ما يصنع السير بالجرد السراحيب — Alsharif Alradi

ما يَصنَعُ السَيرُ بِالجُردِ السَراحيبِ

إِن كانَ وَعدُ الأَماني غَيرَ مَكذوبِ

What can travel do to sleek, long-bodied steeds,

if the promise of hopes is not false?

لِلَّهِ أَمرٌ مِنَ الأَيّامِ أَطلُبُهُ

هَيهاتَ أَطلُبُ أَمراً غَيرَ مَطلوبِ

God, what a thing I seek from the days!

Far beyond reach! I seek what is not to be sought.

لا تَصحَبِ الدَهرَ إِلّا غَيرَ مُنتَظِرٍ

فَالهَمُّ يَطرُدُهُ قَرعُ الظَنابيبِ

Keep company with time only without expectation;

for care is driven off by striking the shinbones.

وَاِقذِف بِنَفسِكَ في شَعواءَ خابِطَةٍ

كَالسَيلِ يَعصِفُ بِالصَوّانِ وَاللوبِ

And hurl yourself into a raging battle that strikes blindly,

like a torrent sweeping away flint and black rocks.

إِن حَنَّتِ النيبُ شَوقاً وَهيَ واقِفَةٌ

فَإِنَّ عَزمِيَ مُشتاقٌ إِلى النيبِ

If the old she-camels moan with longing as they stand,

then my resolve longs for the old she-camels.

أَو صارَتِ البيضُ في الأَغمادِ آجِنَةً

فَإِنَّما الضَربُ ماءٌ غَيرُ مَشروبِ

Or if the bright swords grow stagnant in their sheaths,

for striking is but water left undrunk.

مَتى أَراني وَدِرعي غَيرُ مُحقَبَةٍ

أَجُرُّ رُمحي وَسَيفي غَيرُ مَقروبِ

When shall I see myself, my mail no longer strapped behind the saddle,

trailing my spear, my sword unsheathed?

أَيدٍ تَجاذَبُ دُنيا لا بَقاءَ لَها

خِباؤُها بَينَ تَقويضٍ وَتَطنيبِ

Hands wrestle over a world that cannot last,

its tent poised between dismantling and stretching its ropes.

قَد كُنتُ غِرّاً وَكانَ الدَهرُ يَسمَحُ لي

إِنَّ الرَقيبَ عَلى دُنيايَ تَجريبي

Once I was naive, and time was generous to me;

indeed, my experience keeps watch over my worldly life.

وَعَدتَ يا دَهرُ شَيئاً بِتُّ أَرقُبُهُ

وَما أَرى مِنكَ إِلّا وَعدَ عُرقوبِ

You promised, O Time, something I spent the night awaiting,

yet I see from you only the promise of ʿUrqub.

وَحاجَةٍ أَتَقاضاها وَتَمطُلُني

كَأَنَّها حاجَةٌ في نَفسِ يَعقوبِ

And many a need I press you for, while you put me off,

as though it were a need in Jacob's soul.

لَأُتعِبَنَّ عَلى البَيداءِ راحِلَةً

وَاللَيلُ بِالريحِ خَفّاقُ الجَلابيبِ

I shall surely wear out a riding-camel on the desert plain,

while night's robes flutter in the wind.

ما كُنتُ أَرغَبُ عَن هَوجاءَ تَقذِفُ بي

هامَ المَرَورى وَأَعناقَ الشَناخيبِ

I would never turn from a headlong she-camel that flings me

across the heads of wastelands and the necks of towering peaks,

في فِتيَةٍ هَجَروا الأَوطانَ وَاِصطَنَعوا

أَيدي المَطايا بِإِدلاجٍ وَتَأويبِ

among young men who left their homelands and enlisted

their mounts' forelegs in night journeys and daylong marches.

مِن كُلِّ أَشعَثَ مُلتاثِ اللِثامِ لَهُ

لَحظٌ تُكَرِّرُهُ أَجفانُ مَدؤوبِ

Among them, each disheveled man with his face-veil wound round has

a glance repeated by a weary man's eyelids.

يُوَسِّدُ الرَحلَ خَدّا ما تَوَسَّدَهُ

قَبلَ المَطالِبِ غَيرُ الحُسنِ وَالطيبِ

He pillows the saddle on a cheek where nothing had rested

before these quests but beauty and perfume.

