

Joy to you, son of the noblest, in a freeborn woman's son,

From whom ill luck has been torn—from good fortune's radiant brow.

فَرَبِّ لَهُ خَيلَ الوَغى فَلِمِثلِهِ

تُرَبّي اللَيالي كَأَهلِ الفَرَسِ النَهدِ

So rear warhorses for him, for it is for such as he

That the nights rear the sturdy steed's withers.

وَبَشَّرَ بِهِ البَيضَ الصَوارِمَ وَالقَنا

وَبَشَّرَهُ عَن قَولِ النَوائِبِ بِالجَلدِ

And give the bright, sharp swords and the lances glad news of him,

And give him, in calamities' own words, glad news of fortitude.

سَتَذكُرُهُ وَالحَربُ يَنكِحُها الرَدى

وَقَد طَلَّقَت أَغمادَها قُضُبُ الهِندِ

You will remember him when Death takes War to wife,

And India's blades have divorced their sheaths.

كَأَنّي بِهِ جارٍ عَلى حُكمِ سَيفِهِ

يُعاهِدُهُ أَن لا يَبيتَ عَلى حِقدِ

I can almost see him following his sword's decree,

Pledging to it never to sleep with a grudge unavenged.

إِذا أَنهَضَتهُ لِلنَزالِ حَفيظَةٌ

وَأَنهَضَ مُستَنَّ الحُسامِ مِنَ الغِمدِ

When jealous honor rouses him to single combat,

And he lifts the sword's honed edge from its sheath,

وَأَرخى بِعِطفَيهِ حَواشي نِجادِهِ

وَجَرَّ عَلى أَعقابِهِ فاضِلَ البُردِ

And lets the ends of his sword-belt fall along his sides,

And trails the excess of his striped cloak over his heels,

وَعَطَّفَ خِرصانَ الرِماحِ كَأَنَّها

مِنَ الدَمِ في أَطرافِها شَجَرُ الوَردِ

And bends the spearheads, as though they were

Rosebushes, because of the blood upon their tips,

وَزَعزَعَ نَظمَ الرَمحِ حَتّى يَرُدُّهُ

نِثاراً عَلى الأَعداءِ بِالحَطمِ وَالقَصدِ

And shakes the lance's structure loose until he makes it

Fragments strewn across the enemies by smashing and snapping,

وَشايحَ عَن أَحسابِهِ بِحُسامِهِ

وَذَبَّ عَنِ العِرضِ المُمَنَّعِ بِالرِفدِ

And fiercely defends his ancestral honors with his blade,

And shields his inviolate honor with bounty,

رَأَيتَ فَتىً في كَفِّهِ سِمَةُ النَدى

وَفي وَجهِهِ شِبهٌ مِنَ الأَبِ وَالجَدِّ

You will see a youth with generosity's mark upon his palm,

And in his face a likeness to his father and grandfather.

إِذا ما اِحتَبى في الحَيِّ وَاِمتَدَّ باعُهُ

رَأَيتَ أَباهُ حينَ يَحكُمُ أَو يُجدي

When he sits knee-clasped among the clan and his arm reaches out,

You see his father when he judges or bestows gifts.

إِلى جَدِّهِ تُنمى شَمائِلُ مَجدِهِ

وَهَل تَرجِعُ الأَشبالُ إِلّا إِلى الأُسدِ

To his grandfather are traced his glorious qualities;

And do lion cubs trace their lineage to any but lions?

وَليدٌ هَمى ماءُ العُلى في جَبينِهِ

وَقَد شِمتُ مِنهُ بارِقَ الحَسَبِ العِدِ

A newborn on whose brow the waters of greatness have rained,

In whom I have glimpsed the lightning of inexhaustible ancestral honor.

فَلَو قَيلَ يَوماً أَينَ صَفوَةُ يَعرُبٍ

رَأَيتَ العُلى تومي إِلى ذَلِكَ المَهدِ

Were it asked one day, 'Where is Ya'rub's choicest offspring?'

You would see greatness pointing to that cradle.

إِلى رَبعِكَ المَألوفِ مِنّي تَطَلَّعَت

رِقابُ القَوافي تَحتَ أَدعَجَ مُزبَدِّ

Toward your familiar dwelling there have stretched, from me,

The necks of my rhymes, beneath a black, bristling night.

وَلَمّا بَعَثتُ الشِعرَ نَحوَكَ قالَ لي

الآنَ فَعُق إِلّا إِلى بابِهِ قَصدي

And when I sent my poetry toward you, it said to me,

'Now bar my course to anywhere but his door!'

سَقَيتَ النَدى شِعري فَأَنبَتَ حَمدَهُ

وَلَو صابَ في جِسمي لأَنبَتَهُ جِلدي

You watered my poetry with bounty, and it sprouted praise of that bounty;

Had it rained upon my body, my skin would have sprouted that praise.

وَإِنّي لَأَستَحيي العُلى فيكَ أَن أُرى

ضَنيناً مِنَ الشِعرِ المَصونِ بِما عِندي

And I would be ashamed before the greatness in you to be seen

Stinting what I possess of treasured verse.

كَبَتُّ الحَسودَ النَدبَ حَتّى كَبَبتُهُ

فَمَن عاذِري يَوماً مِنَ الحاسِدِ الوَغدِ

I humbled the formidable envier till I cast him face-down;

Who, then, will excuse me one day for dealing with a vile envier?

إِذا الشَمسُ غاضَت كُلَّ عَينٍ صَحيحَةٍ

فَكَيفَ بِها في هَذِهِ المُقَلِ الرُمدِ

If the sun drains every healthy eye,

What, then, must it do to these inflamed eyes?