إِلَيكَ طارَت بِنا نُجبٌ مُدَفَّعَةٌ

تَحتَ السِياطِ رَميضاتُ العَراقيبِ

To you noble camels flew with us, driven hard

beneath the whips, scorched at the hocks.

وَرَدنَ مِنكَ سَحاباً غَيرَ مُنتَقِلٍ

عَنِ البِلادِ وَبَدراً غَيرَ مَحجوبِ

They came to drink from you, a cloud that never moves

away from the lands, and a full moon never veiled.

ما زِلتَ تَرغَبُ في مَجدٍ تُشَيِّدُهُ

عَفواً وَغَيرُكَ في كَدٍّ وَتَعذيبِ

You have always sought a glory you build

effortlessly, while others toil and suffer,

حَتّى بَلَغتَ مِنَ العَلياءِ مَنزِلَةً

تُفدى الأَعاجِمُ فيها بِالأَعاريبِ

until you reached a station of eminence

where non-Arabs are ransomed with Bedouin Arabs.

إِنّي رَأَيتُكَ مِمَّن لا يُخادِعُهُ

حَثُّ الزُجاجَةِ بِالغيدِ الرَعابيبِ

I have seen you among those not beguiled by

the wine-flask's urging amid graceful, tender maidens;

وَلا تَحُلُّ يَدُ الأَقداحِ حُبوَتَهُ

إِذا اِحتَبى بَينَ مَطعونٍ وَمَضروبِ

nor does the hand of winecups undo his knee-binding

when he sits with knees bound amid the spear-pierced and sword-struck.

يُهابُ سَيفُكَ مَصقولاً وَمُختَضِباً

وَأَهيَبُ الشَعرِ شَيبٌ غَيرُ مَخضوبِ

Your sword is feared both polished and blood-dyed,

and the most awe-inspiring hair is gray hair left undyed.

يَأوي حُسامُكَ إِن صاحَ الضِرابُ بِهِ

إِلى لِواءٍ مِنَ العَلياءِ مَنصوبِ

Your keen blade turns, when swordplay calls to it,

to a banner raised in the heights of glory.

وَيَرتَمي بِكَ وَالأَرماحُ والِغَةٌ

طِماحَ كُلِّ أَسيلِ الخَدِّ يَعبوبِ

And, while spears lap blood, you are borne hurtling

by the headlong surge of every smooth-cheeked, swift steed.

لَم يَسلُ هَمُّكَ مِن مالٍ تُفَرِّقُهُ

إِلّا تَعَشَّقَ أَطرافَ الأَنابيبِ

Your ambition never turns from wealth you scatter

without falling in love with the tips of spear-shafts.

إِذا مَنَحتَ العَوالي كَفَّ مُستَلِبٍ

أَقطَعتَ بَذلَ العَطايا كَفَّ مَسلوبِ

When you grant the tall lances a plunderer's hand,

you allot to gift-giving the hand of one despoiled.

لا يَركَبُ النَدبُ إِلّا كُلَّ مُعضِلَةٍ

كَأَنَّ ظَهرَ الهُوَينا غَيرُ مَركوبِ

The gallant man rides only the hardest undertakings,

as though the back of ease were never ridden.

وَلا يَرى الغَدرَ أَهلاً أَن يُلِمَّ بِهِ

وَإِنَّما الغَدرُ مَأخوذٌ عَنِ الذَيبِ

He does not deem treachery worthy of his approach,

for treachery is learned only from the wolf.

ما نالَ مَدحي أَبو نَصرٍ بِنائِلَةٍ

وَلا بِسُلطانِ تَرغيبٍ وَتَرهيبِ

Abu Nasr did not win my praise with a gift,

nor through the power of enticement and intimidation,

إِلّا بِشيمَةِ بَسّامٍ وَتَكرِمَةٍ

غَرّاءَ تَعدِلُ عِندي كُلَّ مَوهوبِ

but through a smiling disposition and an honor shown,

radiant, equal in my eyes to every gift.

أَنتَ المُعينُ عَلى أَمرٍ تُصاوِلُهُ

وَحاجَةٍ شافَهَتنا بِالأَعاجيبِ

You are the helper in a matter you grapple with,

and a need that confronted us with wonders.

وَمِثلُ سَمعِكَ يَدعوهُ إِلى كَرَمٍ

قَولٌ تُشَيِّعُهُ أَنفاسُ مَكروبِ

And an ear like yours is summoned to generosity

by words escorted by a distressed man's sighs.

سَبى فَناؤُكَ آمالاً لِطينَتِها

سَبيَ الأَزِمَّةِ أَعناقَ المَصاعيبِ

Your courtyard took hopes captive to their very core,

as reins capture the necks of unruly camels.

يا خَيرَ مَن قالَ بَلِّغ خَيرَ مُستَمِعٍ

عَنّي وَحَسبُكَ مِن وَصفٍ وَتَقليبِ

O best of speakers, convey to the best of listeners

on my behalf—and enough for you of description and scrutiny.

لَولاكَ يا مَلِكَ الأَملاكِ سالَ بِنا

مِنَ النَوائِبِ عَرّاصُ الشَآبيبِ

But for you, O king of kings, we would have been swept away

by calamities' raging downpours.

زَجَرتَ عَنّا اللَيالي وَهيَ رابِضَةٌ

تَقرو بِأَنيابِها عَقرَ المَخاليبِ

You drove the nights away from us while they crouched,

probing with their fangs the wounds made by claws.

أَرعَيتَنا الكَلَأَ المَمطورَ نَنشُطُهُ

نَشطَ الخَمائِلِ بَعدَ المَربِعِ الموبي

You gave us rain-fed herbage to graze,

as one crops lush thickets after a pestilential spring pasture.

فَكُنتَ كَالغَيثِ مَسَّ المَحلَ رَيِّقُهُ

فَهَذَّبَ الأَرضَ مِنهُ أَيَّ تَهذيبِ

So you were like rain whose first drops touched the drought,

and cleansed the earth of it—what a cleansing!

هَذا أَتى قائِلاً وَالصِدقُ يَنصُرُهُ

أَقالَ عُنقي وَكانَ السَيفُ يُغري بي

This man came saying, with truth to support him:

“He spared my neck when the sword was calling for me.”

صَدَقتَ ظَنَّ العُلى فيهِ وَحاسِدُهُ

يُعطي الحَقائِقَ أَطرافَ الأَكاذيبِ

You fulfilled Glory's expectations of him, while his envier

clothes truths in the fringes of lies.

تَرَكتَهُ زاهِداً في العَيشِ مُنقَطِعاً

عَنِ القَرايِنِ مِنّا وَالأَصاحيبِ

You left him indifferent to life, cut off

from his peers among us and from companions.

وَكانَ بِالحَربِ يَلقى مَن يُنافِرُهُ

فَصارَ يَلقى الأَعادي بِالمَحاريبِ

He once met whoever challenged him in battle,

but now he meets enemies in prayer niches.

ما قُلتَ ما كانَ صَرفُ الدَهرِ أَدَّبَهُ

بَلى قَديماً وَهَذا فَضلُ تَأديبِ

What did you say? Had time's vicissitudes not schooled him?

Indeed, long ago; this is further schooling.

الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ لا أَشكو إِلى أَحَدٍ

قَلَّ الوَفاءُ مِنَ الشُبّانِ وَالشيبِ

Praise be to God; I complain to no one.

Loyalty has grown scarce among the young and the gray-haired.

هَيَّأتَ مَجدَكَ يَستَوفي الزَمانَ بِهِ

عَزماً حُساماً وَرَأياً غَيرَ مَغلوبِ

You equipped your glory to endure all time with

a sword-sharp resolve and an unconquered judgment.

وَلا صَبَرتَ عَلى ذُلٍّ وَمَنقَصَةٍ

وَلا حَذِرتَ عَلى عَذلٍ وَتَأنيبِ

Nor did you tolerate humiliation or loss of honor,

nor hold back because of blame and rebuke.

خَطَبتَ شِعري إِلى قَلبٍ يَضِنُّ بِهِ

إِلّا عَلَيكَ فَباشِر خَيرَ مَخطوبِ

You sought my poetry in marriage from a heart that hoards it

from all but you; embrace, then, the finest bride.

شَبَبتَ بِالعِزِّ إِذ كانَ المَديحُ لَهُ

فَما أَصولُ بِمَدحي دونَ تَشبيبِ

You sang of glory as a beloved, since praise was its due;

so I never charge forth with my praise without a love-prelude.

لا عُلِّقَ المَوتُ نَفساً أَنتَ صاحِبُها

إِنَّ الحِمامَ مُحِبٌّ غَيرُ مَحبوبِ

May death never fall in love with a soul that is yours;

for death is a lover who is not loved.